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@@esskay77 They are doctors that specialize in Bariatric medicine. They do not perform the surgery but follow patients who are obese or were obese. The program at park Nicollet in Minneapolis has Bariatricians, Bariatric nurses, Bariatric nurse practitioners and Bariatric surgeons.

Hi everyone: Just wanted to let you know that I attended the "Making the Journey Together 2005" event which was held in Troy, Michigan yesterday, June 4th, 2005, at the Embassy Suites Troy. It was sponsored by ObesityHelp.com; with speakers in all bariatric surgery areas such as Dietitian, Psychologist, Plastic Surgeon, Bariatric Medicine, Bariatric Surgeons, Motivational Patient Speakers, Authors, Counselors/Therapists, and so much more!!! What an AWESOME event!!! Motivational, Inspiring, Informative...and loads of information, tips, vendors, ideas, etc.; and even prizes! I would HIGHLY recommend this event to ANYONE interested in keeping up with news in the bariatric surgery spectrum! I will report on this event at our Support Group Meeting on June 15th! Still pumped up and motivated after yesterday!!! Here is the link in case you are interested to see what you missed! Shocked banana

I am so disappointed. Let me start from the beginning . . . . . August 2007 I am refered to a bariatric clinic that performs lap banding. After a barrage of appointments and tests I am told that I am a good candidate but unless I have insurance or $12,000 they cannot help me. The Dr. tells me to go back to my GP and have him refer me to a local hospital to get put on their waiting list. December 2007 Through a friend of a friend and an awesome God connection, I was referred to a surgeon who does lap banding on the public health care system. (turns out he also works for that private place I went to in August that specialises in lap banding! Small world!) The office told me that I have to wait three months for my appointment. March 2008 I have my initial appointment and I am belittled and treated like a stupid fat person. I am given a book and told "Go home and read this and come back in 2 months if you still want to procede" May 2008 I have my second appointment and am treated much better. He puts me on a waiting list and tells me that the wait can be up to 4 years for the op. He then tells me to make an appointment for May 2009 to follow up and says "If you haven't already had the operation by then." December 2009 I get some blood work back (from another Dr.) that has some issues with it. I call the surgeon to ask if I can be moved up to more urgent because of it. The surgeon calls me back in January and moves me to a new category for the waiting list. I am told that this new category is an urgent one where it will get done in the next 3 months. I am extremely excited March 5th 2009: I call the hospital to check up on where I am on the waiting list as I am expecting it to get done this month and I have to arrange leave from work etc. They tell me that the surgeon is on long-service-leave and won't be back until the end of April or May. I am so disappointed. That will be over 12 months that I have been waiting to get this done. I want it so bad I can taste it. I have been working so hard to lose weight so that the surgery will be easier on my body. I am excercising, doing optislim and have lost 12.5 kilos (27.5 pounds) in preparation! I know it will be worth that wait though.

not me. Although supposedly it can happen after any surgery - but you probably see it more in bariatric patients since you're taking in so few calories those first few weeks and months post-WLS. But that won't be the case after plastics, so your chances are probably not as great. My plastic surgeon did recommend really increasing my protein for the first few weeks after plastic surgery, though. I usually average around 100 grams/day (I have to because I malabsorb it), but after plastic surgery there were some days I was up to around 150. But anyway, no - no hair loss.

As always, follow your surgeon's advice. My surgeon said no NSAIDs on a regular basis, but once in a while is OK for me. They are rough on the stomach. I also read on a bariatric surgeon's website that he doesn't have a problem with his band patients taking them as their stomachs haven't been cut the way bypass patients' stomachs have been. For what it's worth.

