DebraLea

Started out with UHC and it was a great plan but yes they required 6 months of doctor visits with monthly weights and documentation of diet and exercise information AND the doctor had to have it in a specific format to please them. Had to change insurance and took three more months for apporval from new insurance after they denied me and my doctor appealed it was approved

EAS Advantage Carb Control. 17 grams of whey and soy protein comes in 2 chocolate flavors, strawberry, vanilla and new carmel. I just got the carmel to try out, These are sugar free as well and taste good

Welcome to the forum and congratulations on your surgery and weight loss. Keep up the good work.

Tylenol with Codiene comes in liquid if they can find it, also there is a Percocet type pain med in liquid and they don't taste to bad, kinda like cough syrup

They give you Versaid to put you under, makes you not remember a thing and they use a drug to bring you out of the anesthesia. I ask my doctor to bring me out asap since I have the same fear of not waking up. I am a basket case everytime I have had to be under and its been a life long fear. Wake up in your room, have conversations you don't remember, talk on the phone and not remember, its all good. lol

http://bariatric.susanmleach.com/category/food/recipes/bbq-food-its-summer/ Cool recipes on this site

The is a new shake out there call EAS Carb control. 4 are $4.78 at the local Walmart and they are awesome. Two chocolate flavors, strawberry and vanilla. 17 gr protein, no surgar, 2.5 net carbs, a ton of vitamins and minerals. They are made by Abbott nutrition who is a leading provider in the health care industry. My friend who is a nutritionist/dietitian agrred they are the best of all the premade shakes out there now. Atkins is good, lots of flavors, but not so much protein, has a bit of sugar and cost more. Good luck

Congratulations! I was up walking around right after surgery even though everyone was freaking out. The weight is fluids and from inflamation it will go away. Hated the swabs, nastier than the yucky mouth to me. I had to wait until late the next day after the test to see if there were any leaks then they moved me to chicken broth- YUMMY- NOT! Don't ever want to see it again. You will be fine, Enjoy the journey to a new you

Nikki unless you have CHF or Renal problems water, water and more water to flush your system. Sounds weird but water will flush the fluids out. Make sure you are getting at least the minimum you doctor told you to.

Congratulations on your decision to make your life better. I have only the support of my significant other and he is being so wonderful about my decision and has learned to much to help me on my journey to a new me. I got grief from people at work as well. My boss who thinks he know everything said I didn't need surgery just stop eating all the time. I was like that is all the other department heads, I don't eat but once a day and it isn't here. Said if I'm eating 500 calories a day who is that to much? He had no response for that. Have jealous people who can't lose or don't want to lose on their own making rude comments behind my back about it. Do I care? Nope it's all about me for a change and making my life better and healthier ( I am Diabetic). You just keep doing what you are doing because it is for you and only you. I am sorry your family is not more supportive but they will learn to deal with it. Oh by the way your date is a good day to have it done, it is my dear moms birthday. She would have supported me no matter what, God I miss her. Here for you if you need to talk

Most insurance compainies have a requirement that you see a mental health specialist. I saw a Psychologist. They require a test with almost 600 questions. It is a personality test and it is pretty interesting. I have major anxiety and I don't deal well with a lot of stress but that was not a problem. The test is trying to make sure you have no underlying psychosis and no eating disorders. Just be honest. My requirement for the dieting and exercise was going to my doctor once a month and discussing my progress or lack there of and he documenting this and forwarding it to the surgeon. I was automatcally denied and pitched a holy fit. My surgeon is awesome and he raised cain with them and I got to have my surgery. It's kind of a game with the insurance companies they need to make sure your serious and they want to see if you will give up and not get the surgery thus saving them money. Hang in there it will come. Good luck

Welcome! Whatever pain there is is worth getting the weight off. Actually with mine seemed the pain was more incision related than anything else. They will give you pain medication, they want you as pain free as possible since pain inhibits healing and causes an inflamatory response in the body.

What kind of meds are you on? You may need to adjust them to get this under control. Do you know what your A1C is? If it is high you will need to get it under control. Very important for healing as Sweetsusie said. You need to check your blood sugar two hours after eating, that is where you should be seeing it at regular levels.Fat free doesn't mean sugar free, it amazes me hos something that is good for you can have sugar in it but it does.

