Ginger Snaps

I was sitting here disgusted with myself watching daytime TV and a commercial for Soza weight loss clinics (I think that's the name). I went to their website and read about the "miracle cure"... blah blah blah and it looked like just another scam to get money. Somewhere in the Google search for that site was a bariatric clinic and I started reading about the surgery. I kind of put that out of my mind because I really didn't think I would qualify for the surgery. Later, I heard about a weight loss program at my gym (affiliated with a local hospital). I went to the program ... it included doctor visits, a trainer for small group workouts and visits with a nutritionist. I set up an appointment with the surgeon to find out more about the non-surgical program but I did ask him about surgery, too. He told me that at my age and with my weight history, he felt like surgery would be the only thing that would really help me drop weight. I was so happy to find out I qualified... I gained about 15 pounds in the last year and that's what pushed my BMI over into surgery range. I'm still a relative "lightweight" but I've been in the obese category (BMI>30) for 20 years now -- since the birth of my second child. And I've been steadily gaining for 2-3 ears, so I don't like the trend... want to stop NOW.

Way to go!!! How FUN!

Love it!!!

Fourteen days for me -- best wishes and hang on! Ginger

Wow and Wow... unbelievable post. I could say hundreds of things like that agree with the previous posters but just two: 1) I'm sorry you feel loss over the friendship. Sometimes friends disagree but true friends want the best for each other. I have a friend who is not happy about my WLS -- she feels like I could try other things more natural -- but she is 100% supportive of ME. She supports ME losing weight and gaining health and she knows I am intelligent and have thought through this decision. Therefore, she is supportive of ME and whatever I feel is best to do. That's a friend. 2) Your "friend's" quote "You know that body hate and intentional weight loss go against everything that I stand for." She's against intentional weight loss? Just because you get to a certain weight in life you have to maintain that weight forever? It's wrong to try to lose weight? That's just craziness. Is she against dying your hair if you don't want to be gray? Is she against wearing makeup to look nice? Obesity can KILL you -- what is to be gained by NOT trying to lose weight if you're obese? I'm really sorry you are suffering. You can recover and gain health... just build a support system around you that supports your health. best wishes

Why don't you buy 1-2 that are a size or 2 smaller than what you are now and get the extenders. That way, you can wear them now and when you go down another 2-3 inches. I bought a couple of nice bras at Soma's and bought the extenders so I can wear them now and later. Ginger

@@melissapishappy32 Just wondering how you're doing now that you are a little further out.

Headaches are also a sign of dehydration... be sure you are getting the liquids you need.

@@bellalulu -- I wasn't functioning at all I had just had my 2nd baby and I was dragging myself to work, would come home and collapse and not get up until the next morning. I was so exhausted all the time. I went to the doctor and demanded a test because I worked for the company that made synthroid so I knew all the symptoms. I told the doc I was either hypothyroid or I was going completely crazy. Guess it was maybe a combination of both! Gained about 40 pounds in 6 months before I got the test and found out my thyroid was basically dead. Of course, once I went on the meds, I didn't lose the weight. Not quite fair being hypo can put the pounds on but the meds don't take it off.

I've heard sometimes they'll do an infusion of Iron -- if that happens they may not have to delay. Wishing the best for you!

I watch a lot of the Fat Doctor UTube videos too -- they are very graphic in the surgery scenes but I'd rather watch that and know what's going to happen than not. Ginger

MasonJK -- right there with you on the 9th. I only have to do Clear liquids the day before surgery so I'm having lots of food funerals in the meantime. Ginger

@@Seagull00 wishing you all the best -- you've come to the right place to get help. And all those goofy responses -- some kind of hack or something -- just ignore them.

I have severe reflux to start with, so I'm going bypass. Bypass is also considered the 'gold standard' and is the most proven. Statistically, on average, people lose more of their excess weight with bypass although they can have more long-term complications. You have to take Vitamins for life with either. Personally, reading through the forums here, I don't want to "try" the sleeve first and end up revising to the bypass. They are both invasive surgeries and I want to go for the one with the more proven track record.

