eriadne

I'm extremely itchy too. For me, it's just the narcotic stuff in the painkillers (I'm taking lortab which is basically liquid vicodin.) I also got a few reddish itchy spots where some of the adhesive bandages and dressings were, since I seem to have developed a sensitivity to adhesives in the last few months.

I just showered and I'm going to be relaxing with a heating pad first thing!!!! Thanks for the advice

Thanks surgery-sister! Hope your recovery is speedy as well!

My surgery went well on Monday, although there was some scheduling mixup and I wound up going in "late" by their reckoning and very early by mine (someone called me Friday to tell me it was rescheduled for a later time and apparently that was not true.) They had me checked-in and prepped within maybe 30 minutes and before I knew it I was in the recovery room. About the only thing I wasn't prepared for was the gas pains. OMFG wow, the gas pain is terrible and I still haven't moved much of it. Yowza. Cannot wait for that to get gone. The bariatric wing of the hospital I was in relocated their floor on the day I had surgery, which meant they were still stocking my room up when I got wheeled down and I still never got a phone. Plus there was a thunderstorm in the middle of the night that knocked out a huge transformer and sent the entire city block including the hospital dark. The emergency generators didn't run the air conditioners however, so it was really miserable by 4am (this is southeastern VA!) Luckily it cooled off when they finally got power back -- not that I would have slept much better even with AC, hospitals are horrible for actually getting any rest. Got to watch my upper GI, which was cool (and distracted me from the taste of the horrible liquids they made me sip.) No leak, yay! Now I'm home and I just need to work on this gas, and I think I'll be just fine. Still weird thinking that I'm done with the pre-op phase, but it is a good kind of weird!

Today is my last day of being pre-op. Woke up and started to immediately feel nervous, excited, anxious (and hungry, of course!) My surgeon only requires me to do a pre-op diet today, which means I get to have some eggs for breakfast and then nothing but clears until midnight -- after that, nothing to eat or drink until they start giving me ice chips at the hospital Monday evening. Makes me feel sooo thirsty just thinking about it -- good thing I'm going to be doing nothing but hydrating today, I guess! :scared0: My surgery also got bumped from 7:30 to 10:30 for some reason. Only 25 hours away! At least I have plenty to keep me busy. I'm still battling that rash that showed up out of nowhere. I also need to go ahead and pack my hospital bag. I might do some last-minute chores around the house so I can come home to a tidy house. Busy busy busy!!! :-o I hope all the post-op June people are doing well, I'll be joining you soon! Keep up the good work and positive attitudes June pre-op folks, we're almost there!

Getting kind of nervous because I've suddenly developed a rash over on my right side, just where my boob fold is and it looks angry deep red. I'm putting cortaid on it and trying not to scratch it, but I've already got a weak immune system and I'm starting to worry that something will blow up and my surgery will get bumped. So nervous that something's going to happen now that I'm finally so close! Argh I hope everything clears up before the weekend is over so I'm good to go on Monday. I soooo want to be on the other side!!!!!!

I bought the sample pack from unjury.com and then a bunch of Nectar ones from vitalady.com.

Today I ordered a bunch of stuff for my post-op. Hopefully I ordered enough protein sample packs to keep me "entertained" through my 2 weeks of liquids post-op! Monday is my pre-op appointment with the surgeon. After that, I have no other surgery-related appointments until I actually go in for surgery. I can't believe I'm 10 days away today. Starting to get even more excited and nervous. Aieeeee!!

According to a book on WLS that I received from my surgeon, Dr. Flanagan (who is a well-known and respected bariatric surgeon, and who also came up with the Cottage Cheese Test for measuring pouch size) has found in his research that "sizes ranging up to 9 ounces have NO IMPACT on the person's success in weight-loss."

I am a bit late to this but funnily enough my surgeon's office actually recommended Wendy's chili during the pureed (blended up a bit) and mushies (straight up) stage!

I was missing a few years due to my doctor's office losing some records as well as me not going to the doctor. They only need one weight from each year, any doctor will do. I wound up with weights for 2009, 2006, 2005. None for 2008 and 2007. I was approved with no problems by Aetna. It would have been physically impossible for me to have lost any significant weight in the missing years and gain it back to wind up weighing what I do know. I also have a a comorbidity (sleep apnea) and my BMI was well over 40 at every point from 2005 onwards. Also, my surgeon's office does nothing but weight loss surgeries, so his staff has the insurance approval process down pat. I have no doubts that they advocated for me like crazy. I was 100% positive I'd get rejected and have to wait to get my weight history (I am a horrible pessimist sometimes!) but my husband was 100% sure I'd be approved. I think you will only run into a problem if your BMI was or is borderline low for their criteria. Even if you get rejected, you can always appeal their decision. Many people have appealed their weight loss surgery denials successfully with a personal letter describing your weight struggles and medical history, pictures of you (at your worst & most heart-wrenching, I suppose ) and showing them why it would be a good idea for them to invest in your health with this surgery as opposed to just paying out for you to see doctor after doctor and have your health decline. Self-pay is of course another option if all others fail. But as a rotten grumpy pessimist who's been there, I've got faith that you'll get your approval! Best wishes! :thumbdown:

