October 31, 2019 my life changed drastically. I underwent the Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy procedure that I had been waiting on for almost 6 months. I’ve gotten TONS of questions about my experience this past year so I’ve decided to do a post for the most popular Q&A!
Q: Did you go through insurance?
A: YES. It is around $10k to do it without insurance, but even if you go through insurance it will NOT be free. You will need to meet your deductible first and even then some doctors appointments don’t even go towards your deductible.
All in all, I ended up paying around $5k to have the surgery.
Should most of that have been covered in my opinion? Yup….
Do I think I will be reimbursed eventually? Nope.
Keep all of that in mind when deciding to have the surgery. The $5k wasn’t all at once, so that helped, but it was still a rude awakening to have to pay all of those costs even over time. Also, make sure that all of your doctors are in network or you will be in for some unpleasant surprises months down the road when you get a new bill.
Q: Did it hurt?
A:The most painful part was waking up with a ton of gas pain in my chest. During the surgery the pump you full of air so they can move around your stomach better so when the surgery is over you then need to release that air. The best thing you can do is walk as soon as possible. You’ll start burping and feel IMMEDIATELY better. I would say it takes about 2 weeks to get all of the extra air out if I remember correctly. Other than the gas pain, it’s really not bad. I took my pain meds for a few days after, but if you take it easy like you’re supposed to then you’ll be fine.
Q: What is the recovery like?
A: I took a week off of work and then worked from home for a week before heading back to the office. I REALLY wish I had taken FMLA since I was eligible for it, but I’m stupid and let work pressure me into coming back before I was really ready.
If I had to do it over again I would have taken at least 3 weeks if not 4 (since I really could have taken a whole month with no penalty at work). After being under anesthesia it just takes awhile to kinda feel like yourself again (at least for me). I also happened to go back to work on a really stressful day so that didn’t really help. A lot of people thought I was just off for vacation and didn’t know I had recently had surgery so maybe if they knew that it would have been a bit better (but probably not).
I would say, err on the side of caution and take as much time as you really can. You have just gone through a big change and it will take some getting used to.
You will be on a liquid diet for several weeks post-op. The part of your stomach that secretes the hunger hormone has been removed so you really will not have an appetite. Your nutritionist that works with your doctor will give you a guide on what foods you can eat during certain points in your recovery and water/protein goals to hit each day. Protein shakes will become your best friend for awhile. Even a year post-op I usually still drink 1-2 protein shakes a day. They will stress to you the importance of getting enough protein each day and show you which foods are the best sources.
The thing that scared me the most was that if you don’t take your vitamins and get enough protein YOUR HAIR WILL FALL OUT. Granted, I really do try to watch that, but I still had a lot of hair loss. My hair is really thick so really no one other than me and my hairdresser really noticed. I see her at least every 8 weeks so she would know way better than most people. She told me that pretty much anyone going under anesthesia (even for other surgeries) has at least some hair loss. Mine has definitely slowed down so that’s been a huge relief.
Q: Are you happy you did it?
A: It’s one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. I thought about how I wished I would have done it sooner, but then I realized how you really have to be READY for this life change. If I had done this in college, I think I wouldn’t have had the level of success I have had now with the surgery. Maybe it would have gone well, but maybe it wouldn’t have. Who is to say, but I’m glad that I at least was able to get it now. I do know someone who had the gastric bypass in college, lost a ton of weight, but didn’t stick to the lifestyle changes and then had to have a revision about 10 years later because he just wasn’t really ready to make that change. You HAVE to be fully ready or it will only be a temporary fix.
Q:What is your life like now?
A: Life is awesome. I can work out easier. I spend less money on food/going out. I don’t drink nowhere near as much as I used to. I make healthy eating and lifestyle choices basically without even really thinking about it now. It’s just second nature to me to not eat bread and go straight for protein when eating. I know that whenever I’m making myself a plate to only get little scoops of whatever it is that I’m trying.
There are definitely days where I miss eating since it’s really not something I can do for fun anymore. I still love to cook, go to parties, get drinks with the girls, but I just have very strict limits now. I have to internally have a pep talk with myself like “it’s OK that you don’t finish this $12 glass of wine” or “It’s OK to only order a cup of soup or an appetizer and not finish it all”.
I have been pretty open with all of my friends/family/coworkers/random strangers that I went through this so people are pretty understanding even if they don’t know exactly what the surgery is. It’s a great way to get out of doing shots too 🙂
Q: What is something you wish you had known before having the surgery?
A: One thing I didn’t fully realize before was that I would have to take multiple vitamins a day for the rest of my life. As someone who has had to take daily medication since high school I thought adding a few more pills to my routine wouldn’t be a big deal, but due to the nature of the vitamins and their interactions, I do actually have to actively remember to take them throughout the day post-meals. That has probably been my biggest challenge over the past year, but I would say more often than not I remember to take them.
