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The hosp sold me the bariatric advantage. A huge sack of it for $100+. Latte flavor What a waste.

Ummmmm. United Healthcare does cover Bariatric surgery. It depends on what your employer (if through work) elected to have covered. My experience with UHC has been top notch and they covered everything but about $500-700 of deductibles.

I'd add a good-quality protein supplement. My favorite is the PURE unflavored whey protein isolate from Bariatric Eating. I stir in into all kinds of things to bump up the protein.

I'm sorry I wasn't clear...my program doesn't require any extra iron supplements after surgery do they didn't tell me to stop taking them because I wasnt taking them to begin with . I've know several people who are in different bariatric programs and I just don't understand how vitamin regiments after surgery can vary so much. It makes no sense to me.

I am one year post op bypass. I had my labs done and all were good except my bariatric PA states I do not need to start iron supplementation. Based on my results, it seems like I could become deficient in the next year. I'm not in the medical field so I don't kniow. My program doesn't require I take extra iron. Here are the results: Iron 41-156 Result 58 TIBC 232-386 Result. 397 (A high reading indicates deficiency) Transferrin Saturation. 15-57 Result 15 Ferritin serum 15-150. Result 16 Can anyone explain why I don't need to start supplementation if I don't have my labs checked for another year?

I was experiencing organ damage due to my Type 2 Diabetes. Medication and insulin wasn't controlling my levels. My PCP suggested the bariatric procedure and urged me to speak to a surgeon for which procedure would be best for me. The bypass blocks the portion of the stomach that causes the organ damage. I am 7 months post op. Down 85 lbs. I came home from the hospital off all diabetes pills. Within the week I was off insulin. After a couple months I was off high blood pressure meds. I only take thyroid replacement due to my thyroid being removed years ago. My blood tests show no further organ damage and my liver levels have improved. Sleeve or band wouldn't have been the solution for me. Best of luck! You won't be disappointed with the bypass results.

Sorry to ask this here, but I’m scared. I don’t know what to do or have anyone else to ask. I’m what I call “irregularly regular”. Irregular in the sense that I never know when I’m going to get my period. Regular in the sense that it always lasts for 3.5 days, four at tops. Last month, I got my period and it lasted for almost two weeks. That has never happened to me before. I figure it might have to do with my recent weight gain (about 30 pounds since July) and the related hormone changes. I haven't felt "healthy" for a while now. After my period ended, I was fine for about two weeks. Then I got my period again. I’ve had it now for over a week and it’s very heavy and there’s more …”material” than before (not a ton but noticeably more). I’ve had a little bit of dizziness – my shrink says that’s a side effect of Wellbutrin, but over the weekend, I had a few dizzy spells. (Haven’t had one since, though.) I did some research on the internet and though my flow is very heavy (for me) I’m not changing my pad every 6 hours, so maybe it’s not that an extreme a case. I think the blood loss has made me a little anemic and caused a little of the fatigue and dizziness so I started taking an Iron supplement today. I had a little bit of cramping yesterday and today, but I took an Aleve and I’m fine. There’s no pain or anything otherwise weird. I just can’t seem to stop bleeding. I’ve just about convinced myself that I have cervical cancer or something. As far as I know, none of this runs in my family. I haven’t been to see a doctor, mostly because I’m chicken. I’m 31 and have never had a gyno exam. (I rationalized it by saying I’ve never been sexually active, so I didn’t need to.) I’m also in a tricky situation because my company switched to a new health insurance carrier effective Jan. 1, but Blue Cross is taking forever to do the paperwork, so I don’t have a member number, a group number, a PCP, or anything. I’m waiting for it any day now, but who knows how long it will take them? I’m really scared, but apparently not scared enough to be smart about this because the second I have my insurance info I’m going to see the PCP about a referral to bariatrics. I’m afraid to mention it to my doctor because she will be someone I’ve never met and she may want to do all kinds of history and testing on me before she’s willing to do any kind of referral. I’m all twisted up in knots. Have any of you experienced anything like this? Any advice would be much appreciated.

