Tiffykins

You look amazing ! ! ! So proud of you chickee.

I follow the same mindset as Diva and the above poster. A leak is just not worth wanting to have something to chew on. Food particles, and bits/pieces can lodge in your OPEN staple line. Tissue has not had time to grow over the staple line, and you really should just follow your surgeon's guidelines. Believe me, I know liquids suck royally, but you know what sucks worse, a leak or other complication because you want variety. I had a leak by no fault of my own, and believe me over 20 days of nothing by mouth AT ALL, no food, no water, no ice chips, ZILCH for over 20 days is NOT worth some variety. Throw in a home healthcare nurse, and pic line feeding me, believe me, leaks are miserable and emotionally and physically draining. Hang on for a few more days, and progress your diet as prescribed, it's there for a reason, and torturing you is not the reason.

Nope, my husband said the same things, and never said anything of the sorts when I was fat. You wanna know what stopped his little shitty comments? ME saying " hey before you came along, I had zero issue dating, having boyfriends, and I CHOSE YOU to marry, I make the choice to stay married to you, fat or thin, you are stuck with me, so get over the fact that the only reason I'd leave you is if I was skinny, I'd leave you fat so just stop being so insecure, and buck up." It happens, they hate change more than anything, and if you're husband is anything like mine, he is a fixer, and he felt helpless like he couldn't "help" me NOT be fat. I was like the grace of God couldn't help me get skinny, what makes you think you can fix my fatness? He really just wanted to fix everything, and make it better but didn't know how to convey his concerns.

MTF= military treatment facility (Gotta love the world of acronyms with the US military LOL) As far as what to expect, the seminar will cover all the surgeries they offer. You might meet the nutritionist briefly. Fill out paperwork, they typically want your past diet attempts, what co-morbidities you have such as high blood pressure, cholesterol, diabetes, thyroid problems, joint issues, etc etc. With a BMI of 35, you'll more than likely need to have at least one co-morbidity. The key to getting approval at a MTF is to make your case for why you need surgery. You probably won't get a lot of one on one time with the surgeon, so if you have questions, ask him. Once you go through the class, they will review your paperwork, and every MTF has a different program so just follow their steps and be patient. As you know it's a "hurry up and wait" thing with the military. Don't get discouraged, and remember that these things take time with Tricare and the scheduling of bariatric procedures. If you have any specific questions, feel free to ask me.

I had a leak, and had a pic line during that time while the leak was healing.

Yeah, my husband loves it and a lot of his buddies all play together online with him. I just sit and watch LOL.

Thank you bunches. When figuring in time, recovery, and maintenance. Remember, you need to figure in drive time, wait time, and doctor appointment time to get fills in attempts to get to your sweet spot with the band. With the sleeve it's instant restriction, no maintenance, no follow up for fills, and if you have out of pocket expenses, those visits can get expensive if your insurance only covers so many fills per year/per lifetime. If you're researching, I would recommend checking out the complications forum on lapbandtalk.com and check out the Band to Sleeve revision forum on here to hear some personal accounts of people that have or had bands.

Hmmm, if they require you to pay upfront, then that would mean they have set fees for everything. My concern with that is, what if you have to stay an extra day, or get to go home early, or need additional meds etc etc. Let us know how it all works out for you. The surgeon might have a set fee, but for the hospital it's kind of difficult for them to figure all that in without you actually being there.

They'll figure in hospital fees, anesthesia fees, med fees, surgery and recovery room fees and diagnostic/testing fees plus a bunch of other stuff. My recommendation as an insurance agent, and fellow information junky, is when you get that bill for your 20%, you need to request an itemized bill, with ICD9 codes and descriptions. You would not believe the "fluff" that hospitals toss on bills and that's your 20% you have to pay. I also get a copy of my chart (every drug they gave me, every check up they performed chart), so I can compare what they gave me to what they are billing the insurance company and me for. Most insurance companies have "an agreed fee for service" with that specific surgeon and hospital, but I've seen it way too many times for patients to get gouged by hospital billing departments. My friend had a hysterectomy, and guess what, the hospital billed her and the insurance company for a MAMMOGRAM? ? ? Yes, a mammogram during a hysterectomy, yet there was not any mammogram results to be seen in her file, she obviously didn't consent to a mammogram and didn't have one performed pre or post op. So, check your bill.

You're so awesome, great job, and cheers to all your victories ! ! !

Pork chops sit heavy in my sleeve, but pork tenderloin, roast, stew meat, chili meat, cubed steaks, pulled pork, rib meat, chopped and sliced brisket all work fabulously for me. I struggled with meat in my 3rd month post-op, but it was just a temporary phase.

I was 150lbs overweight so seeing myself skinny was a chore. It took months for my brain to catch up, and would say that it wasn't until I was close to a year out for me to realize that I could be considered "skinny". Now, I'm having an issue with seeing myself as "tiny". I'm only 5'2" and weigh 125lbs, but I don't "see" myself as a tiny, petite girl. It took seeing a picture of me standing up with several of my girlfriends to realize that I am definitely "tiny looking". I have finally stopped reaching for bigger sizes except for panties. I still pick up large and mediums, and I can barely wear the smalls. So, I guess my brain is still trying to catch up.

