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Had a lovely christmas and the most peaceful happy new year eve. Have put about 7lb on but so ready to eat healthier food, meed to banish the nuts and choccy, we didnt buy much and there is not a lot left so that should be easy, ha haa, she says. Hope everyone is well and feeling positive about this new year. I am at peace knowing that God is with me and am believing that this lupus will be treated quickly and correctly so that i can have my sleeve. It is my bariatric support group ntomorrow night and i am looking forward to being there as i have got to know a few more people on fb and at a coffee morning. I am in a fibromyalgia support group on face book and am finding it such a blessing to be able to talk with people who understand what living with fibro is like living with it every day. Am seeing my diabetic specialist this afternoon and will be asking him how the lupus effects diabetese if at all, and discuss how i feel really yuk when i dont eat much and my blood sugar goes low, and will this be the case after my op and how they help with it etc. I am the first person with lupus to have the op at the new centre at dri, so it is a good learning curve for them and i have told them i will be willing to speak at the meetings when i have lost my weight to help others who may also have lupus and be disabled. Hoping to see the heamatologist this month, will report back when i have a date, bye for now, xx

Won't know till your surgeon gets in there. But I Would be totally up front with him with what you have been eating. And remember, cheating is only hurting yourself. And the more you cheat, the easier it is to cheat next time. Self sabotage is a big problem early on and ultimately leads to an unsuccessful outcome. The mental part of WLS is a hundred times harder than the physical part. You are going to a professional for surgery, you may find it necessary to go to a professional for the psychiatric part, too. And just for a perspective of what's in store, here is a link to the best advice I've ever read concerning WLS...... http://www.bariatricpal.com/topic/357439-bariatric-surgery-only-makes-your-stomach-smaller-otherwise-youre-exactly-the-same/?hl=%20babbs

Both professionals in the field and those who have had or are considering having surgery themselves seem to be involved in an ongoing debate over what is the best type of weight loss surgery. The three most common forms of surgery in Australia at present, gastric band, gastric bypass and sleeve gastrectomy all have loyal fans and big opponents. In my Nutrition for Weight Loss Surgery Support Group the pros and cons of the different surgery types are regularly discussed by those who have been through the various procedures. Whilst technically different, what is common to all forms of weight loss surgery is that the surgery itself is just one part of the picture of weight management. Surgery alone does not guarantee you will lose weight; it is a tool that can assist you to lose weight when teamed with lifestyle change. Colleen Cook is a successful weight loss surgery patient from 1995 and is the author of the best selling weight loss surgery book, The Success Habits of Weight Loss Surgery Patients. It is based on her research of the most successful long-term patients and the habits they have in common as they maintain their weight over time. Colleen is also the President of Bariatric Support Centers International, a company that specialises in providing education and support services for those who have had weight loss surgery and the professionals who work with them. Following is a comment from Colleen that stood out to me when reading her work recently: “Successful patients took personal responsibility for staying in control. They were found to have a general feeling that maintaining their weight was indeed their own responsibility and that surgery was a tool that they used to reach and maintain a healthy weight.” Colleen’s words illustrate perfectly that weight loss surgery itself does not cause weight loss. Those undergoing weight loss surgery will need to take responsibility for their lifestyle choices. To achieve the best weight loss results and maintain that weight loss in the long term, you will need to choose healthy and nutritious foods, increase physical activity and maintain regular follow up with your support team. Are you maximizing the support available to you? Do you regularly follow up with your surgeon or bariatric GP to check your progress? For those with a gastric band, have you worked with them to find the green zone? Have you had the blood tests recommended to you to monitor any medical conditions or detect nutrient deficiencies? Have you seen an exercise physiologist or physiotherapist regarding an activity program tailored to you? Did you see your dietitian for the pre and post surgery info but never returned for ongoing support? Are you comfortable with the support team at your clinic? If not, you need to seek out a new support network. Ultimately it is up to you to utilise the support and resources available to you for a successful journey,

Good luck to you and all the other single folks! Dating post sleeve has been a real pain. I thought it would be so great to be a single girl who was smaller, I could date, enjoy it...long story short not so much. I dated a lot last year and it was terribly exhausting. I mean dating is awkward enough but the eating out part is really frustrating on the first date. I don't like to tell people on the first date I had surgery so there is the 'what's wrong don't you like it?' Comments, or the 'want a drink?'questions you have to carefully get out of. Too much stress! It would be awesome to meet a fellow bariatric patient- they would understand the struggle. So putting it out there- any single men in the NY metro area around my age (25) hit me up! LOL sorry had to try!

