2goldengirl

@@BarrySue, there is no such thing as "just a nurse".

Fabulous work!

That depends on your surgeon, whether you need hernia repair, that kind of thing. Speaking broadly, these days anesthesiologists use short-acting drugs that don't hang around in your system for long. Anesthesia is much, much easier than it used to be (from a patient standpoint). Mostly you feel like you've had the soundest sleep of your life.

I had both, and the hernia repair only meant an extra incision up near the hernia. No pain there, the only pain I had postop was from the larger incision where they removed my stomach. That hurt getting in and out of bed for a few days, but I never took anything stronger than plain tylenol once I was home. And I'm as fair, and as blonde, as they come

I'm sure you'll get many more responses from people with their own tales to tell, but yes, many, many folks here have found remarkable improvement in knee pain, back pain, foot pain, you name it! I do want to add, the improvement is from significant weight loss - only they can tell you how much of their weight they had to lose before noticing relief.

Getting up and walking helps better with gas pains than anything. As far as getting in enough Protein and fluids, keep at it. It may take a few days to where you're hitting your targets, but it should get better each day. And remember that in the early days, you can end up in the hospital again if you don't get in your fluids, but you won't be for too little protein. Your Protein drinks count as Fluid, too.

Um, you HAVE to touch the humidifier to refill it, also to clean it. But it does sound as though you're sleeping with your mouth open. Or your humidifier is out of Water. I was told to use distilled water in mine.

I can just see you now, handing out protein drinks with little umbrellas in them...

Glad to hear you're doing better. Remember that even if you're sedentary, your hip is working overtime on healing. Make sure you have extra Protein so you have the tools to build new tissue as you heal. Good luck!

Depending on the requirements of your surgeon and your health plan, and any medical issues you may have, you can expect a lot of testing in the coming months. I had to see a GI specialist and have an EGD, a pulmonologist and have a sleep study, after which I was diagnosed with sleep apnea and got a CPAP machine. I also had to have an EKG and some blood work. This was all in additition to seeing a Registered Dietician and a psychologist. These were all requirements of my surgeon. If I hadn't done so already, I would also have needed a mammogram (I'm of the age where regular mammograms are recommended) and a TB test. Again, all surgeon's requirements, the health plan left everything up to my surgeon. While you're doing your supervised diet, you have the chance to change some of your current habits for ones that will work better for you after your surgery. Good luck! Oh, and I've never heard of anyone being hospitalized preop, FWIW.

Not everyone is sent home on clear liquids. I wasn't.

Thank you for posting. Dangit, every last one of these is for something sweet. I am loathing sweet right now.

Girl, you look fabulous. And I can see a brilliant second career for you, booking folks to come to MO to your surgeon

Funny. I've been around popcorn a couple times in the month since my sleeve. Both times I've thought "that smells kinda good", but my sleeve has interrupted the thought with "don't even think about it". I am hopeful that my sleeve will be as forthcoming with things it wants to try as it is with things it firmly says "no" to

"So after the 3 month WLM you still have to submit to the insurance to see if it will be covered?" Yes. You got approved for a consult with the surgeon. Your surgeon will have requirements preop (usually diagnostic tests). Your health plan will also have requirements. I don't know what state your in or what kind of insurance you have, so it's a bit hard to generalize. Once you have met both health plan and surgeon's requirements, your surgeon will submit a request to your health plan for approval of the surgery itself. You would be wise at this point to check with your health plan to find out for certain that WLS is a covered benefit under your plan. Also find out if there is a cap on that benefit (a certain dollar amount that limits your coverage). Some people have found out at the last minute that they had such large deductibles and copays that it would have been less expensive for them to pay out of pocket. It all depends on your plan and your coverage. I hope this helps!

Thanks - as I wrote, the 30 lbs. is since October. 16 lbs since surgery a month ago. I had a stall already, didn't faze me a bit. I weigh daily as an accountability practice. right now my focus isn't on losses, it's on getting my Protein, calories, and fluids in. Losses are great, but not my focus at the moment.

