WitchySar

My hospital experience with my VSG was great. I went to Parker Adventist hospital in Parker Colorado and it was honestly the nicest hospital I've been in. The nurses were attentive and caring while still getting the job done. Pretty much everything I needed was available to me there. This hospital didn't permit heating pads since they can cause burns but when I complained of gas pains in my shoulder blades they immediately brought me heated towels to put on my back. The room was private (all the rooms on the bariatric floor were), there was a couch, bed, and a super comfy recliner. They kept on top of my pain meds, always coming on time to give the next dose (which I definitely needed). Since they gave dialudid instead of morphine to me (I can't handle morphine) I didn't get a pain pump but they never let me go past 4 hours without a new dose. I actually felt rather pampered while there. I loved it.
Not all hospitals are as nice as this one though. The year prior I had my gallbladder removed unexpectedly at a hospital near where I live and my experience was the complete opposite. I felt ignored, like I was an inconvenience to the nurses. I had a lot of pain and anxiety and if I asked for my next pain med dose I was looked at like I was a drug seeker, even if it was past time for it. They let me go 12 hours without pain meds once. It was a horrible experience.
So check out the hospital you're going to ahead of time if you can.

My hospital experience with my VSG was great. I went to Parker Adventist hospital in Parker Colorado and it was honestly the nicest hospital I've been in. The nurses were attentive and caring while still getting the job done. Pretty much everything I needed was available to me there. This hospital didn't permit heating pads since they can cause burns but when I complained of gas pains in my shoulder blades they immediately brought me heated towels to put on my back. The room was private (all the rooms on the bariatric floor were), there was a couch, bed, and a super comfy recliner. They kept on top of my pain meds, always coming on time to give the next dose (which I definitely needed). Since they gave dialudid instead of morphine to me (I can't handle morphine) I didn't get a pain pump but they never let me go past 4 hours without a new dose. I actually felt rather pampered while there. I loved it.
Not all hospitals are as nice as this one though. The year prior I had my gallbladder removed unexpectedly at a hospital near where I live and my experience was the complete opposite. I felt ignored, like I was an inconvenience to the nurses. I had a lot of pain and anxiety and if I asked for my next pain med dose I was looked at like I was a drug seeker, even if it was past time for it. They let me go 12 hours without pain meds once. It was a horrible experience.
So check out the hospital you're going to ahead of time if you can.

I have a question for everyone who uses this. I don't, never have, but I'm getting desperate for pain relief and willing to try anything at this point. I'm also in Colorado so I don't have to worry about needing a medical card. Since I started my pre-op journey in June my back has hurt worse and worse. More weight I lose, more it hurts. Usually starts hurting by early afternoon and by the night it spasms so bad I'm in tears. I'm working with my doctor about it but she won't prescribe pain meds (just take tylenol and use ice/heat... yeah, doesn't touch it at all). Even the oxycodone I was given after the surgery didn't touch the pain. Could marijuana help? I'm so freaking desperate.

I'm 9 days out and I want to want it, I really do, but omg my belly is still so sore! I don't have bruises but it FEELS like a giant bruise. Hubby tries to play with my boobs and the added sensation is just too much for me. So sad! I hope this doesn't last too long.

Did they give you an indication of how long it normally takes your insurance to respond?

I totally understand your frustration. Since starting the whole journey I've lost about 60 pounds. My clothes fit exactly the same. On another group I'm in for those who had surgery in December a guy posted he lost about 25 since surgery and went from a 4x to a 2x already. WTF? How???

I'm lucky to be in a small coven that keeps track of when things are. lol I'm rather lazy otherwise too.

*high fives* Nice to meet you! I'm not Wiccan either. I am technically a Kemetic Druid Buddhist, so I tend to just say I'm eclectic. My patron Goddess is Bast.

*Another high five for being a huge geek too* Kinda guessed as much from your name.

It won't let me end my day, says I need to eat more. Is there any place in the settings that I'm not finding where I can indicate I had surgery, this isn't a mistake, etc? It wants me to have 1000-1200 calories a day at least. Well seeing as I'm not quite a month out from surgery that just isn't happening.

Low carb, even extremely low carb, is perfectly fine for long term dieting. As long as you get enough Protein and fat your body will function perfectly well. It starts to break down and be a problem when people try to eat low carb and low fat, or they don't get enough Protein.
I personally have to stay below 20 net carbs in a day. That allows for a good amount of vegetables or fruit, as long as I choose lower carb fruits and veggies (such as green Beans and strawberries, two of my favorites).

