kmorri

@@Heidijenn I had my surgery on May 16th..........I've not had any issues. After the first 5 days I started to feel pretty much normal. This is the best thing I've ever done for myself! Keep in mind that people are much more likely to post when things are not going so good......folks that are doing well are much more likely to just get on with their life.....The surgery is certainly a personal decision but don't make that decision based on issues others are having....yes there are risks, but weigh those risks against the risks of obesity related issues.....I wish you the best.

@kjmorris.....Hello! I had my surgery on May 15th. I was like you and felt better while in the hospital. Once I got home I wasn't able to drink near enough Fluid or any Protein.............My nurse coordinator gave me the best advice....she told me to stop worrying about any number of ounces as goals and to just focus on sipping as much fluid as I could and to keep an eye on the color of my urine and to not let it get dark......and once I was able to drink fluids easier then to start working on protein........ Bottom line the first 5 days were tough for me.............day 6 it started to get much better and by about day 8 I was good to go with both fluid and protein. Let us know how you're doing.

@@Jane I think it may be possible! My insurance didn't require the supervised diet either.....I went to my initial consult with the surgeon on March 15th and my surgery was done on May 16th......so depending on when schools starts back it may be close. Good luck!!!

The good thing is if your hernia repair is approved by your insurance that the facility charges from the hospital will be covered.....the surgeons fees would only be covered for the hernia repair and then you'd be responsible for the Sleeve.....I believe most any bariatric surgeon would do this....your out of pocket will be a little higher but still very worth it! I would start calling other surgeons.

Make sure to ask this specific question to not only your bariatric center but also your insurance company.....because it is different for different plans. as you've seen in the previous answers sometime just the initial weight is used....but for me every single weigh in counted until they finally submitted to my insurance for approval.....I was like you and started out with a BMI of around 41 and I had to make sure I did not drop below 40 prior to being submitted to my insurance.

When the initial authorization request from the provider is submitted to the insurance company they include an "expected" surgery date.............if it was approved, most likely all they will have to do is update the date on the authorization request......However, there may be some tests or visits that are time sensitive and have to be redone if too much time passed............(my knowledge comes from me retiring from BCBS of Florida back in September after working there for 29 years).

Your stats are very close to mine....I'm also 5'5"....my starting weight was 252....but surgery weight was 225. My surgery was 5/16 so just a little less than 3 weeks for me now and I've lost 15 lbs since surgery for a total of 40 overall!...I can't wait to see where I am at 3 months!

No the 40lbs is from my heaviest weight when I first started my journey in late March. I lost quite a bit on the pre-op diet.....I've lost 15 lbs since surgery on 5/16....it'll be 3 weeks on Monday.

I work from home and was really hoping after surgery on Monday and home from the hospital on Tuesday to be able to log on and work by Thursday.....didn't happen! I did start back on Monday but really wished I had another week because I was just really tired............If I had to actually get ready and go to work rather than just in my home office I think I would have taken another week for sure...

@....by the way! Good luck with surgery on Monday. You'll do great!

One of the first things they do when you get to the hospital is you have to change into a hospital gown.....you can't have anything on under it. :-) As far as pain control while it the hospital it was wonderful!!.....I had a little button I could push and it would automatically give me really good pain medication....I could push it every 8 mins....well I could push it all I wanted to but it would only give me some every 8 minutes. They will want you to get up and walk just a few hours after surgery....You probably won't want to....but do it anyway! It will help you heal faster.....walk as much as you can! Your surgeon or bariatric team should have given you a food plan that tells you how and when to progress through each of the food stages....if they didn't then make sure to ask for it. Raw veggies are usually one of the last things you'll eat.....here's what my plan was Nothing the day of surgery Clear Liquids the day after surgery Full liquids day 3 through day 10 (full liquids included creamed soups, and yogurt, and cream of wheat, sugar free pudding) pureed cooked foods starting on day 10............and progress to soft foods as tolerated.

