Daydra

I wasn't advised either way on my bc. I did have one med they had me stop a week prior to surgery, but that was it. As far as birth control in the meantime goes, as long as you are consistent and use your chosen method correctly every time, you should be fine. You could always discuss with your doctor or Planned Parenthood, or whatever, doubling methods (condom and spermicide jelly, perhaps) and what the most effective combinations might be.

You should really check that out, that seems like they shouldn't have billed both insurances, I'd ask them why they thought they should bill both.

That's just the way billing works for those that are dual-insured. Company #1 gets billed the full amount first and pays whatever is in their contract, and then the balance gets billed to company #2 and they then pay according to their rules. More often than not, the secondary insurance picks up everything that the patient would have have been responsible for otherwise. I have insurance from my employer and have secondary coverage from Tricare Prime (hubs is military). I almost never have any out of pocket costs, whatsoever.

Oops, accidentally deleted the quote designation...

You should really check that out, that seems like they shouldn't have billed both insurances, I'd ask them why they thought they should bill both.

That's just the way billing works for those that are dual-insured. Company #1 gets billed the full amount first and pays whatever is in their contract, and then the balance gets billed to company #2 and they then pay according to their rules. More often than not, the secondary insurance picks up everything that the patient would have have been responsible for otherwise. I have insurance from my employer and have secondary coverage from Tricare Prime (hubs is military). I almost never have any out of pocket costs, whatsoever.

I lost the Stanley Cup!!! (since start of my preop)

I lost a moped if I count from my high weight.

I was sleeved at Puget Sound Surgical Center in Edmonds.

I live in Capitol Hill M-F and Port Orchard on the weekends.

It would be cool to have some kind of gathering!

This is the first time I've seen Kitsap here! I grew up in Port Orchard and am now in Silverdale. Usually when I tell someone I'm from Kitsap (oh, like the nurse at NWWLS during my 1 mo. post op...), they ask me where that is and then say something ridiculous like "Oh, that's what's on the other side of the bridge!" or "Is that where the ferry goes? I've never been over there." Nothing to say but wow...

It sounds like you are doing all the right things. You are going to be great!

Best of luck! Sorry you have to go through this, but strictures are fixable! I'm battling a kink and twist right now (kink fixed with endoscopy, but twist still hanging on...) Even if it takes more aggressive treatment, any improvement will be a relief for you.

Good luck!

I would like to add that being a good mom has nothing to do with eating birthday cake... and it's not like you can never have birthday cake ever again, you just aren't ever likely to have a large hunk of cake like we usually cut (the average person cuts cake pieces about 2-3 times bigger than a serving). You should discuss your boyfriends comments with him, however. Remind him that "reminding" you of all the things you "can't" have or do is really not helpful and only makes things harder on you.

Keep reminding yourself about all the days in the park, field trips, amusement park rides, hikes in the wilderness, swims in lakes, and anything else you can think of that you have in front of you to spend really quality time with your kids. Those experiences are going to be way more important to them than a stupid piece of cake at a single birthday party!

Congratulations on your work so far! You have so many great victories ahead!

If you think that you might be able to afford the monthly payment of an additional, individual policy (I've heard rumors that individual policies rarely cover bariatrics, I have no idea if this is true), what about just financing the procedure in the US? Mexico is an option, but you have to remember that you have to add all travel expenses to your total cost, though many still find that cost effective. There are some companies that finance medical procedures. My clinic uses Bliss and Care Credit. They recommended I try Bliss because they had better rates in general. My clinic also offers, through Bliss, 90 days of insurance against complications in the cash price (I bought up to a year, it was only about $150 out of my pocket for the buy-up). I financed about $18,000, didn't get the lowest rate, and my payment is under $400/mo, which depending on your age and individual insurance plan options is pretty comparable to a premium. And I don't really have to worry about complications, because I'm backed by insurance on that.

Another note... When they do things like the upper endoscopy, they code it for GERD, so insurance often covers it. That brought my cash price down almost $3000. As the insurance billings come in, we're finding that they are paying for some of the items we didn't expect them to pay for, so I anticipate getting some money back after all is said and done.

