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well, I had my surgery at one of the top research & teaching hospitals in the country, with a surgeon who's on the surgery faculty, so I can't say he'd be one to avoid. I still think it's a matter of professional opinion. Some do it - some don't. I see you had John Rabkin - also a top surgeon. I do think it's just a difference of opinion. I would hardly call my surgeon inferior to those who don't require pre-op liquid diets. He trains a lot of other bariatric surgeons...

I’ve always related my blocked ears to when my blood pressure would drop. I’ve had instances over years before my surgery but since my surgery in May my BP is low all the time & I have had blocked ears many, many times. I can’t pop them (yawning, drinking, chewing,...don't work). I just have to wait for it to pass. Interested to hear how common this is. My GP got me to have a brain scan to make sure there was nothing sinister this week but all good. Thank gracious. Hair loss is very common. Mine’s been falling out for 4 months now & I’ve lost almost 50%. Very sad. There are lots of posts about this with suggestions on how to lessen the impact but nothing’s slowed mine yet. My surgeon warned me it would happen. In his words: ‘You’re body has better things to do with the reduced nutrients you take in on your new diet than grow hair.’ He wasn’t wrong. My surgeon & dietician told me I’d have to take multi vitamins for the rest of my life. I have blood tests every 3 months for my Bariatric team & my GP has had me get one in between. They’re tracking & monitoring even slight changes. I’m sorry your GP is not being supportive of your journey. They are your primary care giver & someone who you should be able to trust & depend upon for your health & well being.

I will be starting the process for Weight-Loss Surgery!!!! I get my email for orientation for the classes I will be taking at Kaiser Permanente by email.

^^^^^This is truly profound. It IS a multi-factoral disease recognized by the AMA and ASMBS (sp? chemo brain catching me) and insurance board. Most bariatricians and bariatric surgeons readily admit (when asked) that this is a disease (obesity) and once MO and some say overweight not even obese, you will battle it for your entire life or suffer regain. So it's a case for us of being in a state of NED (like with my Stage 3C BC). I can never say I was cured. This surgery does not offer a cure. It offers a brief 3-5 year window to reset your body's metabolic thermostat to defend a lower set point. But the body is smart and wants to get back to the state it knows. Some studies show that the microvilli increase post RNY and DS to ease the malabsorption and take in more nutrients. All studies show as we heal, we are able to eat more and more and more volume to the point of 5 years out most of us will be eating at our pre-surgery volumes (or just about). That's why Dr. Weiner says that we should never buy into the myth of restriction and malabsorption. It's why we MUST learn new skills and behaviors with food and use the time to develop new food preferences and new gut biomes that crave more good foods than bad. So at best we are in Remission or NED (no evidence of disease). And the longer we can trick our body into staying in that state, the more chance we have of long term success. It's like pulling weeds. Pulling a couple of weeds each week? Meh. Totes doable. Weeding a 1 acre garden? Total bull crap! LOL. It will take huge effort!

Hi drzrx, I just wanted to let you know that BariatricPal MX has changed its name to Hospital BC. Dr. Illan is still the Medical Director is a Master Surgeon in Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery by SRC.

Here's my chart of B12 (I cut back on the dosage a bit cuz I forget to take 'em and rolled it into my B-Complex vitamin.) Here's my Folate Chart Here's my B6 Chart Here's my B1 Chart As @catwoman7 mentioned, it is not unusual for bariatric patients to have skewed vitamin levels - especially of the B vitamins. My doc has never mentioned anything to me about my B12 or Folate levels being dangerous. When I was low on B1 and B6 and Potassium, we supplemented until the levels came back to norm. But I did it under doc's care.

I'm trying to collect a list of hospitals/facilities/clinics in Mexico that have accreditations like: Joint Commission international SRC -Centers of Excellence Surgical Review Corporation Centers of Excellence International Federation for the Surgery of Obesity (IFSO) ASMBS and surgeons that have accreditations and board certification in bariatric surgery? so far have: BariatricPal MX Mexico - Dr Ilan Obesity control center - Dr Ortiz LiMARP -Dr. Liza María Pompa González

Following i do know that we are not supposed to take b12 unless confirmed low for non bariatric patients. I wAs only taking it once a week or so with sleeve. I feel sure that when I see my dr for first time after revision to bypass he is going to tell me to take it daily. It can build up and cause issues if not needed. I plan to talk to him about that.

