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when i went to see my bariatric surgeon his nurse said to me "dont get this surgery you are so short and cute!!!" my father who was with me chimed in "and ROUND!" He is in for anything to make his daughter less fat, while my mom, sister, and best friend were all somewhat against it- I think mainly out of concern for me and nothing malicious at all. Well I am now banded and they have no choice but to be supportive! I am not telling anyone at work and it is hard to sneak around only drinking liquids.

I was sleeved July 2012. Forty pounds ago I past the surgeon's goal. I just said my body will decide. I follow the rules. I eat clean. I train or dance 6 days a week. Well, I just didn't stop losing weight. I feel I've probably been "at goal" for a few months but I still lose at least 2 pounds a month. The plastic surgeon (who works frequently with my bariatric surgeon) told me to stop, increase my calories and I'd be thrilled with my results. I just really have very little fat on my body. (She showing me as she's manipulating my hanging skin.) So I asked her about "how long" she wants me to be stable. She said it's not about how long before I can have surgery, it's about eating more and not losing anymore. Okay. I get it. It's not easy but I will lose a minimum of 5 pounds of skin/fat in surgery and my BMR will triple in recovery!!! Spin will lose weight, too. To triple my BMR results in a really high calorie need. Higher than I can imagine and I eat 1800 calories now. This is why consults are so important. They can really look at YOU and what you need to do.

Thanks for the feedback. I'm going to keep taking my bariatric Vitamin until told otherwise. It will be interesting to hear what they say at my next appt. I don't eat seafood or soy but have been having more red meat since surgery. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

I take Bariatric Advantage VitaBand chewable Vitamins - they are designed to meet the needs of Lap Band patients. Bariatric Advantage - Bariatric Advantage VitaBand Chewable Multivitamin - Watermelon (180ct)

I'm curious Curvyjudy, why you would want to fly across the United States? There are Bariatric Centers of excellence back East. I tell you, I would not want to fly for hours and hours only 3 days after having this procedure. It wipes you out. Granted you feel fine in a week or two, but that first week is hard.

Hello all - was just sleeved on the 27th and am one week out tomorrow. I've only just come home from Mexico and am on my last pain pill (which is little - 10 mg of Supradol). It does not make me groggy or loopy at all, just take the edge off a little bit of post-op discomfort, which usually feels like an uncomfortable internal tugging sensation when I've been up and around too long. I think a regular dose of Tylenol would do the same trick, so I'm just wondering if that's okay to take after 1 week? Should it be children's Tylenol? Is there anything I should NOT take? Second question - do Syntax nectars and hot chocolate mixes (the Protein ones from Bariatric Pantry) count as full liquids, Clear Liquids or what? My nutritionist keeps referring to full liquids as ones with "residue." Anyone? Sorry if this is a bit disjointed, I literally just came in from the airport and had no Internet all week! Just questions I know I'll be asking myself in the morning...

The Psych eval is probably the same for everyone (I'm a psychologist). You need a "bariatric eval", which typically includes an interview plus a psych test like the MMPI (it's a true-false test) or something similar. Not every psychologist does these eva;s, but your surgeon's office probably has a few they can recommend. I know for me, my surgeon's rec wasn't in my insurance plan, so I called around to my covered providers and just asked until I found someone who did bariatric surgery evals. You might be able to get this referral from the nurses or office staff at your surgeon's. A general note about psych evals-- don't be afraid of them. I'll tell you that about the only time I've seen people get in trouble with the psych eval is when they get anxious and try to present themselves as super perfect-- a trained psychologist doesn't expect or believe super perfection and you're just fine if you're relaxed and honest.

TLDR; Self pay in MX, took a few weeks from my first online inquiry to the surgery. DETAILS: I could of waited for insurance but did not want to wait - I had a LOT of bariatric attributed issues. Someone here in my office took 8 months to get approved then operated on and they would NOT do the sleeve, she had a bypass.

I've had my consultation with Dr. Stowers (via phone since I live out of state) and so far it has been a good experience. I'm wondering if anyone has gone to him for the sleeve? If so, what was your experience like? Any complications? For fellow sleevers that are a few years out, how has your progress been and are you maintaining? Any information would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!!

I agree that Bariatric Advantage are horribly chalking and make me gag. I switched to One A Day Kids Complete (Scooby Doo). To me they taste great and I look forward to taking it everyday. For calcium I do a generic brand of Viactiv. 2 a day. The chocolate chews taste like tootsie rolls to me so it is a little treat as well as a Vitamin.

