hadouni

Received my pre-op paperwork in the mail today! I have to go over to the hospital for labs after my pre-op appointment on Jan 5. Beyond that, I may have only liquids for 24 hours before and cut off food and drink entirely at midnight the night before. I'm so excited! January 9, here I come!

Wow- you look fantastic! Congrats!

Congrats and welcome!

Congratulations. I hope your recovery is quick and goes well!

My PCP "doesn't believe in WLS". I'm going ahead although he managed to delay me for a year.

My insurance assigned a case nurse for me. It kind of freaked me out because I was worried it was some evaluation to try and yank my pre-approval. She called on Friday and we had a nice chat- she was familiar with my surgeon and it was a good conversation. I agreed to participate in their support program which seems to be her calling a few times for the first six months or so after surgery. I learned that my surgeon doesn't really want his patients using Protein powders or supplements, he wants them to transition to protein from food starting more seriously in the 3rd week post-op. She gave me some Vitamin websites to look into. She was really supportive and she confirmed that the recovery from this shouldn't be as bad as a c-section. ' I asked her if there are many actual nerves in the stomach, seeing as how they're going to do some pretty extreme things to the stomach, and she said there aren't many nerves, that most of the pain comes from gas after surgery (note to self: beg surgeon to suck out all the gas they can before closing me up!) and the incision sites. Now my biggest concern is dealing with my 43lb child post-op. I know I'll not be able to lift him for at least two weeks after surgery. He's three and still wants "uppy" from time to time and I'll not be able to lift him at all...

We'll have to keep in touch and post on progress! I can't wait.

I'm going to resolve to follow my Dr's orders after my surgery. Sounds like a no-brainer resolution but I'm one to want to push and do things just a little faster than they want. With the sleeve surgery, I just want to follow my Dr's plan for me. Accept it and follow it.

I so hear you! I'll have my surgery on Jan 9 and the things you mention - emotional eating and eating when bored and I'm worried too about how I'll cope. I know my emotional eating makes me feel better in the moment, but later I feel physically poor from overeating and I feel guilty along with it. That's great about the kilos! I know this is a stretch but I remember when I started making all kinds of pureed baby food for my son. It was totally crazy and I felt like all I did was boil, puree, freeze, microwave but looking back on it, it was for such a short amount of time! It didn't feel like it then, but a few months away from it and it seemed like a blink. My wish for you is that this period of liquids & mush feels like a blink when you have a little distance from it. Big hug!

Congratulations on getting a date and so quickly! I don't go until January so I don't have any advice but I'm rooting for you!

That's so great!! Good job! All your hard work is paying off big time!

January 9, 2012! I'm very excited too. I'm waiting to get a big packet of info from the surgeon's office and I imagine I'll freak a little when I get that but for now I'm just excited. Pre-op Jan 5. It'll be here before we know it!

Do you have children and if so did you experience much hair loss post-partum? I imagine it will be similar to that... I'm not looking forward to it either!

They'd not sent mine because of a miscommunication about a test the Dr. generally wants done on all sleeve and lapband patients. They'd never told me anything about this test even though I always expressed most interest in the sleeve so the Dr. waived it in the end, but he was out of town so it slowed things down at least 5 days. Once she got the OK to submit to my insurance it seemed to go pretty fast. I think I found out on Tuesday that they were sending it in and I made myself wait until the next week to call. I found out by calling the insurance directly that I was approved and was the one to notify my coordinator! It took a week from them saying they were sending it in until I found out.

Congratulations and thanks for sharing your success. Everyone who posts their success makes me just a little more sure I can do it too. I'll find out if I can starting 1/9/12!

Good luck with your surgery!

I received the official pre-approval letter!! It's all so real and so close. Last night I dreamed I was at a friend's house waiting to go to the hospital for surgery and was doing all kinds of stuff to kill time when I realized it was almost 10:30 and my surgery was at 10:30 and I was supposed to be at the hospital at 8:30 to prep for surgery! Crazy- and the friend whose house I was at doesn't live where my surgery is- she's 3hrs in the opposite direction! I blame the cold meds...

Thanks for your reply! I was worried they were going to try and find reasons to turn around and deny the surgery!

Those jeans (the 28s and 0s) displayed on top of each other are pretty amazing and inspirational. Thanks for posting. You really inspire some great goals!

Isn't it nice when the reality check is a happy one? I'm looking forward to some happy reality checks in 2012!

Little Miss Diva- that might be something to add to the "take to surgery" list for PMP women - "a few pads just in case"!!

When I had surgery back in 1999 I was shocked to get mine too (it was way early) and was told that major trauma to the body will often trigger one's period. I'm pretty regular and my surgery is scheduled for a week after my period should start so I'm not sure what to expect, but I'll be taking a few pads with me just in case!

I completely understand your fear. I'm a single mom by choice and have a 3yr old son. Because I'm a single mom I've been very proactive about setting things up legally for his care if anything happens to me for any reason. I feel like loosing weight will allow me to be with him much longer- that my life expectancy will be longer if my weight is healthy so I've decided to have the surgery. My mom had GBS when I was in the 8th grade and that was back in the days when they cut you totally open to do it. I've had a major surgery before too so I know a bit about what to expect. This is an intensely personal decision and those we love are a huge part of it (for me at least). I feel like I'm making the best decision for us.

I'm in CA and have BCBS PPO. I found out yesterday I was pre-approved for surgery (yay!!) but they also called me to tell me they had assigned a nurse to work with me prior to the surgery. I have a call scheduled from her on Friday. Has anyone else experienced this? I remember they had a nurse line when I was pregnant with my son and I sort-of remember them wanting me to participate in some sort of pregnancy thing (which I halfheartedly did) but I'm not sure what to expect from this. Thanks for any shared experiences or advice!

January 9, 2012 here and I can't wait! They need to open the 2012 sleeve page in the year/month groups!!