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I posted this on another thread about revision, but I had a hiatal hernia and bad GERD so it applies for this thread too. I want to preface that this is about to be a long message, but it's my journey. Thanks for reading. My 1st Bariatric journey started in 2009 (I was 26 years old). My heaviest weight was 250 lbs. I did a month liquid diet as my preop diet and got down to my surgery weight of 220 lbs. I had a sleeve done in Sep 1, 2009. I got down to around 175 lbs from my surgery weight of 220 lbs. I got down to a size 12. I did regain some weight years later, but that was my doing (not eating the best, not exercising as I should). In addition to gaining some weight back, i developed a 5/6cm hiatal hernia and had really bad heartburn and reflux. I started taking Nexium for years. Finally 14 years later (now 40 years old) in April of 2023 I decided to ask a doctor about taking daily Nexium (after hearing constantly from family that it wasn't good). My surgeon gave me 3 options. 1. Continue taking Nexium daily 2. Fix my hiatal hernia (but he did warn me that hiatal hernias are known to come back) 3. Fix my hiatal hernia and do a revision from Sleeve to RNY. Before any of that to make an informed decision I had to get an upper GI with contrast and an endoscopy with a Bravo study. I had the endoscopy done and the Bravo capsule placed on my esophagus. After the 1st endoscopy my GI doctor said she didn't even need to see the results of the Bravo study...seeing my esophagus alone was enough to see how inflamed my esophagus was and she confirmed the bigger sized hernia. Either way, the Bravo capsule was placed in and I did the 3 day study. The results came back and like my GI doc said...it was bad. The acidity in my stomach and esophagus was ridiculous. I use to take generic Nexium 20mg but my GI doc said that wasnt enough for how bad my esophagus was. I was told to bump it up to 40mg 2x a day. So I did that and it helped to heal the massive amount of inflammation I already had in my esophagus. To confirm that I had a 2nd endoscopy done. The Bravo study, the upper GI scans, the endoscopy was all completed so that I could make an informed decision on how I wanted to proceed. Which of the 3 options discussed did I want to proceed with. I decided option 3 was best (revision from Sleeve to RNY with a hiatal hernia repair). For me my insurance approved the procedure and it was fairly a quick process because I went the general surgical route vs the Bariatric route. I could have had the revision in July but I had a cruise planned in August and I wanted to be able to drink and eat and ENJOY my vacation so I opted to wait and had the revision 2 weeks after I came back from my cruise on September 11th. I was 215 the 1st day of my preop diet. I got down to 206 but then mother nature decided to show up the week of my surgery so as women we gain water weight during our cycle and the day of surgery i weighed in at 209. I was so pissed. I knew it was water weight because of my cycle but still nobody wants to see the number on the scale go up. Surgery went well. I had no complications. My recovery was A LOT smoother. I had BAAAAAD nausea and gas pains after my sleeve becauseof the anesthesia. With the RNY I had 0% nausea. I had a little bit of shoulder pain because of the gas and I did have another pain when I inhaled big because of the hernia repair, but it was all normal and pains of that nature were expected. I was just sooooo glad that I didn't wake up extremely nauseous after the RNY like I did after my sleeve. So now I'm 31 days post op. I've been at 195 since like September 26th. I hope that I've HOPEFULLY lost at least 1 pound now since I've been stalled at the same weight for 2 weeks. Btw I'm 5'4 for reference. My size 14 clothes button again and my 16s are getting a little loose on me now. I'm not swimming in my clothes or nothing but it's a small progress. I was wearing XL shirts and now Large shirts fit me a lot better. I feel less like a sausage in them lol! Oh and tonight I tried on this bra that I know for a fact a couple of weeks ago could not button or even come close and today it fit. So now a 38D will fit. Great non scale victory! I can tolerate all food and as long as I don't take huge bites and I chew my food well and eat slow, I'm good. Otherwise I've already had my 1st reminder of what it feels like to throw up because your food feels stuck. I had that happen after the sleeve sometimes too and it sucks, but it's a process learning how to eat again and reminding myself that I can't inhale my food. I am taking a daily vitamin with iron and then 3 calcium citrate chewable daily. My doctor also still wants me to take 1 Omeprozole daily for 6 months post op to give my esophagus and hernia repair time to truly heal. 1 month down....5 months to go. Then I'll be able to see if I don't have any GERD or heartburn without any medication. The weight loss is a perk and I definitely want to lose more weight and get down to 150 or at least my best sleeve weight of 175, but I always have to remind myself that my goal of this entire revision surgery was to not deal with heartburn and reflux anymore. So yeah...thats my revision story so far. Please let me know if you have any questions. I'll be happy to answer.

