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Oh, I'm interested to hear how that goes. My doctor is saying I need to have an IVC filter as well, and the hematologist says it needs to come out no later than six weeks out of surgery. I have no idea what the procedure it like (or how much it's going to cost me...yikes).

Ugh, Protein bullets can be nasty. I've already tried a bunch of flavors in preparation for the surgery. So far the "clear Niagra grape" and "blue raspberry" from Proasis are the best tasting that I've found. Of course, that's a relative term. They're tiny (2.9 ounces) and have 25 grams of protein (not 50 like the ones you have). I have to ice them completely down, and sometimes I'll add a wee bit of Water to make them more palatable, but I can get them down. I hope you find something you can stomach very soon.

I don't really see how that is possible, as the procedure is very new in the bariatric weight loss world, and hasn't been done very much on bariatric patients prior to 2006 or so. Other's comments about the surgery being used for years on stomach cancer patients makes perfect sense. If there were massive, long-term effects we should know about them. I know that when I first saw my bariatric surgeon a year and a half or so ago (when I was trying to "save" my lap band) he initially suggested the RNY due to my weight. When I went back ready for the surgery this time around, he suggested the sleeve. I asked what the difference was, and he said that now that they have three or four years of data on their patients, they were seeing excellent results (comprable to RNY) without much in the way of long-term problems and they think it will be the gold standard. I'm sold.

I self-paid for a lap band out of state ten years ago. I lost thirty pounds in four months, and then I had a weird fill and had no restriction. This led to a year of me getting fill after fill after fill--while I was insisting I had no restriction-- and basically being ignored by my surgeon who was saying everything was fine. Grr. For about eight years I kept that weight off, but lost nothing else and had no restriction. When both my knees went out and I was diagnosed with arthritis and my mobility went down the crapper, I started putting on weight again. I finally made an appointment with the surgeon here, hoping that maybe he could figure out how to get my band working. Unfortunately they did some tests and confirmed my band was completely defective and they couldn't get it to work. He suggested I have it removed and either replace it or do a different surgery. As a self-pay patient, though, I decided that I couldn't afford it at that time. A year later and now not only am I gaining weight, but I am breathless walking across the room because I'm so sedentary with my knees. Enough. One home equity loan later....here I am, praying that when I get my date and have my surgery that everything goes smoothly, because this is taking my last thin dime. lol.

It would depend on your policy, I suppose. You may need to get it out and dig through it. If you've met $200 of your $500 deductible, that would mean you have $300 of your deductible remaining, which you will definitely have to pay. The question is whether you have an 80/20 plan or something like that. If you do, the insurance will pay 80% of the surgery costs and you will be responsible for 20% of the rest, up to a specific out-of-pocket maximum. It's possible you just have 100% coverage in which case...woo hoo!

When I had my lap band I was told to pack items for my "monthly" as surgery/anesthesia will often cause an early appearance. And sure enough, the day after my surgery I got my period. I'm not sure about the heavy nature of your period, though. I wouldn't think they could have done anything to your uterus during surgery ( ), but if you're concerned, it probably can't hurt to call your doctor and just ask if this is normal.

You need to find some Protein sources you can tolerate. You don't have to love them or enjoy them, but you need to be able to get them down. I can't imagine that long-term you can continue to eat 300 calories a day with almost no protein and not become very, very sick.

I think mine will be in May. I'm self-pay, and I'll get my date after my psych eval at some point, which is on April 13th. Sooooo...I'm guessing May. I hope.

I'm self-pay, but I would say if you have the option of having the surgery through your insurance, I'd grab it, even if it's a bit more. The advantage is that if there are any complications, these charges would be covered by your insurance as well. I've got the money set aside for my surgery, but if anything goes wrong... I'm going to be in big trouble because my insurance will pay nothing on anything that arises from the surgery since it's not covered.

