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I really didn't have any after bariatric surgery - but I had a lot of plastic surgery (still do...). I used ScarAway (a silicone gel)

I'm only 9 day post op, but I prep new foods with hesitation. I was provided a very inclusive binder for weight loss surgery. It includes macros, examples of receipes to use at each stage, and examples of a daily menu to mimick at home to meet nutritional needs. I use it as a guide,to say oh...I can have this and that, eventhough I have no appetite. I downloaded a bariatric cookbook yesterday, it includes options for each stage. Most is for the pureed and general diets, but I picked it because it tells which recipe is okay for which stage. And reviews say that people have been using it years after their procedures to stay on track. There are some a few taboo things in their bypass people can't eat, but sleeve or band people can so you have to know your personal dog's and don'ts. It's called "fresh start bariatric cookbook by sarah kent if you want to check it out. The reviews were mixed, I checked b&n and amazon. I figured it was worth a peek. That's if you are into receipes. I'm usually not, but I knew I would need a little help with this nutrition stuff.

I don’t know how to add the link. Here is a screen shot of the one that was updated in December. It has no mention of the 6 month requirements. I googled “unitedhealthcare choice plus bariatric surgery” and click on the one that is a pdf file. The one updated in October is where they removed the 6 month guidelines and at the bottom of the pdf file, it shows that that is what was removed.

@GoForwardGen Reading your post reminds me so much myself. Now I’m not as Young as you, I’m 40 and wish I would have done this sooner. I’ve been the fat girl since I was 8 years old. This is my experience and advice: I too have struggled with mental health issues including addiction and suicide attempts. I was put in rehab in 2017 for addiction to alcohol and opioids. I’ve not taken opioids for recreational use since April 23, 2017. Alcohol is a slippery slope so I have to be vigilant there. In September 2018 I was hospitalized under a mental health watch for a week after attempting to take my own life. I was in a very volatile domestic violence relationship at that time. Through the support of my family and friends and local law enforcement I was able to finally get out of that relationship for good in March 2019. I’ve been in therapy ever since then with my psychologist and psychiatrist and my life has changed for the best! I’ve been on some sort of anti-depressant and/or mood stabilizer since I was 21 years old. I’ve been i the mental health system for a while. None of these things held me back from getting surgery. This past October I had reached a point With my weight that I was defeated and ready for a change. I have Anthem BCBS—it’s the best option they offer and I pay out the wazoo for my insurance through my employer because I want the best. I also had to complete a 6 month weight loss supervision with MANY requirements. So that’s the story of my mental health past. This is my advice: Find a dedicated Bariatric center. I worked with Georgia Surgicare in my state. They were phenomenal!! I started my journey 10/7/19 and had my surgery 3/3/20. That’s 5 months! GA Surgicare advocated for me! They were actually able to push my surgery up one month because I had completed all requirements and was consistently losing weight. I actually found out because I was losing weight on my own is one of the reasons they allowed me to go early. It proved to them I was serious about this. My start weight was 256.6. Day of surgery I was 230. I’m 5’4” so yeah I was a big girl. I say was because I’m not that girl anymore. I’m 218 today and working every day to become healthier. I will no longer refer to myself like that, that was the old me. On 10/7/19 they weighed me and went over everything. I came back on 11/6/19 and had lost 4 pounds. They finally gave me the packet with all requirements I had to complete. They worked with my insurance and found all providers in my network that they also work with. I had to go to a cardiologist for a heart stress test and ultrasound of my heart. I had to get my PCP and psychiatrist to recommend the surgery—which they did. I had to meet with a nutritionist 3 times and show my food logs. I had to go to a Pulmonologist and have a sleep study, yes I have sleep apnea. The reason I suggest a dedicated Bariatric center is because they provided me everything I had to do. All I had to do was make my appointments and show up. GA Surgicare followed up with all the providers and got my insurance what they needed. I had to do every other week calls with a nurse with Anthem to discuss my progress and developed a rapport with that nurse who also advocated for me. Do your research find a dedicated center. Do your part. Lose weight to the best of your ability and show up for your appointments. It was a whirlwind. It went so fast and so slow at the same time. I wish you the best of luck in this journey that is going to change your life!

intolerance to eggs is not uncommon after bariatric surgery. Most people who have it can eventually eat them again, though - but I'd lay off them for awhile. not being hungry is also super common. That's one of the things that make it easy to lose weight the first few months. Hunger comes back for most of us sometime during the first year, though. Mine came back at five months out.

