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Welcome and kudos for making such a decision. And for the very best of reasons. There is a wealth of support and info here so dive right in. I am so happy for you starting on this journey to renewed health and a longer life,

I know that Fresno does theirs once a month. So I would think Richmond is the same. I'm not sure though. Best bet would be to call Richmond's bariatric dept and find out for sure. Best wishes!

I have been tossing this idea around for 6 months or so. I had checked with my insurance and they did cover bariatric surgery so I went to a seminar tonight. I found out that with my insurance that they require you to have a BMI of at least 35(mine is 37) for the past 5 years. I have not checked with my previous dr. yet but I have been playing with numbers on a BMI calculator and I am doubting I have had a BMI of 35 for 5 years. I have been excited that I might have finally found the one thing that would actually work for me and now I think I may not get approved. Anyone ever had this experience and got approved? I go to my primary doctor tomorrow to get results on blood work and they will probably be putting me on cholesterol and trycliceride medicine. I am already on blood pressure meds and I want to be healthy again!!!

I hit 270lbs in 2004. I have fluctuated since then, but never got under 240lbs. I was the type of person who felt like I could do it on my own. I had the mindset that if I could stick to the strict diet after surgery, why couldn't I do it right now without surgery? Last November, my dad talked with me about my weight. He asked me to consider seeing a bariatric surgeon about the LapBand. I knew very little about weight loss surgery, but I made the appointment. Told the surgeon that I was just considering it, and I talked to him about all the things I didn't like about the LapBand. He told me about the sleeve. I told him I would think about it, and that I wanted to try diet and exercise again for one year. If it didn't work out, the I would have surgery. The surgeon said that at my BMI of 51 that he saw very few people (about 1 in 100) who were successful in losing weight and keeping it off. He also told me that my PCOS which caused insulin resistance would hinder my weight loss). Well, I signed up for Weight Watchers (again) ad even went to a doctor supervised weight loss center. Needless to say, I didn't stick to either one, and six months later I had gained 9lbs. In that time, I had been reading in the forums. Saw that people were losing lots of weight in the same six month period. I didn't want to wait another six months. I was sleeved on June 28th. I am three weeks out, and the diet that I wasn't able to stick with before surgery comes so easily now. My head hunger isn't bad. I can eat mini meals throughout the day that are high in Protein. I drink more, and I take better care of myself. It is a world of difference in trying to eat right before and after surgery. As far as giving up things I love... I made a spaghetti dinner for my cousin's family while I was still on liquids post-op. I felt remorse that I would never eat a huge plate of spaghetti, 4 pieces of garlic bread and two sodas again. Then, I realized that didn't sound right. I would be able to eat spaghetti, but I would be able to stop at the amount my body needs and be satisfied (probably a child's size portion). As for sodas and bread, I craved them pre-op, and I haven't even desired them post-op. Once I made my mind up to have the surgery and told a few people, I let them know that I was not coming to them for an opinion. I was having this surgery, and I want their support. It worked. I got the support I needed. Good luck.

Hi there! I'm a 27 year old in Minneapolis, MN getting ready for vertical sleeve surgery come sometime in early 2016. My friend inspired me to pursue Bariatric Surgery after seeing her amazing results and I'm glad I did. Since going to the doctors, I've lost 13lbs (in about 3 weeks) adjusting diet and using portion control etc. I'm fairly early in the process. Met with my nutritionist, met with the psychologist, and I'm two months into my 6 months of required diet supervision. I've also started to attend the support group "Images" in Fridely, MN at Unity Hospital. I'm going head on and full speed into this. I was incredibly inspired and invigorated that I just started plastering myself all over social media and the Internet. So, if you're interested in following my journey at all you can: Go to www.bariatricbro.com Follow me on Twitter at TheBariatricBro Like My Facebook Page Follow me on Instagram at BariatricBro_VSG Looking forward to engaging with you in here and hopefully on some of those platforms as well. Shoutout to my fellow twentysomethings, guys, and Minnesotans! FISTBUMP!

And celebrate your birthday with thoughts of the wonderful chances at future birthdays with your surgery. For this gift of renewed life, volunteer for others, a soup kitchen, watch kids for a frazzled mom, read to or visit the elderly. Give someone a blessing in their life and you won't miss cake, ice cream and the other no- good- for- you type presents.

If you are using insurance, you should check if the insurance covers bariatric procedures. If they do, sometimes there are stipulations on types of centers you can go to. My insurance will only pay if I go to a center of excellence. Some insurance companies require a letter of medical necessity from your primary care Dr. Regardless, it is a good idea to talk to your primary care and see what they say. Mine was supportive, but also wanted to run other tests to make sure I did not have any other medical problems affecting weight loss. I am also 23 and approx 40 BMI.

I take my bariatric vitamins but I also take the Centrum flavor burst (like skittles) throughout day to keep my vitamin levels going through the day.

