SymphonyOfDreams

Thanks. The feeling of helplessness, and having no control over my health and well being was super stressful. Hearing that no doctors would care for me was shattering. In my mind, this is criminal. The more I think about it, the angrier I get.

!!!Turns out it was an intestinal blood clot!!! I went to ER on Saturday in a fair amount of back pain, some abdominal pain--I thought it was a Kidney Stone. They did CAT scan, diagnosed be with acute pancreatitis. Said gallbladder looked fine. Went home after some primo narcotics, and prescribed norcos. On Sunday pain started coming back, and I started vomiting. Went to a different ER. ER Doc there was POd at the other ER for not using dye/contrast, so he ordered CAT scans with oral and IV contrast. THAT'S when they detected I had a blood clot in one of my intestinal veins. Said I had to be transferred to a hospital for treatment, but they could not release me due to the severe nature of the clot. Nurses were talking maybe needing surgery to fix it, etc etc etc. I was told since I didn't have my sleeve surgery there, NONE of the doctors were willing to treat. I had to travel 60 miles to a hospital my gastric surgeon had privileges in, and it *had* to be by ambulance. They said if I didn't use the ambulance that I would have to go through that hospital's ER since they would no longer direct admit me. OMG, I KNEW insurance would not cover a 60 mile ambulance trip, nor a 3rd ER visit. They could not arrange ambulance that day, so I spent the night in my crappy ER bed. Got IV narcotics to keep pain under control. Next day, they said a bed had opened up at the destination hospital that my gastric surgeon had privileges for, and they were sure they could get transport by noon. Around 10 am they said transport pushed back to 2 pm. At this point I called my surgeon again, and he was surprised I wasn't already at the hospital yesterday. Apparently he called the on call ER doc that morning and spoke very (VERY) sternly to them, and suddenly it was ok to drive ourselves (wife driving) and be direct admitted, no issue. Spend night at hospital and they immediately started an IV heparin blood thinner and started taking blood ever 6 hours to make sure the amount of heparin was good. My gastric surgeon visited, explained that I'd be on blood thinners for several months, and everything should resolve on its own. I am no home now. The ordeal is done. But I keep thinking if I had decided to go to Mexico instead of JourneyLite 60 miles away from me, that I might not have found any doctor willing to take my case. Terrifying!

I have had a wonderful first two weeks postop experience. But the last few days I’ve been getting horrible pains and finally broke down and went to urgent care. I thought I had a kidney stone. Turns it is pancreatitis. Does anyone know if that is a common side effect post op? If so, do you know when I might stop being a problem? The pain had inched up close to kidney stone level, but now I am on some narcotics to keep the pain down

Just had my first post-op dietician appointment. HELLO PUREE FOODS! OMG apple sauce and sugar free fat free pudding with plant milk and protein powder was AWESOME! TOTALLY AWESOME!

Ok, whole process wasn't bad at all. Not a whole lot of pain, minimal gas pain. However, the first time I got up in recover and walked around I developed a hematoma on the incision they pulled my stomach out of (the larger one). It was protruding quite a bit, but not pain or discomfort. Nurse took some photos and sent to the the doctor and he said he was not worried, that it should resolve on its own. Still a bit scary seeing what looks like an alien about to burst from my stomach! Liquid diet post-op does suck quite a bit, but having no issues getting my liquids in. Meet with the dietician on Tuesday, so hoping they will progress me to puree stage of post-op diet. Never thought I'd look forward to--crave!--pudding and yogurt and smoothies! Oh, I was told I was the 5th patient he worked on that day. Guess he warmed up on the others

ARRRGGGGHHHH. Surgery center just told me to arrive at 11:30. So much for an early surgery Now the surgeon will be hungry when he's working on me

Yes, we've got this! I cannot wait for a healthier and happier future!

Thanks, I appreciate the insight and kind words!

Surgery tomorrow! ?? Super nervous/excited, happy/sad. Basically conflicted, but leaning towards excited and happy. Although my town has declared Friday as Pizza Fest day, which is just cruel. Called the nurse to ask about what meds to take today and tomorrow, found out my surgery is currently scheduled for 8 am (yay! was scared it would be in the afternoon, and a day of not eating or drinking would have sucked.). Will get the official call with the time later this afternoon.