There are definitely options. All is not lost. You just have to sit down, think really hard about the possibilities, and figure out a solution.

Best of luck to you!

Posters so far have given you some really great comments, so I won't add my 2 cents on what they've already addressed. I noticed that you mentioned that you were barely getting in 400 cal/day. I just wanted to remind you to be really careful to get enough. I don't know where that line is for you, but I just spent a couple weeks with some nausea, thought I was dehydrated, and neglected getting in calories in favor of trying to push more fluids. I just found out that my bloodwork showed that I was never dehydrated in the first place, but have spent the last couple weeks getting less than 400 cal/day. I developed some pretty significant fatigue that I thought was just another symptom of dehydration until my surgeon told me last night that it wasn't . Her determination is that the fatigue is because I was basically starving, since I burn about 5 times that number of calories in an average day. The fatigue isn't fun... So just be aware and be careful.

And our parents sometimes really screw with our heads. I know they usually don't mean to, but still... You are definitely not a failure and this will work if you make the appropriate adjustments, which the sleeve will make easier to do.

Best of luck to you and congratulations on your hard work so far!

Interesting update: Turns out my labs showed that I was never dehydrated. Surgeon thinks nausea is caused my me taking too large of sips and my stomach refluxing because of that. I am flabbergasted that my labs didn't show dehydration. I've had significant thirst and dry, sticky cesspool mouth since the surgery, but whatever, I guess. She recommended I go back on the anti-nausea med, go back to using a sippy cup, and focus more on food. This week, I started experiencing some of the worst fatigue I've ever had, very similar to when I became anemic several years ago. She said that kind of fatigue wasn't normal at 6 weeks and it's likely happening because I'm not eating enough (have been eating very little in an effort to spend more time/effort getting fluid) once I told her that over the last 10 - 14 days, I probably only averaged about 400 cal/day at the most, usually, more like 300. So, basically, I'm starving. Good thing I know what to do for that! I gotta say, though... I would make a horrible anorexic!

So... my marching orders are eat, sip, and take my zofran! Marching on...

Thank you for that. I have felt awful for a week bow eating so few calories and pushing myself beyond tired. I hate that the two people who tell me "what todo" are obviously two people who never had to worry about weight EVER so of course they think if I am not losing it is too much calories. I wish I had a bodybugg! I saw them on Biggest Loser and always wanted one.

What I find interesting as well is that my program has allowed lettuce (iceburg only) for soft food stage and everyone else says they couldn't have til month three. Soft foods start at week 5 for us. And these same folks are eating some fruits and we can't have fruit until month two or three.

Hiw can so many different programs all be RIGHT?

You mentioned pushing yourself beyond tired, so I'll share my experience (I've posted this in another thread, so sorry to those that have already seen it). A couple weeks ago, I started to experience nausea. This made it really hard to get a reasonable amount of Fluid in, which in turn caused me to eat less so I could spend more time and effort getting my Fluid. Over the weekend before last, I felt like I had fallen over the edge into some real dehydration: increased nausea, headache, orthostatic hypotension. I called the doc and we did a swallow test, which revealed that I had a kink in my stomach. I got 2 liters of fluids as my lab results hadn't been received yet. We scheduled an endoscopy the next day to straighten it out. Doc was able to straighten out the kink, but also found torsion, that may need a balloon dilation or something after I'm completely healed. At any rate, felt way better for a couple days, but the nausea started again, accompanied by some (in my opinion) pretty severe fatigue. The best I can describe it is it is similar to how I felt when I became significantly anemic several years ago... weak, out of breath after completing simple tasks, light headed. I called my surgeon today. For now, I'll just take anti-nausea meds for awhile so I can get a reasonable amount of fluid and food until it's time to decide what, if anything, to do next. But here's the kicker... My labs showed that I was not actually dehydrated. Not even borderline dehydrated (a complete mystery to me, considering thirst and dry, sticky mouth, even if we don't consider other symptoms to be due to dehydration). After discussing this with my surgeon, she feels that the fatigue is due to not getting enough Protein and calories. I averaged about 800 cal for weeks 2-4, but then dropped to around 400 cal for the last 10 days or so. She said that at this stage (I'm 6 weeks out), fatigue is not normal.