I don't play WoW anymore (used to be so hardcore into MMO's -- I met my husband through DAoC back in the day!) but I am still playing video games waaaay more than I probably should. Lately, you could not pry Dragon Age and Mass Effect 2 out of my clammy xbox 360 controller deathgrip. Right now I am playing the jeebus out of Harvest Moon Animal Parade for the Wii, and I'm hoping to start Legend of Zelda Spirit Tracks on the DS during my post-op recovery if my husband can hurry up and beat it so I can steal it away from him. I'd love to find another MMO to get into someday, as both my husband and I really enjoy playing together. Just hard to find the time for the grind anymore now that we're getting to be "real" adults

As of today, I'm officially going with the sleeve. I talked it over with the surgeon a few weeks ago and he was positive it'd be a better option for me, and I am actually more comfortable with the idea of VSG over the band. It took Aetna about 3 weeks to switch my band surgery approval to a sleeve surgery approval if anyone with Aetna finds themselves in a similar situation. There was no extra work or anything required on my part, just patience!

Confirmed today my insurance officially approved my sleeve surgery so I'm keeping my June 14th surgery date. Seems soooo close now, especially since I have almost a dozen appointments between now and then!

This! Ugh, I am trying so hard to work on this, but I love my drinkies and chewing feels so tedious. I start out well but then a few bites into it, my mind is whispering "you should enjoy yourself now, before the surgery, while you can still do this!" :thumbup: A definite work in progress. Has anyone carried a timer around or something to remind them when to drink and not to drink? I am thinking I'm going to need to get one of those kitchen timers you can wear around your neck for at least the first few weeks to remind me to sip sip sip and to remind me not to drink! My memory is pretty friggin shot lately (anemia, not to on the ball to begin with, etc. :biggrin0:) so I use calendars, reminders, alarms for just about everything.

I really hope my sleep apnea goes away! I have had terrible sleep quality for friggin ever, and while the CPAP helps me sleep better, it still interrupts my sleep and doesn't get me to 100%. Plus, I hate not being able to fall asleep anywhere but in my bed (and taking it on travel... ugh, takes up so much room!) What I was wondering is did anyone have to have CPAP adjustments while actively losing because their CPAP pressure was now too strong? I just had to have my CPAP pressure upped after a few years and about 35 lbs weight gain, so I am wondering if after losing that weight if I'll need to drop it back down again. Luckily, I was right there when they adjusted it in the office so I know I can do it at home (no special anything required other than knowing what buttons to press.) Just wondering what experiences everyone has had, and if there are any helpful clues or signs that your pressure is too high.

Found this article that addresses this very thing - Will Weight Loss and Exercise Make Your Penis Bigger? | Fitness, Weight Loss, and Diet Blog by Better Body Journal I've always heard that cardio exercise like jogging or running can help things a lot too and is the only truly natural way to improve things, because it increases blood flow and sends oxygen everywhere, including "there". On top of that (no pun intended) it helps you build up stamina and improves your performance overall. Don't ever tell him I said this on here, but my husband was a track guy and even though he's put on a few lbs and I'm noticing a bit of a fat pad, he still definitely has very sturdy and impressive erections and good stamina to boot. O_o Actually, I have been encouraging him to pick up the Couch to 5k program... maybe my subconsciousness is in the gutter. :thumbup:

