songsmith

Home again, home again, jiggity jig jig! Phew! I had a lot of a nausea, so they kept me an extra day. Felt great the night of my surgery. Then got sick the next morning and felt like crap all day Tuesday, then pretty darn good again today. Concentrating on getting that Water down! Hope everyone else is doing great!

I normally detest Brussels sprouts (blame a stomach flu back when I was a kid). I imagine they'd be fine roasted, maybe with some parmesan cheese sprinkled on there. I've also had them in a slaw. They were terrific like that.

I thought she was a first time poster, but when I looked at her profile, she had threaded before. She did sound completely different. Maybe someone (a kid maybe) got hold of her account? She lost me with all the chat speak and thinly disguised swear words (including the N word). Oh, and we are all fat...except for her. She has reasons. Everybody's Somebody's Fool by Connie Francis.

Thank you one and all! @@WLSResources/ClothingExch, you are sister in spirit, so that counts. @@midorigal, I phoned my surgeon on Friday positive he would cancel on me, but nope. The surgical nurse told me so long as I am not running a fever and my lungs aren't clogged up that they should be good to go. Not looking forward to being without fluids for all that time in the first place. It will be even worse now that I'm so dehydrated by this !@#%!! cold. (There really are no swear words appropriate enough for the way I feel about it.) Best of luck to you! I may not post while in the hospital because I have not mastered phone posting, but I'll think about you. @@CherieF, ouch! I never got cold sores from stress, but I used to break out all the time because of it. Super annoying since I was one of those lucky teens who never broke out. Hope it heals up soon. Thank you, @GibbsGirl. I can hardly wait to be part of the losers' circle!

@@Elode, I love your snarky hubby and kids. They sound just like mine (and, yes, they got it from me, too). I hate the saboteurs, those "friends" and loved ones who wave something you can't have in your face. My surgery isn't until tomorrow, so maybe it's easier to resist after WLS? But I sure had them when I tried to lose on my own before. Then there was my mom, who knew I had lost 75 pounds since the last time we saw her. Flew out for Christmas, and she gave me an outfit that was 4 sizes too large and then pouted because I wouldn't (it was falling off me!) wear it.

Surgery's tomorrow! You bet I'm in!

Guess I should put those before pictures up now. I can barely breathe through my nostrils. Surgeon told me on Friday we would be good to go. Let's hope the anesthesiologist agrees! I'm so worried about this darn cold that I'm not worrying about the actual surgery--probably a good thing! Any sleeve sisters/brothers out there? Words of advice? Catcalls? Boos? Honestly, I feel like I should be more nervous than I am.

I feel cruddy today. I just know I'm going to walk into the hospital come Monday and I won't be able to breathe because of this @#$&*!! cold. They'll take one look and send me right home. Then the next minute I think, "Nope, they'll do the surgery and you will be absolutely parched--even more than you could be--because you're so dehydrated already from the cold." Just bleh. Time for a Protein shake!

I'm so sorry for you! I feel like he chose his moment to cause you the most pain and stress. Talk about attempted sabotage! He won't think of counseling. He's willing to throw all those years away. Sounds to me he's been thinking about this for a long while. You need to look to your finances. Make sure he doesn't pull all your money out of the bank, all that other stuff horrible people do when they leave their spouses. You should not have to think about this at this time, but you'll be glad you did afterwards. Do you have a good friend or loved one who can stay close while you're going through this?

I think your cold will be over by the 29th. The one I have right now may result in a cancelled surgery come Monday. The surgeon told me to come in and they'd decide then. From what I could gather, you are fine so long as you are not running a fever, do not have an existing infection and so long as your lungs aren't involved (the anesthesiologist won't like the last one). Crossing my fingers for you!

Did she charge you for the appointment where you had to come in to receive a letter she didn't provide? If so, I'd present her with a bill demanding the money back! This is disrespectful and unprofessional behavior. I have a long-term therapist, so I realize we build bonds (and also dread exposing ourselves all over again to someone new). In this case, I must say it doesn't sound as if she has your best interests at heart. Perhaps it's time to find a therapist who does. You're already aware of your issues (or many of them) by now, so you won't need to start from scratch. I know that won't help you much in your current predicament. Maybe if she realizes she'll lose the weekly (biweekly whatever) session fee she'll pony up.

It's true! Dogs have "frito" feet. I have done work in animal rescue before and breed recovery. Everyone talks about it on the doggie forums. I challenge anyone to smell their dog's feet. I'm not lying! Well, um, make sure they haven't stepped in anything gross before you do.

Thank you! Heard back from the case manager. She put me on hold and went to ask the surgeon directly. He's fine with any OTC meds so long as they don't contain aspirin or ibuprofen. Said we're a go. The only thing that would stop the surgery is if I'm running a fever, though I suspect the anesthesiologist could put the nix on it if he thinks my breathing is affected. He also said I can drink up to 8 oz. of orange juice a day on my liquid diet. Pretty nice of him, unlike my daughter who won't let me munch on her arm. Kids nowadays!

