Need-a-Sleeve

Gas in the left shoulder is from the residual (leftover) gas they used to blow up your tummy to perform the procedure laparoscopically. The surgical team tries to let as much of it out as possible prior to closing your incisions but a small amount will remain. It naturally gravitates into your upper left diaphragm, which in turn radiates the pain into your left shoulder area. Some will be absorbed over a period of about a week, but the best thing to do is to walk it off. Not only are you causing your lungs & diaphragm to expand, you are also preventing the #1 threat--blood clots. Walk as much and as often as you can tolerate & you will recover faster.

The sleeve has been harder for me as the c-section was 30 years ago! The laparoscopic hysterectomy 5 years ago was also easier. The big adjustment for me has been figuring out my stomach capacity & the fascia stitch in my left side which constantly pulls when I move. I am a week post-op & still taking pain meds.

I tried all the Isopure RTD flavors pre-op & only liked the Grape Frost & Blue Raspberry. Now I am a week post-op & still drinking the Grape Frost but adding 2 oz of Grape juice to it to mask the whey Protein taste. That keeps the carbs low, the liquid is still clear & I don't have to worry about getting in my protein.
I can guarantee you when I get to go on full liquids later this week, I will be done with grape anything! My other "go to" is nectar protein & Isopure unflavored.

A couple years before I was sleeved I had chemotherapy for prostate cancer. One of the side effects was a temporary loss of my sense of taste. With that I lost the joy of eating but I still had a big hunger.
Now I have much less hunger but I have the joy of eating. Even though it's just a few bites, I rejoice in the taste. Plus I have a healthy, slim body to fuel with the food.
And.... I am alive.
I like now better.

I work for one of the carriers & was told they went by the BMI submitted by the physician requesting the pre-determination for the procedure.
When my BMI hit 40, I went to get medical clearance by my PCP & then to the surgeon. It was 40 the day I weighed in at the surgeon & that is what they went with--in the meantime, I am on the pre-op diet (my own choice as it didn't seem right for me to make the decision to change & then gorge).
Still waiting for the approval but have lost 7 pounds in 5 days, so that helps me!

Very familiar! Had similar pain thru my 5th week & on occasion it was so bad I thought I needed to go to the E.R. (I am a nurse & definitely don't have a low pain threshold.)
Went to the surgeon to rule out a herniation, all was normal! Now I am 7 weeks & it is all gone!

I had the same thing last for about a week when I was a month post-op. Hot knife when I would bend over to tie my shoes or get up from a couch, etc. Doc said the nerves were healing and was totally normal. All good since then.

Yes, I had this exactly at about 2 or 2.5 weeks.
It lasted for about 4-5 days while stuff healed inside. I couldn't walk or move much without a stabbing knife pain, which clearly was due to incision stuff. I was even in tears sometimes.
What helped me was Spanx and first aid tape. I taped up the painful areas so they couldn't jiggle or get stretched, then wore Spanx to hold it in. It was magic!!!
After it had a chance to heal, I was pain-free and have been for 3 weeks now.

curves is beneficial to someone who doesn't have and pretty much has never had a workout regimen, or for anyone that isn't comfortable at a gym. how DARE anyone in the medical profession say that movement and exercise isn't beneficial. That just irritates the ever lovin' hell outta me. I think its a great way to get started!

Even if you are on someone else's insurance, that does not give them the right to dictate your medical care. It's illegal and HIPAA protects your medical privacy. Your father would have no rights to have sued your former surgeon, he was not the patient. Now, of course he can try to drop you from the insurance after the fact, which in my opinion is a really crappy thing to do to a child. Unfortunately, people in 12 step programs can get extremely over zealous with wanting to share the program. IT DOES NOT WORK FOR EVERYONE! In particular, people with food addictions. As an alcoholic, he can avoid having another drink the rest of his life and live a normal productive existence. Unfortunately, never eating again is not an option. If he had to have just 1 drink a day...I wonder what his success would be? Food addicts are faced with their demon everyday.
You are in a tough situation. Personally if you are prepared for the financial consequences of being dropped by the insurance and potentially losing assistance with your tuition, then go for it using the insurance. Hide it from them. Make sure your insurance knows that you will take legal action if they share your medical information with your father or anyone other than you. Laws are there to protect your privacy!! All correspondence should go directly to you if you live at a different address. Call the insurance company and make this clear with them. They can get in big legal and financial trouble for breaking the law!
Good Luck...

Sorry for quoting your post twice , I am replying on my nook and it doesnt seem to be app friendly on here, anyway I also received a letter from cigna stating they didnt see a medical necessity... i contacted my surgery cordinator and she worked with my pcp on a letter that stated medical necessity and i was approved , as a matter of fact I called and found out today .... do not let that letter bring you down ..... I have a sept 17 date and started my pre op liquid diet today.....

I worked in surgery for 18 years & it was always preferable to have the spouse or family member at the hospital until the person was taken to their room. The reason is if (hopefully not) there are complications, someone that can speak for you is available. As you can imagine, my mind played back all the complications we had encountered & as I am a widow knew I could not have my spouse there.
I had a friend that is a nurse there & she saw me through to my room, made sure I could work the PCA & left.
Could your sister stay with the kids until your husband sees you in your room & then trade places? Best of luck & this is NOT being selfish at all.