Hello there! I want to preface that this is about to be a long message, but it's my journey. Thanks for reading. My 1st Bariatric journey started in 2009 (I was 26 years old). My heaviest weight was 250 lbs. I did a month liquid diet as my preop diet and got down to my surgery weight of 220 lbs. I had a sleeve done in Sep 1, 2009. I got down to around 175 lbs from my surgery weight of 220 lbs. I got down to a size 12. I did regain some weight years later, but that was my doing (not eating the best, not exercising as I should). In addition to gaining some weight back, i developed a 5/6cm hiatal hernia and had really bad heartburn and reflux. I started taking Nexium for years. Finally 14 years later (now 40 years old) in April of 2023 I decided to ask a doctor about taking daily Nexium (after hearing constantly from family that it wasn't good). My surgeon gave me 3 options. 1. Continue taking Nexium daily 2. Fix my hiatal hernia (but he did warn me that hiatal hernias are known to come back) 3. Fix my hiatal hernia and do a revision from Sleeve to RNY. Before any of that to make an informed decision I had to get an upper GI with contrast and an endoscopy with a Bravo study. I had the endoscopy done and the Bravo capsule placed on my esophagus. After the 1st endoscopy my GI doctor said she didn't even need to see the results of the Bravo study...seeing my esophagus alone was enough to see how inflamed my esophagus was and she confirmed the bigger sized hernia. Either way, the Bravo capsule was placed in and I did the 3 day study. The results came back and like my GI doc said...it was bad. The acidity in my stomach and esophagus was ridiculous. I use to take generic Nexium 20mg but my GI doc said that wasnt enough for how bad my esophagus was. I was told to bump it up to 40mg 2x a day. So I did that and it helped to heal the massive amount of inflammation I already had in my esophagus. To confirm that I had a 2nd endoscopy done. The Bravo study, the upper GI scans, the endoscopy was all completed so that I could make an informed decision on how I wanted to proceed. Which of the 3 options discussed did I want to proceed with. I decided option 3 was best (revision from Sleeve to RNY with a hiatal hernia repair). For me my insurance approved the procedure and it was fairly a quick process because I went the general surgical route vs the Bariatric route. I could have had the revision in July but I had a cruise planned in August and I wanted to be able to drink and eat and ENJOY my vacation so I opted to wait and had the revision 2 weeks after I came back from my cruise on September 11th. I was 215 the 1st day of my preop diet. I got down to 206 but then mother nature decided to show up the week of my surgery so as women we gain water weight during our cycle and the day of surgery i weighed in at 209. I was so pissed. I knew it was water weight because of my cycle but still nobody wants to see the number on the scale go up. Surgery went well. I had no complications. My recovery was A LOT smoother. I had BAAAAAD nausea and gas pains after my sleeve becauseof the anesthesia. With the RNY I had 0% nausea. I had a little bit of shoulder pain because of the gas and I did have another pain when I inhaled big because of the hernia repair, but it was all normal and pains of that nature were expected. I was just sooooo glad that I didn't wake up extremely nauseous after the RNY like I did after my sleeve. So now I'm 31 days post op. I've been at 195 since like September 26th. I hope that I've HOPEFULLY lost at least 1 pound now since I've been stalled at the same weight for 2 weeks. Btw I'm 5'4 for reference. My size 14 clothes button again and my 16s are getting a little loose on me now. I'm not swimming in my clothes or nothing but it's a small progress. I was wearing XL shirts and now Large shirts fit me a lot better. I feel less like a sausage in them lol! Oh and tonight I tried on this bra that I know for a fact a couple of weeks ago could not button or even come close and today it fit. So now a 38D will fit. Great non scale victory! I can tolerate all food and as long as I don't take huge bites and I chew my food well and eat slow, I'm good. Otherwise I've already had my 1st reminder of what it feels like to throw up because your food feels stuck. I had that happen after the sleeve sometimes too and it sucks, but it's a process learning how to eat again and reminding myself that I can't inhale my food. I am taking a daily vitamin with iron and then 3 calcium citrate chewable daily. My doctor also still wants me to take 1 Omeprozole daily for 6 months post op to give my esophagus and hernia repair time to truly heal. 1 month down....5 months to go. Then I'll be able to see if I don't have any GERD or heartburn without any medication. The weight loss is a perk and I definitely want to lose more weight and get down to 150 or at least my best sleeve weight of 175, but I always have to remind myself that my goal of this entire revision surgery was to not deal with heartburn and reflux anymore. So yeah...thats my revision story so far. Please let me know if you have any questions. I'll be happy to answer.

