LouiseandThelma

Hi! I tried to find the group on FB, but no luck. My surgery was April 27, 2015. Gail Ann Gregg

Justme13
Sorry about not answering you sooner, but I'm hardly on here anymore. I will send you a private message with my contact information. Nanf1962 and I have both had our surgery in the past 8 weeks. There is a support group meeting not sure about June but July 23 . You are required to make 5 meetings.

Great! Thank you and congratulations!

I have been trying to find RECENT information from sleevers/future sleevers at NAS Jax and ended up here. I have my initial consult in two weeks and am trying to figure out what to expect. If either one of you have any helpful info, I would appreciate it greatly!

Pensacola : Check out Dr. Lord at Sacred Heart Hospital. My brother used him for his band surgery.

Jeffrey Lord at Sacred Heart Weight loss Center. Good Luck!

Pensacola : Check out Dr. Lord at Sacred Heart Hospital. My brother used him for his band surgery.

My surgery is next Monday! Started my 1 week diet with a vanilla Protein Shake. Not too bad but it's early. Looking forward to my journey and wishing the best for everyone involved in this process!

April 14

I'm April 14 in Florida. I would also like to join the FB page for support. I will pm one of you with my fb name.

Hey guys Friend me on Facebook at AloraBegonia----- at----- gmail --------- dot --------- com and I'll add you. the facebook profile is Alora VSG Begonia in case you can't find me by email address. I'm using a pseudonym so my family/friends don't know my business. :-) Making the group secret too for your privacy as well.

@@tbkent ... I would like to have a private FB group as well. It would be so much easier for me to converse and share on. I would make a new FB solely dedicated to WLS though because I don't want every person on my Facebook knowing my business.

I am new to the sleeve only having mine less than a month. I did do many diets before the sleeve... actually when I come to think of it, it was more like an endless stream of one diet or another but the one thing in each case that fell short was the tools. Please follow me here. We are or were all quite a bit bigger and our drive to lose was there, we followed in a large part the diet restrictions but there was always a huge stomach and by only putting a few hundred calories into it made us perpetually hungry. Day and night everyday screaming hunger. Your body was saying help me I need food. And when we slipped because we just couldnt take it a moment longer we felt guilty and tried a different diet. Sound familiar anyone? I hated myself when I failed. My kids would see me eat a diet meal and listen to my stomach growl for hours... all day long and say hey dad I think you need to eat something. They say it out of concern because thats what you do when your hungry. You hear your stomach growling and they know your hungry... or starving actually. You are set up to fail way before you begin. I will use a simple analogy, pretend our body is a car. You have a huge gas tank but your only putting in a quarter of a tank or less and expecting to go just as far. And as like with a car it will not run right. It will sputter and all the idiot lights will come on. Eventually you will give in and fill up the tank to get it to run like normal. Our bodies as we would diet would act similarly. You can have all that will power, determination and drive. Eventually somewhere it would all break down because your stomach wants some volume. We all finally give in and fail. It is not easy.
Now someone who only had 10-20 lbs to lose has a smaller stomach. They are very close to their goal. Altering their daily intake a small amount will get them the weight loss that they want without the agony we go thru to lose 100- 200 or more. And we do lose lots of weight. Way more than those 10-20 lbs. So for the rest of the population losing a bit is not a major life changing event, it is not agony, it doesnt feel like starvation. But at that point we are doing it without the proper tools.
These procedures, whether it be the lap band, the sleeve or a gastric bypass, they all give each one of us a tool we did not have before. Real Portion Control and a real chance to succeed permanatly. This is a lifestyle change. We are now not just changing our diet! We have the tool we absolutely needed and did not have on any previous attempt at any other diet. I can speak about my sleeve and that it is a lot smaller. I do not have the agony from hunger but some still do but that might be head hunger. But the portion control is now there. We have to all embrace a completely new lifestyle that encompasses a healthy way to eat, exercise and proper planning. There will be some of us who will not see the tool for what it is and push it beyond its capability and fail. The large majority of us will not because of everything we had to go thru to get us here.
I will say between multiple hospital stays, the pain and healing, the dehydration and beginning this journey as we all have has been a lot harder. Before a diet was only that. Eating less. Or eating based on points or whichever of a hundred different diets. This is so much more and as of right now so much more involved. I for one know and feel this is so much more difficult. Think of every hoop we had to go thru just to get approved, then everything we had to do to get ready for the procedure. Then there was the procedure itself and the recovery and the hospital stay! Maybe even multiple hospital stays and complications! If this was the easy way out, what would anyone call all of that in addition to the post op dietary plans and restrictions! This is not the easy way out. I can see down the road when we acclimate to this new lifestyle and it becomes second nature and a normal way to think, some may think it is then easy or easier. They would not be seeing the bigger picture. We have to look at everything we did and went thru to get to this point which is a lot.
This is the last resort. This is the mountain at the end of the course.
This is the hardest way to lose. Eventually and hopefully it will get easier down the road as this lifestyle change becomes our everyday normal but it will always be the most difficult way to lose weight in my opinion.
Also just a side note, there will always be people out there to rain on someone elses parade or to make you feel bad. That is life. Dont let that negativity into your life. This is hard enough without the haters and hecklers. Those people do not know what you have been thru, what you had to do and what you go thru on a daily basis or what your life is like. Surround yourself with positivity, mentors and people who care. Focus on your goals and ignore the ignorant.

