theantichick

I haven't had the surgery yet, but I have psoriatic arthritis and my rheumy said that the surgery can definitely help with auto-immune conditions because the stomach tissue taken out and the fat cells lost directly impact inflammatory levels. I know it won't cure my arthritis, but I'm hoping between the hormonal changes, inflammatory changes, and less weight to strain my joints it will help some. We haven't had much activity there, but I started a group here for people with auto-immune and you're welcome to join. http://www.bariatricpal.com/groups/455-sleeved-spoonies/

I wish mine was auto. I hate the doc at my sleep clinic, so I won't go back. My primary doc writes the script for my supplies. So when I need to start getting it adjusted as I lose weight I'll probably need to find a new clinic.

Ok, Psych eval done. That was strange. I mean, I get all the questions he asked about my health and other therapy I'd had, my weight, the surgery. But the questions about things in the news, repeating strings of numbers back to him... I'm wondering what the point of all that was. Anyway, I didn't get any vibe that there would be an issue. One more weigh in with the diet supervising doctor on Friday. And my primary said she needed to hold off writing the recommendation letter until I see her on the 11th to make sure the new BP med was doing its job, but otherwise she's all for the surgery. Just wants me to be safe and not get rejected by the anesthesiologist the day of the surgery. So things are coming along swimmingly.

Different Cigna plans must have different requirements. My Open Access plan only required 3 months supervised, with no specific weight loss needed. So I just met with a doc 3 times and got weighed and talked about nutrition and choices. I also saw a nutritionist, but I'm not sure if that was because of insurance requirement or my surgeon's protocol.

I just got a Spanx Power Short to try because I forsee a lot of drawstring skirts in my near future as I lose weight, and I have horrible "chub rub". They are doing great. They aren't to the knee, but I know Spanx makes some that are. The other Spanx I have put a lot more compression, these are more like the compression in a spandex bike short. I'll very likely get a couple more of these.

My therapist doesn't like the surgery. She keeps pushing the health at every size thing, and thinks I'm pinning too much hope on the surgery to improve my quality of life. I don't think the surgery is going to cure anything, but losing weight will absolutely help a bunch of my chronic issues, and she just doesn't see that. I'm seeing her because of food issues, but it's a pretty specific post traumatic stress thing. I mean, I do emotionally and stress eat, and we're also dealing with that, but I don't really do full-on binges. I started seeing her before I decided on the surgery, because these are issues I need to deal with whether I get the surgery or not. I'm not dumping her because we're doing good work on those issues. I just used a different therapist recommended by the bariatric surgeon for my surgery clearance so I didn't put my therapist in a position to approve me for a surgery she doesn't believe in. So we'll agree to disagree on the surgery, and focus on the issues I'm actually seeing her for. I think that the mental health professionals who see a lot of body image issues develop a bias against the surgery because they see so many people who think the surgery will fix all of the problems in their life. Instead of rejecting the surgery outright, I think they would do better to help people realize that it can be *a* tool, but it is not a magic bullet.

Around where I live the goodwill selection is much better if you go to a location in or near the priciest part of town. sent from mobile device

I am relieved. My primary is happy I'm doing something about my weight, especially since my blood pressure is way high and didn't really come down after resting 20 min. So I'm getting a new BP med, and approval for surgery. The med well get discontinued after some of the initial weight comes off and I get more active. And this is one more co-morbidity to give the insurance company. sent from mobile device

They always say the one with the best (most) documentation wins. Good for you, making sure you had it all documented. Bosses need to learn they can't bully people. I hope yours learns the lesson.

This is a fantastic post, you're an inspiration. I was also a "healthy fat person" for a long time, and then everything seemed to fall apart. I think my body was compensating for the weight until it couldn't. I am anxiously awaiting the last of the insurance requirements and approval, and am *so* ready to get on with it. I have no desire to run mudders, but am glad you enjoy it, you look so happy.

