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Hi Everyone, I ended up in the ER a few weeks ago after a routine fill on my band, unable to swallow even liquid. My body thought I was choking so it kept sending saliva to my espophagus, with no way for it to go down (completely swollen shut). It was horrible. Radiologist said I need to get it out asap. Primary care doc is not familiar with bands at all and wasn't sure what to write. So I offered to write the letter of request to Cigna for her to put on her letterhead. I've searched everywhere online for a letter that outlines the dangers of leaving the band in, as well as the benefits of replacing it with the sleeve. To no avail. There are plenty of letters about bariatric surgery, but none dealing with the dangers of a failed band. Can anyone direct me? We need to submit something asap. Thanks so much.

If anyone is worried or just curious about what psychologists or psychiatrist use as a guideline for psych evaluation this is a must read. About time I got to the Psychopathology section I knew I was unlucky enough to get the By the Book Psychiatrist. It even said there should be a good documented 6 consecutive months of stability etc. I wish I had this Presurgical Psychological Assessment of Bariatric Surgery Candidates guidebook before I did my eval. I would've studied up and been prepared. I apologize if I seem biter because I am a bit. Every time I see or read post about someone getting their surgery date or just came out of surgery I get envious. I'm happy for them all the same. Here is the link: http://asmbs.org/2012/06/pre-surgical-psychological-assessment/

Welcome back!! I was just thinking of you the other day and was wondering where you have been. I am excited for you that you have another procedure coming up in which to make yourself even more fabulous. I know you have been wanting to get your teeth/mouth fixed for awhile so congrats! Hopefully with the protein/liquids you won't lose a lot more weight. I know you are at goal. Maybe you could add in a few shakes that normally we Bariatric patients wouldn't drink ( higher carbs and calories) so you can maintain your weight. I know you will figure it out because you always do. You will have to keep us all posted.

Weight gain happens to many of us. Glad you recognized the behavior. It's never too late to turn it around. Great advice above. Go back to bariatric basics. Log, protein and water goals. Continue your workouts. I also used my weight training to justify my calories. I'm cracking down and starting to lose weight again. If you are interested we have a holiday weight loss challenge going on to keep you motivated. Here's the info https://www.bariatricpal.com/topic/405183-holiday-challenge-time-lets-do-this/ https://www.bariatricpal.com/topic/405476-holiday-challenge-spreadsheet/

@ it would be unethical, but that doesn't stop it. My psych is tied to my bariatric hospital. I think you see where I'm going here. No one at my hospital has ever been denied by the psych. He told me so.

I am on the eastern shore of md. Just started this journey but hope to use Johns Hopkins Bariatric

