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I decided pre-surgery that I did not have to be the poster child for bariatric surgery awareness. So it's Noneya. As in Noneyabeezewax. LOL. I just smile and say, "Yep, I'm working my ass off literally and figuratively. Who knew that diet and exercise really work?!

Ok, yes! Be hard on yourself. WTF? Seriously. Call your surgeon and get a referral to your RD and to the bariatric counselor. Start therapy now. This may sound harsh? But you are 4 WEEKS post op! This is the "easiest" and the "hardest" you will ever have it and the time you will feel LEAST like eating in your entire journey. Cuz barring complications like it sounds like you're asking for, your restriction will get increasingly less and less as the months go by and you continue to heal and evolve. You either take care of your food/behavior problems now? Or you could be doomed to either never see goal, or regain. Tough? Fu*k yes. I am being tough and shocking. I hope it shocks you into getting a grip and getting real with your bad choices. It begs to be asked...Why did you have this life-changing surgery if you weren't ready to get serious about living a new life? Ask yourself, WHAT IS YOUR WHY? WHY did you want the surgery? WHY did you want a new lease on life? How important are YOU? How important is your marriage? Your LIFE? (Seriously one of the saddest posts I've ever read and I've read a bunch including a post-op eating pizza at 4 days.)

I ordered two off Amazon but was minorly dissapointed when there really weren't any pictures. Fresh start bariatric cookbook and the gastric sleeve Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using BariatricPal mobile app

I recently saw bariatric cookbooks mentioned in another thread. Hoping anyone using them can reply as to which book is their favorite? I want to start with just ordering one. TIA Sent from my SM-G930P using BariatricPal mobile app

Hi everyone, I met with Psych, fitness, dietician today, they also included pharmacy to go over all of our medications including over-the-counter and supplements. I had a heart attack a year and a half ago, I don’t have any stents nor did I have any blockages. I’m on beta blockers and calcium channel blocker‘s, aspirin and Lipitor. Some of these have to be adjusted because they’re extended release, but the main issue is the aspirin. The pharmacist stated that because I am now a bariatric surgical patient Motrin and aspirin I can no longer take. This poses an issue because I am supposed to take 81 mg of aspirin a day. I do have to get cardiac clearance from my cardiologist before proceeding with the surgery,. I was wondering if there are any cardiac patients here that have gone through this? Thanks!

You know... I'm about six weeks off my annual checkup so I might make it early with my GP and see if there's something non-bariatric going on. I googled and apparently thyroid issues can cause jittery feelings.

It will be two years since my Gastric Sleeve Surgery and it has been one remarkable journey. First off for myself, on the day of my surgery I weighed in at 221lbs. I took a combined 11 pills a day for a heart condition, diabetes, gout, GERD, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and other assorted ailments. Today I take one pill for cholesterol everything else is under control without medication. In a little over seven months I acheived my goal weight (lost 63lbs). Since then, I have maintained my weight loss flucuating 3lbs up or down. I set a "red line" weight where if I hit it I will go into overdrive so as not to pass it. I have never done that in the past. Subsequently, I always regained the weight I lost. I also found out that I am a compulsive eater. The surgery fixed my stomach but not my brain. I needed to work through this so, I go to a therapist and I attend Overeaters Anonymous (OA) meetings. It's a struggle for me everyday and I need to practice mindful eating. Throughout this journey I have inspired three friends and a family member to get WLS. I have a support group there that helps me and them immensely. I attend the monthly support group meetings offered by my surgeon as well as attending OA meetings. Clothing wise, I went from an XL to a medium. One other thing that I learned about myself from this process is that I am was a compulsive shopper. When I started donating my larger clothes to the church I found out that I had scores of pants, shirts and other clothing items. I didn't realize the extent of my compulsive shopping. Today, I have a few shirts, pants and other clothing items. My closets and drawers are so much more manageable. I used to frequent restaurants as much as 3 x 4 times a week. I rarely eat out anymore as I feel very uncomfortable in restaurants even at two years post surgery. I also stopped eating processed foods which is a staple in restaurants. At a group meeting someone asked how many calories each of us were taking in and for the most part the reply was, I don't count calories, I just try to get my 80 grams of protein in each day. That pretty much sums up my eating process as well. I find that eating dense proteins help to give me feeling of fullness and I don't eat too much. As for the restriction, it has lessened somewhat over the two years but it is still there. I need to eat slowly, be mindful of what I eat and never ever try to eat around the restriction. I eat the same thing every day since I make poor food choices. I don't find this to be a bad thing as I look at food as fuel for the body and not as a source of pleasure. I used to live to eat now I eat to live. My friends who have had WLS can't eat the same thing every day and they crave variety. Unlike me, they can make better food choices. It's been two years and in the world of bariatric surgery I'm still in the infant stage. As I go into year three I'm hoping that I can maintain the weight loss as my health really depends on it. In closing, I feel so much better than before my WLS. My health which was my main concern has gotten so much better. It's so much better that I decided to forgo collecting social security and wait until later as I feel that I will live much much longer. To all of you, good luck with your weight loss journey and most of all good health.

hey you shouldn't be in this much pain and you should be able to sip easily. Go get a check-up from the bariatric team, I ended up with a volvulus and ended up having a 2nd emergency op on 21st Aug, after I had an endoscopic dilation that didn't work !! I couldn't keep anything down and was in severe pain. So ended up having my sleeve then bypassed with 1 anastomosis. Some great pics of the state I was in, i shall share later. I was in hospital for 14 nights

I have a BMI of 36. I have not had surgery yet but I am getting the sleeve done in September. I lost 48 pounds on my own. I had many doubts but I had to take in account want I wanted for my future. I have 3 kids that I want to be around for them and possible future grandchildren. The longer you are over weight the more stress your body is in. I don't want life long troubles with diabetes or heart disease. Someone told me to think of the surgery as one tool added to your other methods of lossing weight. Even if you have the surgery your still putting in all the work needed to loose the weight. You still choose what you eat and you still have to exercise. I have not had a life long struggle with weight. I had some health issues that brought on some weight. In 2016 I had a complete hysterectomy. I went to 135lbs. Then I went to 165lbs when my daughter was admitted to the hospital for 3 months. I got down to 150 lbs until April 2018 when I broke my ankle. I went up to 238 lbs. I am now down to 193 lbs. I have injures, I am not as young so my metabolism is not what it use to be. I need an assist. I choose surgery. My primary doctor did not know much about weight loss surgery when I asked for a referral. I saw him today for my 3 month A1C. He said he started looking into the surgeries and agreed with me that the sleeve was a good option due to my diabetes, sleep apnea, and high cholesterol. My bariatric doctor told me people with a BMI as low as 30, in other countries are getting weight loss surgery ( mostly gastric bypass) to treat diabetes. My bariatric doctor asked me if I had cancer would I get chemotherapy or radiation? I said yes. I have decided on getting the VGS. This surgery reduces the size of my stomach, removes the part of the stomach that controls hunger hormones and cravings among other things. On the emotional relationship for food, I believe we all have an emotional relationship with food on some degree. If you want to be well educated and get the best result out of surgery I would suggest seeing a therapist. Even if you don't have surgery see a therapist. You need to know what triggers you to eat and learn alternate and positive coping techniques. You can read any story anyone shares on this sight and the biggest reason they choose surgery is to be at a healthier weight regardless of what their BMI number started at. I hope this helps you. I find out my surgery date this Friday. So my date will be some time this September. Sent from my SM-N960U using BariatricPal mobile app

