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My husband stayed. I actually slept in the foldout chair bc it was more comfortable and he slept in my bed!! Also, honestly a shower was the last thing I was thinking about the day I left was a shower!

Hi.. I will be changing to Blue Shield H MO after the new year. According to them, the way my husband's employer's contract was written, lap band surgery is covered...no restrictions! Almost too good to be true...I will be confirming next week. Anyway, since I see on these boards that BS H MO has covered others here, maybe I am not dreaming. I was wondering...since all bariatric surgeons are contracted....how do I know what doctor I will be referred to? I mean, usually on a H MO, you belong to a group and then any doctor you are referred to is in that group. However, bariatric surgeons are not in any group so how is the doctor decided on? I want to make sure I get a good, safe, and reputable one. Thanks- Jennie

Anyone have any idea how long I will have to wait To get approval from my insurance company? I submitted everything they asked for yesterday and was hoping someone can give me an estimate of how long it takes for blue cross blue shield to make a decision.

Hi Melissa, I have a surgeon in mind. My husband was laid off and is starting a new job. Once I know what our new insurance plan is I'll go from there. I'd prefer to use Park Nicollet because it's closer and the wait isn't as long. But if insurance doesn't pan out I'll go to Mexico. It's good to hear BC/BS covers things now. They weren't covering it last year. Now I'm hopeful that whatever plan we're one covers it now too.

Thank you Penny, I don't understand where all of his frustrations are coming from because we've talked about how this band is a tool and not a magic solution. It's 3 A.M. and I'm still up. I don't want to go lay beside him in that bed. Yes, he went to bed still mad at me and me at him. I know what he wants, he wants me to tell him that hes right. Admitt that I have a problem. Then cuddle up to him and reward him for being an A$$. NOT happening. I am not a fat pig that eats all day long. I do like to snack when I should'nt. I also eat too many sugars. This argument would'nt be so bad if he did'nt live off of fast food. This critisism is coming from a man that orders from James Coney Island :2 james coneys hot dogs with chili and cheese, french fries, a large chili w/cheese, and a supersize Dr. Pepper. He literally eats like that everyday of his life and is as obese as I am from it. We've always weighed around the same amount. Now that I have this band in me everytime he sees me eating bad foods like sugar he gets all upset. I'm just wondering if anyone else has had simular problems since getting the band. One of the reasons I married Tom was for not judging me for being overweight. He says he's fed up with listening to me be unhappy about my weight and thats why he's not putting up with things anymore. He actually justified his actions of tearing me down. Am I wrong, should I welcome his attempts to set me straight?

Thats strange bc like about a month ago I broke my retainer while eating and I didnt have anything to put in it...by the time I got home from the rest. I had to force the barbell thru.........

The hospital where I was did not allow family members to stay overnight unless it was an extraordinary circumstance. I thought this was good bc that way everyone can get their rest, and the nursing staff takes great care of you. I took a sponge bath the day after my surgery and a shower before I was discharged (I was there 2 nights). My husband came early for my discharge and helped me with my shower, which I liked better than asking an aide to help. (You are a bit sore and unsteady at first and taking a shower in a strange place, so it's nice to have someone close by, even if just for reassurance.)

Yes I kept mine a secret also bc I just didn't want anyone to know not even my two daughters and one is a R.N. I told them after two days later. Only them and probably their husbands know. I too didn't want phone calls after I got home, don't want a bunch of questions. Not even my pastor knows. If I had to do over I would still do it the same way.

I was allowed to try eggs in the puréed food stage so I cooked basically a sunny side egg and mashed it with a fork til it was good and floppy(like I fed my babies when they were eating mushy foods). It went well for me, but some people have a really hard time with egg especially in the beginning so if it doesn't work, table it for awhile and try again later.

I like it there- but definitely prefer here bc we're all sleevers!

It is a very long story....I got a leak and had surgery to clean it up...They induced a comma.. I was in it for 19 days...I woke up and could no longer walk or move and could not talk because they put a trakia in so I could breath... I got a category 5 ulcer on my butt from the comma and then I was soon moved to another floor...out of ICU ..There they looked after me and I ended up with 10 surgeries altogether as they were trying to repair the leak which would not heal.....Finally after 4 and a 1/2 months when everything else failed I had a surgery where they gave me both the sleeve and bypass......I had to lean to walk and talk and write again.....I have 12 incisions where most people have 2-5....I am still being treated for the ulcer on my butt almost 11 months later I lost all my hair as I was fed by IV for 5 months...and nobody told me I did until I saw it in the mirror at home....They even had to reteach me how to eat and swallow....I became addicted to pain killers and a detox Doc helped me through that..... This is just a small overview of some of the things that I went through..... But!!!!!!!!! I would do it all over again if I had to..I am so much better then I was before surgery....i can do so much more and the little things make all of it worth it for me....