If you employer is providing your health insurance preexisting conditions are usually not a problem. More of an issue is if your company insurance covers bariatrics. If they don't you will have to pay for fills on your own.

Welcome! If you can't find a bariatric support group near you, you might want to see if there is an OA group nearby. OA also has some phone and online groups. You can find out more at OA.org. BariatricPal is also a great source of support, information, and encouragement. Best of luck with your surgery.

@cristina.banks , I am in a situation similar to you. Although I am considered very obese at 225 pounds, there are people at my surgeons office who clearly have a lot more weight to lose than I do. Did you have any difficulty getting your surgery approved through your insurance? I'm still terrified that I'm going to be denied. I'm afraid that they're going to say"you are not obese enough". I was diagnosed with sleep apnea and have been using a CPAP machine for a month now. My surgery is already scheduled for one month from today but I'm still in the preapproval process with my bariatric office.

Hey, BariatricPal Members!We’re turning the corner from winter into spring, and it’s about time! How did the winter go for you? Did you make progress toward becoming the healthy person you want to be? Just before you look ahead to spring, take a look at this month’s BariatricPal newsletter, and spend some time on the boards for further motivation and ideas. Here is what you’ll find in the newsletter. Member Poll: Governor Chris Christie and the Lap-Band Member Spotlight: Meet cindymg! New Jersey Governor Chris Christie: Bariatric Success or Disappointment? Come Chat on BariatricPal We hope you enjoy the newsletter and then you log into BariatricPal to talk about it and everything else related to weight loss surgery. Get tips, share stories, and find inspiration on the boards, and don’t forget to tell your surgeon and support group members about BariatricPal. Thanks for your membership! Sincerely, Alex Brecher Founder, BariatricPal Member Poll: Governor Chris Christie and the Lap-Band New Jersey Governor Chris Christie quietly had lap-band surgery in February of 2013. As you can read in this month’s BariatricPal newsletter, recent political events have made the topic resurface, highlighting his 100-pound loss and his current weight of 320 pounds. What do you think about the issue? He failed because his BMI of 45 keeps him in the morbidly obese category. He is doing great because of his 100-pound weight loss in a year. It’s too soon to tell. He’ll fail if he doesn’t lose any more weight or gains it back, but the surgery will be a success if he keeps losing weight. I really can’t give an opinion – I do not know anything about him or his diet, and I would not want people to judge me if they didn’t know me. Other – Read my answer in the discussion! Click here so you can mark your answer and let us know what you think in the discussion on BariatricPal! Our Latest Newsletter Sponsor: Insure Nutrition! We are always thrilled to welcome a new newsletter sponsor into the BariatricPal family, and this month, Insure Nutrition is giving us the pleasure of doing just that. Our latest sponsor, Insure Nutrition, is an online company that specializes in getting health insurance coverage for nutritional supplements. Its Post-Bariatric Surgery Nutrition products includes Premier Protein shakes in chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry flavors and OptiSource High Protein drinks in caramel and strawberry flavors. Checking if you are eligible is easy. Insure Nutrition encourages you to use its online form to find out if you qualify. Our sponsors help make BariatricPal newsletters and other services possible. We encourage you show your thanks by considering them first for your bariatric needs. Member Spotlight: Meet Cindymg! This month’s spotlight is on cindymg from Chicago. She is a 59-year-old computer consultant who says she has been dieting since high school. In those 40 years, she tried every diet program and calculates that she has probably gained and lost 2,000 pounds in yo-yo dieting. The diets seriously harmed her health as she developed diabetes, high blood pressure, and coronary artery disease. When she started to lose the feeling in her feet, she knew that she would lose her feet soon if she didn’t do something drastic. After some serious investigation, cindymg chose the vertical sleeve gastrectomy (VSG) because she felt it would be effective without having the side effects of gastric bypass. Cindymg’s surgery was in May of 2013. Her starting weight was 258 pounds, and she is just under the 200-pound barrier en route to her goal weight of 175 pounds. She had no complications from surgery, and her family has been largely supportive. Her main challenges now are her excess skin and her hesitation getting rid of her oversized clothes! Since getting surgery, cindymg says that she has been able to cut her medications to one-quarter of what they were. She exercises now and feels much better “without lugging around that extra weight.” She does not get hungry, so she is saving money on food in addition to losing weight! She also notices a change in attitude. Cindymg says she now “eats to live, rather than lives to eat,” and does not feel guilty over food. The gastric sleeve feels like a permanent solution, not a temporary fix. Cindymg says BariatricPal keeps her mindful, and she enjoys reading members’ stories. She hope to provide them with advice and humor. Her advice for members struggling with weight loss is to avoid beating yourself up. Just get up and try again, and “keep coming back to the forum!” Thank you, cindymg, for being in our member spotlight! We are excited to be a part of your journey to mental and physical health, and are proud to be part of that journey. Do you have any members whom you want to see in the BariatricPal newsletter? Do you want to be featured? Let us know in the Member Spotlight Forum or by sending Alex Brecher a private message. Thank you! New Jersey Governor Chris Christie: Bariatric Success or Disappointment? A year ago, New Jersey governor Chris Christie got the lap-band. At the time of his surgery in February of 2013, Governor Christie, who stands at 5’11,” weighed over 400 pounds. Since then, NBC News reports that he has lost 90 to 100 pounds and now weighs in at 320 pounds. The speculation surrounding Governor Christie’s weight loss journey has led to opinions as divided as the political views of those who follow New Jersey politics. Critics maintain that he has failed in this weight loss effort. They point to his current BMI of 45, which places him in the morbidly obese category, and claim that he will be unable to run for president in 2016 because of his weight. Supporters point out that he appears to have lost 40 to 45 percent of his excess body weight, which is right on target for most lap-band patients in the first year after surgery. Governor Christie himself has kept relatively quiet about the issue from the beginning. He did not reveal his surgery until months had passed, and provided few details. In September, he said that he is more than halfway toward his goal, although he did not specify his current or goal weight. What do you think? Is Governor Christie’s surgery a failure? Will his weight prevent him from making a serious run for the presidency in 2016? Is he on the right track? Or, maybe it is too tough to judge because it is too soon to tell or because we, as outsiders, do not know the whole story. Let us know what you think on this thread! Come Chat on BariatricPal Where do you go when you need a pep talk, information about your weight loss surgery diet, or a celebratory high-five? The BariatricPal chatrooms, of course! In-person support groups might only be once a week or month, you need an appointment to see a doctor, and nurses are only available by phone. Family and friends are encouraging, but they might not understand what you are going through. The BariatricPal chatrooms are open 24/7, so there’s always a chance that you can find people to talk to. When you chat with BariatricPal members, there’s a good chance you can find someone who is sympathetic to productive burping, or who can suggest a WLS-compatible snack to satisfy your munchies. The chatrooms have been updated to better serve members’ needs, so come check them out! That’s it for this month’s newsletter. We hope it brightened your day after these long months of winter and gave you some inspiration to look forward to a healthy spring. Thanks for reading it, and we’ll see you on the boards!

