SarahByNumbers

Today's the big day for some of you!!! ?I am so excited for y'all - may you have uneventful, routine surgeries with no complications and fantastic recoveries, and may you achieve all the health goals you set for yourselves! Definitely keep the rest of us posted on how you're feeling and how things go, what you find does/doesn't work for you, etc.! Someone asked earlier about good water bottles without straws - I like my Nalgene 32oz bottles. I have one of the smaller-mouthed bottles and one of the larger-mouthed bottles (with a little insert that helps me not pour the whole darn thing down my top). I also have a ~70oz "Juggy" water bottle that came with a straw, but it can be removed. I like how, with the Nalgenes, I know that if I fill & drink them twice, then I've at least gotten the minimum 64oz of water per day that my program recommends. The Juggy is HUGE, but really useful for the days where I'm either running around or not able to fill multiple times, or if I'm being lazy and don't want to wander downstairs to the fridge for filtered water multiple times. ? As for leave, I'm unfortunately not eligible for FMLA at my job just yet as my one-year anniversary is the end of January. I did fill out similar paperwork "just in case", though. I do have an absolutely insane amount of vacation/sick PTO, so I will be using that to get paid for my 1.5 weeks completely off of work (a Wednesday through the next Friday; my surgery is the day before Thanksgiving here in the USA). I plan on working from home the 2nd full week, and then will likely return to my hybrid schedule (3 days in office, 2 days from home) after that. I'm lucky that I have a desk job that really just requires some walking. I've been extremely open with my HR person and immediate supervisor, so they both know what's going on! We've had at least one other person in my unit have WLS, so it's nice to not be the "guinea pig" for all this (and to have someone just upstairs that I can "talk shop" with).

Do they require you to go through the hospital system associated with your bariatric program to get the sleep apnea screening? I ask this, because if they DON'T require it to be through that hospital system, there are companies that do at-home sleep studies these days! I haven't used one myself, but a number of people in my program did because they didn't want to wait for availability through our hospital system. I think Lofta is one place that offers them, but definitely look into other places, if it's an option for you. I know sometimes waiting to get scheduled for all these clearances causes the longest delay. Also, keep in mind that, if you DO end up needing a CPAP machine, you'll want to call around to different DME providers (durable medical equipment) to see who has an actual machine in stock. There was a recall of Phillips' machines a couple of years ago and sometimes a machine is hard to come by. I ended up buying mine out-of-pocket from an online retailer because I didn't want to deal with the insurance company's compliance rules (which it turns out wouldn't have been an issue for me - I hardly ever go a night without my machine!), which might be another option for you. It all depends on what your insurance will allow! Good luck - I'm so sorry they sprung this on you right at the end of your pre-op journey!

Hello! I didn't have a Mirena removed post-op (my VSG surgery is scheduled for 11/22, so I am still pre-op!), but I HAVE had a Mirena IUD removed previously. I had it replaced with a copper ParaGard IUD (which does not have any hormones) because the Mirena hormones were causing me to have cystic acne and other weird hormonal stuff (more ovarian cysts, etc.!), and I can confidently say that the removal did NOT cause any weight gain. Hopefully that is at least slightly helpful for you to hear! You may want to ask in one of the post-op forums for other experiences, as well!

Hi friends! ?This is my first post on here, so I apologize if I have NO IDEA what I'm doing! ? My VSG is scheduled for 11/22...the day immediately before Thanksgiving. Who does that? lol I figured if I use food as an excuse to not get the surgery at that time, then I'm probably not ready for it...plus, Yule/Christmas/what-have-you is the month after that, so if I use holidays as an excuse to delay surgery, it's gonna be a few months. Originally, my surgeon wanted to get me in in September, but I was waiting for my EGD still (even though my surgeon ordered it originally, he then said he was fine with me skipping it...I still wanted to make sure I didn't have Silent Reflux or anything funky going on). Plus, I had a cardiac event monitor for 30 days in September and wanted to get THOSE results prior to surgery, AND I got married on (Friday ?) October 13th, AND I have a major thing at work that I'm in charge of the whole week of November 13th where my presence is mandatory, soooo...11/22 it is! I've waffled back and forth on whether to get VSG or RNY (my surgeon does not do SADI/DS at all), but I'm going with my initial gut feeling and sticking with VSG. I imagine a lot of us have either already started, or will soon be starting, our LRDs - good luck, everyone! Magnesium & Potassium are REALLY helpful for leg cramps - that's something I learned when I did keto ages ago and kept getting woken up by charlie horses.