First you don't have a pouch, you have a stomach which is completely different than a pouch. Also, it's not uncommon to be able to eat more at 3-6 months out because all of the residual swelling is down, and your stomach is used to you eating food. I can eat twice as much right now at 17 months out than I could at 3 months out, but I'm not able to eat anymore than I could at 7-8 months out. The stomach tissue that remains is nearly impossible to "stretch out". The sleeve will relax, and adjust to us putting food in there, but there just isn't enough tissue to stretch out. Also, the consistency of foods will determine how much you can actually eat. If you time your meals, the longer you stretch out your meal, the more you'll be able to consume comfortably. The best way for me to explain is think of wrapping a piece of leather around a rod, that leather has only so much "give" and that's the max you can stretch it, even over time, stretching the leather, will result in a little give, but it will only go so far. Kind of like a man's leather wallet, he can only cram so much stuff in there, and only so many credit cards, receipts, pictures etc etc can fit in there. Do not fret, stick with your guidelines, get in your Protein and track your intake. You'll be fine and your sleeve is working great.

Yep, they'll cover it at any military treatment facility. Madigan offers the sleeve, she'll just need to get a bariatric referral from her PCM. Schedule it with Madigan and go through their program. It is a process as with everything with Tricare, and if she has any specific questions, please feel free to contact me. I know there are a couple of other military spouses on this forum that have had their VSG performed at Madigan with great success. Hopefully, they will chime in here soon ! If Madigan is not an option, check with these MTFs. http://www.tricare.mil/mtf/main1.aspx There will be no out of pocket if you go through the MTF, it is NOT covered with civilian surgeons, and you would be responsible for all of the fees. Also, any labs, procedures, follow up care would not be covered since the VSG is not a covered service approved by Tricare Prime or Standard. I've ran the gamut with Tricare in all the regions and have even helped a friend file a congressional complaint. VSG will not be covered by Tricare until Medicare fully picks VSG as a covered procedure without any additional pre-requirements that are listed for bariatric approval.

Even at 17 months, I still have this issue. Some days I can eat more dense protein than I could the day before and vice versa. There is no rhyme or reason to it, and I just take it as it comes. The only contributing factors that I've been able to pinpoint is that when I take longer to eat, chew my food extremely well, I can fit more food in. Other than that, I simply adjust my eating to how it feels from the first meal. I can usually tell with the first few bites how my sleeve is going "feel" that day.

I honestly found my psych eval laughable. The little "true false" questions I had to answer made me giggle through most of it. The strongly disagree, somewhat disagree, neither, somewhat agree, strongly agree questions really made me laugh. The actual meeting with the psych was good, he was direct, and to the point which I appreciate. He found my candor, and brutally honest opinions refreshing. He cleared me with flying colors. I read the eval and the personality profile was a bit off, but I really didn't put much stock in the questions so that is why I'm sure the test found me to a bit of an "introvert". I really laughed at that title because I'm the furthest thing from introverted. Overall, it was a long appointment, but gave me some insight on how to handle life post-op.

My husband is a COD player, but we're boycotting this game. The game has Taliban/terrorist killing American troops, and when we found out that our military exchanges and malls were refusing to sell or ship this game, we decided to not purchase the game either.

Everyone recovers differently. You'll be sleepy, and probably still groggy and trying to adjust to the major changes in food intake. Your energy might be low, and you might be crabby. If you've had surgery before, can you recall how anesthesia effected you? I know I'm useless for the first couple of days post-op just because anesthesia kicks my butt. Walking definitely helps, and getting in your fluids will assist in your recovery. Fingers crossed all goes well with your insurance, and you're gonna love the sleeve ! ! !

I'm really sorry to hear of your disappointing news. I hope that at some point you will be able to get your sleeve. Don't give up all hope, and know that when it's meant to be, it will happen.

I didn't have reflux before my sleeve even with the dreaded band, I didn't suffer with reflux. I admit that I ate some queso (semi-spicy) and some tortilla chips about 20 minutes before going to bed so that's the reason it happened plus I did forget my Prilosec that day. I was fine until I went to bed with spicy food in my stomach. That one little episode is definitely the reason I have zero desire to wean off my Prilosec, I was miserable, and ate half of a roll of Tums without any relief. I popped another Prilosec and was finally able to go to sleep without anymore issues.

Yeppers, and sometimes you might have to change PPI to a different brand. Are you taking the Prilosec on an empty stomach? My RX pamphlet says to take on an empty stomach 1 hour before eating, or wait 2-3 hours after eating. I just recently had one episode of acid reflux and it was horrible. I forgot to take my Prilosec and I was miserable. I hope your doc has some suggestions.

Just eat your protein first, and then stick with green veggies. Steer clear of the carbs, and you'll lose weight. Kick up your exercise, and increase your water/clear fluid intake. If it's your diet, cut out what you know is causing your stalls. Stay positive ! ! !