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My insurance approved in about 1 week

I have blue cross/blue shield of Illinois and my approval came within five hours. What I suggest doing is call your insurance company. They could've already approved you but haven't sent the letter yet. Actually, I got my letter a week after the approval. I only knew because the case manager for my surgeon's office called me to let me know it happened so quick.

usually you can shower right away but it is awhile before baths and hot tubs. in fact it was 6 weeks before I was allowed in a hot tub.

Congratulations .. You won't regret it... I am 59 with grown kids and a very supportive husband.... I too was diabetic ... What type are you? I was type 2 with an A1C of 10 WITH taking metformin, gliberide (specific) and byetta shots twice a day.... I was going to have to start insulin, if i did not have the surgery....well, they had me stop all my diabetic medicine 3 days before surgery... I had surgery and they started monitoring my blood sugar... It rose as high as 300 (they gave me insulin shots) then started coming down... I spent 1 night in the hospital...by the time we drove home next morning (90 minute drive) my blood sugar was around 200.... stayed OFF diabetic meds and checked blood sugar 3 times a day...wrote them down to show doctor on follow up appointment at 10 days post-op....numbers were between 150 & 200... now at 7 weeks post-op, i check once every 3 days and they are 98 - 120..... my diabetes is GONE!!!!! besides losing weight ... I am no longer a diabetic! i feel amazing... Welcome to the group of sleevers and you will love this site.... Use the search button for anything and always know that there are many people (at all different stages of this process) that will support you with your decision... Sorry so long .... I am just so happy to have wonderful people helping/guiding me, that i wanted to make sure you knew we are here for you...

Don't question it. I am on a 2 week diet and it sucks big time. You will be fine.

Hi my name is Tia. I'm 25 years old and I'm a mother of two beautiful children. My daughter, Emily, who is almost six..and my son, Bryan who is four years old. I got married August 14th, 2016 to the love of my life Cody. He is a daycare teacher & I work jewelry sales in walmart. We are both slowly making steps toward bettering every aspect of our lives. Just in November I recieved my high school diploma. Just last week we discovered Cody lost over one hundred pounds since we started this journey. I had lost 78 and it's slowly going back up. He started at 450lbs even & is now at 323.7. When we started this journey two years ago it was because I was diagnosed with Lupus. My endocrinologist told me that if I didn't lose weight in a quick yet healthy way, that the Lupus would complicate my life way sooner than it had to. My husband immediately jumped on board and we started hitting the trails almost every day. We are in smaller portions and we started noticing huge differences. I felt like I was becoming a better mother because I could get in the floor and play with my kids and not feel like I was dying. I had many plateaus but suddenly I hit this one that paste longer than usual. So I went and saw my pcp and she reffered me to a nutritionist to get some advice on the right things to eat. I followed Dr. Heathers steps to a T...still stuck. So then I start changing up my exercise..still stuck. So I go back to the doctor and she did some tests and her and the endocrinologist agreed that the Lupus had begun effecting my weight loss. Lupus in some weird way was litterally fighting me on this. I was heart broken...all that hard work to avoid surgery in the first place down the toilet. So here I am..six days before surgery scared to death and praying God gives me this second chance at life. I'm so scared I'm going to mess this up and I refuse for that to happen. My babies need me..my husband needs me. So I'm thinking this was a wise step..finding a support group and talking to people dealing with the same thing. This is who I am now♡ Sent from my SM-S820L using the BariatricPal App

Hi everyone. I have my surgery next week. Very excited but also very nervous.

I got the gas shoulder/neck pain about 4 days post-op and it lasted for about a week. It seemed to get really irritated if I was working, but if I sat still or used a heating pad it felt better.

I went back to work today after being off since 6/3. I could have went in earlier but I wanted to make sure that I was going to be okay during this horrible humid, hot weather we had last week. Since I am a teacher this was a very hard time to take but I needed to to it now since I will be running a half day camp once school is let out for six weeks this summer. My daughter is also going to have her banded on 7/8. My class was very excited to have me back. Alot more of my collegues knew I was banded than I wanted to know. I should have kept my mouth shut. I only told my lunch mates but this didin't stay at the table. I heard that some of these teachers were jealous and bitching that I took the time off. It is none of their business!!!!!! Most of them were happy to see me and said I look great. I feel grea for doing ths life change and will contiue the journey!t and had lost 11 lbs in 2 weeks! After lunch on of my students said that i look different, I told him that I put up my hair. He said no it is not that , I think you lost weight!!!!!!! That made my day that my students notices the change in me! I am happy to be back but i have alot of work to do to get the end of the school year to a close. Thank goodness I have 5th graders that love to help the teacher! I did feel hungry today during lunch for the first time since surgery. Once I smelled the cafeteria food, (which is absolutely gross) I was straving! What a head game that is to crave that food. I went out ang got grits. I had to start muchie stage a day early. Tomorrow will be an easier day. Good luck to all that are going back to work. The only regret I have is having work know what I did. I am still on cloud 9 and will contiue the journey strong.

