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Hi Everyone on this site... Did you know that there is an "official" Twin Cities Bariatric Pal site? There are a bunch of us meeting this Saturday (Sept 20) at the Perkins in Fridley (because this is centrally located for metro area). We're meeting at 10am. The Perkins is on University Ave., just a bit north of 694 and really easy to find. Hope one or all of you can join us. I am going to ask the host to seat us under the name "B Pal" so people can find out table. My name is Marybeth Reed and I belong to a couple of message boards. The twin cities chapter one is pretty active. You can find it under this information: MN - Minneapolis/St.Paulin USA BariatricPal Local Chapters Started by GardenLady, June 04, 2014

Hello, You should really try Isopure. It is the best! It's an isolated protein (which is what we need) and you can buy it at your local Vitamin Shoppe. I also get all my vitamins there as well. They have a whole line of bariatric vitamins. Hope this helps.

This is my first post on this forum. I just got off the phone with UHC in regards to having Vertical Sleeve. I was approved 8 days after the surgeon's office submitted the paperwork. My insurance requirements 6 month physicians supervised diet. A visit with a bariatric psychologist My surgeon also required the following sleep study A pre-op visit a bariatric dietitian along with a commitment for post-op follow ups Attend a support group meeting. My insurance is a self funded large employer plan administered by UHC . The plan title is Choice Plus PPO.

According to my insurance card that I am looking at, I have the same insurance as you, and I keep getting refused for bariatric surgery, because they claim it is excluded. I am totally confused now!!!!

Omg these taste so good but now I am worried. I am trying to get all my vitamins, etc ready before surgery and ordered a three month supply. The problem is these taste like candy and I am already craving them. I'm scared they will turn into a trigger food. Has anyone else had this problem?

So I had a surgery date scheduled on the 1st day I seen the Dr for bariatric surgery (scheduled about 3 months later). I was giving a list of tests and specialists I had to see before a certain date to receive insurance approval. My EGD is in about 2 weeks. My surgery is January 22, 2021. Sent from my SM-G960U using BariatricPal mobile app

Rockwood Weight Loss Surgery Center This is the total cost (minus two night stay in Deaconess Medical Center) for sleeve/bypass/lapband. They also require a bariatric psych eval (around $300), an EKG and labs. Some people might need more testing. These are not listed in cost, as you get them through PCP. Cost for sleeve is just under $7000.

The exact same thing happened to me with the Bariatric Advantage vitamins! I took them a few times before realizing that was what was causing instant nausea, and spent 20 mins laying flat hoping not to throw up! I wonder what it is about them?

Hi everyone,my name is Helen Bauzon and I work as a Bariatric Dietitian and I am a magazine contributor within this forum. I have received the permission by Alex Brecher to ask your assistance in completing a survey. I am presenting in 3 weeks at a conference detailing "how to keep the bariatric patient well nourished while losing weight". I am looking to ideally obtain 100 replies from individuals who have had a sleeve gastrectomy. If you would like to contribute your feedback, you can do so by clicking on the following link https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/6G76QLV Thank you very much in advance Helen Bauzon

I have a fancy scale that measures body Water, body fat, bone weight, visceral fat, etc. While it may not be 100% accurate, it is the same brand as used at the bariatric center and is good enough to monitor trends. My bones weigh no where near 20 lbs, and weigh the same before surgery and after reaching goal, 5.6 pounds. Of course, others will be different, but my husband who is quite stocky, has bone weight of about 6 pounds. I can't imagine anyone's bones weighing 20 pounds, but I guess it's possible. Having said all that, I look like I weigh about 150, when I weigh 165. I often wonder if that's the case because of the loose skin. We cram it into our clothes, and look smaller. We would likely weigh a lot less and have a lower BMI without all that skin.

It's not even about how you look. This is about your health and quality of life. You will find that bariatric surgery will draw a line in the sand over who are your real friends and who are just nosy judgemental acquaintances.

Dr. Rodriguez is supposed to be one of the first surgeons to start performing lap band surgery. He's a very able surgeon from what I have heard and Mellis has also corroborated in the above post what I have heard. Here's where I got Dr. Rodriguez brief profile: Dr. Arturo Rodriguez - Bariatric Surgery (lap band, gastric sleeve, gastric bypass, revision surgery) in Mexico The website also has some info about lap band costs and procedure and they list Dr. Rodriguez as one of their associated surgeons. I found it here: Cost of Lap Band Surgery | Mexico, Costa Rica, India, Belgium | Lap Band Specials |Price of Gastric Band Packages| Lap Band Surgery Cost

At my support groups they have talked about this book: The Emotional First Aid Kit: A Practical Guide to Life after Bariatric ... of the eating programs for Lap-Band, gastric bypass, and Duodenal Switch k: I was told it is available on amazon, I want to buy it soon!

