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I take Bariatric Advantage multi w iron is a cap 3/day and calcium (wild cherry chewable) 3/day. The calcium tastes great. Not sure why so many Docs recommend chewable. That said I'm looking to switch as takng 6 times per day is a pita. HTH W

Darn! I really thought Fair Oaks had a bariatric unit too? Not sure why I thought that. I had a spinal fusion (neck) there and got a private room. Hubby slept in the recliner for 3 days (and nights) til I was released...bless him! I hope and pray for a private room again!! Llamalover, do let us know how your appt goes!!

I take a chewable probiotic called FloraVantage Chewable. It's from the Bariatric Advantage brand. It has really improved my digestion/bathroom trips. Also, Smooth Move tea. Works wonders and very gentle on the tummy!

Hi abarr, hope there's none of your namesake Candy bars in your future. Know temptations are there but you and @ kandk are going to be triumphant in the. Bariatric Wars next week. Almost over but the shouting for you 2. Excitement reaching a peak yet? Sent from my VS880PP using BariatricPal mobile app

I think it's important to talk about what we're eating. We do a lot of that. In minutia. We lable foods good and evil. We obsess about the "right" diet, calories, choices, etc.... But that's really the easy part. The hard part is figuring out WHY we're eating. WHY we ate ourselves to morbid obesity, and what need we were trying to address when we put that food in our bodies. I feel like if those needs aren't figured out and meaningfully delt with this whole process is really vulnerable to failure. I feel like we never talk about why we ate so much. I'm not saying we need pity party hour with extensive confessionals chronicallying every challenge, insecurity and poopy life event...lol. But I feel like sharing those little eureka moments were we've identified some little unmet need that resulted in bad choices....would be a good thing. For instance.... I used to get the KFC six million calorie dinner with the 12 pieces of chicken, 3 sides, biscuits and the chocolate chip cake....after grocery shopping. It was almost an unwritten thing. I deserved it. In some weird justification, I figured that I was shopping, carrying stuff in, putting things away, selflessly giving up time to a task I sort of despised for my family. Of course I deserved chicken! But really, what I wanted at the core of things....was support. I wanted to feel appreciated, and rewarded for being a good doobie. I wanted to feel nurtured after a stressful task that I hated. These days....we have a new rule at the house. The person who does the grocery shopping gets to relax and take a bath while the other person does the cooking. And you know what? It works. I feel appreciated, supported. And I eat a more balanced decent dinner and have a win. That feels good. I learned that I geninely don't like asking for help...and that I need to more often. Just writing that makes me cringe. My bariatric therapist did a lot of talking about the "whys" of over eating, and finding ways to get the desired needs met that aren't self sabotaging. I wish we talked about the "whys" more.

I think it's great that you and the hubster are doing a major food overhaul. That will be a great benefit to you and your family, but I have to ask... You're only 3 weeks post-op and allowed to eat anything you want? I'm not a medical professional and not employed by your bariatric surgeon, but at 3 weeks post-op, I wasn't allowed to eat brownies and graham crackers. I was allowed to eat liquid and pureed food. The reason for that is that the post-op period is all about healing and not so much about weight loss. In order to digest stuff like brownies and graham crackers, your stomach has to expand and contract to break the food down enough to pass into your intestines. That movement can disturb the position of your band against your stomach. In fact, one of the most common causes of band slips (which could require more surgery to fix) is failure to follow the post-op diet progression (Clear liquids, full liquids, purees, soft foods, solid foods). But...if your surgeon's post-op regime allows you to eat anything, so be it. And now I'll go on to answer your question about go-to sweets. The failure of sugar-free pudding cups to satisfy your sweet tooth doesn't surprise me. I felt the same was as new post-op, mostly because I was accustomed to eating 1/2 gallon of ice cream every night, plus Cookies and donuts and candy whenever I wanted. Most successful WLS patients find that they need to go through an uncomfortable period of weaning off sweets before they can give up that stuff forever. I'm not saying that you can never eat sweets again, but if sweets are your weakness, your ability to limit them may be totally absent, and if you want to lose weight and maintain that weight loss, sweets may be something you need to give up for the foreseeable future. The more you eat sweets, the more your body depends on and craves them. For a while I played with eating candy like sugar-free Reese's PB cups. I found that it was just as easy to eat a dozen of those as it was to eat a dozen of the regular stuff, so I ended up with a bad case of diarrhea from the sugar substitutes and (guess what?) stalled weight loss. Then I tried Atkins indulgence bars (or whatever they're called), especially one that tasted like a Mounds bar. I would tell myself I'd eat just half...ha! And then I'd have the diarrhea again and tell myself again that I'd never eat that stuff again. Finally I found some treats that worked. Now, you may be able to eat any amount of this stuff now, but may not be able to eat that much later on when you've had some fills, so I'm afraid you're going to have to exercise some self-restraint. Your band is not ever going to jump out of your throat and fling that naughty food aside. It's not going to ring alarms or flash red warning lights or scream, "Leepers! Cease and desist!" OK, finally I'll get to the sweet stuff. Thank you for bearing with me this far. When I'm in the mood for chocolate, I eat 1/2 of a chocolate Protein bar. Be sure to read the nutritional info on the package because a lot of Protein Bars are meant to appeal to body builders who want to gain weight. If there's more than 15 grams of carbs or sugars in a Protein Bar, I give it a pass. When I'm in the mood for ice cream, I peel a banana, put it in a zip-lock bag, and stick it in the freezer until it's very cold. It might look kind of brown after that, but once I stir a sprinkling of mini chocolate chips into it, it tastes like fabulous. You could even stir it into that blah sugar-free pudding, top it with sugar-free Cool Whip, and have yourself a choco-banana Sunday. Even better, combine 1 tablespoon of Peanut Butter with the banana, and you have a choco-monkey treat. If you're truly allowed to eat any food now, including solid foods like fruits and veggies, I can give you some more suggestions. Just let me know. Jean

