TurnThePage

Just make the best food choices you can each day. At the end of the day, learn from it, then be done with it and move on. Life is hard enough without beating yourself up unnecessarily. There is a lot to learn with WLS and a lot to adapt to, so save your focus and energy for those things. Good luck!

Yes, the post op gas is the gas used to inflate your mid-section so the surgeon has room to work. This is different from intestinal gas. Gas-X may help, but walking, walking, walking is the best remedy. Good luck!

Yep, the pre-op diet is very hard--but also very important for your liver and the safety of your surgery. Think of it like the morning sickness part of pregnancy; you just have to slog through it to get to the happy part. Fortunately, It does get a bit easier after about the 3rd day for most of us. Good luck on your journey.

Gas-X strips offer good, quick relief. The strips dissolve immediately in your mouth. Gas-X also comes in liquid filled capsules.

Have you been tested for sleep apnea? If you wake up feeling unrested, that may well be the cause.

So keep taking that dose each day until you get results. Thereafter, you may want to take a stool softener every other day or every day to keep things moving until your body gets a new routine. Right now you have to clear out your system. Walk as much as you can. That will help.

Funny how 10 days on vacation goes by in a flash and 10 days on a liquid diet is an eternity!

Good for you, talking back to the little voice! We've all had those conversations and decided we had to keep our eyes on the prize. Best wishes for smooth sailing through surgery and recovery!

Time to call your gynecologist now. Post menopausal bleeding should always be checked. Tell them about the RNY and let the doctor decide whether you should come in for a check up. Hormones can do amazing things, even after menopause. Eight years after menostop (you're done--why do they call it menopause?), I experienced breakthrough bleeding (like a short period) when I got steroid injections for the arthritis pain in my shoulders. The first time it happened, I went to the gynecologist and got fully checked out as bleeding can be a sign of serious problems. Fortunately, it proved to be just an isolated incident related to the steroids. Six months later, I had another round of injections and it happened again. Still, it is always wise to have any unexpected bleeding after menostop thoroughly investigated. You wouldn't want to diagnose yourself and find out later you were horribly wrong. Take good care of yourself!

No. Pre-ops typically have to be done within a certain narrow window of time before surgery. Consult with your surgeon. In addition, if you schedule all your medical tests and the surgery in the same calendar year, depending on your deductible and your income, you may have enough costs to take a medical deduction on your taxes.

Have you contacted your doctor about this? You need to see him/her and get this straightened out before you get seriously ill. Take good care of yourself.

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Hey--77.5 lbs down in 4 months is worth shouting in every category! Congrats!

Pain is a warning that something is wrong, so please don't ignore it. Pain actually slows down your healing. Just call the surgeon's office and run it by them. You and your friend may not have the same issues. With 4 kids, I'm sure you need all the energy you can get! Hope you feel better soon.

Have you called your doctor's office about this? Please do.

Sometimes the 'right hand' is passive and you need to be aggressive to get your surgery date before you lose your insurance coverage. Try that letter to the surgeon with a copy to the office manager. The surgeon has the discretion to change the surgery schedule, but you need to make him aware of the problem and the urgency of your situation. Good luck--will be keeping my fingers crossed for you!

Your surgeon's office will give you the total fees due over the life of your program. Ask them who to contact at the hospital for their estimate of your in-patient cost and about any additional lab fees. Cross check with your insurance company. Your insurance deductible should cover everything, except perhaps some small co-pays. I was able to pay 1/2 my $2500 deductible the day of surgery and spread the balance out over 6 months. Surgeon fees were covered by insurance, but I have a copay for each follow up visit with the surgeon. I've been reading other posts that indicate lab fees at 3, 6, 12 months and annually can run into a couple thousand dollars (depending where they are done) if you are not insured, so be sure to ask about those. Good luck!

i did not try to make Terri feel like a fool. I just cautioned her that her action may have unintended consequences. As for your nasty little cabal here tonight, you don't know me or my qualifications.

No, some people just realize that sometimes even an action that is meant to be helpful can have unintended consequences and those consequences might put another person's surgery at risk.

My sincere apologies! That was written in response to an entirely different post and erroneously posted here. I'm sorry!

You will be fine! The only thing you have to worry about is getting to the hospital on time. They'll take care of everything from there. Mostly, you will sleep or walk to get rid of the gas they use during surgery. Hope you get some wonderfully kind nurses. Take care!

chapstick, phone & charger, toothbrush & paste, comb, a book or something for diversion. That's really it.

Deleted with apologies. This was posted in the wrong place!

Probably the standard MMPI personality test, about 300 questions. This is not something to study for, cram for or cheat on. It's meant to identify issues that you may have that may affect whether or not you'll be successful with the post-op program. It is objective--it has nothing to do with how someone may perceive you. Not every surgeon uses this test, but it is a very common personality profile. That said, I think it is highly inappropriate to post the questions online. First, it is copyrighted and secondly, you just might help someone skew their answers and as a result, they might not get the help they need with their personal issues. Your attempt to help could have unintended and serious consequences.

You need to discuss these things with your surgeon and get very clear answers so you can make a good decision on your surgery. Don't rely on the experiences or notions of others. Good luck!