Okay, take a deep breath and calm down Bariatric surgery will REDUCE your risk of death by 89%. And that includes the tiny risk of death associated with any surgery. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1356432/ What if i die on the operation table? We all have to die somehow, and my take on that possibility was (1) it's a tiny risk, less than a half of one percent; and (2) since we have to die, dying on an operation table is probably the best way to go. It's painless, you don't know it's happening, and there are people there to take care of your body and inform your family. Better that than having a massive stroke (huge risk for obese people btw) at home alone, being unable to summon help, dying slowly and painfully and then having your body be eaten by your pets. Wont the staples in my stomach cause cancer on a later stage? I'm not aware of any science showing that staples cause cancer. You know what probably does cause cancer though? Obesity! http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/causes-prevention/risk/weight-activity/obesity-fact-sheet http://www.asco.org/practice-research/obesity-and-cancer Will the staples not cause discomfort? No, you can't feel the staples. You will probably have some discomfort immediately after surgery, caused by the incisions and the gas they use to inflate your abdomen for surgical access, but you will get good pain meds to take care of it and it will go away quickly. Will the fact that i had the procedure not cut my life expectancy short? No, bariatric surgery is associated with a lower death rate than is found in morbidly obese people who choose not to have surgery: http://bariatric.stopobesityforlife.com/does-bariatric-surgery-increase-life-expectancy-in-obese-patients/ You know what will significantly decrease your life expectancy? Yes, you guessed it, remaining morbidly obese will! http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/12/01/weight.shortens.lifespan.health/ "According to recent NIH statistics obese individuals have a 50 to 100% increased risk of death from all causes compared to normal weight individuals." http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1473136/ All that emotional energy you are spending being afraid of surgery? Spend it on being afraid of obesity instead. That's what should scare you and make you willing to step outside your comfort zone to fight it with the most effective weapon possible, which for the vast majority of people is bariatric surgery.

I was told to use the M and M as a guide too for the first 10 days and after that I could swallow them whole. I didn't have any big pills except calcium citrate and they were easy to cut in half. The calcium chews at bariatric advantage are delicious so I don't have to take those horse pills anymore.

Your system needs water to keep things "moving" correctly. And Berry78 is right - it doesn't always have to be plain water. Try flavored water, tea, coffee, things like that. Dehydration causes lots of other problems in bariatric patients like us, so drink up!

I was sleeved 8 days ago. I have always had a high pain tolerance, but not this time. The pain wasn't gas either. I am doing everything I am supposed to be. I was feeling a lot better two days ago and went for a half hour walk (my surgeon had told me to start with 5-10 minutes.). Since then I have had excruciating pain on my left side, right around one of the incision sites. When I move certain ways it feels as though something is tearing inside and/or as if I have major bruising inside. I had a follow up with my PCP yesterday and also spoke with my bariatric coordinator today. They both said that I probably just overdid it on my walk. My question is this. I read about so many people saying that they had no pain at all. Is there anyone out there who has experienced something similar to me? If so, how long did it last?

thanks! since i posted i have seen my family dr. and told him what i wanted done. he told me to write a letter stating all of my previous attempts at weight loss (with failures and successes) and the fact that I take Metformin, and he would submit this to my insurance company. He got my BMI and told me I needed to come in once a month for 6 months for BMI check (he gave me a diabetic diet to follow). I also went to bariatric surgeons ofc and had a metabolic cart test done, and will have next appt with surgeon and dietician feb 22nd for the H Pylori test. I am just terrified of spending all this out of pocket at surgeons office ($550!) and being rejected by the insurance! My BMI is under 40 but the comorbidity im going with is having to take Metformin for my Insulin resistance. Say a prayer for me that all goes through smoothly!

I have been on Effexor and Valproic Acid for 14 years for panic attacks and major depression. My bariatric surgeon was told, he has the whole list of meds I take from the pharmacy. No problem whatsoever, I had my bypass 4 weeks ago and am doing wonderfully. Good luck to you, you will be fine .

