alexer

I'm having the surgery tomorrow! I'm so nervous! I "cheated" once or twice on my two-week liquid fast but have still lost about 15 pounds on it (and 25 pounds altogether since September) and I feel completely committed at this point and really good about things. Still though, obviously I'm nervous. I've had three other surgeries so am not as worried about that, as about possible complications, and learning to eat again. But I know that if I follow the guidelines and use some of the tools I have (Overeaters Anonymous, friends & family, therapy & the net) I will be fine. I'm leaving tomorrow morning and I will be sure to start posting on this forum more often, I really could use the support! P.S. I didn't even realize until reading this forum that there are different pouch (bougie?) sizes...I've never discussed this with my surgeon, would it be out of line to ask him for a really small one, right before surgery? Hah.

i really should be more pro-active about this, you're right, it's my life and surgery and it's a really major thing! thank you.

thank you! i got some good news yesterday, the surgeon's secretary told me that the claim had already been submitted and that they're waiting on the response...although part of me is like, could that really be true? is she thinking of someone else? haha

So I finally got a date the last time I met with my surgeon - October 17th. (SO CLOSE!) He asked me to lose 10 pounds before the next time we met, and to meet with the psychiatrist again for the final clearance. The first time the psych wanted me to get stable on my antidepressant before clearing me. So I lost the 10 pounds and met with the psych. All good, right? Well, the psych told me he needed to get in touch with MY psychiatrist and therapist first, and that it should only take a few days. It has literally been a MONTH since then and he hasn't managed to get in touch with the psych yet (he did call the therapist.) My psych claims they've been playing "phone tag" but I suspect that neither of them have really put in the effort. I mean, how hard is it, really? A 3-minute phone conversation? So either way tomorrow I'm starting the liquid fast, even though this might have to be postponed. They can't send everything into insurance without the clearance, so I still might get bad news. Ugh! When I told the surgeon about this last Friday, to his credit he was pissed too and told me to call him if I don't hear anything from the coordinator or psych by tomorrow. I'm so stressed and annoyed about this. It wouldn't be the end of the world to postpone a month or a couple of weeks, but it seems like such a lame reason. I've gone through so much with the tests and clearances and now this? Anyway, wish me luck! I feel pretty good about the liquid fast, at least, and have stocked up on lots of Protein Powder and Crystal Lite the list the nutritionist gave me also included Diet Snapple, strangely enough, so I got a case of that, too. Onward!

Hi! My name is Alex, I'm 32 years old and in the process of being approved for vertical sleeve surgery. Right now I'm going through all of the surgical clearances. I admit that the closer I get (the surgeon expects I should be on the table by September) the more anxious I get that something will go wrong. Tomorrow I visit with the pulmonologist, and Thursday I see the cardiologist again, and will find out about the results of the stress test. I'm so NERVOUS! Haha One thing I can see getting in the way is that the gastric emptying test I had shows that I probably have gastroparesis. I am reading conflicting things on this; both that VSG can help that condition, and that surgeons refuse to operate on clients with gastroparesis. Any personal experiences with this are welcome! Other than the anxiety and trying to curb my overeating, things are going quite well so far I've rarely been this motivated in my life. Thanks for reading, and best of luck to everyone!