Mel1071

All is going really well right now. Surgery was at 8 & went very smoothly, got into my room around 11 or so. Walked around the floor for about 30 minutes. I do have a catheter but it's no problem.

Am experiencing very little pain - which is great! They gave me liquid Tylenol to go into my IV. Also got a shot of dilaudid. They used to use PCAs but apparently they stopped doing that. Not sure why

Hubby brought me an adorable penguin pillow to hell when I cough

This was a little more exhausting so I'm going to wrap thus up. Ask whatever you'd like and I will try to get to them ASAP.

Thanks for all your help and great support!

Headed to the hospital now. Excited to get things going. Prayers and good thoughts headed out to all of my 12/16 sleeve siblings . If you guys could spare some good thoughts for my hubby, that would be great. I know this is stressing him out and he doesn't want to show it

Headed to the hospital - excited to be on my way! Prayers and good thoughts for all the 12/16 folks are appreciated. And also, maybe a few good thoughts for my hubby too - I know he is stressing out for me and is trying not to show it.

Good luck everyone! Look forward to sharing our experiences!

Getting ready to head to bed. sleep tight 12/16ers - may we all have uneventful, successful, hassle-free surgeries and recoveries!

I'm tomorrow at 8. I thought I would be much mire stressed today but as if right now I just feel excited. Plus I'm trying to get a lot of last minute stuff done. Good luck to us all!

Good luck to our 12/13 group! Good thoughts and prayers going out to all of you.

We are almost exactly the same except for surgery date! My starting weight was 215, surgery weight was 203 and current weight is 194...I am sooooo frustrated!. My surgery date was Nov 25 so I am a little over 2 weeks out and only a 9 lb loss since surgery? Are you kidding?!?! I am tracking my calories, Protein & sugar intake daily and I am only getting about 600 calories in a day and about 20-25 grams of protein so I don't know if that has something to with it...I keep telling myself it will come off eventually but it just seems like I have put my body through ALOT to be losing this slow...Those feeling of failure when I dieted before and didn't see results are starting to rear their ugly heads...

I think your protein intake is really low. Most doctors I know recommend getting in ~60-80 grams a day. My doc wants me taking in 60-80 grams of protein, 400-600 calories, and 15 grams of carbs a day until I've lost 70% of my excess weight. What guidelines did your doc give you?

From one Mel to another - good luck! I am right behind you - my surgery is 12/16!

In my doctor's proactive there are 3 doctors - 2 of them say you have to crush your meds from here on out. My doc says only at the beginning.

Regarding the chewable Vitamins, I think I will be using them from now on. I will say, try different brands. I couldn't stand the chewable Bariatric Advantage Vitamins whereas I do like the Celebrate brand. Celebrate is great about doing samples. They will let you get a whole bunch of samples for $3 and then you get a $3 coupon with your order. They say they will give a minimum of 6 samples for that $3 - I got 19. Plus their shipping is super fast.

Beware of sugar free candies - they can be loaded with sugar alcohols that can wreak havoc with your system. If there is any ingredient with "itol" at the end (malitol, sorbitol, xylitol, etc) - look out - that's a sugar alcohol.

For an amusing view of what problems sugar alcohols can cause, read this http://www.amazon.com/Haribo-Gummy-Candy-Sugarless-5-Pound/product-reviews/B000EVQWKC

I paid $20,000 and could have gone with a cheaper option (a few grand), but wanted to go with the best doctor. Had mine on 12/2 and glad I went with the better doc. Glad you had yours done and are happy with the choice!

I'm right there with you. I was looking at traveling to TX to spend 12K but did a ton of research and found a doctor near me who is stellar but costs about 6K more. Yes, I could save the $$$ but this isn't something I wanted to go cheap on. I know lots of folks have gone to Mexico and have had great results. I also have heard of a number of people who went to Mexico and who had complications and nowhere to turn once they were home. I've traveled to Mexico many a time - but it was not my first choice for medical care.

I had to make a list of pros and cons for my choice of surgeon and once I did that it was clear it made sense for me to spend more, stay close to home, and have a surgeon at a Center of Excellence with very happy patients. The idea of traveling after surgery and not having strong aftercare made me realize that yes, he may cost more, but he offers more and by golly, I'm worth it

Another 12/16er here

My doc says straws are ok. Funny how everyone has their differences!

I was disappointed with Dr. Nick's office when I asked if there was a way to talk to him beforehand or at least get done sense of him. I asked if they do their info seminars online - they said no. I asked if it would be possible to maybe be set up on Skype for the next time he did an info session, I was told no. (I am in a different state) They seemed really irritated I wanted to get a sense of who was going to be working on me. After that I pretty much realized it was best to keep my search close to home so I could have that initial consult - even if it did wind up costing me thousands of dollars more (and it did).

Glad to hear your daughter us safe and sound:). Nice to know you can reach out here and get help. Admitting you need help isn't pathetic at all!

Blessings to you and yours!

Not all state under Obamacare will cover it. Somewhere someone here had everything broken down by state. Kind of sad that not every state is treated equally. Most of the top ten obese states in the country won't have coverage

Definitely contact the manufacturer of the drug. Some of them have patient assistance programs. Good luck to you!

Thanks for the head's up! Headed there now

Just wondering if anyone's doctor had recommended taking a probiotic before/after surgery? If so, what one do you recommend?

Thanks in advance!

I'm 2 weeks behind you on the 16th. I hope everything goes super smooth for you! Look forward to hearing how everything goes for you.

I'm scheduled for dec 10 and I am officially "nervo-cited" that's excited & nervous at the same time -- lol

I went shopping on Black Friday just to look around and I felt so elated that soon I wouldn't have to dig deep for the big girl sizes

Ha! I did the exact same thing yesterday. My mind was a bit boggled as we went through the mal, and I realized this time next year, the only store I won't be able to shop in is Lane Bryant!

How did everything go?

Dr Nick is like the McDonalds of Texas because yes he's done that many..

He has almost a cult like following...

But...

If any doctors office told me not to worry about complications because they don't happen?

I would run, and run as quickly as my big butt world take me to a place that answered my questions instead of patronizing, placating

niceties..

I was considering traveling to Dallas to use Dr. Nick to save about 6K as a self pay. I was very put off by two things - one - I asked the same question and got the same answer, then I a,so found out he can do up to 13-15 surgeries in a day. That put me off. I know lots of folks used him and have been very happy with him. I just couldn't get over those two things.

Truck daddy, it kind of depends. Most things I've seen say 1-2 hours. But when I talked to my surgeon he said he should be done in 45 minutes. Of course, this was before we found out I have a hernia that needs repairing. That should add on a bit more time.