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I have Medicare & ChampVA & they are covering this surgery. I was shocked to see my bills for the surgery all added up to around $50,000. It's worth it because I won't have to deal with issues (or very little) for oxygen & heart along with other issues from being 150lbs overweight. Part of what jacked up the cost of the surgery itself is the Hiatal Hernia repair & the surgeon had to cut thru a lot of scar tissue from a previous surgery. I was only in the hospital 2 nights. My surgery was done at Baylor Plano, Plano TX. Great place, great surgeon, great care, period.

I've been on a blood thinner for about 7 years & have never had a stomach bleed. I take my Warfarin in the afternoon & not necessarily after I have eaten. All I did right after surgery was crush my pills but now I'm back to just taking pills whole. I think we are all different & tolerate our meds differently. My INR is checked every 2 weeks because I have a tendency to be just a little bit irradiate. A month ago my INR was 5.3 & we have no idea why. The next week I was back to 2.7 & have been 2.something ever since. Your cardiologist should be the one to give you the best advice on how to take your meds. I've noticed that doctors have differing opinions about how to deal with the gastric sleeve operation. I've also noticed that not all NUTs agree with what to eat & when to eat. Can be confusing. Fortunately for me my surgeon, NUT & cardiologist are all on the same page. Hope you find your answers.

I use Syntrax nectar & unjury Protein powders. I like both of them. If you have a The Vitamin Shoppe in your area I recommend going over there. They sell the Syntrax Nectar in individual serving bags & have several flavors. The Unjury protein I get online. I also use the Premier shakes in chocolate & strawberry. Just tried the berry flavor & hated it. I use a Ninja to mix my powder shakes & I haven't had any issues with clumping. I had a NutriBullet but it leaked so I got rid of it & bought the Ninja. I can't believe your NUT wouldn't let you drink protein shakes. I've been on them since the first week. Protein is so important. Good luck with your journey. I'm so happy I had this sleeve surgery. It's not easy but just keep plugging away at it.

I've noticed that I can't tolerate spicy foods either. I only ate mild salsa before surgery but now even that is to hot. I hope this isn't permanent.

After I had surgery a few years ago I ended up with a blood clot in my right lung. I thought I was coming down with the flu. Went to the hospital & spent the following week there. This is not a fun thing & is very serious. I was already on a blood thinner but had to stop it for surgery. They did not "bridge" me over or use compression on my legs after surgery, hence the blood clot. When I had my Sleeve surgery everyone was aware of my blot clot experience & this time I had to give myself shots every 12 hours before & after the surgery. After surgery I also went back on my Coumadin along with the shots which I took for 4 days. My surgeon did not send me home with compression socks & I did not have any problems. I am 6 months post op & never had any issues with blood clots.

OMG, you are doing so well. This is hard but take one day at a time. As for stress, I don't think there is an easy answer for this. Good luck with your weight loss & your license exam. It will be so worth every painful moment. I'm sure people notice that you have lost weight. I know that my family & friends notice my weight loss.

I do the same thing. I loose a pound or two & then nothing for a day or two. I guess this is just the way my body deals with this change in eating habits. 30 pounds isn't bad. If this is stressing you out then don't weigh everyday. We are all different & handle the scales differently. I weigh every day but I don't freak out if the scale goes up a pound. Some people only weigh once a week. You will notice a big loss of inches in your body. I've gotten rid of some many clothes that my closet is looking a little bare. LOL

The only thing I've seen posted has been comments about the Sleeve relaxing & you can hold a little more food. I try very hard to not overeat because I don't want to stretch my stomach either. Good luck with your sleeve. I'm glad I did this. No regrets.

I have no regrets of having the Sleeve. My cousin's husband & my niece have both had RNY by pass surgery & have gain weight back. My cousin's husband never lost all of his weight & has now gained a huge amount of his lost weight back. My niece lost her weight but has gained a little bit of it back. My cousin has a lapband & has had issues with it. She is the one that suggested the Sleeve because she has a friend that had the Sleeve & has done very well. Also, you don't want to lose your weight really fast like they do with the bypass. Your skin doesn't have any time to adjust. My niece has more sagging skin than I do & I'm 40 years older than she is!!

I also had a hiatal hernia but I knew it before surgery. My surgeon fixed the hernia & I haven't had any problems. Acid reflux wasn't an issue but the hernia was so big it was pushing up against my lungs & aggravating an already existing oxygen issue. I'm still on oxygen 24/7 but I breathe better. That's a plus!!

Thanks for this recipe & website. I need to eat something that is different & this should work. I've never had the apple crisps. They sound very good. I'm going to check out the other recipes on this website.

Neither my surgeon or NUT said I couldn't have protein shakes. I will be on them for the rest of my life. I know a woman who is 3 years post op & she has 1 shake a day & sometimes a protein bar. I have found that without the protein shake I will be short on my 60 - 80 grams of protein per day. I use Syntrax Natura, Unjury & Quest Bars. I mix my protein powders with unsweetened Silk soy milk. I can't stand mixing with water. I also eat string cheese for snacks when I'm hungry. I also eat 2% cottage cheese, tuna (packed in water) & canned chicken. You can do it if you keep track of what you eat by either MyFitnessPal or a food journal. Good Luck with your journey.