It's doctor week. I see my PCP this afternoon, and am stressing over what she will say. I do not want to have to fire her and find a new PCP while I'm trying to get this surgery approved. I'm really hoping she's just glad I'm finally doing something about my weight, she's been on my case about it for years. Tomorrow I get my psych eval. I'm not worried about it in the slightest, it's just one more copay I have to deal with in this whole process. Though I do have to remember to put my checkbook in my purse, the doc only takes cash and checks. Friday is my last weigh-in with the supervised diet. I don't think I've lost any weight, I have had real problems sticking to the diet for a number of reasons. My family and I sat down this weekend and had a heart-to-heart about what's going to have to change in the house food-wise. My daughter is worried about her weight, my husband wants to eat healthier, so this will happen. We just had too much going on the last month with family visiting and an upcoming trip and everything to really deal with it. But we have a plan for when we get back from vacay. I'm really hoping that the insurance company doesn't throw any more roadblocks up. I have a gap between school semesters in August that would be ideal for the surgery, and things are (knock on wood) slow at work right now but are due to really pick up this fall. So I'm crossing my fingers for a quick approval and a surgery schedule that fits right in the gap. We'll see.

Mirage liberty sent from mobile device

This came across my newsfeed today. I searched and didn't see anything already posted, if it's a duplicate I apologize. Anyway, this is a VSG surgery being videoed by a camera, and you can pan the playback all around to see what's on the surgery monitor or around to see the patient's abdomen. It's totally cool. Not for the squeamish, but as a nurse I was fascinated by the procedure.

It's going to depend on your specific situation and your medical team. I have auto-immune arthritis and have to be able to take NSAIDs and steroids for my treatment. My rheumatologist actually recommended the sleeve. My surgeon also said that a bypass is not an option because of these meds, and the auto-immune rules out the band. These meds aren't just hard on your stomach while being digested, they also change some chemicals in your body and make you slightly more prone to ulcers, even if you take them through an injection or intravenously. For me, it's a cost/benefit analysis and my medical team and I have agreed I'll take them when needed. Some surgeons may not think it's worth the risk, and will recommend never taking them.

It's all about finding the right mask. I can't tolerate a full mask. Nasal pillows were comfy but my mouth opens and a chin strap didn't work. Finally found a hybrid mask with a mask piece that goes over the mouth and nasal pillows on the top. Sounds elaborate but it's super comfy for me. Absolutely keep it clean. I ended up with a machine that pumps ozone through to clean the tubes because I couldn't clean it often enough fit my allergies. I'm going to be done with mine not too long after the surgery. Sent from my Nexus 7 using the BariatricPal App

Wow. I didn't realize she smokes either. I got caught up in it, and adore her mother and some of the other characters. It galls me to no end for her to be that large and say she's healthy. That's not a "little overweight". Just because her labs and blood pressure is OK, does not mean she's healthy. Argh.

Great article, thanks!

I have a PCP, but I was hoping to leave her out of the process since she's always been weird about my weight issues. My rheumatologist is the one who actually gave me a medical reason for the surgery that bumped me off the fence about it. She flat out said it would be a direct benefit to my auto-immune arthritis. So I thought she'd be able to write the letter, but her office emailed me back and said she won't because the surgery has nothing to do with the condition she's treating me for, so I have to get it from my PCP. I'm going to try, but two things will happen if the PCP refuses... #1 I'm firing the PCP, and #2 I'm going to get testy with my rheumy's staff. I'm damned tired of taking off work for all of these pre-requirement appointments.

I have had Mirena for over 9 years (I'm on my 2nd one). I love it. 2-3 periods total in those 9 years (and those were just light spotting), and decreased migraines. Not everyone has a good experience with it, and I can't say the insertion and removal/insertion were any fun. But I have found it to be WELL worth it.

Have an appointment for the 27th. I'm trying not to stress about this. I have a tendency to get worked up over things that never become an issue the way I expect them to. My doc might be thrilled that I'm finally doing something about my weight that she's been hammering on me about for years. She may not have any biases against bariatric surgery. I will say, though, that if she refuses to send the letter, I'm finding a new doc. I fired her once before for shoving anti-depressants at me because my symptoms were not backed up by labwork. After I ended up being diagnosed with sleep apnea and needing a heart procedure, I ended up going back to her after problems with the office staff at the doc I'd started seeing. I like the family practice clinic, they always have PA's or NP's I can get in to see if my doc isn't available and it's urgent. It's very convenient, between my home and office. I like my doc quite a bit. But I will not hesitate to go elsewhere if I need to. I'll be so glad once all the hoops have been jumped through and the insurance approval is given. Then I'll be able to relax. Well, except for stressing about the pre-surgery diet and the post-surgery diet... the surgery itself does not scare or stress me at all... it's the fear that I can't do the diet changes that stresses me.