I was in the same situation.I eated probably between 500-800 after 6 months of my surgery.When I was probably 8 months out,I stopped loosing weight.My bariatric nurse told me that I might in my perfect weight(I was so upset,because I was still overweight).I increased my calories to 1000,and my weight started to go down.Now I eat about 1400 calories(most of the days though I am OK with 1200). I exercise 5 times per week(only cardio) and try to do 10000 steps per day. Sent from my LGMP260 using BariatricPal mobile app

I am not in Utah, but thought you might like to have an idea of what costs are. I had my surgery at a hospital in Tulsa, OK. What I liked about the way I did my surgery was I did not go through a "bariatric clinic". I knew the surgeon I wanted to use so I went past all the other stuff and went straight to my choice (from what I understand, in the clinic setting you don't get to choose your surgeon). I still had to do all the pre-op appointments but I decided where I wanted to have the surgery. I chose a hospital where my surgeons office is right next door. The hospital has a "global" charge that includes hospital charges, surgeon and anesthesia for the cost of $17,750. I had to pay when I went in for my pre-op admissions. The normal costs of the surgery would be $27,000.

It's just crap when it comes from a family member, especially one that has never made comments about your appearance before. The irony of this is she was/is 200% against weight loss surgery but is actually consulting with my bariatric surgeon for it as a last resort option to control her diabetes. That's actually what prompted the comment. We were talking about her meeting with my surgeon and then she said I looked too skinny/sick.

This is just me, so do your thang and happy you found something to work for you. But, my surgeon said no protein drinks over 200cals. At that point they become "milk shakes" and further, I didn't have bariatric surgery just to down massive quantities of calories and carbs in a protein drink. The purpose of protein drinks is to get nourishment down your piehole for the ABSOLUTE FEWEST calories while maxing protein. In a protein drink you want way more than 1g of protein per 10cals. And this is falling short. I can have a Premier for 160cals and get 25-30g protein. Or I can have an isopure for about 140cals and get 25g. Sorry. But I also don't want to activate the hedonic pleasure center by linking my "milk shake" with my protein drink. This is the time to retrain your brain.

Funny i just changed my vitamins today to the bariatric chewables. I'm 5 weeks postop and i started with the multivitamin pills, they are too large for me to swallow. I have a hard time swallowing medium - large pills. Then i tried the multivitamin crystals, you mix with water. This took forever to drink. So now I'm trying the chewables. We'll see!!! I think it's important to find the right combo for you. The patches might work for you too. Sent from my SM-G965U using BariatricPal mobile app

he's retiring? Wow! A lot of people are going to really bummed about that!! He is super well known in the bariatric community! And yes - Joseph Michaels. A lot of people on another forum I'm on have gone to him. I went to Lawrence Zachary in Chicago. Actually, I think I first heard about him right here on BP.... btw - Dr. Zachary works out of two hospitals in Chicago. He's on the faculty of the Univ of Chicago, so he works at that hospital of course - but I think it's mostly insurance-covered patients who go there. He also works out of Weiss Hospital, a small community hospital on the north side of the city. He does the self-pays there, because the facility fee there is lower there than it is at U of C. I was self-pay, so my surgery was at Weiss.

I'm am just starting a bariatric diet. I am 245 lb and hesitant about the surgery but need to lose weight.i am doing well with everything except that I cant get motivated to go for a walk and at night I get bad food cravings. Any help is appriciated. Sent from my LML713DL using BariatricPal mobile app

