alley-gator

Far Haha oops. So fat Haha it is appropriate.

I am on day one of my pre op diet, and so fat have a shake and some broth down. Don't feel too hungry, but I know I will this afternoon! However I am determined not to cheat, at the end when my Dr asks how the diet went I am determined to sag I didn't cheat once! I bought a new blender and some new protein shakes and I feel all set! I also just ordered some samples of nectar and the chicken soup so....yay!

I hear you, I am being sleeved between semesters, I got back on the 14th and I sure do hope i am feeling up to it!

Yeah, for sure infected. Get seen ASAP, infection can travel quickly.

Oh well Congrats and welcome to the board! It's so close!

This is a fantastic pep talk, thank you so much for taking the time to write it!

It is totally affecting me, I had a nightmare last night that I was drinking too fast after being sleeved and it hurt! I woke up panicking!

I am all over the place today! Insurance has approved, date scheduled, but I am terrified. I've been on these boards reading and researching forever it seems like, and I've read the amazing success stories along with the frightening complications that have been here recently. One second I am resolved to going through with it and know I need it. I'm good at reminding myself what this surgery has the potential to help me do. Then next second, I am terrified of complications, losing out on food, feeling restricted, wondering if I really need this, or if I would be ok like I am? Of course I know I need this, bit how do I convince that other side of myself to calm down and go through with it? It doesn't help that my mom thinks I am crazy & this is sooo drastic. My husband supports me but he is a skinny minny so can't really understand. Thanks for reading, guys. I think it helps to just get it all out. I am going to talk the a therapist on the 12, 8 days before surgery, and will continue to see her for a while afterwards to help work out issues that come up. There is probably no one in the world who couldn't benefit from therapy & I'm certainly no exception... What did you guys do to help with the bad anxiety that comes from this journey? I don't want to get scared into banking out now.

Mine said 1 night as well, but I have always been really sick after anesthesia so I anticipate 2 but would love to be home recovering nicely after 1. My Dr sends you home after the leak test in the morning.

Oh yay we can keep in contact and update how We are doing and what we can handle when! So glad I found someone crazy enough to do it right before Christmas!

You too cami, I am sure you'll do great!

So... I just got my date, Dec 20th! Sorta sucks right before Christmas, and my in laws will be here and they don't know about it, but I do not care at all! I'm getting sleeved! Start my preop diet Thursday... Anyone else on the 20th?

I haven't been sleeved yet, I will be within the next month, and I swear this is going to be me! I have stashes of clothes that I am sure I will not want to get rid of.

I feel you! I have had to be proactive and aggressive through every stage of this journey, my doctors office sort of sucks at follow up, but he is the best doctor here, so I put up with it. Half the time they don't return calls at all! Ugh. I just got my insurance approval last week, and I keep calling them to schedule but haven't heard anything yet. *so* irritated. Keep going though, you will get there!

Yesterday I packed up my shorts for the year, and put them into storage. I get a sleeve date on Monday, but its so nice to know that I won't fit on those shorts next year, and that I will be buying all new shorts instead. I'll give those to some of my larger friends. Let me tell you, it felt great to know next season those shorts won't be a part of me.

My insurance called me with an approval today, I am so excited and so nervous! I will probably get my final date on Monday but it will hopefully be sometime before Christmas. It's crazy that you put in all this hard work and everything and don't ever really know if insurance will approve you. I'm so glad that parts over, now I am on to the next part of my journey!

My surgeon sent my info off to insurance for approval. I'm super nervous!

My final pcp appointment for wt less was about an hour ago. I took my clinic note to the surgeons office and it looks like it will be submitted within the week, so hopefully they do it quickly and then the insurance is quick too!

I researched plication thoroughly before deciding on the sleeve. They don't turn the stomach inside out, they fold it over on itself and sew it...think of a pumpkin role. You can watch Dr. Cottam do it on YouTube, who is my surgeon BTW. We talked about it but they are finding that it is not reversible like they thought.... The stomach grows together over the stitches and there is a lot of scar tissue. If you really want to know about it, I suggest you go to sleeveplicationtalk.com or the lap band forums and look for the plication section. In the end, if it is not reversible, then sleeve is a much better option imo.

An a1c measures how sugary your blood has been over the last 3 months. If you sugar was under contol during that time, it will be under 6 if it was over 6 that's an indicator that your sugar has been high. Some doctors use this as an indicator of diabetes. Diabetes is a co morbidity and usually qualifies you for surgery so... I don't see why it would affect you having surgery. I would be shocked if it did.

Smoking deprives literally every cell in your body of oxygen and blood. It completely affects healing and it the biggest risk factor for blood clots. Blood clots are the biggest risk of dying after surgery, and abdominal surgery has the biggest risk of blood clots. The single cigarette before surgery won't do much harm in the scheme of things, but a cigarette afterwards could potentially have devastating effects. I wouldn't chance it.

Implanon was awful for me. I gained 50 pounds on it and then I couldn't lose it for the life of me. Then one day, I was laying new sod and the shovel slipped and hit it. It broke in half, and they had to cut my arm apart to get it out. In my opinion implanon is *not* a good choice. I swear so many of us have these issues with birth control. If it isn't one issue its another. I've been so much happier not taking anything at all.