Bariatric Advantage has chewable calcium citrate in caramel, lemon, chocolate, and raspberry flavors that taste good. Costco.com sells ReViva liquid calcium citrate in blueberry flavor that is good too. I use both.

My NUT said per studies with the AMBS (American society of Bariatric Surgeons) successful bariatric patients consume about 1000 calories at approximately 1 year post-op. After 1 year post-op average calorie intake is around 1200 calories to maintain weight loss. Calories needs may vary some based on the age, sex and amount of activity for each individual. If your calories are too low, your m etabolism will slow and your body will go into starvation mode holding onto fat stores. A calorie intake of 500-600/day is simply too low for successful weight loss. WOW! I averaged between 450 - 650 calories per day and I never had a problem with a slow and steady weight loss. I reached my doctor's goal in five months. I reached my goal (5 lbs less) at six months. Between month 5 and 6 my calories did increase to 650 - 800, never over 800. I've been at or below goal since Dec 2010. I never did buy the "up your calories to lose more weight" - I thought it was hogwash. Upping my calories did nothing but increase my weight prior to surgery, there is nothing to make me believe it would be different post-op. I maintain at 1200, if I increase my calories to 1300 for a couple of days, the scale goes up. The PhD that does the psych evals for a bariatric team here in Dallas, as well as he heads up the monthly support groups, agrees. He said there is no scientific data to support the starvation mode theory unless we are being held in a POW camp. In my case, staying away from breads, fried foods, sweets, Pasta and rice.....things like that is what kept the scale moving for me until I hit goal. I know everyone is different, and we have to find what works for us. Celebrate every pound gone!!!

