excarolinagirl

I enjoyed revisiting this thread. Aivey - congrats on your weight loss. I'm trying to decide between the gastric band and the sleeve. I had to start over on the pre-op insurance requirements because it had been more than one year. RRose - good luck with your decision/journey. Dee:smile2:

I have Cigna and was told they cover the VSG surgery for weight loss. My surgeon's office said they did not cover it until recently. I would call your benefits department or Cigna directly. Good luck.

You're an inspiration! Congrats on your success!

Great ideas - I will bookmark these for menu planning. I'm enjoying this site very much after finding it on LBT.

I enjoyed reading your story. Good luck with this exciting new phase of your life.

Maybe you have an allergy to the protein shake - are they soy based?

DeeDee, Thanks for much for sharing your story. I will post an update next week after I meet with my surgeon. Best regards, Dee

WASA's reply/quote deserves a sticky. I don't see this as an option on this board.

Yesterday was a wake up call. I had been having right upper quadrant pain. One episode last month sent me to the ER from work as the medical dept thought I was having a heart attack. I had a gallbladder ultrasound and Hyda Scan on 11/30 and just found out the results yesterday. My gallbladder is shot (only functioning at 5%) and I have "fatty infiltration of the liver." I've been looking at gastric surgeries over the past two years including gastric banding, gastric bypass and now VSG. I was sort of on the fence thinking I could still do this on my own. However, this has brought me back to looking at gastric WLS. I am meeting with my surgeon re) the gallbladder on Mon. 12/14. He is also my gastric surgeon referral. I met with him last year about gastric surgery options. I want to ask him if the VSG could be done at the same time as the gallbladder surgery. He is pretty conservative so if it isn't a good idea, he will let me know. Question: has anyone had the gallbladder surgery first and then VSG or other gastric WLS? Thanks for listening. Dee :crying:

See my post from 9/21/08. I suspect it's a temporary side effect from general anesthesia. Good luck. Dee

Aivey, If you don't mind my asking, were you banded with a LapBand or Realize gastric band? Thanks. Dee:smile:

Amy, You and I had exchanged notes last summer. I am in Kingsport and have not had LB surgery yet but hope to resume my pre-surgery process this summer. Please keep me posted on your progress. Good luck with your surgery. I'm excited for you! Best regards, Dee:thumbup:

I'm going to crank up my LB process again: talk with my GP on Mon., call the bariatric surgeon's office next week and see what my new insurance company requires. (My company changed insurance carriers in Jan.) I am nervous for several reasons one of which is my employer had layoffs (300 people) in April so I don't want to be out of work for more than 2 weeks max. Will update next week after I get more info.

I'm going to crank up my LB process again: talk with my GP on Mon., call the bariatric surgeon's office next week and see what my new insurance company requires. (My company changed insurance carriers in Jan.) I am nervous for several reasons one of which is my employer had layoffs (300 people) in April so I don't want to be out of work for more than 2 weeks max. Will update next week after I get more info.

I haven't posted since November. Still having neck and back pain. My job/employer is talking about layoffs or pay cuts so this is not the year to have surgery. I haven't been to a support group since December. I need to get on a program, not sure where to go. I did manage to lose 10 pounds in November due to a stomach virus and maintained that loss through the holidays, etc. My birthday is in May and I would like to be 10 pounds thinner, and down to 200 pounds by Labor Day. Those are my goals. :wink_smile: