BenisaMartim4

Ride those people like a Mule. Dig your heels in and kick when ever necessary. I have Anthem BCBS. Between them and the doc's office, I thought I would have a break down. Save every single piece of paper, receipt, letter, anything you get from them or the doctor. You may need it when you least expect it. Take names and numbers, kick, scream and threaten if you have to. They do not like to fork out the money; but you pay for it, so hold their feet to the fire. Mine has been an 8 month nightmare and it is still not over. But that is OK. I finally rode the insurance company until they got their end of everything fixed (I got a bill for $25,000 because they refused to pay for the surgery after it had been approved and I had the letter to prove it). Now if the hospital doesn't get their part done, I'm just going to have my lawyer give them a call. I have legal insurance too! (I paid them and the insurance paid them, but they are not crediting it. I am still getting bills, but they owe ME money.) It's a big, fat pain in the butt, but when it is all said and done, the results are worth it.

Well congrats to you and best wishes!!

Well, no one can tell you exactly how you will do; but in general, larger people lose faster up front. My goal was a 150# loss and I have lost 2/3 already. My doc said he thought I would make it to my goal easily by my 1 year surgiversary. We shall see. I hope he is right.

I have gone from a size 28 to a size 18 in the last 4 1/2 months; so needless to say, I have extra skin/flesh. I have four kids ages 4-11. They are all boys, so I try to keep them run out of the bedroom when I am changing. It is futile *sigh*. Anywoo, the other day, I was changing and my 6 year old came in. I was covering my chest (what's left of it anyway) and hollered for him to go out while I turned my back to him. He was unfazed. Then all of a sudden he grabs the flesh on my back and squeals with exuberant joy, "OH MAMA! Do you have wings?" *flop, flop, flop* Boy, that really has a way of letting the air out of your "I'm getting to be a hot mama" balloon...lol.

I have had dumping syndrome for 14 years. Mine is from having my gallbladder out. I have never been nauseated from dumping. When it happens to me, I have a quick rush of heat that runs up my body and I flush. Then I have abdominal cramping followed by a sudden urge to run to the bathroom. It happens suddenly and all of the symptoms happen within a few seconds of each other. After I use the restroom it stops. When it is acting up, I may have to go several times a day. Mine is very bad. I can dump with water. So having said all of that, I believe you are having morning sickness or sleeve sensitivity, not dumping. True dumping is literally that; a reaction in the body that causes the digestive tract to dump. My OB put me on the BRATT diet to try to help the sickness. BRATT is an acronym. Bananas, Rice, Applesauce, Tea and Toast. All of these things are supposed to be bland and stomach calming. Tea is an anti-emetic of sorts. He told me to drink it sweet, with sugar not sweet-n-low. The sugar also helps to calm the nausea and give you a little strength and energy when you are taking in nothing else. And he told me DO NOT HAVE CHICKEN NOODLE SOUP!! He said that the kind of fat in condensed chicken noodle soup would make a person yak faster than anything. And just to make sure I am getting this right; you weigh 138 now and have only lost 25#. So your start weight was only 163? That sounds very small?!?

I don't get hot now like I used to. My husband is sweating like a big ol' pig and I am sleeping under a sheet, two quilts and an eletric blanket...lol.

I buy the Pure Protein bars from Wal-Mart. 20g protein, 3g sugar, 200 cals. They taste pretty good and come in a few flavors. Not very expensive and easy to get. Good luck

Here is a link that might help you: http://www.cornellweightlosssurgery.org/pdf/dietary_guidelines_sleeve_gastrectomy.pdf Best wishes (((hugs)))

HOWDEE!! Welcome to the group. Cruise around, make friends, ask questions and learn a lot. Best wishes

WOOHOO!!! You go girl!! That is great. I know how it feels and I am really happy for you. Keep it up

You go girl! Congrats and best wishes

I chose a female OB with my first baby because I thought it would be better to have a woman. She quit 6 weeks before my due date and I had to change doctors. I am so glad she did. I found a doctor that was 10X better than her because of it and HE was a man. Best wishes!

It's all the same, just a different flavor.

How much do you weigh now? If you are still considerably heavy, I wouldn't worry too much. I had hyperemesis all four times I was pregnant. I barely ate anything and I threw up all day, every day, the entire pregnancy long. This last time I had colitis too, so not only did I puke 10X a day, I also had to poop 10-15X a day. I lost weight in each pregnancy, but the babies were normal weight. Here is the run down. 1) lost 30#, born at 37wks, 6'11oz. 2) lost 40#, born 39wks 6'7oz. 3) lost 50#, born 37wks 7pounds and 4) lost 70#, born 35wks 6'8oz. Your OB can coach you in what to do. Mine (I had 4 different ones) didn't worry at all about my babies. They told me that baby always gets what they need first. Just keep taking the zofran and do the best you can. I know you didn't plan it this way, but look at the bright side; you may get a little boost in getting to goal and get a baby as a prize. Best wishes!