Into December now and I'm closer to getting through my to do list for insurance to approve surgery. I took a break over Thanksgiving from tightly restricting and gained 7 pounds. Thankfully it was water weight, probably from all the salt on the things I ate. Today I'm back down that 7 pounds and sticking to my plan. I want so much to get under the 320 mark! 2 pounds doesn't seem like much, but this 2 pounds have been super hard, even staying under 1,000 calories a day and pumping in water. I will have to try to move more often. I was going to renew my gym membership last week but we had a financial crisis and can't afford it until next week. Anyway, I'm down to 1 caffeinated beverage per day and am trying to stick with 2 cups or less for each meal. I did great with it until lunchtime today, when I probably ate a quart, I was so hungry. No excuses, it was all my choice, my poor choice and now tomorrow the scales will probably have gone up again instead of down. I have a story to tell and then a dream I had a few nights ago, that wakened a fear about being thin that I didn't know I had. But, I'm out of time for today so the tale will have to wait until Friday.

I just go to amazon or the store here at bariatric pal and buy what I want and what has good reviews.

I agree. Please do your research and be wary of any practice in Mexico that charges less than $4600 USD. Ask for certifications and accreditations for both the Surgeon and the Hospital. These are fairly easy to confirm online. Look for surgeon accreditations like FACS, ASMBS, SRC Surgeon of Excellence and SRC Master Surgeon in Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery. As for the Hospital. Make sure it is a FULL-Service Hospital and not a clinic or surgery center. Clinics and surgery centers are not equipped to handle serious complications. Their accreditations and certifications include SRC Center of Excellence in Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery, as well as Local, State and Federal certifications.

3 in total ? Or 3 for bariatrics ? I have a pseudocholinesterace deficiency and can't have succinylcholine doc told me years ago it's important to wear ?

My bariatric team has been reviewing my chart for nearly 2 weeks. I emailed my patient coordinator asking how long it normally takes for them to review it. She messaged me back saying there is no time limit. How long did it take your team to review and approve your chart so it can be sent to your insurance?

I’m wondering if each Kaiser bariatric unit have their own instructions.

@tal 70 lost in five months is fantastic. 65 pounds to go. You never know where exercise can take you. Be open to the possibilities. find what you enjoy and be consistent. Use it as “me time” and self care. (Don't let anyone interrupt) It’s another way to develop healthy habits. You can use it to replace stress/emotional eating and process life’s issues. Start slow and build up. What gets you motivated to workout?? Any ideas would be greatly appreciated! Exercise is a choice. The next the next seven month are going to go by if you workout or not. Decide where you want to be in your first year. Some days I need perspective, not motivation. A cancer patient with three months to live would gladly trade places for our weight loss struggles. If you workout during the winter, what could your body look like by summer? Motivation to exercise can be hard, bariatrics is hard and being obese is hard. Choose your hard. Exercise will compliment your weight loss. For many of us, the last 20lbs are difficult to lose. Each month’s choices are the next month’s body. Weightlifting (gym or home) can help fill the loose skin a bit. If it’s important to you, you will find a way to get it in. If it’s not you will find excuses

Wow. Just wow. I would bet that they just seriously dropped the ball and didn’t test at all. First thing I would do is to make sure the baby is ok. Second thing that I would do is to lawyer up. Get advise from an attorney before contacting or making any statements to your bariatric team. If nothing else this needs to never ever happen again. Please keep us posted. I will keep you and your child in my thoughts and prayers.

So, my doctor is a great surgeon, but not great on the nutrition part and I'm a little lost. I'm 4 weeks PO and trying to get ready for the months ahead. Looking for a nutritionist with experience in bariatric surgery that I can consult with if anyone has any recommendations. Sent from my SM-G950U using BariatricPal mobile app

Could I get clarification. Is Dr. Jalil illan with Hospital BC or Bariatric pal MX LLC? Has he changed locations, or did they change the hospitals name? https://hospitalbc.com/dr-jalil-illan/ https://bariatricpalhospitalmx.com/