@@mami2two
1) Yes.
2) Possibly, but it can be managed with meds and avoiding reflux causing foods. Many obese people with reflux have hiatal hernias that they may be unaware of, and reputable bariatric surgeons will repair that type of hernia during a VSG. Sometimes the repair solves the reflux problem; sometimes not.
3) The pre and post diet requirements vary greatly from surgeon to surgeon and sometimes individual to individual. I've seen posts where members had no pre-op diet at all and others who had to do 4 wks. Same thing post-operatively. Some people had to do liquids ranging a couple of days to a month before their diet was advanced, others started pureéd foods while still in the hospital. This answer will be specific to the surgeon you choose.
4) No, and you shouldn't. The shakes are designed to help you meet Protein and caloric requirements when you can't eat food right after surgery. The goal is too glean all of your Protein from healthy foods (lean meats etc.). Some people use one shake or smoothie per day to help maximize meeting their protein goals.
5) Yes, but it may make the shakes extra frothy and bubbly, which may cause excess gas and make them harder to consume.
6) Yes, you will be able to eat those things but ideally should happen after you've eaten your protein and vegetables. People tend to find that simple carbs create a slippery slope. Highly processed foods are easily tolerated (called "sliders".....chips, Cookies etc.) and the things that are supposed to be eaten cause more digestive difficulties at times. So, consuming those types of food can be problematic for some people - meaning old bad habits proliferate and weight loss is slow or regaining weight occurs.
Hope this helps! Keep reading and doing lots of research and good luck with whatever you decide!

That was a phrase I didn't expect to say. My 20 something daughter and I were doing a dolphin swim. A wetsuit is recommended since the Water can be chilly. I'm down 60 pounds since surgery so I figured-go for it. Try it. The worse is you will look like Shamu and it won't fit.
The attendant handed me a size 16. I giggled inside at the thought someone thought I was a 16. I asked for an 18 'cause I know you work up a sweat getting the thing on. Also, 18 is the biggest they stock.
I went into the dressing room, slipped on my suit and then pulled up the wetsuit. Slowly over the torso, then a tug and my arms were in. Ah, the zipper....
I walked out and my size three daughter was waiting. She started to cry and got her arms around me in a hug. She said she never thought she would see me in a wetsuit and now she knew I would live a long life and be able to do anything with her.
She zipped me up and the wetsuit was baggy! The attendant was right with the 16, but no way was I trading in a baggy for a skin tight wetsuit! I wore that thing for the rest of the day. I was normal and fit in because I had a wetsuit. Others who couldn't fit into a wetsuit we're also there and went in with the dolphins in a regular bathing suit. It wasn't that cold. But for once, I fit in. I might have been lumpy, but hey, no one much over 40 looked really hot in the wetsuit. I fit in.
So for those who have family and friends who are giving their opinion on your health, screw ' em. Do what is right for you to live a long, healthy and happy life. Who knows-your next swim may be in a wetsuit!