Your stomach isn't made out of latex, it's not going to react like a ballon. And especially if you have the sleeve it's a myth that it will stretch it. With the sleeve all, or at least most, of the stretchy part of the stomach is removed. And even if a little bit or the stretchy part is left carbonation is no where near strong enough to stretch it, nor would the small amount left be able to stretch enough to make a huge difference. You might go from being able to eat 4 ounces to eating 4.5 ounces instead. And any stretching that MIGHT occur would not come from carbonation, it would be from forcing in too much food at once time. The research supports this.
The myth of the stretching came from the bypass pouch which can stretch, but even then again carbonation isn't strong enough, especially once combined with stomach acid, to have any true effect. It's much more likely to stretch from eating too much though.
Surgeons are human, they are not infallible. They make mistakes, and many are prone to telling horror stories to scare their patients into doing what they want them to do.

Your stomach isn't made out of latex, it's not going to react like a ballon. And especially if you have the sleeve it's a myth that it will stretch it. With the sleeve all, or at least most, of the stretchy part of the stomach is removed. And even if a little bit or the stretchy part is left carbonation is no where near strong enough to stretch it, nor would the small amount left be able to stretch enough to make a huge difference. You might go from being able to eat 4 ounces to eating 4.5 ounces instead. And any stretching that MIGHT occur would not come from carbonation, it would be from forcing in too much food at once time. The research supports this.
The myth of the stretching came from the bypass pouch which can stretch, but even then again carbonation isn't strong enough, especially once combined with stomach acid, to have any true effect. It's much more likely to stretch from eating too much though.
Surgeons are human, they are not infallible. They make mistakes, and many are prone to telling horror stories to scare their patients into doing what they want them to do.

LOL I, too, am a geeky pagan. @CHM... Alliance or Horde? What server? I'm Alliance on Doomhammer.

That's strange, I have Medicaid and didn't have to submit anything about exercise at all. I was denied initially though because they didn't like my primary's note. It was too comprehensive apparently. She made it shorter and was approved the next day. Insurance will do anything they can to find reasons to deny because then they don't have to pay. Don't give up!

I have bipolar (some discussion as to whether or not it's 1 or 2) and had the sleeve. My surgeon didn't want me to get the bypass or switch though because of risk of malabsorption of the meds. He did also say that patients with bipolar can sometimes experience increased swings after the surgery because of the hormone flush (even people with no mental illness also experience ups and downs because of the hormones) so he just wanted to know I'd be well monitored by my psychiatrist. In his experience patients who weren't controlled on meds and monitored could have a harder time losing weight because of the likelihood of emotional and binge eating. But again, that's a concern with more than just bipolar. So as long as you're controlled on your meds and your psych is on board to perhaps check in with you a bit more often for the few several months then there shouldn't be a problem.

I have bipolar (some discussion as to whether or not it's 1 or 2) and had the sleeve. My surgeon didn't want me to get the bypass or switch though because of risk of malabsorption of the meds. He did also say that patients with bipolar can sometimes experience increased swings after the surgery because of the hormone flush (even people with no mental illness also experience ups and downs because of the hormones) so he just wanted to know I'd be well monitored by my psychiatrist. In his experience patients who weren't controlled on meds and monitored could have a harder time losing weight because of the likelihood of emotional and binge eating. But again, that's a concern with more than just bipolar. So as long as you're controlled on your meds and your psych is on board to perhaps check in with you a bit more often for the few several months then there shouldn't be a problem.

I hope I didn't sound like I was trying to discourage you or anything. I think it's awesome that you're going that route. My only concern is that t does get to the point where you pretty much have no choice but to up your calorie count to gain mass. I have so much catching up to do that I can probably go pretty far before I hit any sort of wall. For the most part I feel the same way. I actually don't want to get under 200 lbs. I'd be a twig and wouldn't like it at all.

Thanks for the info and advice. I figure she's probably just regurgitating something she was told or perhaps just didn't explain herself well (regarding the comment about injuring myself). I will start trying to find a healthy carb to add into my diet on days I work out. Currently I'm working out about 5-6 days a week but not every day with the heavier weights, so I'll use the carbs for the heavy weight days first and see how that goes.
As for losing weight I'm more concerned with getting healthy and not so concerned with the number on a scale. My *goal* is 175 lbs anyway which is technically still high for my height but I already have a good amount of muscle mass so my surgeon thinks it's a fair goal. If I end up only getting to 200 (or whatever) that's fine with me too. I'd rather have muscle than worry about the number.

Yes! Carb cycle! Eat higher on weight days and lower on non weight days. And always complex carbs...the healthy ones. Your body will thank you for it. Go you! Powerlifting...yay!!!!

