outside*looking*in

My surgery was 2/3 and I have the oppisite problem. No action in that department since the day before surgery! I am sitting here smelling the yummy meal I had to instruct my husband to make. I am not hungry but the smell of it makes me want to have some:sad:. Really the only problem I am having is blurred vision. I think it is from the pain meds but I have not had any since yesterday at 2:30pm. I am glad I am still not hungry yet, I know this is going to get harder before it gets any easier!

So - I had my surgery on 2/3 and the doc found and had to repair a hernia. My husband decided to call the insurance to see if they would pick up any of the tab because of the hernia. Their response was "maybe" it depends on how the doc wrote his clinical notes?? So, I have to have the insurance person at the surgeons office submit the notes for a claim. I will keep my fingers crossed my not get my hopes up. We paid a total of about $18,000 for the surgery.

Same thing here. I wish I would have know before hand since I am self-pay and I could have put some of the surgery to the ins. Now it is "submit a claim" and we will see if they will cover any of the surgery. My surgery was on 2/3. I stayed 1 night in the hopital and glad I did. I slept for sooooo long. I just could not wake up. I was soo tired. have not really had that much gas pain, thank goodness. One weird thing is that my vision is blurry. My bp is fine and I am not dizzy so the docs think it is from the pain med. Came home weighing more than when I went in:ohmy:

Hello all...I got the band yesterday and I am back home today. I slept ALL day after the surgery. I just could not stay awake! The pain is tolerable. Just turning over in bed and stangind up is a bit painful. I was a bit queezy at first but that gave me some phenergan for that and never had an episode since. My surgeon did find a hernia and repaired it. I have had very mild shoulder pain (i guess gas). Other than that, things are great so far. I was a bit excited and nervous but I as arrived at the hospital and the process got started the excited part took over and I no longer felt nervous. Good luck to all of those getting banded in Feb!

I am will be in the same boat soon. I have my operation at 6:30am tomorrow. Then 21 days of liquids! Good luck.

I think I know what you mean. I weighed 240 in high school. By my senior year I got down to 165. (size 11) I felt good and thought I was finally looking good. Then, one day I was sitting with a group of about 5-6 kids in a class and we were just talking and joking around when one boy coughed out "Jenny Craig" to something I had said. It crushed me because I thought I was looking pretty dang good. It is funny that that memory sticks out so clearly in my mind. I am sure I got lots of looks and compliments but I don't remember those as well.

Welp, I am 2 days away from my surgery and I am getting excited and nervous as everyone does. I will be staying overnight so I have been trying to prepare things around the house. I am excited that this may start the change of my life. I am nervouse becuase for the past three weeks I have had a low fever that comes and goes. I don't get it. When I went to my regular doc to get it checked out it was not there so I was still cleared for my surgery. When I went for my pre-op visit, I had a slight fever of 99.2:confused:. I am nervous that I will get there the morning of surgery and the say, "Sorry, you have a fever, we need to reschedule!" That, honestly is the only thing I am nervous about. I have been on my pre-op diet now for 2 weeks and I would have to go through all of this again. I mean, I REALLY have not lost as much weight as I would have thought on this. Only 7lbs in this 2 weeks! :bored:

Welp, I am 2 days away from my surgery and I am getting excited and nervous as everyone does. I will be staying overnight so I have been trying to prepare things around the house. I am excited that this may start the change of my life. I am nervouse becuase for the past three weeks I have had a low fever that comes and goes. I don't get it. When I went to my regular doc to get it checked out it was not there so I was still cleared for my surgery. When I went for my pre-op visit, I had a slight fever of 99.2:confused:. I am nervous that I will get there the morning of surgery and the say, "Sorry, you have a fever, we need to reschedule!" That, honestly is the only thing I am nervous about. I have been on my pre-op diet now for 2 weeks and I would have to go through all of this again. I mean, I REALLY have not lost as much weight as I would have thought on this. Only 7lbs in this 2 weeks! :smile2:

Great Job!!!!:confused:

According to your ticker you have 75 lbs to get rid of. Yes, people do that on there own but they also gain it all back plus some within a year. She had no right to say that. If you have been looking at this for the past two years you have obviously given it a lot of thought. If I went by the average age of people in my docs office, I would be too young to have the surgery and I am 37! You do what you need to do for you.:confused:

I am just curious what research you did (b4 this site)?

Wow, that really sucks. Why have they not offered this help to you before this? I would just continue to be honest and let them know that you have made your mind up on this (if you have) and the best way they can support you is by educating themselves about the preceedure and congatulate you on your decision. Best of Luck.

I like your poem Debbie. I am going in on the 3rd for my surgery. Thanks for the well wishes. I am glad things are going well in your journey.

So I finally have all of the clearances and am well into my pre-op diet. My PCP was actually MUCH better about it when I went back to him. I don't know if he was having a bad day, If I approached it wrong or what but he was the complete oppisite when I went back. That was good because I actually had to go back again since the first time I was getting over a sinus thing and to my surprisr had a low fever. He cleared me as long as the fever was gone. They could not accept that though. I had to go back and it seemed like my fever would not go away although I feel 100% fine. So, when I showed up to have him try and figure out why my fever would not go away, I no longer had one! Go figure. He adjusted my clearance for me stating that I no longer had a fever. I a couple of days later I went to my pre-op appointment with Dr. Marema and the nurse took my temp. 99.2!!!! I don't get it. Maybe I am just hot headed! I don't know if the doc saw it or not but he continued as planed and said nothing about it. I have been taking my temp here, with 3 different thermometers, and it seems to go in and out. My fear is that I will get into the hospital and all preped and then they take my temp and go, oh sorry, you have a temp! I want to be completely healthy when I have this done but this "low-grade temp" has been off and on for over 3 weeks now! I just don't get it. Maybe that is why I am not a doc!