I ahve UHC Choice plus and they paid for mine 2 months ago. When you get ur card go to the my uhc website and look under ur benefits.There was a phone number for Bariatric resource services 1-800-936-7246 and they told me of my employers covered it. I was dead in the water until I called them as I had already gone to a seminar and couldnt get anything from insurance so after 3 weeks I called them and it was easy from then on. I had to have a 6 month diet history and a psych eval. If I can help in any way pm me.Carla:biggrin0:

Obesity is a progressive, life-threatening disease. Treatment for life-threatening disease is not, should not, and can not be a question of easy or hard. It's a question of effectiveness. Bariatric surgery is the most effective treatment known to medical science for obesity and more than 30 comorbidities associated with obesity. Nobody can go back and start a new beginning. But anybody can start today and make a new ending.

Hi, I just got my letter from the Maine Medical Bariatric Program and I am going to the Information session Monday. That will start my process. I have been waiting for this for 3 months:biggrin2:. So I have been dieting for that amount of time. I have only lost 4 lbs:embaressed_smile:. I am so excited that I am going to the meeting monday that I can hardly wait:biggrin:. Then it will be the wait for Meicare and Medicaid to approve me and the doctor ,hospital.:thumbup: Sallie

I literally inhaled a 4 ounce portion in minutes. Feeling stuffed and happy! OMG Beef Crumble with Tomato Gravy, Bariatric Chewable meat Meal, 9 grams Protein per 4 ounce meal http://tinyurl.com/nmnwsce

