Sharon1964

I'm also at the same stage. My last monthly appointment is in May. I've finished all the testing that my surgeon and/or insurance requires (colonoscopy, upper gi, endoscopy, psych eval, labwork, pap within last two years, mammogram within last two years, and I'm already on a vpap for apnea).

In my case, Blue Shield of California, it was a "lease to own" arrangement. Between 45 and 60 days after I started with my machine, I had to take the SD card in to the doctor to print out the report and send it to the insurance company. I don't remember what the percent of compliance was, I think maybe 75%, but I had 100% compliance in that time period so it didn't matter. If you don't have the compliance, they stop paying for the rental. After a certain number of months, it was mine, and there is no monthly rental cost now.
Federal law forbids an insurance company from retro-denying equipment or services. If they approve you for the machine, you are approved until you get a letter saying otherwise. They are not allowed to come back and deny the first two months.

They did not wake me during my study either, and they diagnosed me with severe obstructive sleep apnea.
Apparently I wasn't necessarily stopping breathing, but I kept coming almost awake because it was difficult to breathe. I was getting barely any deep sleep.< /p>
Now, a year later, I have almost no problems sleeping with the mask. I don't wake up with headaches the way I used to, my throat isn't always sore, and my doctor says my lungs sound a whole lot better (I'm moving more air and using more of my lungs to breathe). Also, my heart is getting healthier (sleep apnea affects heart function).
If you get a vpap (variable pap) or bipap, you will find they are very different than a cpap. A cpap is continuous pressure. The variable only provides air when you need it so you don't have a constant flow of air in your face.
In any case, good luck!

I'm also at the same stage. My last monthly appointment is in May. I've finished all the testing that my surgeon and/or insurance requires (colonoscopy, upper gi, endoscopy, psych eval, labwork, pap within last two years, mammogram within last two years, and I'm already on a vpap for apnea).

Rapid test strips can certainly have false positives; I don't happen to know the rate of error for sugar content in urine.
I wouldn't worry at this point; a blood glucose test and an A1C test will give a more definitive answer.

Perhaps I'm a bit touchy today, but when I saw there was an article here in the newsletter section titled, "Six Simple Ingredients to Get Weight Off And Keep It Off", I was taken aback. I find the use of the word "simple", when combined with weight issues, to be insulting. Pretty much NOTHING related to my weight issues is simple. If it was, I would have resolved it long ago.
Perhaps it rings a little too close to a phrase I've seen many times, that I consider insulting and condescending, and that is, "weight loss is simple, just eat less calories."
I probably wouldn't have even thought twice about it if it was called "Six Important Ingredients..." or something like that.

Perhaps I'm a bit touchy today, but when I saw there was an article here in the newsletter section titled, "Six Simple Ingredients to Get Weight Off And Keep It Off", I was taken aback. I find the use of the word "simple", when combined with weight issues, to be insulting. Pretty much NOTHING related to my weight issues is simple. If it was, I would have resolved it long ago.
Perhaps it rings a little too close to a phrase I've seen many times, that I consider insulting and condescending, and that is, "weight loss is simple, just eat less calories."
I probably wouldn't have even thought twice about it if it was called "Six Important Ingredients..." or something like that.

Perhaps I'm a bit touchy today, but when I saw there was an article here in the newsletter section titled, "Six Simple Ingredients to Get Weight Off And Keep It Off", I was taken aback. I find the use of the word "simple", when combined with weight issues, to be insulting. Pretty much NOTHING related to my weight issues is simple. If it was, I would have resolved it long ago.
Perhaps it rings a little too close to a phrase I've seen many times, that I consider insulting and condescending, and that is, "weight loss is simple, just eat less calories."
I probably wouldn't have even thought twice about it if it was called "Six Important Ingredients..." or something like that.

Perhaps I'm a bit touchy today, but when I saw there was an article here in the newsletter section titled, "Six Simple Ingredients to Get Weight Off And Keep It Off", I was taken aback. I find the use of the word "simple", when combined with weight issues, to be insulting. Pretty much NOTHING related to my weight issues is simple. If it was, I would have resolved it long ago.
Perhaps it rings a little too close to a phrase I've seen many times, that I consider insulting and condescending, and that is, "weight loss is simple, just eat less calories."
I probably wouldn't have even thought twice about it if it was called "Six Important Ingredients..." or something like that.

Perhaps I'm a bit touchy today, but when I saw there was an article here in the newsletter section titled, "Six Simple Ingredients to Get Weight Off And Keep It Off", I was taken aback. I find the use of the word "simple", when combined with weight issues, to be insulting. Pretty much NOTHING related to my weight issues is simple. If it was, I would have resolved it long ago.
Perhaps it rings a little too close to a phrase I've seen many times, that I consider insulting and condescending, and that is, "weight loss is simple, just eat less calories."
I probably wouldn't have even thought twice about it if it was called "Six Important Ingredients..." or something like that.

Perhaps I'm a bit touchy today, but when I saw there was an article here in the newsletter section titled, "Six Simple Ingredients to Get Weight Off And Keep It Off", I was taken aback. I find the use of the word "simple", when combined with weight issues, to be insulting. Pretty much NOTHING related to my weight issues is simple. If it was, I would have resolved it long ago.
Perhaps it rings a little too close to a phrase I've seen many times, that I consider insulting and condescending, and that is, "weight loss is simple, just eat less calories."
I probably wouldn't have even thought twice about it if it was called "Six Important Ingredients..." or something like that.

Am I the only one that thought the OP must have dozed off in the middle of posting?

