Miss Mac

Hopefully you and your surgeon have that approval in writing somewhere. The surgeon and the insurance co-ordinator in that practice will no doubt be your best allies in approaching an appeal. My insurance (BCBS Federal Employee) sent me a document stating that I was approved for the surgery and up to five days in the hospital. I sent a copy of that to my surgeon so that they had it in addition to whatever BCBS sent them. I am sure that your surgeon would not have performed the operation if approval was in doubt. Take a deep breath and don't send anyone any money yet. It could just be that the left hand does not know what the right hand is doing.

During the two days at the hospital, I gained 12 pounds. Don't be in a big hurry to prove to anyone how tough you are. If you have not done so already, go to Youtube and watch one of the doctors' videos about how your surgery was performed. That will remind you of what your stomach has just been through. A little walking is good, but until you start getting some soft or regular food in you, don't get too ambitious with exercising or walking without someone in shouting distance. I had one instance of dehydration and passed out on my bathroom floor twice - hitting my head on the tub both times and ended up in the ER and staying overnight. Someone on the forum mentioned a while back that he passed out and broke his jaw when he hit the floor. Be careful.

Oh, I just remembered this about Mercy Hospital: There is a sub-basement with an old boiler room and bathroom. You have to go down some submarine steps to get to it, and the boilers down there sound the Humphry Bogart's old steam powered boat in The African Queen movie with Catherine Hepburn. Man, that was really creepy to go down there.

If I have something spicy then I may have a sip to rinse out my mouth a bit, but no refreshing drinks until my 30 minutes have passed.

I had my sleeve at Loyola University Medical Center almost a year ago 12/23/2013......went home on Christmas Day. My recovery has been textbook, my weight loss slow. So far I have gone from 235 to 170, which is more than I have ever or could have done on my own. My goal is 135, which was my healthiest adult weight, but I would feel good at 150. Since I am retired, I did not have to worry about getting back to work. From your picture, it looks like you have the advantage of youth. The hardest part about my journey was the pre-op waiting and waiting and waiting for the process to move along. If you have no complications, you may still feel kinda cruddy for the first couple of weeks. As the pounds fall off, you will feel better and better. You have many non-scale victories (NSVs) to look forward to. I wish you good luck and good health. PS, I am a little familiar with Mercy Hospital, such as it was in 1992. I supervised housekeepers for about a year until a foot injury caused me to find a sit down job. I remember there being a convent on the 14th floor, and I had been on the roof once at night to view the skyline. My territory was the basement levels with the offices and morgue, the lobby, the ER and clinics.

Before I retired I was supervising a team of 30 male (all veterans) housekeepers. They were trained killing machines and yet many of them were squeemish about any kind of needle stick. Being anxious about hospital procedures is not uncommon. Even if they don't numb the skin, they may give you a little something th help you mellow out so that you don't care that you are getting an IV. If you are right handed, ask them to put the IV in your left arm. If you are left handed, ask them to put the IV in your right arm. Once when I had to have some blood work done, the tech said, "You are going to feel a little prick." So I said "My ex-husband was a little prick!" Getting all these procedurs and tests done can be considered a right of passage to find the new you. Hopefully all of this will go smoothly for you.

At thirty pounds, my primary doctor noticed changes. It was forty before I could see changes. My body is shapeshifting and I do not recognize it anymore.

I keep the chocolate flavor on hand and drop a tea bag in some hot chocolate around bedtime. Usually by morning, all is right with the world. If you want cramps and misery, eat Haribo sugar free Gummy Bears. The Amazon reviews are hilarious - and if you have people you don't like who are hanging around your work space, put out some of those Haribo Sugar Free Gummy Bears. Hah! Literally sweet revenge. Also, for home constipation preventative, I have prune juice on hand, or might eat 1/2 an apple.

Just not pistaccio because of the bits.