FLORIDA - Fill Centers USA 866-345-5872 Please call to find out. Locations in Miami, Tampa, St. Pete, Cross City www.fillcentersusa.com FLORIDA - St. Augustine/ Dr. Robert Marema 904-819-5861 Please call to find out. (Not Confirmed Yet) US Bariatric - St. Augustine - 300 Health Park Blvd, Ste. # 5002, St. Augustine, FL 32086 FLORIDA - Pensacola/ Dr. Jeffrey Lord 850-416-1628 850-416-1515 fax $400 for new patients $115 after that Sacred Heart Hospital, 5151 N. 9th Ave, Pensacola, FL 32584 FLORIDA – Pensacola/ Dr. John David Nye 850-444-4741 $365 office visit $150 for fills Yes Fluoro Baptist Hospital. Possible Insurance will pay for office visit (one time pay). FLORIDA - Duval - Volusia - Jacksonville area/ Dr. Abbas Shariat 904-246-9464 450 for the first one and $250 thereafter. Yes FLORIDA - Tampa area/ Tiffany Jesse 727-584-7666 $400 per fill (Dr. Fee) Hospital charges $350 $400 per fill in office First fill is done with fluoro (subsequent fills can be done w/o) (NEAR TAMPA) 2039 Indian Rocks Rd., Largo, FL 33774 http://www.shedthepounds.com FLORIDA - Tampa/ Sandel’s Health Care Center 813-635-9611 $200 for first fill $125/ fill after $75 extra for fluoro Also fills J&J Bands Sandel’s Health Care Center, 7750 Palm River Rd., Tampa, FL 33619 FLORIDA - Dr. Murr & Dr. Galitin 813-844-7473 Tampa, FL FLORIDA - Kissimmee (Celebration)/ Dr. Keith Kim 407-303-4504 Please call to find out. Bariatric Center at Celebration Health - 400 Celebration Pl., Ste. # A310, Celebration, FL 34747 FLORIDA - Orlando/ Dr. Beltre 407-830-6868 Please call to find out. NO Mexico PATIENTS...685 Palm Springs Dr., Ste. #1E, Altamonte Springs, FL 32701 (in Palm Springs Medical Center). Www.wbweightlosssurgery.com FLORIDA - Hollywood area/ Dr. Thomas Bass 954-966-8559 $250 consult, $250 each fill, $250 monthly membership fee for 12 months until u are an established patient 1150 N. 35th #575, Hollywood, FL 33021 FLORIDA - Sandy Anderson, RN/ BSN 941-206-2111 Initial Visit $450 (includes pt. visit, consult, fill) Fills after that $150 Office consult $75 Fills w/ x-ray $450 (includes hospital fees) Surgical Obesity Solutions 3161 Harbor Blvd, Suite D, Port Charlotte, FL 33952 sandy@surgicalobesitysolutions.net FLORIDA - Miami/ Dr. Nestor Delacruz-Munoz 305-856-4385 Please call to find out. (Not Confirmed Yet) Surgical Weight Loss Institute - 3659 S. Miami Ave, Ste. #5002, Miami, FL 33133 FLORIDA - Miami/ Dr. Alejandro Hernandez-Cano & Dr. Ponbo 305-446-3636 $100 consults, $300 fills w/ fluoro 55 West 3rd Street, Hialeah, FL 33010 FLORIDA - Miami/ Dr. Brian Dunkin & Dr. Robert Bailey 305-243-2424 $800-$1500 for fills @ hospital 1475 NW 12th Ave. Ste #4023, Miami, FL 33136 Price depends on cc’s of Fluid. Price quoted is thru Insurance, call for info on self pay. FLORIDA - Miami/ Dr. Juan Fleites 305-856-3212 Call for current price. 3661 South Miami Ave., Ste # 205, Miami, FL 33133 FLORIDA - Miami/ Dr. Lourdes Pelaez 305-670-4134 or 305-670-0311 Call for current price. 7400 N. Kendall Dr., Ste # 403, Miami, FL 33156 FLORIDA - Miami/ Dr. Eddie Gomez 305-285-5090 $300.00 no fluoro Advanced Surgical Associates, 3661 S. Miami Ave, Ste. #301, Miami, FL 33133 FLORIDA - Coral Gables/ Dr. Moises Jacobs 305-669-2388 $200 fills (no fluoro) Laparoscopic Center of So. Florida 1150 Campo Sano Ave. Ste # 300, Coral Gables, FL 33146 (in Miami) FLORIDA - Weston/ Dr. Raul Rosenthal & Dr. Samual Szomstein 954-659-5228 or 954-659-5239 $250-$450 consult fee (depends on lab tests, etc) $250-$500 for fills Cleveland Clinic 2950 Cleveland Clinic Blvd, Weston, FL 33331 (near Davie, FL) FLORIDA - Ft. Lauderdale/ Dr. David Diaz, Dr. Michael Perez, Dr. Ravindra Mailapur & Dr. Robert Marema 954-351-1589 or 954-351-7770 $175 office visits, $250 fills (no fluoro) $150 for fluoro (if needed) U.S. Bariatrics 4800 NE 20th Terrace Ste # 303, Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33308 Speak to Elba Ext. #109 FLORIDA - Atlantis area/ Dr. Kenneth A. Larson 561-439-1500 $125 fill (no fluoro) $150 Consult every fill includes a consult $275 total Near JFK Hospital 142 JFK Dr., Atlantis, FL 33462 (in Palm Beach County, near Boynton Beach) Will ONLY do fills on INAMED lapbands. FLORIDA - Tallahassee/ Dr. Jeffrey Crooms 850-877-6212 $75 (please call to see what this includes or if there are any other charges) Please call. 1405 Centerville Rd., Ste #4400, Tallahassee, FL 32308 NEAR ATLANTA, GEORGIA FLORIDA - Melbourne 321-951-7074 call for a physician 321-725-4500 main ofc $300 no fluoroscopy Allergan Band ONLY! Kathy.Blair@MIMA.com 200 E. Sheridan Rd., Melbourne, FL 32901

it would be the exception, not the rule, for someone at your starting weight to lose 30 lbs the first month. If you weighed well over 300 lbs, then yea - but I'm very surprised she told you that with your starting weight. Not that it couldn't happen, but it's not very realistic. I hate to question your doctor, but I've been hanging out on bariatric forums for over seven years, and also volunteered at my clinic for about four years. As I said, that's definitely not impossible, but it'd be the exception to lose that much weight given your starting weight.