Sorry, but I laughed. Definitely will remember that line. I'm so used to my tummy stretch marks that I forget about them, but they're about the width of the Grand Canyon and have that white, radioactive hue themselves. Won't even talk about my girls. Pretty sure by the time I'm done I'll be left with stretched out tube socks with another pair of rolled up socks stuffed in the toes. I'll be able to tie them together for a fashion statement! I got nothing for the hair. People say Biotin won't prevent the loss but will help with regrowth. I had major surgery last year and did lose a ton of hair 3-4 months out, but I think it's been coming back slowly. I might notice another hair loss more than I did that one since my hair's already thinned out.

That is great Oh, I like the sound of that! Just got off the phone with my case manager. She spoke to my surgeon while I was on hold. He said come in Monday. They will only cancel if I have a fever or chest problems. (I suppose the anesthesiologist [sp?] also will have a say on that.) He also cleared me to take OTC cold medicine so long as the meds don't include aspirin or ibuprofen. So glad I don't need to extend (or start over) the liquid pre-op diet!

I believe fat people should never be shamed for who they are. It often feels like we're the last carnival freak show: "Hey, look at that guy! He's bigger than a house! Let's take embarrassing and judgmental photos and put them in blogs, magazines and newspapers and TV shows." So, yes, I believe in better understanding of the condition and less judging. I had thyroid cancer. It went for two more years because the first three ENTs I was sent to took one look at me, thought, "Meh, she's fat and looking for an excuse," and didn't do the testing that should have been done. Another friend had PCOS. It took her forever to get diagnosed because, again, she's obese. Doctors, especially, need education. But I'm saddened when I hear people in the movement claim that fat is healthy. It is not. I was a healthy young fat person. I lifted weights. I exercised. I was in great shape. Then I hit 40. Suddenly my blood pressure skyrocketed, my joints gave out, and my endocrinologist threatened to put me on diabetic meds because my blood sugar was too high. (Convinced her to wait to see what surgery does for me.) Long-term, fat is not healthy. People who say otherwise all seem to be in their 20s or early 30s. They don't know yet.

OMG - we really are sleeve buddies. I have a thread in another forum about the same thing. My surgery is also on Monday. Felt it coming on Wednesday and was definitely sick come Thursday. I'm waiting to hear from my case manager. So, yes. I definitely feel like that! (Crossing my fingers for you.) I'm trying to make myself feel better by telling myself I might have trouble getting down all the regular fluids plus the extra you should drink when you're sick. Not much, but anything to shore myself up should the news not be good.

I'm waiting to hear back from my case manager. I've come to terms with the possibility that the surgery will be postponed, namely by reminding myself that I'm super thirsty and people do have problems getting in regular fluids afterwards. Yes, I am grasping at bright side straws. Right now, I hope they'll have me come in on Monday and assess my condition then. I feel worse today, so things are not looking good for short-term cold recovery. I meant the endoscopy, which cost around $1200. Hate if I had to take that one again.

Thanks. I am going to call his office tomorrow morning before I leave for the appointment with my PCP. I so want this over with, but I also want to be healthy. My main worry now is that they'll make me take all those expensive tests over again if I can't get an appointment near my original date.

Thanks for listening to my rant, everyone. The hospital is a large, local (and I believe the county) hospital which has been around for decades. I'm limited because my insurance company forced me to go to a particular practice, and that practice uses that hospital. It's not a problem, but I do think they should have been more forthright about out-of-pocket expenses. I'm still shocked that they don't offer any sort of financing. Now I've caught a cold and need to call the surgeon tomorrow. I have a bad feeling they may cancel my surgery. /pout

My surgery is Monday (2/15) and last night I felt the cold coming on. Today it's arrived full force. I see my primary tomorrow. But I'm fretting. Will they cancel my surgery? If they do does that mean I'll need to take (and pay for) all those tests again? Did anyone have a cold day of? What was your experience?

Three more days till the big day...and...I'm catching a cold. WTF body? I'm so worried I'll show up Monday morning and the surgeon will take one look at me and say, "Nope." That would be bad enough, then I realized how long it would take to get another appointment and the likelihood that I would need to pay for another endoscopy and more blood work. Argh.

I blamed my surgeon for this at first, but now I think it might be hospital policy. My insurance covers 80% of my surgery minus deductible. I was told by both the doctor's office and the hospital that I would need to pay everything up front (the deductible plus that 20% not covered) by day of surgery. To make matters worse, they don't accept Care Credit (which has always offered 0% financing for 24 mos. when I've used it in the past). No one mentioned this at the seminar or at all except when I was called about my endoscopy. Later when the hospital phoned to preregister me, I was given an additional sum I would still owe or they would not do the surgery. It all sounds so strange to me. When I've had surgery before, I pay my copay, the insurance is billed and then I'm billed for anything left over. I wondered if this was standard procedure? (I should mention that the doctor did say that if you were self-pay the entire cost would need to be received ahead of time. He did not say that about insured patients.)

My German shepherd is not a jumper. However, I am owned by two cats, both of whom believe it is of the utmost necessity to jump on my stomach and check me out if they think I'm not feeling well. Now, for those who don't have cats, they are capable of changing their mass at will, exerting the force to crush diamonds in one dainty paw. In other words, I grok you.

Kansas City area. Surgery in February.