I think most of us had to have a sleep study to check for sleep apnea - that's a pretty common screening for this surgery. I can't remember if that was a requirement of my insurance or my bariatric clinic. I had it closer to the beginning of my journey, though.

I went through this too. It pushed my journey back many months and I was so disappointed. I am using this time to work more on myself mentally and do my PT excersizes. Also maybe talk to your primary care or bariatric team about starting phentermine or another appetite suppressant to kickstart your weight loss while you wait

Just to clarify the Bariatric program at the hospital you are going to does not require a sleep apnea screening? But your insurance wants you to have a sleep apnea/sleep study done? I can tell you a lot of insurance's require a sleep apnea check and if you meet the requirements the sleep study as well. I myself had to do a sleep study as part of an insurance requirement, and I scored a 10 (I was told this was the lowest score) however this meant my insurance now wanted me to be CPAP compliant in order to pay for my bariatric surgery. I know that having deeper better sleep will aid in the healing process, so that is a positive. For me, I feel no different wearing the CPAP versus not wearing it. But a good friend of mine was also diagnosed with sleep apnea around the same time as me, and he told me it is a night and day difference for him and that he feels so much better now. In the end, if your insurance wants something done and you want them to cover the cost of your surgery, then you are just going to have to do it. You might find out everything your insurance is going to require and go ahead and get appointments scheduled before they ask you to do it. You can always cancel those appointments if you do not need to do them. Pre-scheduling what you can will guarantee you are in line and not waiting longer.

Hello! I just had my last appointment for my bariatric surgery program. However, due to my insurance, they are requiring me to be screened for sleep apnea. Is anyone else dealt with this? What are some encouraging words that I could have to get me through this disappointment?

October 5, 2022 was my surgery date. Forward one year and it has been wonderful. Got on the scale today and was at 198. So not only did I finally get to "onederland" but have lost 163lbs. My bmi is 28 opposed to 50+. I couldn't have done it without my bariatric team, friends and family cheering me along the way. I'm so thankful and even though I still want to lose about 25 lbs, I find it amazing with the tool of gastric sleeve, my life has changed so much.

Well, it seems I'll be getting the surgery sooner! We had to cancel our trip after I visited the ortho doc and found out my MRI shows a rotator cuff tear, damaged bicep, and bone spurs. I have to have surgery on it as soon as possible. But I'd have to wait 3-4 months after that surgery to do the bariatric surgery and I didn't want to wait. So we decided to do it first! I'm having bariatric surgery November 1st and a few weeks later we'll do surgery on the shoulder, this way we can get both in under this calendar year. I'm tired just thinking about it. LOL I started the pre-surgery diet today since he wanted me to do 3 weeks. I'm hungry already. 🤣

I wouldn’t think it is your bypass either unless, as the others have suggested, it’s the effect of the hormone on your digestive system. Check the side effects of the drug, interactions, etc. & it would be worth a conversation with your prescribing doctor & even your bariatric surgeon. I just checked the drug information & it does say nausea is a side effect. Try to keep on top of any constipation so it doesn’t become painful when you finally go. https://www.mayoclinic.org/drugs-supplements/liothyronine-oral-route/side-effects/drg-20069093?p=1

if it's been that long since your surgery, I suspect it's more likely the T3 - or maybe the combination of the two (having T3 after having bariatric surgery). I'd ask your doctor or pharmacist.