If you have to do clear fluids, 2.5 days is definitely better than several weeks! Are you doing a Sleeve as well? Definitely good luck to us all!

Pure liquid only pre-op would be terrible, I hope you can blend up smoothies!

I started my pre-op diet today (just a week of it, and using JourneyLite's prepackaged meals). So far just head/emotional hunger. But I also stopped drinking any caffeine today, too, so all of those withdrawal symptoms ?

Cool, surgery buddies Where are you having your surgery done?

Thank you for your encouraging words, I really appreciate i!

I am am self-pay, but going locally to JourneyLite. I was so close to pulling the trigger on Mexico, but I must admit that even though this is more expensive, I do not have to deal with travel, and am pretty close to the hospital. JourneyLite was definitely cheaper than the local hospitals' costs around here! By about 5k to 10k! Even though I likely do not need it, BlissCARE is available at JourneyLite. Since my insurance doesn't cover ANY weight loss surgeries or drugs, I need the peace of mind that comes with having complications insurance. My pre-op diet consists of 1 week of foods I had to buy from JourneyLite--at first I was outraged I had to buy their foods. But in the end, you know what? It is really nice to just eat their foods and not worry about anything at all. It was 1 week because my BMI was lower, if BMI was higher it would have been 2 weeks. I did start my own low calorie diet before I start the official pre-op diet. Around 1200 calories. Just to get my mind and stomach ready for the < 1000 calorie very low carb pre-op diet. I am also now weening myself off of coffee. I am *super* nervous! Surgery day will be here before I know it, and life will change for the better.

Thank you so much!

Sorry about duplicate post

Due to my new insurance excluding all weight loss surgeries, I am looking for high quality/low(er) cost surgeries, Gastric Bypass or Mini Gastric Bypass. From what you have read, what is everyone's opinions on the differences between Mexico Bariatric Center and the Obesity Control Center? If you had to choose, or do your surgery over again, which would you pick? Thanks!

I see both of these mentioned, and was wondering people's take on them. I did fill out the web form for Obesity Control Center as well as called and left a message. Over a week ago. No response from them... Thanks!

I had called Blossom, and they apparently do not perform Gastric Bypasses. But thanks!

So, my new insurance provider, Cigna, is not covering weight loss surgery--it is excluded for my company's policy with them. I contacted Sage Bariatrics, and self-pay for Gastric Bypass is $15k. I know there is a cheaper option in Mexico (OCC), and have sent them some questions. Can anyone recommend any other center of excellence that might have decent pricing, either in the USA, someplace else in the world? Thanks!

The timeline and me not currently being a good candidate were not brought up in the 60 minute phone call. As for high risk nutrition behavior, I can only imagine the fact that I am an emotional eater. I am purposefully researching therapists to address this, and find it odd that the RD wants me to see RDs for 4 months about this. Frankly, I found the call a little confusing. She asked me what a typical food day looks like right now. I am not eating healthy at the moment, neither the choices nor quantity. She did give some hints about healthier selections, but really concentrated on protein. It was brought up several times during the conversation.

My first required nutritionist visit. Their take: Given the high risk nutrition behaviors as described above, pt does not seem nutritionally appropriate for surgery. Recommend 4 months of individual RD visits to improve the patient's chance of success after surgery. If the Patient chooses to pursue the recommended RD visits outside of The Ohio State University Comprehensive Weight Management Clinic; a return visit for a dietary re-evaluation is required to assess whether changes have been made to address the high risk behaviors indicated above Complete bummer. But I guess I was expecting up to 6 months of supervised diet as an insurance requirement, so maybe this is not a bad thing.

Thanks so much for your encouraging words, I really appreciate it!

That really irritates me to hear. Your surgeon should know that everyone is different. Maybe he expected you to call in with pain of OTC Tylenol did not work? I have found that a lot of doctors are opioid-shy nowadays, right or wrong. But I have found they have been willing to prescribe them if you push (I recently had kidney stones, and I *pushed*!)