My God man....You are not supposed to eat till you feel full!!!! That's what got you here.
You are clearly suffering from buyer's remorse. We all do at some point after surgery. Mine only lasted 5 minutes but some have it much longer. But those people usually have leaks and other major medical complications. You're only problem seems to be a lack of committment. Buckle down and follow your plan. You do not need to feel full and vomit up everything you eat. You need to eat sensibly untill you are no longer hungry, then stop and go exercise. It will work if you stop fretting and being so pessimistic.
Sorry to be so harsh but this isn't the first one of these posts you've made.
Did your doctor or NUT give you a food plan? If so follow it please. It will work.

Hey everyone! I know it's been ages since an update lol but I've been super busy. Recently I started my first "career" job since I graduated with my Bachelors and its all so new to me. I haven't been losing pounds, but I've been losing inches. I was discouraged until I tried on clothes I bought 3 months ago were falling off of me. My bra size was a DDD 3 months ago- I'm now just a D. I now can fit mediums- Larges and XL's are too big. The lose skin is starting to bother me alot now. I'm one of those people who has to use hand gestures no matter what and so watching my arms flop around like crazy is really uncomfortable and now my tummy does the exact same thing- weird thing is, I ACTUALLY have a nice shape under all the lose skin. I hope you guys/girls are doing good!

http://www.cigna.com/assets/docs/health-care-professionals/coverage_positions/mm_0051_coveragepositioncriteria_bariatric_surgery.pdf
According to CIGNA's medical policy, a BMI of over 40 is all you need to qualify as long as you have done the other hoop jumping. I am guessing this is a paperwork error and an appeal from the surgeon will fix it.
I know it may not seem like it, but insurance companies don't really try to disqualify as many procedures as they can as a rule. They are one of the most heavily regulated industries in the USA. Because of this, most of them employ more lawyers than doctors- that's where all the red tape comes from.

One of my favorite protein shakes is Chike iced coffee mix. It has 20 grams of protein & has made my day! I drink the extra water to cover it...

Have you considered discussing this with your parents...and a family therapist? Perhaps your dad could gain some understanding that way. Also...what would the harm be in giving a more traditional attempt one last try...with your father's knowledge...to show him that it just doesn't work for you? (Of course,you would need to make it a genuine effort...not just pay lip service to it.). After all, this surgery isn't magic....the sleeve doesn't "lose the weight for you". It requires careful and deliberate changes to eating habits, and lots of hard work, physically (exercising)....the same things required in a more traditional approach. The only difference is a (possible) reduction in appetite, and a decreased capacity (in terms of the amount you can eat at a time). It isn't fool proof....you can continue to make bad food choices, and you can choose to not exercise...and you can fail to lose as much as you would like, or worse, even gain more. Perhaps the two of you can meet in the middle, and go forward together, instead of spending years feeling like you have to lie to him in order to be happy. Best of luck to you!

uh..relax..it was a joke. I drink 64 oz a day.

I totally understand. I have followed every single rule that they have set for me. Getting sleeved should not mean the end of all the things that made us happy. I can deal without the grease and junk food. I get that it will get me nowhere, but caffeine, COME ON doc!!! I'm not going to OD on it when the only time I consume it is through coffee. Funny story (speaking of condescending)....I asked my NUT when I could start having the occassional glass of wine. She literally looked down her nose at me and said, "We will talk about that at your next appointment, but you must remember that alcohol is nothing but empty calories." I wanted to look at her and say, "well so is Water, but you sure want me guzzling 64 oz of that crap a day!" Besides, I don't think there was ever a time in my life where I drank a beer because of how HEALTHY it was. DUH!!

My NUT told me that I could have caffeine free coffee before and after surgery. I am 9 weeks out and she now says that I can have my caffeine back in my coffee only. I asked her what the big deal is, and she said that the caffeine is basically dehydrating (sorry..can't remember her fancy medical term) and I will need to increase my water by one cup if I drink regular coffee. Oh darn. I'm more than willing to drink an extra glass of water for that coffee in the morning. lol.

Dana, yes they gave me something for the nausea, I was maxed out on Zofran and Phenergan, plus they put the patch on me before surgery to help prevent the nausea. im sure it helped, it just didn't seem like it at the time. I was miserable! I have to say though, that was the only time I ever wondered, why did I do this to myself?! Other than soreness and minimal pain after 24 hours, it has pretty much been smooth sailing. If I never lost another pound, I would still have this surgery 100X over for the results I have gotten in just a little over 4 months. It is totally worth 24 hours of pure misery! Good Luck!!!

Gas in the left shoulder is from the residual (leftover) gas they used to blow up your tummy to perform the procedure laparoscopically. The surgical team tries to let as much of it out as possible prior to closing your incisions but a small amount will remain. It naturally gravitates into your upper left diaphragm, which in turn radiates the pain into your left shoulder area. Some will be absorbed over a period of about a week, but the best thing to do is to walk it off. Not only are you causing your lungs & diaphragm to expand, you are also preventing the #1 threat--blood clots. Walk as much and as often as you can tolerate & you will recover faster.

I had horrible headaches for 2 days straight too. Normal with the detox. If u cheat, then you have to detox again.