Thanks everybody!! It feels so good to know that other people are in the same boat and understand. I'm cheering you all on! The next day after I wrote that post, I started to feel better. I think I just needed to get it out, you know? I'm focusing on the day by day. I saw that Halloween comes directly after my graduation from puree to soft foods, so I looked up Autumn/Halloween-y bariatric recipes for both of those stages. It gave me something concrete to look forward to (apart from the scale going down lol). ☺️🍂

Hey, y'all, it's been a while. Back in May, one month before I had my revision from sleeve to bypass, I began using the Premier Protein shakes for my pre-op diet and taking bariatric vitamins (including a multivitamin, calcium, iron, and biotin). It started with a tiny, itchy hive on one side of my neck about the size of my thumbnail. It would go away, though, and I'd forget all about it. As the days went by, I would begin to get the itchies again. I noticed I'd get the hives on the other side of my neck now too. At this point, it looks like a ring around my neck. I read about the Premier Protein shakes being recalled, but that was a while ago. I spoke to my sister who's been an RN for 40+ years, and she thinks it's more likely to be the biotin rather than the shakes. I stopped taking both 2 days ago. The itchies have stopped, but I'm left with textured skin where the hives were. It almost looks like a healing burn. It's weird. I know I need to see a dermatologist about it, I just have to find one that will see me after work. I can't miss any more work. I'm wondering if any of you have had a similar situation with allergic reactions to either shakes or vitamins. I'd appreciate any information or knowledge that you have. TIA.

I colored my hair a week out of surgery. Due for another color tomorrow. No one told me you cant color but as for hair falling out, It's perfectly normal. I'm going to add a YouTube video of an awesome bariatric doctor explaining why it happens. It has nothing to do with coloring.

Bariatric surgery is also known as metabolic surgery because how the surgery changes the digestive hormones & therefore the patients metabolism. There are lots of academic papers about it like the one @BabySpoons provided. I found this fact sheet from a bariatric surgery clinic which explains it in more straight forward terms. https://nevadasurgical.com/bariatric-surgery/how-does-bariatric-surgery-affect-metabolism/ I messed my metabolism up with years of restricted eating & deliberately not eating meals. Now I eat regularly throughout the day to keep my boosted metabolism burning. Don’t want to lose it again.

My one week pre-op diet starts Monday, and I'm starting to get scared. Not of the actual surgery, really. I mean, I can talk about how great the benefits of bariatric surgery will be and how mindful of my eating I will become, and I'm really thankful that I've come this far and that I am able to do it... but the reality is coming, where I'll be in it, and not just talking about it. It seems like maybe the attachment to my old ways of eating is rearing up and trying to pull me back. Like hey, you do realize that you can't stop this train a month in, right? Can't say, oh this diet is too hard, forget it, I'm gonna go eat a pizza now. I mean, that's part of why I want this surgery, because of that restriction. But it's scary, because ending diets is all I've ever known. Not to mention the dumping and hypoglycemia that seems will follow for the rest of my life. This is new territory here, and it's serious. I know I'm going to go through with it and that it'll be great, at some point. But now that it's finally here, I'm just freaking out a little 🙃

Metabolic Effects of Bariatric Surgery | Clinical Chemistry | Oxford Academic (oup.com)

it probably depends on your particular policy and your situation. Some companies will cover it if you have documented evidence of medical issues such as chronic rashes that don't respond to conventional treatments...and some will cover pannilectomies if your "apron" hangs below a certain level - and some don't cover plastic surgery at all (mine doesn't). As for particular policy - those can vary between employers even if they use the same insurance company. Employers can purchase coverage above and beyond basic items - or not. For example, for years my insurance company offered bariatric surgery, but it was a rider that an employer could buy - or not. My employer chose not to purchase that rider until very recently (I think two years ago) - so those of us who wanted it had to either change to a different insurance company that my employer also worked with (although it was much more expensive than the one most employees went with) - or self-pay. check on your Kaiser policy and see if it's covered. Or check with your employer's HR department - they should know, too.

