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Hi everyone !!! I'm getting my things ready and making sure I have everything I need .... and I haven't been able to find a list of the Vitamins I will need ... Any suggestions ? I have already started taking Biotin and have bought bariatric vitamins but I'm not sure if I will need to take anything else? Thanks

Congrats to you!! What an accomplishment!! I'm scheduled for surgery on the 22nd, but thinking ahead I have some of the same questions as you do. I've had 4 friends have the surgery...none of them have had plastic surgery yet. They have all maintained their weight at this point. My one friend says when she starts to put a few pounds on she starts focusing better on Protein and cuts back her wine for a week or so. She says its about balance. I recently read a great book by a woman who had the surgery and is a trainer and she talks about how to not regain the weight. It's an eBook and only 5$ 'Piratical Advice for Lifetime Maintenance after Bariatric surgery' by Pamela Harrelson Wishing you well!!

When trying new foods try one at a time. For example the egg and Greek yogurt. Try the yogurt on its own then the egg, that way if one gives you a problem you'll know which it is. My surgery was performed by Kaiser, here is the link to the Bariatric teams website with info on diet, meal plans and shopping lists and other useful help Kaiser Bariatric After Surgery Page. Hope this helps.

Yes! you hit the nail on the head with that one. So excited for this new chance at life with out joint pain! I hadn't even thought about a bariatric trainer. I'm definitely going to look into that now lol

NICE!!! so happy for you. what an excellent resource for bariatric patients

I use bariatric advantage, and I think they taste great. There are multiple flavors, you may try another flavor. My surgeon advised against using flinstones, because they were not nutritionally sound.

@@Alicia Richards You will be just fine. I had surgery at 8 am and the next morning at 8 am they weighed me. When I saw that I'd gained 9 lbs. I was furious. I had just spent 2 weeks losing 15 lbs. on a liquid diet and now had to lose this same 9 lbs. all over again ... what?! I heard, "Oh it's just the fluids we've been filling you with post surgery. You'll lose it." Well of course I will as I have no choice, but I still had to lose it! I find it funny (not laughing funny) they neglect to tell you this when going through all those months pre-surgery. Anyways at almost 6 months post-op and 81 lbs. down, I can laugh at it now. The surgery will do its job so long as you follow your plan. Here's some very sound advice to take to heart: Follow Your Plan Too many people treat bariatric surgery as if it is simply a diet and turn their head to the intensity of the operation. A smart friend quipped that if we woke up with a giant bolt going through our leg we would get it, but since there are Band-Aids on our belly, we think it’s nothing. Your internal surgical wounds must heal – this is no time to go to the mall, out to dinner, visiting friends and on vacation. Sew what? In terms of food, you must stick to your surgeons program for post op food stages. You need time to allow the tiny pouch cut and sewn from the fabric of your giant floppy stomach to heal itself closed. We have all glued something only to have the seams pop open. The liquid and soft food stages are to avoid stressing pouch seams and give your stomach a break from the process of digestion. Is ice cream a puree? Sirloin steak is not a soft food. Ice cream is NOT a puree. You can’t eat popcorn, raw carrots or celery ten days after surgery. People ask if we think they could have a pork chop, we say ‘no’, they eat it anyhow, then tell us ‘they didn’t have a problem’. No alcohol for a year… non negotiable… but people push back saying their surgeon said five weeks was okay. Folks… we know better and we are trying to help you. General Tso? NOT your friend The post op dietary stages are not a suggestion, they are a requirement for you own safety. You cannot eat Chinese food the week after surgery because you ‘chew it well’. A ‘craving’ for Orange chicken landed one support group member in the hospital! It’s a very bad idea to push. Being ‘released’ to ‘regular food’ does not mean what you think it does, but you already know that. How long until you can have pizza again? “Pizza is not a food for someone having obesity surgery.” (that’s a quote from Dr. N on My 600 lb Life) Every single week in our support group, these actions land new post ops in the hospital. Sip sip sip sip sip… If you had a back injury, you would not tile your kitchen floor the same week. Yet, people think nothing of making a trip to a theme park when they should be at home resting and taking in fluids. People ask us ‘Do you think I would be able to go on a cruise two weeks after my sleeve?’ (Nooooo!) As high as 30% of post ops are dehydrated enough to land back in the hospital with a Fluid IV. Not drinking enough Water after surgery can cause heart damage. Dehydration is the most common bariatric complication, yet it’s largely avoidable. Stay home and heal… drink hot water, cold water, broth, Diet Snapple, herbal tea, eat sf ice pops and Jello. (We have a free bariatric water app called HY, click for GetHyApp.com) What’s eating you? If eating is a compulsion that you cannot control, ask your surgeon to suggest someone for you to talk to. A therapist can help you come to conclusions about your life – you talk, they listen and even after one chat you’ll often have a clearer truth of why you use eating as comfort. Knowing what drives you can help you deal with your eating issues to better work with your surgery. Vitamins are critical It is impossible for you to have your stomach surgically removed or reconfigured and take in the nutrients needed to run your body. While your surgeons group has mentioned Flintstones, that is so you will possibly take something instead of being one of the 67% of post ops who take nothing. They are not optimal and won’t prevent long term problems like broken bones from simple falls and losing teeth, but may keep you from dying in the short term. The idea behind supplements is to prevent issues from grabbing you in twenty years when it’s too late to change the path. Take them! Protein from food? What a novel idea! Yes, yes, yes, we’d all like to get our protein from food and that’s what you want to hear. However, if you are unable to take in 70 grams of protein per day, you can either weaken and lose your hair or you can figure out another way until you are able to learn and eat the right foods. Protein drinks make up the difference between what you can eat and what you need. They are not simply a tasty beverage for your enjoyment for you to be all picky and ridiculous over. They are the antidote for your disease of morbid obesity. Morbid means death and obesity surgery only slows and reverses the disease IF you follow your plan.

