Djmohr

Yes. My insurance company Medica required it and for me there was no getting around it if I wanted it covered. I too had started with a doctor that was not a part of a center of excellence and had to switch. I will say I am very happy that I did because of the enormous care system put in place by my center of excellence. For me I think it was a blessing. So much so that I have moved states and insurance companies and bought insurance that has my center of excellence in another state covered in network. I just did not want to change because they are so good. So now, I drive 6 hours for an appointment but am thrilled with the care and level of service I get because they are a center of excellence. Some of the benefits for me were: a team of bariatric specialists who many have gone through this surgery themselves. I have a nurse assigned to me and she herself had bypass 14 years ago, my nutritionist, psychologist, bariatrician and surgeon are all right there in the clinic and speak to one another. . The clinic is set up for bariatric patients in a way that makes it more comfortable. Larger chairs, examine rooms, equipment. Even the hospital where they performed my surgery. They have a bariatric wing, each bariatric suite private. I was shocked how well I was treated and how comfortable they made me. I am not sure if they are all like that but I know they had to earn their status. I hope things work out for you and you are able to work through it in a way that makes you happy.

I had bypass 9 months ago and prior to surgery sugar was critical in my life. Following the pre op and post op liquid requirements I broke that sugar habit. If I even smelled it would make me shy away. At first I told myself that sugar would make me dump but over time I learned that I get very very mild symptoms from dumping only if I over indulge. I am also very sensitive to artificial sweeteners of any kind so I use regular sugar and/or honey. This means I have to be extra careful or the sugar monster craving will come back for me. If I am truly having a craving for something sweet I will make sure that I have a bite or two but only after I have had my Protein and veggies. Then, there is little room and a bite of two satisfies me. I don't make a habit of it but every once in a while I will have a few bite of ice cream. I have also had a small piece of dark chocolate or a single cookie but for the most part it is rare. In 9 months I would say I have done this maybe 4 times for special occasions. I do eat pudding on a regular basis. Non sf, full fat in the small cups. If I need something sweet that is my go to and it does the trick. I have even baked for my husband and children/grandchildren. It just doesn't pull me in anymore. I would rather have some nice meat and veggies.

Congratulations on your success so far! The Fluid will come with a little more time, just keep trying to push a little more every day. I wish the weight loss didn't slow down. I am 34lbs from goal and have lost 111lbs in the last 9 months. I think these last 34 are going to make me a little crazy! LOL! Good luck! I hope your fabulous progress continues!

@@drmeow I am currently not even on an Iron supplement. Prior to my surgery I was anemic for over 10 years. It was severe. They stopped my iron supplement right before my bypass along with other meds. I was one of those people who had trouble absorbing as well. They never put me back on iron and when I asked I was told because of my diet, I should not need them. Of course I was concerned about this but as time went by I have had multiple labs to check my iron levels. They are very healthy. Between the weight loss and diet change I am no longer anemic. It does have a lot to do with how heavy we are and what we are eating and also whether or not we are still having our period. I am not a doctor so I don't fully understand what happens but I find it very interesting how many things right themselves with a proper diet following WLS. But it is 100 percent up to us to make sure what we put in our new stomachs is healthy and that we stick to the rules of not drinking while we eat. Today I only take a multi Vitamin, Calcium, Vitamin D, B12 as well as Biotin for hair. My labs have all been perfect.

I say ditto to all! Nicely said.

Completely normal! You just need to make sure you are getting fluids in at this point or you will end up back in the hospital if you are not still there. I hope you feel better soon. Make sure you ask for nausea medication, it should help. It was a long time before I even felt hungry. I had to actually set an alarm to make sure I ate. I noticed that it would be 3pm and I will have forgotten to eat.

@@FrankinTexas, Welcome and congratulations on a new healthy life!

I know right! I sit in a booth every chance I get because I couldn't for so long. Also because usually the padding on the booth seats are more comfortable than chairs or bar stools. Since losing all this weight my tail bone sticks out and it really hurts to sit at all. LOL!