Ok, will try to answer some of the remaining questions- no, not taking any pain meds, only allowed Tylenol these days and that does exactly nothing for me so I use alternating heat/ice ..elevate etc.. to deal with knee. Getting MRI tomorrow and should know more. As far as water at work, we are a manufacturing facility of medical parts- we have one small cell that deals with chemical finishing that should not have water in/near those chemicals- the rest of the plant is just regular machining, inspecting, shipping/rec. They decided to unilaterally punish everyone in the plant minus the office staff up front by removing all drinking abilities (water,tea coffee, whatever ) and we only have water fountains at both ends of the facility and one in the clean room. I myself only do computer and paperwork, have no chemicals near me (nor does 98% of the plant) but they made up some bullshit OSHA rule about not being allowed to have drink containers of ANY kind out on the floor. It is cruel, inhumane and I'm looking for a new job, not just because of the lack of hydration but the mandatory 10 hrs of OT they've been shoving down everyone's throat since May of 2018. I still am able to walk and get around, but I'm slowed significantly because sudden changes of direction could cause more damage, kneeling or stooping is impossible at this point, and stairs are risky bc the knee wants to go it's own direction without notice. My husband used to ask me to slow down my walking and called me a "sandpiper" bc I always walked like I was on fire or something. Now it takes a long time to get anywhere and it's frustrating to me. When your mobility is changed for any reason, it's a frustrating adjustment. As far as lifting my arms, do that all night long. My arms never stop all night long. Just want to be able to enjoy (and trust my legs again) so I can walk around, garden, go shopping, etc without pain and restriction. Don't want to be hurt right now. If I've missed a question- please forgive.

Hi everyone! i am 5 days post op! i started at 268 i am 248 today. took my first shower and removed the gauze. i am not hungry at all but i miss the sensation of chewing. Things smell funny and sorbets taste super sweet. i couldn't stomach Jello yet. is anyone else having serious gas pains? its like in my chest and everytime i pass gas it seems internal or i am going to poop myself i know too much info but its strange!! i feel achy and sore, its hard getting p from sitting position but its manageable. im still taking liquid Percocet for pain but instead of every 4 hours i am doing every 7 hours to stretch it out. i am sleeping on the couch w hubby bc i can't lay down yet. i have been walking everyday- i walked an hour yesterday i think i overdid it. any advice or things i should prepare for? lol hope everyone is doing great! sorry i was MIA for a few days- between surgery and my mom had a stroke it has been a long week. any advice???

im on day 2 of my preop ive lost 4.6lbs since yesterday morning by only having 3 shakes a day and 80 ounces of water. im starving and my head is killing me. i never imagined my head would be pounding this bad. im going through all the worst possible cravings and being a nanny and having to prepare dinner for kids doesn't help the slightest. i feel so grouchy and irritable. whenever i try to work out i get really light headed and i dont know why. =[ i find myself doubting my decision bc i am so hungry. anyone going through things like this?

"We want to talk about Lap Bands, not all the other BS that goes on over there." ABSOLUTELY! No offense, but if I wanted a general topic conversation board, I would have joined one! I wanted a LAP-BAND BOARD!

Okay so I swear that for the first 6-8 weeks after being sleeved my stomach would NOT stop growling. It was weird bc no feeling of hunger was there, but my head kept trying to tell me it was time to eat bc my stomach was making nonstop gurgling noises. I learned to embrace the gurgling and would even make jokes about it. Now that I’m 3.5 months post-op, the gurgling has slowed down, but it still happens from time to time and it just cracks me up. The other day I was in a Pilates class and it was gurgling so bad the instructor noticed. all I could do was shrug and move on. For the record, I wasn’t even remotely hungry when it happened.

I have Fed BCBS Basic in Indiana, and recently was denied coverage for a vertical sleeve gastrectomy. They claim "At this time there is insufficient convincing evidence in the peer-reviewed medical literature, in terms of safety, to support the use of sleeve gastrectomy in individuals with clinically severe obesity". I personally know two people that have had this procedure, and were covered by BCBS FEP. I am sending them an appeal letter to them to start with. Does anyone have any suggestions? Thanks, Pam