Hello ladies im from wichita ks travling to oklahoma for surgery, my insurance does not cover so paying cash any pointers on thst or financing?, theres oklahoma weight loss or bariatric center of oklahoma have you heard anything about them? Like I said im self pay hit all the roadblocks so just looking for advice thanks!

I use bariatric advantage protein shake mix from my surgeon office. It comes in a 3.3 pound bag Sent from my SM-J727U using BariatricPal mobile app

Well, I'm not sure where to start. I have been lurking for quite some time and now I am coming out of the shadows. I have known for over a year that I wanted WLS but never thought I would be able to do it. I thought I would be miserable for the rest of my life. I am at my highest lifetime weight and it is seriously impacting my quality of life. I can't walk for more than 5 minutes without my back screaming at me. My knees are constantly aching as is my left hip. I have a 2-year old daughter that I want to play with and take on walks, and I feel like I am only partly in the game. A dear friend of mine lost her mother earlier this year. After the funeral she sat me down and said that she had all these regrets for what could have been in her life and that I don't need to waste one more minute being unhappy. So I got off my keester and started making things happen. I am the HR Manager at my company, so I know quite well what is covered and not covered. We use BCBS of GA and our policy does not provide for WLS. I also have Tricare but that will be going away here shortly. I just finalized my divorce. Knowing all this helps a lot, because I decided I will have to do self-pay. There is a bariatric program (Center of Excellence) in my city, but I am not comfortable with it. I have been admitted to the hospital for several different things in the past so I know the level of care to expect. It stinks like hot garbage. So after a lot of research, I want to go with Dr. Aceves. For a lot of the reasons that have been listed before in the forums and the research I have done online, I feel like this is the place for me. I pressed the "contact me" button on his website and now I'm waiting to start my journey. I am a bundle of questions and most of them it seems everyone else has already had. I am a single mother but a dear friend has volunteered to stay with my daughter while I am "out of town". She is the only person that I am willing to tell about all this. She supports me regardless. My parents do not. Other people put a lot of fear in me by asking "what about your daughter? you are being reckless because something could happen to you." My thought behind that is that something could happen to me right now. I am already functioning well below capacity so I need to make things better. I have no intention of telling my job what I am doing. I will tell them that I need time off for "a personal surgery". I am hoping I will be able to go back to work when I return from Mexicali. This has gotten quite long so I will close it out and hope that everything goes well.

She is at Baptist Nutrition and Bariatric Center - it's at 1190 N. State Street

Hello Krista and welcome to LBT! Research is a great first start. I would also contact my insurance to find out their requirements and what bariatric doctors are in the network. As far as giving up certain foods forever. I was never told that by my doctor. I was always told I can all foods types, but just in modification. Now I know there are some people who are not able to eat certain foods because it does not agree with their band. I am not one of those people and I am able to eat small portions of all food types. Good luck with your research!

Today. Yes, Today. It's so easy to defer things until later. Until the time is right. Until you're more ready. I've been there too. You're surrounded by a massive to-do list of things that seem to be a higher priority at the moment...or at least they seem more fun. Do you put off making changes that you know you'll benefit from for reasons that really just wouldn't fly if it were your best friend telling you those things? Is this you? I'll start back at exercising....eating better...sleeping more...consider changing jobs.... ...once the boys' hockey schedule isn't so hectic... ...after I get my diabetes under control... ...once I know the price of gas will stay down... ...after every ounce of snow melts in Boston ( - and you live in Phoenix!) You've made promises. Commitments. Resolutions. But haven't followed through. What now? Empty promises that you make to yourself do more than derail you from your dreams. They rob you of hope. They erode your trust. They can make you feel worthless. But What if...? There are what if's in every direction. What if I don't get the job? Sometimes the opposite question can be even scarier - What if I do lose 80 pounds? Ouch. A lot of times we don't realize that not knowing how we'd handle positive changes in our lives holds us back as much as or possibly even more than our fear that things might not work out. It doesn't matter if your nemesis is needing to lose weight, quit smoking, or not sleeping enough to keep yourself focused all day. The core of what paralyze us is often the same. Whether you're curious about weight loss surgery, have had it, or don't care a lick about it, I invite you to watch this video prepared by the American Society of Metabolic and Bariatric Surgeons (ASMBS - Disclosure: I'm an ASMBS Integrated Health member). Watch it with an open mind. Then - think about what's holding you back. Now. Make it real. Say it out loud. My next request is a big one. Really big. I want you to talk with someone about an important change you want to make and what's holding you back. Talk to anyone. Comment here, tell your doctor, tell your best friend. Tell someone you'll never see again. Say it in a forum, say it to a baby, message me privately. You've got 5 minutes to take action. Go!

