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I got a call from the bariatric nurse today. “We can schedule your surgery for October 2nd.” That’s two weeks away! And granted, that’s pending insurance approval, but holy cow! I’ve been in the program since March and everything has taken so long due to COVID. I just had my EGD last week, I guess I was just expecting a lot more waiting before getting a surgery date. I’m excited, but at the same time, I kind of wanted to have one last food (and drink) hurrah with friends before surgery. But not going to complain... the wait is almost over!

It is quite possible that your insurance does not cover WLS under any circumstances, regardless of BMI or comorbidities. If your insurance is through your employer, the employer can choose whether or not to include WLS coverage. But that doesn't mean you need to give up on ever having WLS. Here are some options: Change insurance. If you have a spouse who has insurance through a different employer and your spouse's insurance does cover WLS, you could get on your spouse's insurance. Even if the premiums are more expensive, it could be worth it to get the WLS coverage. Or you could try to find a different job with better insurance (easier said than done, I know, but depending on what type of work you do, it may be feasible). Self-pay for surgery. Shop around with different surgeons. They will often have lower costs for self-pay patients than what they charge insurance, so make sure to tell them you'll be self-pay. The advantage to self-pay is that you don't have to jump through as many hoops as the insurance companies require, so you can get surgery sooner. There is a place called Blossom Bariatrics in Las Vegas that specializes in self-pay patients, so you might want to check them out. Medical tourism. A lot of people go to Mexico for WLS to save money. It costs less than surgery in the US even with travel. There are some risks to it, but a lot of people have great experiences with WLS in Mexico. I saw somebody post about it a couple of weeks ago who only paid about $5000 out of pocket, which is almost as much as I paid out of pocket with insurance coverage. Does the seminar you planned to attend cost any money? In my program (and many others), the informational seminar is free, and in that case, it wouldn't hurt to attend just to learn more about the surgery. If it costs money, though, you can get the same information for free online.

this person seems to be hitting various bariatric surgery sites (not just this one). Not sure what this is about.

employers don't always use the standard policy - they can include or exclude coverage of various procedures for their employees. Some don't include the bariatric surgery coverage because it makes the policy more expensive. My insurance didn't cover bariatric surgery until this year, even though some other companies that used this same insurance for their employees DID include bariatric surgery. So when I had surgery five years ago, I had to switch to a different (more expensive) company for a couple of years, and then switch back.

Thanks again everyone for the great advice based on your experiences. Today was MUCH better! I went with fat free cottage cheese for breakfast, and ricotta bake for lunch and dinner. No problems whatsoever! Literally like night and day. I love my surgeon, and I’m glad I went with him, but I heard Dr. Dovec from GBMC Bariatrics speak at a conference today, and afterwards I visited their site and found tons of helpful resources, with lots more detail than my center provided. Here’s the link if interested. https://www.gbmc.org/compbinder

I have BCBSTX and when I rang them today to see if they cover bariatrics I guess my plan doesn't:( absolutely gutted. I have no clue what else to do so happy for you guys. Wishing you every success

I tried a caramel bariatric advantage soft chew today and it went down also tasted pretty good!

I got a couple of bariatric cookbooks just so I would have ideas for things. There are some great recipes in both of them. --- RNY 9/10/20 HW: 245 Day of surgery: 225 CW: 214

There have been many comments for this poor lady I finally found a good explanation on line that you can looking into and verify. Premier Protein – Not Premier for Bariatric Patients! Oct 14, 2018 Abegail Fernandez The jury went to work on Premier Protein, and the verdict is in – almost literally. Premier Protein is in trouble for its misleading label claims on its protein shakes. Not only that, but the shakes may not be all they’re cracked up to be when it comes to helping you lose weight. Here is the story. Legal Trouble for Premier Protein Premier Protein sells all kinds of protein shakes. The ones whose labels state that they have 30 grams of protein per serving are the ones in the settlement. Analysis has found that they have 26 to 29 grams. The flavors that are in the settlement are Vanilla, Chocolate, Strawberries & Cream, Banana & Cream, Peaches & Cream, Cookies & Cream, Mixed Berry, Organic Chocolate, Organic Vanilla, and Caramel. While the company is not admitting wrongdoing or ceasing the sale of these products, there is a class action settlement. You may be eligible for a cash payout if you purchased any of the misleading shakes in the past 7 years, since 2011. Pre-op or post-op, you need to know how much protein is in your shakes. Not Best for Bariatric Patients Every gram of protein counts, but the deception in amount of protein per serving is not the only problem. Even if you are willing to overlook the shortfall in the amount of protein, Premier Protein has a problem with type of protein. Read the ingredients carefully, and you will see that less than 1% of the product is “whey protein concentrate.” Whey protein is the type of protein that you should be looking for because it absorbs more quickly than casein. Whey protein has been shown to increase weight loss and body fat loss in bariatric surgery patients. Another glance at the list of ingredients of Premier Protein shows that “milk protein concentrate” and “casein” are the major sources of protein. Casein is slow-acting. If you had a bariatric surgery type, such as gastric bypass, that interferes with absorption, you may not get all the benefits from casein. What’s Better? We know that you need a protein supplement, so what can you find that has the amount and type of protein you need and the great taste that will encourage you to take care of your needs? BariatricPal Protein One gets our vote. 27 grams of whey protein. 28 vitamins and minerals. Great-tasting French Vanilla, Cinnamon Swirl, and Double Chocolate Fudge. It has a few more advantages over Premier Protein. Over twice as much dietary fiber for fullness and digestive health. Choose from convenient single-serving packets or multi-serving tubs. Comes in powder so you can add water or your favorite beverage. Has an “unflavored” option so you can add it to anything, from soup to smoothies. When it comes to bariatric products, quality counts. Any purchase you make should be from a trusted source because there are a lot of poor-quality or misleading products out there. The few grams of difference between Premier Protein’s claims and reality may not be a lot, but along with the poor choice of casein instead of whey as the main protein source, you might want to seek another source for your protein. Look for a trusted vendor and name brand as you make your choice. What you put in your body really does matter. Hopefully this helps. I could care less about the law suiti but found the other information to reflect my original post that hopefully was sound advice.

