1Day1Life4Now

Wow, I can most definitely see a big change. You are doing fabulous and in such a short time. Keep up the good work and next time I want to see your beautiful face.

Mocha, I haven't had my sleeve yet but I've suffered from reflux for years and I take Omeprazole daily. Stop the citrus as it is generally a culprit for everyone. A bland diet is the safest road to take if you don't want to do the medication. I wish you lots of luck.

Hi Karice and welcome to the boards. This is a great place to find out most of the things you need to know. Of course all insurances are different but most say "medically supervised diet" and don't care if it is a nutritionist or your primary care physician. My insurance requires 3 months and Im currently on my 2nd month. Which ever you use, do try to make a real effort at losing weight as it makes surgery easier and proves you are serious about the weight loss effort. Good luck to you.

I'm getting closer and closer. Had my second Nutrition visit last Wednesday and today my Psyche Evaluation. I must say it was not what I was expecting. The doctor asked me a series of questions and we spoke very briefly then he handed me a test of 575 true or false questions. I went to another room and completed the test and then handed it to the receptionist. She said "you're through already??" Uhhh yeah, I'm handing it in. She said "It usually takes patients almost 2 hours to finish it. Well, crap, did I screw up my Psyche evaluation? I was through in less than an hour. Should I have been more reflective and contemplative???? OMG, is there a possibility I failed because I wasn't in the norm for test taking??? It was a stupid test with stupid questions of which I am sure they are measuring something but for the life of me, I don't understand what. I was a bit nervous going into this appointment but now I'm freaking out. Has anybody had a similar experience?

I have found all of your posts very interesting and very informative. I am supposed to have my surgery in February 2014 but I am not open with anybody but my husband, daughter and my best friend. I realize there are very real complications out there. 5 years ago a coworker had a gastric bypass and died two weeks later due to complications. It turned me off of the possibility all together until I started thinking about things clearly. She was so overweight and had so many health problems she could have had a stroke or a heart attack and died just as easily. I come from a very thin family and I am the only overweight person in my family. In fact, I can't even recall a cousin that has a weight problem. So these people just do not understand the difficulties and feelings I've had with being over weight. They make the statement that if surgery only allows you to eat 2 ounces... then just eat 2 ounces at every meal and forego the surgery. They don't understand food addiction, stress eating, emotional binges or much of any of the other issues so I am not seeking support from them. I also feel if I'm not looking to them for support, there is no need for them to be informed of my surgery. I also don't think I would "recommend" it to anyone else. I found it on my own and I feel like if others are having issues, they will find the information on their own or a doctor will direct them to where they need to go. These are just my thoughts on the matter.

These are actually very good and very valid questions you have asked. I wish I knew the answers. Since I've not had the surgery yet and I am still going through the preliminary process, I may have a different perspective than you. I feel like there are risks with everything in life and this surgery is no different. The difference is, with Obesity, there are all kinds of complications and comorbidities that actually are ruining our life and bringing us to an early death. But with the surgery and the subsequent weight loss, the risks are minimized and we are faced with all types of new and wonderful possibilities. We can have car accidents and be presented with all kinds of possible medical mishaps even without having been through surgery so to worry about that is without merit. I refuse to live my life according to the "fears and negative what ifs".... I prefer to live my life as a positive possibility! Every day I want to ask, What is in store for me in the future that I can embrace and live with full gusto?

Steve, did you have any buyers remorse that first week? How was the pain for you?

Hi Klaker, I have not been sleeved yet, supposed to be February, but I'm here if ya need a sounding board. Good luck on your journey and hope you do well. Hang in there. Janet

That should have been 24-7. I fat fingered the wrong key. sorry about that. :-)

Hi Crissy, hang in there. You do have lots of friends and they are all on this forum. We are here 23-7. there may even be some in Nevada. Look in the room for Nevada and you may find someone close. I have not had my surgery yet but from the many folks I have spoken with, buyers remorse is very common the first month. Once you have healed and you are over the surgery part of this ordeal you will look at this a bit differently. I'm not telling any of my friends about the surgery so I understand the "aloneness" you feel. Even if you had shared this with family and friends they wouldn't understand things like the sleevers would so stick with us to help you get through this. Take one day at a time and envision yourself healthy and energetic at whatever size you want to be. Think about being able to walk up and down stairs without being winded, about having energy to walk 3 miles, or participate in a 5K race. The depression is temporary. You will get through this and you will feel much better. Hope to talk to you soon.