Hi Casey I guess I could consider myself a "third generation bariatric". Grandma, Aunt, Mom, and Dad all had surgery before my wife and I did. My Grandma and Aunt had it back in the 90s (Aunt in her 20s, Grandma in her 50s). Mom had it in early-mid 2000s (40ish age), and Dad had surgery in 2010 (he had just turned 50). With Grandma, Mom, and Dad, they were so heavy for so long that between getting older and having been too heavy for too long and some damage being done, they still had issues with their joints or health. Grandma and Mom have both had knee replacements, despite remaining relatively healthy since their surgeries. Dad had triple bypass heart surgery last year. My Aunt has been relatively healthy. None of my relatives regret the surgery, but I can bet if I asked my parents or Grandma, they'd all probably wish they had their WLSs sooner. I had surgery in 2017, three days before my 29th birthday. Doctors have told me that, despite my lifelong being obese (probably been "the fat kid" since 2nd grade), I haven't done any significant damage. Pre-op I was diagnosed with sleep apnea and a vitamin D deficiency (I live in upstate NY, everyone has a vitamin D deficiency!). And since my surgery, I've trained and completed two full marathons, and have more to come. I was training for a marathon this spring, but COVID-19 canceled that one, as well as another long distance race has been canceled. I feel like I have the rest of my life to do things I've never even dreamed of doing! When I wife and I were dating, she asked me if I had considered it (I was a 380 pound 22 year old) I took what I call a "typical man" position and told her "I'm young enough that I can lose the weight myself", which was true, but I couldn't maintain it, and I never got as light as I am now (230-240 neighborhood, with approx. 20% body fat). Sorry for the long backstory, but I fully support having surgery in your 20s. Probably 95% of the people I've spoken to about surgery say their biggest regret is not having it sooner. Good luck to you!

What? They cut out PART of our stomach, not the whole thing. We still have nerves and sensors in our stomach. We also still have other nerves and sensors in the rest of our body that are sensitive to nutrient levels. Your rapid post-op fat loss is going to cause a rapid drop in leptin levels, because leptin is made by fat cells. Leptin normally makes you feel full - dropping levels make you feel hungry. Also, your muscle cells are sensitive to insulin, protein, and glucose levels. There are multiple mechanisms that control hunger in the body - bariatric surgery affects only the gherlin pathway because gherlin is made by the stomach. There's no way a person can be eating only a few hundred calories a day after bariatric surgery, but the "hunger is all in their head."

I'm scheduled to have my nutrition evaluation next week at the hospital where the bariatric group is based. I checked the hospital's web site to see what restrictions they had in place for coronavirus, and it said that they would be postponing any non-critical appointments and encouraging people to schedule telehealth visits if possible. I called the bariatric group to ask if I could change my appointment to a telehealth visit, and they initially said no and insisted I had to come in for it, but they called back about an hour later and said they could change it to a phone call. My next hurdle is a weigh-in at my PCP for my 3-month weight loss effort. I hate going to the doctor's office as it is (always full of sick people!), but I'm REALLY wary of going now -- although I live in a rural area where there are currently no confirmed coronavirus cases. One would hope that the insurance companies would make some concessions for surgery approval given the world's circumstances, but insurance companies are notorious for denying coverage for any reason or no reason.

I feel your pain! I had the sleeve done three years ago, lost over 100 pounds in about 10 months, then gained about 60 back through bad food choices and/or just plain overeating (even healthy foods). I'd go on reset diets which would work for a while, but then I would plateau for a long time and start to gain weight again. Part of the problem was trying to deal with my food addictions that came back once I fell off the bariatric diet wagon. After a while it was just too hard to get back on again. Eventually I decided to have a revision to bypass, which I had done 2.5 weeks ago. Hopefully that's not something you'll have to do - if you have support groups around you and people that you can work with, it should be possible to lose the weight you regained.

Longer stalls are not uncommon the further out you are from surgery (often 2-5 weeks!). As long as the weight is not going up from week to week, I think it's okay. Are you taking your body measurements? That can often show that you are losing weight, even if the scale doesn't move. I've also noticed that sometimes the body likes to hold onto fluids a little more every now and then, not sure why. Even being constipated/having no bowel movements for a few days can affect the scale. Another thing you can try is mixing up your diet and exercise a bit. Go cycling or swimming instead of walking, try some new bariatric-friendly recipes...it may kick your body out of its stall.

Hey Margaret, Any chance you live in Toronto? Will you able pass forward your Doctor name who took out your band. I had been tireless finding doctor who can take out my band and my family doctor had tried to referred and i get rejected easily without checking or seeing my physically. It is a such sad world we live in. I've reached out to Canadian Association of Bariatric Physicians and Surgeons and hadn't heard any response back.