I used soups and chilis quite a bit after my RNY gastric bypass surgery. I fortified them with protein and that allowed me to quickly reduce my reliance on protein shakes. I put some of the recipes at the end of the following article. How 
I
 Survived
 Bariatric 
Surgery


I almost reached that weight and I realize how fortunate I was to have a second chance. BMi is based on height and weight and at 5'6 488lbs my BMI was 78.8 the day I walked in and met my Surgeon. He told me if I could lose 5% of my weight and put the work in and if insurance approves it he would give me a tool to use to help turn my life around. It is unfortunate help is not easily as accessible for others as it was for me. I think all insurance companies should cover bariatrics but I agree with educational side of it. Blindly approving people for it without proper education would be a huge mistake. Fear of death is a huge motivator it is just unfortunate it came to that but it also taught me a life long lesson that there is no "fix" for obesity and it will forever be work in progress until the final day of my life. Edit: Not a complaint but rather an observation....I have lost 325+ pounds and I am still in the overweight category. I am sure if I had all the loose skin removed I would be in the norm but let's face it those BMI charts are a joke. My Surgeon even told me they're BS.

I have always enjoyed margaritas with friends at the local cantina along with the rich food. Since the band yes there were major cut backs. I continued to drink though and really to much and to often. My weightloss was consistent but slow. For the last 5 weeks I have not been to my favorite spanish resturaunt and the scale has noticed. My weightloss doubled over the last three weeks. I was drinking a lot of calories bottom line. Eating the food went hand in hand. I am now getting back into cooking my own food. My band is good to me as I can eat most anything with caution and limits. I wanted to share this because I did not think a couple drinks a couple times a week would have such an effect on my weight loss but it did. Don't be fooled like me and don't let anything stand in the way of our quest for being healthy! I'm in the 50lb club now and with renewed vigor!

Hey everyone! Haven't been around in while.. but I wanted to share... I was sleeved 4/24 and am down 84 lbs since starting my journey. I wanted to share some pics with you.... the first was taken 2 years ago at my company xmas party with my best friend (we both work in the same hospital, different departments tho) and the second was last night... The 3rd pic was taken the day of surgery in April, and the last one was taken last week at a holiday party where I ran into my surgeon! He didn't know it was me at first! He told me how amazing it is to be able to see his patients look and most importantly FEEL so much better about themselves and their health. What I love MOST about my sleeve? I was still able to eat the food at the party, had a piece of this and a piece of that (no Pasta or rice, still can't tolerate it) and I was full and satisfied and guilt free! I even saw another surgeon who has been following my success (I work on a surgical unit, so I see alot of them.. except my bariatric surgeon because I work nights and he rarely comes around when I'm there) and he saw me eating a chocolate covered strawberry (my weakness) and he cheered me on because he knew I could eat just one and be satisfied with that! I hope everyone has an amazing holiday!

My surgeon warned me against vomiting and urged me to be very careful and not vomit if at all possible, that it could cause problems. Sounds like your swelling may have gone down since you are getting hungry. Just sip all you can, be sure you take a high quality, lo carb Protein supplement (made for bariatric patients, not body builders)...that will help quell the hunger. Until you get a fill you won't have any restrictons and will be hungry....in fact it may take 2 or 3 fills. Aftercare and fills are a major part of the success of the band....I'm sorry your doctor doesn't know much about that part. You do need to keep in close touch with a couple of good boards that have experienced wls patients on them to answer your questions. There are some very professional and knowledable people on www.bariatriceating.com so tune in there.

