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:biggrin: I am going to have this done next month (8-08) Could someone tell me what was the wrost part of surgery? And should you give yourself a bout a week to 2 weeks to get over it?

This gas been my fear all week as I started to feel like I was getting a sore throat ... As long as no fever you will be fine...your cold will go away as you heal .. Good luck!

Yup, what MinaT said. I also decided water/Gatorade on the day before surgery as I had done for previous procedures. For me, pain meds really constipate me so the last thing I wanted was to have that issue after stomach surgery. I don't know if it helped/hurt me, but, as others have mentioned, it was at least a week before I had my first BM and then needed Milk of Magnesia to keep everything moving. Good luck on your big day and keep us posted

Congrats! I got my date also.... they wanted to do it on the 20th... but I got scared and pushed it back a week, so it will be on the 27th... NOW I am wishing I would have left it on the 20th... and ALL the Jitters, Happiness, Worries, Happiness and all the other emotions are running through my head. Deep in my heart IKNOW I have to do it for ME! Please keep us posted.

dear all, I am 20 days out of surgery now. I lost 26.5 Lbs so far but the scale is not moving since one week now. actually it is 2 pounds up today. I started pureed food but very little. yesterday at dinner I wanted to have yoghurt. I hardly took 3 small spoons only then my stomach aches started. do I have to go back to my liquid diet? I am indesperate need of losing 22 more pounds to start looking acceptable. I am in a hurry I know but when I think that I am not eating bread, pasta, rice, cookies, cakes, ice cream, biscuits, crackers any more, then why I am not losing??? someone mentioned something about week 3 stall, How long does it last usually? thx all.

Thanks for all your posts it is really helpful to find out the this is normal and that if will thicken up again. It was just scary the past two weeks to was my hair and find so much of it in the shower. I have thick hair anyways so I am probably the only one that will notice it. I have never had hairloss on a diet before so this was a new experience. I was really wondering if I was doing anything wrong. Glad to find out that I'm not that it is just part of the process. Thank's everyone for all your great info and support!!!!

Oh gosh girl! The damn stalls from hell!!! I wish mine would too. *sob* *sob* I take my multi #1+Ca#1 after breakfast with my thiamine and b12. Then I take my multi#2 with lunch + Ca#2. Then take my Ca#3 with dinner. Then take my Iron at night. I used to take Ca/Mag at night and still do on the days I don't take iron. Presently I do 18mg of Iron + c every other day at night so it doesn't interfere with anything.

I know how you are all feeling I am one week post op and just starting to feel 'normal' - I couldn't get that much liquid down either at first and even now I get uncomfortable if I drink but the amount that I can now take is a little bit more. Walking and moving around seemed to really help although I still think its important to relax - remeber your body is healing.

Hello everyone! I am having my surgery on Mary 29th with dr. Ponce de leon. I am so nervous about going down to Mexico, I was hoping someone would be down there around the same time with the same doctor or coordinator of Trish. Anyway, hope you all have a good week! Lots of love, Alex

In my experience, anything new they find in the bloodwork or other work ups will just be additional evidence of why your insurance should pay for the surgery- additional "co-morbidities". Unless God forbid you have cancer or a serious heart problem found on the EKG, the surgery should be able to go full steam ahead. They'd treat you for high blood pressure, diabetes, sleep apnea etc, with the expectation that your problem will improve or disappear after surgery. I was diagnosed with high blood pressure and sleep apnea before surgery- during the bloodwork and testing. Eight weeks post surgery and I'm no longer on my Cpap and working on getting off the BP meds. Good luck!

Hang in there! I know that just when everything seems to be pulling together in the right direction someone has go and put a wrench in the works. I myself, had to go through 2 1/2 weeks of waiting for sleep study results and then had to wait for an appt for my CPAP machine. Because I have moderate sleep apnea I had to go for 2 more weeks and use the CPAP machine before my surgeon would even think of doing the surgery. I finally have my dates: one being the gallbladder surgery on Aug. 14th and finally my lap-band surgery on August 21st. I would talk to your Doctor that you saw in June and explain to him/her what's going on and I'm sure they'll give you a note to document the diet. Have you tried any other supervised diets within the past year (i.e. Weight Watchers, Curves, etc.)? If you were with anything like that you could get them to copy the documentation showing that time span and save yourself the trouble of another supervised diet. In the mean time, plug away at getting all your other appts that you need for approval. That way when you're done with your supervised diet they can put the paperwork through sooner and you'll get your date before you know it!:biggrin1: It'll get better I swear!