Try the Baritastic app. It's an app that is private and specifically designed for bariatric patients. It has been a life saver for me. I'm really picky about apps, too and I love this one. Sent from my SM-N920T using the BariatricPal App

I am a little over a week out and feeling similar to you. I have been very emotional, but I think it does not help that I am no longer on hormones which has helped keep my emotions be more balanced in the past. My bariatric dr. stated I resume the hormones after a month out. Also because I am still in pain and taking pain meds, I cannot be as busy as I would like too . However, my family, close friend and this forum helps me to try to stay positive, I know this stage will pass.

My hospital experience with my VSG was great. I went to Parker Adventist hospital in Parker Colorado and it was honestly the nicest hospital I've been in. The nurses were attentive and caring while still getting the job done. Pretty much everything I needed was available to me there. This hospital didn't permit heating pads since they can cause burns but when I complained of gas pains in my shoulder blades they immediately brought me heated towels to put on my back. The room was private (all the rooms on the bariatric floor were), there was a couch, bed, and a super comfy recliner. They kept on top of my pain meds, always coming on time to give the next dose (which I definitely needed). Since they gave dialudid instead of morphine to me (I can't handle morphine) I didn't get a pain pump but they never let me go past 4 hours without a new dose. I actually felt rather pampered while there. I loved it. Not all hospitals are as nice as this one though. The year prior I had my gallbladder removed unexpectedly at a hospital near where I live and my experience was the complete opposite. I felt ignored, like I was an inconvenience to the nurses. I had a lot of pain and anxiety and if I asked for my next pain med dose I was looked at like I was a drug seeker, even if it was past time for it. They let me go 12 hours without pain meds once. It was a horrible experience. So check out the hospital you're going to ahead of time if you can.

Does anyone else have issues taking vitamins? I have the Celebrate Bariatric Multi-vitamin chewables. Every time I take one I literally get nauseous and start throwing up like 3-4 minutes later. This isn't the first time I've had this problem with multi-vitamins. I've had this problem with various vitamins in the past before I ever thought about surgery. Has anyone else ever had this problem and does anyone have any suggestions on how to stop this from happening?

I have used the BariMelts Multivitamin (chewables) as well as the Bariatric Advantage Multivitamin (chewables). The BariMelts melt in your mouth, flavor is pretty decent with only a hint of a vitamin'y taste. But the Bariatric Advantage is like eating Starburst candies

As far as Vitamins go, Bariatric Advantage was recommended to me by my NUT as the best. They also have a Calcium CITRATE caramel chewable to take twice a day. I think it's really tasty. For insurance, could you afford Obamacare? Hopefully, your public coverage will be within the income requirement. I had my babies at 38 and 42 years old. My daughters have been so much fun and the highlight of my life! This is waaay cool for you! Congratulations!

Which was most of my list. Here's my list: chicken broth Beef Broth sugar-free jello Sugar-free popsicles Non-fat milk Evaporated Milk, Skim Soy Milk, not flavored Crystal Light and other Sugar-free powdered drink mixes Various Protein shakes and drinks Various protein Soups that are really just broths So you can see why I think of it as "clears + protein drinks". :laugh: It's also not a real medical designation. If you search the web, you can find medical definitions of clear liquids and full liquids but not "thin" liquids. At the hospital, they called it "Bariatric Clears" btw. But I think they made that up! __________________ Originally posted at www.lapbandtalk.com

