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You definitely want to hold off on the broccoli. That was the one vegetable that I didn't start eating until 4 months. Then it was cooked very soft it is very fibrous and hard on a new sleeve. You live and learn. Hope you are feeling okay now!

Yep, three barfs and two gas xes later I'm on the mend. It was a small portion, I ate slowly, and chewed it to a pulp...but it didn't make one bit of difference! Crossing that off my list until spring. MAN I miss green fiber!!!!

The other thing to take into account is the gas that broccoli puts off. That is probably what got you if you ate it to pulp consistency. I still crave veggies and have to hold myself back from eating to many of them so I can get all my Protein in.

What instructions do you have from your doctor's office or nutritionist? I am 6 weeks out today. I can now have frozen vegetables steamed. Might want to just eat the top and not the stalk portion until later and chew very well.

My doctor had be back on regular food within 2 weeks of surgery. He told me to only try 1 food at a time and eat little bits. If that went well then I was to try another. I had no troubles with anything. I love sauteed spinach and it was one of my first vegetables. My first foods were scrambled eggs, fish, scallops, shrimp, etc.

Next time you try broccoli, only have the stems. Cube them small and boil /steam /stir fry them until they are really soft. I had trouble with the florets for quite a while.

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Hi OutwithBenjiboi, I noticed you have Federal Employees BCBS. How long did it take you to get approved and were there any problems? I am a federal employee too and I'm still in Phase I of the process.

1day1life for now, I'm a fed with BC/BS standard option. I had to follow a 90 day pre surgical program before they would approve. I had monthly nutritionist appointments,nurse visits, 4 weeks of group meetings, stress test, blood work, psych eval, and pulmonology visit. Good luck, the surgeon's office handled everything. If you have the 2014 plan brochure it lists the bariatric surgery requirements in there.

Hi 1day! I was on the 90 day pre-op qualifying plan from April to July. Met my requirements/meetings/evals in that time, and lost 30 lbs. I had no co-morbidities, other than snoring (not apnea), knee pain and GERD, and dropped from a BMI of 42 to about 38 in those 3 months. My PCP submitted all of my paperwork to my surgeon the first week of August, and I was approved on the first submission to BCBS FEP before the end of August and given a surgery date of October 15. It all went really smoothly for me. Total bill for all surgeon visits, anesthesia, hospital (2 nights), pathology, home care (2 visits) was about $20,000. I paid less than $500 of that!!