Prevention

I will be asking my doctor for meds to prevent gallstones to many people are having them because of rapid weight lost

i actually hoped for gallbladder failure...   i had ongoing gallbladder problems since 1975, but they could never find anything wrong with it...  

when i went to my seminar, my surgeon said that he didn't routinely remove the gallbladder during the WLS...  because eventually it will probably need to come out, and after losing 100 lbs i'd probably need a tummy tuck...  and he would do both at the same time and get the insurance company to pay....

bingo.  my gallbladder went on the fritz bigtime last year, and i got a tummy tuck out of the deal.... took 10.5 lbs off my midsection...   worked for me...   i be rocking an awesome hourglass now...


jeris

Your surgeon did your gall bladder operation and a tummy tuck? He is also a plastic surgeon or can any surgeon do a tummy tuck? You have given me a great idea here!!! I wonder what would have to go with the gall bladder to get a lower body lift out of the deal too??

I think that most any surgeon "can" do a tummy tuck, but whether you or they would want to is another matter. Most people use a plastics guy, and often use a hernia as the ticket to insurance coverage (as long as we're fixing that, a little nip and tuck can be done at the same time...) The caution there is to try to find a plastics guy who specializes in post WLS reconstruction as that is quite a different job than the more typical stretch marks correction. Many bariatric surgeons have gotten into the reconstruction side of things both as a natural complement to their bariatrics practice and due to the scaricity of plastics guys with post WLS experience. A gallbladder is well within the skillset of a bariatrics doc, so if he also has branched out into reconstruction, then you have a possible ticket that way.

My doc does the common reconstuction jobs - tummy tuck, lower body lift, arms, thighs but doesn't do breasts or implants as that is yet another art form the he considers to be outside his circle of competence. If those are needed/desired, he brings in a plastics guy with those skills and they coordinate their efforts in either the same or separate surgeries as appropriate.

Generally, you don't get total coverage for these reconstruction jobs, but the hernia or gallbladder jobs are covered and pay for the general surgery, OR costs and hospital stay, and you pay the extra cost of the additional surgery time and any added hospital stay time. So, you might get 50-70% paid rather than none depending on how much extra work is being done. When my wife when thru this, it turned out to be cheaper to have it all done in an outpatient surgical center than the partial coverage (full coverage of hernia plus delta cost for recon) at the insurance approved network hospital. YMMV

Who is your surgeon?

I'm surprised they don't perscribe this medication right off the back. I was given my perscription before I left the hospital.  However, I was instructed not to take it until my third week post-op when I began my soft food diet.

no they didnt give me any thing for it but i have a 3 week check up with surgeon next week am going to ask for it