Ok, so I went to the weight center in the fall of 2011 and went through all the classes, psych eval, nut, weigh ins, etc and paid my surgery track fee....Then found out that my husbands bcbs ppo national account had an exclusion on bariatric care. I even went and was was diagnosed with obstructive sleep apnea, which i am glad i got the CPAP as I am sleeping better and my husband says I am not snooring as much as in the past, plus on this account! So, I wrote a 6 page letter outlining my history....Please don't worry after you read this, but when I was almost 20 I was crossing the strret in college, of course in the middle of the night with all the athletes before spring break trips for sports and I was hit by a 55 mile an hour car crossing the street. I broke my back, pelvic, had Filled up with fluid in my legs and the hip I was hit on, plus fracturing my skull and damaging my neck. No worries, I survived, but was told I would never be able to play sports like I did because of the injuries and were bad, but that didnt stop me. i learned to re-walk and care for myself....then the following season I wanted to just try to play soccer knowing I had ,issed softball all varsity sports, so I didnt want the driver to determine my fate.....Coach and the team were so excited to see me dressed.....I walked out on the field took one pass to me and as I crossed half field to kick it in the goal, which would have been easy for me....i kicked and felt a horrible pain through my body...shruuged it off, asked for another one thinking I could pass and low and behold body told me H..LL NO. I hugged the team and said sorry I just can't do this. The trainer drove me back to the lockers and that was the last time I was ever on the field until I had children...but before children I had surgeries to remove fluid off my hip and legs, but it will always be there. I was healthy at 180 lbs just not as muscular as I was in the past. So having children, wasnt sure that could happen based on the drs reports. So my husband was told this on our first date because I decided I didnt want him to get connected unless he was aware, yes he laughed...i already went through a long relationship and he was different than anyone I had ever been with..he says its because of the accident and I say its because he made me laugh. Ok, got preg for our first, deemed high risk...now the drama, the found a fibroid growing beside our baby...i was watched every week. Anyway was put on bed rest, the day of the c-section was def a comedy show, i had 2 surgeons in case I needed emergency hysteroctomy but when they said our new son was fine, they asked if they could take pictures of the fibroid as it was large, we asked them to remove it, but it was too dangerouse and I could die from blood los, etc so they tucked it back in my uterous and my life has never been the same. I couldnt loose the preg weight due to the pain on my back...so the dr told us if we wanted another child now or never...so they helped us get preg for our second...the fibroid grew, we ended up aving an emergency c-section 7 weeks early and our daughter was 5 lbs, again too dangerous so tucked fibroid back in. Anyways, i finally had enough....went in for an eval for the hysterectomy and after them saying no more and we couldnt get preg again, surprise of our lives we were. Thought we lost the baby cause I was bleeding and they didnt expect the baby to make it. A nurse at my work gave me shots to help me along....needless to say, our third was taken emergency c-section if you couldnt guess but she was over 8 lbs abd healthy...me on the other hand not so much....the re-oppened me that night as I had a major infection. I was then packec at home for months to heal, but we had our last baby...tubes tied as well. Now to heal, 2 yrs ago I had an ablasion to stop the horribly female cycles due to the fibroid, but it didnt help with the size....i am getting to my question, but figured you needed this background....so now its been 10 yrs, our son just turned 10 but had the fibroid for 11yrs, now its pushing on my bladder and I drip all the time, uterous is pushed uo as its inside the wall, constant back pain and it pushes on my pelvic and back.....so, this 6 pg letter was just captured in this paragraph...but it was to my husbands company as we would out there is an exclusion for weight loss. Needless to say, I self paid all the previous apts but stopped going as we wrote the letter to see if they would waive the exclusion...YES after 5 months of follow my husbands HR team overrode the exclusion and worked with BCBC to approve me. Now my letter said verticle sleeve, but they wrote a note that after review they approved the bypass......NOW what...they are working on how to notify the drs and Heres my question.....what are my chances of getting the sleeve? Can i loose over 100 lbs?? Also my uterous is enlarged so i am worried about bypass and only wanted sleeve! I dont know when I will be able to go back to the dr, but now that I have ben waiting and got the news wasnt sure what your thoughts are on getting them to agree to sleeve versus bypass. Thanks for listening! I read all the discussions and guess this is my largest post. Thanks again for your time.

I'm in California and my bariatrics surgeon is Brian Quebbemann and since he's a famous doctor he's been on doctor oz show and the dr's show also so he provides your food for you for 2 weeks before surgery and your food for 4 weeks after surgery! Your allowed to eat mushy foods that he gives you before surgery like oatmeal for Breakfast and you get unlimited shakes he gives you and your allowed Jello sugar free 0 calories and all that! My surgeon his company is called the New bariatrics program in Newport Beach California and they give all the food before and after and all the Vitamins come with it also! And since I have Medicare they cover the full surgery and all the food before and after surgery and also all the bariatrics vitamins for ever you never stop getting the vitamins from them also! And I also get a 24 hour nurse around the clock to help me at the hospital and then she comes home with me and stays with me for 6 weeks after the surgery too !! If anyone has Medicare you should check into that and see if you guys can get that too !! Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