Sooo, I did two consults last week. I went with the two first that didn't charge consultation fees. Even regardless of the fees, they were my top 2 choices from pics and reviews online. The good news is they both had nearly identical recommendations. They were both kind and professional, and I felt like they really listened to what I want. In speaking to the surgeons, here is my revised wants list Lower Body Lift - this would include tummy tuck, lipo, outer and front of thigh lift, monsplasty, and fat transfer for butt lift. Inner Thigh Lift - could be combined with LBL & would be a good compromise to have a concealed scar vs the more extensive scar of a medial thigh lift. Breast Lift & Augmentation - both surgeons said this would have to be a separate procedure, unable to combine with the LBL due to time under anesthesia & surgeon fatigue. Both did not recommend the teardrop gummy bear. They said it works better in theory than IRL, and I can get more natural results with traditional round silicone implant. Both said recovery time would only be 2 weeks of no traveling. So that makes it possible to just slip this surgery in sometime next year. But I will probably look for a plastic surgeon that specialized in BA/BL vs one who specializes in massive weight loss. BL/BA's are so common & i don't think my breasts are significantly different than a women's who had children & breastfed, I could find a more convenient and potentially less expensive option. The bad news is, surgeon #1's quote was INSANELY high. Like I could buy a small house in Kansas for that kind of money. Surgeon #2's quote was significantly less crazy, but still a big chunk of change. The more I look at surgeon's #2 pics, and after the consult, I'm leaning away from going with him. He only does weight loss patients. Therefore he does a lot of My 600 lb Life type stuff. He seems more focused on removing skin and fat, then true body contouring, if that makes sense? I just don't know if I would be aesthetically happy with my body afterwards. Contrast that with surgeon #1's extreme focus on aesthetics. I am confident I'd get the best results with surgeon #1, but the cost seems unreasonable. So I'm broadening my search to other surgeons in the country that specialize in massive weight loss. The LBL & thigh lift are not very common outside of post bariatrics, so I want a specialist for those. I contacted my #1 out of state choice for a consultation, and learned he is retiring and not scheduling any new surgeries The pressure is on to book a procedure. Understandably my December time frame is very popular, and I absolutely need to have my procedure done in a pretty small window due to wok commitments. I'm a little disheartened by the process right now

So I am 3 months PO and am STRUGGLING TO TAKE my vitamins. They make me nauseous. I make sure that I take them with food, I try to take them before bed and in the morning. I have tried Bariatric Fusion Chewables, bariatric Fusion multi-vitamin tablets and alive vitamins. I had labs drawn today to check my levels, but I have missed vitamins every day for a week before that. 😕 What are you taking that's gentler? Anyone suffer with intense nausea from vitamins?

I’m so glad you’re taking to health care pros and to us about this. Maybe it’s also time for a mental health pro who specializes in bariatrics? In addition to logging food, make sure you’re logging your mental state when you find yourself wanting to graze. Also, I find it extremely helpful to put myself on TRE (time-restricted eating). Today my eating window was 8 hours. I broke my fast at 11:45am and I have 8 minutes left. After my window closes, no food til the next day. Trying to push my protein and calories in can be a challenge and I make a game out of it some days

Hello: I really hope everything comes together for you. It is a very frustrating process. I’m at the last stage of the process of the “home” sleep study and follow up appointment. I have called my Bariatric doctor’s office for 2 days and still didn’t receive a call back. They, too, just had a change within their staff. I just hope that everything the “temporary person” (who managed everything for 6 months) gave me the correct information and did not lose everything too. Good luck and blessings to you.

So, as far as my primary doc knows, I am on the highest dose, the max times per day, of the ONLY medication they make for orthostatic hypotension unrelated to anemia/kidney issues. (Midodrine). I was feeling really fuzzy and spacey all day and my BP was 102/50 AFTER 2 doses of Midodrine. That's not horribly low but that is after meds that are supposed to jack up your BP. I've had several work ups on my heart and I'm all good there, so it truly is bariatric-related hypotension. Anyone knows of ANY other medicines?? I'm checking my BP all the time because Midodrine can supposedly make your BP dangerously high, but it barely keeps my BP to a point where I can function. I'm worried I am getting acclimated to it and will be SOL. =/ Sent from my SM-G930R4 using BariatricPal mobile app

Gotcha. Thanks for sharing! Is your primary care doc supportive of bariatric surgery? If yes... you have a higher chance of being approved. Hoping you get what you need to be healthier!