Blossom Baraitrics Las vegas NV as starting $6,799 to $10,000 (depending on insurance or self pay) includes hotel and ground transperttion Website https://blossombariatrics.com/ Yelp and BBB reviews https://www.yelp.com/biz/blossom-bariatrics-las-vegas https://www.bbb.org/us/nv/las-vegas/profile/specialists/blossom-bariatrics-1086-90010292/complaints Bariatric pal MX LLC Tijuana, Baja California Mexico Dr. Illan & Dr. Vila starting $4600 to $9000 depending on consult– Understand the owner of this site is affilated with this business. Because of the reviews below he may take down my post. Website https://bariatricpalhospitalmx.com/ Yelp and BBB reviews https://www.yelp.com/biz/bariatricpal-tijuana https://www.bbb.org/us/ny/inwood/profile/weight-reduction-physician/bariatricpal-mx-llc-0121-182657/complaints

No. That would be highly inappropriate and no doctor would risk their license to willfully disobey standard of care (in the states anyway). It's too hard to get to be a bariatric surgeon.

This morning Bariatric Pal received a strange post from a first time poster. The poster after leaving a message that didn't make any sense requested members to contact them using private message. The thread appeared to originate from Russia. It appeared to be a type of honey trap enticing members to communicate by PM where they might fall prey to a spam attack. These attacks seem to be targeting a number of different types of message boards at the moment. On one of the other boards, the moderator recommended the following actions: Would members please try to recognise and ignore the spammer posts instead of replying to them. Just report them. If you mistakenly report a bona fide member, don't worry, better to be safe than sorry. What might indicate a message is Spam? 1. Profile entries sometimes have very basic spelling errors eg "Unated States" 2. Profile page shows a business link (sometimes) 3. Messages posted sometimes have what appears to be a string of nonsense letters - for example djhpownkggstr NEVER click on these to quote. Recent ones are from the Ukraine. They have been detected as infected on other sites 4. Posts with blue links placed below the message in the left lower corner of the post as you look at the screen. 5. Words in blue embedded in an otherwise plain text post - the blue words are hidden spam links that open up when you click on them - may carry malware 6 Obvious spam links from new members with little or no posting history 7. Look out for several brand new posters showing up in a thread and congratulating one another on their good advice. 8. Never open links that are posted in these thread topics: Bitcoin, travel tips, vaping, gambling, viagra etc, essay writing, smoking, cannabis in any form. 9. Be mindful that spammers usually lie about the country that they are in - the Ukranians say they are in the USA, the UK, one of them claimed to be in Mali... 10. Look for new members who join with "whole" names like JamesWilson for example, or EllaSmith, these are quite common lately 12. Look for new members who interrupt a completely unrelated thread with a first post that says "Hello! Nice to meet you!!" They are devious and malicious, and can trick both new and old members. If in doubt, report and we can check out their real location and posting history. The Russian, Ukranian and Muldovan spammers seem to be getting more numerous in targeting our social forum lately. They are producing most of the current spam, though there are some from Pakistan also posing as ordinary members who are also active. Before most of the spam of these kinds seemed to be USA based, and the change to the Russian speaking countries has happened in the past 12-18 months. Please be vigilant and report.

my bariatric doc and surgeon said i could take nsaid occasionally i use naproxen which is better then ibupofen

yep. I've been hanging out on this and other bariatric boards for about five years. It happens a lot. It's not inevitable - but it seems like a LOT of people have a rebound.

Why would we have or want sugar? Ketosis is great! I hope you're not suggesting recent bariatric patients eat sugar....

Welcome and congrats on your success! I feel your pain. I'd honestly get your surgeon, PCP, and a referral to a cardiologist who knows about bariatric surgery. The first part with fatigue and palpitations could be an emergency state. You need to get blood work done asap to determine if your electrolytes are off or if there are underlying nutritional deficiencies--especially B Vitamins and iron levels etc and yes, thyroid levels too. If all those look fine, then your cardiologist will want you to wear a holter monitor for a month to evaluate when you are having these issues and look at what is causing them. I know it's fairly common for bariatrics to have low heart rates and low bps. Mine runs around 48 and goes to low 40s with pain meds or sleep. They were freaked out in the hospital about that. My cardiologist says as long as I'm symptom free, we'll just watch it. I get heart palps when my potassium goes low. You absolutely have to be under a doctor's care to jack with potassium supplementation. I also had low B1 and B6. Again, very common among bari patients... Hope you're able to get to the bottom of it. Call and make an appointment this morning, ok?!