Congratulations! Way to go, keep up the good work

OMG That is horrible. I hope you filed a complaint with the state against this guy. I went and looked to see where you are from because I truly thought you were in Florida as I was reading. I am glad that you have found a good doctor now. Whoever this guy is everyone should be warned to stay away from him. Bless your heart.

How did you get your insurance to cover this? I was told they never pay for plastic surgery since it is cosmetic. Good luck with your surgery, One of those recliners that helps you stand up would be great for not having to strain to get up and down.

I was initally denied as well, it's part of the game depending on your insurance. When the doctor sent an appeal letter less than thirty days later I was approved. It will happen for you, you have to keep pushing the insurance gods until they argee with you.

Good luck, keep walking you'll get rid of the gas pains faster that way.

Yes I am Diabetic and the doctor is the one who told me to drink them

My surgeon wants me to drink Glucerna, Boost Glucose Control and Atkins shakes for my Protein. They taste good and are from 10 to 16gr per shake and I am to drink three a day which seems like a lot to me and I have only been able to get two a day down so far. I am still the liquids stage of this since I was only sleeved 9 days ago. Also I know my BS is going to be all over for a while but this afternoon when I checked it after a Boost shake it was really high and I had to take an insulin dose to cover myself. Now I'm kinda afraid to "eat" anymore tonight, Thoughts? Suggestions?

I started this June 2011 after gaining over 70 pounds on my already overweight body. The weight was caused by medication I was put on and of course we eneded up with the age old well if you lose weight but yes we understand that being on this medication doesn't allow you to lose weight very well. Really !?! Seriously ya think????? Well I changed physicians and when I found out that you didn't need to be 4-5 humfred pojnds or more llike you see on TV that with certain medical conditions you CAN have weight loss surgery. My new doctor was all for it when I asked him. He immediately told me to call my surgeon Dr. Birkedal and set up an appointment to see what he thought. That five minute appointment me on my journey that hopefully will end the medical problems and allow me to be a healthy weight. I have no illusions of ever being skinny or pretty but being healthy would be nice. We jumped through all the hoops put in our way and finally even with an insurance change along the way in February 2012 I was denied. They would pay for a lap band or a Roux N Y, no sleeve. Well I told my surgeon it was the sleeve or nothing. That is what he recommended and what I agree with after reading all the information on the others this was the safest for me. He sent them a nice letter which almost two months later we were approved. Sara from his office called me and said what day do you want to go? I had to arrange for time off from work with much whining of the boss who told me I didn't need the surgery I just needed to quit eating. So after I ripped him a new one and told him he couldn't really stop me from taking the time off, I set up my date of Wedmesday April 25th 2012. Each day I became more anxious and finally they told me to take my Xanax everyday instead of as needed. It did help a little. My anxiety and fear was due to a fear of being put under and not waking up. We had to be there at 5:30am for 7:30 start time. The Anesthesiologist was awesome and spent a great deal of time with me prior letting me know what was going on and re-assuring me that all would be fine. After one last kiss from my fiance off I went. They had me out before I ever got to the OR. Woke up in a very nice room with a view. Everything seems to be going well until late that night. I was up walking within hours after the surgery which I found out was longer than they thought due to my wonderful anatomy.They went to take my BP and it was terribly high, I am not Hypertensive so this is disturbing. All night of BP readings many meds lots of shots they decided two days later the machine was messed up. Alyway I have normal BP readings everyday when I check them. They had to check for leaks before I could even have ice chips so nothing at all in my mouth until late Thursday afternoon and finally broth on Friday. The pain medication what was ordered ran out in the pharmacy at the hospital so they had to change that the last day I was there. Apparently it is on national backorder (Thank you big Pharmacia for not having what we need available), since they had already written the script thinking I was going to be going home the AM following surgery they didn't change it. They wanted me to stay another day so another script could be written but I was like NO I want to go home, they were great but I want to go home now. The surgeon actually stopped what he was doing and found a pharamcy that had the treasured red liquid for my pain and we left and got it. First post op appointment Tuesday May 1, 2012. Appointment went well. All incisions closed and looking good, all bandages pulled. First weight loss 6 pounds bringing me down to 244. I have to admit I was disappointed I really thought it would be more, but they were very happy with it and added regular liquids and if I feel okay I can try cream soup and pudding or applesauce. My biggest problem other than gas has been keeping my blood sugar from dropping to low. Go back in one week.