I am still in a stall. I keep thinking I'm breaking out of it, but nope it's been almost 3wks of a stall. In the past 3wks Ive lost 3lbs. It sucks so bad. I am meeting my protein goal, but not meeting water goal. I seen my doc on Friday and he told me to progress into anything I wanted to eat as long as I could tolerate it. I've been eating chicken, tilapia, salmon, tuna, crab, shrimp. I haven't had red meats yet, but he gave the the ok for it. Ive been weighing out 3oz of all of the above. I need to up my carb intake thats why I've been a raging ****** lol. I asked him how many carbs should i be doing. He said anywhere from 15-30carbs a meal at 5-6meals a day so that should be like 75-180 carbs in a day. Well ive been getting 15-30carbs total for A DAY. He was like whoa yes i can see how that would effect you and your attitude and your lack of energy. So I have been trying to up my carb intake plus protein I've read that gets you out of the stall. But since i am not losing weight i did retake my measurements I measured myself from the start of the bariatric process when i was getting all my testing done and I have lost 27inches total. Biggest loss was my waist of 8inches. I was pretty happy about that. So we will see how these next few weeks go. My doc said don't worry too much about weightloss right now. I'll lose no matter what I eat, but if I'm not losing more weight by month 3 then there is a problem and we will asses. Sent from my SM-G965U using BariatricPal mobile app

Getting excited and nervous! Surgery approved and scheduled for September 4th with the possibility they may move it to the 3rd due to a cancellation. All my pre-op lab work and testing is done and without any concerns. Same for my psych eval, barium swallow, chest x-ray, EKG, and EGD. Did all my pre-op nutrition appointments (I was fast tracked, so there weren't as many as most of you had). Did the pre-op group class where they explained my pre-op diet and what to expect at the hospital and post op. Started my bariatric vitamins last week. Purchased any food/supplies that I think I might need for the first couple weeks post op (my husband even told me to get him a new bigger TV so I can have a TV in my room the first couple days lol... and he got a 65" screen out of it lol). Today I did my final pre-op weigh in and doctor visit. Saw another doc first (teaching hospital), then my real doc. Signed my surgery consent. Too my surprise, the doc also told me that it doesn't matter how much weight I lose now, I am totally approved for surgery (before I had to be careful I didn't put myself under a certain weight and disqualify myself). YAY! I also asked him about how much time I can take off work (I have 14 weeks of sick time saved up and a supportive employer- not that I actually want 14 weeks off, just didn't take all my sick time over the many years I worked there). He said a minimum of 2 weeks but up to 8 since I do have a fairly physical job. YAY! I could probably get away with going back early, but why push myself when I have the time and support? I would rather heal, adjust to my new diet(s) over the next month or so, and slowly build a new fitness routine before going back to the craziness that is work. Not sure how many weeks I will actually take off, but good to know I have options. And then finally, I went to a pre-op anesthesia appointment. Answered all of their questions and signed their consent. So... all that is left is to call and confirm the time of my surgery the afternoon before! And how did I celebrate? I got my last meal of my favorite Indian food. Yum! And my husband is TRYING to be supportive of all of this, but he really doesn't want me to have what he considers to be elective surgery. I understand where he is coming from, especially since every one of his surgeries has had some sort of complications. But my surgeries have all been routine and without complication. And I really need to improve my health and this seems to be the only way to get me there.

As a nurse, it is funny to me when the bariatric docs refer to a "clear" liquids diet, and allow you protein shakes. That translates to me as a modified clear liquids diet at best. But I digress. My pre-op diet is 3 meal replacement shakes, 3 Greek yogurt or cottage cheese meals, and in between I am allowed decaf coffee/tea, sugar free jello/popsicles, and a low sodium V-8 juice. Then the evening before surgery I have to have 32 oz of apple juice/cranberry juice or gatorade (the kind with sugar) and repeat with 16 oz 2-4 hours before surgery. And getting excited, we are getting closer every day!