ARGH. So my rheumatologist told me when I asked her about VSG that it would absolutely benefit me, in more ways than just losing weight for my joints. She said the changes in hormones would directly impact my arthritis in a positive way. So when insurance said they needed a referral from someone other than the surgeon, I thought my rheumy would be perfect. And her office actually responds to emails through the patient portal. So I emailed what I needed. Her staff emailed me back today that she can't do that, because she's treating me for psoriatic arthritis and that has nothing to do with gastric surgery. That I have to get that from my primary doc. So add one more freakin' appointment to the list of things to freakin' do, one more freakin' copay, and more time off work, since my primary isn't close to my office. And, I don't know if my primary will agree with the surgery. She's been on me about diet for years, but gets caught up in fads... her latest one was telling me with the auto-immune I needed to go gluten-free. Before that it was paleo and low-no-carb. Oh, well... will tomorrow and see what I can set up. Fingers crossed. I don't know what I'll do if she won't write the note.

Last appointments for meeting insurance requirements are set. Psych on 6/28 and last supervised diet visit on 7/1. Hopefully this will allow everything to get sent to insurance and approval early enough to schedule for mid-August between my school semesters. It's starting to feel real.

I read about this several months ago, and as a nurse am horrified. Yes, we have lots of patients who have tubes into their stomachs for long periods of time without infection and such, so that part is fine But maintaining those tubes is a royal PITA. They hang on clothes and get pulled out, clog, and have no ends of problems. And that's just with liquids going IN. While I can see that this is slightly better than becoming bulimic because you don't have stomach acid in your throat and mouth, it just feels like medically induced bulimia without the erosion. Ugh.

At the risk of continuing to assault the deceased equine... I'll offer up my spare change, FWIW. I'm still a newbie for the surgery (hoping for August), and relatively new to the boards (signed up in Jan but really got more active around April/May). But as I've said several times, I've been around the interwebs since the AOL days and everything in between. I gotta say, there's nothing new going on here. I have witnessed the newbs described here who get all butthurt when someone says they really shouldn't have done the 128oz steak platter 3 days postop. I've seen those newbs pout and carry on saying that this site is too negative, and they're going elsewhere to play. Presumably where they'll be coddled and patted and told everything they want to do is OK. Frankly, in my experience and opinion, don't let the door hit you in the a** on the way out. You can't please all the people all the time, it's a short road to insanity. Then I've seen veterans start snipping and sniping at each other in passive-aggressive and aggressive-aggressive ways. A lot of these seem to be "my way is the only way" arguments (straws and soda, anyone?), and a lot of them seem to be personality conflicts. The veterans will then use the whining of the newbs and use that as a club to beat the other vets they don't agree with. Again, nothing new here. As someone who has participated in more online boards than I could possibly count (and administered my fair share as well) over the 20-some-odd years I've been on the 'net, I can tell you there is no solution to this. It would be lovely if people would just pass over posts from people who make their blood boil, and liberally use the block feature if they can't manage it. It would be lovely if newbs would get the chip off their shoulder before posting. It'd be great if people would abandon the "my way is the only right way" mentality. However, this is reality, and there are humans involved. From a board management perspective, if you over-moderate you lose people because they don't like being censored. Under-moderate and it becomes a regular blood bath. You have to find the middle road, and just keep reminding people to play nicely in the sandbox. This is one of the better moderated boards I've seen... not too heavy-handed but managing to keep the nastiness from escalating past a point. As a newb to the surgery, I deeply appreciate the veterans who are sharing their experience and opinion. I don't agree with all of it, but I'm not in a position to argue as I haven't been there yet. So I just absorb it all, ask questions to clarify, and try to play nice. I really hope that the vets won't abandon the boards for a private forum or off-board community. I have already learned so much from more people than I could list here and be reasonably sure I got their handles right. Anyway, I think the board is awesome, Alex and the other mods are doing a bang-up job, and everyone needs to follow the Bill and Ted philosophy: Be excellent to each other, and party on, dudes!