​Your not a wuss, please hang in there! Call your bariatric team and let them know you are struggling. I did and they added a few specific veggies to help during the tough moments. They would rather have you call them then go off the plan, you can do this!

Have any of you tried the Barimelt multivitamin smooth fruit flavor or Bariatric Fusion Soft Chew mixed berry? I have an anaphylactic allergy to shellfish and nuts and these are the only ones that are manufactured in a facility not with these items that I can find. I did contact my allergist and was advised not to even test the waters per se even though they follow rigorous cleaning. Thanks for any help you can provide. I have read different reviews.

I have a child and I am currently 1 week post RNY. Like you I wanted a sleeve but my reflux was too bad and I wanted to avoid another possible surgery in the future to correct it or convert it since it's not just that easy as oh just get a revision. My husband and I are not planning to have more kids per say, but if after my waiting period something happens then we would be thrilled!! We had to endure trying, expensive, and frustrating fertility treatments in order to have our child and while I wouldn't change it for the world, if I had to do it over I would have had surgery first. I'm reading some misinformation on here in regards to malabsorption and by no means am I an expert and truthfully that is the exact reason I was afraid to have RNY, but truth is your body may not receive as many calories or nutrients from foods that aren't the greatest for you. That is the benefits to malabsorption. Your stomach doesn't just dump everything the second you ingest it unless in most people it's pretty unhealthy and in that case you're not receiving nutrition from something like that anyway even if you didn't have the surgery. My very good friend had RNY almost 6 years ago and while she still had issues getting pregnant she is currently pregnant with her second child in less than a year lol! Actually her children will be 1 year and 9 days apart if baby 2 stays in there that long ha ha! She had zero complications as it relates to her surgery and was substantially healthier and more readily able to carry a child because of it. The only thing that's common in terms of a normal pregnancy and RNY is having your glucose testing done differently and finding a dr that had treated and delivered babies to mothers that have had RNY just in case. Back to the malabsorption, as long. As you are eating correctly and being religious about taking your vitamins as directed by your bariatric program/surgeon you shouldn't ever be malnourished. This requires follow up blood work and specified intervals forever and reporting to your doctor if you feel off. Also eating for 2 is not healthy and it's not a thing, you literally only need 100 more calories a day when you are pregnant and that essentially an extra, healthy protein filled snack. I would not be concerned about malabsorption since there is a big difference between malabsorption and malnutrition and as long as you stick to the plan and take your supplements and get in your protein you would be fine. I know a lot of people do research into the things they want to do and their surgeries but I kind of go over board on it before doing anything and for me this was the right choice! All of the research I read about pregnancy after WLS showed significant higher numbers of healthy babies and healthy mothers with a drastic reduction in pregnancy/higher weight related complication such as GD, PreE, bed rest, etc.. I was lucky I had a healthy pregnancy and a healthy daughter and while I wasn't as big as I am now I only gained 20lbs my entire pregnancy, ate healthy, and kept active. I however was always worried and I actually switched doctors about 12ish weeks in because my weight was an issue for them and I would leave every appointment crying. You need to make the choice that's right for your life, but word of advice I don't think I will ever go back to regular vitamins you swallow even though they say 6-8 weeks after you can take pills like normal. I think it's better to have the nutrients available almost immediately for absorption by allowing them to dissolve or using chewable.