So I hit 1 year post op last month. Here is my story. Right before my 30th birthday I decided that enough was enough. I had been on the waiting list with my ex-husbands insurance for gastric bypass, then we divorced and I lost my spot anyway. I had lost aprox. 60 pounds on my own after the divorce through lifestyle changes, mainly cutting soda (a huge addiction to me at the time) and being more active, these small changes helped a lot because of the extreme sedentary life I lived during my stint as a house wife (with no kids). After losing the 60 pounds I got down to about 215 but jumped back up to 235 pretty quick. My ideal weight -I thought- was about 200 maybe 195 and I knew that I couldn't drop any more weight on my own, after all the 60 was tough, and I gained half of it back. I knew that I had to figure out how to get surgery. The reason I was on a waiting list to begin with is because I am young, with no health problems other than my weight and the insurance I had only approved 40+bmi with no comorbidities. I was always around 38 or 39 bmi. So I had it! I started looking and found surgery options in Mexico for around $4500-$6000. Mind you I was a 29 year old college student with a $12/hour job, newly divorced, living with my mother because I had nothing to my name. So November 2012 I decided I would save the money and do it! I got my income tax for around $2000 and worked 50 hours a week at my regular job and got a part time graveyard $8/hour security job in a bad neighborhood in a shopping center (I guarded a parking lot in the dark!). It was all worth it! I finally found a Dr. (Juan Garcia) and a US company to book everything through (Ready4AChange) and booked my trip! The total cost of everything including my airfare was almost exactly $5000. April 15th. I made it to Mexico. Flew into San Diego and the driver picked me up from the airport (even took me to walmart) then took me across the border to Tijuana and to the Marriott. It was a very nice hotel. I met 3 other people who were with the same company having surgery with me the next day (there were 5 or 6 of us total).We bonded ate dinner that night together and all rode together to the hospital in the morning. Even though there were a few of us, we all got wonderful treatment like we were the only patients. Only the 5 of us were in the wing our rooms were on and we all knew what rooms we were in incase we felt up to talking after surgery. We were in the hospital for 3 days and I don't really remember much except the last day. They keep you very nicely doped up so the pain is totally manageable and give you everything you need right away so you can just doze all day! Day 3 in the hospital we were all up and walking and I bugged the nurses enough that they let us take out IVs outside to the patio and get some sunshine We went back to the hotel on Day 4, I think. Stayed in the hotel with room service bringing all the broth and popsicles we wanted. The Dr came the next day to the hotel and tended our dressings and answered any last questions we had before leaving. After 5 days we got driven back to the airport at the time we needed to get to our flights and went home. It all happened with out a hitch, for the most part. The surgery was wonderful. I wasn't nervous or hesitant at all. The Drs and nurses were amazed I was alone, after all I was a 20-something woman all alone in another country about to have life changing surgery! My support group was intact at home, but I wanted to do it alone. So now its been 1 year. I still throw up 2-3 times a week because I don't know when to stop eating, and I get chest pains almost every meal. I am glad that I have these bad side effects because I eat too much and need to learn!! If I am good then they don't happen, so they are my fault totally. I have lost 87 pounds since surgery and a total of 130 pounds from my heaviest weight. I wear a size 5 pants now and work out a few times a week (could be more, but I am working on that). My eating habits are SO GOOD now compared to what they were and I love to cook now. I try to eat fish three times a week, tuna for lunch one day, salmon for dinner, and another fish for dinner. I also try to have one night of chicken for dinner every week. I try to eat out only 1-2 times per week. I am getting scared because I think for the first time I have gained weight since surgery, I think I have gained a couple pounds while I was sick for the last couple months (hurt leg then broken tooth ouch!) and didn't work out. I can eat a lot more now that I think I should and I think after finals are over next week I will go on a liquid diet for a few days to try to shrink my tummy back down. I can eat more of certain things and then when I eat dense, protein rich foods (like chicken and tuna) I get full really fast! Last night I ate a whole bagel with cream cheese, then about an hour (maybe 1.5 hours) later I ate ANOTHER ONE! I had micro vomits after and even threw up in my sleep (still trying to control the acid reflux). So my only issues one year out is that I feel like my stomach is stretching, I have severe acid reflux (that can be controlled if I remembered to take a darn pill), and I very badly need a tummy tuck! I would do this all over again in a heart beat. I feel so much more alive and vital and HAPPY since my surgery, and I was not depressed nor did I have low self esteem or problems having fun before, but this is like more than I can describe a million times better way to live than how I was before. I feel so bad for people who think they cant afford it, or are too scared to try the surgery. Living 100 lighter makes life easier! Everything is cheaper, clothes, groceries, eating out. Everything is easier, taking the stairs in a parking garage or at the library is done with out a thought (except that I don't want to wait for the slow elevator), I don't worry about things I sit or stand on will break, I want to go on roller coasters at parks. I want everyone who ever lived a day as "morbidly obese" to live one day in my shoes and realize that for $5000 (I have seen less these days too!) your life can be so different. I was in a size 24, now I am in a size 5. If I got a tummy tuck I could probably be in a 3, and I could wear a bikini (I have lots of skin on my lower abdomen that keeps me from wearing one now). The money might seem like a big hurdle, it took me almost 6 months to save and I got almost half in income tax. But it was worth the extra work, every day. Its worth it to do anything you can to save that money! BTW, it took me almost 9 months after the surgery to get out of debt that the surgery put me in....but again...TOTALLY WORTH ALL OF IT!! I think that is my total story, sorry for the long winded-ness. I have never told it all on a forum and thought that maybe I should add to the information out there, after all I met one of my dearest and best friends on a bariatric surgery site, found out about my surgeon, and found all my confidence and information on a site like this one

