GassyGurl

In addition to walking and gas x, laying on your left side also helps. Feel better soon! Sent from my XT1254 using BariatricPal mobile app

I didn't have a preop liquid diet, since my surgeon only requires for those with a bmi over 37. Then it's 2 shakes and one lean green meal per day, not all shakes. I did the lean green diet anyways, because I wanted to get a jump start. Sent from my XT1254 using BariatricPal mobile app

My highest bmi was 35.2, and I had surgery around 32 bmi. No regrets! I had a 44 inch waist, high BP and cholesterol and pre diabetes. Now, 6.5 months later, I am about 5 lbs from goal, and suffer from the above conditions no more! Oh, and my waist is down 10 inches, and I feel great. I was self pay with Dr Taggar in Florida. Sent from my XT1254 using BariatricPal mobile app

Grilled chicken? A sandwich, but just eat the meat? Go online and see if the menu is on their website. That way you can plan ahead. Sent from my XT1254 using BariatricPal mobile app

I asked my surgeon if the sleeve would be a prevent me from getting treatment for something like stomach or throat cancer and he said no. My dad is a throat cancer survivor and had to have a peg tube in his stomach. My surgeon said the sleeve leaves the lower part of your stomach, which is where they put the tube. Plus, there are no problems with an endoscopy, etc post sleeve. I was worried I might hear "sorry, there are no treatment options for you, because you had the sleeve". He couldn't think of a scenario where the sleeve would render me untreatable. Sent from my XT1254 using BariatricPal mobile app

I had a major one, a large part of my stomach was bulging up into my esophagus. They fix with a few stitches, adding less than 5 minutes of surgery time. I didn't think it added any pain or difficulty to my surgery, and I have no more heartburn. My PCP says she can still hear it, but it's much better than it was. Sent from my XT1254 using BariatricPal mobile app

I asked my surgeon about this, as the say they remove 80%. He said the percentage removed is not a precise measurement, as everyone's stomach is naturally a different size. It's hard to put a number on it. If they use the same size bougie on your stomach and my stomach, they might remove 90% of yours, but only 70% of mine. It's not like they measure your stomach, calculate the cc's it holds, and perform the surgery based on that. They use the bougie for sizing, and everyone is left with the same diameter sleeve, but some might be longer, shorter, etc based on their initial stomach size. There might be special cases of course, but my surgeon uses the same process for everyone. The 80% is a general percentage of how much stomach is removed, because they really cant or don't measure it. Sent from my XT1254 using BariatricPal mobile app

No, I have blue cross blue shield Federal. Its spelled out very clear in my policy, so I knew it up front. It would have really shucked had I gone through the process, then found out. Sent from my XT1254 using BariatricPal mobile app

I was 35.2, but had to self pay because I wasn't over 35 for the past two years. I had 4 out of 5 years, but since I was under 35 in 2016, they wouldn't cover it. Sent from my XT1254 using BariatricPal mobile app

My insurance required all my weights for the past two years, plus all my nutrition visits to be above 40. Any one below would disqualify me. I ended up paying cash, and traveling to Florida. It's a huge risk if you drop below. Don't trust us, nor your Dr, get it from your insurance company yourself to be safest. Best wishes! Sent from my XT1254 using BariatricPal mobile app

I took gas x, walked and layed on my left side. The left side trick was like a magic fart machine. Gas x helps once the gas makes its way into your intestines. Walking helps it move from your body cavity to your intestines. Sent from my XT1254 using BariatricPal mobile app

I traveled about 11 hours for surgery, to save $10,000. Had my first post op in person, but our 3, 6, 9 and 12 month classes are group classes that I do online via Facebook live. I get my blood work drawn at my pcp's office, and send the results to the bariatric office for feedback. My PCP is happy to help and pretty much follows the advice given by my bariatric practice. Sent from my XT1254 using BariatricPal mobile app

I don't want to smash your hopes, but in my area no Dr's do the hernia option. Well, they fix it, but no one charges part insurance, part cash. I wish they did, but they acted like I was speaking another language. But the good news is once you get a hernia verified, you can still shop around, use insurance and get the sleeve for a greatly reduced price. I tried to go this option, but it got too frustrating for me. I had cash, so I just went that route. I Keep us posted how it goes! Sent from my XT1254 using BariatricPal mobile app

Walk, walk, walk, and Lay on your left side. If that doesn't work, lean over something like the bed. For me, laying on my left side helped so much, like magic. Hubby was highly entertained and was sure to sleep up wind. Mine continued for 3 to 4 days, in spurts. Sent from my XT1254 using BariatricPal mobile app