@@CindyWinFlorida I had the same problem at 4 months. That was about the point when my weight loss slowed way down. It is a very good month if I lose 10lbs. I am currently on week 3 of no loss what so ever and I have 34lbs to go so I am really hoping I am not done. When I hit that plateau at 4 months I was stuck for about a month but at that time I was consuming about 700 calories and exercising an hour a day. I was told to eat more and exercise a little less. I did that and it broke my stall. I was told that your body gets used to routine and you may need to simply change things up a little. Based on everything I have read this is normal and now it is up to us to fight for every pound loss. I too get my Protein, fluids and am right around 1000 calories to 1050 per day. Unfortunately I am unable to exercise right now due to a recent spine surgery and it is likely they won't release me from that for another 6 to 8 weeks nor could I handle it right now. I am lucky if I can walk 1.5 to 2 miles in a day when I was doing an hour of cardio prior to surgery. I am hoping as soon as I can to increase my exercise and that may kick things up again. I would try changing your routine up a little a see if that gets things moving.

Hi William! Welcome to the group. I have not had heart issues and do not know what impacts that might have on your ability to get approved but it sounds like you are on the right path. I can tell you that I had all of your other comorbitities and stage 3 kidney disease plus some additional health issues when I had bypass approved by my insurance company. I am now free of type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, sleep apnea, Severe Gerd and stage 3 kidney disease. All of them are in remission! I really hope and pray that you are able to work something out with your cardiologist and a good bariatric team. I do feel like Bypass gave me another lease on life. My Nephrologist is the one who recommended WLS for me and he told me I was headed for dialysis if I did not do something. I will say a prayer for you!

This is a great question! There are a ton of studies that were done on line that can help you answer by googling it. I have done this multiple times and have learned that although your pouch capacity changes in the first two years allowing some additional room, it is really not about stretching as much as it is about your body and brain learning to tolerate more. In one study I read that the average pouch size after 2 years should hold about 6 ounces at one time but they had seen pouches as large as 9 to 10 ounces. The interesting thing is regardless of the pouch being 6 ounces or 10 ounces, when the appropriate food plan is following they did not see any difference in weight gain. This really is all about putting the right thing in your body and learning about when you are actually full. I suspect your friend from work is both not following the eating plan nor is he/she probably taking their supplements which are required for the rest of their life to remain healthy. I am only 9 months post op so I have not yet hit maintenance but I am definately able to eat more that I was able at 4 months. That is why it is so important to make sure what is on your plate is good quality Protein and good carbs on a regular basis. You would not find a 6 inch subway sub on my plate mostly because of the heavy bread. I simply could not tolerate it. However the insides of that sub might work for me. I have also been taught by my nut that when eating you have to think of your food capacity post chewing. In other words, you will be able to eat a lot more than 6 ounces of salad once that salad has been chewed up. niw if I was eating chicken or steak, I will be lucky to get 3 ounces in, because it is so dense. I use the 2 bites of protein for every 1 bite of good carbs until I feel full. It takes the brain 20 minutes to catch up with your stomach. This is why the requirement to eat so slowly yet not go past 30 minutes. Your pouch likely starts emptying at the 30 minute mark which would give you capacity to over eat. Google your question, there is a ton of info on this topic.

They had me take chewable viactive until I could swallow pills again. Then immediately they moved me to Citracal because it is calcium citrate and there is less of a chance of getting kidney stones from the additional calcium you have to take. Recently I had a spine surgery where they went through my throat. Well that has left me with an inability to swallow pills again. My bariatric team told me they now make Citrical in chewable so but I have not been able to find it so I am back on Viactive until I find them.

I wish you a safe surgery today and speedy recovery in the weeks to follow! Good luck!

Hopefully you are feeling better today!

I will get milder symptoms of dumping but not actually get the full blown vomiting and diarrhea. I get the abdominal cramping, sweats and just plain don't feel good. For me what usually will bring this on is over eating or too much sugar or fat at one time. I can eat almost everything but it is the quantity of that food. For example, I have had ice cream. If I eat 3 or 4 spoonfuls I am just fine. If I eat a whole scoop full I get those dumping syndrome symptoms I described above, Don't be terrified of dumping syndrome, you just learn what foods cause it for you and stay away. In the beginning I simply did not even push the envelope at all. I followed very clear instructions from my nut. I waited until I was 6 months post op before I even started experimenting. The hardest thing for me has been overeating. Still I have trouble with this every once in a while and it will cause these symptoms. It usually happens if I am eating something that is simply too delicious and I want one more bite. That one bite will push me over the edge. Again, you can control this by following the rules. Don't be terrified.

