soriminah

Hi all I tried looking this up on the net a few weeks ago and couldn't find much. Apart from them saying it can cause hair loss and constipation. Definately not something a girl wants to hear. Anywho, I suppose the 2 main things I've had at the moment is: 1. Foul taste in my mouth. I suppose you'd call it a metallic taste. Have to swill heaps of Water and the occassional sugar free mint. Not as bad second week though as first. 2. When I need to go to the toilet I have to get to one fairly quickly. No constipation problem for me So, anyone got anything else to add to the list of undesirables. BTW, Still got all my hair - pity it didn't make my face hair fall out (damn PCOS :tea:)

Hi all So, I've been waiting anxiously on APRA to assess my claim to release super for the op. After 5 phone calls over the last 2 weeks I finally got my answer today - no, we need more info. APRA requires that the Dr's letters state that you are suffering a 'life threating illness', so the surgeon wrote 'life threatening obesity'. Anywho, I was told to get another letter stating life threatening illness. I said it states life threatening and gives the name of the illness. I also attached my discharge notice from hospital from November when I almost died. The response from APRA? Our assessors are not Dr's and you need to write illness and they don't know medical terminology so they can't read the discharge notice. WHAT THE? So I need the Dr to write another letter changing the word obesity to illness. The people at APRA who determine whether or not I can have a life saving operation have no medical training so can deny an application over 1 word. I rang the surgeons office and the secretary said that is the first time one of their letters has been declined over the use of the word obesity instead of illness - they use a standard letter for every client. So, if they want letters, tomorrow I'll be faxing through 4 all stating 'life threatening illness' - one from the surgeon, 2 GP letters and my vascuar specialist. Oh, by the way, I asked to speak to the assessor and was told no and then asked to speak to a supervisor and after being on hold was told the supervisor has said the same thing so I wasn't allowed to speak to the supervisor. Obviously the people who sit on the other end of the phone have no idea how they are playing with peoples lives.

But didn't it also say that we have one of the longest lifespans as well.

No, it's not mine but one of my good friends rang me last week to say she is getting married in June. Boy, what an incentive to lose as much as I can between now and then. So far I haven't done any exercise apart from work (I'm on my feet all day walking around). I went and ordered my treadmill yesterday and gets delivered Tuesday. I think I'll handcuff myself to it like the woman on A Current Affair. That'll be interesting to watch tonight. Also I'm starting back at Curves next week. Now my health is pretty much under control I can start going again - 4 operations in 5 months has kept me from doing much of anything. So, it'll be the big countdown to the big day and be interesting to see what happens between now and then. I'll let you all know what happens in the next 7 weeks with the exercise thing.

They will require you to take out all jewellery. I know people who will not take off their wedding ring and they'll usually allow that through but as for anything else, usually not.

I would be really pissed off in that situation. I would contact the office and let them know what has happened. Some people just can't help themselves when it comes to finding out juicy gossip about someone they know. Who you choose to tell is your business, no one elses and it's up to you how you choose to explain your weight loss. I told 2 people about my surgery. People have started to notice weight loss and so far I've not said a word. I just shrug and change the subject.

Right, you're on. I'd be happy to lose 10kg before the day. Even better if I could lose more but I'll see what happens. I bought a shirt about a month ago which is a bit tight so I haven't worn it and decided it'd be good to wear with a skirt or pants to the wedding. My aim is for the shirt to look good on me for the wedding without showing all my lumps and bumps - with a lot of hard work it might be too big and I'll have to buy a new smaller one :biggrin:.

How much are they expecting you to lose before you're allowed the op? You're doing fantastically well with your liquid diet.

I'm relying on the surgeons scales and going by that. I bought a new pair of scales and they weigh me 2kg heavier than the surgeons. I figure his are a good sign of how I'm going as that's what I was initially weighed on.

When you squat down your bum crack shows because your pants fall down. Or if you don't have a baby pin to help hold them up, as you walk along they fall down and show your bum crack. So not attractive .