I'm not having my surgery at the Freehold Center but I am using Dr. Prokurat and I know he and Dr. Nyogen (sp?) work out of that office and also at RWJ. Dr. Prokurat is my surgeon and I'm still pre-op but he has been WONDERFUL so far. He is so calm and patient -- I crush on him a little. Sometimes the accent makes him sound a little 'short' but he is very caring and careful to explain everything and answer every question. He and/or Dr. Nyogen attend the support group meetings at RWJ each month and they both take as much time as we need and answer every question people ask. Dr. Prokurat goes up and hugs many of his patients and will often speak up during the meeting and say something very positive about one of his patients in the room. The office staff at the Hamilton office is also very nice. I'm in the process of gathering all my surgical clearances and such and they are patient every time I call to ask if certain papers have come in yet. You can search (up in the top right corner of this site) on a surgeon's name and find threads where they've been mentioned, too, and that will give you a lot of feedback on the docs. I have BCBS, too and they've approved me at RWJ because it's a Center of Excellence. Best wishes!

If you look around the boards much, it seems that noisy stomachs are pretty common after the surgery. At our support group Tuesday night a lady that's 3-4 weeks out from the sleeve asked about the noises -- she said it gets really loud and other people can hear her across the room sometimes. The doc said it's just the stomach adjusting to being smaller, adjusting the amounts of acid and such. Nothing to worry about. Something to think about -- for me (preop) I know in the past I never really let myself get to the hungry stage (why I'm getting surgery) and so seldom hear my stomach rumbling. When I do, I automatically think I'm hungry. Maybe that's some of what you're feeling too. Either way -- best wishes and I hope your situation improves and you start feeling a lot better.

I take depression and mood stabilizers meds and haven't had any issues with getting approved for surgery. The fact that you take meds (IMHO) means you are taking the steps you need to be healthy. I haven't heard of anyone being denied the surgery because they take psych meds. Best wishes!

Only 15 days to go!!!! wait, Wha???? I can't believe it's almost here! And with next week being a short week at work, time will fly even more! Get so excited and nervous all at the same time!

I had a pre-surgery meeting at my hospital last night. There was just me and one other patient who happens to have the same date as me, June 9th. We met with a pre/post op nurse who explained what all to expect, things like what they would do with your personal belongings, how long you might be in the recovery room, compression stockings, stuff like that. Then the hospital pharmacist talked with us about what kinds of meds to expect, the Vitamins we'll need to be on, those kinds of things. The dietician talked with us -- nothing by mouth til after the swallow test, how they'll bring up a tray with a variety of Clear liquids on it and that you should eat that so slowly that by the time you've eaten a little from all of it, the next tray should be arriving. She said they'll bring up a bottle of crystal light that has some Protein in it and that we should sip on that all day... don't send it back on the tray. Then we met the head nurse on the floor and she said no matter how long and hard we begged, she would NOT give us anything to drink or even ice chips on day one. She talked about how to contact the nurses or techs if you needed anything -- there's a board in the room with you nurse and tech's phone numbers on them so you can call them at any time -- no pressing a call button and waiting forever for a response. She also said they are going to be mean and come in within 4 hours of surgery and get us moving. She and the pharmacist were very funny and personable. I told the pharmacist I wanted her to come in and visit me while I'm there just to cheer me up. She gave me her card with her direct phone number. I think if I called, she'd show up. Then the bariatric coordinator gave us a tour of the floor and a room (private) and gave us her cell number for any questions prior to, during or after the surgery. It was a great experience and really helpful to go over the details of what to expect. I'm an information geek and it makes me feel a lot more secure to know what the physical surroundings are like and exactly what to expect with regards to the process. I'm so impressed that all those very busy people took time to meet with just 2 of us and give us details -- I don't think I've ever had a team like that to make me feel completely comfortable prior to a medical procedure. And then it hit --- I'm really doing this??? WTH?