depends on your surgeon but mine would not allow anything by mouth until they did the leak test the next day.....so that night in the hospital until they did the leak test the next morning was tough! I don't think my mouth has ever been so dry!!! If your doctor does the the same, mouth wash helps....the hospital staff kept bringing me these little bottles ....lol I think I went through 4 bottles.....also brushing your teeth will help too. once I passed the leak test they brought me a tray of liquids.....I sipped on everything and it all seemed to go down fine and then they released me to go home........... Home was another story! It was like as soon as I got home EVERYTHING tasted terrible!....I couldn't take my pain meds, because it tasted too bad, gas x strips tasted terrible, my nausea medication were these little pills you had to let dissolve in your mouth....well those made me want to throw-up..I had to resort to using a suppository! .LOL.....even tooth paste was awful!.....it was very bad I couldn't drink near enough Fluid and no Protein at all............this lasted until day 5.....On day 6 it was like a miracle! I woke up and everything was back to normal. During this time I was in close communication with my nurse coordinator and she had me focus only on fluid for those days.....she told me to just sip as much as I could and to keep an eye on the color of my urine and to not let it get dark.....that was easier than trying to get in a certain number of ounces... But like I said day 6 everything was back to tasting normal and I was able to drink 64 ounces of fluid and close to all my protein....took me a couple of days to build that up. I didn't really start feeling good and more like myself until I was able to eat real food....pureed Soups, and yogurt....tuna salad........Real food makes all the difference in the world!!! Good luck with your surgery! Feel free to ask me any questions!

You can drive as soon as you're not taking pain meds......I didn't take any pain meds once I got home from the hospital.... However, I don't think I drove anywhere for a couple of days.....My surgery was on a Monday, I came home on Tuesday.....I think it was Friday before I actually drove....can't remember for sure.

I agree I bought way too much Protein powder!!..........I hated Protein drinks after surgery and luckily I'm only having to have one once in a while now...............Just know you will be fine to go to the store after surgery....you don't need to stock up a whole bunch of stuff. haha....you will be able to go out and in fact I looked forward to getting out a little each day.

Yes you need very little post surgery! when you move to pureed stage I loved the Progresso Lite soups.....I would puree the whole can and put about a quarter cup, sometimes even less in a bowl.....then put the rest in an ice tray and freeze it .......about two to three ice cubs was all I could eat at one time.....................and once I moved to real food the little ice cubes worked great to season chicken while it was roasting!

I hope you're feeling better. My surgery was 5/16 and I had a hiatal hernia repair at the same time and had chest pain for the first week pretty bad.....The first few days it was hard to drink Water or Protein.......walking helped and drinking standing up helped. After about a week things got much better. I still get a pressure in my chest ......but see that more as a sign of "I've had enough" now. The Soups I enjoyed during the pureed stage were all the Progresso Lite soups.....it was nice to have some flavor back some of them are kinda of spicy which I loved! Good luck and again I hope you're feeling better......if not go camp out in your doctor's office until they see you or go to the ER like others have recommended. .

My mother was very supportive! She of course showed concern over having a surgical procedure.....but said she certainly understood why I wanted to do it and supported me 100%. Now since the surgery she has been soooo excited for me and has been a great cheerleader. She has struggled with her weight most of her life too so maybe that's the difference....she said she wished she had done the same many years ago.....she's 74 now and thankfully her BMI is lower so at her age it's not something she needs now.

My husband and I went out to eat last night for the first time after surgery....we went to Sonny's bbq.....I had smoked turkey and green beans......I basically had a whole dinner left that my husband took to work with him today for lunch...haha It was good though and fun to go out again!

yes if you send me your email address I can send you an invite to join.

I need your email address in order to send you the invite to join the fb group.

I'm on purée foods now. Is your body okay with regular foods now? And I can't stand those protein shakes Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App Yes I haven't had any issues at all! My plan said once I started pureed to progress as tolerated and I tolerated everything fine......So I'm eating normal food making sure to chew really well and eating slowly because I fill up really fast (which is a good thing).....I'm eating protein first and if I have room a couple bites of veggies....I"m not eating any starches or breads as I want to loose as much weight as possible in this first year.

I'm not Mexican but I grew up on good old southern style county cooking......with lots of basically meat and potatoes....Our meals were full of high fat, high carb foods. You just have to make up your mind to change. Unfortunately there is no trick....you just have to make up your mind you're going to eat healthier and then do it.....you can also work on making some of your favorite traditional dishes more healthy by making healthy substitutions. .....don't expect it to be the same as the original, but more of an alternative. Good luck!!!

So my surgery was the 16th and I'm feeling pretty much normal again.....I'm eating normal food just very small amounts! Being able to eat normal food has made all the difference in the world. I love that I'm not putting all those chemicals in my body anymore with those horrid Protein drinks.......I'm only drinking one once in a while now when I feel like I need a little something extra. How's everyone else doing with eating now?

I'm doing very well! I really don't have any pain to speak of....maybe just a little muscle soreness getting up and down but nothing bad..... I wouldn't want to get punched in my belly...lol but all in all I'd say no pain. I'm able to drink all my liquid without problems....the Protein is another issue. I hate the Protein shakes so I'm looking forward to being able to get my protein from natural food.

Yes just call the customer service number on the back of your card and ask if bariatric surgery is covered and what are the medical requirements.