Follow the plan given to you by your surgeon or nutritionist/dietitian. If you didn’t get one, find a bariatric nutritionist/dietitian and get a plan. Post-op nutrition is tricky because you need to get in protein, vitamins, and minerals essential to life, but you can’t eat very much. The foods must be nutrient dense and are often very different from what you were eating pre-op. For me, 500cal a day was not enough post-op, I kept getting dizzy when I ate that little.

Well... can't help with being a January surgery buddy... but just know there are lots of us here who are willing to help with what we can! Hang in there! And if things don't improve, please consider perhaps talking with a bariatric mental health professional...

I understand where your coming from because I was at a Bariatric Support group last night and had to hear numerous people bash the band. You need to realize that this is for you and no one else. Everyone has an opinion its up to you to search within yourself and determine if this is for you. I have been overweight all my life and really had no support for my decision but I went through with it and have no regrets. The good thing about the band is it is reversable and they can take it out, but with the Gastric Bypass that is not an option. I want you to focus on you and your choice and try to close your ears to everyone not supporting you. before classes 06/24/07 316lbs. banded 01/24/08 292lbs. current 06/11/08 251.5

Take the time to: think, pray, think, pray , think and then pray some more. Are you prepared to continue your life without one or the other? (WLS vs SO?). When you are totally confident that you are, then and only then are you truly ready to make the decision. Until that time, please talk to a therapist who is bariatric friendly----therapy for you alone---for your SO alone and then for the two of you together. WLS changes everyone who has it. Whether physically, mentally and/or emotionally---there WILL be a change. To think otherwise is unrealistic. I truly hope that all of your wishes come true. I hope that your SO can be supportive. My warning is just make sure that you are committed enough to "walk your journey" alone is he finds that he can not be. Take the time to just breathe and think, please.

I went to a seminar put on by one of the hospitals near me. You might look up your hospital's website to see if their hosting Bariatric surgery seminars. That's where I heard about the different types of surgeries and the risks to each one. Afterwards, I talked to my doctor about it and it turned out that his long time nurse who I love and trust had previously worked at a Bariatric surgery clinic. She was a great resource for me and offered the name of a couple of surgeons to research. I did and settled on one I liked. Before I could go any further though I had to get insurance approval so at the same time I called my insurance and got that process started. It took me 8 months total to jump through all the hoops but so worth it! Good luck on your journey!

It all depends on what kind of insurance you have. I have United Healthcare Choice Plus. I didn't even tell my PCP that I was having lap-band surgery. I just went to the bariatric surgeon on my own. You need to check with your insurance company and first ask if lap-band surgery is covered, and second ask if you need a referral from your primary care physician.

Have you tried the Bariatric Advantage sugar free chewy bites? They are nothing like the big chewable chalk tablets the other brands have.

331 lbs was my highest recorded weight, but that was ~5 years before I started the process for bariatric surgery. At that point, I was at 291 lbs... after having lost and regained 160 lbs on my own.