Your stomach isn't made out of latex, it's not going to react like a ballon. And especially if you have the sleeve it's a myth that it will stretch it. With the sleeve all, or at least most, of the stretchy part of the stomach is removed. And even if a little bit or the stretchy part is left carbonation is no where near strong enough to stretch it, nor would the small amount left be able to stretch enough to make a huge difference. You might go from being able to eat 4 ounces to eating 4.5 ounces instead. And any stretching that MIGHT occur would not come from carbonation, it would be from forcing in too much food at once time. The research supports this.
The myth of the stretching came from the bypass pouch which can stretch, but even then again carbonation isn't strong enough, especially once combined with stomach acid, to have any true effect. It's much more likely to stretch from eating too much though.
Surgeons are human, they are not infallible. They make mistakes, and many are prone to telling horror stories to scare their patients into doing what they want them to do.

Your stomach isn't made out of latex, it's not going to react like a ballon. And especially if you have the sleeve it's a myth that it will stretch it. With the sleeve all, or at least most, of the stretchy part of the stomach is removed. And even if a little bit or the stretchy part is left carbonation is no where near strong enough to stretch it, nor would the small amount left be able to stretch enough to make a huge difference. You might go from being able to eat 4 ounces to eating 4.5 ounces instead. And any stretching that MIGHT occur would not come from carbonation, it would be from forcing in too much food at once time. The research supports this.
The myth of the stretching came from the bypass pouch which can stretch, but even then again carbonation isn't strong enough, especially once combined with stomach acid, to have any true effect. It's much more likely to stretch from eating too much though.
Surgeons are human, they are not infallible. They make mistakes, and many are prone to telling horror stories to scare their patients into doing what they want them to do.

When I made the decision to have the surgery I weighed 368. On the day of surgery I weighed 332. Now, almost 3 months out I weigh 287.4. So I've only lost 44.6 pounds since surgery. I was expecting a greater weight loss since I had such a high BMI (general rule of thumb, the more you weigh when you start the faster you lose... but doesn't take into account things like thyroid) but oh well... such is life.

Your stomach isn't made out of latex, it's not going to react like a ballon. And especially if you have the sleeve it's a myth that it will stretch it. With the sleeve all, or at least most, of the stretchy part of the stomach is removed. And even if a little bit or the stretchy part is left carbonation is no where near strong enough to stretch it, nor would the small amount left be able to stretch enough to make a huge difference. You might go from being able to eat 4 ounces to eating 4.5 ounces instead. And any stretching that MIGHT occur would not come from carbonation, it would be from forcing in too much food at once time. The research supports this.
The myth of the stretching came from the bypass pouch which can stretch, but even then again carbonation isn't strong enough, especially once combined with stomach acid, to have any true effect. It's much more likely to stretch from eating too much though.
Surgeons are human, they are not infallible. They make mistakes, and many are prone to telling horror stories to scare their patients into doing what they want them to do.

Your stomach isn't made out of latex, it's not going to react like a ballon. And especially if you have the sleeve it's a myth that it will stretch it. With the sleeve all, or at least most, of the stretchy part of the stomach is removed. And even if a little bit or the stretchy part is left carbonation is no where near strong enough to stretch it, nor would the small amount left be able to stretch enough to make a huge difference. You might go from being able to eat 4 ounces to eating 4.5 ounces instead. And any stretching that MIGHT occur would not come from carbonation, it would be from forcing in too much food at once time. The research supports this.
The myth of the stretching came from the bypass pouch which can stretch, but even then again carbonation isn't strong enough, especially once combined with stomach acid, to have any true effect. It's much more likely to stretch from eating too much though.
Surgeons are human, they are not infallible. They make mistakes, and many are prone to telling horror stories to scare their patients into doing what they want them to do.

Your stomach isn't made out of latex, it's not going to react like a ballon. And especially if you have the sleeve it's a myth that it will stretch it. With the sleeve all, or at least most, of the stretchy part of the stomach is removed. And even if a little bit or the stretchy part is left carbonation is no where near strong enough to stretch it, nor would the small amount left be able to stretch enough to make a huge difference. You might go from being able to eat 4 ounces to eating 4.5 ounces instead. And any stretching that MIGHT occur would not come from carbonation, it would be from forcing in too much food at once time. The research supports this.
The myth of the stretching came from the bypass pouch which can stretch, but even then again carbonation isn't strong enough, especially once combined with stomach acid, to have any true effect. It's much more likely to stretch from eating too much though.
Surgeons are human, they are not infallible. They make mistakes, and many are prone to telling horror stories to scare their patients into doing what they want them to do.