I am working on my pre-op diet, I am about two months out from my surgery. Has anyone here used Sentara Martha Jefferson for their gastric sleeve before? I'm just curious as to how they did for you? Thanks! Sent from my SM-G970U using BariatricPal mobile app

I did Bariatric Advantage chews for years but now just take calcium citrate tablets.

You know you are a bariatric person when you are obsessed with "My 600-pound life."

You know you are a bariatric person when it’s your birthday and your brother says, “I’m going to take you to Texas Roadhouse for your birthday. I’m going to buy you a $20 steak and watch you eat 50 cents worth of it!” Happened last week.

"You know you're a bariatric person when you take a bite of food and then spit it out because the taste was not worth the calories."

Since we're still stuck in house- at least we are here in So FL- I follow a few sites that do live videos. One is from successful Bariatric woman that does live makeup tutorials. It’s fun to watch. And I follow her on FB. Her before & after are amazing. I also follow a boutique that sells & models clothes. There are a lot online now. Keeps me busy. Keeps me motivated to want to wear small sizes & some points in how to wear smaller clothes since we don’t have to hide our size anymore. I also follow animal rescue site that I’m very involved with. So these keep me occupied while I’m in house. Of course I do other things but these are relaxing & help me unwind

Anyone out there got any sayings...I came up with a one. 'You know you're a bariatric person when you avoid alcohol not because it could cause you to get really really drunk and lead to alcoholism but because you have to count the massive amount of calories when u drink it.'

"Bariatric Surgery is probably one of the most effective interventions in health care." - Laurie K. Twells, clinical epidemiologist at Memorial University of Newfoundland [2] Are you lurking on these forums debating whether or not you should have surgery? Unsure about making a permanent change to your lifestyle and body, or thinking that since you lost x number of lbs before, you can do it again? Heard about all the horror stories of complications and regain? This was me, one year ago. I want to tell you about the study that changed my mind. This study[1] looked at three groups: 418 patients who sought and underwent Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (surgery group), 417 patients who sought but did not undergo surgery (primarily for insurance reasons) (nonsurgery group 1), and 321 patients who did not seek surgery (nonsurgery group 2). They performed clinical examinations at baseline and at 2 years, 6 years, and 12 years to ascertain the presence of type 2 diabetes, hypertension, and dyslipidemia. Let me highlight a couple images from their study. These charts graph the amount patients lost as a percentage of total weight (NOT excess weight) at 2, 6, and 12 years relative to their baseline. First, this graph is the individuals who did not seek surgery. This group lost only 0.9% of their total weight 12 years after the study began. Those empty triangles? Those are people who ended up getting bariatric surgery anyways. Lets look at the second group, people tho sought out surgery but couldn't get it. So at least we are aware that this group is invested in losing weight. This group fared slightly better, as patients lost a mean of 2% of their body weight at 12 years out. This excludes patients who got surgery (they lost an average of 10%). Lets look at patients who did get the surgery. Patients lost an average of 26% of their total body weight even after 12 years. I found this difference absolutely remarkable. To reach that average 26% body weight loss without surgery, you would need to be in the top 5-10% of losers. Think about that. I used to see getting the surgery as an admission of my own personal failure at willpower and dieting. But this study makes it clear that the probability of success for non-surgical options is astoundingly low relative to bariatric surgery. Studies [3], [4], [5] reinforce the positive impact on health that bariatric surgery has on patients who choose to go through with it. Reading these helped put my mind at ease. Bariatric surgery is one of the best decisions I could make for my health. I encourage you to skim through the studies to see other benefits I didn't outline here. The NYT[2] article is also a great read for seeing why bariatric surgery is so effective. It distills a lot of the studies into facts that you can use to arm yourself when speaking with family and friends who aren't supportive. Sources: [1] https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1700459 [2] https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/13/well/why-weight-loss-surgery-works-when-diets-dont.html [3] https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs11695-012-0718-9 [4] https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/oby.21322 [5] https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamasurgery/fullarticle/2546331#Introduction