Mynmann- I went to my TriCare office and they said lapband is now covered. I was given a copy of the TriCare Policy Manual, which describes the patient as: 1. "The patient is 100 pounds over the ideal weight for height and bone structure and has one of these associated medical conditions: diabetes mellitus, hypertension, cholecystitis, narcolepsy, Pickwickian syndrome (and other severe respiratory diseases), hypothalamic disorders and severe arthritis of the weight-bearing joints." 2. "The patient is 200% or more of the ideal weight for height and bone structure. An associated medical condition is not required for this category." 3. "The patient has had an intestinal bypass or other surgery for obesity and, because of complications, requires a second surgery (a takedown). "In determining the ideal body weight for morbid obesity using the Metropolitan Life Table, contractors must apply 100 pounds (or 200%) to both the lower and higher end of the weight range. Payment will be allowed when beneficiaries meet all requirements for morbid obesity surgery, including the ideal weight within the newly determined range." I'm going to check the TriCare office once again to make sure that they understood that it was Lap-Band that I was referring to, but I clearly told her it was Lap-Band that I was interested in, and she told me that as of December, 2007, it was covered. If I find out differently, I'll try to get back on this via your e-mail address. One expense that you might not be aware of is that of a dietician/nutritionist. My doctor requires a patient to meet with one before even seeing him. Additionally, you will see one periodically during your weight loss period. Mine will see me on the same day that I see the doctor, who is located an hour away from me in Santa Barbara. My dietician charges $60 for the first visit (it was an hour) and $45 for subsequent visits. TriCare won't pay for those visits because we have a dietician at Vandenburg AFB (central coast Calif). She is willing to work with me, of course at no charge, but she has to get the protocol from the doctor in Santa Barbara because she hasn't handled the bariatric patients before. I'm hopeful that the Santa Barbara dietician and doctor will o.k. that, but if not, the number of visits won't be so many that I can't pay out of pocket.

I can tell you what my NUT said, when I asked about breaded or encrusted fish. Absolutely not. You don't need the carbs, and it's too soon for soft diet. Baked only. Hope that helps. You really should consult your nutritionist on this. Do you have a book of approved foods or not? I got one, from my bariatric center. Good luck.

I don't know but you can buy the chewables online- for example bariatric advantage has them- not tried them yet but I own them. Haha

I feel the same as you on these things. Here's my short list I'm looking forward to ------ getting my driver' license renewed and NOT lying about my weight. ----- buying the 'cool' motorcycle jacket, not just 'this one since it fits me' for cooler riding days. ----- walking my daughters (12and 4) down the aisle when they get married (before sleeve, dr said that i might not have been around for that if I didn't get under control) ----- going to amusement parks with my 14 year old son and not just being his company in line, but ride the rides with him ----- joining my son to help him train for cross country. ----- finishing a 5k in less than 50 minutes without passing out or dying (my first ever attempt will be in 2.5 weeks) ------ being able to be an inspiration to people, and not feel like they are all just thinking 'wow, how does a person let themselves get that big?' ----- feeling like my wife isn't lying when she says that she really is still attracted to me. ----- burning all of my 2x 3x 4x 5x and 6x t shirts while dancing the happy dance around this fire pit, because I won't ever need them again.

Hello all! I am Ericka, 35 from Chicago, and I am new in this process. I have only had my first consultation, and I just got referrals to see the pulmonary doctor and psychiatric doctor. I am here to get information from you all by reading about your journey . Also for a great support system! Thank yo in advance!

Do you really want to ask other people's observations and experiences? If so, fine, but wouldn't you like to discover for yourself, like a surprise party? P.S. It's got much to do with new or renewed confidence and greater mobility, flexibility, friskiness and all.

Great idea! I would totally listen, and wold love to contribute too. I’m 4.5 years post-RNY and ran my first marathon yesterday. I try to stay engaged with the patient group from my surgeon, to both give and receive support, but there’s no one else like me there and most are in a very different part of their journey. The Bariatrics specialists haven’t been any help in my journey since I hit my goal weight, and the non-Bariatrics nutritionists and trainers haven’t had much idea what to do with me either. PM me if you want to talk more.