I haven't had the sleeve, but I do have a band, and we get the slimes, too. Basically, your stomach is full (or in the case of bands, sometimes you are blocked), and there's no place for your saliva to go so it starts sitting on top of the food and backing up into your esophogus. Eventually you have to PB it up (productive burp...lol). It's not pleasant, and probably is an indication you're not chewing carefully enough, or you're eating too much.

That is really smart. I might do something similar. I know when I did my pre op liquid diet for my lap band (I'm getting a revision) I had massive headaches and felt awful for the first few days. Getting rid of sugar, caffeine, etc. first should make for a smoother transition.

Are you on a plan that pays 80/20? If so, it's possible they're making you come up with the 20% you'll owe after insurance pays before you have the surgery. I think if that's the case you should have been informed right from the get-go so you had time to get the money together, but I don't know. I'm self-pay and I know they won't even schedule my surgery date without the money in hand. Greedy folks!

You must be just like me! The second I decided in my head that I was definitely having the surgery, I went a bit bonkers and was freaking out and very frightened I wouldn't survive the surgery, etc. I have found that the more I educate myself, the more I read, the more questions I ask...the better I am. As I've had my pre-op appointments (I've seen a hematologist and had my legs ultrasounded because of blood clots running in my family) and as those appointments go smoothly, I'm getting more confident. I still have my moments, but they are less frequent and I'm getting more and more excited and want my surgery date now.

I'm originally from Greenville, but I've lived in Columbia for about ten years now.

Thanks for the info! It was something nagging at me. Good to know.

Does anyone know if the titanium staples would set of a metal detector (at the airport, for instance), or if they would make us ineligible for an MRI?

Best of luck to you!

There's an interesting book called "Do One Thing Different" that I enjoyed. It's about stopping those "automatic" behaviors by changing just one simple thing that sort of jars the "automatic" behavior out of being automatic, and makes you make a conscious choice. I have to remind myself to use the tools in it, but I managed to quit picking up fast food on the way home by purposely changing what exit I get off the highway, for instance. Anyway, it might be worth the read. I'm sure after surgery I will have to have a slew of new tools to use to replace the way I've been using food.

Oh, sorry! I wasn't sure if we were allowed to put links. The scale I have is this one: http://www.amazon.com/Tanita-HD351-Digital-Memory-Function/dp/B0000U6F2M/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1332767263&sr=8-7 And their list of 550 lb capacity scales is here: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_0_9?url=search-alias%3Dhpc&field-keywords=550+pound+scale&sprefix=550+pound%2Chpc%2C131

I have a Tanita HD-351. It was expensive for a scale (I think I paid about $75), but it weighs up to 440 pounds. I weigh every day, so a good scale is invaluable to me. If you check Amazon, there are 550 lb capacity scales starting at about $50.00. No idea how reliable they are, though.

Congrats! I hope I'm there someday, too!

I'm having my band removed and I'm being sleeved. My doc said that he can do it in one procedure provided there isn't an excess of scar tissue or other issues when he opens me up. If there's a lot of scar tissue, he'll just remove the band and he wants to give it 3 months to heal before doing the sleeve. I'm pretty confident he'll be able to do it one procedure, but there's no guarantee. I'm okay with that.

I just had my first appointment. I had already pretty much decided on the sleeve, and I had done a lot of research on the sleeve already, so my questions were more surgeon specific. I asked... How many sleeve operations they had done. What their complication rate was. What type of complications do they see? What percentage weight loss do they average? I asked a bunch of questions about removal of my lap band and complications...that's just me. Do they use a drain after surgery? How long would my hospital stay be? What pre-op testing do they do? We discussed an IVC filter in detail because I have to get one before surgery. I can't remember what else. I was very confident in my surgeon's answers. He knows his stuff. I think the whole appointment lasted about a half hour or 45 minutes.

Oh thank you. Yes, I'm hoping that the weight loss means I'll get a few more years out of my knees before they require replacement. The recliner seems to be the way to go after surgery. I'll plan on that, then.

I think it's great that you're thinking about it at your age. Certainly, you need to be certain that you're ready to give up some things. But if you are mature enough to handle it, I say go for it. I wish I had made this decision long ago, frankly.