Skinny people just don't understand what us fat people go through. Here I am struggling to get through this pre-op diet and my lovely husband says he wants a big fat greasy pan pizza from pizza hut for dinner. That is like my favorite food in the whole world and I have been deprived for more than a month now. I immediately left the kitchen and hibernated in the bedroom when he came in with it and gave him the finger as I was exiting the room to let him know my disgust at his feeding! I am not hungry at all b/c I ate a little over budget already for dinner before he even ate...but still that pizza killed me. Now I must say I gave him the finger jokingly but am hoping he fed all the leftovers to the dogs before I have access to it. I am 3 days from surgery and will spend the next three days following the clear liquid diet even though my surgeon on requires the day before be clear liquid. I am overly prepared for this surgey and feel like I am planning a major vacation even though I only live 3 mins from the hospital I am having surgery at. My bags packed, my outfit is chosen, I am going to have a pedi/mani and a haircut on Monday and even bought a new outfit to where to/from the hospital. This is a huge event in my life and I hope to have memories (good ones) for years to come. I have been explaining to my 3 yr old boy that mommy is going to the hospital to have surgery on my belly. I hope he never remembers mommy as fat. I am going to spend this last weekend before surgery cleaning up the house and giving my husband and little boy lots of my attention. I need to start now by changing Jacob into his pjs so goodnight.

My BC/BS would not cover me at all...the policy states they pay for 2 nutrition classes per year and nothing else toward weight loss. Therefore, next Saturday the 19th, I'm fly to Tijuana, Mexico and surgery is set for that afternoon after my pre-tests. :sneaky: I am excited, but right now on the liver shrinking diet of 40 - 50 carbs (max per day) and high protein, calories do not matter. So far - so good!

We have several things in common - I also live in Arkansas & I'm also 39 years old & I also have federal bc/bs. I went for my first appointment about a month ago with the surgeon. The following week I did the sleep study & psyche eval. I got my call this Thursday to schedule my surgery. I couldn't believe it. My BMI was 40. I also found I had 2 co-morbidities that I didn't even know I had. Well one I sorta knew about. I had some high blood pressure troubles last year when I went through a rough divorce after 17 years of marriage. The doc just assumed that was why & never put me on meds for it. But when I saw the surgeon she told me I needed to go back to my family doc to get on bp meds because it was too high. I also found out during the sleep study that I have sleep apnea & I would've never guessed that. I go Monday to get fitted for my c-pap machine. I'm not sure if that helped me get the insurance to pay for the surgery but it probably didn't hurt. With our insurance I was told that we had to have 5 years of medical records. I was worried about that because I have always been a yo-yoer. One year my weight is only 30-40 pounds overweight & the next year I'd be 80 pounds overweight. I also had to show evidence of trying to lose weight for at least 6 months. I was worried about this because I didn't have any medically-supervised programs. I showed journals of different plans I had done on my own & they made copies of these to send to the insurance companies. She told me our insurance does not say that they have to be medical-supervised. I am still in shock about all this but really can't wait to get started with my new life. My 40th bday is in October & I want to have my weight issues under control for the last time by then. Good luck with everything!

@"Thinfarmer" I had my surgery In Montreal but at a different clinic than where you are going. I had it on November 29. Started at 210. Today weighed in at 8 weeks post op and am down 31 lbs. Iam 179 today. post op: I had to get blood work, X-rays, and an endoscopy. The only pre op diet I had was the day before. I could have Breakfast then after that only liquids. I also had a nutritionist telephone call prior to surgery -which the doctor set me up with. It was included w my fee. Also, one nutritional consult after. I had an initial telephone consultation with the surgeon in planning stage. The communication has been fabulous so far. The staff was great and the clinic pristine. Vitamin regime is impt after. They will tell u all about it. BTW - I self paid. Didn't want the hassle of waiting. This journey is NOT easy. There may be a case of buyers remorse after the first day BUT that goes away. Each day is challenging for the first month. However, each day also gets easier. And the scale victories help on the hard days. It's an emotional roller coaster at first bc your brain has no idea what u did to your body and it needs time to adjust. It thinks u can eat. You can't. The best part was after surgery YOU ARE NOT HUNGRY! At least I wasn't. Iam still not really. Water is the hardest thing to get enough of. You will feel like all you do is sip sip sip. But IT IS WORTH EVERY PENNY. 100%. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

Ok hun, thank u for keeping us updated. I'm glad u got that med BC now u should be able to get hydrated. Feel better soon