@Keatsy honestly needed that. Not in a good place right now. But i get up and deal with the day the best I can. One step at a time even if my limitations don’t let me get too far ... reading these posts we all need to learn to be our own nutritionist on our journey. Each have our differences especially how our bodies process foods. I was trying some meals with beef and cauliflower rice and am not sure what caused a spike in my weight. I rarely if ever eat beef. Perhaps it was that it was a frozen meal (real good foods Mongolian beef bowl) guess I’ll stick to doing it my way. I’m still testing the waters with cauliflower rice. At least post gastric bypass that is. I ate it often before. I’m wondering what surgery your friend had that she is having reflux. And that she can eat so much without pains. Did she have sleeve? A lot of times with sleeve maybe the nutritionist guidelines can be more lax. Some nutritionists think carbs are ok even early on. But my nutritionist guidelines save complex, healthy carbs for maintenance and then only after having protein first so very minimal carbs. And usually from vegetables and healthy sources. It is strange how different they can be. And it can be very damaging to the success of the bariatric patient’s success. Also with sleeve that’s usually what causes eventual reflux or GERd. And then people usually end up getting revision to RNY. it’s hard to know what to say even to a friend. I was in similar position years ago a friend eating herself sick, literally but I couldn’t confront her about it. But that was a very difficult situation. If this is a close friend and she trusts you gently ask about her nutritionist and why she approves of so much carbs and sugar. Especially during the weight loss phase. Maybe just curious to compare to yours. I would think mot nutritionist guidelines would say very little if any sugar. I don’t know if it’s different for sleeve.

Hey everyone! It's a new week! New thread! Honestly, I am having trouble with things to be thankful for as I've been dealing with a lot of muscle and joint pain the past few days in both of my arms. My right arm feels like it's an RSI that I've dealt with intermittently in the past, though it hurts worse this time around. Not sure what is going on with my left shoulder. It has made sleep very difficult the past few nights. Coupled with a lower weight loss this week and reemergence of constipation and I've got a bit of the blahs going on. That said, I am thankful for the amazing fresh fish market that's 30 minutes from my house for giving me delicious options for protein. I'm thankful for Halo Top/Nick's light ice creams for giving me a way to occasionally indulge in some ice cream without completely tanking my calorie count. I'm thankful for the Favorite Grocery Items and Food Before & After threads for all of the countless ideas for meals to make down the road. And I'm thankful that my doctor didn't have an issue when I told him I wanted to talk about bariatric vitamin options soon so that I can stop drinking these awful Celebrate 4-in-1 shakes.

This weekend, I had a very unusual and uncomfortable experience, but I imagine it's not that uncommon among those of us who have had bariatric surgery. My husband and I were taken out to dinner by a business associate of my husband's. There were six people at dinner and the gentleman who was buying is well known for his excessiveness. He ordered incredible amounts of food for the table, including appetizers, entrees, desserts and multiple bottles of wine. The dinner was a marathon, and I tried to keep up well enough, pacing myself and pushing food around on my plate, etc. However, when my husband got up to use the restroom, our "host" (who by then had had more than a few glasses of wine) started "food shaming" me...i.e. "What's wrong with you? Didn't you like your meal? Why aren't you eating? Don't you like dessert? Come on and drink more, like the rest of us!" and so on. It was awkward, uncomfortable, and totally unexpected, and I was caught off guard. Of course, now after the fact, I can think of many things to say in return, but I was completely embarrassed, especially since he had the attention of the entire table. All my life, I've been embarrassed and shamed for eating too much. Now I'm being shamed for eating too little. I thought about explaining afterward about my surgery, but it seems like such a personal thing to divulge to people I barely know. Anyone else have a similar experience?