I had a gastric sleeve in June 2016. Was 225 lb now 167.5 lb as of Oct 27. I have been concerned about a sagging abdomen... it's a flap of skin and stubborn fat that gets worse the more weight I lose. I also had twins, so it's not just the weight loss that caused the situation. I am concerned that I can't do any more surgery like a tummy tuck, not just because of expense but also because I had a life threatening blood clot situation with the gastric sleeve. All mesenteric veins and portal vein became almost 100% or completely 100% blocked with blood clots and I almost died. I later discovered a family history of blood clot problems after surgery. I have been reading about a non-surgical treatment called Venus Legacy for skin tightening and fat removal basically by heating it up with radio and other electromagnetic radiation. Has anyone tried this? It's about $200 per treatment and you need about 8 treatments, it says, to see a full effect. I am skeptical but some of the before and after pics look great. I am struggling to lose more weight because of the horrific flap of skin that gets saggier and saggier. I'm scared of what it will look like if I lose more weight. I'm 20 pounds from my goal. The arms and thighs have it going on too but it's nothing like the abdomen. I'm getting irritated and sore under the flap of skin. Any advice?

I went to Dr. Peter Sarantos in Gainesville, Fla. excellent surgeon and staff.. He is with the Bariatric Surgical Group..

Hi I have surgery on Wednesday- 2/19/2014- I started this process by seeing a bariatric physician at the hospital where I work- It has taken almost two months to get the surgery. Hooray for us both!!!

I have my bariatric appt tommorrow at Sammc 18sep13 at 8:00 to 12:00 / What do we need beside have a high bmi

Yesterday afternoon, I was just bothered by the whole will they/won't they mind game of insurance approval. Now, I realize I can't even submit for another month. I have one more weigh in for my MSWL program requirement. I called BCBS-TX yesterday and asked her if I had to use one of their Blue Center of Distinction for Bariatric Svc. She put me on hold and came back and said for Bariatric Surgery, no I don't. She told me that it is all up to the policy riders that each employer puts in the coverage. She said our insurance has that requirement for Organ Transplant, but not for Bariatric Surgery. So then I asked her to repeat the requirements so I could make sure I wasn't missing anything. (I'm not. YAY!) I told her that I was stressed out about not being approved and she said that for almost everyone that applies they are approved providing all the requirements are met. She said that 90% of the denials are based on missing paperwork and most of those are approved on the 1st appeal. She was SUPER nice and patient and I realize that she's not the decision maker, but it did help put my mind at ease a little bit. I know I'm doing everything that I'm supposed to.

I'm taking the Bariatric Vitamines that melt in your mouth. I'm also eating small amounts of Jello at a time. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

Other brands of the Protein chicken Soups I like and used a lot right after surgery - when my tub of unjury arrived and I opened the cannister I just about fell over it smelled so bad - someone here compared another products smell to "my old hamster cage" when she was a kid - omg that cracked me up, but that is exactly what that stuff reminded me of, nasty smell I am the queen of giving away the protein stuff I no longer like or can no longer tolerate at my support group meetings - I had not one taker on the French vanilla flavored Bariatric Advantage Vitamins though lol - just got a room full of sourpuss faces, I think it is a universal yuck on that flavor I used these and still like them. When I could have full liquids I strained the veggies and noodles out and they were satisfying with no hamster cage smell - not as much protein as the Unjury, but a compromise I made. http://www.familybariatric.com/store/product/113/Soup-Homestyle-Chicken-Soup/ http://www.familybariatric.com/store/product/111/Soup-Cream-of-Chicken-w-Veg./

I'm not a big fan of taking supplements, either. However, since surgery I've been diligent keeping up with my daily vitamin regime. I eat so much less than before surgery, and the level of whole grains, fruit and veggies has greatly diminished. Also, calcium can be an issue with this surgery. I take a multivitamin, calcium, D3, fish oil, sublingual B12, and biotin for my hair. I suggest you talk with your doctor's office to help find something you can stomach. To be quite honest, after I'm done with these bariatric chewables, I'm going back to the capsule form multivitamin I took pre-band. I do not have any issues with things going down, and I'm with you on the chewable part.......I don't care for them. But highly suggest that you don't stop. You don't want to compromise your health while losing weight.

I have the chewable bariatric advantage ones. They taste so gross. But I'll get back to taking them this week to see if it makes a difference with my fatigue. Thanks everybody.

Welcome! I love that we have so many nurses here. YAY!!! I did a med-surg rotation earlier this semester that was on the bariatric floor at a hospital here in Tucson, and it COMPLETELY solidified in my mind that this was the right thing to do. As for the Protein shakes, don't buy the big containers of the powders until you find one you actually like. I go buy some at costco and they're tasty. (Can't remember the brand name, but they're premixed, in a white container that say "Protein" down the side.) I also bought a few Syntrex flavors that have been good so far. (Wild cherry, caribbean cooler, and Cappuccino.) I also bought myself some unjury chicken broth for my clear liquid stage post-op. (Can't tell you how it tastes yet...it's spendy and I don't want to have to buy more of it in case I REALLY like it. LOL) Good luck to you!

I am so excited... I didnt use my insurance coz it is so ridiculous... I have to pay $5000 + 20% of the surgery that would total to $7000... The surgery is only $9988. So, i have decided to just pay it n my own and use the bariatric surgery some other time if I need to do the gastric bypass which I doubt. I am very excited! I don have to go in so many hoops if i go with my insurance. Government insurance sucks ... I wish they have better plans someday!

Hello! My name is Heather and I am 25 years old. I have been battling with being obese since the age of 13. When I was 13 I gained 73 lbs. in 1 yr and no clue why. When I was 15 I was told that I have hypothyrodism and that was the reason for my weight gain. I have had a stable TSH level for over 1 yr now. I was just put on medication for having hypertension and also acid reflux. I seen my bariatric coordinator today and I have decided that the sleeve is the way to go. I am 5'4", 224 lbs and I have a BMI of 38.6. I am waiting for the call from my surgeon after they recieve the papers from my family doctor. I am hoping to have surgery the middle or end of July. I am ready to become more healthy and prove to my children that being obese is not the way to live.

After much research, I picked a surgeon and am booked! Thank you everyone who helped me out. A special shout out to zmdh39 who wrote volumes educating me about how to pick a surgeon. There were 3 surgeons I was seriously considering. Any one of them would have been acceptable to me. I also liked every coordinator I spoke with. Each of us has a 'click factor' that just makes you feel a surgeon is right for you. For me, that 'click factor' was Dr. Illan. Here is why: > He graduated in the top of his class with honors. The university he went to is widely regarded as the leading university in the spanish speaking world including Spain and Portugal. (source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Autonomous_University_of_Mexico) (Yes, I am using wikipedia as a source but I saw it other places too). > He is the Chief of Emergency/Trauma surgery at a large hospital: https://www.facebook.com/pages/IMSS-Hospital-General-Regional-No1/164876160265331 He works at the ER hospital M-F from 7 to 2 pm. As chief, he does the hard stuff like gunshots etc. On days he has 3 bariatric surgeries booked, he has someone cover him at the ER hospital and does not go in. He only does 3 or 4 bariatric surgeries max a day. In other words, he is not exhausted nor doing an assembly line. (A side note: There are a lot of mentions in various places of him being an 'assistant' to Dr. Ramos Kelly. Dr. Ramos has lost privileges from several hospitals for various rumored reasons. I asked about this association. Dr. Illan wasn't an 'assistant' like he was learning from Dr. Kelly. Since Dr.Illan is also a trauma/ER surgeon, the other bariatric surgeons like having him with them - it makes things that much safer in their own operating rooms So he has assisted many surgeons around Tijuana). > He has 2 other surgeons in the room assisting him (so a total of 3 surgeons), plus 2 scrub nurses and a technician. He does the surgery himself - no ghost surgeons or students. > He closes with 3 levels. 1. He does the 3 staple on each side thing using Johnson and Johnson with covidian staples (all surgeons I have researched do this). 2. He then sews a line from top to bottom behind the staple line (many do this but some just do the junctures where the staple cartridges were reloaded, and some don't at all). 3. Then he coats the staples with bio -glue (very few do this extra step). He closes the outside incisions with sutures on the inside and glue on the outside. > He does 3 leak tests (2 during surgery and 1 the day you check out of the hospital). > Complication rate 1 in 500, leak rate 0 and infection rate 0. Talked with a patient who was standing with Omar getting ready to return to the USA where she works as a surgical scrub nurse. She said his sterile technique was excellent, and the OR has excellent technology. She said that the OR was, quite frankly, better than the OR she works out of in the USA. > He tells you in advance of any extra pricing like hernia repair that might be needed. > His coordinator, Omar, gets rave reviews as being very helpful and taking people around to shop and sight see etc. That's a bonus for my travel companion so she won't be bored, nor wandering around Tijuana on her own. Omar is well known for going waaaay above what many expect from their coordinator. Tip: Just so you know, most people tip their coordinators regardless which surgeon they go to. I have heard that the usual tip is $100.00 (some tip more and some tip less) paid at the end of the trip. People also say to bring about $100.00 extra in small bills for incidentals and minor tipping of bell hops, housekeeping, waiters, room service, the wheelchair/cart person at the airport if you get one post op, the driver to and from the airport, etc. > The package is 4,600 all inclusive: 5 nights (pre-op you stay in the hospital if you arrive in the evening), 2 more nights in the Florence hospital, 2 nights in the Lucerna hotel. The hospital has a bed for your companion -not a cot or a lazy boy. Companion pays for their own meals (as is standard). > He does not require an advance deposit. Omar, the coordinator, just asks you to send a photo of the money order once you have it to make sure the doctor's name is spelled right. You just pay when you get there. Very important tip: Plan on taking the money order or cash because the Mexican government adds a 16% surcharge to credit cards. That would mean paying an additional $736.00! That doesn't even include your own bank's charges. > Dr. Illan will do a skype conference with you to answer any questions you might have. His name is pronounced Iyyan or EEyan > He has a thriving and supportive facebook community of current, former and future patients willing to answer questions. Feel free to contact me here to get my name there (I change the display name for fun sometimes). You can find the facebook page here: Team Illan https://www.facebook.com/groups/138579759635044/ *I am editing this post as I learn more information.

Even many years back our function has always been food!! On our Anniversary what did we do...went out to eat Chinese Food. When our kids were growing up he missed out on so much because he had to work He was a long haul truck driver so he maybe got home Friday night worked onm his truck Saturday and then left on Sunday to get his load to where it belonged. So that was just how it was. Like I said food food and more food. I havebeen asking him to renew our vows (been married for 43 years) He always said NO!! I thought it was because he didn't want to marry me again. I just found out that it was his weight that was holding him back!! He had Sleeve surgery last June and it took him awhile to figure out his fullness. Now thank goodness we are going to renew our vows. He is ready to do some exercise. He has lost over 100#'s. We are going to join a Health Club in May!!! YAY US!! It has taken him a long time to realize that the food doesn't hold him back like before. But he was raised by his Mom alone due to his DAD driving truck long haul. His mom wasn't the feely touchy person at all. She used food to show her love. Now he doesd the same thing to our grandchildren and our dg. He loves them thru food!! He is the huggy type but still needs the food to show them he loves rhem. He trys to do it for me but luckily I am commited to my journey. I am sorry that you are having a hard time. But...just keep doing you!! He might surprise you and come back around. Change is HARD!!!

Hi - I had my lap band with Blue Cross / St. Joseph's Bariatric. I now have Kaiser. Dr. Edward Mun will be performing the surgery in Jan. They have a bariatric surgical center in Harbor City.

I'm not in the "pre-op" phase yet (I have two more medical weight loss classes to endure), but I have heard that the surgeons at Northern Colorado Surgical Associates won't perform surgery if you've gained weight during the pre-op process. Beyond that, they have a pre-op diet that seems to be simply "use your best judgment" and I haven't found anything to contradict that in the Bariatric Centre of the Rockies handbook. ... Though, I'm so hoping I'm wrong because that just doesn't seem wise.