I think you'll find what you're looking for over on the Plastic Surgery forum.

One month out, no hunger, quite the opposite. I eat on a schedule because I know I must, but no hunger whatsoever. I do notice that I am able to eat more easily in the afternoon/evening than in the morning. Right now it's time for my egg and I'm not the least bit interested.

I had my sleeve done one month ago today, and stepped on the scale to a very specific scale victory. I have lost > 30 lbs since I started all this back near the end of October. In all my professional dieting career (which extends back to the 1960's), I have never, ever, lost as much as 30 lbs. This dawned on me when I sat down and did a list for my PCP and surgeon of my weight loss history. Like many of us, I'd tried just about everything. And I knew, roughly, how much I'd lost on each attempt and how long it had stayed off. When I looked at the list, I saw that I had never lost more than 27 lbs. at a time. Earlier in my life, that's because I had less to lose, but as time passed, 27 lbs. was a drop in the bucket, so to speak. Back at the end of October, I started out just tracking in Sparkpeople. My goal was accountability, not weight loss. I knew that for me, accountability was a weak link. I also started weighing daily, again for accountability reasons. When I've been more successful at keeping on track, weighing daily has been part of my practice. I ended up losing seven lbs. just from doing those two things. There are many, many more miles in this journey for me, but I've turned a personal corner. I can't say how it feels yet, I'm still trying to wrap my head around it. Posted in the hope this helps someone else!

Seconding the refried Beans. I'm on pureed/soft foods at a month postop and I make sure I get a half-cup of refrieds each day. Just today I can get that in in one meal, instead of two. Six grams of fiber in the half-cup.

I don't like counting calories, either. I'm not overfond of logging my intake, but what I learned preop is that it's a necessity for me. I found that when I was preoccupied, or busy, or tired, I wasn't eating enough. Now that I'm postop, my surgeon has given me Protein, Fluid, and calorie goals to meet. I'm only just barely meeting the calorie goal. If I weren't tracking, I wouldn't have any way of knowing how close I was getting to those targets.

I'm guessing the answer above is relative to alcohol. What did your surgeon and/or NUT say about this? I do know from posts on these boards that some folks have been enjoying their coffee since shortly after their surgery, though most of them have been told to limit caffeine to 8 oz/day or less. Some surgeons say "never" to alcohol for a number of reasons. Some say otherwise. It appears (again, from posts on these boards), that six months or more seems to be the average for those who have had alcohol postop. I used to absolutely love my coffee. I'd gradually decaffeinated in the past couple years, but I still loved my coffee. I haven't had any in the month since my surgery and I have to say, it just doesn't sound good to me right now. Will I go back to it? I don't know. I loved my wine (a glass with dinner most evenings, sometimes two on weekends). Obviously, I haven't had any in the month since my surgery. I don't miss it right now, but then I'm not eating anything close to "normally" these days yet, so that doesn't surprise me. Will I go back to it? Probably, but I haven't really thought about it. I don't know whether you're preop or postop, but just from what I've read on these boards these past few months, questions like these are most often from individuals who haven't had surgery yet. It's a part of trying to learn what post-op life is like, and thinking of the things we think we'll miss most. All I can offer to that is that postop life differs for everyone - but for me, I'm not missing anything just yet, I'm still getting used to my new me.

I know how disappointed you must feel - some people have to wait for other reasons, such as surgeons who are booked a month or two in advance (or hospital scheduling limitations). I often think that there is some kind of link between not handling frustration well and ending up overweight enough to need WLS. I had to wait longer than I wanted for my surgery. What ought to have been a < 90-day process ended up taking twice that long, what with one thing and another, including the Holidays. It ended up being a great stretch of time to reflect/revisit/ponder where I am, how I got here, and to get my ducks in a row so that I really DO make the most of this opportunity. I wish the same for you.

Today I wore a pair of jeans I haven't been able to wear in eight years. I got so few wearings out of them that they still look new. That'll do for a start (I'm a month postop tomorrow).

What a fantastic milestone! How do you plan to celebrate?