I also didn’t realize that I wouldn’t be able to chug water anymore. Before the surgery I was VERY good about drinking at least a gallon of water a day. Now I have to actively remember since I can only take a few small sips at a time AND you can’t drink around meal times since that can mess up digestion. I basically only do well when I have a water bottle in my hands at all times. At work I usually do pretty well since I have a reusable bottle that I take with me to my meetings, but at home it tends to be more difficult. People with the VSG tend to have higher rates of dehydration because it is more difficult to swallow large gulps now. As I type this I realize that I need to go grab my water bottle from my room!
Q: What is the approval process like if you’re going through insurance?
A: I can only speak to my experience because apparently all companies/policies have different requirements so I would HIGHLY suggest reaching out to your personal insurance company before even making a doctor’s appointment to see what they require.
I had UnitedHealthcare through my work and they required:
+Six Months on a Doctor Monitored Weightloss Plan
(I did Medifast/Take +Shape for Life before even knowing that I was going to get the VSG, but I had to provide A LOT of proof)
+Two sleep study visits since it seemed like I might have sleep apnea
(Spoiler: almost everyone does to some degree so you will probably have to do this)
+One psych eval
(everyone has to, I think, even if you don’t go through insurance)
+Multiple doctors visits and tests
+Nutritionist visit
+Your BMI has to be over 40
+Some plans/doctors make you go on a 2+ week liquid diet prior to the surgery. Mine only made me do 1 day #praise
Q: Did you cheat on the post-op diet?
A: Yupp and I threw up immediately. It is NOT worth it.
Now that I’m a year out I definitely have more flexibility about what I eat, but I am super paranoid about regain so I really don’t cheat very often. You really have to watch your portion sizes, how fast you’re eating, what it is that you’re eating (liquids, veggies, fruit, protein) and make adjustments. Sugar REALLY affects me now, but it totally depends on what kind. There is this thing called “Dumping Syndrome” and it is REAL. I feel like I need to go into a food coma if I have a donut. It’s just not worth it.
Q: Will I be skinny immediately after surgery??
A: NO. I did get asked this question before my surgery because a friend didn’t know exactly how it worked. I had the VSG (Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy), but most people are more familiar with the Gastric Bypass or Lap-Band.
I did start loosing very quickly after my surgery, I think about 10 pounds in just the first week. You’ll go through periods of rapid loss, but then plateau for awhile. As long as you’re sticking to their guide and making good choices then don’t worry. I am now 13 months out and I’ve lost 103 pounds! They will set goals for you by certain months, but I honestly don’t remember what mine were. My weight loss is definitely starting to slow, but I am trying to bump up my gym game so I would say while I still would like to lose about 7 more pounds I’m really more into the maintenance phase now.
Q: What is VSG and how is it different than other weight-loss surgeries?
A: VSG is the least invasive with the best success rate. It is normally performed on overweight/obese people who haven’t hit the Morbidly Obese category. It is performed laparoscopically with 4 or so small holes into your abdomen to remove 90% of your stomach to create a new banana or “sleeve” shaped stomach.
Gastric Bypass removes most of your stomach, but then also re-routes your small intestine and is normally performed on Morbidly Obese or larger patients. It is more intense, but has a great success rate AND has the added benefit of removing Type 2 Diabetes since it reroute the way your pancreas works (something like that, google it for a better explanation if you really care).
Lap-Band is an older procedure that I don’t believe is really being used anymore due to it’s poor success rate and high rate of complications. With that procedure they went in laparoscopically as well but placed a band around the opening of the stomach that could be adjusted as time went on. I have really only heard bad things about that procedure, although I’m sure it worked great for some people.
Q: Since this is surgery and they are cutting into you, do you have huge scars?
A: Not at all. They are super tiny and you honestly probably wouldn’t notice them if I was in a bikini. One is in my belly button so that’s pretty hidden and the other three are in different areas of my abdomen and very faint at this point. If the scars are what scare you the most about this surgery then you have nothing to worry about. I did put scar gel on them for awhile after my surgery, but I haven’t in months. I do put lotion on my entire body every day so maybe that also helps scars, but I haven’t really done anything specific for scar care in probably 4 or so months.
Q: Will you need plastic surgery for your skin since you lost so much weight?
A: Yes, but not everyone needs to; it totally depends on the person. I am really interested in a tummy tuck, BBL (Brazilian butt lift), and potentially a thigh lift. At the moment I’m cool with my boobs and arms so that’s probably something I wouldn’t look at doing until I’m old and then would worry about just like any normal middle-aged women.
The BBL I wanted even before I lost all of the weight because I’ve never had a butt and I just want to be proportional (jk I’m the next Kim K. WATCH OUT).
The tummy tuck is not something super immediate or even necessary, but I would really like to finally have a flat stomach after all of my hard work. One of my goals for 2020 is to at least have a consultation for these things even if I don’t get them until 2021. Right now Spanx will just have to do.
I think that’s about it! Let me know if you have any other questions and I can write a Part 2!
Happy Reading!
-Savvy