So... to make a long story longer... Go too low, fatigue is inevitable and that is only going to play against your efforts. If you're experiencing fatigue, my advice would be to eat more (appropriately), not less.

Best of luck! I know that you'll totally get this worked out.

I sure understand your confusion. I'm so glad my doc & his team are so understanding & not locked into the same answers for everyone though as we are all different. Lettuce on soft stage sounds crazy & I wouldn't even think to try that. My doc moved me through the stages a little faster than some; but slower than others on this forum. I think you have to listen to your body. Don't add too many things at a time & be cautious so you can "read" the signals your body sends & know if added things are agreeing with your sleeve or not; then go from there - one meal at a time. Lots of good info here; but not all info is good for everyone. Best of luck.

Speaking of lettuce... Why would we, as bariatric surgery patients with teeny tiny tummies that still need to manage to consume enough nutrients for an adult even consider eating it as any component of a meal (other than maybe to wrap a sandwich or something)? Lettuce has almost no nutrition, particularly iceberg. It's basically a filler only, which most of us absolutely do not need, particularly in the early stages (up to a year, maybe?).

And... I should have included that the first month, you are healing. They shouldn't really even be considering critiquing your weight loss at this point.

And... You lost 23 pounds in about a month! Congratulations! Screw what your PA says!

And... At my 1 month followup I started to poo poo myself because I had only lost 16 pounds. The nurse about had a fit and told me I was being way too hard on myself and that they were expecting a 1-2 pound loss/week, so not to even stress over it, that I was doing great.

How many calorie are you eating? My Physician Asst said sice i had only lost 18 lbs in the firr moth that I was eating too many calories at 800. However, allthe stall posts seem to work out more with an INCREASE in cals than a cut in cals. I cut to 500 which is where she said I should be eating now and I lost 5 more lbs and then stalled again. Gr!

I hate feeling "not good enough". Why can't the fact that I have lost anything be a positive? Gr again!!!

800 calories too much?! For your height/weight?!?! Your PA isn't doing you any favors. I would like to bash some of these "professionals" over the head with a cast Iron frying pan. I'm only an inch taller and a year younger than you and weigh less. My nutritionist wants me to fall in the 900-1350cal/day range. Many will say that we can't expect to have the same loss results as a "normal weight" person on a similar number of calories, but I believe that that's a-not true for all of us and b-at least partially because having this surgery is basically just a physical alteration that allows us to maintain a VLCD ("starvation diet"), which can decimate our metabolism without significant care and effort regarding nutrition and muscle retention. I do not consider telling a 5'7" woman at your weight to only eat 500 cal/day to be good advice. I would consider finding another PA or doing your own research and going your own way.

My most successful experience with weight loss prior to surgery was a 115lb loss, primarily relying on calorie counting/macronutrient distribution using a bodybugg to measure my daily calorie usage. Through that experience and using that same technology while I lose weight now, I have learned that my resting metabolic rate is about 1900 cal at my current weight and that my average calorie burn right now is about 2500 cal. I believe dropping to 500 cal/day would not benefit you in the least...

Best of luck to you. The stalls do pass, as long as your are focusing on the things your need for your health.

I am struggling just like you BUT yesterday my husband found lipton diet tea (wild berries), zero calories, zero sugar and they go down AMAZINGLY!! they're not super sweet but they're still kind of sweet to me.. trying half tea half Water didn't work as Water is my main problem.. sooo what I didi is I got a cup full of ice, I pour just a little bit enough for a sip and let it touch the ice and get super cool then I drink it! It is awesome! I'm on my 2nd bottle today!! I hope this helps you! Warm broth also helped a lot.. and if you absolutely need water, I put a little bit of crystal light and warmed it up.. it went down better than room temperature...

Thank you! I'll give it all a try. I have a case of the citrus diet lipton (and don't like it that much...), but haven't seen the berry one.