My surgeon doesn't give those cards out & it has not been a problem. I just explain that I had sleeve surgery & can only eat about 4 ozs of food. I haven't had anyone tell me I can't order off the children's menu. I have found that most waitstaff already know what WLS is & do not have an issue with it. I have found that usually everyone is very accommodating.

Fortunately for me my family was only concerned about me surviving the surgery. I'm 70 with a heart issue & breathing issues. I told everyone that if I didn't do this surgery I was going to die a lot sooner! I came thru the surgery just fine & everyone is really happy I did this. My boyfriend stills brings home crap but I just ignore it. I just go get one of my popsicles or Protein bar. I think that's the secret. Just substitute good stuff you can have for the crappy stuff other people try to get you to eat. Also, if you haven't already, join a support group. This makes a big difference.

I buy the Syntrax Protein individual samples too. I get mine at the Vitamin Shoppe. They guy there is the one that turned me on to Syntrax Protein. I like the Vanilla Bean Torte along with others people have mentioned. The difference is I mix mine with unsweetened Soy Milk. I tried the water & I just didn't like the flavor as much. I don't like water anyway so I've had an issue with getting in enough of it each day. Thank goodness the protein drinks count towards the 64 ozs. I use a Ninja to mix my drinks.

I'm 5 months post op & I still only eat about 4 oz or 1/2 cup of food. liquid (Protein Shake) I can drink more. I can actually drink the 11 oz in the Premier shakes but I do it first thing in the morning when I'm checking email or reading stuff online. But I do this over about an hour. I couldn't drink that much is less than 30 minutes. I also eat three "meals" & three "snacks" a day. Sometimes I don't get in the Snacks. I keep track of everything I eat on MyFitnessPal. If I don't, I loose track of my Proteins, carbs & calories. Good luck with your new sleeve.

I prefer Firehouse Subs & I've been once about a month ago. I never eat bread (carbs) so I had them just give me the meat. Pretty expensive for what you get. We have Jamba Juice here but I've never been there. I do my own smoothies at home. I can control what goes in them this way. I still drink 1 protein drink per day & will for the rest of my life. I vary my protein drinks between Premier Protein, Unjury & Nectar.

Everyone is different & there is a difference from male to female. I am now almost 5 months post of. My target calorie intake is 1,000/day. I actually get between 800 & (on crazy days) 1200. My biggest enemy is carbs. I log EVERYTHING into MyFitnessPal on my iPhone then transfer the info later in the day to my DietMinder. This way I know exactly how many carbs & proteins I am getting & what I need to adjust for the rest of the day. I am on oxygen 24/7 so exercising is a pain. Walking is all I do & not a lot of that. I need to get with the program & start walking regularly. I drink a protein drink about 8:00am & about every 2.5 to 3 hours I eat something. I hope this helps.

I think most of us have stalled at 3 weeks. Your weight loss so far has been very good. I will loose a little weight each day & then won't loose any for 2 or 3 days. My weight will even got up a pound but then comes right back down. Hang in there. I think "stalls" are just the nature of the beast.

I do the same thing with MyFitnessPal. It keeps me honest with what I am actually eating. I was amazed at how much food info there is in this app. I transfer this info into my DietMinder book that I got from Amazon. This allows me to add up the carbs & protein I have eaten for the day. There is even a place you can keep track of your liquid/water.

That does seem slow. I would think your surgeon would be concerned. If you don't already, keep a food diary so you can show your NUT what you are eating. Carbs kill my weight loss. I try to keep it under 50 & 60 at the most. Some days I get carried away & get a lot more than that & it shows up on my scale very quickly. I know everyone's body is different so hang in there & get your NUT to help you.

I take a blood thinner & that will make you cold too. So between the weight loss & the blood thinner I get cold really easily. I got rid of all of my 3x sweat pants & now I need to go & get some new smaller ones. I like being comfortable. This morning I put on a pair of jeans & a Big Dog sweatshirt that haven't seen the light of day in about 4 years!!

I had the same issue for about a month. It will get better with a little time. I couldn't tolerate Premier Protein shakes for the first month. I used

I had a little bit of acid reflux but then found out I had a hiatal hernia. It was fixed when the sleeve surgery was done. No more acid issues - yay, I hope your friend gets good advice. My niece had a RNY about 3 years ago & when I told her what I was doing she came back with a bunch of stupid stuff about the sleeve surgery. I don't know where she got this info from but it wasn't true. I just ignored her. Glad I had the surgery.

After surgery I used the Unjury chicken soup & had the same clumping issue. It definitely will not mix if the liquid is to hot. I still drink the chicken soup if I don't feel well but I don't heat the water to "hot". I do "warm". I then stir in the powder & when it is well mixed (no clumps) I put it back in the microwave & heat it some more. I don't like really hot food or drinks so foods that are "very warm" work well for me. BTW - I use a wire wisk & it works.