**Lisa,** I'm sorry to hear that all this is happening to you. I wish you strength, love and hope. Please do get the xrays done and have them looked at by a bariatric doctor, don't take no chances. I don't quite understand why some Dr's in the U.S. have issues with helping patients that were banded in Mexico. They are still going to make money off your visits, if it's a money thing. But really.. Lisa... you made a great point. What if you did have a leak? How can a practice turn you down in a situation like that? I know you can go to the emergency room,but it's just the point. Good luck with what ever you plan on doing. Lets pray that you have no erosion and that everything will be okay. Do your best to stay positive. *JUST A BIT OF INFO.* It is not my intention to change the focus of this thread, so please don't take it this way. I just wanted to elaborate on something that was brought up and to add info. that may be helpful. I have a intrathecal pump port in my belly for back pain & So I know what you're talking about when it comes to the radiologists not finding things that they are not familiar with. My Dr. said it's a sad thing, but it's very important that I see what a defect is, just in case he isn't around & something happens to me. I need to be informed about my situation because a lot of Dr.'s have no idea what this pump is or does. My Dr. was in Greece & I had severe leakage from my incision, I went to the ER, the Dr's were setting me up for emergency surgery to have the port & lead to my back taken out. They told me that the drug in my port was leaking into my system & I could die. (This is what radiology reports had shown them) Thank God my Dr. checked in before all this started because come to find out.. the leakage was just saline. The funny thing is, the port only holds 4cc's of Fluid & the amount of saline coming out was so bad that my pants were soaked in ten minutes after a dressing change, thus it could not be the drug. The ER Dr's should have ruled it out. On top of that the Dr. should have known that if the dose of dilaudid that I'm on was coming out that fast in my body, I wouldn't even be able to breathe, I'd be dead in minutes (the port has an alarm you can hear if something is wrong). At this point I was scared to death & I found all that I could pertaining to my pump & researched it. Sorry this is long winded, what I'm trying to get at is that we should know what a defect or erosion looks like so we can recognize what could be wrong, or to educate a Dr. or radiologist who has no idea what to look for as far as erosion in our particuliar situations. Maybe they'd call for another opinion. In my case.. I could have been on the operating table due to a Dr. not having the knowledge about my pump. Next time you're at your band Dr. ask if they have a picure of what erosion, slipped or defected bands look like,on xray, it could help you out somewhere down the line. I meet with the surgeon doing my band on the 2nd of Nov. and I plan on asking him. From what I learned already, he does have pictures.

Thank you all. I work at the same hospital that my PCP works at so I emailed her personally on Friday demanding answers. I think up to that point her nurse was interceding my messages. I also got the Upper GI disc just in case. I tried calling the bariatric team where I work and none of them would take me on because "they don't fix other surgeon's messes." A friend of mine who was bypassed let me vent last week and then sent me a list of about 5 surgeons in my area who may be able to help. I am going to start calling their offices tomorrow to see if other people can take me on. My other problem though at this point I'm disregarding is because I work for a hospital my insurance is geared for that hospital so if I go to any other hospital in my area they will only pay a small portion of what I need. I'm hoping tomorrow I can get some answers tomorrow.

HAD MY SLEEVE- 12-27- 3 DAYS POST-OP- The surgery was at 1:30pm on tuesday- I remember being wheeled into the operating room- it was cold- the nurse introduced me to the staff...like was I supposed to remember their names...was there a quiz later???? Well, after that I was out like a light remember waking up as they were moving me from recovery to my room. Lots of chest pains- thought I was having a heart attack- they gave me nitro pills under my tongue and dilauden for pain. Really bad the 1st three days- heavy acid and pain, everywhere- couldn't stay in the bed- slept in the chair for 2 nights. got more x-rays- too swollen liquid not going down- xray doctor concerned. my doctor- not. finally this morning I got steroids for the swelling- by 2pm felt like a new person. Why couldn't I have gotten them yesterday? went home at 5pm with dilauden, vicodin, zocor, lavaxor?- daily blood thinner injection. and 2 things for acid reflux. some nurses were great- others were ok- some were downright idiots- I thought there were too many nurses with degrees- how they found these few morons I don't know- i.e. bariatric floor- she gives me a straw and tells me to take big gulps so the pressure of the Water will flow through- are you kidding me???? or one tells me to lie flat on my stomach to push out the gas (incisions and all!). and fyi I didn't ask for anything...stayed very low key. So far- best day I have had. Very supportive family- came home to crystal light, broth and diet Jello all lined up for me and all of my medicines in a daily pill box. After going through this I don't know if I would recommend it yet- will keep u updated/

Been working on getting a Lap Band for over a year. My sister got her's about 18 months ago and is doing great so I've been working on getting Banded too. UnitedHealthCare said NO. Said it's got to be IMMEDIATELY LIFE THREATNING condition. I have diabetes, sleep apnea, osteo-arthritis and high colestrol but nothing immediately life threatning so....NO GO. But now I am on Medicare because I'm disabled with arthritis. Several Weight Loss Centers in Tucson and Phoenix have applied to be able to take Medicare but none have been approved yet. So I decided, "to heck with it! I'm tired of waiting. I'm going to fly to Detroit and get the surgery done there." I can get follow-up care from one of the Bariatric centers here in Tucson. Medicare doesn't pay for fills anyway so that would have to be out of my pocket even if I could get the surgery locally. Is there any info on long-term effects of the Band? I would like to hear from people that have had the Band more that 5 years. Horsetrainer

"This is more of an academic question, I'm not concerned about my own adjustment and am not looking for encouragement or advice - just curious." None of us are medical professionals on this site. All we can give is our own experiences...Take what's useful and ignore the rest. QUESTION: Is bariatric surgery designed to stop patients from over indulging in taste and capacity? None of us can say how you will experience satisfied, cravings, taste, (tasted enough) feeling content, capacity. It is specific to each person. I can't predict how this will feel for you years out from surgery. All I can say is four years out eating healthy is normal. It's not an endless head game for me. I feel satisfied by taste and quality over quantity.