Ugh, I didn't even think about that - sodium being too high = Fluid retention. It's amazing - I went through all this nutrition stuff in health class in high school and sure, I learned it superficially, but now it's sinking in how everything is linked to everything else! Oy! The nutritionist and surgeon's office gave me a binder - this GBMC-COMP program really is comprehensive as all get-out - with all kinds of resources, sample diets, etc. It also has all the rx forms for my preop testing and explanations of what each test is, plus information on the postop diet that doesn't even apply to me (yet!) and stuff like that. The numbers I should be meeting are: <200g carbs, 70-90g Protein, <60g fats, 1800 cals. Right now I'm meeting the carbs and cals and working hard on the protein. The fats is still high so that will be my next big focus, and, of course, the sodium. (Goodbye my best friend salt, how I will miss you...) Haha. I haven't had soda in a whole week. Nothing carbonated at all. It's been surprisingly easy after the first couple days, but I am drinking a lot of mix-ins - Crystal Light and stuff. Maybe that is not helping the sodium - I'll check into it. I'm starting from 'scratch' - no lap-band before sleeving, so I don't know how my weight loss will go. I expect it'll be quick for a month or so and then will start to slow down - hoping that I'm wrong. Thanks for your support here. It means a lot, even though I'm so far out from a surgery date still. Just gotta walk the path and make it there - the gateway to the rest of my life!

Hi, forum people! I'm new to the whole scene here, and I just wanted to get some opinions on how this whole thing is going to roll. I'm 18, 4 feet 11 inches, and near 240 pounds. I have been talking to my Belite case supervisor, Teri, and am working on getting a passport card for my trip to Juarez for surgery. I'm hoping that my new sleeve will be the beginning of the end of my (way too long) weight-loss journey. When I was in eleventh grade, I went to Wellspring Academy of the Carolinas, a weight loss-dedicated school in the mountains of North Carolina. There, I had three physical activity periods a day, as well as a low-fat-no-fat diet. We were constantly supervised and not allowed any electronics at all (cell phones, tv, movies, mp3 players). I was there for 8 months and lost 56 pounds; I was around 160-ish when I left the school. This branch of Wellspring has since been shut down. I gained all the weight back within a year due to their teaching me the skills in an extreme environment. Prior to Wellspring, I did Jenny Craig. That. Was. Horrible. The food made me hate eating every day and my mom, who was doing it with me, would often sneak frozen pizzas into the house to curb our voracious appetite for non-horrible food. Needless to say this did not last long. AFTER Wellspring I had a personal trainer and a dietician who tried to help me maintain weight loss. Failure. Even later, I went to an eating disorder clinic which was intensive therapy for seven weeks. I was taught better eating habits there, but no weight was lost and I still continued to gain even after. Then I went to college, which we all know doesn't help anyone. I ended up coming home due to my ill health. So here I am! My parents are working on getting the surgery working for me, but my dad is still not fully convinced that VSG is right because of the lack of long-term data. I don't really have too many questions, but I would really appreciate anyone that could put forth some details as to what it's done for you to convince my dad (and inform me more) that this is the right thing to do.

Someone wrote about taking in tons of fluids pretty close to post-op and how they aren't peeing a ton. Got me thinking. I'm about 3.5 weeks out and also not "going" that often, whereas before I had to go all the time. I've been hitting all my Fluid and Protein goals within the first week no problem, and when I do go it's a normal color, not dark or brownish. Just curious if there is a "normal" range people remembered when you start having to go again? (As I sip my 24 oz Water here, about to head out for a walk and wondering if I'll have to "go" mid trip!)