Any soups you like. Run them things through the blender and add in a scoop of flavorless protein powder (I use Beneprotein). If you can swallow it without chewing, you are good to go. You can also add protein to V8 juice and go cold or warm. If you like the V8 V-fusion (100% fruit and veggies), you can add the powder to that too. I had much rather do these things than try to choke down those awful shakes! Not that anything with added protein power is that great, but you can not taste it nearly as much like this. Best wishes!

Good luck...lol I have a cheese single smeared with PB and folded in half sometimes. I myself eat fruit, but I know a lot of people don't. It hasn't hampered my progress any though. Mango is my fave! It sure sets much better than EGGS

I crave nothing because I am never hungry and no longer like food. I miss being able to eat a real meal. Because I can only hold a couple of bites, I cannot taste more than one thing each time I eat. Just meat, no sides..not even a bite. If I chose to eat the veggies/fruit, I have to skip the meat. I can no long eat anything sweet at all. Just a bite makes me sick every time. I did mix a piece of crumbled burger with whole kernel corn and cheese sauce yesterday (2-3oz.). It took me a while to eat it and I was sick afterward, but I have to say it was refreshing.

Of course you can! Here we are all for one and one for all. Welcome to the gang

My 35th birthday is on Labor Day. So I guess mine will be a birthday challenge too. I would love, love, love to make it to onederland, but my weight loss has greatly slowed down. I guess I will say 20# and if I can get more than that, it will be great. HW 335 SW 239 (7/4/12) GW 219 (9/3/12)

OK, I am still holding at 239. So I did not make it to my second goal, but I did lose 18#. That is 8# higher than my original set goal. I guess I will join the Labor Day challenge :0)

My breaking point came the first of last summer. I was in terrible pain, anxious and panicky and depressed all the time. I was on a total of 21 meds. I was out of my mind. I couldn't think two solid thoughts in a row. I had taken the kids (4 of them) to town with me, got them something to eat and came back home. We had been in the house 15 or so min. and I noticed the youngest (3 at the time) missing. Then it hit me..he had not came in. I almost passed out on the spot. I ran outside and he was still strapped into his car seat (he had fell asleep). He was soaking wet, screaming and had thrown up everywhere. When he looked up at me he snubbed "mama, why did you leave me." I grabbed him and ran screaming into the house. It got my husband's attention and he helped me undress him and wash him to get him cool. All I could keep saying was "I could have killed my baby." I can honestly say, I believe I would have killed myself if anything had of happened to him. After I made completely sure he was fine and got myself calmed down somewhat; I went back out and ripped the car-seats out of the van and threw them across the yard. I immediately replaced them with booster seats. I made sure that they could all get out of the vehicle alone from that point on. I called and made an appointment with my PCP that afternoon. At that point I was not sure what I was going to do, but I knew I could not continue as I was. I am happy to say that now I do not take any meds at all. It really is a miracle. But no matter how much better I get, nothing could ever erase that day. I had a crushing pain and guilt in my chest while I sat here typing this. I could have very easily caused the death of one of my children. How could a mother ever get over that...

If I had to make the choice over again, I would still do it. That being said I will give this warning; if you or your mom are food addicts you will really need to sort things out before doing this. Ask this question; Can I truly say that I hate being fat MORE than I love food. If the answer is no, then you are not ready to have this surgery. You simply cannot satisfy an addiction on two bites of food. Also if you ended up like many of us and food was not good any more, would you be completely miserable? Are you willing to sacrifice taste to be thin? This is a drastic measure done by desperate people to save their lives. We do not know before the surgery exactly how it will affect each of us. If you or she is not to the point that there is not anything (eating or drinking wise) you would not give up forever to have a sleeve, then don't do it. Can you live without cokes? drinking? sweets? fried foods? It is very likely you won't have to give these up completely, but if you did, could you say "so what!" and still be happy. You have got to want this more than anything and if you don't, wait until you do. Best wishes on your decision. I feel like mine saved my life.

That's great and funny and embarrassing. Mine fell off too, but I didn't catch it. I was carrying a dish of food in each hand and standing in the carport of the church parsonage. Thank goodness the pastor was not the one that answered the door!

I am 4 1/2 months out and I do not get hungry. I just eat because I have to. I do not enjoy it at all. I have 900 cals set as my goal, but 700 is the most I have ever gotten. I average 400-600 a day. My sleeve is tight. Two bites is pretty much my limit. I never drank protein shakes after surgery. They always made me puke. I do use a variety of the nectar protein now, but no more than once a day and usually only at bed time. Although I do not get hungry, I do have to eat every 2-3 hours or I get sick. Even though I don't like food anymore, my body does still have to have it..lol.

So far, I have tried them all but the grapefruit. I have mixed them with Water, milk, almond milk, juice and tea. You can also mix with coffee, but I don't drink coffee. There were none of them that I couldn't drink. I just prefer some over others. My favorites were the lemonade one in water and the tea one in tea. Sent from my iPhone using VST