Sampled all those and every other variety available with whey isolate protein. I found the Bariatric Fusion to be the most pallatable. I did find a few of the nector ones to be okay...no fruit flavored ones. My surgeons office actually carries it but it can also be ordered online at bariatricfusion.com.

i email the Alberta health care and i got this. Alberta Health and Wellness does cover medically required bariatric surgery for weight loss for extremely obese patients with medical complications from the excessive weight. There are two procedures, stomach stapling and gastric banding. Alberta Health and Wellness does cover both surgeries if the physician performing the surgery feels the patient meets the program requirements. These procedures are now being done in Edmonton by 2 surgeons (Dr. Douglas Davey and Dr. Dan Birch), as part of the Capital Health Adult Bariatric Surgery, at the Royal Alexandra Hospital. Patient selection includes: age 18 years and older; Body Mass Index greater than 35 with two co morbidities, or greater than 40 with or without co morbidities; and some other criteria. If you wish to calculate your body mass index, there is a web site: http://www.halls.md/body-mass-index/bmi.htm where you can have the body mass calculated automatically. Patients have to be referred to the two surgeons performing this surgery. Once they have seen the surgeons, the patients go through the Bariatric Clinic to be further checked to determine their eligibility for surgery. Only after it is determined that surgery is the best option, will surgery be booked. After the surgery is actually booked the wait is usually less than six months for the surgery to be performed. If an Alberta resident goes outside of Canada for this surgery, the physician’s fees and hospital bill are usually paid by the patient and submitted to Alberta Health and Wellness for consideration of payment later. Alberta Health and Wellness does cover the surgery, at the same rate as it would be paid in Alberta. The hospital in-patient charges are only paid at $100.00 per day. The fees charged by physicians and hospitals outside of Canada will be significantly higher than the fees payable by Alberta Health and Wellness. The patient would still have to be medically eligible for this type of surgery for payment to be considered. I trust this is the information you require. well today i had to go and see my doctor for the mix up from last year when the apply for the bypass and they weigh me and messure me im short 5.4 my bmi is 45 thats bad. He told me he was going to talk to a surgent and see what they could do for me if the lab band would be better I need a new doctor he makes my blood presure go up and on the way out the nurse said to me so after all of this is this going to help your husband to lose wait and pete is not over wait he could lose 20lb but thats it and i cant believe she said that this nurse is 2 times my size. andree

So the time is coming around again for the Canadian Bandster bash out in Mississauga. I am a member of the planning committee and we have rounded up some great people to come and speak. The organizers are all bandsters, but we wanted to open up the bash to all bariatric patients so we are changing the focus to wellness this year. I got involved after going to the first bash and learning so much, and having so much fun. We have some great people confirmed to speak to us including Monica Ganz of Obesity Help, Julie Janeway of Little Victories, Dr Barry Simon and a ton of others. We are focusing not just on the newly banded/WLS patients but on people in all stages of banding weight loss, maintenance, thinking about WLS etc. How do you take off the last little bit of weight, how do you maintain. How do you get over body issues all sorts of stuff to help out all sorts of people. If you are interested the website and registration is located at the following site. I can't say how much it helps people to meet others who are going through the same stuff they are and who understand. Besides we always have a blast hanging out together. www.canadianbandsterbash.com If you have any questions let me know. Hope to see you there. Heather:clap2:

I did have my surgery on 10-14-08 and have lost 52 pounds! I now have a problem with horrible gas and constipation. My surgeon told me to take a laxative to start off with and then take a daily stool softener. The problem with that is I can no longer swallow pills and have to grind up my BP meds and have gotten most of my vitamins in either liquid or chewable. There are no chewable stool softeners that I can find. I tried Pedialax stool softener that is supposed to be fruit punch flavored. You mix it with juice so I tried mixing 8 oz of diet V8 splash and that did not help the taste nor did adding 8 more oz of splash. I took 3 sips and was on the verge of throwing up and poured the rest of the bottle as well as the juice mixture down the drain. Now I have so much gas and don't go to the BR unless I chew up some ex-lax. I am seeing the bariatric md where I live at Tuesday and am going to see what he says. Is anyone out there having these types of problems? What if anything can you recommend that will help? I am desperate as I fear that strainining will lead to a surgery of a different kind.

I interviewed about 7 different doctors/clinics and 4 of them had 'program' fees and lots of pre and post-surgery requirements not required by my insurance which means my insurance would also not have paid for these tests. The clinic I finally chose has no program fee and only requires special tests based on the health of each individual, which means they can back it up to the insurance company and it will be covered. I do have to drive an hour one way to the clinic but since I only have to do it every couple weeks for a fill...and then maybe not for months...it's worth it. Personally, I'd keep looking around because there are good bariatric clinics and doctors who do not require a fee.