Are you Australian? With all the receipts I took to medicare for reimbursement - I got less than $300 back out of $25 000.

They do warn you there is a possibilty. Mine was gone when I woke up. I was in hospital for another procedure a couple of weeks ago and in recovery the man across from me had his taken out while he was waking up. I was glad it wasn't me but he was so out of it he probably didn't feel a thing.

They let me wear my own knickers instead of the hospital ones so they only uncovered down to my waist to get to the bits they needed. They usually uncover you and put a drape over the area they'll be cutting into.

I'm an E cup and still wear underwires. My port is quite a bit lower than my bra line so it doesn't pose a problem with bras.

I had an inferior vena cava filter placed in November 2007. I had some serious PE happening and had the IVC filter placed in an emergency procedure. The clots had 3/4 closed over the bronchus and the Drs couldn't work out how I was still alive. One of my clots was 2cm which should have killed me instantly when it went through my heart so they placed the filter as they said if another clot went to my lungs it'd kill me. They placed it under sedation in Radiology. They put a nick in my groin and fed it up through my femoral vein. During the procedure I had to be awake because they were taking xrays to make sure they could get correct placement and required me to hold my breath a few times so I had to be conscious to follow instructions. The sent my back to Coronary Care and I had to lay flat on my back all night so that the puncture in my groin didn't open up. The next day I could sit up or lay on my side as normal. They don't like to leave them in too long so in January they tried retrieval through my jugular under sedation. I was in radiology for 3 hours but the tip of it is stuck in the vein wall. They tried to take it out again about 3 weeks ago under general anaesthetic which was about 2 hours but it's well and truly stuck. The Drs then informed me that because I'll have the filter for life I have to be on Warfarin for life now too. The most painful part of the procedure is when they go through your neck, you have to lay with your head to the side. The actual puncture wound doesn't hurt that much, it's when your neck siezes up from being stuck in the one position for hours. To answer why they take it out: *There is evidence that leaving the filter in can cause further clotting problems and increases your risk of DVT in the long term. *Also, if the filter moves, it gets shot straight into your heart and will kill you. *Another thing is if a bit of the filter breaks off it gets shot straight into your heart and can kill you. *If you're not on blood thinning medication it can get full of blood clots and there are then complications with the filter. *The filter can penetrate the vein wall. *It can also perforate the aorta, bowel, duodenum. *Can cause chronic leg edema, hyperpigmentation and ulceration. *Also, there is no guarantee that the filter will catch the clots and may not work so you can still get PE. This is all outlined on the disclaimer they get you to sign.

I can drink diet coke or any other softdrink without a problem - I don't get any gas problems. My sister couldn't when she was banded. It just depends on whether you can tolerate it or not.

Life wouldn't be worth living if I couldn't eat potato and corn. They're my fave veges.

The economy the world over is getting worse but I wouldn't let it stop me. I was self pay - I had a choice. Pay it or die. Pretty simple choice for me.

About 12 hours - I stayed over night because my surgery was at night. I got to the ward about 10pm and was out the next morning.

Have they told you how long the waiting list is. When I enquired last year I was told the wait list in Brisbane was years and years so I ended up getting the money out of my Super and paying myself. I didn't want to wait up to 7 years.

I'd be pretty cranky at that. I think it's poor patient care on his part. This is all the contact I've had with my Dr and his team: *I had to see the nurse for my first appointment. *I had 2 appointments with the surgeon. *The day of surgery he came to check on me and inserted the cannula himself. *Then the next morning he came to check on me again. *One week to the day of surgery the nurse rang me to check I was ok. *I had my pre-op appointment 3 weeks after surgery and first fill.

I had the same problem 2 weeks post-op. I seemed to gain about 5kg. Reading other posts I knew this would most likely happen so I wasn't too concerned. Then I woke up one morning and it was all gone. I wouldn't panic.

Because it's a sports drink if you have a sports supplement shop near you they should sell it. Some health food shops sell it also.