KristeyK

YAY for you!!! Your date is getting nice and close. How excited are you?

Hello Glenda. First off, I am so sorry for your loss. I think losing a child would throw even the strongest person into a tailspin. Hugs to you. What brings you to getting the revision? I'll be getting a revision from band to VSG myself at the end of August. (I CANNOT wait!) Feel free to let your hair down here. Everyone here is a great source of knowledge and support.

I'm sorry to hear about your mother Kristie. I can only imagine what it's like to have your own mom questioning you and being unsupportive about something so huge. So... let me give you the perspective of another nurse. (I'm still a student, but have seen enough...) I also got to take care of bariatric surgery patients on the unit I was doing my clinical rotations on. At the time I was considering revising my lap band to a sleeve. After seeing them during their hospital stays, then seeing them even a month later at support group meetings was enough to convince me that I needed this. I have talked with the other nurses on the floor about it and what complications they have seen with the VSG. The only negatives they have seen are people who have been readmitted after they did NOT follow what the surgeon tells them to do after surgery. For instance, one patient a nurse took care of had been readmitted because she decided two days out of the hospital that the diet was crap and she wanted her steak darn it. She had a little bit of red meat that night. The next night she had a shredded beef chimichanga, and the next day she had more grilled beef. She ended up overeating before her sutures had healed and caused herself to develop a leak. She was embarrassed to admit it, so when she developed a fever, she didn't call the surgeon. It was when one of her friends checked on her two weeks out and found her barely conscious that she was taken to the hospital and readmitted. This nurse said that the ONLY complications she has seen in her four years on this particular floor were because of the PATIENT not following the rules. All of the nurses I talked to said that the complications they see are from the bypass and the lap bands. Now, I don't mean to pooh-pooh the opinion of another nurse, but we don't all know what we're talking about when it comes to an area we're not familiar with. If this nurse works in a cardiac facility, or orthopaedics, or in PT- she doesn't know about bariatrics. It would be like my aunt who works in a neonatal intensive care unit telling me that I shouldn't have this surgery. Apples and oranges as far as the SPECIFIC knowledge base goes. Sure, we all know about anatomy and physiology, and drugs that are commonly used, but even then I'm not going to ask my aunt about MY medications, when her knowledge base is about babies. (In fact, since she knows I have recent experience with adult issues, she has called ME about advice on a few things. LOL.)

I just checked nutrition labels on Google, and what you wrote is correct. However, a lot of people on a few different sites said the taste is HORRID. (It was for the pink lemonade though, can't say anything about the sour apple.) I had my hopes up that maybe someone finally made a clear UNFLAVORED Protein drink. If someone makes one that tastes like good old Water, I'm ALL OVER it. lol

This is NOT NORMAL!!! As others have said, you don't want the potentially large bills that come with it, but you NEED to see someone ASAP. Yes, the weight loss is awesome, but your surgeon needs to be concerned about the rest of your health too! Either head to the ER or find someone who will take these complaints seriously. What is happening to you isn't just a pain in the rear, it's downright dangerous.

OH.EM.GEE!!! You have that Paula gene too!!! I swear good old fashioned Southern cooking, and it's recent rise in popularity, is the reason so many of us are obese. I'm a Navy brat, so not a Southerner by birth, but I was raised by Texans, so my entire life has been all about BBQ beef, steaks, fried anything that grows, and homemade ice cream. We also all managed to find our way into baking cakes for EVERY occasion. (And FRIENDSHIP BREAD!!! YES!!! Along with those luscious coconut layer cakes! lol) I do not envy the first few times I head to my daddy's house after he throws some baby back ribs on the smoker for the day. I'm really hoping that my sense of smell and taste will change like my sister's did. Maybe I won't want them then! lol. Good luck, I am sure you will do FABULOUS!!!

And if you're lucky, they'll have the screen turned toward you a little where you can see it. It's REALLY cool!

I feel your pain. Like SeattleSue said, people don't engage their brains before their mouth. They mean well enough, but don't realize what it does to a person. I'm lucky in that my sister broke this ground for me with our family and friends. They see how well she has done in three months, and I haven't been dealing with the same BS. The closest I've come to that is one of my RN instructors asking me a few times whether or not I was sure this is the right decision for me AT THIS TIME. Otherwise, everyone has been fully supportive. Now...one thing I did tell my sister to tell everyone was this: "I live in my body ever single day and I know what I have fought through over the years. I know what is best for myself, my body, and my family. I have the support of my primary care doctor, my pain doctor, and most importantly, my husband. That's all I need." It worked! Good luck and remember- even though the comments bug you, the people really do mean well. If you're as non-confrontational about that kind of thing as I am, shrug it off and continue on knowing you are making the best decision for YOU and YOUR FAMILY. You are doing something for YOURSELF, not everyone else.