I am so sorry that you have to deal with this. I don't have any experience with spironolactone. I did ask my doctor for it at one point, but she didn't want to prescribe it for me. I do take Yasmin, which is a birth control pill that has drospirenone in it, which helps with hair growth. I also have a perscription for Vaniqa, a cream that inhibits Hair growth. Both are somewhat effective and I have noticed a significant reduction in growth. Vaniqa, unfortunately isn't covered by insurance and is about $100 per tube, which lasts me about 3 months, but might not last you that long. I have actually stopped using it because I've changed my mechanical management of facial hair growth, which has been a vast improvement. Instead of plucking each hair, which could take 30-60minutes morning and night, or shaving, which left uncomfortable stubble, I switched to using an epilator. I had avoided this switch for a long time, thinking it would be painful, but I actually think it creates less discomfort overall than plucking and takes way less time. I still pluck any dark, course hairs that are too short to get plucked by the epilator.

I wish you the best of luck. This is one of the most demoralizing symptoms of PCOS. No one has to know that we may not ovulate and/or are infertile. 60% or more of the population is overweight these days, so we've got lots of company there. But the hair is so hard to hide and people are so judgmental about it. I really hope that you find the solution you need.

Shopping for clothes without having to find the "womens" section

and

Finding out what my new race potential will be when I return to doing triathlon next year.

Thanks for posting this. I'll look into it.

As far as warm drinks, you could also count broths as liquids. I drank a couple of cups of broth a day after surgery. Make sure it it broth with salt. It will cut down the nausea and give you some energy.

Thanks! I'll give it a try.

Thank you both. I will give the slushy idea a try. I do tolerate popsicles pretty well, they just take forever to consume (and let's face it, no sugar free popsicle is as good as an Otter Pop :-( ) I bought some sugar free jelly belly syrups and some silicone ice pop molds that I have working in the freezer right now, can certainly use those.

I haven't noticed that warm drinks are any better than room temp, and it seems to be variable as to whether cold vs room temp liquids are better tolerated. Sometimes it's one, sometimes it's the other. Bizarre...

Thanks for the support. While this is definitely a complication to be addressed, I certainly don't want to give anyone the impression that it's a horrible experience or an insurmountable problem. I'm able to eat solids and drink fluids (just not as much as I need). I read the posts about complications with leaks, etc. and the misery they cause, and this just isn't even in the same ballpark...

Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger - Daft Punk

I've been struggling with dehydration for the last few weeks. I had a kink (fixed with endoscopy last week) and some torsion in my sleeve (can't really do much else about that until I'm fully healed, so I need to wait it out a little longer). This is creating difficulty getting enough fluids to prevent dehydration. I got 4 liters of iv Fluid last week. I'm refluxing when I swallow and my sleeve is taking it's sweet time to empty of fluid after drinking, causing some mild to moderate nausea when I drink (though I have so far been able to breathe through it and haven't actually vomited). The last couple days, I have managed to get about 40oz of fluid. I periodically watch the clock, trying to determine the time between a drink and when I feel like I can take the next drink without nausea. Sometimes this is as much 10 minutes or more between drinks (which aren't much bigger than the sips I started with right after surgery). I'm wondering if anyone has some strategies to suggest that I haven't thought of. Right now, it is taking me about 2 hours to finish an 8-11oz Protein shake/meal replacement. I've thought about setting an alarm, but I frequently don't feel ready to drink when it goes off. I'm drinking a combination of regular Water, diluted juices, diluted G2 or Pedialyte, Crystal lite, etc. At this point, I'm trying to drink whenever I feel like I can, even during and shortly after eating, which I know I'm not supposed to do. I did try to take to zofran again to control the nauseous sensation, but it doesn't seem to be effective with this. Anyone have any better ideas? I do have a followup with my surgeon scheduled for next Monday. As far as complications go, this really isn't that bad, but I am so tired of thirst, sticky mouth, and fatigue and am way past ready to get this worked out.

It's pretty typical for anyone that loses weight. It takes awhile for our brains to catch up. Just keep reminding yourself of all the scale and non scale victories and literally reminding yourself that you're not the old you anymore. You have a lot of years of the old pattern of thinking to change, but it will happen eventually. Take every opportunity to pat yourself on the back!

Nothing to say, except Awesome!