Nat .. that is awesome .. I have BCBS too and will be submitting here real soon .. WOW .. you give me hope .. Keep us posted ok . Hugs , Natalie

Ok...hernia repairs....what can I say about them??? LOL...I've had 5 hernias since my RNY almost a year ago. The first one was found when at about 6 weeks post op because I had an open wound infection that was an MRSA staph infection. They sent me in for a CT scan to make sure I didn't have an internal infection and that's when they found the big hernia. I was scheduled for surgery 5 days later, but ended up having it on an emergency basis 2 days later because it became incarcerated (blocked). I was in the hospital for 5 days with that one because it was incarcerated and because of the MRSA. I then had home health care for 10 days where they came in and packed the wound and gave me IV antibiotics for the infection. I was out of work from that one for about 4 weeks total. Then a couple of months later I was having pains and stuff again....doc and CT scans said no hernias...they said I had a suture neuroma...basically scar tissue and nerves had wrapped around one of the internal stitches from my hernia repair. I was scheduled for "outpatient" surgery for that...surgery was supposed to be about 20 minutes or so, woke up in recovery and hour and a half later....when he opened me up he found another hernia about the size of an orange. Spent the night in the hospital...home the next day...out for another 3 weeks. In December I really started looking into plastics....got approval for my tummy tuck...had that surgery on January 12th of this year...and when my surgeon had me open for that, he found 3 more hernias and repaired those. That one was the most difficult recovery...the TT and hernias and muscle tightening all together..I thought that was worse than my RNY recovery. After all of those surgeries, I had to wear an abdominal binder for at least 2 weeks..I'd suggest wearing it longer if you can...it helps a lot. With all of my hernia repairs, it was a standard repair without the use of mesh. My doc doesn't really like using mesh unless it's absolutely neccesary because of the high risk of infection and rejection of the mesh. Anyway, sorry this post is so long. Good luck with everything and just let me know if you have any more questions.... Andrea

Thanks Lisa I am very excited and I am already doing my B4 pics and will keep ya'll posted... NAT

Congratulations! I know your excited! Take pictures so all of us who are starting our process of PS can see how wonderful you look! Lisa

Well, one year ago today after much ado and 3 moths in the hospital, God made plans for me and here I am. Yes, I actually made it through a year of pure He&& and I made it through to the other side. There is no way that I would be alive today if it wasn't for my mother being at the hospital with me and demanding that the surgeon do something, other than nothing! And calling in another surgeon after firing the original one that did the surgery. All of the prayers of my friends and family and ultimately the path that God has laid out for me, whatever it might be, has led me to this place a year later. Through all the teras, pain and suffering, I never thought I would make it to this point. Yet, here I am. I am out of the hospital, off from oxygen, no feeding tube anymore, no barfing all day long for, yes, months at a time, am out of that dam& wheelchair, and am able to actually go through a day without crying and wondering if I am going to live until the next day. I can't say that I would do it all again, but I can say thank you to all of you for keeping me positive when I thought I could not make it through another day. THANK YOU ALL and here's to losing those last 30 pounds I am struggling with