Want to share this little tidbit I learned yesterday....it could make a diference in how our plastic surgery recovey goes!. I was in my lapband doctor's office having having my last pre-op tests in preparation for my panniculectomy that is coming up Friday. He also does my fills. Before I left he told me to come back to the fill room.....he completely emptied my band!!! I was shocked! But he said that you never want to have abdominal surgery with a tight band......that afterward if you should get food stuck or have a PB or vomiting that you could damage your stitches and work that is healing in the abdomen. I hadn't thought of that!! He said for me to come back in a couple of weeks and he'd fill me up again. Most plastic surgeons would probably never think of it either....they aren't familiar with the daily life of a lapbander and some of the 'issues' we have. I plan to share that info with my PS....he's beginning to see a number of LB's in his practice and they need to know this.

I was banded on May 12 which has been 2 weeks. At first I couldn't take more than a few spoon fulls at a time but it seems the last few days I've become more hungry. So far I've lost 10 lbs. Good luck. Banded by Dr. Rojas on May 12

Welcome to the site! As a heads up, if you're scared you might want to look more at posts from people who are at least 2 months post-op. The first two months post-op seem to be pretty miserable (I'm in the third week right now), but after that most people tend to say it's the best thing they've ever done. Do you have a good support team? It's great that your husband worked on weight loss with you! My therapist has been invaluable dealing with the emotions of this process, so I highly recommend finding one if you haven't yet.

I have had my Cpap for a couple of weeks now. I'm getting used to it, but I am not sure how much it helps. Sounds like you got a good deal, mine was close to $700 out of pocket, with insurance!

Just had my first fill this morning at 6 weeks post-op. It was really uneventful - small lidocaine stick and my surgeon had no trouble finding my port. One thing I found interesting - UCSF is a teaching hospital, and there were 3 third-year med students observing. Dr. Campos menitoned to the students that methylene blue was used in the port as a marker. Thought that was interesting.

This is pretty sweet. After the Seminar (in which I was the only guy), first consult with the surgeon, getting my PCP approval, Psychological eval, Pulmonologist eval and Nutrition course and sweating it out for about a week and 3 days I got the phone call this morning that I was approved for surgery. Stuff just got real. I go in for my upper GI on August 9th and I should have a surgery date shortly afterwards. I kind of enjoyed this process, even if it was a bit laboring. Boy they make you jump through some hoops but I think others have it much worse and I consider myself very lucky to not have to appeal an insurance decision. What are your stories about this point in your process?

Hopefully your doctor today will understand your need for additional rest. I certainly understand income, as some of us don't get paid unless we go to work. If that is an issue, or even if it's not, if you HAVE to go back to work, at lease ask for a modified duty schedule/routine....e.g. one hour on the floor - one hour off. Or, two hours on the floor and two hours off. Or, a half day of work for a week. Best suggestion is to push for, at least, another week off. Feeling hopeful for you...

Hi. I'm an ER RN and work busy 12 hour shifts. I'm not going back to work until I'm 6 weeks post op. Dr's orders! There's no way I could make it right now with the way I work. I have 2 more weeks before I return. I was sleeved 9/30.

So it happened today! I graduated to full liquids! It's been 2 very long weeks on clears and I am so happy that for the next 2 weeks I get to eat full liquids! pudding, Cream Soup, and V8 here I come!! Any suggestions besides the ones I listed for full liquids?

I had my 1st fill 1 week ago and I didn't feel a thing. I was standing and the needle was sticking in me while they did the flouroscope(xray), no lidocaine or anything. I thought it went great! I worried for no reason.