I've got a Wii Fit too (which is great, since it is the only way to weigh myself until I get back under 300 and my regular scale doesn't barf at me!), so I've been using that as well! I really want to get the "Walk It Out" game for Wii that is all about walking around and building a neat little town, exploring and playing mini-games -- it looks like the Wii Fit running game on steroids! I think I'll save it for post-op though so I have some extra novelty/motivation to walk walk walk. One thing I am REALLY looking forward to is being able to actually do the strength training and yoga activities on Wii Fit... right now I am just tooooooo heavy/bulgy to do any of them without my body screaming "oh HELL no!" I'm also working on cleaning out all the "bad" foods. Our freezer was overflowing with stuff anyway, and I'd love to be able to come home from surgery and not worry about having tempting stuff all accessible. I want my cupboards to be bare! It is kind of a fun challenge to figure out how to use up what's at hand! I'm trying very hard to avoid ordering too much stuff in advance. I do plan on buying a sampler kit each from powders?utm_source=BariatricPal&utm_medium=Affiliate&utm_campaign=CommentLink" target="_ad" data-id="1" >unjury and the nectar people and then using them post-op and order more based off what I like. I've seen so many people say how their tastes change post-op that I'm definitely going to try a variety of things before I commit to one of those big jugs of stuff. I have been mixing up Protein shakes every so often since attending my surgeon's seminar (to get used to drinking them in place of meals and to replace for bad Snacks like ice cream!) so I'm already sitting here with 2 big jugs of powder that I'm trying to use up after like 6 months... oy! :thumbup: Caffeine is definitely in check. I've been on my husband to give it up for over a year, so I've gradually switched us to decaf almost-everything. I get craaaazy migraines sometimes, so I'm super vigilant to stay away from getting a caffeine habit. I don't need yet another migraine trigger! Even given up soda, which was hard since we were already doing diet caffeine-free and giving up the fizz entirely made me a little sad. Oh well, maybe a few months post-op I'll be able to tolerate it. It's probably for the best, I usually get soda cravings while eating some horrible greasy, salty, junky food. Oh, and I did just get back from seeing my surgeon. He's all for me doing sleeve over band and thinks it's a much better option for me. So they are going to be calling my insurance to switch the approval. I shouldn't have to move my surgery date, but I won't know for sure until they hear back from insurance. But yay, it's good to know I'm good to go!

Hi guys, While I'm not 100% sure if I'm going to get the sleeve (talking to surgeon tomorrow to see if he thinks I should switch from band surgery to sleeve surgery... I certainly want to), I know it'll be at least mid-June or later until my surgery date. It makes me all nervous and excited just thinking about it, but I feel like the time is passing so slowly. I've got at least 45+ days to kill! What kinds of things would you recommend doing now to prepare mentally/physically for surgery, or to get out of the way or enjoy because post-op it might not be possible for a while? The only 2 things I have really been working on are good habits like walking each day and journaling my food. I feel like I did when I was a kid and it was the night before going to a theme park!

The health insurance bill covers MORE people for MORE things, not less people or less stuff. :001_tt1: Your fiance should be able to call up Aetna and ask them if his plan has a "rider" for bariatric surgery. Aetna should be able to tell him over the phone. If not, he should be able to ask his HR. Aetna does now cover VSG (it was considered experimental under their policies until just a week or two ago), however VSG is not explicitly listed under the surgeries covered for a revision... so you may have to ask about that once you are covered. I hope everything aligns right for you!

Thanks for all the positive encouragement. I called my surgeon's office today to make sure he actively does sleeves and they said he did (and prefers them) and offered to re-submit my paperwork if that's the route I want to go. I asked for an appointment to talk with my surgeon about what he recommends and also to get an opportunity for both my husband and me to ask questions... just want to make an informed decision, you know? :001_smile: I have all kinds of blood issues, so when I initially talked to the surgeon about RNY vs. band, that did play a factor for both of us leaning toward the band. I am thrilled to have options for once, but it can be a bit overwhelming, even for someone who researches all this stuff like crazy before diving in. I'm glad Aetna made some big changes to their obesity surgery policies, but it's got me in a whirlwind at the moment. :sad0:

I noticed that VSG is not one of the procedures that is mentioned for getting revisions. Anyone know if that's maybe an oversight, or if they really won't revise you from, say, a band to VSG? I can't think of any reason why band-to-sleeve would be purposely left out I'm about 2 months away from getting banded (just got my approval from Aetna within 2 days of them updating their bulletin,) but I am having second thoughts now that VSG is no longer experimental -- especially if VSG isn't on the table for a revision if 2 years down the road I'm not a "loser." I am optimistic that maybe I'll beat the odds of the band and get to 100% EWL even though my BMI is 50+ and I have PCOS... but I if I wind up 2 years out, still struggling and I *could* have had VSG up front & covered and no option but to self-pay to revise... oy, that would bite. :sad0:

Congrats on your date, CurvyCat! What's your 15% reservations with getting the surgery? I've had some conflicting feelings since getting my approval, but I've chalked it up to partly nervousness and partly OMG-I-Can't-Believe-It's-Really-Happening. Reading some of the inspirational stories on here, looking up/asking questions that I never thought of until now and working on changing some behaviors I'll need pre-op and post-op are giving me the confidence and positive vibes to carry me through. Hopefully we can do the same for you, so if you feel like sharing, go right ahead!

It was about 3 weeks from when I last talked to the surgeon's office and they said they'd go ahead and submit what they had until I got the letter in the mail. The surgeon's office told me to expect it to be about 2 weeks, so I was just starting to get nervous when my copy of the approval finally showed up this weekend. I actually wound up calling them today to ping them since I hadn't heard anything from the surgery coordinator. I was getting impatient/worried that they hadn't gotten their copy of the approval stuff yet... err, I mean I was being assertive and making sure everything was being handled. ;D

Just got my date today, June 14th!:smile: