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Haha - yay! I now have a bariatric sistaaa! I'm no longer nervous about anesthesia. I'm sure I'll start freakin out again in a few minutes. *zennnnn*

Yup, agree with you. Bariatric Advantage or Celebrate are two good companies to start out with for supplementation needs (Vitamins and minerals). I have no problem with that, but would suggest nectar or unjury as great Protein shakes for a newly sleeved individual. They are both solid brands and work well. In fact, my WLS center also recommends Bariactric Advantage for supplementation and Syntrax Nectar for protein shakes. That being said, I am 1 year post op so am a mature post op and somewhat new vet. I have been around the block a few times in my journey so far and have learned much and have much to share around shakes and supplementation and their impact on weight loss and fitness. I hope you do not read my post as anti-doctor or anti dietician. Quite the opposite in fact. In the first six months, it is critical to follow doctor orders to a "T" both dr and dietician know how to make their patients successful. Of course you are aware every doctor and dietician can potentially give different plans to their patients that may not be consistent with other patient doctor and dietician plans. After 6 months ( or when you feel is a good time), you can start to form your own strategies in terms of diet and fitness. The level of tweaking that you do is highly individual. The shake mentioned in this thread from GNC is just another tweak to the lifetime eating plan. Re-feed may not be an ideal shake for me, but I wanted to give it a try for reasons mentioned above in this thread. I also take cake batter muscle milk light and GNC Wheybolic or Isopure vanilla bean for recovery shake. I am so much a shake person at 3 a day. I eat small protein based meals for the other 4 meals. By small, I mean 3 oz lean protein and perhaps a veggie.

I have GEHA. I went to a gastric sleeve seminar in July 2013. Since then I've been jumping through the hoops. First my hospital (Mercy) said I wasn't morbidly obese, so I couldn't have surgery unless I had a co-morbidity. So I had a sleep study done and I had sleep apnea so that qualified as a co-morbidity. I started the 6 months of visits with my PCP, I've had the psych evaluation, met with dietician, went to an all day seminar. This week I meet with exercise and activity. I've had to keep a food and exercise log (started both of those last August). I've also met with surgeon and the RN in charge of the bariatric program. To my knowledge, I dont think they have submitted anything to GEHA yet. I called GEHA last August to see what was required and they mailed me a sheet of requiements. My recommendation is start tracking everything now, exercise, food journal, monthly visits with PCP. If your BMI is not 40 or greater, you'll need a co-morbidity (sleep apnea, diabetes). I'm hoping to have surgery in May or June.

I knew my husband was having a hard time with my choice for WLS, in the past when we discussed my having wls he'd be less than enthusiastic and downplay it, basically saying I was all talk and wouldn't do it. But he seemed to come around and was supportive, we had some heated conversations, mostly since he thought I'd leave him once I lost my.weight, which I have no desire to, before I love him, yes he is a big guy but I've always been attracted to men like that. I told him, I love him and only him and would never leave him, he seemed to come around and be ok and we'd be ok again. Towards the end of my requirements and pending approval of my surgery it was harder on him I could tell but he was still supportive, we talked about vacations we'd take, more family pictures, renewing our vows and having a baby of our own Adobe muy weight and PCOS made it hard to conceive, and all the things I was afraid to do because of my weight, I was happy and excited about our new life together But I didn't talk about my Surgery or fears, because I knew his fears were bad too. So my Surgery was August 19, and in the hospital and home he has been pretty good about getting with the kids, but I handle myself and do most things for myself, but getting out of our new bed which is lower to the ground is challenging at times. But the last few days he's been distant, and suddenly last night before bed, he just says he is leaving, because he doesn't want to be left and that he knows I'll leave once I've lost my weight. He then got out of bed and went outside to smoke. I was shocked and devastated, I love him, been in love with him for 8 years, we were just about to file the paperwork for him to formally adopt my children from a previous marriage, and now he says he is leaving since he can't handle being left. My children are involved, they love him deeply and that's their dad and that's my husband, I can't believe I'm not even 2 weeks out and get this dropped on me. He had been asleep all day so I haven't been able to talk to him, I want to go to therapy to try and reassure him and work.through this, I don't want to lose my marriage because he has fears of something I'll never do, or because he's heard other people did that to their spouses once they lost their weight. That's them, not me. I think his so called friends have been telling him this bs and to expect the worst. It's crazy how can people try to destroy a family and put more fear and doubt in a man at a time like this. My husband does have a history of depression, PTSD and bi polor disorder but it's been managed, but I do think he stopped his meds because he wouldn't do this to me otherwise. If I can't get him to see reason or go to therapy there isn't anything I can do. I'm lost and hurt.

I love you, but your bar sounds like a date with dumping. "dates, honey, mesquite flour" are all so high in fructose so liver bomb. Cricket flour though poses a really neat option for bariatric patients. It has more iron per gram than any other protein source. I would think it would be pretty bioavailable too. It's just very difficult to wrap my head around eating crickets...*chirp*

You will be alright. Although for future reference, remember to stop after you initially make a bad choice. That thinking of "I might as well eat all that I want, since I've already blown it" will get you into trouble. One bad food choice shouldn't have too much of an effect on your weight loss. It is the continuation of bad choices after the initial one that will lead to weight gain. Think about it, when you run a red light, do you decide to go ahead and run red lights for the rest of the day? No, that would be silly. It is the same for food choices. If you make a small slip up, own up to it and move on with your bariatric diet.

I use Upcal D (a powder you can mix into food), Calcet chews, and Bariatric Advantage chews. I also occasionally drop a couple of calcium citrate tablets into a fruity Protein shake (they don't dissolve as well in the milky shakes)

Is your weight loss history standing between you and your current success after weight loss surgery? If you’re not getting the results you want, there’s a good chance it is. In Part 1 of the series, we brought up the idea of learning from your past, not running from it. Now, we take a look at a few more ways your past might have brought you down, and what you might be able to about it. Problem: Depending on Others This one’s not always so obvious, but it may be keeping you from reaching your full potential in weight loss and, frankly, in life. Of course, it’s normal and healthy to depend on others for some things. Maybe you rely on your spouse to pick up the kids from school, and you depend on your parents to parents to take care of your house when you’re on vacation. But what about the important things? What about your health? Do you take full responsibility for it? Or do you do what you did as a kid – depend on someone to make sure you had the food you needed and expect your parents or the doctor would make you better if you got sick or hurt? You’re still living in the past if you have not taken control of your health. You are the one who needs to purchase and prepare healthy food; set aside time to work out; eat the right foods to avoid complications from surgery. Others can help, but you need to be in charge. Problem: Looking for the Quick Fix If you look for a quick fix, you’ll probably find one. You can lose weight quickly using any number of strategies, and you’ve probably used them all from juicing to low-carb to low-fat. The problem with quick fixes is they’re quick to break, as you’ve found out when you went off the diets and gained the weight back. After WLS, don’t look for the quick fix. Be patient, and know you’re in it for the long haul. Looking for the quick fix can be something obvious that you recognize in yourself, but it is not always. Looking for the quick fix can be as subtle as subconsciously thinking of what and how much you eat as a temporary diet or thinking of your exercise program as something with a start and finish. You may be subconsciously looking for the quick fix if you’re unwilling to sign up for a long-term gym membership, or to invest in a kitchen scale or bariatric surgery recipe book. If you feel these things aren’t worthwhile, think about why. Is it because you don’t honestly see yourself needing them for long because you’re not really invested long-term into weight loss surgery success? Problem: Not Building Your Support System Many obese people struggle with late-night eating. Even if they are able to make it through the rest of the day eating reasonably healthy, night-time binges can strike furiously. If you weren’t able to overcome them previously, it may have been because you did not build enough of a support system. This time, don’t underestimate the power of your support system. Include people, such as friends and family, as well as alternate plans. You can set up many layers of protection against late-night overeating. Don’t store junk food at home, and don’t drive home past trigger spots like drive-through burger joints. Have two or three friends or family members whom you can call or talk to if you’re about to make a bad choice, and choose a pre-determined activity to do before eating, whether you decide to blog, sew, or take a walk. Also, have plenty of ready-to-eat healthy food around so it’s easier to grab than any junk. Problem: Lack of Self-Confidence Have you ever heard of a self-fulfilling prophecy? You think something will happen a certain way, so you act as though it will happen that way, and then it does. For weight loss, that can be a bad thing if you let it. “I know my diet’s going to fail, so I’m not going to bother weighing my food.” Then, guess what – you don’t lose weight! “I knew I wouldn’t lose weight.” But self-fulfilling prophecies can be just as positive as they can negative, especially if you have self-confidence. “I know WLS will work for me, so I’m going to hit my protein goals and weigh my portions every meal.” When you don’t even let doubt creep in, you can be more empowered to follow the behaviors that lead to success. Weight loss surgery can be a fantastic tool for weight loss, but it’s only as good as you make it. To make it more powerful, don’t run from your personal history. Recognize your past, identify what went wrong, and fix it. Make sure this time really is different.

I am post-op Gastric Sleeve by 1 week tomorrow. I went the self pay with hiatal hernia repair route. My insurance would not pay for bariatric surgery but would pay for hernia repair. By having the hernia repaired, I saved a little under $10,000 out of pocket for my gastric sleeve. Gastric sleeve price was $16,500 out without hernia repair..... $6,700 with hernia repair and insurance coverage. I feel great and am looking forward to a healthier future not only due to the weight loss but to the hernia being repaired. By the way, I live in MT but had surgery in Henderson, NV. It was totally worth the trip!!

I would only count things as a meal if it has protein. Popsicles would be considered fluid only. At four days post op, you really don't have to eat 3 meals a day, etc. You just have to sip constantly while you're awake in order to hit your protein and fluid goals until your tummy heals to the point that it can accept "normal bariatric portion meals" I would just focus on sipping every 15 minutes when you're not eating. The only thing that would count as a meal AND fluids would be something like a protein shake, protein water or broth with unflavored protein powder that was added to it, so anything that has proteins and is a fluid would count as both. I don't batch and freeze currently, so I'm not sure about containers. I'm not sure how freezing protein shakes would go. I have a feeling the texture would be different or they may separate. Have you tried the Fairlife protein shakes? They don't taste like a protein shake. They just taste like a lightly flavored milk to me. Strawberry reminds me of Strawberry Nesquick, but not as strongly flavored.

I've been battling my weight since I was 6 years old. I've been big for as far back as I can remember. I did just about every diet there was and not a single one worked. Eventually I just gave up. I had looked briefly into WLS in my 20's but I didn't think I'd be able to change my eating habits so drastically. I didn't think I had that kind of willpower. Plus, potential complications scared me and the permanence scared me. So I stopped looking into it. When I was 21 in May of 2009 my eldest niece was born. I was still in pretty good health despite being over 300 pounds. So I didn't really have the determination to go through with WLS. However, when her sister was born in February 2019 my health was very bad. I was 389 pounds, I have two permanent back injuries (one caused by my osteoarthritis), high blood pressure, tachycardia, hypothyroidism, the aforementioned osteoarthritis, I was pre-diabetic, have EoE (an autoimmune disorder), and I'd had brain surgery in May 2017 for my trigeminal neuralgia. When I held my new niece I was hit with the realization that if something didn't change, if I didn't find a way to get myself healthier and lose weight, then I likely wouldn't be around to watch her grow up. I cried, because watching my eldest niece grow up has been my greatest joy. It broke my heart that I may not be around to watch her sister grow up. That made things more real for me, I suppose. It pushed me into making that change and taking it seriously. I was referred to a bariatric surgeon and had to do a 6 months of monitored weigh-in's per my insurance. I didn't actually have to LOSE weight. I was just told not to GAIN weight. But, I took the initiative to try and make myself as successful as possible by using that time to prepare myself for a new way of eating. I used the first month to cut out seconds and cut my portion sizes down. The second month I cut out soda. The third month I cut out rice. The fourth month I cut out pasta. The fifth month I cut out bread. The six month I cut out potatoes and beans. The last two months before my surgery (they were overscheduled and pushed me back) I just maintained that diet and on my surgery date I was 321 pounds, meaning I'd lost 68 pounds on my own. I'm still very proud of myself for that. For me, the final push was my family. My family is my strength. They are what pulled me through the absolute worst time in my life (August 2016-May2017 when I had a 10 month TN flare that led to my brain surgery) when I KNOW I would have given up without them. Since my weight loss surgery? I have a new niece (from my brother and his wife) and my first and only nephew (from my sister and her husband). Now that I've lost over 200 pounds I don't worry so much that I won't be there to watch them grow up. And when I see my 2 year old niece light up when she see's me I know I made the right choice, the best choice, to have this surgery because now I get to watch her and her brother grow up just like I've got to watch her 12 year old sister grow up and just as I'll get to see her cousins grow up. Everyone has a different reason for why they do this. Sometimes it's for family, like myself. And sometimes it's personal. Every person who goes through this has a different journey, different experiences, and a different story to tell. And I wish you the very best on your own journey.

Hi, Everyone! I'm the database administrator for bariatric surgery at Johns Hopkins Bayview in Baltimore. I'm also on the planning committee for the Baltimore 2007 Walk From Obesity. Walks are being held across the country this September and October -- if you're interested in walking or donating, please visit The Walk from Obesity and choose the link on the right hand side to find a walk in your area. If you're near Baltimore and you're interested in joining Hopkins, St. Agnes, Sinai, and St. Joe at the walk, I encourage you to register and attend! Several walking courses are planned for people of all walking abilities, and the course, which runs through the Camden Yards/Ravens Stadium area, is wheelchair- and stroller-accessible. If you're not able to attend but you're interested in sponsoring me, you can do so here: Baltimore, MD - General Donation **All of the money raised by the walk goes to support the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery and Obesity Action Coalition's obesity research, education, training, and prevention.** Thanks! Lisa

OMG. I am now 12 weeks prego and starting at 4 weeks all the way to 8 weeks I was puking my guts up. Probably like 20-30 times a day. At the end point, I was just eating to be able to actually throw up food instead of stomach acid. Durring this time, I had 1.2cc in a 4cc band and could not make it out to my local fill center to get an unfill because I was so sick. My OB gave me Zofran (witch is I believe the strongest antinausia med you can take,not positive though) I also got phenergan suppositories since anything going in my mouth was comming right back out. Eventually, I had lost 15lbs and was so dehydrated (and had not peed it 3 days) and fed up I went to the ER and was given 4 bags of IV fluid. Even with all that fluid I still didn't urinate that day or the next morning so I went to my OB and they immediately admitted me and I was in the hospital for 4days on IV's. Upon arrival at the hospital I was immediately seen by a GI doc (due to throwing up blood) and a Bariatric surgeon (due to the band still being filled) They ordered an xray of the band and immediately unfilled the band. Luckily the band had not slipped (THANK GOD!!!!) and after the unfill and 4days and 10lbs of fluid put back into my body I have not thrown up since. It was really rough. So if there is anything I can advise people that are acutally throwing up constantly, make it your first priority to get your band unfilled. I personally think that if my band was unfilled I probably would not have gotten into such bad shape as I was in. I was hoping to actually leave my fill in through out the pregnancy because it was not that tight, but I'd rather be healthy and pregnant than skinny and pregnant. This time baby is priority and not me. Even though this was an accidental pregnancy!!!

This will be my second TG with a band. I don't remember having trouble with anything at all last year and I was 8 months banded by then. We usually have smoked turkey. Perhaps that's a bit moister than regular roasted? If I do a roast turkey, I use a big turkey roaster that has a lid, comes out moister than just a roasting pan and tinfoil. You might consider eating the dark meat from the turkey...or putting a tiny bit of gravy on it to help it slide down. I think I made two dressings, one regular for my son and one with lots and lots of veggies in it. I made the traditional green bean casserole, but used non fat or reduced fat Soup, cut way back on the fried onions and used ff milk. I think I made some kind of cranberry/orange sauce from scratch that used splenda instead of the canned stuff. Baked sweet potatoes in their jackets (in the skins). Made spinach madeleine..used ff canned milk, soy flour and extra spinach. A hospital near me is going to have a class Nov. 9 teaching diabetics how to have a healthier thanksgiving. I asked if the class would be beneficial to bariatric patients and they said it should be. So if it fits into my schedule, I'm planning to go and see what tricks/tips I can learn. Maybe a hospital or other health group near you would have something similar. Just think about how to make food moister or less doughy and reduce fat & calories in your favorite dishes. Have fun!! We have time to try things out now before the big date. :wink2:

I have been researching bariatric surgery for over a year & chose the lapband. I'm a 55 yr old nurse & took care of more than my share of gastric bypass patients & felt I just couldn't go that route. My surgery is scheduled for tuesday, the day after my birthday. So, needless to say there will be no cake for me this year. This is my present to myself. My Dr told me in January that I won't live 5 more years with the condition my kidneys are in if I don't lose the weight now.I had to do the 6 mos supervised weight loss which I balked at initially but am now happy I had to do it. I have lost #37 since february on a low carb diet & have really gotten into my new lifestyle. I'm not even sure I will need a fill since even now I never get hungry between meals.What I was wondering is if you never have a fill do you still have stuck episodes,pbing or still have to take the tiny bites & chew,chew,chew?

Yep, if you have a 40,plus BMI you have met the criteria. Come,on down Daizeoh, you are the next lucky contestant in the Bariatric Bowl a thon. Step,up to the line, lose some weight,and put a pretty smile on your face. And h -e -r -e we go! Sent from my VS880PP using BariatricPal mobile app

I was in group session at my bariatric surgeons office and one of the fellow rny bypassers stated she can feel her remnant stomach...can even burp it. I've never even thought about my other stomach thats floating around still. It kinda blew my mind. So i was wondering if anyone else feels it.

While I'm pretty sure my doc did great in surgery (everything seems to work so far) and she is super up-beat and happy, there were a few small details she left out of the pre-op overview. My doc did not mention that I couldn't have ANYthing post-op of the day of surgery - no Water, no ice chips, nada. I was so thankful someone had mention Biotene mouth rinse as it was a life saver. She did not say, "where we take out your port (I was lap-band to bypass revision) is going to be really sore for probably 4 weeks. You might want to a) be mentally prepared for that and buy an abdominal binder. There was no offer of a block of any sort. The first time I stood up, I thought someone was ripping out my innards. She prescribed Lovenox injections for a week (blood thinner for clot prevention). She mentioned this in an off-hand manner during final pre-op appointment. She didn't say how I, who had never done this, was supposed to magically learn to. She did not say (despite looking at my chart in pre-op appointment) Oh - you're on hormones, you'll need to do these shots for a month, not just a week. And then forget to call the pharmacy with new scrip twice after I called her office to remind her. She also used a hospital that had nurses who were experienced with bariatric patients. Of the 5 or so RNs that I had, 4 were top notch. One in particular was amaze-balls and he showed me how to do injections and talked me through a bunch of stuff. I {{heart}} you Dustin! Any others have similar things to add?

I am so sorry to read your story and I so commiserate with you. My story was no where near the same as far as specifics but similar in that I think a lot of the bariatric surgeons and their staff (people associated with the bariatric practice) treat us as cattle to be fed through the chutes. I think they handle so many more people than a regular surgical practice does that we are just nameless, faceless cattle. As an example, my doctor thought when I went in for my post-op visit that I was there for my pre-op visit. Partially, this is the medical practice anymore, but specifically it is true in this type practice. No wonder you or any of us feel like we are "boiling." Anyone does when they feel they have no power in a situation and that is certainly where you are right now -- no power to effect a change in the situation, no power to effect a change in her and the way she does things, and no power to change the way the doctors do things as you and the rest of us are just one of MANY who will put up with most anything to get the surgery. And, let's not even talk about the insurance companies . . . . . My thoughts are with you and I certainly hope things work out for a quick, positive resolution to this situation. Keep us all posted.

Hi, hopefully soon. Thanks for taking the time to read my blog. I just wrote one that you might find interesting about the things we have to do to get ready. Where are you in the process. Bariatric Fusion is a name I don't recall hearing yet. Where do you buy it? I ordered some super whey protein from walmart and some Unjury and a bunch of samples from other companies. I hope I like the stuff from Walmart as I have a total of 6 pounds of it and I am only supposed to take 1 scoop as opposed to 2 scoops on the pre-op diet. So it should last a long time. I am going to try and make smoothies out of them in the blender and hope they will be palatable to me. I can't afford to waste money. However, I have done liquid diets in the past and I didn't mind too much. But this is going to be for 21 days and I'm not really looking forward to that. Thank God we can have some fish and chicken everyday along with yogurt and oatmeal and some veggies. Hopefully, it won't be too bad. Oh and jello and sugar free popsicles. Talk with you again soon. K

That's funny because the lady that waited on me back in April 2014 noticed the same thing too with me. My reapplication process only took 2 minutes as there were hardly any people there which was a first in all these years of me getting my driver's license renewed. Anyway, she began asking me what did I do and I told her I had the Lapband done which to her surprise she had been debating on which wls she should do. So I was there another 15 minutes just talking about weight loss. LOL Kudos to you.

Your dietitian is not specialised in bariatric it seems... I'm 2 months out and still around 4-500 cal a day...

Me 2. Exactly. I reached goal in 9 months I think? Dr. Jason Fung believes there is NO such thing as starvation mode when you are morbidly obese or even in the overweight category. That it happens ONLY when you've depleted all your fat stores. Most of us have weeks and months of extra calories vis a vis fat hanging around on our body. Satisfy your protein goals. Drink your fluids. Take your vitamins. Eat a few veggies (or a lot), and get a bit of healthy fat in you each day...But follow your program. 256lbs the day I started my program at the bariatric center. I'd alreay lost down from 287 in the previous 3 months leading up to it by mimicking the diet you follow post WLS. I'm 130.4lbs this morning. I average 1100cals/day over a week. Some days I still eat 700-900 of nutritionally DENSE foods, but other days I have 1400-2000!

I had my surgery on June 1st, 2018 by Dr. Monk in York, Pa. I've experienced nothing but good from Dr. Monk and his team. I chose this surgeon because he has an amazing sense of humor, a stellar track record, and he preformed my grandmother's bypass years ago. I know I definitely made the right decision. If you are looking for a surgeon in south/central PA, I highly recommend Dr. Monk and his team at Wellspan Bariatric Surgery in York.

My bariatric doctor shared it is easy for people post bariatric surgery to trade a food addiction for another unhealthy addiction such as too much alcohol, smoking, overdoing exercise, etc. I suggest you ask yourself why you are smoking and what benefit are you getting and why smoking versus other productive activities. Had lapband surgery 10/12/16