Have a proper sendoff! Buy a dozen in & out burgers, and hand them out to homeless people. That way, they will be put to good use.

sugar-free Rockstar used to be my drink of choice. I could get so much done after one of those!
Then I started having chest pain. The caffeine was causing me to have abnormal heart rhythm.
I switched to crystal light peach tea (which has only a little caffeine) as well as Decaf coffee (and most decaf isn't 100% decaf either).
Now when I have my decaf in the morning, I tell myself it's fully caffeinated, hoping I can fool my brain!

You might want to ask the surgeon what he is going to do about the damage to your vagus nerve that he caused. If he says he didn't cause damage to your vagus nerve, insist he explain why he is of that opinion. I'm not a doctor and I don't play one on tv, but a lot of your symptoms including gastroparesis can occur after abdominal surgery if the surgeon damages the vagus nerve.
Just a thought.

With any surgery comes risks.
As far as your father's comments about you two having the same genes and having the same complications .... well, he is way off base. Your DNA can make you more predisposed to certain risks. For instance, if both you and your mother shared the version A or G of gene ANKK1 marker rs1800497 on chromosome 11, you would both be 1.67 times more likely to experience post-operative nausea and vomiting within 6 hours after surgery if it appears at both copies, i.e. AA or GG.
While you would have inherited half your DNA from your mother, but the mix is random. Your siblings do not get the exact same 50% you did (except an identical twin). You also get half from your father. You would need to inherit both copies, one from each of your parents to get the small elevated risk of post-operative risk of vomiting I described above. And just because you vomited doesn't mean you have this. You could have just vomited. And you can have both copies and never, ever vomit after anesthesia.
If genetics were the way your father described, we would all be exactly alike, inside and out. It's nothing like that. While it is true that certain conditions are inherited (as are traits such as eye color), and genetic disorders are a very real thing, there is simply no such thing as having complications because you are someone's daughter.
He's not giving you misinformation because he doesn't love you. He's doing it because he is afraid and doesn't know any better.
You live in your body; not your mother and not your father. Only you can know in your heart if you can pull off the lifestyle changes that are necessary. If you can, go for it.

As of this morning I can say I am more than halfway to my goal. I was so happy I literally jumped off the scale yelling!! LOL
I started this journey in January of 2014 at my highest weight ever of 324, but my pre op weight was 314 and today I was 243. I will be 15 weeks post op on Monday the 9th. I could not wait to get on here to change my ticker since I knew the weight lost would be greater than the weight to lose. :D
At almost 4 months post op I find that I can eat a little bit more of some foods, and that my tummy tolerates pretty much anything I have tried. I like that I am not afraid to eat out anymore, and that my family is more than willing to let me pick the entrée and share with me. Like last night we ate out, me and my hubby ordered the pork shoulder plate. It came with two sides we got French fries (gasp!) and cottage cheese. When it came I took about 2oz of meat off the plate moved it to mine and took the cottage cheese. I ended up eating all the pork (Protein first) about 4 bites of the cottage cheese, (not a big fan but know it is good for me) and I had 5 French fries. YUM!! No one ordered drinks just Water and our bill was only 20.15. You have to love that!! I have found no matter where we go I am fine picking something to eat, in the beginning I would panic wondering what could I eat, what would Sherman tolerate?? It was kinda stressful. But now it's just like any other time except I am not eating everything in sight.
Well after sharing my accomplishment with my daughter, hubby and my mom this morning I couldn't wait to get on here and share with you guys!!
Here's to heading into the second phase of my weight loss!! I hope this encourages anyone who may be struggling or just starting off! Please Please remember if we work this tool like we should we will get results!! Oh and my arms are a bit sore from my hubby working me out at the gym yesterday, good thing I can still type, just don't ask me to reach up for anything. LOL

Have a proper sendoff! Buy a dozen in & out burgers, and hand them out to homeless people. That way, they will be put to good use.

Less than two months out from my sleeve gastrectomy surgery, and yesterday, at the gym I weighed myself and saw that not only have I lost 50 lbs, but I am below 300lbs for the first time in my adult life!
The last few days have been the first times that people have started saying, "Hey man, you losing some weight?" or "Bob, you been working out?" It took 50 lbs for people to start noticing, but now the weight loss is finally making a difference. None of my clothes fit: I wore the tux from my wedding (8 years ago) to an event the other night, and it was FALLING off. I've bought some second-hand clothes to get me through the work weeks without spending a million bucks.
I think the only real down sides so far have been (awful) Constipation alternating with (not quite as awful, but still pretty bad) diarrhea, and also I seem to wake up at 5am every morning no matter what time I go to bed.
But it seems like I'm headed down the right path. Please wish me continued good luck!

Have a proper sendoff! Buy a dozen in & out burgers, and hand them out to homeless people. That way, they will be put to good use.

Why do you feel the need to hit rock bottom before you're ready for the surgery? Aren't you ready now? Have you examined your motivations for getting the surgery? Have you accepted that what you're eating, and the way you're eating, is slowly killing you? Why would you want to keep doing that? I may very well be wrong, but it seems like you're trying to see what you can get away with before the surgery. It IS possible to gain weight after the surgery.
Find something else that gives you pleasure, and substitute that for what you're craving now.

Have a proper sendoff! Buy a dozen in & out burgers, and hand them out to homeless people. That way, they will be put to good use.

Well, if you eat them, they're just going to go to waste. If you hand them out to the homeless people, you are giving someone a meal that would otherwise go hungry.
Maybe go volunteer at a Soup kitchen. Have you really examined your relationship with food?

"Hubby and I are getting away for a few days".

I told the technician the same thing. She showed me that there is a quick disconnect, to detach yourself from the machine. She told me if I woke up and had to pee, just say her name and she would come in and unhook me (there is a microphone in your room). I told her she would have about half a second to get the job done.
When I did wake up to pee, I'm not even sure I finished saying her name before she was in my room! She unclipped me, threw the wires over my shoulder, and I was in the bathroom in no time!