Monday_thru_Friday

Hi All! My surgery is scheduled for November 11 and I'm starting the pre-op liquid diet on October 28th. I'm going into this very determined, but with very little support. I'm looking for someone to share ideas and thoughts with, via email, phone and text. I live in the midwest (Central time zone) and have Verizon for my phone carrier. If you're willing to help me out I'd be grateful. Thanks!

Hi all. I have to do a 2 week pre-op liquid diet. I started on Thursday and as off right now I don't see how I'll make until the 11th without cheating. Four protein shakes a day. My stomach is growling, I feel week, irritable...and of course every commercial on TV is about pizza or McDonalds. Did anyone else have trouble with the pre-op diet? And more importantly is it like this after surgery? Because if it is, its going to be much more difficult than I thought.

My surgeon has only done 15 sleeves ever, but he has done 1,000 RNY's and he told me that the RNY surgery is much more complicated than the sleeve. So, I'm going to say a prayer and have faith that he'll do a great job.

Hi all. I have gone through all the hoops to have the sleeve...the nutrition classes, the psych test, the consultation with the surgeon and now I'm just waiting on approval from insurance, which my doctor thinks will be no problem. So here's my dilema...I am going to have the VSG and nothing will change my mind. However, there are always those nay-sayers, pessimists, judgmental types, as well as those who are genuinely concerned for me, worried something could go wrong, or those who simply think I'm taking the easy way out. I want to avoid all of that drama and I don't want to tell ANYONE. Not my my co-workers and not my friends or family. I only see my boyfriend on the weekends and I think I could fake a headache or something to avoid intimacy for a few weeks. Is this wrong of me? Am I nuts to think I could take a cab to the hospital, tell my employer I need a few "vacation" days and go it alone having nobody know the truth?

THANK YOU for posting this! Lately all I've read on this forum is about pain and hair loss and regrets. I am scheduled for surgery in November and I was about to back out but your post has restored my hope and faith. Congrats on your wonderful success!

Yep, I did. I told both my aunt, who was VERY supportive, and my boyfriend, who didn't have much to say. He's not a fan of doctors in general...thinks the "herbal" way is always better, but I guess he's going to go along with it. I told him if anyone asks, just tell them I had my gallbladder out, because my surgeon is going to remove that at the same time he does the sleeve. I guess we'll see how it goes. I'm scheduled for Nov. 11th. I'm excited, but scared shitless too!

I had chemo in 2005 and about half of my hair fell out. I have thin hair to begin with and it's blonde, so it looked terrible and I cut it short. It came back VERY slowly and then about a year ago I began using a shampoo and conditioner with Emu Oil in it. It seemed to thicken it up quite a bit. But like every before me has said, if it's going to fall out, there's no way you can stop it. There's no vitamin or mineral or shampoo that will stop it. I stocked up on Toni Pony's - hair clips, combs, falls, etc. I wore them for nearly 2 years until I felt like my hair was normal again. Now that I feel like I have beautiful hair again, I'm getting sleeved in 3 weeks. Here we go again...it sucked losing it the first time and I dread going through it again.

I'm having surgery November 11th but the more buddies I can have for the long haul the better. I'm on the computer every day and I don't have a lot of family/friend support so please feel free to email me at kiwimitts@hotmail.com. My name is Kristie. Hope to hear from you all!

Glad you are feeling better. Your inital post about how bad you felt after surgery scared the crap out of me. I already have major health problems (which is the main reason I'm having surgery) so the thought of a difficult recover almost made me sick. I only get to take one week off work after surgery so I am praying for a smooth recovery.

I haven't had the surgery yet (scheduled for 11/11) but my doctor warned me that if I don't follow the dietary rules: 1. I could have a leak and end up with major issues from that and 2. Not getting enough protein and liquids would make my hair fall out. Don't want that, so I'm mentally gearing up to follow the rules however hard they may be. Good luck to you. I hope you can get back on track.

Best of luck to you. Sending positive thoughts your way!!!!

I'm scheduled to have my VSG in early November and my doctor said I should take 2 weeks off of work. I work in an office...nothing physical whatsoever. I doubt I can get that much time off work. I was told by the nurse that I'll only be in the hospital over night, but she also said to take 2 weeks off. Can those of you that had surgery tell me what a realistic recovery time would be? Thanks!

I'm scheduled to have my VSG in early November and my doctor said I should take two weeks off of work. I work in an office, holding down a chair all day, nothing physical whatsoever. I highly doubt I'd be able to get that much time off. I was told by the nurse that I'll only be in the hospital over night, but she also said to take 2 weeks off. Can those of you that had surgery tell me what a realistic recovery time would be? Thanks!

I was first scheduled for November 1st and now it's up in the air between November 1st, 5th or 9th...it all depends on my surgeon's schedule, which I will hopefully find out next week sometime. I'm so excited (and nervous and scared)...

I have Blue Cross/Blue Shield as well and my paperwork was submitted 9/22 and I got my approval letter in the mail on 10/5 so I guess that's just shy of 2 weeks. I included a personal letter with the pre-approval request from my surgeon and it was approved the first try and I wll be having surgery either November 1st or 5th. I hope yours is approved as well. Good luck!

Congrats! That is GREAT news. I also submittied to insurance on Sept 22 and got the letter yesterday that I was approved. And on the first try! Wow! My surgery date is (hopefully) Nov 11th so I'm going to be right behind you. So excited to know there are others taking this journey with me.

I really hope your insurance approves the sleeve quickly. I've been reading horror stories about how it takes months, sometimes years to get them to approve it after doing several appeals. I actually wrote a 2 page letter to my insurance company explaining why the sleeve was the best option for me and my doctor included it with his request for pre-approval and they approved my sleeve the very first time! I was shocked!!!

I was just wondering how long you had to be on a liquid diet pre-op? My doctor is recommending 2 weeks. I know it's going to be hard. I told him, if I could diet like that I wouldn't need the surgery..lol!

Thanks for the great advice everyone. I agree that I do need to tell at least one person in the event something goes wrong and I've decided to tell my aunt. I don't have parents and I trust my aunt very much. The reason I hesitate to tell my boyfriend until AFTER the surgery is because he's not a fan of doctors or conventional medicine and I fear he will try to talk me out of it. Don't get me wrong, he is a wonderful guy, but when it comes to medical issues we don't always see eye to eye. I'm sure I won't be able to hide the scars, so he'll find out. One other thing I've though about, is that I'm putting him and my aunt in a precariuos position by asking them not to tell ANYONE about my surgery. I feel like they may "slip" and say something or have to lie on my behalf and I don't want that either. I don't want others to know because I don't want to advertise my struggle with my weight or my weakness for not losing it myself. I totally agree with saying "portion control" is how I'm losing weight. Not a lie, but not full disclosure either. When I got home from work yesterday I had a letter in the mail saying my insurance company approved me for the sleeve!!!!! I am hoping to have surgery Nov. 11. The nurse said I'd only be in the hospital over night and even tho they recommend taking a week off work, if I have surgery on a Thursday I can try to go back to work on Monday. Yay!

Wow! You look awesome and your post is so inspirational to those of us still waiting for surgery. Did you have any complications or things that were a problem? Or was it smooth sailing? Have you been exercising? How is the loose skin? Congrats to you, what an inspiration!

Good luck! I hope everything goes well and in a week or so you'll be feeling great. Say hello to your new lease on life!