I'm not sleeved yet, but I go to bi-monthly support group meetings. There are MANY people there who have had their sleeves for several years. They live like normal people do, rather than being obsessed about food. (Still cannot imagine that...LOL) They are all vigilant about what they eat, but not HYPERvigilant. Protein first, then some veggies. They have learned what they can order off the menu at most restaurants...things like that. I think right now it seems overwhelming because you're in that "first semester of school" mode, where you look at what it is you have to learn, and it looks like a LONG, overwhelming road ahead. Once you retrain your brain, it won't seem so bad because you'll have a lot more of that necessary knowledge. KWIM? Good luck!!!

We all feel pain differently. You have to work fairly hard to tear any of the stitches/staples you have. (Which is why we're restricted as to how much we can lift for several weeks.) My guess is that your pain med(s) wore off in the middle of the night, you turned in bed, and BLAM-O...pain. If you still feel as if you need the stronger pain med, then by all means get it from your Dr. Just make sure to alternate it with the Tylenol as he directed. Lortab can be habit forming if you use it too long, so keep that in mind too as you ask for more of it. Also...Lortab contains Tylenol, so make sure you're not taking more than 4 grams of it per day. (Lortab usually has about 325mg of Tylenol in it...1000mg per gram.) Ask if maybe you can take a liquid Ibuprofen, since it's an anti-inflammatory, and MAY control that type of pain better than plain Tylenol.

The surgeon's office makes sure they have EVERYTHING together before they submit for auth. Luckily, the girl at my surgeon's office has her act together and was able to submit the same afternoon I got her the last piece of the puzzle she needed. UHC took two weeks to approve my surgery. There won't be anything that shows up on MyUHC until the claims start hitting, right now all the Dr's are getting is PREauth. It won't show until they start asking for payment. (And yes, they can only take up to 30 days to give an answer.) Good luck!

You sound like me...I LOATHE not knowing something is 100% sure or not. Your situation would probably drive me over the edge!

I'm getting a VSG due to complications from the band. I am done with this thing. If you go in to have the band removed and a sliding hernia repaired, I'd want to have it done in the hospital anyway. The sliding hernia repair is something that should require an overnight stay. Good luck with everything. If you end up getting the VSG, it will probably be better in the long run anyway. I cannot say for sure yet as I still have 5 weeks before I get mine. However, my sister is 11 weeks post op and has lost more weight with this than I EVER did with the band. (And she had a lot less weight to lose.)

In my opinion, it is way too soon. I'd wait until you're closer to your goal Besides, any surgeon worth his/her salt wouldn't do it until then anyway. Think of it this way-out it is a very painful procedure, if you did it now you'll probably okey the results, but in a year when you're at your goal, you'll wish you would've waited because the girls will be sagging. :-D

Insurance companies typically use your starting weight to go off of to gauge your BMI, not what you lose. They want to see that you're going to take it seriously and willing to make the changes necessary. As for your surgeon...surgeons notoriously have TERRIBLE bedside manner, but that's also more the old school ones. lol. Frankly, I'm more concerned about how good he is both in skill and knowledge than how well he plays nice. KWIM? As for books I have the Weight Loss Surgery Coping Companion by Tanie Kabala...it's excellent. I also bought Eating Well After Weight Loss Surgery. I've started using both of them in hopes of being better prepared when I have my surgery in August.

AUGUST!!! 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 KristeyK 25 26 27 28 29 30 31

Diggin the All-Stars too.

Hiya KristinaRN...I am Kristey, RN student! WOOHOO for NURSES!!! And DOUBLE WOOHOO for the 24th!!! I will also be having my surgery that morning.

There are several people at my support group meeting who are several years out from their surgeries. These are life changing surgeries we are having. They still work at it. Even though they're maintaining now, they still have to be careful about what they put into their mouths. From my research, statistically, sleeves lose better long-term. There was ONE surgery that did better, but it one that VERY few surgeons perform, and has a higher risk than anything else. (If I remember correctly, it was the duodenal switch.) Long-term success is achievable with the sleeve, if you're willing to put in the long term commitment.

WOOHOO!!! It's amazing the food you get excited about when you can only have clears isn't it? lol. Good job on the WL!

WOOHOO!!! It's amazing the food you get excited about when you can only have clears isn't it? lol. Good job on the WL!

YAY!!!! Good luck with the surgery, I'm sure everything will be smooth for you. WOOT!

EXCELLENT!!!! I am very happy for you that everything is going well so far. And yeah, just a tad bit scary that your liver had started growing around it. YIKES!!!! Keep us updated with your progress.

It REALLY depends on what your surgeon and/or your insurance requires. I'd have had mine completed within 6 or 7 weeks if I could do the surgery this month. (Have to wait until the end of August for school break EEEK!) Some people it does take upwards of a year though.

WOOT!!! I bet you're happy about that!