Its 9:37am and I'm in recovery, doing well and should be going home briefly! Just finished talking to the surgeon and the bariatric nurse. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G891A using BariatricPal mobile app

I had my tests done 2 weeks ago and got a call yesterday from the Bariatric coordinator - my EKG came back showing a right bundle branch block. It shows up sometimes in healthy patients but also with cardiomyopathy. Is it dumb that I’m kinda hoping for the cardiomyopathy diagnosis to have better odds of getting approved? I have other symptoms that I’ve just shrugged off as part of being obese - swelling of the feet and shortness of breath. Has anyone else had the surgery clear up cardiomyopathy?

Bariatric Fusion sells chewable iron in the higher dosage. I'm on my phone at the moment, so I'm unable to link their site. Maybe if you Google them it will come up for you. Hope it helps.

Not so far, 3 months out taking Bariatric multivitamin twice daily. So far so good.

Hey, I am waiting for my appointment with my bariatric doctor thats nxt week but in the mean time I wanted to be productive. I had an appointment with the sleep doctor. She ordered a sleep study for me. Im wondering if they say I have sleep apnea will it delay the process for my surgery, will I have to be on the machine for a certain period of time before I can have the surgery? Just curious as to how this works. Thanx for the advice!

This sounds like a serious issue that you need to work with your bariatric team to solve.

I have prime. I already have the referral to bariatrics. My doctor has been wanting me to look into this for some time now. I already have lab work done (unrelated but current) and a upper and lower scope procedure scheduled for early December which I'm told is part of the process. My PMC says that they have two of the top bariatric surgeons in the country on staff at my facility at the moment and if I am going to have it done, they are the best ones to do it.

Yes, I had that problem when I first began this journey. You will find that a lot of the bariatric rules are different than normal nutrition rules. Especially the newer nutritional finds. For example, the latest consensus that sugar free products are bad for you, the margarine vs butter health debate and other food things like that. But with this surgery, some of that changes..lol. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Sleeved 11/16/16 Starting weight :415 Pre surgery appt :412 Current :402

Hello, I live in E. Camden. I am going for my first consultation with Dr. Luttrell tomorrow and hope to set a surgery date for mid February. I will be self pay since my insurance has a specific bariatric exclusion. There seem to be a lot more LBs in this area than I ever imagined when I first started researching the subject!

Hi. I'm new here and having Lap Band surgery with Dr. Pomp on 2/24...one day after your fill :tt2:. I'm really nervous about the whole thing but know Dr. Pomp is a more than a well-respected surgeon. He was promoted to Chief of Laparoscopy and Bariatric Surgery in April of 2008 and he (and his staff) have been nothing but helpful. Good luck on the fill. I will be interested to hear how it goes! Ruth

My pre approval journey began on 3/11/11 with a phone call to Moncrief Army Community Hospital. My first appointment was scheduled for 3/7/11. I had appointments with the Bariatric Surgeon, the Psychologist, the Nutritionist and the Physician that would follow me after surgery. I had my last appointment on 3/14/11 . On 3/16/11 a meeting was held with everyone on the team whom I met with concerning me as a probable candidate for wls. They all found that I was an excellent candidate. On 3/17/11 I was contacted and given a surgery date of 4/11/11. I was ready for this. I was prepared both mentally and physically. I had already gotten a referral from my Primary Care Physician, attended two weight loss seminars, and had been researching on the internet for about 4 months. At my appointments I understood when they used Bariatric terms and I was able to respond when asked questions. My process was quite quick as I am aware that it takes some people months to get an approval. All that I am saying is that doing reasearch on sites such as this one was very informative to me. It made it even more easy for the team to make their expert recomendation. I am truly blessed to have been given this opportunity. Although wls won't rid me of Fibromyalgia, it will aid in relief to my joints and assist me with dropping some of these meds. I am so ready to be healthy once again. Please pray for me and support me through my journey. Thank you for all of your post, they are quite helpful.

Hi I have BCBS-MA. They were very helpful and informative when I called to inquire about bariatric coverage and promptly emailed me the relative policy which I brought to my consult. I was told at my consult that they are extremely easy to work with. They also base their approval on your starting weight. Unlike some insurance companies that go by your weight the day of surgery. This would be relevant if you are at a 35 BMI and just qualifying - you would then have to be careful not to dip below that. Not with BCBS-MA. I've had lots of appointments/tests going through the program, and they've paid for everything (minus appropriate co-pays). That's about all I've had to go through with them so far.