Have you spoken to your doctor? Your chest might be achy from the intubation during surgery. If it hurts right under your ribs, that is where they were doing the surgery, so that is very normal. However, if the discomfort is in your lungs and you feel so uncomfortable that it is waking you up, you might mention it to your doctor or bariatric team. My doctor sent me home with a spirometer to make sure I was taking lots of deep breaths to ward off pneumonia. At two weeks, I was also allowed to take some Tylenol to help with any aches and pains. Good luck and I hope you feel better!!!

Just be careful as the days go on! You can’t trust a fart after Bariatric surgery! I pooped my pants 3 times when I was in the all liquids phase. Horrible, I know. Now I know after a really big one, the next one might be more lol. Happy tootin!! 💩😂🤮

Post op Dec 2015 gained back 35 pounds. Went on the Keto diet. Was excited and lost 12 pounds in a few weeks. Then Boom this rash sent straight from satan himself! I’m like what is this? Immediately i started putting like hydrocortisone creme and taking benadryl. I got off the diet. Here is pics. I sit at the dermatologist right now seeking answers doing blood work and urine samples when I really feel like this is a keto rash but i want it to go away. Then i will just go back to my shakes and salad greens. Jesus this itch is horrible! Does anyone have this or have got rid of it? Does it have to do with us being through bariatric surgery?

I started out w 2 protein shakes and a healthy meal for dinner. It helped me get used to the diet before I had to start the pre op diet. Drink lots of water. I also went to every meeting for the bariatric surgery, it helped me understand what was going to happen etc... Good luck and keep on moving! 😃😃😃

On June 26, 2017- I had gastric bypass surgery. I have lost/maintained 180 pound weight loss. I share my journey on Instagram - (my name on there is Maddie5088) and I also have a public Facebook Page called Mornings with Maddie. I created a blog almost a year ago that focuses on sharing my journey, creating/sharing healthy recipes. You can find it here - foodfitnessandbeauty.com I share body positivity, kindness, self love, inclusivity, healthy recipes, grocery hauls, I do monthly giveaways, how to meal prep, affordable/easy meals for bariatric patients and I do Q and As for Bariatric patients. I have felt very called to share my journey with the bariatric community! I hope you come follow along my story! It’s been a heck of a ride! Xoxo Maddie

I have struggled with my weight since I was five years old. Late in 2016- at 28 years old at my heaviest weight- I had my first appointment with a bariatric surgeon in Akron, Ohio where I live and began the steps towards gastric bypass. I was so scared. But I knew that I would rather risk my life than live like this forever. I feared that my parents would bury me in 20 years and that my sister would become an only child. I knew I had to do something. I had tried everything. Between the ages of 8-28 I had tried everything under the sun. I could not lose/maintain the weight loss. On June 26, 2017- I had gastric bypass surgery. I have lost/maintained 180 pound weight loss. I have a whole new life. It is quite beautiful. I look forward to living everyday. I share my journey on Instagram - (my name on there is Maddie5088) and I also have a public Facebook Page called Mornings with Maddie. I created a blog almost a year ago that focuses on sharing my journey, creating/sharing healthy recipes. You can find it here - foodfitnessandbeauty.com I share body positivity, kindness, self love, inclusivity, healthy recipes, grocery hauls, I do monthly giveaways, how to meal prep, affordable/easy meals for bariatric patients and I do Q and As for Bariatric patients. I have felt very called to share my journey with the bariatric community! I hope you come follow along my story! It’s been a heck of a ride! Xoxo Maddie

I have struggled with my weight since I was five years old. Late in 2016- at 28 years old at my heaviest weight- I had my first appointment with a bariatric surgeon in Akron, Ohio where I live and began the steps towards gastric bypass. I was so scared. But I knew that I would rather risk my life than live like this forever. I feared that my parents would bury me in 20 years and that my sister would become an only child. I knew I had to do something. I had tried everything. Between the ages of 8-28 I had tried everything under the sun. I could not lose/maintain the weight loss. On June 26, 2017- I had gastric bypass surgery. I have lost/maintained 180 pound weight loss. I have a whole new life. It is quite beautiful. I look forward to living everyday. I share my journey on Instagram - (my name on there is Maddie5088) and I also have a public Facebook Page called Mornings with Maddie. I created a blog almost a year ago that focuses on sharing my journey, creating/sharing healthy recipes. You can find it here - foodfitnessandbeauty.com I share body positivity, kindness, self love, inclusivity, healthy recipes, grocery hauls, I do monthly giveaways, how to meal prep, affordable/easy meals for bariatric patients and I do Q and As for Bariatric patients. I have felt very called to share my journey with the bariatric community! I hope you come follow along my story! It’s been a heck of a ride! Xoxo Maddie

