gina171

I have heard the same, easier recovery. There's still a doctor in there controlling everything, you're not in there all alone with a robot and a nurse. Sent from my iPad using the BariatricPal App

I think is going to be a very different experience. A lot of recovery and work, walking those halls, getting fluids in when our new stomachs are not happy about it! Just keep an open mind on seeing the boys. I had one friend whose husband saw her in a lot of discomfort after surgery and decided that the kids visiting was not a good idea, and kept them home. Some people have a rough recovery, some are still super loopy on drugs and painkillers. But...others glide right through it all without too much discomfort. Hopefully that will be you! Sent from my iPad using the BariatricPal App

Some insurance companies do not post printable docs online sadly; others WON'T email specifics on bariatric surgery, go figure. I am someone who could get nothing firmly in writing. Fun! Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

Usually if they say documented it has to at least be confirmed by a third party....Weight Watchers meetings for instance, but Weight Watchers Online does not count since you enter your weight yourself. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

Jen, do you work for a really big company that might actually self-fund their own insurance plan themselves, and they just use UHC to be their plan administrators? I have UHC Choice Plus and that's my situation, but until I explained it to my surgeon's office that "I have a UHC card, and it LOOKS like I have UHC, but I really don't....they just do my company's paperwork" they didn't get it. THEN they called and got the right answer. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

That's incredible, I am so happy for you!!! Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

Speaking of comfy undies....I never thought of this but maybe a year from now I won't be buying my underwear in a "5 Pack+Bonus 2 Free!" Package from JustMySize or Fruit of the Loom. Underwear won't just be something I mindlessly toss in my cart at Target along with Windex and light bulbs and Cheerios. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

Hey ridgerunner, you might like this book, written by a woman who had DS. It's not just a weight loss book, she's a "real" writer too, so she writes a LOT about the psychological changes too....pretty fascinating. I'm listening to it as an audiobook, but here's a link up the book: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1580054463/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1465437773&sr=8-1π=SY200_QL40&keywords=stranger+here Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

Thinking of you today and hoping all went well for you! Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

Doesn't get much better than Mayo clinic! Did he tell you why DS over RNY? I would think you could also be very successful with that? Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

As of now, I don't think I have GERD.... I just get heartburn about 3 times a month when I eat too much, only happens at night, and 4 tums takes care of it. I think that's just normal occasional heartburn? Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

Blue1213, i meet with my surgeon on July 14, I am going to tell him all my concerns about healing, but also how important it is to me that I lose ALL this weight....I won't be happy if I only get halfway there. I want my best chance to get to a healthy weight, with as few healing complications as possible. Tall order, huh? Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

OK....you give me hope!!! Any problems with GERD? Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

Yes, hopefully not! I work in college admissions, so I really want to get this done and be recovered before application season hits. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

It all depends on how much weight you have to lose. If you are in the higher weight ranges, the RNY might be better. The Sleeve is a bit easier but then it's easier to cheat which could cause you from losing all the weight you need to lose. I had the Sleeve 2 1/2 years ago and I love it. I still have restriction and it's just so easy. The bad thing is that I have horrible gastric reflux and meds are not helping. I am scheduled for a revision to a RNY bypass in August. They are both tools, they both work but the RNY is malabsorbtive, which could cause dumping and there is the issue of taking Vitamins the rest of my life. Ah well.... Good luck to you. Great points....my BMI IS 51, I have 160 pounds to lose....so that clearly points to RNY. But I have a real fear of playing with my intestines, since they already seem rumbly and mildly unhappy 4 days a week....maybe I have chronically inflammation and have just always lived with it? But even more worrisome, my mother had her intestines resectioned in one place during a cancer surgery, and she never healed right, had bowel obstructions, developed a fistula from her intestines through to her belly button, it was awful. And I am afraid maybe I would heal like that? Your GERD must be awful to "leave it" for an RNY....it really is unbearable? It must be, if you are willing to through all this again. The sleeve seems like so much less trauma to my body. But maybe I am underestimating myself, and maybe I could handle the extra trauma of the RNY. Another plus for RNY....I only have 1 chance to do this with my insurance. So maybe I just go for the RNY, if I might wind up there one day anyway? Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

