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Please discuss your heartburn with your surgeon.  There are options out there, try one med then another till you get relief.  I had RNY, no direct experience with VSG.  Amalia is a good resource, she had the VSG.

I was put on an acid reducer for at least the first 6 months.  Not needing one at this time, but if I do need something, I will call for an Rx.

Jenn, just follow the program set up by your surgeon.  I wasn't hungry at first, some are.  We are each different.  Looks like you are doing things that are expected.  You won't have stretched your pouch at this time.  Increase your fluids will help some with the feelings.  I sometimes confused thirst with hunger when I was new post op.

We all go through phases of rapid loss and slower loss and stalls.  Change up what you are doing will help to break a stall.  Increase fluids, try a little more protein, switch up your exercise program.  And most of all, do not try to compare your loss to anyone else.  When else have you had this speed of weight loss.  The weight did not appear overnight, enjoy the ride as you continue with losing.  Let's be loser's together.  Hugs

Awesome Tim, you are working the program well.

Hi all,
I was scheduled for RNY on June 27 after completing 6 months of diet, fitness, documentation, etc.  My insurance company approved me for surgery and I completed all the pre-op testing, orientation, follow up planning, etc. last Friday. 

My insurance had given the go ahead in January 2011 and final approval code for the RNY on June22.  Late Friday afternoon  (before a Monday am surgery, me staying at a hotel away from home),  the insurance company called me to say that they had denied my case.  The reason given was that my provider/hospital is not on their list of Centers of Excellence and as such, my case was denied.   You can imagine this was a major surprise and disappointment. 

I am a patient at the Duke Center for Metabolic and Weight Loss Surgery which is rated a Center of Excellence by ASBMS.  We were all astounded - basically my insurance company gave an approval in error and then revoked it at the last minute.  Instead of admitting their mistake, they  first denied that they ever received my files, etc.  My team spent the weekend and yesterday trying to figure out the problem with my doctor even offering to contribute his fee to help the process.  

I was told by my insurance company that I am not denied the procedure - I could get a new surgeon tomorrow at a center of excellence on their list or appeal.  Regardless - I could not have the surgery and had to fly home today.  I am not sure yet if I have to change progrrams (or insurance companies but now I want them to pay in more ways than one!) or when I can move ahead. 

I posted this as I don't want this to happen to anyone else - even with an approval is it best to double check if the program is on the approved list of the insurance company.  I am not sure if this would have helped me as getting the approval code and instructions from the insurance company certainly seemed adequate.  My insurance company is United Healthcare - suggest if you can - avoid them.

Has anything like this happened to anyone in the group?  Ddi you have to switch programs/surgeons and if so, was it easy, did you have to repeat anything, etc.? 

This has been difficult - and emotional eating is one of my things to fix!  Hopefully I will bounce back quickly and am able to schedule the surgery soon.  I suppose the good news is that I will feel okay over the July 4th holiday. 

Thanks for any feedback on my questions.

Went Monday for my scope. To the suprise and extreme delight of my surgeon, I have NO ulcer! Now, this can be a great thing of course, but then it puts me back to...then what is it? The pain has actuallybeen quite a bit better over the past 3 days, so maybe it was a temporary glitch? a long one tho. So we shall see what becomes of the pain.

My eating has been good for the most part. Too afraid to eat much with the pain I had been having, and not wanting to trigger it again. Sunday My food intake consisted of an atkins shake around lunch time, a few grapes, a few blackberries, 1/4 c cottage cheese and some homemade chicken veggie soup for dinner. Not quite enough protein, but the shake helped and I was close to what I needed to get in at the low end.

Got a copy of my labs, and have a few things running low. Most of them indicate a mild anemia has began with me. One indicates my blood cells aren't able to carry as much oxygen as they should, which makes my need to stop the smoking that much more urgent. These 2 factors put together, can easily acct for the lethargy I have been dealing with (anemia and low blood oxygen) Along with the extreme stress and challenges i am facing lately. Worked very hard at not smoking the last 2 days. Did great yesterday until evening, when my husband and i had a bit of a disagreement (ok a huge one) over a very important and touchy matter. Looks like I have some stress ahead for quite a while, but still have to manage to stay away from the smoking. Not such an easy task, as they are like a smokers pacifier when stress levels are high.

Day before yesterday I got in almost 10,000 steps according to the pedometer, which came to over 5 miles. Yesterday got in almost 8000 steps, which was almost 4 miles if i recall correctly. Shooting for 10,000 today. We shall see where it ends up.

Today, I have lots of errands to run. Need to pck up more primer and paint for the garage we just had built, have some banking to take care of, and several calls to make, some very important to my future. This is not going to be an easy day for me, I am sure. BUT I will be strong and do fine. Just have to get through some bumps in the road of life.
Hugs and love to you all. Have a great day and take very good care of yourselves.