I did not lose hair except for a few strays around the house. Many people absolutely suffer with devastating hair loss. I take 80 g Protein, 80 ounces Water, 20,000 mg Biotin (that's a lot), calories 800-1200. There is no accounting for the dynamics behind the hair loss except that your body has to prioritize its resources after surgery. Just prepare for the worst and hope for the best.

Any problem with rolling waistbands or legs that ride up?

I did pre-op, but post-op Miss Tummy would give them right back. So, I gave up and just eat more fish than I used to.

I was given the go-ahead for regular food at 4 1/2 weeks. As soon as I got out that door, I went to Wendy's down the street and got a small Chili. I only ate four bites, but it was the four bites ever! We cook Mediterranean style in this house with garlic and onion in almost everything. There has never been a problem. I do take it easy with salsa (mild not hot). A couple of weeks ago (at 11 months) I had a stuffed jalapeno and regretted it immediately.

Here is an experiment: find out how many unsalted boiled eggs you can eat in one sitting if you take small bits and chew it well. Guaranteed that you can't eat as much as quickly and as automatically as you did the grilled cheese. I have heard what the others are saying, that starches make you hungry for more starches, as in the Chinese food phenomenon. You know, how you are starving again about an hour after eating? Even at almost a year, one egg fills me up, but I am sure that I could totally lose control with apple pie and ice cream

Will your NUT let you have sugar-free pudding?

My surgery was 12/23/2013 (almost a year ago). I was discharged on Christmas day. We had our company the week-end after New Years. My grandkids did not mind. The way the family is spread out between inlaws and extended family, it was their third celebration around a tree. We had it mid afternoon, and everyone knew not to expect food, although we had beverages available. That last week before surgery flew by.

You won't miss it. I had mine out in 1973, back when they still cut you half in two. I was in the hospital for eleven days. Now they do it laparascopically, sometimes as an outpatient. Your body can function without it, and if it is not the cause of this particular problem, at least it won't be its own problem in the future.

Since I am metric impaired, I had to look that up and convert it. Congratulations. May you have many more happy days like today.

Girdles (and bras) are like space heaters duct taped to your body.

If you want to do your own gastric emptying test out of curiosity, just make sure you do not eat corn for a few days.......then eat some corn................then no more corn until the other corn comes through. That will give you a rough idea of that process.

My insurance required two years of documentation of weight loss efforts. I had my primary print out my med records for two years back and then I highlighted every time my weight was mentioned or measured, and all of the doctors suggestions for diet and exercise.

Years ago, I watched a British movie called Bartleby. Bartleby gets a job as a secretary/receptionist and every time his boss asks him to do something, Bartleby says "I prefer not to." He must say it about 1,000 times during the movie, and you almost change the channel many times, but Bartleby's insistence draws you back in. Be a Bartleby for a while, and speak up for yourself. Tell them you prefer not to, but if they want to start a new tradition, they are welcome to come to your place for breakfast and you can prepare a "make your own omelet" bar for everyone. Clearly, the family doesn't care how YOU feel, so don't feel so guilty about standing your ground.

I gained 12 pounds in the hospital in two days. It took me a week and a half to get back to where I started, then at week three I hit that darned stall. Finally at 4 1/2 weeks I started losing again.

That is awesome that the bariatric practice that you work in will have someone who understands what this experience is all about. My original nutritionist was a PYT (pretty young thing) who looked like she weighed 98 pounds soaking wet. I am all for people on our teams being healthy, but I just felt like she did not really understand the angst involved in this process. I do hope that your recovery continues to go well. Welcome to the forum.

1. Delay is not denial. 2. At 24 years old, you are grown enough to talk to whomever you want to. Two things you will find out about weight loss surgery is that it will expose the dynamics of your relationships, and the closer you get to goal the bolder and more confident you get - more able to speak up and advocate for yourself. I hope this works out for you soon. In the meantime, eat lots of Protein and eat it first, then non-starchy veggies, then a little fruit. Drink Water until your eyeballs float and don't become part of the couch.