I have been having similar episodes for over a month now. I am post op 9 months from WLS but recently (5weeks ago) had spinal surgery and this began right after that. They happen the exactly the way you describe and I have actually passed out once since it began. I did see a cardiologist who believes it is actually my adrenal system that is out of whack following surgery. What happens is when resting your heart rate is low and when you stand up from either sitting or laying, You get very dizzy, the room turns black and you can even pass out from it. And your heart starts racing to equalize or right yourself. He told me to make sure I am drinking fluids like crazy, dehydration will make this worse. So far I am drinking nearly 80 ounces of Water per day. It has not helped at all. I am trying to get in to see an endocrinologist who can help with my adrenal system but it has been impossible finding one in my area.

@@capricec I am sorry to say I had great boobs prior to surgery and now they are deflated and falling like the rest of me. It is one of the cosmetic procedures I will treat myself to once I lose and stabilize. I also now have a completely flat rear end which by the way makes my tail bone hurt like heck!

I am surprised you are eating crackers so soon. I would not have been able to touch them until I was 10 weeks and even then crackers, bread and bread like products actually make me feel like my tummy is clogged, I don't dump but the wrong foods can make me miserable and once that happens, I am shot for the day. I get pain in my chest right below my breastbone when I eat or drink too fast. Not sure if this is what is driving it but honestly it would be my best bet. Are you able to get fluids in now? Or is that coming up? Fluids might help push it down.

I am definitely feeling like shooting the damn scale. I have been stuck for 2 weeks. 34lbs from goal and cannot beef up exercise due to spine surgery. For the first time, I have been letting it get me down a little. Probably the pain from my neck wearing on me. I just want to get back on my elliptical and that is not happening anytime soon. Oh well, I am just going to do the best I can to ensure I don't gain and hoping I will lose in the process.

Great news! Congratulations!

This is a great article and excellent timing. I recently ended up in the ER and part of the reason was dehydration. After some spine surgery that affected my throat, I had a very difficult time even getting one small bottle of Water in me. It got the best of me and trust me it makes you feel horrible. Since then I start everyday by drinking my first large glass (24) ounces and yes I have to drink it through a straw at the moment as I am in a brace and cannot bend my neck. As soon as I switched to a straw it became a bit easier. I push another 24 through in before lunch and then sip another 24 between lunch and dinner. Then after dinner I probably get another 8 to 12. I could not believe I let this happen to me, I have always been so good about getting my fluids in and to let myself get that dehydrated that I would pass out was very scary.

@@choosehope You are very brave for recognizing that you slipped up. So many times in my life I slipped up and didn't care or pay any attention to it until I had put on 30,40 or 50lbs after fighting to lose it in the first place. Obesity isn't one battle, it is literally a war that we fight every single day. You mentioned in your last post that you were afraid of the scale. Post op the scale will be your friend but I want you to remember it isn't your only friend. What I mean by this is don't let stepping on the scale alone decide if you are being successful or not. There are many other measure,eats that you need to pay attention to: 1. How you feel! As every pound comes off our health improves and we extend our lives 2. How are your clothes fitting? This is the real measure of how your doing. Your clothes becomes loose and saggy very fast and really give you a good idea of how your progressing. Keep at least one of your large sizes so 1 year from now you can try them on. Talk about motivating and making yourself feel great. 3. Measurements - I get measurements from my bariatric team on a regular basis. It shows me how much thinner I am in places. 4. The scale - use this as only one measurement but it's a good one and has its purpose

The only thing I would be worried about this early is the crust. It could cause a dumping episode or more importantly there is a feeling I get when I eat things like tortillas or breaded items. I would describe it as a clogged feeling in my pouch that fills me up very fast, makes me feel like crap and then I get hungry again very fast. I would go very very slow and listen to your body if you do decide to go for it. I am 9 months post op and can now eat breaded items if the breaking is super light. I cannot tolerate bread unless it is toasted well and then very little of it. Also, it I do eat it, I feel hungry again fairly soon. Good luck! I hope it works for you because I know that fish is good.

@ My clinic made me take a written test. It was not an easy one either! I agree with you, I do think every bariatric doctor should require it. I also had to sign a contract stating I would not use alcohol for a minimum of 12 months.

I did the same thing in the first couple months after surgery. I call it watching food porn. Here's the bad news, down the road it did in fact make cravings worse and I even caught myself snacking when it was not necessary. (Very bad habit to start back up). Now, the only time I watch it is when I am eating a scheduled meal because once I am filling up the grouch pouch she does not care what food I look at. And yes, I have taken a lot of salad , fish and chicken recipes and adapted them for my eating which was nice. It can catch up to you down the road so be very careful.......