First off, I just want to say I have the most supportive friends a person could ask for. My best friend in the whole wide world came to hospital every day the four days I was there after my surgery. He stayed for several hours, if he didn't have work, at a time, even when I was drugged up and sleeping. He even contemplated skipping one of his classes so he could stay with me, but I told him no, especially since finals were drawing near, lol. Now that that is out of the way, onto the story. I consider myself in between the pureed and soft food stage, because while I still puree some stuff, my doctor gave me the go ahead to try some soft foods. Like I said, my friends are super supportive. I went to a Christmas party at my friend's house, and the two that were planning the food put a lot of thought and consideration into what they would have at the party based on what I could eat. One of my friend's signature dishes is homemade mac and cheese, and she made it with reduced fat cheese so I could have it since more fattening cheese makes me very sick right now. They also had some sort of chili cheese dip and crab meat dip. They know soda is my weakness, mainly coke and sprite, so my friend hid it before I got there, lol! He even bought my favorite diet juice drink just for me and gave me a saucer sized plate so I couldn't overload. Well, at the party, I probably ate more than I should. I never really felt the signals that I was eating too much at one time (ie burping, slimies, etc), but it was more like I was grazing throughout the night. I started out with about, I'm really bad at measurements, 2-3 ounces of the chili cheese dip and a few noodles of the mac and cheese and it was amazing. Drank some juice afterwards and then stopped for about an hour, before I had some of the meat from the deli tray, probably about four pepperoni sized pieces. We started playing a game so I mainly sipped Water during that time. Afterwards, I had some more of the chili cheese dip and some crab dip on a couple of crackers (I know, I know, some consider carbs evil but I couldn't resist ) and a cube of cheese from the deli tray. All in all, I probably grazed on about 8 ounces of food in a 5 hour time period. By the end of the night, I realized I probably ate way too much, and I felt a bit of heaviness in my stomach, but luckily no nausea or slimies, just a bit of burping. The next day on Wednesday, I was reluctant to go on my scale because I was certain I had gained. Turns out, I had lost 1.2 pounds! Wasn't sure if I was ever going to say this, because in the beginning I severely regretted my surgery, but I love my sleeve! I tried on my favorite jeans last week and I can fit more than a hand's width in between the waistband and my stomach! I was even more surprised when I looked at the tag and saw they were actually a size 22, when I had thought they were a size 24! I wore them a few days later and while visiting my mom, she said, "you need to stop wearing those pants, they're practically hanging off your hips." It was a great feeling. I can now comfortably wear a size 20, when before they would be digging into my stomach so much, I'd resort to unbuttoning them and hope my shirt covered it. I work in a movie theater and we are given two t-shirts for work. Well, a week before my surgery last month, we got new shirts for the holiday season. I wasn't sure what size I needed so I had my manager give me an XL and 2X and I would just trade the size I didn't need for another of the size I did. Tried on the 2X first, and it was too big, so I tried on the XL and while a bit snug, it fit better. Yes, I was definitely pear-shaped because I could wear an XL shirt but needed size 24 pants. Well, the district manager was working with me the next day and I told her I needed to trade in my shirt. After one of the supervisors went upstairs to switch them out, he couldn't find another XL, so my manager suggested I just get a 2X. I politely told her no (since I knew I would be having the surgery in a few days and it'd be a waste), and I'm glad I did because now my XL is too big! It'll probably be another month before I can comfortably wear a size large, but it feels good to physically be able to see my weight loss. The first two weeks after my surgery, even though I was throwing up the whole time, I had cravings like crazy. I wanted pizza, nachos, bread, etc. Now that I'm a little more than a month out, my cravings have gotten better, except a time or two here and there. Well, for the aforementioned Christmas party, I was supposed to make Cookies. I made sugar cookies, and before my surgery I would use a spoon to get whatever leftover batter there was, but I really didn't have the temptation to this time. Well, I bought some vanilla whipped topping and used food coloring to make it red and green, for Christmas. While stirring, naturally I got some on me. The first time I did was the only time I licked it off, out of habit mainly, but after realizing what I did, it was pretty easy to just keep a paper towel next to me to wipe it off. To me, that's a big accomplishment. Those are my NSVs (so far ) and sorry for the long post! I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday season!

Hey Jake, glad you found this site it is an excellent resource for a wealth of information. I am going the vsg route and am scheduled for it in just a couple of weeks,so I can't speak of the things to come just yet. however, I personally feel this procedure is the right one for me. It might be a good thing to research some surgeons in your area and set up a consult to get the ball rolling. I hope you're able to find the right fit for you and can accomplish your goals. Best of luck to you......Andy

Okay guys, today was my pre op appointment with my surgeon. On Wednesday of next week, I have a pre op appointment with the anesthesiologist at the hospital. The following Thursday (April 14) is my surgery day. Up until today, my family has seemed extremely concerned and critical about my decision to have VSG. However, I took them both (my parents) along with me to my appointment today so they could ask my surgeon any questions they have. They now seem to be excited for me. I am started my liquid diet on Monday. Does anyone have any suggestions? Keep in mind that, if I lose anymore than 12 lbs during the liquid diet, I no longer qualify for the surgery. (My current BMI is 36) Does anyone else have a surgery date of 4/14? I need a surgery buddy!

Hi there, No actually when I posted that I had my fill about 2 weeks before. I did do the liquid and soft food diet right after, but as soon as, I started to eat the solids is when I began to PB. I still am PB'ing with solids, so now I am trying to focus on the easy to go down foods, ie soft foods, that won't cause problems. But hey I'm losing weight. So, it's not all bad What an interesting journey this has been so far...but I am getting used to the change in the lifestyle.

I was getting stuck on everything about a week after my last fill... My NP described it as biting your cheek. When you bite your cheek (get stuck) it irritates the area and causes swelling .. so the next time you go to eat chances are because of the swelling being in the way you will cont. to bite your cheek over and over .. so the cycle begins of biting your cheek or getting stuck.. Each one a little worse then the last. I went in and had 2 cc's removed and was told to baby it for a week and avoid stuckage... I couldnt believe how goood I felt instantly. I went back a week later granted up a pound and had the 2cc's put back in .. no isues now that the area has "healed" from it's week of constant trauma.

hi all i have an incision very high up, which is the one that has caused the most discomfort over the last week, however now i have my dressings off i can see that it is bruised, this isnt bothering me as i bruise easily. what is bothering me is that the actual incision is completly black and shiny. im not due to see the nurse again for 2 weeks, however i was wondering if any one else has experienced this yet? sarah