Luvin_Life125

Yikes! No fee here and I have full access to the twice a month group meetings, monthly nutritionist visits, regular physical therapy appointments, and access to any professional in the office by phone or email if I have any questions or concerns. The visits do get billed to and paid by my insurance. If I would have been confronted with a program fee I would have walked away and found a new surgeon. They are reimbursed by my insurance for all medically necessary appointments. There is no reason to go after the patients for even more money.

I use the bariatric advantage calcium citrate chewy bites. I have raspberry, lemon, caramel, and chocolate and I really like them. If you want to pm me I can put a few in an envelope and drop them in the mail to you so you can try the flavors before you buy them? Good luck finding something you like!

I feel your pain! I gave up my diet coke when I first started the bariatric surgery process and quit cold turkey. It sucked for about 10 days. I did great and didn't have diet coke for over 1 month, no problems. Once I found out it would be another 5-6 months before I would have surgery, I decided to enjoy my diet coke while I could. I start my pre-op diet on 10/28 and will stop my diet coke 10/23. I am not looking forward to my diet coke withdrawal and my carb withdrawal back to back. This will be an interesting 3 weeks leading up to surgery. We can both do this! Just keep your eyes on the prize and tell yourself it is for a healthy you! Hang in there and keep in touch!

Welcome to the boards! Good luck on the insurance approval. Once your surgery is scheduled, time seems to fly by. Bariatric pal is full of wonderfully supportive people and is an amazing resource for almost any question or issue you may have. I hope you enjoy being here and find the support and knowledge you want and need.

I Will not miss feeling all of my extra layers jiggling and bouncing as I exercise!

I was approved by Cigna last month and I am scheduled for surgery on 11/11. Do a search for Cigna and you will find a ton of details and links to help make the process a little less stressful for you. Good luck and keep in touch!

I am planning on documenting my journey by photos and measurements. My surgery is 4 weeks away. I will start my log on Oct 28 when I start my pre op diet. I think the documentation will help to show us how far we have come and give us a great perspective.

I have to a 2 week pre-op diet starting 10/28 and surgery is scheduled 11/11.

Take a deep breath and remember why this is so important! Good luck and congratulations!

Good luck today!!!

Congratulations!

My suggestion is to find a therapist that specializes in eating disorders. I did my pre op required psych eval and was cleared for surgery after the one visit. That doesn't mean I am cured and don't need to deal with what got me to this point as far as eating habits. I took it upon myself to seek a therapist I can meet with and work through why I got to be obese in the first place and how to change the bad habits to good habits. It is a struggle and will be a struggle for a long time. I am still pre op, but I figured it couldn't hurt to start working through my mental issues and I bet it will be a long term battle to keep my mind healthy to keep my body healthy. We all need a little help to learn healthy habits and learn to change the behaviors/thoughts that got us here in the first place. None of us became morbidly obese because we have a healthy relationship with food. Find the support system that works for you whether it be support group, private therapist, nutritionist, etc. Surgery fixes the stomach, but I am afraid that is the easy fix. Fixing our thought patterns and brains are the hard part and will always be something I need to be vigilant about. Please don't give up! You can make it all the way to goal! Look how far you have already come and stick with it. You have done amazing to get where you are. Be proud of yourself for recognizing you need support to finish this journey. Reaching out and asking for our support is a huge feat.

Congratulations!

Congratulations and I hope your recovery keeps moving along well!

I am November 11 and my pre-op diet starts 10/28. Time can't pass fast enough!

I made sure to ask my surgeon about this. I have chronic pain and take a wide variety of meds for pain, muscle spasms, depression, etc. he reviewed the list one by one with me to tell me how each med would be affected by the surgery. Make sure you talk to your surgeon about each of your meds before surgery!

I made sure to buy samples of different flavors and manufacturers of protein powders, vitamins, and also a few low fat soups to blend up when I go to full liquids. I have slowly been gathering things and putting them in a box so I can find them. I also got small silverware, a mug warmer, small ceramic oven safe bowls to use on the mug warmer, small plates, liquid grown up Tylenol (WalMart), fiber powder, biotene mouthwash for in the hospital, blender bottles, and a few more things I can't remember right now. Good luck!

Thanks so much! I will definitely keep those resources in mind when the time comes. Best case scenario is I just worry and then my hubby keeps his job! I am more of a plan for the worst and hope for the best kind of girls so I will keep trying to hope.

Congratulations!

Crap stands. They can't move my surgery up to any earlier than the 11/11 date. Poopsicles- looks like I may have to buy COBRA for one month if my husband loses his job and that really sucks! One month of COBRA will cost us one month of living expenses. Now my only hope is a cancellation which is highly unusual. Grrrrr

I ordered 20-25 different manufacturers and flavors of protein samples from Nashua Nutrition for under $2 each. They offered the widest variety of samples available even manufacturers that don't offer a single serving size. Sign up for emails on their website to get discounts emailed to you. They seem to offer free shipping at $49 every month or so. I waited for a free shipping offer and ordered all of my samples then. Nashua also sent me an assortment of 3 different product samples in my order. I know Unjury also sells a sample or starter pack on their website. Personally, I have read so much about your tastes changing after surgery, I am saving all of the samples to try after surgery. Why waste them now when I may not like them later? Good luck and I hope you find something that you love and meets your needs.

Nice to meet you too! My name is Candace. Good luck and I hope you can get an answer as to what requirements need to be met to qualify for surgery. How frustrating to not be able to get simple information. As far as what qualifies someone to not be a bypass patient , I am not exactly sure on everything. I can't because they don't want to leave part of my stomach inside when it can't be monitored to make sure the polyps haven't grown , changed, etc. It is called an at risk gastric remnant. I should find out today if they can somehow squeeze my surgery in before the end of October so I will keep my fingers crossed! Good luck at your primary care appointment and with your sleep study! Keep in touch!

To get samples I highly recommend Nashua Nutrition! They sell samples of almost everything they sell. If a manufacturer doesn't offer a sample, Nashua Nutrition will package individual servings out of the larger containers. Each sample was $1.95 and I ordered $45 worth of samples and got them within 3 business days. I loved that I could try such a wide variety of manufacturers and flavors without committing to a large container. I put my shipping invoice on the fridge and everytime I try a flavor or product I rate it from 1 to 10 on how I liked it. It will make it much easier later to know how well I liked each one and which ones I want to order a full size off! Good luck!

Good luck to you too! Unfortunately, I am not a candidate for RNY due to gastric polyps found during my pre-op EGD. Looks like I am stuck with the sleeve instead. Which procedure do you prefer?

Do you have any liquid Tylenol at home that you can use until the office opens in the morning? I found adult strength generic liquid Tylenol at my local WalMart.