Hi Roni, First, congratulation on making the choice to improve your health! This is NOT an easy journey, but it is one that is SO worth taking. I had RNY on 6/25/2013. I was 48 years old, 5’2” tall and weighed 331 pounds when I first met with the doctors at my Bariatric Clinic. I am now 51 year old and this morning I weighed in at 127 pounds! Now I am working to maintain a loss of over 200 Pounds! This can be done! When I met with my Bariatric team back in January of 2013, I was told that I needed to weigh under 300 pounds in order for my surgeon to perform a laparoscopic procedure – and I REALLY didn’t want to have an open procedure. It was a MAJOR incentive for change. I mapped out changes that I knew I needed to make – and decided that I would make one change every week. This way I wouldn’t feel like I had to change EVERYTHING at once. I think my first change was replacing orange juice at Breakfast with a Protein shake. I am a member of the YMCA and I found a recumbent elliptical machine that I could use for exercise – for 20 minutes 3 times a week! I had SO MUCH knee pain that it was hard for me to walk. Eventually, I gave up my Diet Coke, began using MyFitnessPal.com to document what I eat and drink, stopped drinking with my meals, and increased my Water intake. All of these things (and more) were done slowly, over several months. Did it work? YOU BET!! By time I had surgery I was down 45 pounds. I had a VERY success laparoscopic procedure with no complications. Because I was exercising daily by the time I had surgery, my recovery was quicker and easier than many. I set myself up for success before I ever entered the operating room. YOU CAN TOO! Take it one small step at a time. Those steps really add up. This journey is a marathon, not a sprint! Remember that. As long as you keep moving forward, you are moving! That will get you to your goal. Feel free to write to me if you would like a friend/mentor. Best wishes! Carol

Tiffykins, you had a great experience, they didn't give me anything and I left there feeling like I don't have a personality but they said that stuff goes to the bariatric clinic. Yes the questions were funny at times: Do you think you are good at anything you do? (Yes I am super confident that's why I ended up overweight!) Do you like being bossed around? (I thought...no...do you? but there was only *true or *false) Are you lying on this questionnaire?(If you can't trust me then...)

I was a pretty healthy person up until 2008, when my liver enzymes first became elevated. I had reached my then highest weight of 304, and then managed to get down to 263 through diet and exercise. My enzymes went back to normal. Then I got pregnant in 2010 and after I had my son, my health got worse. I was diagnosed with severe asthma around 2014, and my liver enzymes were elevated again. I started gaining weight steadily until I reached my all time high of 393 with a bmi of 69 (I am 5'3"). Back in January, I had my gallbladder removed.. I mentioned to the surgeon that I would be seeing a liver specialist because my liver enzymes kept getting higher and he did a biopsy while he was in there. The results were not good. I was diagnosed with Non Alcoholic Steatohepatitis (NASH) and hepatic fibrosis. The surgeon said my liver looked really bad, and he didn't see me living past 60. I'm an RN and have seen people die of liver failure and it's awful. I was 48 (just turned 49), and I had wanted wls for a long time but our insurance doesn't cover it. What that surgeon said was a wake up call, and so I made the decision to pay for the surgery myself. I wanted a sleeve, but the first bariatric surgeon recommended RNY because of my weight. I had planned to get that, but then COVID happened and they laid off that surgeon so I went to a different one that my cousin had RNY with 10 years ago. He told me about the Loop DS. He said I was a good candidate for it because of my high bmi and since I was self pay. It's still investigational and not covered by insurance. So I decided to do it. I had surgery on July 23rd. I was 368 on surgery day. The surgery went well but I was very nauseated the first few days and vomited old blood just like NovaLuna described. After that, and a kidney stone 11 days post op, recovery has been pretty smooth. I never really had much pain. As of today, I'm 322 pounds, walking every day, and feeling amazing, even though I'm still significantly obese. I was to the point of barely being able to walk anymore, and personal hygiene was hard. I had just been diagnosed with high BP and put on meds in May. I've been off the meds since surgery. I just had my first labs and everything was normal. My liver enzymes are still elevated, but about half of what they were. It's wonderful to be active again and being able to walk with my husband and son, who is a very active boy! I still have a long way to go but I'm so happy I did the surgery and don't regret it one bit! Good luck to you! Sent from my Nokia 7.2 using BariatricPal mobile app