All of the above invoices and both comments are terrifying. Expired supplies, I never even thought of that as a possibility. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

I'm about ready to flip a coin, I'm so tired of trying to decide. Heads....RNY Tails.....Sleeve Of course I won't REALLY decide on the flip of a coin, but i DID just flip a shiny penny and it came up tails and .... My immediate reaction was relief. Hmmm. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

This is all getting real! Had my psych eval this morning, and honestly...it was interesting, illuminating, and an overall great experience. Really great, and I got the ok. Then.....even better....my surgeon's office called and said that per my request they checked with my insurance again, and I DO NOT have a 6-months required supervised diet requirement after all (last week the surgeon's office told me I did have a 6 month wait, but I knew that was in conflict with what my insurance administrators had told me 4 times already). First surgeon's appt and a zillion tests on July 14th, maybe I can hop on the table in August. Fingers and toes crossed on that. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

Is your surgeon in a big, serious bariatric clinic? Like Duke or the Cleveland Clinic? BC the extra training necessary for this type of operation is huge....this isn't an operation done by just any surgeon. I would look to see if he is fellowship trained in bariatrics. Be very careful who you work with on this. Go to their support meetings and talk to others who have had the DS. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

I wish you had called your surgeon before taking anything. The fact that you didn't call your surgeon/nurse to check raises the question of whether you are sabotaging yourself, maybe you're not 100% mentally ready/comfortable about having the surgery tomorrow? They might have been able to give you some surgery-compliant options for pain relief. If you don't tell them tomorrow, you are risking your health and possibly your life. Tell them immediately, bring the bottle to show them exactly what you took. Sent from my iPad using the BariatricPal App

You look so happy in the last close up photo.... Your eyes are just showing all your excitement, how great! Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

My first appointment with my surgeon is on July 14th, so I have a good 5 weeks. I would like to use this time wisely. I don't feel the need to go on weeks of food funerals, though I am sure I will have 3 or 4 favorite meals during this time. But how else can I best use the time til mid-July? Here's what I am in the process of doing now: I have read several books and am well versed on the different surgery types, am uncertain btw. sleeve and RNY, will rely on physician input once he sees the whole health picture. I am seeing my primary care doc on this month to officially record starting weight, and let them know I am getting WLS. I will attend support group meetings. Am getting my psych eval done this week. Trying out different protein products. So I guess the big question is, do I start serious, low carb, dieting now, in the meantime? I am the type who can lose 20 pounds fairly easily, but then....I stall, and I stall HARD, and then I usually get sloppy and start slowly regaining. So I am a little worried about losing my 20 easy pounds, showing up to the surgeon mid-July and he says, hey lose 10% of your body weight before surgery please, and then I am stuck "starting over" right in the really hard part of every diet I have ever been on. Maybe I am whining here? I would like to do everything I can to get a head start before that first surgeon appt, since I'd like to do the surgery as soon as I can bc of work cycles (I work in college administration). I supposedly have no mandatory diet and exercise waiting period (we'll see on that....). I figure that starting to lose weight now will just mean it's some weight at least that I don't have to lose later, so maybe I should just jump in and diet? Try bariatric recipes? What do you recommend? Thanks for any input or advice.

Some insurance companies won't send you anything in writing....especially if your insurance plan is actually fully-funded by your employer ( your employer actually pays the claims, NOT the insurance company) and they use the " insurance company" for administrative purposes only. That's how it works with my husband's company. They are a pharma company and they directly set their own health care plan policies and they themselves pay out the claims....they merely use UHC as plan administrators. UHC provides them access to doctors and networks, and UHC manages the plan rules that my husband's company sets....which are sometimes set up differently than UHC rules. So while my insurance card says UHC, it's not really truly UHC.... especially when my company sets up different rules. But it can be very confusing to deal with at times. Especially when UHC has a blanket policy of 6-month wait, and OUR company plan says BMI and if it's medically necessary are the only requirements. Sent from my iPad using the BariatricPal App

I think you need to give more details here Sent from my iPad using the BariatricPal App

Can you tell us what you want advice on? Which surgery are you having? Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App