Hi Areyn.. congratulations on the weight loss. 6 lbs is very good. I too was told to lose weight before surgery. Though they did not give an exact number, I was told they like to see about 10% or at least a real effort at losing. I've only been dieting for 3 weeks and I've still got 2 months to go on the diet. I've only lost 4 pounds so far but hope I'll do better over the next couple of months. I do know that your surgery will go better if you have lost weight because your liver will shrink and there will be less of a chance of it getting nicked during surgery if it is small. Good luck. Happy Thanksgiving.

Congratulations on your surgery Hanna,, I have not had my surgery yet but from everything I've read and been told, the gas bubbles in the throat and chest are pretty common. Good luck and hope you get some relief.

Happy Hanukkah!! Good to see that you are planning to remain strong and stick to your diet. Have a wonderful thanksgiving.

Hi Dani, and welcome to this site. You will find many nice people here and they are so helpful providing information and details about their personal experiences. Be sure to visit the many areas on the site. It has helped me tremendously. I am hoping my surgery will take place in February so we are pretty close on this journey. All of us here have food addictions of some sort or another so we understand and hope that you will find the help and support you need. Thanks for sharing your personal information. We've all been there and we're all just hanging out here to give and to get support in the journey to true health. Janet

Good question. Being pre-surgery I'd like to know this too.

Wow, this is definitely not what I wanted to hear. I am pre surgery and I really do not want to lose any of my hair but I suppose I will have to make a choice...lose weight/lose hair VS keep hair/keep weight. I know I want the weight gone... I will learn to adjust.

yep. I'm having to do this too. Although my insurance requires a 3 month diet, the Nutritionist has put me on a 1200 cal diet. Multiple protein shakes during the day and a prepared meal at night, like weight watchers etc. They apparently think its better for your body to be in weight loss mode prior to the surgery. Its supposed to be safer and the liver has time to shrink. Plus I personally think they want to see just how well you can stick to a diet.

I know a couple of people that have done this and they did contact the Drs offices in Mexico directly but there was communication with the patient's personal care physician. I think all after care visits are with the PCP.

I have Blue Cross Blue Shield, its in the Blue Care Newtwork but my policy does not pay 100%. I have to meet my $250 deductible,I pay 15% copay of covered services. And that just is just for the hospital. The doctor is paid at 80% and I have to cover the other 20%. I also have to pay a $200 fee per hospital admission. Its not cheap but I am thankful my insurance pays something. If I didn't have coverage, I'd save up the money and go to Mexico.

You are a good man!! Keep supporting her but remember, this is her journey and you can't be her jailer. Make some "legal" suggestions to her that are on her diet. Use some psychological tricks, getting her to envision what she will look like when she looses the weight. Women love that visual... we are all such Divas. Remind her that for her to reach that vision she has to stay on track... but you can't force her. She has to learn to make her decisions and be able to live with them. Good luck and stick with your lady as this will all be a memory that you can both joke about at a later date.

Thanks for the Political Correctness Check SuperFatty, I was not making a judgment about anybody else, only about myself. I was referring to my food issues and have never ever made a comment or judged somebody else's psychological disorders. With this being about weight and weight loss challenges I thought I was safe. Thanks for the info, I'll know now to let the Dr know that after 8 years of research I have very realistic expectations of what this surgery can do.

Thanks Border for understanding. I guess it is a fear of the unknown when it comes to that particular doctor visit as well as having to pay someone to judge us for any psychological fitness. Know what I mean? It's already difficult when people are judging us for weight gain and then this, it's just another difficult appointment that I have dreaded. I will be calling Monday to make my appointment but now I think I will have a little more confidence when I go. Good luck Border.

SCosta, your boss doesn't seem very supportive. When you say you can't take off in the winter, what months exactly is he meaning. Depending on how you recover from the surgery and what kind of work you do you could possibly go back to work after a couple of weeds so that really is not much time at all. Maybe your boss thinks you will need 6 weeks off which from what I hear, is not really the case. Open up some dialog and see what his fears actually are.

Congratulations. You are a bit further than I am. I have got to make my psyche appointment. I will try to get to that next week. What should I expect? I feel funny having to go for a psyche evaluation. I'm not crazy...I'm just fat. I love to cook, I love to eat and I self medicate with food rather than drugs or alcohol. Do they ever find people psychologically unfit to have weight loss surgery? I have stressed more over this part than the surgery itself. LOL I have BCBS as well but mine is the Federal plan. I am currently on my 3 month medically supervised diet. I have been told that BCBS generally sends the approval back within 2 weeks if all of the requirements have been met but since I have not gotten that far, I can't say it with any authority.

My surgery is tentatively scheduled for February but I still have not done all my pre-op tests so I doubt that mine will happen then. I guess I need to call doctor's office but I feel like I have fallen through the cracks as I have not been having any contact with anyone from the surgeons office. What do y'all think?