You did better than I did!!!! Today was my first day and I'm scheduled for 12/16. I did great while at work before lunch, but after lunch I didn't get to get anything in every 2 hrs bcuz we were so busy. So when I got home I was starving. I made a Bariatric Advantage shake but that was sooooo nasty. I ended up eating 3 chicken nuggets. Now I feel like I'm going to be punished for it. But tomorrow is a new day and I will be sticking to my liquid diet. those shakes are so NASTY!!! I started off with those but i had to change....

I had GERD before sleeve surgery. In the past, I had some pretty bad bouts of it where it caused chest pain. I also had GERD pretty bad with the band. I'd also go long periods with nothing, so it was a mystery. When I started looking into another bariatric surgery, my surgeon cautioned me, but continued to perform pre-op testing. The doctor felt that my GERD was "situational", meaning that it was related to diet and obesity. So, we decided it was worth the risk, but he warned that there were no guarantees that I wouldn't have GERD after the sleeve. I had surgery on 4/10/18 and about 3 weeks afterwards, I started getting heartburn. I started on Nexium right away and the symptoms are well controlled with it. I wouldn't say that it's severe or "intractable" as my psych evaluator so kindly put it. It's just a little bit of heartburn and if I eat too late in the evening, I will wake with a sore throat (easily remedied by sleeping on an inclined bed). My advice, discuss with your doctor. Every person is different and every person will respond differently.

2 days post op and i started Bariatric Advantage mixed berry vitamin and I thought it was a little better this morning but same reaction a min later. Mouth watering and trying hard not to throw up. Did anyone else have this issue with Bariatric Advantage and does it go away? What brands do you like? Need an alternative stat.

Let me just post the whole article then - I really should have cited it as the source, doh! It's not the newest - but all the different aspects of WLS really resonated with me. It works on a deeper level than restriction, and they still don;t understand it totally. It was one of the articles I used to convince my husband about the surgery - remember he was negative and judgemental? But anything in the NY Times is gospel to him, LOL. https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/27/health/bariatric-surgery.html

Hello! I am a newbie and just recently decided on surgery in Mexico. Can anyone give me suggestions on how/where they did most of their research at to find mortality / complication rates? Who did you guys go with and why? I had a couple of doctors picked out but now I am not sure again. This is such a huge decision... How did you know when you found the right doctor? Any suggestions or information will be so helpful! Thank you all! I can see already these boards are going to be my new best friend! I was looking into Dr. louisiana Valenzuela (mexico bariatric) and Dr Ortiz (from a lighter me) also might consider Dr. Osuna SO WORRIED ABOUT MAKING A WRONG DECISION....

if there was no one to stop me i would be getting my wls in Mexico. i researched for hours on end and decided upon Ramos-Kelly or Fernando Garcia. My husband wont allow it so i will have my surgery in the US but to answer your question: Besides all the success stories you will read i made it a point to google phrases like "death after bariatric surgery in tijuana" and "death of patient dr. XYZ" my research was to find all the GOOD and BAD for each doctor i was considering. and there are doctors who have repeat situations. also keep in mind that people can die in the US from the same surgery. It is just one of the risks. good luck

As I recall, SlimFast Hi Protein is not really very high protein! It's only about 15 grams. The good quality protein drinks made for bariatric patients have anywhere between 25-40 grms for about the same price. Since we need 80-100 grams a day, and it's hard to get much with just food in a tiny little pouch, I think the bariatric drinks are much healthier and you don't have to use as many. And if you use the powders, much cheaper. Canned RTD's average about 2 dollars/can whereas powders average about 50 cents a serving. I keep RTD's on hand for traveling or a quick drink, but use the powders for daily life. Also, the powders can be 'doctored up' with SF syrups and fruit and give you much more variety than just drinking the same thing every day.

Congratulations Michelle.:clap2::clap2: I am so happy for you. I will be seeing my surgeon on June 8th to get my surgery date. Also at Southwest bariatrics in Austin. Keep us updated on your weight loss journey. Tammy

I WEIGHT LESS THEN WHAT MY DRIVERS LICENSE SAYS!!! I just noticed this, I can remember it being as high as 40 lb. over, but too embarrassed to update it, Always thinking by next renewal I will loose it only to have gained a few more. I am so happy right now! What is your latest NSV? I really LOVE reading them!!!!!!

Texas, I know exactly what you mean. You know I had a thought last night. I wonder how many of those celebrity chicks have already had bariatric surgery. Some of these women...I'm thinking...okay how are you still 111 pounds at age 41? What are they eating? Their own hair? Just a thought.