Mews

I thought that by law money could be taken out of you 401k without any penalties if it was for medical expenses. I had to do that a few years back for a different health problem. You might want to look into that.

I tend to eat late as I work late, so usually around 8pm. However, I don't get to bed until close to midnight so I do get hungry. What I have is a SF popscicle or fudgecicle. That usually hits the spot. Sometimes though I need something a bit more dense so I'll go with a string cheese stick. Those are really my go to snacks during the day.

I haven't tried any unflavored ones but I heard the unjury one is pretty good. I actually like the premade GNC Lean shakes. They come in vanilla and strawberry and have 21g of Protein. It's one of the few Protein Shakes I can tolerate. I did try the Premier ones from costco and they are OK but not as good as the others. Everybody is going to have different tastes and even after surgery your tastes may change. I used to be able to tolerate most protein shakes. Now I cannot stand most of them.

Think about it this way: do you have any comorbidities? That can play a role in your decision. If you do have them then you might be looking at it as how this surgery can get rid of them. In my case, I had a terribly high BMI (51) with only one comorbidity (sleep apnea). For me, I knew at my weight if I didn't get the surgery I would be looking at some serious issues as heart disease, diabetes, etc., which are a hell of a lot worse than what this surgery can do to me. Also, they have been doing VSG for quite a long time as part of another surgery and for cancer and ulcer patients, so it's not really that new. From what I have gathered in my months of research is that this is a relatively safe surgery that doesn't have any long-term problems. However, do your own research and come to your own conclusions.

I'm only six weeks out but I've lost 21 pounds and haven't dropped a size yet. My pants are a bit baggy but I haven't whipped out the belt yet. I'm waiting for my pants to start falling off before I buy new ones. LOL

If you're working out you could be gaining muscle mass, which is heavier, and retaining some water. Are you losing inches at all? That might be a better indicator.

Cheri is right on this one. My NUT is recommending to me a 2:1 ratio of Proteins to carbs at the minimum to help keep my energy levels up. I can tell you right now that when I was doing the no carbs I felt like poop and I was cranky. Not a fun person to be around. Now that I'm getting in some carbs I am feeling better even though my energy levels are still pretty low. Also, I'm still losing so I can't complain.

My NUT recommended between 800-1000 calories a day for optimal weight loss. I'm not really exercising yet due to complications but I have a feeling I'll be heading towards that 1000 calorie mark when I do start.

Wow. I'm surprised your NUT said that. In my case she said that while 60oz is ideal, if I get in as little as 48oz I will be fine. I was told to NEVER skip a meal, which is very hard for me because I forget to eat. She said this because we can't "make up" for missed meals as our stomachs are too tiny. As for getting in Water, the longer you are out from surgery the easier it is. I know the first month was a struggle for me to get in even 40oz. However, as the swelling has gone down I can drink more. I am eating throughout the day as I keep my meals very small (around 2oz) but I manage to get in quite a bit of fluids in between meals. Just give yourself time and try your best. Also, Protein drinks count as fluids.

My NUT says to always peel the apples as the skin can give us some serious discomfort. This goes for a lot of fruits.

I know with things like brownies and pizza I have to wait eight weeks post-op. For popcorn, it's more along the lines of three months. I'm one of those people who would go nuts completely avoiding goodies. I just have a bite every once in a while and it satisfies my cravings for the time being. However, I did find that my tastes have changed and some of the things I used to love pre-op I cannot stand now.

CrazyCatLady gave a great explanation. I know my doctor did not use drains. However, I wish he would have. When he removed my bandages a week after surgery I had quite a bit of fluid come out of the incision above my belly button. It took a good five weeks for that hole to finally stop draining and close up and I did get an infection in the meantime.