Hi there, I guess it's true that Time flies when you're having fun; I've been having a lot of that. Honestly, I cannot believe that two years ago today I was waking up from surgery and beginning a new chapter in my life. I had no idea then of the many ways my life would be reshaped aside from the shape of my body. I'm forever grateful the band was available to me as it has been the perfect choice for my situation. We are all different. I was 52 at the time and had never been an overnight patient in a hospital before. I can barely tolerate going to the dentist. Getting a band was a big decision but I was fortunate somehow to just know that that's what I wanted to do. Thank goodnes there are so many different surgery choices available to us; we live in marvellous times. Two years ago I was 250+ and now I'm in the seventies. I'm a little tall and like my curves (oh my goodness, do I LOVE having a waist!) so I don't want to get too thin. But a word about collarbones: YIPPEE! And hips. Wrists. You know how it is -- I'm celebrating this new body every day. I was wearing size twenty pants and am now in tens. No more Plus Size anything. I would not have predicted that I have a thing for clothes, but oh yes, I sure do. It's so much fun to be able to just try something on without all of that angst. I have been an exerciser for many years (arthritis - have to move) but in the last two years I have ratcheted up to being more of an athlete. I feel ridiculous even typing that out as it's such a foreign concept. I used to work out for 45 minutes 3-4 times a week; well, it turns out I am some one who needs more like 75-90 minutes 5-6 times a week. There's the faking it until making it thing and that's what I did. I pretended that I liked it, that I was one of "those" people until I actually have become something resembling one of those lucky people who truly look forward to exercising. Like I said, resembling. I'm not quite there but I raise my hands up in that crossing the finish line pose and I go do what I need to do and I feel like a million bucks afterward. Food. I am happy to report that I still like food. I can taste almost anything and be quite satisfied. That is a miracle. I love to cook and one of my weird non-scale victories (NSVs) is being able to tie my apron double around my waist. I love that. All those years in all those kitchens with my big fat Winnie-the-Pooh belly in an ill-fitting apron or Chef's jacket. No more. Silly, but that just feels so good. I was very restrictive in my former life so I am careful to not be on a diet. I make good choices, which I can do because my appetite is dimmed and I know what good choices are. But I also let myself have a little bit of whatever I want, whether that's a square of chocolate or cheese (behold, the power of cheese). This is why I still have a little weight to lose but I'm okay with that. I do drink alcohol and we have a lot of dinner parties, go to restaurants, etc. Practically no one knows I am banded; I'm extremely private about that. What people do see, however, is how much I'm exercising and how good I feel. It was important for me to go a bit slowly because I wanted the weight loss to be incremental and I didn't want to have saggy skin. Well, that's about it. I am tremendously grateful to all of my Lapband Talk friends and now Bariatric Pal. You know who you are -- the encourageers. Virtual friends. This has been my first experience on a forum and it's been great. Best wishes to all of you wherever you are in the process. For new people, a few words: don't get too hung up on what kind of surgery you had; we have much more in common than not. Don't try to give or take advice from strangers on the internet. Have a good working relationship with your doctor and show up for all your appointments. Show up for yourself! I really had to put myself first to get the surgery and choose my own well-being over taking care of other people's needs first. I don't do that any more and, guess what, every one else benefits from that. Here's to our health!

I haven't been denied by BCBS yet but the dr to me that unless they can find anything wrong with the band, BCBS MI only covers 1 bariatric surgery per lifetime

I'm so sorry you are going through this, my hope is you can come out the other end better, and I feel you will. Do not take medication, and steer clear of people who tell you to, also doctors who tell you to. They don't help in the long run, and actually cause much, much more harm to your brain's chemical balance. I've a degree in brain health, and one thing that is very clear is that when you take meds, or any antidepressant, the natural serotonin level brain produces lowers itself to compensate for the fake serotonin that come in the form of medications. This is why psychiatrists will caution against going off them all at once. If a person quits their antidepressants suddenly, the brain cannot compensate and depression becomes worse, leading to suicide in many cases. And sometimes, some people can never go off them, even when they try to slowly ween themselves from the drugs. Some doctors will suggest a patient stay on them for this reason. An even worse doctor will suggest them at all. Medications should only be used for the most severely mentally disordered patients. What you are better off doing is finding a psychotherapist you connect with. Not all therapists will connect with their patients, so be aware it sometimes takes a few to finally find one you mesh with. Once you do, you can begin to unravel and reveal what is in your thought process. In the meantime, there are many things you can do to relax your mind and take the edge off. Meditation, yoga, listening to positive music, reading books about mental health and whatever you feel your troubled issues are, a healthy diet full of omegas (fish) and veggies, I suggest the Mediterranean Diet. Exercise and also hand writing in a journal. Try meet-ups and meet knew people to spend time with, go slow. If you do it just once, at least you gave it a shot and tried. Comfort yourself with things that make you feel good: baths, scenic walks, anything that you personally find joyful. You can also search out a bariatric support group and feel if they tackle any of these issues, but do those in person. Stay offline as much as you can, or use social media less - sometimes it can worsen depression as the connections are not very deep most times. Whatever you do, be gentle on you and don't berate yourself. It's natural to go through changes about ourselves and our lives, whether it's related to bariatric surgery or not. I'm hoping all the best for you.