I bought their Calcium supplement and they are pretty large and chalky (and 1 dose is 2 of them). I prefer the Bariatric Advantage chews for calcium. Sent from my SM-J700P using the BariatricPal App

You may find some people on obesity help. Org and/ or Facebook. I was going to use him a while back when I initially decided to do surgery. Ten years later, I went with Dr Johnson, Atlanta Bariatrics. Sent from my iPhone using RNYTalk

No need to worry, just pulling myself out of the fog..... My surgery was Monday, 10/3 with Dr. Aceves. Since my surgery was the 2nd of the day, I was given a sedative to relax. The rest of the day is a blur. I remember people coming in to get me....blur........I remember looking up at the ceiling as I was being wheeled to surgery......blur.........I remember someone telling me to turn on my side and bend my knees for the spinal block....blur.....and OUT. I don't remember recovery at all. The next thing I remember is being back in my room, thinking it must be over and then falling back asleep again. I was in and out of sleep for the rest of the night, knowing that nurses came in and out, taking my temp and blood pressure, but not really ever becoming fully alert. Sometime early Tuesday morning, I told one of the nurses I needed to use the bathroom. Although I stumbled a bit, I made the trip successfully and immediately fell back asleep. Later that morning, they brought me those infamous 4 little cups of blue "apple juice." They weren't good, but they were tolerable. I sipped and slept, sipped and slept, sipped and slept for hours. Several times that day, Dr. Aceves, Dr. Campos and the nurses came in and told me to try to get up and walk. I'd answer "Sure, ok." with every good intention of doing it, but I'd always fall back asleep. I really had a tough time coming out of all that med-induced sleepiness. By late afternoon Tuesday, I finally got up and walked the halls. I was completely pain-free (yes, really.....it must have been the spinal block), but I felt unsteady on my feet and climbed back into bed about 5 minutes later. Tuesday night was pretty much the same as Monday night, but I woke up Wednesday morning feeling alert and energetic. I took a shower and even put on a little make-up! Wednesday, I walked several times, visited my neighbors, sipped tea and finally got a bowl of that wonderful chicken broth everybody raves about. Yes, it IS that good. By the time I left on Thursday morning, I felt pretty good - minimal pain and absolutely no nausea. It may have been this sense of well-being that caused me to completely overdo it on Friday. BIG Mistake! I met up with a friend Friday afternoon to do a "little" shopping that turned into a 5-hour shopping spree. I thought I was listening to my body.......I sipped Isopure all day........I took sitting breaks pretty often, but by the time I got home, I felt awful. My abdomen was completely swollen with Fluid and gas. I looked 9 months pregnant and felt equally uncomfortable. That was the first time all week I broke down emotionally. I remembered reading somewhere that Day 4 after surgery was the worst..........and that was definitely true for me! So, I sobbed myself to sleep Friday night and woke up Saturday with renewed energy and renewed resolve. I really took it easy that day. I stayed in all morning, sipping Protein and napping. By 3:00 pm, I felt good enough to take my son to a birthday party. It was a huge event, and EVERY single person there must have told me to eat......twice! But I politely told them I had eaten before I came and continued to sip on my bottled Water. The party lasted about two hours and I was definitely ready to come home by then. I went to bed about 7:30 pm, slept pretty soundly, and here I am at 5:00 am on Sunday, finally getting on the Internet for the first time since surgery. To sum up, I've really had a fairly easy recovery. Considering the mess my Band had made of my stomach and liver (Dr. Aceves told me it was NOT and easy revision) I've had very little pain except for the incision sights. I've experienced none of the shoulder "gas" pain I had with the Band surgery. I've had no nausea or stomach pain......just a lot of gas and gurgling. No doubt about it, those first four days kicked my butt, however, I think I'm over the "hump" now. I have one more week of recovery before I have to go back to work and I'm sooooo glad I didn't try to rush it and go back any sooner. I hope all my fellow October sleevers are well, whether you are just home from surgery or about to have it. Take it easy and follow the rules........you'll do great!

I never even thought of the VA paying for an outside facility. I looked into the VA paying for it (it's 5 hrs to the VA facility that actually does bariatric surgeries) and the requirements are that I be in the MOVE program for at least 6 mths (a diet and exercise program thru the VA) and that I have a BMI of >40 (or >35 with 1 comorbidity). My BMI is 28 right now. I'm going to call them today and see if they can work with the requirements a little, seeing as it's a complication from a previous surgery. Medicare wouldn't pay for it either, but since it's a complication, they will. Thanks for the idea!

I've been taking Bariatric Advantage multivitamins and calcium citrate chewy bites. They're kinda like Starbursts candy, not the chaulky chewable kind. I'm 7 mos post sleeve.

Have trouble with using multi vitamin, Celebrate. Three weeks out and they are now making me throw up. Any suggestions?

I use a Bariatric brand from vitamin shoppe. Tastes great. Celebrate was just gross.