Dar200

Good luck Chad. Check in anytime you like!

I have huge amount of hanging fat/skin. I'm going to check into that. Thanks for the info.

I felt awful until week seven. I seriously thought I was going to be miserable for the rest of my life up until about the middle of week seven. I'm hoping I will feel better still. I had gastric bypass on October 26. Good luck! It really does get better.

I used a pill cutter and was able to take my meds in little pieces five days post op. Could not handle crushed stuff. Yuck.

I lost 18 pounds pre surgery but put on a couple in my second week after surgery. Been losing at a steady rate since then. I had gastric bypass on October 26. I think it is very common for people to regain some weight post surgery. All the IV fluids, shock to your body, it throws your body off for a while. I only weigh myself once a week now. If I weigh every day it makes me crazy and because I like to eat when I'm crazy, it is counter productive for me. Lol. Good luck!

What is panniculectomy? Thanks.

I have Medicare and it paid 80%. I'm in Texas and was told that Medicare pays for WLS in some counties in Texas, my county being one of those. I did not have to go through a long process of dieting under the supervision of a nutritionist. I just had to do a thirty day program showing I was able to follow a diet enough to lose some weight. That was the length of time my surgeon required. I talked to another doctor's office in the same city and was told 90 days were required. So I called Medicare directly to find out why I was hearing the discrepancy. The lady I talked to read me the portion of the coverage that explains that and it seems that it is up to the surgeon as to how long you are required to do the pre-surgery supervised weight loss. This is evidently a fairly recent change in Medicare requirements. I hesitate to even reply to questions on Medicare coverage because it is confusing, doesn't make sense logically, and I got different answers from different surgeons offices. This was the bottom line in my case: (1) Medicare approved me for surgery immediately following my first appointment with my surgeon. Just as an aside, I had a very high BMI and comorbidities. (2) When I was first weighed by my nutritionist a week later, I was told that if I gained any weight at all from that weight until my follow up visit thirty days later, Medicare would not cover the surgery. (3) I think it still depends on where you live. So if I were to have to start this over tomorrow with no referrals from a current doctor, I would call three surgeon groups in your city and ask to speak to a patient coordinator who works on insurance approvals/qualifying.

You look fabulous! Great job!

Haven't tried Flintstones. My Nut said to use vitamins that are specially made for Bariatric surgery patients. So I sure tried a bunch.

@@Pinkgirl1234 I use the whole line of Barimelts. They just work perfectly for me. I'm wanting to take some herbal supplements and can only find them in capsules. So, trying to find out if capsules will ever be melted in my pouch. I think I'm going to have to mix the powdered herbs in sugar free fat free pudding. Seems like the chocolate would mask the flavor of the herbs. Gotta try something.

Barimelts Multi was the only one I can stand. I've tried two other "chewables" but they are so huge and gross I can't use them. Hopefully I'll be able to use them later, like in a year or two. Also, I really like Bariatric Fusion chewy bites but they seemed more expensive and you have to take three at a time to meet the nutrient levels of the Barimelts. I now use Barimelts B12, D3, Biotin, Multis, Iron and Calcium. I'm a walking advertisement I guess. Haha

I'm really late on this, just saw it as I was searching "capsules". I would suggest mixing with applesauce and then swallowing small bites like you would swallow a pill. Maybe add cinnamon if you like it and see if you can mask the flavor of the medicine. I'm trying to find out when we can take something in capsule form, like at what stage will the shell of the capsule melt in the pouch. Please let me know if you were able to come up with a solution.

At what point can we take capsules? Will they ever melt in our pouches?

I'm ten weeks out and have very similar results with food. As for water, about the same. I don't care for any teas. I drink my water with a splash of SweetLeaf Water Drops. Made with stevia, a naturally sweet herb, it has zero calories and zero carbs. I wouldn't be able to get in my water without it. Someone suggested it on here before I had surgery and I'm so thankful they did. My favorite flavor is strawberry kiwi but there is quite a variety. I get it at the grocery store but have ordered online as well. I had this ready and waiting when I got home post surgery. Plain water has always made me go yuck. There are many alternatives to this brand, this one tasted best to me. Ice water actually would hurt when it hit my pouch (once the swelling went down and I could feel there) so I drink it slightly cool to room temperature so experiment with temperature too. Hope you can find something that will help with that!

Hello all. I'm not a long-term vet, had my gastric bypass surgery on October 26, 2015. I take Wellbutrin and Lexapro and have had absolutely no problems with depression since surgery. I make sure to take my Vitamin D every day because I tested low for it and my psychiatrist said a deficiency could contribute to depression. Each day as I track my food intake I do a quick assessment of my mood and make a note of it. If something is going on I will have a good record of it. Best of luck to you all.

Before I met with my surgeon, I was leaning toward the sleeve. One reason is I have a friend whose husband was very successful with sleeve. The second was I felt it was less complicated and therefore safer. Then I decided I would let the surgeon decide because of my high BMI and well the doctor was surely smarter than I about the various surgeries. So when I met with him he recommended Roux NY gastric bypass because of my really high BMI, my admitted outrageous sweet tooth, and because bypass is actually safer than the sleeve. He explained that with the sleeve a large part of the stomach is completely removed with lots of staples holding together the new stomach. It's a smaller but long stomach so there is more area for possible leaks, infection. He also explained the high incidence of gastric reflux with the sleeve. I have just over the past year (before surgery) developed GERD. That is one of the most unpleasant experiences of my life. The surgeon said that with gastric bypass, no GERD. If you had it before surgery you would have it no more. Immediately. I liked that. So we agreed on gastric bypass all the way around. Remember the friend who had the success with the sleeve. Well I called his wife to tell her I was having gastric bypass and she started warning me of changes I would face and said, did they tell you will get acid reflux? I heard her husband in the background say no, that only happens with the sleeve and he is thinking about a revision to gastric bypass. So that is my long story. I had surgery on October 26, 2015 and I feel better each week. I feel better about myself than I have in decades. I'm so glad I did this. Oh no more GERD. Not ever. My blood pressure is back to normal. This is really a fine thing to do!

we are all rooting for you Dallas. As you can, keep us posted. I hope this year is a very successful and prosperous year for you.

I would change from one arm to the other and move the location. I wouldn't expect anyone else to be sensitive to the patches. My skin is hyper sensitive (starting when I was born, hereditary). I debated about whether to even mention that because I would still be using the patches had I not been sensitive. In felt that I should mention it in case someone else has known skin sensitivities.

I'm ten weeks post op and I have seen improvement every week. You will start feeling better. It's normal to feel awful and to have a hard time with pills at first. The larger pills I had to take I split into four smaller pieces. The tiny pieces went down so much easier. Hang in there. You will hit a point where you will think oh, I'm going to be okay. It took me eight weeks to reach that point. I'm still not 100%. Remember we are all different so we have different recoveries. As long as you see a small improvement every few weeks, you are on the right path. If any problems arise, call the surgeon or nutritionist. Good luck!

I have used the multi vitamin patch by Patch MD. I didn't have blood work done so I don't know the actual results. I have extremely sensitive skin and eventually developed a sensitivity to the patch. I hate to just waste them so I use one about once a week. If I use it for one day out of a week I don't start itching from it. I guess I haven't been much help.

P.S. Please thank your husband for his service to our country. And thank you for being supportive while he was serving.

Try taking some probiotics. They may help straighten out imbalances in your digestive tract (due to surgery and/or antibiotics). Call your surgeon's office too. You are not the first patient of theirs to have this problem.

I could swear that's where I got it. Ah. Thanks Daisee!

I'll try to do that.

That's a big stone! I bet you are glad to be rid of that.