I also take 2 children's multi with Iron (my nutritionist wants me to take an adult chewable like I was before surgery, but I told her I had to finish this bottle of children's...they just seem easier to chew). I take 1,200 mg of calcium citrate chewy bites, and based on my pre-op lab work, 10,000 IU's of Vitamin D since I am deficient. I haven't actually taken all of the Vitamin D since surgery. I take a chewable form of it that gets me to about 3,000 IU's. I bought the Bariatric Advantage Vitamin D that you are supposed to swallow and it should dissolve before hitting your stomach, but I've been too afraid to take it. My goal is to start this next week.

Even searching through posts/threads to see if anyone is from Pennsylvania or using Dr. Aerrola or even Dr.Ali from Hamot Bariatrics in Erie, PA?

I'm 6 weeks post op and have tried so many different vitamins. The chewable a from celebrate and bariatric advantage make me vomit. I've tried orange, berry something and vanilla. My doctor moved me to capsules at 2 weeks because of the vomiting and still the same thing! I'm taking celebrate Multi capsules and each time I swallow one I know to grAb my pink puke tray. It's to the point where I skip them most times because I don't want to throw up. My NUT suggested I open and mix them with food, but any way I put them into my body, they come back up. It's so frustrating!!!

@@alishaSD I think you will need a valid passport. How fast can you get it renewed?

I was banded October 15, 2013. My heaviest weight was 222 & when I started the Lap Band process I was 206. Since surgery I've lost 21 lbs. (I gained a few and lost a few.) But I feel like I don't have a support system (that is suitable for me) from my doctor. Most of you had doctors that had you on a pre-surgery diet, mine didn't. I had the WORST GAS PAINS EVER after surger for about a week. My band was not filled during the surgery and I went in for my first fill December 2nd & was filled with 5 cc's. Second fill February 3rd with 1.5 cc's, and I just had my 3rd fill on March 31st with 1.8 cc's. I now have a total of 8.3 in my size 11 Realize band. Next appointment is in THREE months! So far my protocol has been "stay away from breads and pastas". No meal plan, no monthly visits, no nothing. I have been relying on Bariatric Pal for my protocol, support, and advice. I feel like an abandoned child. In the begining, I do very well when I have someone to report to and a meal plan to follow. Um yes, I'm needy in the beginning then I'm ok after that. But this 3rd fill has me feeling some type of way. I'm totally lost and don't know what to eat. I'm at the point where I'm putting myself on a DIET. I made an appointment with my nutritionist and have signed up with My Fitness Pal (user name vlwx31). I have no idea how many calories I should be consuming. But I'll figure it out. I just needed to vent.

Randy Jackson! He had bariatric surgery in 2003. He has diabetes and lost 100 pounds because of surgery.

Hi Christine, I just recently had VSG surgery by Dr Aceves in Mexicali, on September 23. I highly recommend him. My insurance does not cover the surgery so I was self pay, and heard about the more affordable options in Mexico, so I did a lot of research for several months on physicians and facilities there. His program was my choice for a lot of reasons. First, because of his extensive experience with this particular surgery, and the fact that he does other surgery as well. He has performed over 600 VSG's. There are very few surgeons who have done this many. The research that I read in professional journals states that once a surgeon has performed over 300 of a particular operations, they have seen everything there is to see and their complication rate goes way down. His complication rate is lower than national averages that are reported in the literature. I did not want to see a surgeon who was "learning" on me! Secondly, the number of years he has been operating in general was important to me. He has 0ver 18 years experience with laparoscopic surgery and 10 years with bariatric surgery. Third, the surgery takes place in a full-service hospital, not a "surgery clinic", which is the case with some of the Mexican surgeons. I am safety conscious, so in the event there is a complication, I wanted to be in a hospital that had an ICU, blood bank, full service radiology dept, etc. Fourth, Dr Aceves' program also provides an internal medicine evaluation, and he has an assistant surgeon who also sees you regularly. You are visitied MULTIPLE times each day by the physicians. I have never seen such attentive care by physicians in US hospitals, and I have worked in many of them since I am an RN for over 30 years. Dr Aceves and Dr Campos in particular were outstandingly kind and attentive. Fifth, Dr Aceves does 3 leak tests before you leave. These are tests to be sure there are no leaks in your new sleeve, which is one of the more serious complications that can have. Some physicians don't do this number of tests. Dr Aceves is conservative about this and I was glad to learn it. His post-op diet is also conservative compared to many, because a more conservative approach can help prevent post-operative leaks. Sixth, the program was so user-friendly. They assign you a coordinator at the beginning who answers all your questions via phone or email. Their driver picks you up at the airport in San Diego, transports you to the hospital where pre-op labs/xrays/ekg are done; they drive you tor a nice hotel room that first night, they transport you back to the hospital for surgery the next day, you stay in the hospital for 4 days and then are taken directly to the airport on that 4th day. All this is included in the fee, which is about 1/2 what you would pay in the US. You pay your own airfare. When I missed my connecting flight due to weather, I immediately called my coordinator and she re-arranged my pick-up time, transportation, hotel reservation, and lab schedule and took care of everything. It was so easy, I did not have to worry one bit. I found the hospital to be very beautiful, and cleaner than any hospital I have ever been in. It is a private hospital, and has decor more attractive than any I have been in here in the USA. The staff are very nice, most of them speak good English, and they are very kind and attentive to your needs. If you have any questions or concerns at all, Dr. Aceves is right there to answer them and he truly listens, as does his assistant, Dr. Campos. They are especially concerned about pain control after surgery, and I have to tell you, I had very minimal pain after the surgery. I've had 3 prior surgeries in the US and the kind of pain management in this program was the very best. I received spinal anesthesia as well as general, which is recommended in some of the research literature I had read prior to deciding. It truly was amazing for pain management. It is important that you do your own research until you are comfortable with your own choice, and you can read a lot about various physicians and facilities on this website and the obesity help website too. At OH you can research how many surgeries various physicians have done. Read, read, read before you decide, so you are really comfortable with it. Best of luck to you!

