gabbykittyvsg

I do not take Abilify but take psychiatric medications and have done A LOT of research of medical journals and pharmacutical company documents and have learned what to look for when it comes to absorbing medication. (I have a medical and science back ground) I looked at the info for Abilify and it appears that absorption should not be affected by the surgery itself. What may effect the absorption is if you eat it with food now, if any and if you take it with food or not after surgery. If you normally take it on an empty stomach then there shouldn't be any difference in absorption, but if you take it with a high fat meal now you may need to increase the dose after surgery. Abilfy needs fat to be absorbed and the more fat you eat when you take it the more of the medication you absorb. It is VERY VERY important to have a good relationship with the doctor who prescribes your Abilify. What do they think of your surgery?

Also, if your family income drops enough for a few months you may qualify for Medicaid. When you get Medicaid they can go back 3 months and pay those medical bills. They may also cover the COBRA premiums. The financial assistance people in your county can help you with this. The unenployment office should also have some resources or contacts for you should your husband lose his job.

uggggggg!!! Paying for one month of COBRA coverage for a lifetime of health is worth it, YOU are worth it!! In the meantime, start your pre-op diet, if you have one, so you can be ready if a spot opens up.

I am glad to see this topic because crushing pills is a royal pain in the butt. I've not had surgery yet but I'm already trying to figure out how to crush one of the medications I take. I'm sure I could swallow it a few weeks after surgery but I have to swallow it with a giant gulp of Water or else it lands on my tongue and I get the nastiest bitter taste that makes me shudder and gag. chocolate pudding is ok, but then I thought about what else I could mix it up with. Then the light bulb went off, I can mix it with a bit of whatever puree or Greek yogurt I'm eating at meal time. I got a bottle of the WalMart brand children's chewable Vitamins with Iron and I tried one and almost threw up, it tasted like a lot of vitamins smell with a bit of flavoring. Centrum adult chewables taste decent and didn't make me want to gag. I hope I still like them after surgery. I'd rather not have to buy several brands of vitamins.

I don't have a date yet, but it's looking like my surgery will be in the beginning of December. My last appt with the nut is on the 22nd and as soon as her note hits the system they'll be submitting to insurance. My program coordinator said she'll have everything ready so all she'll have to do is print off the nut note and get all the info faxed to insurance. She said it usually takes 2-3 weeks for a determination and then surgery is 2-3 weeks later.

Congrats! Keep on dancing, it will help you burn more calories. Lol

A woman in my support group had the DS 18 months ago and is already gaining back weight. The body is amazingly efficent at figuring out how to absorb more nutrients and calories the remaining intestine. This woman has has only recently started to exercise and had no reason why she could'nt 18 months ago.

Glad to read you are getting it taken care of.

A charlie horse is a sudden and intense muscle spasm. I had similar pain a few times and it was my gall bladder. The pain subsiding may have had nothing to do with the pain killers but with the the gall bladder chilling out. The time frame of your pain and the sudden onset was exactly how my last episode of gall bladder pain happened. I went to the er and 2 weeks later had surgery.

I love your attitude! You have my full permission to kick my a$$ when I need it.

I forgot to add, the people in ny program are required to stop drinking pop and coffee before the coordinator will submit to insurance.

My dietitian is ok with caffinated iced tea because the caffeine content is low and it has nutrional value. I've cut caffiene before and ibuprofen helps with the headache. It's best to start taking it before the headache starts.

One thing I keep reading about is to really work the first few months as much as you can to maximize weight loss while it comes off the fastest.

Also, find a support group in your area.

The people at my support group have said they have noticed while they have not lost weight their clothing sizes have gone down. They've also said tracking every bite and sip of liquid that goes into their mouth and changing up their exercise routine helps.

Congrats on getting started with the process. I'm about 10 weeks away from surgery. The program I'm in is the most intensive I've heard about. They have everyone do a lot of head work before they decide as a team (surgeon, program coordinator, dietician and program psychologist) that a person is ready and they submit to insurance. All the appointments and my work schedule have made the time fly by. It also helps to know I am not just waiting until surgery, I am working on the mental changes and habits so the changes after surgery won' be as hard. While you are waiting for surgery I highly recommend you read books that will help you with the head game. There are a lot of books on amazon that have really good reviews. I'm on my phone so I don't have access to my book list. The best one I've read so far has a title of something like The Ultimate Guide to vertical sleeve gastrectomy by Dr. V. It's a Vietnamese name. There is also a book about the habits of people who have had long term success with WLS

I am not planning to tell most people. My plan is to tell people who inquire about weight loss I'm doing a lot of hard work and participating in an intensive medically supervised program, which is the absolute truth since the surgery is only a small part of the program I'm going through. I am also not going to tell anyone outside of my bariatric team how much weight I've lost.

I would love to get into a size 8 and M. it looks like my surgery will be in early December. I am a major bargain hunter so I search the local thrift stores on sale days and have found clothes for my journey down in sizes. I am picky about what I buy and have managed to find pants and shirts for as low as 25 cents! So far I've not paid more than 2 bucks for anything. I have managed to find some really nice stuff most of which looks brand new.