MyGastricSleeveLife

Good luck!! My surgery is today! I'm just trying to stay busy until it's time to go to the hospital this afternoon!!

I'm in TX, but not South Texas. I'm in the NW Austin area.

Good luck!! my surgery is today too, but not until the late afternoon (3:30). I hope all goes well for both of us!!

I'm on MFP. I just sent a friend request. My name there is mygastricsleevelife. My surgery is today. If you search the forums, you can also find some other threads for MFP members. I've added quite a few friends from here over there. :-)

Katieb - my insurance doesn't have any kind of weight loss surgery. There is a weight loss surgery rider that my husband's company did not opt to add to their plan. Therefore, I did not have an option for insurance to pay regardless of my BMI or any comorbidities I may have.

I'm self-pay. I ended up at $15,100 total with administrative fees and a little extra for blood work that didn't go through my insurance company. The fee includes everything at the hospital and one year of followup appointments with the surgeon (about one every 6 weeks after the initial one about a week after surgery). We financed it, so we will end up paying a lot more over time, but it was worth my peace of mind to have a local surgeon.

Protein is really important to recovery though, so you should try different ways to get it in. :-)

Welcome! My surgery is tomorrow. I'll be 37 in August. I'm married & have 2 daughters (12 & almost 8). I've been overweight since my first pregnancy. My highest weight was 310 in 2008. My highest recent weight was 279 two weeks ago when I started my pre-op diet. I lost 12.6 lbs. I haven't been able to get below 274 in the last 6 months, so it feels great to be at 267 now. My ultimate goal is around 150-160 lbs. I'm 5'8.5" Feel free to check out my blog (listed in my signature) and become my friend on MyFitnessPal if you use it - my name is mygastricsleevelife there. Welcome! Good luck on your journey! Happy Mother's Day!

Good luck! My surgery is tomorrow afternoon. I know there is still a long road ahead, but I'm looking forward to the ride!!

Thanks, Mina! I'm going to try to post an update tomorrow night if I'm "with it" enough after surgery (my surgery isn't until late afternoon), but I might not post until Tuesday.

I had "Mango Peach" and "Grape Frost" - I liked the grape better than the mango, but both had the horrible aftertaste. I think after surgery I will stick with adding Beneprotein to my broth and Crystal Light to help get protein in instead.

on their site - http://www.theisopurecompany.com/en/drinks - there is a little thing that says "where to buy" that will light up when you put your mouse over it. There are links to those company's sites there but it looks like GNC is the only one that is actually a physical store as far as I'm aware. I'm not sure if you've tried it yet, but I bought two flavors & had both today & didn't like either. I mixed Crystal Light with them to try to get rid of the aftertaste, but it didn't help all that much. Personally, I'll be sticking to other things after surgery because I really didn't like the aftertaste on either flavor I tried even though they tasted okay going down. I know everyone is different though.

One more day for me - mine is the 14th. Of course, I got my period so now I have to deal with that on top of surgery!! Oh well. I just want tomorrow to get here already!!

I didn't have to do it to confirm ketosis, but to shrink my liver. I had to have 650 calories with at least 70 grams of protein, less than 60 grams carbs, and around 10 grams fat per day for 2 weeks prior to surgery. I could eat normal food if I stayed in the guidelines, but I opted to stick primarily to protein shakes. I lost 12.6 lbs. Today I'm on all clear liquids in final preparation for surgery tomorrow.

I'm not a doctor, so I'm not sure, but I know it is the hormones in the pill & some other forms of birth control that are what cause the blood clot risk, so I would think a non-hormonal type would be okay - but again I'm not a doctor, so I really don't know.

My surgery is tomorrow too. I just wrote a blog post last night (my blog is in my signature) about my emotions & thoughts at this point. Overall, I'm at peace about this & know it will help me be with my kids longer, but those fears do creep in sometimes. Hang in there! We'll be on the other side of surgery and on to our new lives before we know it!

I've read on here how some people had to take an IUD out too. It all depends on the hormones that are in it. That's what increases the chance of clots. I'd talk to your surgeon and/or OB/GYN. Somewhere I read about a non-hormonal IUD that someone didn't have to take out.

My surgery is tomorrow, so I have no idea what will happen on this particular journey, but I know in the past with other programs I've done I've had the scale stay the same and lost inches, so I know it's possible. My husband is going to take my pictures & measurements today as my starting point & we plan to actually do pictures & measurements every Sunday from here on out to track everything. Every little quarter inch makes a difference! :-)

Just as with diet, many doctors differ with this. I just asked my surgeon yesterday about it at my pre-op appointment. He said that after about 3 months or so, it would be okay to take an occasional ibuprofen or other NSAID, but that they don't want people taking it regularly because it can erode the stomach and cause bleeding issues also if taken all the time. They'd prefer Tylenol or other pain medicines for life after the sleeve. He did say there are other anti-inflammatories that they can prescribe that are not as irritating to the stomach as ibuprofen is also if there was ever a need to take something like that on a regular basis.

I'm having my surgery on Monday. I have to stay on a clear liquid diet for 2 weeks after surgery, so I won't be having any pureed or mushy foods until the beginning of June. I sure hope I don't have a lot of pain, especially since I'm used to sleeping on my side too!

I bought some Isopure clear liquid at GNC. There are also Beneprotein powder packets that you can mix into water, crystal light, or broth to add protein to those things. Unfortunately, Beneprotein is only found online at nestlenutritionstore.com or Amazon, so it might not help depending on how close you are to your clear liquid stage.

I think sometimes people don't understand the difference between surgical gas and intestinal/stomach gas. I know for a while I didn't understand that it would be surgical gas inside my system.

I was told to stop 30 days before and not start again until 30 days after surgery because of the risk of blood clots and just use condoms or other alternative methods if sexually active during that time. My surgeon said I should be fine to go back on it 30 days after surgery since the pills are small enough to take well. I've read on here that some doctors say not to use the pill at all after surgery & to use some other form of birth control, but my surgeon didn't see an issue with it as long as it's 30 days after.

Mine is the 14th. Right about now I want to just crawl in a hole and skip tonight, tomorrow and Monday morning & skip right ahead to Monday afternoon for surgery. Tonight I just feel like eating since I can't have anything except Clear liquids tomorrow. However, I know that's not right & I really don't want to because I know I'll regret it. I've always had a hard time with Mother's Day, especially since my mom & mother-in-law both passed away, so I just want to skip tomorrow. I also want to skip tomorrow since I know I can't Celebrate with food since I'll be having clear liquids (and probably be visiting the bathroom) all day! I want to skip Monday morning since I can't have anything to eat or drink after midnight Sunday & my surgery isn't until 3:30 PM. UGH! I'll probably be ready to pass out by then! I just want this weekend to be over with for so many reasons! I need to put on a happy face for my daughters tomorrow though because I know they made me things at school & they're looking forward to Mother's Day. I just want Monday to be here and for everything to go well with surgery!!! I have a FB page for my blog if anyone wants to follow it that way. https://www.facebook.com/MyGastricSleeveLife If someone makes a FB group, I'll gladly join too.

besides what others said, if you eat crappy food now after eating well, your body will probably revolt & you'll end up in the bathroom all afternoon!! I've stuck to having more SF popsicles or SF Jell-O when I've craved stuff. It's not exactly the same, but gives me something other than liquid and it's okay by my doctor's guidelines. I'm NOT looking forward to tomorrow since I have to just to all clear liquids all day tomorrow since it's the day before surgery! So much for Mother's Day. I guess I'll just have to cherish the non-food gifts!!