Ha... I can answer one of these and I'm not post-op!!! The BO can come from your body being in the state of ketosis (high protein/low carb diet). Here's a link with a couple of suggestions at the bottom (but nothing earth-shattering) http://www.livestrong.com/article/542205-ketogenic-diet-body-odor/ I'm so glad I got to contribute! As a pre-op'per, I feel like I get tons of information without being able to give back much (yet)!

Sounds like you have some serious concerns about the relationship that may or may not be related to weight. There is a forum for friends and family where you might be able to get some specific answers. It's located at http://www.bariatricpal.com/forum/1016-family-and-friends-new/ It's a very awkward role to be in when you love someone so much you want to see them healthy but they don't seem to be as interested in it as you are. And, you sound pretty intelligent and I think you know that no bariatric surgeon is going to tell a WLS surgery patient not to eat healthy or exercise. That's like a pulmonologist telling someone to keep smoking. Well, DUH! Best wishes and I hope you get the answers you need.

Heating pads will also help with the gas but moving around is the best.

I think you hit on something in your post -- you're just now getting to something like normal. The early post-op diet has so many rules and you're counting and hyper-vigilant, so it's got "project status". Now that you're kind of back out in the real world of eating and you're not as worried about popping staples or the healing part of it all, you'll have to work out the reality of eating this way forever. I'm preop so I'm not at that stage yet, but I've seen over and over on the boards where all the 'rules' do become habit after you've had some times with them. So, I think it will get more natural for you and you won't have to worry as much, once you've had more time on the "normal" diet. However, if you really feel concerned that you're over-focused or getting too OCD about it all, it might be good to talk to a psych or NUT and get someone else's opinion. Best wishes!

First, I think everybody has to do the sleep study. Yes, they glue wires all over your scalp, chest, temples, ankles... it's very weird but not painful or anything. They had me show up at 8pm for mine. Nice private room, kinda like a hotel... private bathroom. It took the nurse about 20 - 30 minutes to wire me up. Watched TV while she was doing that and up until around 10:00. She had me lay on the bed and through the intercom would say stuff like "please keep your head still but turn you eyes side to side" or "hold your breath for 10 seconds". That's all to calibrate their instruments. That only took 2-3 minutes. She also brought in a mask and showed me the machine. She fitted the mask to me but then took it back out of the room with her. Then it was lights out. Nobody was in the room with me or anything but there was a video camera. Felt like I never went to sleep -- tossed and turned forever it seemed. Every now and then she would speak over an intercom and ask me to turn to my back -- guess I kept turning over to my side and they want to get some measurements on your back as apnea is more prevalent when you're on your back. My study was a "split study" which meant if I was having apneas during the first part of the night, they would wake me up partway through and give me a mask to wear with the CPAP machine so that they could adjust the settings during the second part of the night. Of course, I had apneas, they woke me up, put the mask on (which was already fitted for me) and put me on the machine for the rest of the night. All of the adjustments to the machine are made remotely from the nurses station -- nobody was in the room at all while I was asleep. Having the split study meant I didn't have to come back again for a second night to have the machine adjusted and all. Good thing! In the morning they woke me up at the time I had requested, took off all the wires and I showered before leaving. They even gave me a coupon for a free Breakfast at the little cafe in the surgery center. It wasn't exactly fun but it certainly wasn't painful or anything ... anxiety over it was the worst thing about the whole process. I've heard they'll even let you take a sleeping pill if you normally do to help you sleep. Something to ask the doc about if you're worried about it.

@@denisestl First, if you need preapproval to visit a surgeon get that and go. I think the bariatric surgeons have magicians on their staff who can magically convince insurances to cover surgeries -- ok, maybe not magically but those guys are pros at working with insurance. So, I would get to a surgeon and get his staff on board with helping you jump through all the hoops. They will know the best things to do to try to appeal to insurance. Best wishes!