Hey hey! Ull be glad to know we have similar starting stats! I am 31 years old, had a BMI of 40.67 and was a size 18-20. I was 252lbs at my highest (10 days prior to vertical gastric sleeve surgery) and I was 242lbs on 7.27.20 (day of surgery). I am 5ft 6. I am 2 months post op now. Already i am down to 206lbs. I have lost 45lbs in total and 35 in two months since surgery.my bmi is 33.25 at the moment. I no longer have hip and back pain, my face is back to looking like "myself" again, I wake up happy every single day now and don't feel like I need to to hide away inside the house because of shame. I wear a size 16 at the moment. I have always had a big butt. Washing and wiping my own butt before surgery had started getting difficult which was one of my main wake up calls. I no longer have any issues with this at all only two months out! I could go on and on. There are sooooo many pros to having wls of any kind! My husband was skeptical that wls was necessary and wanted me to diet and work out with him for another year before we considered "something so drastic"..he now agrees this is exactly what I needed and is glad we didn't wait another year of me feeling the way I did about myself. As far as recovery, it was very easy for me. Sharp pain from incision sutures for abt a week, maybe 1.5 weeks. Within 2 weeks I had no pain. Can eat very little (have to remind myself to eat bc im not hungry and it seems kind of tedious to eat now bc its only like 4-5 bites of something) and i have no desire to eat sweets or junk anymore. That is huge for me bc I would easily and regularly consume cookies, brownies, candy bars, chips and crackers by the box/package by myself in just a few days. I craved snacks all day everyday. The only "con" i am experiencing is that i loved water before surgery and chugged it all day everyday. Now it's another thing i have to remind myself to do and it feels so tedious because i can only sip water now, not chug. Oh oops i forgot.. vitamins and meds are another "con" for me because I was not any meds prior to sleeve surgery and didnt take vitamins. Now i take like 3 meds and vitamins daily. My stomach is so small it feels as tho I've eaten after just taking my meds. I used to be able to throw back 3 Tylenols and swallow at once but now i take each pill one at a time because i feel like im gonna choke on the smallest pill size. I think this is just a fear tho..like a mental thing..and not actually a legit concern or something that is experienced by others lol. Anyways, i hope i covered enough for u. If u have any other questions, feel free to ask. Im an open book and wish i had found this app when i was preop. I did find TONS of videos on YouTube that convinced me sleeve surgery was just as good of an option as bypass for me tho! The videos I watched showed sleevers years out remaining successful and losing over 100lbs. The videos showed me ppl experiencing restriction and maintaining their goal weight years out which proved to me that bypass wasn't necessary for me to reach my 100lb weight loss goal and maintain it. This was encouraging for me because i was self pay and sleeve is cheaper. I would not let money be a determining factor tho. I was kind of forced into sleeve anyways because I am a smoker..still trying to quit at this point. OHHH BTW My mother had bypass 13 years ago and has remained at her goal wait this far out. This made me believe bypass had a higher success rate because she gets dumping, forcing her to not eat certain things or too much. Many surgeons disagree abt whether sleeve patients get dumping. I can eat whatever i want post op without getting sick but obviously can only eat a small portion. Many surgeons and patients argue about whether this restriction is lifted a few years out but there are ppl on here who will tell you they still have restriction with sleeve years out so it's hard to know what each of our bodies will experience. Do your research, watch youtube vids, listen to what people have to say, but most importantly choose a good bariatric team and trust your surgeon! Sent from my SM-N960U using BariatricPal mobile app

Thanks. I am 5'6". I think my BMI was 37 when I started - now I am overweight instead of obese. High blood pressure can be a comorbidity and joint pain may be osteoarthritis, also a comorbidity. Why your family doc? My Bariatric Surgeon worked with the insurance. Where are you? I'm in Dallas, TX.

Any updates on how things are going for you? If you need a shoulder to cry on or anything else just ask. I'm pre surg myself, if I can't give you an answer I'm sure one of our veterans on Bariatric Pal can. At any rate welcome my friend. Sent from my VS880PP using BariatricPal mobile app

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.

Well it looks like I lucked out! I went through the 6-month pre-surgery routine and exhaustive testing and had my sleeve surgery on November 28, 2016. They billed the insurance company for $65,000 for the surgery (sleeve + abdominal hernia) and I ended paying about $2,500 +/- for my part. I just received word that my employer is going to another health insurance company effective May 1st. The only real difference in coverage is that the new company DOES NOT cover bariatric surgery. Couldn't have planned and timed it better if I had to..... Unfortunately, I don't think the new plan will cover skin removal either... (sigh...) Now if I can just get over this blasted stall.....