Hi I havent really found my sweet spot yet either,I have the luck of having two bariatric nurses that have also had the band so they have wonderful ideas that work rather well. They told me to eat about 3 baby carrots or carrot sticks before my meal to fill up as they seem to take longer to pass thru,I have been doing this for about a month and have lost 7 lbs. Prior to that I was really at a stand still. I had my band 10/21/08. My Dr is a firm believer in keeping the band semi loose, I will see him again 1/09 I sure he will not give me a fill, I had a .5 fill the day of surgery and 4cc Nov 23. It sure has been tough during the holidays. New eating habbits are hard enough but all those goodies to avoid were TERRIBLE.

Actually they aren't. They are made from boiled cow skin and boiled horse skin. They are the worst quality protein on the market and are not endorsed by the American bariatric...whatever it's called. They are not a complete protein source by any stretch and they are not all whey. Some are part whey and part collagen and some are all collagen.

I have BCBS Health Advantage. They pay a flat $4000 and the rest was out of pocket (they were kind enough to charge as a full cash pay patient so it was a slightly reduced rate). I was approved first time around. (actually let me clarify, most health advantage plans in Arkansas do not cover bariatric surgery under any circumstances, total exclusion, however, I work for one of the largest hospital systems in the state and they have adapted their plan to pay the $4000...not a lot, but better than nothing!)

My doc said at week 2 it was ok to swallow pills. Also could not stomach the Bariatric Advantage made me hurl. Went to Vitamin Shoppe and taste tested alot of chewables. Found one that went down fine. Got doc to look and he said they have alot of good stuff in them so OK. Also.....I find my vitamins go down better in am with coffee....in afternoon I hurl. Try different times of day!

I am in the process of getting approved for bariatric surgery. Woo Hoo! Of course, my Dr wants me to lose 31 pounds before the surgery, so I am on a high Protein, low carb diet. I am surprised that I am keeping to it very well. But I really could use some suggestions for Breakfast other than eggs. I like eggs, but really I need some kind of variety. (I usually have a Protein shake for lunch, but I don't think I can handle two a day) Any suggestions would be most appreciated. Thank you!!!!

Good Afternoon all, I will be banded next friday, the 15th. I was wondering when should I purchase Protein shakes and Vitamins. I've discovered a website that I think I would like to purchase my items from its called Bariatric Eating. Does anyone use them? Thanks in advance.

Is your brother, or your brother's doctor, a bariatric medical professional? If no, don't take their advice. Most non-bariatric physicians I've encountered know next to nothing about bariatric surgery, and what they do claim to know is ass-backwards.