I'm also kind of amazed as I read through the lists the ranges of information and support that people get, or don't get. I feel lucky to have gotten all the information and support that our center provides, but we had some options in this area and vetted them pretty well. All they do is bariatric surgery, and they give good information about the different surgeries and not only what they want you to do after it but why it is important to do those things. They do charge everyone a 500$ program fee at the time of surgery which is non negotiable and they will not accept insurance for it. It covers weekly support group meetings after surgery, access to their exercise physiologist and nutritionist, and the original psych consult. (They say you can take 175 off and get your own psych consult but we spent weeks trying to get one through covered providers and just got the run around.) My physician offers both types of fills, those under x-ray and just the standard in office ones. I have had one of each - the first one performed by the Dr under x-ray where they put in 4.5 cc's to get the appropriate restriction so that the barium trickled through slowly. The second one I just had was by a PA in the office and she puts in .5 cc at a time but says if you still aren't losing weight and getting no relief from hunger you can get another in a week or two and that if you have a co-pay that it covers all fills for a two week period.
So far I've lost 50 pounds in the six months, gone from a size 34 pants to a size 28 and am pleased with the results. I am meticulous about the amounts I eat - I sometimes even carry my food scale in my purse so I can weigh my food at restaurants. I do try to make sure I include at least some protein every time I eat and focus meals on starting with protein foods. I am still physically able to eat everything and so far (knock on wood) nothing has ever gotten stuck - no PBing and no sliming. If I am still hungry a half hour after eating I do eat again though, and this happens frequently with soups and really lo cal meals. I haven't done as well at the activity, my arthritis really kicked up this winter and spring (though we called it Spriter this year since we were still getting snow the week of Easter) but I am hoping to improve in this area.