The sleeve will be covered if it is done at a military facility that has a bariatric program. If you don't live near a post that has one, you'll have to get a referral from your PCP to a bariatric center, where you will have to follow whatever their protocols are; Tricare will only cover gastric bypass.
If there is a bariatric program at your post's hospital, you have to do the following to have a VSG:
-Get a referral from your PCP to the bariatric program.
-Attend the bariatric seminar, meet the surgeon and other members of the bariatric team (nutritionist, nurse, coordinating staff). You will be weighed and vitals taken which will be used to measure your progress and compliance.
-Attend their nutrition / weight loss program. One class is required, but continued participation is suggested.
-Maintain a food diary per the guidelines provided in the nutrition class (MyFitnessPal etc).
-Maintain or lose weight. Weight loss is not required, but you CAN NOT gain weight.
-Stop smoking. They will routinely check for cessastion via a urine test.
-Attend one bariatric support group meeting.
-Have a one-on-one session with the nutritionist who will check your food diary for compliance. Once cleared by the nutritionist, you'll be scheduled for a Psych appt.
-Get cleared by the psychiatrist (usually one appt, but more than one session may be required).
-After the psych clearance, an EGD will be scheduled to check for H. Pylori, hernias, and you may also have an ultrasound to check your gallbladder.
-Bloodwork is redone and if you see any specialists (cardiologist, pulmonologist etc), they'll need to clear you for surgery.
-Final meeting with surgeon. Surgery date scheduled.
-Length of time from beginning the program to having surgery varies. Could be a couple of months or closer to 6.
Hope this helps.

RJ - never doubt that you belong here. Things members say resonate with you. Things you say resonate with other members. You. Belong. Here. You are a complication survivor but that isn't all you are. You don't let it define you but you use it to support and educate others. Your voice is strong - not just the voice you use to communicate with us, but your inner voice too. When it is at odds with what others are saying, listen to it. ((Hugs to you))

I just had the sleeve done on 10/28 and Tricare covered it but it had to been done at an MTF.

they cover it now?

just me, but i wouldn't want to go alone. other people have gone alone and done fine. i think it has to be what you are comfortable with.

Hello there! Finally could post something I was sleeved yesterday and feel pretty good! I have some gas trapped in my back, but it's nothing I can't handle. It's 4pm and I'm still waiting to be discharged. Apparently my surgeon forgot something in the paperwork.
When I woke up yesterday, I was in a moderate pain, and had bad nausea. They gave me lots of meds and I was in and out for most of the evening. This night wasn't too bad either. I would sleep for about 2 hours until the meds wore off, then I would go walk. So far so good. Ready to be home now!
SW-238
GW-135

I too had the same question..... so asked my NUT. My hair(although I am 54) is past my waist, and very thick. She said if I don't get my Protein in the first 3 months I will lose some of my hair. She said it will not show up until after the first 3 months. So will make sure I will get my protein or more in and hope for the best.

Are you close to a Military Hospital? You would have to have Tricare Prime to use the Military Treatment Facility, but they do the sleeve. Its worth it to check out. I ran into the same problem in Maryland and found out too late that I could change over to Tricare Prime and have it done at a MTF. We have since transferred and I am just now starting over again. I hope this helps.

Do we have a group for those of us who use Myfitnesspal?
My sign in is papamick48 if you want to check out the website or if you are already on there and want to share your progress. My trouble is that I can't remember to log my daily intake in. Maybe belonging to a group of us would help me to do that.
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/

I called and talked to Tricare and in the case of emergency I go to the nearest ER and I'm covered. I live in Key West so any major medical care for us is 3 to 4 hours up the road in Miami. I understand what you are saying and I have thought about it.