Hi everyone, thank you for responding. Glad to see i am not alone in the difficulties reaching out. Yes, FMLA paperwork needs to be completed by July 6th as per my job for a leave date of 7/23. The insurance papers are not submitted yet for 8/6 date because they are still submitting July surgery date approval requests. In other words, after 2 emails and a phone call or two, I got a response to my email and a promise to follow up next week... Anxiety still through the roof but a little better. Now just the regular jitters of omg can I follow this 2 week pre-bariatric liquid diet without dying! Thanks all!!

I second this surgery was 2005 and I am still severely anemic plus the two mentioned and several more I currently take ferrous sulfate and pre natal plus Vitamins etc., problem is it is not near enough, mal absorptive issues plague bariatric patients . Give me back my strong body and diabetes, that I could deal with easily, this....NO!

I am seriously exhausted, like almost all the time. I started taking huge doses of B Vitamins in addition to my bariatric vitamins in an effort to make myself a little more alert. Caffeine isn't helping very much either. I realize my body is working hard right now to convert my fat into energy. I get that it's hard work, and takes a toll. However, I am still sleeping 11-12 hours a night. It's hard to be active, and exercise when I feel like I'm dragging myself through the day. Add to that, I've hit a stall. I've been just about single-mindedly focusing on getting all my Protein in, and getting enough Fluid. Any advice, or encouragement would be appreciated. Has anyone been through this before?

Its so hard when this happens, I've been in a funk like this for quite some time. Got too tight, had some fill out and was too loose and have been just eating round my band ever since. For me, it was important to change things up. I needed to see some weight lost, that always motivates me and it hadnt happened in months and months. I also realise that even though I am a staunch defender of cardio, running for an hour five days a week for three years has just about acheived all it can for my body, I've become super efficient at it, its definitely not burning the calories and challenging me like it once was and its not keeping the weight away and helping me to lose it like it did. So I've completely switched it about. I am allowing myself one long slow run a week (because I love doing it) and the rest of the time I am focussing on a really HARD circuit workout I've developed on my treadmill that focusses on some heavy weights with a high heartrate the whole time and I've thrown in a few interval training workouts too (cardio coach is great for this). I committed to five days of perfect eating and I did it, hard though it was. Result? 2 of the pesky 4lb gone and I feel renewed and havent slipped back into that headhunger cookie munching all day long mode for about three weeks. For me, I just need to see a result to get me motivated again. Maintaining is boring. Same weight all the time, day in day out, I think I broke out of my good habits just to see something change!:whatchutalkingabout To give myself the challenge of having to lose a bit again, lol. Perhaps a little blitz would help you too? A completely different eating and exercise regime for a week?

I'm Austin and will be using Dr. Faulkenberry with Southwest Bariatrics..aka Capitol Surgeons Group. They will br submitting for approval for me in mid-May. I researched him thoroughly and found no negative reviews, 0 mortality and haven't been able to find any complication stats on him either. On another site his patients are telling me they have not heard of any complications either. He is named a surgeon of excellence by the Centers gor Excellence and I will be sleeved at St. David hospital which is also a Center of Excellence and he is the Medical Director of their metabolic and bariatric program. Based on all this, my assumption is his surgical skill will be very good also.

Welcome to the lapband journey. I went to my first orientation meeting in October and by the end of December had finished jumping through all the hoops of clearances that both the bariatric program and/or my insurance required from me. I had a documented history of the weight with my doctor and weight watcher books showing I had been doing that for 6 months faithfully. Once they got the insurance submission in, it was back in about 2 weeks. Then it took 6 weeks to get on the surgery schedule. I had my surgery on March 17 and I've never regretted it. Still need to lose about another 60 lbs but its going slowly now. Mostly due to my own stubborness at wanting to eat 'easy' foods when I want comfort - even though I know better. The key for me is to keep trying and remember I never want to go back to where I was 140 lbs ago! Best wishes.

Dr. Philip Schauer. Cleveland Clinic https://my.clevelandclinic.org/departments/bariatric Revison Lap Band to RNY 9/6/18.

Hi James, good to have you on here! I'm in Mayo and had a gastric sleeve in the Galway Clinic a little over a week ago. Whereabouts on the bariatric journey are you? HW 365 CW 332 GW 220 Sleeved 6th March 2018