I went through two kinds of tired. The first was the feeling of being physically exhausted. While I wasn't nodding off at work, whenever I got the opportunity to sleep I did. I know for the first month it was very difficult to get through an entire work day on the teeny amount of strength that I had. Even though I'm six weeks out and doing everything I'm supposed to (Water, Protein, vitamins), I'm still feeling this way. This one has my surgeon a bit baffled as he's never had a patient go through this for so long. My NUT even has me eating upwards of 100g of carbs a day to help but that's not working. The second was that foggy feeling. I described it more as feeling disconnected or even stoned. It was very difficult to concentrate and I had some memory issues. Not a good thing for a college professor! This eventually went away, about three weeks after the surgery. I was taking all of my Vitamins, fluids, Proteins, etc. The surgeon and NUT told me that it is one of the side effects of ketosis for some people. This made it very difficult to work and my poor husband was forced to drive me the hour to work every day.

I didn't really have any stomach pain after the surgery so I was able to sleep on my stomach almost immediately. However, I'm more of a side/back sleeper anyways.

My doc said that as long as they are no bigger than an M&M you shouldn't have any problems. I was taking pills the day after my surgery but as w8loss4me mentioned, you may have to take them one at a time. This was hard for me because I used just grab all of my pills and swallow them in one big gulp.

As BKmama said, with sleep apnea you can stop breathing when you are in recovery and still under the effects of anesthesia. However, because of the anesthesia you won't wake up. It's a really scary thought. As for the CPAP itself, it does take a little while to get used to it. It was about a month for me. Now I can't sleep without it. You'd be amazed how much better your sleep will get using the machine.

Yes. Mine went away after about a month.

The reason why the surgeon is probably requiring this is that Lovenox clears out of your system within 24 hours. I'm not sure if this is the case with Effient but I know that Coumadin takes about ten days to two weeks to get out of your system. You don't want to have the anticoagulents in your system during surgery so it's safer to use Lovenox. I can't see why your doctor would deny this as Lovenox is commonly used in the U.S. Also, if it gets approved by your cardiologist your insurance should cover the cost. I've been on it for seven years--I have a clotting problem that couldn't be fixed with Coumadin--and I've only had to pay the standard non-preferred drug co-pay. Out of pocket, the name brand will cost around $1,000 for a month's supply.

Thanks for the info. I honestly did not know this. Maybe I'll be ordering a medical bracelet soon.

Wow. Some of these surgeons and hospitals charge and arm and a leg. I just received my EOB from my surgery. In total, the charges were around $22K and I had to stay in the hospital for three days as I had problems keeping in my fluids. As I have to pay 10% of the approved amont, I'm basically only paying around $600 out of pocket. What is really funny is that my surgeon billed for $15,000 and the insurance company only paid him around $1,200. The anesthesiologist got more money out of my insurance company! As it is the contracted amount I don't have to worry about making up the difference. To be honest, I think this is all part of the BS of our healthcare system. If the doctors only know they are getting a few thousand for a surgery why do they have the gall to charge tens of thousands to people who pay out of pocket? To be honest, $15,000 is a hell of a lot to charge for just an hour and a half of work.

Half an hour before you eat and then a half an hour afterwards.

Good luck with the surgery. You'll do fine. I had my knee replace around 18 months ago so I know exactly what you'll be going through. As my physical therapist once joked, "PT stands for 'pain and torture'". At least you'll be able to go home after ten days. I spent three weeks in the rehab facility and then had another two months of out-patient PT after that. It's not fun but I've got to admit that I'm pleased with the results. Think about how good you'll feel after it's all over.

I have the same issue. Anywhere from an hour to two hours after I eat I get this awful gnawing feeling in my stomach. It's clearly hunger pain. I've tried to eat more dense Protein but I can only get about 2oz in at a time and then I got through the same cycle. It's quite frustrating. FYI, I'm almost six weeks out and I'm taking 20mg of Prilosec a day

I've had a very rough recovery as well. Besides a blood clot, which was bad enough as it is, I've had serious energy issues that neither my doc nor NUT can figure out. To hear that your support group jumped on you makes me wary to go to one myself. It's bad enough to be the odd man out in terms of recovery but to go through what you had to is just BS.