I just realized I didn't reply after surgery... I still absolutely love my revision doctor, John Nye. He is a very thorough doctor. I've had some complications recovering though, but no way to I blame him for the BS I went through... I loved Baptist Hospital the day of surgery and through the first night. However, after the nurse left I may as well been at home and had my husband see about me. The drain in my chest (hooked to a pump) was only about 1/8 full when we left. I don't then after the first night that they turned it back on...nor my IV machine...it constantly beeped. They would unhook me to walk or to to the bathroom and then "poof" disappear. Shawn (hubby) finally asked them to show him how to turn the machine beeps off, hook back up my leg pumps...everything... The reason I believe the drain wasn't working (or turned off), is my best friend just had revision surgery (same hospital) and she had 3x the amount of drainage I did. She is two weeks post op and all her incisions and drain areas have closed. Mine finally closed three weeks ago. It took two months to heal...Nye says I had a reaction to the sutures (my incision kept coming open - he didn't stitch me closed for a month due to drainage)...so it took two months for me to "naturally" drain and dry up enough to heal and close. It sucked! It hurt! At my two month check up he had to "burn" the drain area (right below my sternum) - set me on fire. It f'ing hurt...bad...couldn't sleep for over a month... So that is the bad...and probably one of the worse things that can happen when it comes to recovery. Honestly, I blame the inept nurses that kept forgetting or neglecting me.

I have to take BC pills to regulate my period due to my PCOS, I've taken it for over 10 years, at the moment I take Marlissa. I don't contribute the BC to any weight gain, as long as I do what I'm supposed to I still lose weight.

My journey started only about 9-10 months ago when I first learned about the VSG. I approached my doctor, she agreed, and we started the process for insurance. However, by about April of this year I was entirely fed up with the constant hoops they were making me jump through, and the co-pays I was having to pay even just to meet their requirements. I started looking into self-pay with little hope as I don't just have that kind of money lying around. Then I saw Alex's post for the $4399 surgery in Mexico. My brother had suggested looking at Tijuana surgeons, but I had shot it down. I did some digging, educated myself, asked a ton of questions, and within a month I had a down payment, and a surgery date scheduled with the BariatricPalMX team led by Dr. Illan. This all included getting picked up in San Diego, brought to Tijuana, the surgery, 2 nights stay in the hospital, 2 nights in the recovery condos. And then, voila! Time to go home. Being picked up and brought over was non-stressful, easy peasy. Stacy, who works for the BariatricPalMX team, did a great job at easing my mind on the drive over. She was so warm and welcoming! Once arriving at florence Hospital, I had blood drawn, an IV put in, and chest x-rays done. Soon after all the doctors started coming in (sorry, I don't remember all names). Everything was explained to me, every question I might've had was answered. I think the first time something happened that I wasn't expecting was straight out of surgery. I was in the recovery room outside the OR and I was in PAIN. Most people didn't seem to experience much pain, but I did. Whether it was gas pain or actual pain, I don't know. They gave me two doses of morphine, and that didn't do anything other than make me extremely warm and nauseas. After another hour or two, a different pain medicine was administered with some anti-nausea, something for gas, and then eventually something to prevent infection. The rest of that day I was really weak, really uncomfortable, and did some walking and breathing exercising as much as I could. I also will say, don't expect to get some restful sleep, haha. Nurses in and out every hour or two hours. But this is just a testament to how attentive and on top of it the staff was during this time. Which was truly appreciated and made me feel taken care of. The next morning I was taken for my leak test, and once that was passed, I was given some ice chips, Water, gatorade and apple juice. Of course coming off from the liquid diet I went straight for the apple juice. It tasted like heaven, but my new stomach didn't really agree. The sugar content didn't settle well. So I backtracked to the water, took that slow, and had to take a sip of the Gatorade (not G2) every 30 minutes or so to kind of work up to it. By late that night/early that morning, I was able to drink the Gatorade just fine! (btw Gas-X strips will be your best friends!) Wednesday we came here to the recovery condos, I began just been relaxing, sipping away at water and gatorade, working out the new timeline for the medicines that was prescribed. There was a very helpful packet outlining phases and what to have and not have. Luis was wonderful and took us out into TJ and we went to Caesar's where Josh (the boyfriend) had a good looking fish dish and I had the beef broth. It was delicious and I have yet to feel full, but have stopped myself in fear of taking in too much. While we were in the hospital, Roberto was great and always checking in on Josh and getting him food and drinks whenever he needed it. He was well taken care of even though he didn't want to leave my side. Dr. Illan came in and checked on my incisions the day before we moved to the recovery condo and to see how I was doing. Again, everyone was very attentive and caring, and just been great. I couldn't have asked for better attention and being put at ease. I'm so incredibly thankful and am now just easing forward and looking forward to healing and getting my life back on track now. Thank you to everyone! Dr. Illan, Bill, Stacy, Roberto, Luis, Rosa, Jessica, Denise, and every other doctor, nurse, or staff member who's played a hand in this and helped me reach this goal and start a new life.