Those are the reasons I liked him too. I had my surgery at Coral Springs. My only other surgeries were an emergency c-section in 1991 and a female surgery in 2007. Both left me pretty icky feeling and nauseous. I was a little worried with this one. We were pleasantly surprised from the minute we walked through the door bright and early Friday morning. Check in was quick, and a lady greeted me by name at the top of the elevator and took me right into a room to change into a gown and start prep, including more bloodwork. Hubby got to stay with me the entire time, which helps with nerves! The Iv wasn’t the most fun, but tolerable. The process went pretty quick, I spoke to Dr Taggar, the anesthesiologist and the nurses checked in often. They took my nausea history pretty serious, gave me a patch, IV meds and I never had any issues. When it was time to go, they had me use the rest room (so no cath!) and they put meds in the IV and I didn’t even remember leaving the room. Also very good for nerves! I’ve read where some people are wheeled into the OR, aware of everything and I was worried I’d freak out. Next thing I knew, I woke in recovery to a nice nurse tending to a few post op patients. I asked what pain meds I had been given, and she said none. (I wasn’t in any pain, which seemed surreal) Hubby got to come back and visit, while we waited for a room. I was awake the whole time going up stairs and ended up helping transfer myself to my new bed, as mine was broken. There were 3 ladies trying to do it, but instead of laying there like they asked me too, I just grabbed the handle and scooted over. My nurse Luis did a once over, assessed my pain, got all the meds hooked up and had to go tend to other patients. When he got a chance, he came back, walked with me and verified I wouldn’t fall, then cut me loose. I was determined to not need assistance and I was able to get my leg cuffs off by myself, get myself out of bed, walk, get my leg cuffs back on and then settle back down. Slow process and sometimes comical, but what else did I have to do? Repeat over, and over for about 24 hours! Some of my neighbors were not feeling too hot, but I felt pretty good and walked over 100 laps before discharge. I received 3 food trays while I was there – tea, broth, jello and crystal light and was able to finish all of it slowly. I felt like my pain was well controlled (I had none) but I had a reaction to something so they used IV benadryl which knocked me out and then I felt better. I never used the call button, but they came by to check on me, take vitals, blood, etc every few hours. My IV did blow and was painful, but I refused to let them do it again. Dr Taggar came by mid day Saturday, and asked if I wanted to go home, and I said of course. I walked myself out of the hospital (slowly with a babysitter nurse) around 3pm and went back to the hotel with hubby. Felt good enough to go to the beach (quick visit – it was hot) and walk around Costco. The gas pains hit right about the 24 hour mark and were slightly alarming, but the nurse promised it was gas, recommended walking, gas X, and laying on my left side. Said it would change my life, and he was right. One thing that sort of weirded me out at first, is there were a lot of people speaking Spanish. Not to me, but to each other around the nurses station and such. I come from a very rural town, and it took me a few minutes to realize “duh, this is South Florida and this is normal!”. I also like how I was able to create a patient portal account and download my records after surgery. Nothing like surgical notes or medications, but discharge instructions, test results, etc. I had to have this for my disability claim. The hospital also called to check on me post discharge a few times.

Yes! I posted a review of them here, it shows up under Dr Wizman even though I used Dr Taggar. I was very happy, and traveled from SC to FL last August. Overall I am down 54.9lbs since last May. Sent from my XT1254 using BariatricPal mobile app

On our program, we were limited to high protein. Cream of wheat didn't fit into that category. Though I am sure you probably didn't eat a whole serving which has like 23g of carbs, it was probably dumping from carbs. 'safe', is different for everyone. Some can do cream of wheat, some can't, regardless of whether your Dr calls them safe or not. Sent from my XT1254 using BariatricPal mobile app

We watch as much curling as we can! There were some good matches yesterday. Sent from my XT1254 using BariatricPal mobile app

My surgery was like 8:00,and I was awake by 11. I think it took about an hour. I paid for 2 nights, but was discharged after 1. The hospital did a great job managing nausea, I had none. I had surgery on Friday, and retained 8 lbs of fluid, but lost all of that by Monday. Then I lost pretty quick for about 3 weeks, but now I've slowed down to 1 or 2 lbs every 2 weeks. But I'm about 6 lbs from goal, and it's to be expected. I took 4 weeks off, but could have gone back to work within a week. I felt great and enjoyed my 4 weeks of recovery.

Also, look into the hernia route. If you have a hiatial hernia, some surgeons will charge insurance for the repair, and charge you a reduced cash rate like $5k for the sleeve. Dr Kim in TX advertises this, and there are quite a few who do it this way. Sent from my XT1254 using BariatricPal mobile app

Look up Dr Borland in Louisiana, bariatrix Florida, Dr shillingford. Bariatrix Florida and Dr shillingford are around 10k in the ft Lauderdale area. Also, blossom bariatrics in Las Vegas. I used bariatrix (Dr Taggar) when they had a special rate of $8899 and have been very pleased. Sent from my XT1254 using BariatricPal mobile app

I used Dr Taggar and am very happy. Young, knowledgeable, made me feel at ease. Sent from my XT1254 using BariatricPal mobile app

I'm 5'2" and I was 195 lbs. Had the sleeve in August and now I'm down to 140! It's amazing how much better I feel, and it was totally worth it. I spent the last 20 years feeling like a failure. It hasn't been easy, and it will be a lifelong battle, but now I have hope that I didn't have before. Oh, and no more comorbidities for me! Sent from my XT1254 using BariatricPal mobile app

No issues for me! I don't eat it all the time, because it's not the leanest cut of pork, but when I do eat it, I enjoy it quite a bit with no issues. I just eat it in a bowl. No fixings. (no room!) Sent from my XT1254 using BariatricPal mobile app

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