Joisey01

If it was easy, everyone would do it!

Oh Wow!!!! Yay you!!!!!! A huge NSV!!!

Tomorrow is my EGD. Very excited. Sleeved on the 20th. 6 days of liquids left pre-op. I am so ready for this.

LOL, BrickHouse! That made me chuckle! Thanks!

You are welcome Nacol. I'm just glad you are doing well. I was concerned with your worry from last night. Hernias don't always give you grief. At least you can get it taken care of BEFORE it becomes a problem!

Hi ShrinkyDink! I posted today's experience titled Complete Success! Thank you for asking. Long story short, it went EXTREMELY well! I've been cleared for surgery next Thurdsay! If you have specific questions, please message me. I'll do what I can to help! Good luck!

I know you were pretty scared last night. I'm glad it went as well as it did for you! I don't even have a sore throat at all. They found nothing wrong on the way down the gullet. I am very lucky. The anesthesia didn't do anything but knock me out and make me happy, happy, happy. I came home and slept it off for 5 hours. I'm fine now. I'm not even hungry, but I did have a shake just to be sure I had something. I'm making up for lost time on my liquids, tho. I am SOOOOOO happy you're ok! I was thinking of you!

Hi Noreen! I've been looking for you around here. I figured you must be traveling. I can't just shake up the Protein shakes. I LOVE them done in the blender! I've learned to add sugar free stuff to bump up the flavor. I have to be there at 08:30 with my surgery at 10:15. When is yours?

It really isn't that bad. I am glad that they do the test. I wouldn't want to have a sleeve if the important part of eating isn't up to snuff! I'm not sure if everyone is required to have an EGD. Every doctor and insurance company is different. You can ask your surgeon if you need to have it.

An EGD is when the doctor goes in with a camera in your mouth, down your esophagus, stomach and part of the small intestine. It is to check that everything is looking good and in good working order prior to having the sleeve done. It's a pretty important test considering a good portion of your stomach will be removed. They put you out completely. The last think you remember is the anesthesiologist putting a ring in your mouth. After that, you wake up in recovery. A procedure that takes literally less than 10 minutes. The anesthesia takes all day to get out of your system, though.

My out of pocket expense is set by my insurance company at $3,000. I had a car accident in January. I met all but $817 of that. At my final appointment with my surgeon, I had to pay them that $817. Today I had my EGD at the hospital and had to pay nothing. When I get sleeved next Thursday, I will pay nothing. $4,000 is not an abnormal amount to pay out of pocket in our area. It all depends on what your insurance limits are. I have learned over time that bariatric surgery is not cheap. My insurance company has deemed the surgery medically necessary for me. I don't consider that to be elective in the least. If I don't have this surgery, I will die. Is that what you consider to be elective? It's always about dollars and cents. I hope this helps you out even a little. I hope you can work this out and you have complete success!!

Day 1 of the pre-op liquid diet wasn't horrible. As a general rule, the Protein shakes are easy for me to tolerate. This brand, the doctor requires us to use since it will give the same results for shrinking the liver for every single patient. The smell of this protein is really hard to take. I've got the vanilla brand so that I can add a variety of flavors. No matter what I have added for flavor has not helped one bit. I got 3 shakes in so far. Need to get 2 more in before bed. I have all of my Fluid requirements in already, but will continue to sip for the rest of the evening. I have some Jello in the fridge and popsicles in the freezer. I WILL DO THIS!

Good luck, Limalover! Just remember that if you do have sleep apnea, the chances are great that you will 'outgrow' it with the sleeve! Good luck!

I have never heard this until the other day. A friend of mine said that after you have any kind of bariatric surgery, the surgeon gives you an ID type of card to say that you had the surgery. If you present the card at a restaurant, they are supposed to allow you to order off the children's menu. Has anyone else heard of this?

My sleep study was required by my insurance company. I passed with flying colors! One less thing. I have enough co-morbidities already!

WOOT WOOT!!!! I don't have sleep apnea either! I was surprised!

LOL BrickHouse! I've had one before. It's not bad at all. Now if you added colonoscopy to it, then I'd head right to the shrink.

Thanks, Bella! Good luck with the Optifast! Keep me posted on your progress! Good luck to you!

YAY!!!!!!!!

I agree the children's menus are not healthy. Fried chicken fingers, macaroni and cheese, hot dogs. I just thought that it was a nice idea as an option. I know it depends on the restaurant as to what is on their kid's menu. Those aren't my favorite foods anyway. I'd rather have a meal and a take out container with leftovers for a few days. appetizers is a good idea.

That's awesome! I had no idea!

I'm in the middle of my 2 week pre-op liquid diet. Day 7. I've lost 12 pounds so far. I have my surgery on the 20th. I'm sure I could lose more weight if I were exercising as well. But with being restricted to 800 calories, if I exercise, I will be hungrier. I'm allowed popsicles, sugar free drinks that are not carbonated and caffeine free, Jello and my Protein shakes. Today has been a problem for me for some reason. I've been hungrier than I have been in the last 7 days. I have just eaten more Jello and had a couple of popsicles and am just drinking as much as I can possibly handle. You're not going to fail as long as you don't cheat. Some weight loss is better than none. My doctor did not put an amount on the weight loss he wants me to lose. Just follow the liquid diet. One drink at a time. One spoon of Jello at a time. You can do this. You've got 5 days left and on day 6 you have surgery!! YOU CAN DO THIS!!!!!!! Go get yourself a drink of your choice and think about how your life will be so much better after the sleeve! You CAN do this! (so can I!!) Good luck and hang in there!

I use Schiff brand Digestive Advantage Intense Bowel Support. I also use fiber capsules in addition. I have found that the combination of both help keep my flare-ups to a minimum. It's been a long time since I've had problems, but then I haven't missed a day, either.

I haven't been sleeved as of yet. I go next Thursday. I am hoping that by changing my entire way of eating will help with the IBS. My intestinal tract has been my Achilles heal my whole life. All of my stress is connected to my intestines!

I am on day 7 of a 2 week liquid diet. I have not cheated but i will tell you that I do not understand what is up with today. I'm hungrier today than I have been in the last week. It's only 2:00 in the afternoon and I've already had 3 shakes, a ton of Jello and 3 popsicles. I just finished my 3rd shake and man.....I am so hungry. I won't cheat. I've come too far to even think about it. I've lost 12 lbs already......Keep on keeping on!!! One week to go.