I have struggled with my weight since I was five years old. Late in 2016- at 28 years old at my heaviest weight- I had my first appointment with a bariatric surgeon in Akron, Ohio where I live and began the steps towards gastric bypass. I was so scared. But I knew that I would rather risk my life than live like this forever. I feared that my parents would bury me in 20 years and that my sister would become an only child. I knew I had to do something. I had tried everything. Between the ages of 8-28 I had tried everything under the sun. I could not lose/maintain the weight loss. On June 26, 2017- I had gastric bypass surgery. I have lost/maintained 180 pound weight loss. I have a whole new life. It is quite beautiful. I look forward to living everyday. I share my journey on Instagram - (my name on there is Maddie5088) and I also have a public Facebook Page called Mornings with Maddie. I created a blog almost a year ago that focuses on sharing my journey, creating/sharing healthy recipes. You can find it here - foodfitnessandbeauty.com I share body positivity, kindness, self love, inclusivity, healthy recipes, grocery hauls, I do monthly giveaways, how to meal prep, affordable/easy meals for bariatric patients and I do Q and As for Bariatric patients. I have felt very called to share my journey with the bariatric community! I hope you come follow along my story! It’s been a heck of a ride! Xoxo Maddie

I have struggled with my weight since I was five years old. Late in 2016- at 28 years old at my heaviest weight- I had my first appointment with a bariatric surgeon in Akron, Ohio where I live and began the steps towards gastric bypass. I was so scared. But I knew that I would rather risk my life than live like this forever. I feared that my parents would bury me in 20 years and that my sister would become an only child. I knew I had to do something. I had tried everything. Between the ages of 8-28 I had tried everything under the sun. I could not lose/maintain the weight loss. On June 26, 2017- I had gastric bypass surgery. I have lost/maintained 180 pound weight loss. I have a whole new life. It is quite beautiful. I look forward to living everyday. I share my journey on Instagram - (my name on there is Maddie5088) and I also have a public Facebook Page called Mornings with Maddie. I created a blog almost a year ago that focuses on sharing my journey, creating/sharing healthy recipes. You can find it here - foodfitnessandbeauty.com I share body positivity, kindness, self love, inclusivity, healthy recipes, grocery hauls, I do monthly giveaways, how to meal prep, affordable/easy meals for bariatric patients and I do Q and As for Bariatric patients. I have felt very called to share my journey with the bariatric community! I hope you come follow along my story! It’s been a heck of a ride! Xoxo Maddie

In Kansas City... My EGD as part of my pre op testing was scheduled for April 8th and THAT was canceled. And this is at a Bariatric center. Message said "No need to call us back. We'll call you when we can reschedule." I was to receive my date after the EGD results gave the all clear. Oof. Sorry for all of us. Being sequestered would have been a great time to manage the early post op diet struggles.

I felt like I was literally going to faint during the last week of full liquids, I added in a few pureed/soft foods in conjunction with the full liquids and immediately felt better. I don't want you to deviate from your plan, I shared this information to say that my body needed a little bit more at that point in my journey. I would also consult with your bariatric team to determine whether or not you are ready. Ariel (my stomach) loves refried beans and a scrambled egg. Not cooked together, in separate meals. Protein is our friend. The cream soups were delicious, but didn't givr me the substance and nutrients that I needed. I'm still drinking protein shakes, I only had my procedure on 3/3/20.

Did you have a question about sodas or just needed to get this off your chest?? I think there’s a rant and rave section for that. Ive seen other Bariatric forums where people gang up on others. I have not seen that happen at all in this site. I’ve only been provided with amazing support here. I’m 16 days post-op and will not be trying carbonation of any kind as my surgeon has warned me it is not good for my new tummy. I wish you best of luck on your journey.

I had gastric bypass June 26, 2017. I’ve lost 180 pounds and maintained my weight loss. I’ve decided to share my journey with the world. I share recipes, grocery hauls, what I keep on hand in my kitchen, Q & As, and many more things related to my journey. I also have a blog where I share recipes. Come join me! This journey is much easier with support of those who have been in your shoes! My Instagram name is Maddie5088 - I also have a public Facebook page called Mornings with Maddie.

There are so many very useful accounts on Instagram that post recipes and content for bariatric patients. I post recipes all the time and save them to highlights that are bariatric friendly. I do grocery hauls, what I keep on hand in my kitchen, Q and As about my journey. I’ve lost 180 pounds with gastric bypass and healthy lifestyle change. My Instagram is Maddie5088. I also have a public Facebook page called Mornings with Maddie.