Hi there. I’m new to Bariatric Pal. Needing a community. I had gastric bypass 2006 top weight 301 current weight 165. My lowest was 138 intentional gained 10 lbs (with doctor’s guidance) bc I was getting very cold. However in 2018 I started playing around with carbs and now paying for it. What I remember was doing no carbs in the beginning. I think maybe the first year. The focus was protein. My belief and still is that the gastric bypass team doctor, surgeon, dietician are my guide. I ask lots of questions and keep food journals. The foods that got me to 301 I had to let go. And they are the foods that caused me the weight gain. Hope this helps some. sylvia

So tonight involved trying to make something other than leftover ricotta bake or reheating the frozen bariatric shepherd's pie servings my mom made for me. And it also involved trying out two new products to see how I liked them. Even then, I kept it simple and just heated up some Tyson's grilled chicken strips, mixed it with some tofu shirataki macaroni elbows I grabbed at my local Asian supermarket, and some Spicy Garlic Parm sauce from Taste. Sprinkled generously with some Parmesan cheese and dug in. The flavor of the sauce was stellar and had a nice heat to it. The noodles were...odd. There wasn't anything wrong flavor-wise (wasn't really ANY flavor) but the texture was reeeeeeaaaalllllly weird. They're very chewy. It didn't completely turn me off of them, but will take some getting used to. All told, 18g of protein packed into 117 calories and it managed to hit the spot.

I think that, as with most practices that I have seen that offer the DS, they have little need to do the RNY anymore - they find that, overall, the DS works better and for those patients who don't need as strong a tool, the VSG (which is the stomach half of the DS) works just as well. However, there are situations where the RNY is the appropriate procedure for some patients, so most still offer it when needed. Most practices don't offer the DS because it's more technically challenging than the RNY or VSG and most surgeons have to take time out from their practices to go back to school (usually a residency with another practice) to learn how to do it, get some guided practice on it and get up to speed on the differences in after care. Most who are currently doing them got into it 15-20 years or more ago when they were dissatisfied with the results of the existing bariatric procedures, which at the time was primarily the RNY and lap bands.

It’s tough, I hit a lot of walls because I was diagnosed with Myalgic Encephalomyelitis from age 9, it’s lifelong and is one of few medical conditions that exertion and exercise are damaging. I found out the hard way and the medical community didn’t call it post exertional malaise until recently. So I ended up with many other medical conditions. I’d hoped to not get over 200 Lbs again but before my gastric bypass surgery I did. My BMI was over 40 which helped qualify me for my insurance but it was hard. Eating similar healthy foods to my mom, maybe even less calories yet gained weight. I was At a point that I knew what to do, I had studied holistic health and nutrition. I knew how to eat low carb. Holy heck I let loose and ate a kale salad with Gardein crab-less crab cakes that was my version of cheating 🤣 or Gardein Fishless fish filets with a few veggie tots. I just couldn’t be quite as strict low carb with my gallbladder acting up. But the rate my weight was going up was crazy. so I was on the verge of giving up. It was all or nothing. I knew that I needed the tool of gastric bypass surgery to help me reduce calories, the bypass would help as well with the hormones. At least that’s what I hoped. I kept to extremely strict low calorie after surgery and my main goal was protein. And I was grateful when I finally saw results. I think RNY might have more of a hormone impact but I don’t remember the exact science of it. I know I wouldn’t have gotten here without it. I’m struggling with a few issues but that’s the life with chronic illness. I hope you have. A good doctor. Mine hasn’t a clue. I had to do my own work. I begged for help as I gained. And her response oh your weight is fine, even at my heaviest. I’m only 5’ 208lbs is a lot to carry on a already exhausted body with severe muscle weakness and fatigue and chronic pain. I didnt have any hormone therapy because I had surgery for endometriosis and the hormones would just cause it to grow. i think you can succeed because you know the right tools to get there and along with the tool of bariatric surgery It’s another tool in the box to get ahead. It helps to find the right balance of protein and calories. I have log of my protein and calories and weight not quite from the start but as soon as I realized it was beneficial. all the best to you

Hi everyone, I’ve been lurking on this board for a while but this is my first post! I am going to hit my one year gastric sleeve anniversary in a few weeks and have lost 95 pounds, putting me at a BMI OF 24.8 (with a lot of loose belly skin). I want to hit 100 pounds down total, but don’t want to lose much more than that. From researching this forum and elsewhere, I’ve seen most people say you should be at a stable weight for 3-6 months minimum before plastic surgery. Due to current circumstances, I am working remotely indefinitely and have moved in with family at least until late winter/early spring, at which point I may have to return to the office. Because of this, I’m considering a tummy tuck and possible breast lift in late December. The pros are that I have my family to help me recover, I can use my holiday break time to request less time off from work, and I will be able to continue recovering while working remotely (and won’t have to deal with explaining my absence to a bunch of coworkers). The major cons are that I will only be about 2.25 months out from my sleeve surgery and wonder if I’d get better results if I wait, and also feel nervous about doing this during a pandemic! I’m wondering what you would do in my situation, or if you have advice based on having skin removal sooner or later from your bariatric surgery. I’m leaning towards taking advantage of my current situation, but also want to avoid subpar results. Thank you!