WhoKnows

So I expected to be approved by now, but for reasons I have yet to ascertain, my insurance company has yet to receive my application from the councilor at my surgeon's office (who for some reason acts as a middle man). I'll get more information on Monday, I hope, but for now I'm starting to worry about timing. I had been hoping to be able to schedule surgery during a break I have in my semester (which would be in June), but now I'm afraid I'll have to wait until the semester is over, which would be July. The the only problem is, my partner will very likely be deployed then, which would leave me all alone in our third floor walk up apartment. We live very far away from my family, and my mother says she doesn't think she'll be able to come over to help me out since inter-continental plane tickets during the summer tend to be pretty expensive. Did anyone here recover alone? Is it doable, or something to be avoided at all costs? I'm worried about lifting things (like laundry) and especially about shopping if my taste buds change too much after surgery for what I will have stocked up on. We live in a city and don't have a car, so for me to get anything from a shop, I'd have to ride public transportation for quite a ways.

Thanks so much for all the advice! I'll see if I can push for June, and on Monday I'll call my surgeon (the automated email response I received today from the councilor at the office said she was out this whole week, so I couldn't get any info today). Hopefully everything will go smoothly form here on out, and I'll post with an update when/if there's one to be had!

Do you think you would you have been ok on your own without the car?

You're probably right. I'm just always so afraid of seeming rude or offending people by being pushy, especially since there's always a language and culture barrier for me here... My big fear is that someone important will passive-aggressively not give me the best or speediest service because I hassled them. Silly, I know, but I worry.

I've been taking Minoxidil for almost a year now for my PCOS related hair loss, and it's really, really helped (I'm totally committed to taking it for the rest of my life). Today I went to the pharmacy to pick up my supply for the next couple months and asked the pharmacist if she thought it will also help me not lose hair after surgery. She prefaced her answer by saying that she doesn't know about the surgery, but that from what I told her, she doubts it will help much. She added that, as everyone else always says, the hair should come back on it's own after the post-surgery shed (but that I should continue with the Minoxidil throughout). So, if you were losing hair before surgery, I totally recommend Minoxidil, but if you're just having the normal hair loss that comes with the sleeve, I wouldn't bother.

Keeping my fingers crossed for you!

I'm still pre-op, but I'm wondering about how I'll get enough protein when the time comes. I do eat some dairy now, but I always take lactase pills. Will this be possible post-op? I'm also concerned about eating too much soy...

Hm, fair point I guess. But if I just have a lactose reaction, it may solve the constipation, but will I absorb any of the protein?

Hi, I'm still waiting on approval from my insurance, but it should come any day now and then I know it'll be time to set a date. I'm conflicted: because on the one hand I want to get sleeved as soon as possible, but on the other hand, the new semester is about to begin (I'm a full time MA student) and not only will I be in class, but I'll also be TA-ing a class (which basically means teaching my own class that is thematically attached to a professor's). I know I can take about a week off and that my class can be covered by another TA, but will that be enough? Best case mid-semester scenario is that I'm able to schedule it in a week attached to our one week break, which would give me two weeks. I've looked at some of the other threads about returning to work, but this is a bit different since most of those threads seem to focus on people with desk jobs. For example, I won't be able to just get up and go the bathroom every time there is an untrustworthy fart coming. I'm also worried about being too foggy from the anesthesia to teach (or even prepare for the classes I'm taking). On the bright side, I'll only have to be at Uni Tuesday and Thursday this semester (there's a lecture I should go to on Wednesdays, but I can skip it if I feel bad). On the other hand, I don't want to wait until summer because 1. It's going to be hot, and I'm in Germany, which is a country that doesn't do air conditioning or any other kind of heat management, and 2. my partner may be deployed and I don't want to be alone while I'm still in the hardest phase of recovery. Thoughts?? PS. My biggest fear is being in front of my class (mostly kids just out of high school, and we know all how *they* can be) and having a liquid-diet-related accident.

Yeah, you're probably right. I always said with this whole thing, health first. I guess I'll have at least a week and so hopefully that will give me some time to be aware of what my body is up to. Hopefully I'll be able to get away with just a heavy duty pad instead of full on Depends.... One more question on the topic: did everyone have trouble with "untrustworthy farts" or is that experience not so universal?

See how much you can make the scale go up by wearing heavy clothes, eating heavy food and drinking a lot of Water. If you do wanna stash some weights on you, be covert about it. Someone on another forum said something about having been checked for ankle weights.

Talk to your surgeon before you give up. I was also told by my insurance company that they don't cover it, but then the councilor at my surgeon's office said they always say that, but if you prove it's medically necessary, they can decide to (I sent it my application two weeks ago and I'm waiting for the reply). To be fair, I live in Germany and so I'm not sure how the American system is, but from reading on this forum so far, it seems like things are more similar than they are different. All I'm saying is, talk to the people who deal with this everyday before you freak out.

Make a tea with lots of fresh ginger slices, fresh mint leaves and fresh lime or lemon juice. Also, on the liquid pre-op diet could you chew/suck on thin ginger slices to get most out of the juice, but spit out the fibers? I do that when I'm getting a cold. It's spicy, but it makes the back of my throat feel much better.

The sleeve group seems really inactive. There was only one post... I don't care so much about which surgery. I mean, I realize there are some nutritional differences, but it would be nice if there were an active place to talk about a vegetable based diet after WLS in general.

Hi, I'm pre-op living in Germany. How did your surgery go? Have you been able to find everything you need on this side of the Atlantic? Everyone is always posting about such and such a protein powder or vitamin brand and I'm so scared it'll be so much more difficult over here!

I'd also love some info on this. I have to TA a class this coming semester and it looks like I may be having surgery right in the middle. Is this a huge mistake??

Awesome!

So, now we just need to figure out how to make it happen. I've been looking around the site a bit, but I haven't seen anything...

I'm currently pre-op and I've been having such a hard time on here finding info about post-op veggie diets! Why is there no special interest group for vegetarians and vegans? I mean, they have them for all sorts of things. Is there a way to start one? Is that something people would be interested in?

So you'd say it's back to where it was before the operation?

Are you still experiencing hair loss after over a year post-op??

Does 5-6 weeks go for lifting as well? I've missed it so much since I've gotten this big and I can't wait to get back to it.

I've been using Rogaine happily for a year and the plan is to continue (my hair loss with the PCOS was so bad, my endocrinologist basically told me it was my only choice), but I'd like to know if anyone else had already been using it before surgery. I just want to know if it might help keep my hair from starting to fall out again after surgery and if not, if it will come back...

How are your hair issues ladies? Is anyone else here using Rogaine pre-op?

I slouched for the height measurement, ate a very heavy meal the night before and again right before the appointment, plus I drank massive amounts of Water. I went from weighing 116 kilograms to 118 kilograms, which is a difference of almost four pounds (I was shooting for 117 kilograms). I was told to take off my shoes and jacket, and it would have looked suspicious if I'd been carrying a bag. I agree with what others have said about ankle weights maybe being noticeable, but you can stash heavy stuff other places, like in your bra, pockets and spanx. Also, the more you layer, the more bulges from objects hidden on your person might disapear. Good luck!