Exercise and Excess Skin

[ClinicalNurse82 6]

Mine was also $16550 with Dr. De la Cruz-Munoz at Univ of Miami but that includes the hospital stay, surgeons fees, etc. good luck with your surgeries and post op diet girls!

Thank you so much for your post earlier today! Def gave me a piece of mind. I also tried calling the office to be scheduled first and they said that they already have the schedule and i'm at 10am for now.

[Aries 95]

Thank you so much for your post earlier today! Def gave me a piece of mind. I also tried calling the office to be scheduled first and they said that they already have the schedule and i'm at 10am for now.

My pleasure! 10am isn't bad, just make sure you don't eat or drink after midnight the night before (that was tough for me because I felt like my throat was sooo dry the morning before surgery). Congrats on your first week of shakes! That was the hardest part but it got easier afterwards. One more week!! Feeling the nerves yet?

[MandaPanda 173]

Hi guys! I did not go to the meeting last night because apparently if want to go to Margate you need to have your seminar there. The lady in Wellington was a bit rude about it. I did call the Margate office and talked to a much nicer lady. I scheduled a consult with Dr. Wizman Xine78, I am glad to hear that you and your sister had a good experience. They said the 10,500 covers everything except preop testing. Did you have any extra charges? I'd like to keep in touch with you guys since we are close by

[ClinicalNurse82 6]

My pleasure! 10am isn't bad, just make sure you don't eat or drink after midnight the night before (that was tough for me because I felt like my throat was sooo dry the morning before surgery). Congrats on your first week of shakes! That was the hardest part but it got easier afterwards. One more week!! Feeling the nerves yet?

Yea i'm def starting to get nervous..have all these different thoughts running through my head..def makes it difficult to sleep, and just worried about losing the 7% they want me to lose before hand. How did you do with the pre-op diet?

[ClinicalNurse82 6]

Hi guys! I did not go to the meeting last night because apparently if want to go to Margate you need to have your seminar there. The lady in Wellington was a bit rude about it. I did call the Margate office and talked to a much nicer lady. I scheduled a consult with Dr. Wizman Xine78, I am glad to hear that you and your sister had a good experience. They said the 10,500 covers everything except preop testing. Did you have any extra charges? I'd like to keep in touch with you guys since we are close by

My charges didn't cover my pre-op testing, but my insurance did with the diagnoses codes that they used. I had to get ton's of blood work, Gallbladder ultrasound, and an upper-GI(x-rays). Good Luck!!

[MandaPanda 173]

Thanks and good luck to you Nurse! Keep in touch!

[Xine78 25]

I had to get a medical clearance from my dr. And that's where they send ur labs. So I had to pay my drs copay. I also paid for the prescriptions And that was about $23 for 3 of them.

I chose to add the BLIS insurance. That's about $1100 extra but that will cover u for 3 months in the event of a complication like a leak., perforation, or stricture (I think those are the 3).

[Aries 95]

Yea i'm def starting to get nervous..have all these different thoughts running through my head..def makes it difficult to sleep' date=' and just worried about losing the 7% they want me to lose before hand. How did you do with the pre-op diet? [/quote']

I was only on the preop diet for like 12 days. He said I needed to lose about 20 pounds but I only lost like 12 or 13. Funny thing is, they never even weighed me at the hospital. It all happened so fast. One minute, I was filling out paperwork and the next I'm in the operating room. I weighed myself the Thursday before surgery (my surgery was on a Monday) and I had lost 11 pounds so I'm guessing by that Monday I had lost about 12-14 pounds. It gets easier! I promise! By the second week I didn't even want anything- not food nor shakes- I just wanted to get it over with! Definitely bring something comfy to wear once you're in recovery. I got this long cotton dress at old navy which was super comfortable because I didn't want anything hanging out of the hospital gown Just an idea. Also, bring a jacket. They keep the entire wing super cold. Let me know if you have any questions! I know I had a bunch of questions before going in good luck with the shakes!

[Xine78 25]

I didnt have a gallbladder test or upper GI.

The Dr recommended 10-15lbs lost I think on a 2 week preop diet.

I didnt cheat but I only lost 4.5lbs! Technically I was on it for 11 days because my date was pushed forward. I was terrified I wouldnt be able to have my surgery because I had also taken excedrin Migraine less than a week before.

I had the Drs cellphone number, so I txted him all of that and he said it wouldnt be a problem. His nurse knew I had concerns about my liver being the proper size for surgery, and she came in my room the next day and told me she saw it and it looked perfect.

Soooo hopefully your surgeon isnt too strict about an actual 7% weight loss since I didnt come close and was still fine.

[Aries 95]

Yea, I think as long as you stick to the diet, your liver should shrink and it should be fine for surgery. Some people also retain Water and I'm sure our bodies go into shock with the sudden change in diet. As long as you follow the diet and don't cheat you should be fine!