I struggle with the same thing. I am definitely still low energy. My surgery was 3/9/16. I think it is pretty common to be totes the first few months. I guess no one posts they are too tired to work out in Instagram. I have done workouts, but I was super tired the next day. Everyone keeps telling me it is still very early on. I have a bariatric small group training I do that really helps. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

Since I don't know and am not sure, I'd ask that you speak to your dr., nutritionist, bariatric consultant or someone in the medical field to be certain on those guidelines and when you can go beyond 4 oz.s. There are guidelines to follow to help you make a lifestyle change. And you can stretch your sleeve out. I'm not sure how leaks happen, what all causes each of them, but I had one and believe me ---- I'd rather make an extra call to pester my dr. or his office or a medical professional than wish a leak or it's effects on anyone else.

So anyway, Today I had my big meeting with my surgeon and the nurse practitioner. Well because I have some issues with the company I work for, we are in a time constraint. My surgeon knows this and is working with me to move fast. So his team that deals with the insurance, (great people by the way) asked me to see if I could get the office notes from my primary care physician (pcp) for the past two years and a letter saying there was no reason he could think of medically why I shouldn't be a good candidate for bariatric surgery. Well ive had my PCP for nigh on 20 years. I knew I would have no problems. So I drove to the doctors office and sure they gave me the office notes but then there was a problem. My pcp who had been a friend even for years refused to write the letter. Not for any medical reason, but because his practice is affiliated with a different hospital than the one im having my surgery in. The hospital he is affiliated with couldn't get me in to their program for 9 months at a minimum and I would have to have ll my tests done in boston, a good distance from my home, and expensive to park etc. Also the surgeon I chose has done over 100 sleeves, and theirs has not. So I talked with my team and they basically said we will go without his letter and we should be ok. I ask , have any of you dealt with affiliation issues and your PCP?

In the U.S., depending on the insurance company requirements, it can be months before surgery is approved. I was lucky in that my insurance is bariatric friendly. In less than 1 month, I had my 1st appointment, was sleeved and released from the hospital. But I went to great lengths to get all my pre-op testing done quickly. In 2 weeks, I'd had all the blood work, xrays, EDG, and psych eval completed. On top of that, I had a co-morbidity (sleep apnea) and I had done a doctor supervised diet years earlier that met my insurance pre-qualifications.

Totally agree with @CanyonBaby. This really is a journey you both go through together. If you already don't have support, you won't likely get it diwn the road. My husband is obese as well and really needs to do something for himself but in the meantime I do not pressure him. He will make the appropriate changes as he becomes more ready. As far as I go, he is so proud of the progress I have made that he tells my story all the time. We had to see my bariatric doctor this week because I am having a very difficult time eating much of anything following another surgery. My husband went on and on about how engaged I am in this journey, whether it be a support group lead role or simply helping spread the word. My doctor said to my husband that it is really refreshing to see a spouse so excited for his significant other. He really is my biggest supporter. He is my very best friend and has done nothing but support my choices along the way. I would like to think most healthy strong marriages become stronger after this type of life changing event.