You are normal. And I think I have had that same cruise dream in the past. Slim Fast makes a low carb shake that I like better than Atkins. I can't have either one. My pre-op requires whey protein drinks (not horrible but would prefer slim fast). I have noticed in the past on low-carb diets that after about the first week the cravings for carbs ease up. Until then, I am cranky - get headaches and am tired. Best of luck.

Nope, I had/have the same concerns. I have been overweight since the age of 8y/o. I don't get "thin thinking" because I have never been around it. I was thinner (still over weight) when I was a SR. in high school. I got that way by being "in love" and having anxiety all of the time. That lasted about a minute! I can not imagine/foresee what I will be like as a "thin" person. It just has always seemed out of my reach. Like I am on the "outside, looking in". Fortunately, it will not happen overnight and we should be able to adjust each size we go down. Looking at before/after pics, it does seem like "poof" you are thin. But, there is a lot of hard work and slow progress that I am sure helps you adjust to the new you as you go.

Had my pre-op appointment yesterday. Everything went well. Still scheduled for Wed, Feb 3rd. I recieved the doctors "book" on what to expect and what to eat after. For three weeks after surgery I can only have; protein shakes, yogurt, milk, pureed fruits, and liquids. All low-fat/low sugar. Then I get to add softer-solid foods after that. I guess that is about the norm from what I have seen on here. I already have my post-op appoinment and another appoinment after that for 3/3 check up but not necessarily a fill. The problem I am finding with my docs office is that the majority of his patients use the Realize band and once they get the band the go to that website and never post here. I have a hard time finding people from his office on here.

Hello all! I finally have a date so I am joining the list! #1. Surgery date? 02/03/10 #2. State you live in? St.Augustine, Florida #3. Doctor/Surgery Center? US Bariatrics, Flagler Hospital #4. Insurance or self pay? Self-Pay #5. Age and height 37y/o and 5' 3" #6. Current weight and goal weight? Not brave enough yet #7. What was your deciding factor for having this surgery? I am getting ready to turn 38 and I have a 2 y/o to chase. It was hard enough doing that obese 10 years ago with my first child, now I am still obese and 10 years older and having to go through it all again. Plus, all of the personal reasons. #7. Do you have the support of family and friends? Support from my family but I have not told my friends or husbands side of the family. #8. Concerns and questions? I find a lot of my questions answered on this forum. Of course I still have concerns, especially being self-pay. Surgery itself concerns me I have my final pre-op appointment today. I am racking my brain trying to think of any and all questions about the surgery itself. Good Luck to all!

Forgot to say that we bought a new thermometer and it reads way lower than the original one I had!

Good News.....I went back to my PCP because I was running a low grade temp for 7 days! When I got there, I did not have a fever. I had explained that I felt fine and how the surgeon said that they would not except his 1st clearance letter. So he checked me out again and adjusted the letter. For me having soo much trouble with him the first time I mentioned this he has actually been really great the last few visits. I faxed off the letter and was able to keep all of my original dates! My surgery will be Feb 3rd! ONE WEEK. So now I am going through all of the last minute second thoughts??? I think this is normal. It makes me feel better reading everyones post. So thanks.

It may be time to let someone you trust in on your decision since you are having some trouble. You may need someone who can be there for you should this get worse. It sound pretty bad already if you have been to the ER three times. Hope all goes well.

Hi Jenn - I am due to be banded on Feb 3rd. Your PCP is a good place to start. Also, look around for bariatric doctors in your area who give seminars. Go to as many as you can. They are free and full of info. Look at your insurance policy to see if it covers WLS and what types/rules. Mine does not pay so I made the decision to self-pay. Go to the support group meetings of the local bariatric surgeons and talk to people. I also have been on this website a lot to just look at what everyone has to say. Good and the Bad. Hope this helps.

So I have been doing all the pre-op stuff and some dieting. Yesterday I finally got the last of my pre-op clearance (from PCP) and called and got my surgery date. We set up everything for Feb 3rd and was told to start my pre-op diet today. I was so excited that I didn't even care that I would be eating next to nothing for the next 14 days. Happy to do it. Then I get a call this morning that I have to go back to my PCP for another clearance since he mentioned that I was clear for surgery as long as the sinus thing I have going on now is gone. (He is not real fun to go to - a bit of problems with him in past) So I get a call this morning from the surgery scheduler saying that I have to go back to him and get another clearance once this sinus thing is gone because the anestheoligist will not accept it with conditions on it. I understand not going in sick but go back to the doc AGAIN! It totally got me down down down. I felt like I was on the home stretch but now have and extra 5 miles. What a bummer.

Great Job....I bet that feels GREAT!

lisaky - Do you know if your doctor has complication ins? One of the many reason I am going with the doc I have is because he has 1year complication coverage for anything that may go wrong with the band -even if it means another surgery-. I will not have to pay for anything the first year. The time can vary for different docs. It is not much but better than nothing. There is also ins you can pay for on your own but when I asked my doc about it he says he would not waste $$$ on it. Of course, he has his salary and I have mine:laugh: to cover furture medical bills:ohmy:.