Sad part about Alli marketing...it only 'encapsulates' part of the fat you eat...so, if you're a carb addict like me, Alli would do very little for you. Just like every diet aid out there, including bariatric surgery, its more about changing your approach to food than the diet aid.

Hi Helena, I also went thru a 6 month supervised diet program connected with the hospital I went to and it was good to have the diet and all the tests done by the bariatric center. It was very convenient and I developed a good working relationship with the staff. The diet was kind of a formality for insurance purposes but I did lose close to 10 pounds so that was good. I don't think you have to worry about losing too much - it just shows you are serious about doing what it takes and will use the band as tool. I'm envious of you only having a 12 week diet - it took me 9 months to get all my pre-op testing done. (hectic life) I felt like I was having a baby but just like a pregnancy, the results will be totally worth the wait. The surgery was no big deal at all. Good luck to you!! Smilliegal

Absolutely not. Have at it. As long as you're not getting smashed out of your mind (because alcohol dehydrates and can take a while to work out of your system) and its just a feed of mexican food (hopefully the balanced good stuff), it will not throw your pre-op diet off. I was reliably informed by my bariatric nurse, the pre-op diet is to stop those who are chuffing down multiple bottles of booze and eating fried everything daily. A week before surgery I went out on the lash (drinking) with some gusto about 7 days before surgery. The night before surgery I had pizza, chicken tenders and a coke. I was given permission to do so.. That being said, however, i was a relatively low BMI starter, so the liver shrinking wasn't such a pressing issue for me. Whats your BMI right now? If my BMI was very high, I might not consider having the alcohol and just have the dinner. If you moderate your intake, so you're not a total glutton (maybe max 4 drinks, with Water in between and some food), it should be all good by Monday. Just be mindful as previously stated; it might mess with your head a bit after you get sleeved. I definitely mourned what I could no longer have in the short term. But then in saying that, this could be seen as a little food funeral (and EVERYONE, has had some form of that). I say go for it. In three days your world is going to change. Dramatically. Enjoy

I just switched to them recently... was having some issues with Vitamin D and Iron and my bariatric surgeon recommended that I switch to these. I haven't had labs done since, but it sure is convenient!

I had my LapBand done in October 2007. I have been taking the Centrum Adult Chewable vitamin since then but bought the Bariatric Advantage VitaBand vitamins (lemon cream flavor) last month. They taste hideous ! I can hardly get them down. I'll go back to the Centrum chewables but feel like I've wasted my money on the expensive, supposedly-better-for-you vitamins. Would anyone else share their good/bad experiences with chewable vitamins?

Palms of Pasadena - with Dr Robyn Ache from SunCoast Bariatrics... Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G530AZ using Tapatalk

I would have to ask you How much protein are you taking in daily? How many carbs are you taking in daily? Are you keeping a food journal? Then the big question, How much are you exercising? If you are doing all these things the way that your surgeon has advised you to do it then you may need a fill. OR maybe your too tight, are you vomiting alot with meals? Do you seem to get stuck everytime you eat? I too was banded 11 months ago and that is a problem that I had. I plateaued because I was too tight and threw up every meal I ate. I actually started turning to slider foods for a bit because I felt like I was starving. Unfortunatley during this time I was out of town for 6 weeks and could not go see my surgeon. So when I got back he did an unfill and then I have had to work back up on my band fluid a bit but have now seemed to have hit my sweet spot. I am losing steadily. I eat 3 small meals a day. Usually a yogart and a half of a banana for breakfast, then I go to the gym for 45 min for and hour Mon-Fri. Come home from the gym and drink a protein shake and shower, then eat tuna or chicken on pita bread for lunch and a veggie if I still feel hungry after the sandwhich. Dinner is usually a recipe from lapband.com something also high in protein low in carbs and a veggie. snacks in between if i get hungry are string cheese, cottage cheese, fruit, or light popcorn. I also drink 4-5 16 oz bottles of water daily. I would definately go in and talk to your surgeon or give him/her a call, or if they have a dietician in their office that you can speak with do that. Also if you have any bariatric support groups in your area those are so helpful and you meet and can talk to people that you can relate to and you can set goals together. I hope this helps. Good luck to you!

Hey Everyone! I will be getting my sleeve this Monday! I am using KC Bariatric with Dr. Kowalski. I have been very happy with this group. The staff is amazing! So kind and supportive. Always willing to answer all my many questions. I also was impressed with the staff I meet at Hospital Specialty and Spine where I will have my surgery. Nice to see some more Kansas people. I live at the bottom of the state but work up in the KC area often.