[NewSetOfCurves 1,555]

I know some of the men posted that they didn't really experience the excess skin, but women are very different. Women are proned to have a greater amount of elasticity due to their bodies genetic ability to bear children (just like that great hormone we have that is activated in pregnancy that makes our bones more "flexible" for birthing, causing women to go up 1/2 a shoe size during EACH pregnancy!). Our skin is made to be able to stretch, and depending on how much its streched during pregnancy or the length of time of living with obesity, that skin doesn't always have the ability to "unstretch" itself. That fact, aside from out other genetic dispositions, is one of the many reasons why women are more likely to have the loose, hanging skin instead of the tight abs like aroundhky (good for you aroundhky ). Again, this is the case for most females, not all. Some are completely blessed with their skin contracting back to the way it was.

But muscle can help fill in under loose skin to where it's not as saggy, but only to a certain extent. If loose skin is just a small problem, building muscle underneath it can help, but if there is lots of saggy skin, muscle underneath it will help out only a little to fill it in since it's not really easy or do-able to pack on large slabs of muscle.

[ClinicalNurse82 6]

I was only on the preop diet for like 12 days. He said I needed to lose about 20 pounds but I only lost like 12 or 13. Funny thing is, they never even weighed me at the hospital. It all happened so fast. One minute, I was filling out paperwork and the next I'm in the operating room. I weighed myself the Thursday before surgery (my surgery was on a Monday) and I had lost 11 pounds so I'm guessing by that Monday I had lost about 12-14 pounds. It gets easier! I promise! By the second week I didn't even want anything- not food nor shakes- I just wanted to get it over with! Definitely bring something comfy to wear once you're in recovery. I got this long cotton dress at old navy which was super comfortable because I didn't want anything hanging out of the hospital gown Just an idea. Also, bring a jacket. They keep the entire wing super cold. Let me know if you have any questions! I know I had a bunch of questions before going in good luck with the shakes!

Thank you very much!! I'm down almost 20lbs so far actually so the weight is kinda just falling off of me...I kinda did cheat today though and had a single piece of pineapple...I don't think that is too bad...but yea....6 more days...I can't wait to be able to eat something real again..the reason why it is so hard for me right now is because i have my "monthly visitor"...def the worst time to get it...i get moments of hunger..i was fine up until this happened...hope it's over soon!

I did want to ask, did you have a catheter? And did you have anyone stay with you?

[ClinicalNurse82 6]

I didnt have a gallbladder test or upper GI.

The Dr recommended 10-15lbs lost I think on a 2 week preop diet.

I didnt cheat but I only lost 4.5lbs! Technically I was on it for 11 days because my date was pushed forward. I was terrified I wouldnt be able to have my surgery because I had also taken excedrin Migraine less than a week before.

I had the Drs cellphone number, so I txted him all of that and he said it wouldnt be a problem. His nurse knew I had concerns about my liver being the proper size for surgery, and she came in my room the next day and told me she saw it and it looked perfect.

Soooo hopefully your surgeon isnt too strict about an actual 7% weight loss since I didnt come close and was still fine.

I had the gallbladder us to check for stones, because if there were any he would just take my gallbladder out at the same time but luckily there wasn't any. The upper GI was just to make sure I didn't have any abnormalities in my anatomy.

[Aries 95]

Thank you very much!! I'm down almost 20lbs so far actually so the weight is kinda just falling off of me...I kinda did cheat today though and had a single piece of pineapple...I don't think that is too bad...but yea....6 more days...I can't wait to be able to eat something real again..the reason why it is so hard for me right now is because i have my "monthly visitor"...def the worst time to get it...i get moments of hunger..i was fine up until this happened...hope it's over soon!

I did want to ask' date=' did you have a catheter? And did you have anyone stay with you? [/quote']

Glad to hear you're doing well! I'm sure the pineapple didnt do much damage. I didn't have a catheter. However, they did tell me after surgery if I didn't go soon they would have to put a catheter in. I was hell-bent on peeing as much as I could! I really hated the idea of a catheter. Plus they make you pee in a bowl that measures the amount of Fluid you're releasing and you had to have close to the minimum each time you went. I had my mom stay with me, but only for the first two days or so (her idea, not mine). I probably would have been fine on my own but since you're suppose to have someone available to drive you home, she stayed with me. She honestly didnt have to do much though. I was able to get in and out of bed by myself and the pain was bearable. Like I said, I only took the pain meds at night and the majority of the pain was from gas. I'm not sure about everyone else, but the gas-x didn't really help me. Get yourself some chewables or strips prior to surgery so you have them ready when you're home. Hopefully they'll work for you. Walking helped me most though. Also, many many people can't stand the taste of Water post op. I had a bunch of diet snapple and diet Arizona iced tea on hand for liquids. Water consumption is definitely better now but I would still prefer iced tea or snapple. It sucks- I miss my water!

[Xine78 25]

The nurse explained that Gasx doesnt really help, because thats intended for gas inside your stomach, or intestines or wherever its meant. But the gas that they fill us with is inside the belly, surrounding the stomach and intestines, so it wont really work.