Yes its normal to be able to feel it, more so in the mornings and just after youve eaten/drink, after a while you wont notice it, but in about 4 more weeks if it still feels weird talk to your doctor, they may need to adjest it, if you hve any worries always talk to your doctor, but you should be fine once you've completet healed. and 10 pounds is still a lot, remember its a process thats going to take months even years to reach your goal and maintaine it, good luck to you and be proud that youve taken the first step to the new you.

I am going in a week and am terrified. can't sleep my jary races .will I leave my babies and nevet come back that's all I can think about I'm paying for xtra support but not feelin it! I want it to be over so I can wake up and Skype my kids

It lessened after about a week, thankfully. Never took any Benadryl, didn't feel like crushing them lol. It still itches on the surface, but it's scratch able!

Do you exercise? We all stall , keep up the tracking, get your protein and water in and exercise... all three are key !!!

I am still vomiting up just about everything. Seems the only thing I can handle is water and that even comes up eventually. Any advice? I'm suppose to start vitamins and protein today but I don't see that happening.

What were the hardest days being on your liquid diet? Think about trying it a week before I have to .

I was sleeved on Nov 26th I have Gone from my highest weight pre-op at 423 to my current weight 7 weeks pre-0p at 348 with the majority of that being post-op loss. Thats a total of 76lbs since this time last year when our Journey began. Yes I have had support from friends ,my Husband, my children but most of all from My sister "Kapoorvilla". She encouraged me and walked every step of this journey right beside of me.She was sleeved on Dec 5th. My sleeve went great home the next day walking a few hrs after, took almost no pain meds, have had no nausea or vomiting and can eat and drink about anything just have to watch the amounts, be sure to get in my proteins first and stay away from bad carbs and sweets, not that these things bother me but i just know my sleeve is only a tool. My sister drove us back and forth to doctor appts, in heavy big city traffic, pushed me in a wheelchair because i couldnt walk far, encouraged me, kept my spirits up, was proud of every lb I lost or NSV I achieved like being able to go from wheelchair to walker and now just my own power in short distances. I just wanted to publicly thank her and tell how much that it all meant to me. It is sucha blessing to have some one to share it all with step by step and compare notes and complain about the different diet stages with. We share recipes and any new finds such as products with a lot of protein etc.. She has been such a inspiration to me and I so admire her determination and ability to bless others even when things are going the best for her. During her operation her bowel was pierced, it turned into an emergency situation she was cut from breast bone to vagina practically lost blood had to be transfused 4 units of blood. Had to have asecond surgery 3 days later to put her bowels back in place, was finally released after 5 days and took 4 weeks to recover enough to resume her many responsibilities. She is doing good now, does well with the sleeve eating and drinking pretty much what she wants too but very little of it. not sure of her exact loss but its pretty good. I'm so sorry this all happen to you and I don't know the hows and whys you definiteley didnt deserve it and yes If it had to be I wish it had been me instead but I think the Lord knew you where stronger and im not sure I would have survived it and then recovered as well as you have, my health is so much worse. You are a real trooper and a great example to me, you have more will power than anyone ive ever known and I thank you from the bottom of my heart! I'm so proud you are my sister and hopoe someday I can do for you all the things you have done for me. Thanks again I love You! Ascooke.

I guess it depends where you live because I'm in Los Angeles CA and just finished my class on the 5th but my bestfriend finished her class in July and had surgery 3 weeks to 4 weeks later!!!

Hi Everyone, I ended up in the ER a few weeks ago after a routine fill on my band, unable to swallow even liquid. My body thought I was choking so it kept sending saliva to my espophagus, with no way for it to go down (completely swollen shut). It was horrible. Radiologist said I need to get it out asap. Primary care doc is not familiar with bands at all and wasn't sure what to write. So I offered to write the letter of request to Cigna for her to put on her letterhead. I've searched everywhere online for a letter that outlines the dangers of leaving the band in, as well as the benefits of replacing it with the sleeve. To no avail. There are plenty of letters about bariatric surgery, but none dealing with the dangers of a failed band. Can anyone direct me? We need to submit something asap. Thanks so much.