Does anyone know if Kaiser will cover plastic surgery after Bariatric surgery?

Does anyone know if Kaiser will cover plastic surgery after Bariatric surgery?

I'm so excited, I got my surgery date today and we finalized all the details of the surgery!!! I'll be doing the duodenal switch with a longer common channel since I have a history of vitamin D deficiency and anemia. The surgeon talked to my GI specialist and they signed off of on it so everyone is on board thankfully. We picked December 13th, since I'll be in New Zealand for most of November. He said 2 weeks is standard for their liver reduction diet but if I added in a gradual 3rd week it would probably help as a bonus week. Their liver reduction diet is 2 shakes, 2 snacks and a lean, green dinner until one week before surgery, when it switches to all fluids. So basically I'll be starting the diet as soon as we get back from traveling... I already have 7 flavors of premier protein shakes in my closet. LOL (They require the shakes be either those or the bariatric advantage powder as per some study they are following). I'm really happy to be at this stage of everything, I know the 2 months will fly by fast!

nothing fancy for me. My nutritionist suggested Shiny Leaf Bariatric multivitamin with 45mg iron. They are not as expensive as some of the others. i like them. Normal capsule size, not huge, easy to swallow and dissolve quickly after you swallow them. My numbers at my Dr visits have all been in the normal range.

A number of people from another support site I've been using for years have been patients @ Mexico Bariatric Center in Tijuana. I've heard very positive results. I've traveled overseas for loose skin removal and dental work, and it's work out both times as high quality at substantially lower prices. My strongest recommendation is to know who your doctor will be and confirm their reviews and experience. Also the medical hotels in my experience are a way better option than family care, at least for me. Good luck!

(Also my status update, btw) It's finally here!! My last day with a "normal" digestive system. Tomorrow morning I go in at 10:15am to check in, go through all the pre-flight checks (IV, vitals, sign consents, talk to anesthesia and my surgeon, etc), then into the OR I go! This process has taken what seems like forever. Way back in April of 2022, I saw a general surgeon to have a Nissen Fundoplication to deal with my (horrible!!) reflux and repair my hiatal hernia. Problem was....my weight made it so there would be a high risk of both failure after a couple years and potential complications. He then suggested I see a bariatric surgeon (which was the first time anyone had ever made that suggestion. So off I went to see bariatrics. From the first appointment, Dr. Beekley was nothing but supportive. He never once belittled me over my weight, or made me feel like I was making excuses for my health. The entire team has been awesome. They keep up with me in myChart, letting me know what Pre-op clearances I needed, or if anything extra was needed from other providers (which, given all my health issues, there was always something extra that was needed lol). But all that hoop jumping was worth it. Now I'm packing my bag and getting ready to have my life completely changed for the better. While I may be increasingly nervous the closer I get to that OR, I'm also excited beyond belief. I've been stuck in this messed up body for entirely too long, and I can't wait to start leaving it behind and meet the woman I know is inside.

Mine is a PA. The key differences between the role of a PA vs. an MD come to light when complex issues arise. MDs have knowledge about complicated conditions that many PAs may not possess. I was not happy to leave my family doc of many years for her to begin with. But my insurance changed with work, and he was no longer considered in network, sadly enough. My company has their own doctors and pharmacy, and the coverage is amazing, but the choice of doctors there are limited. Yes, before ever considering WLS, I wanted to find an internist to sort out all the meds I was on. Some I knew were necessary, some were preventative and some questionable. To be told that I will be on all of them the rest of my life after my bariatric team told me otherwise was disappointing to hear and questionable. She's always been quick to prescribe meds. I didn't see her often but when I did, I always walked away with one or two more. She prescribed Ozempic to me years ago before it became a thing. I didn't take it long, after reading it caused tumors/cancer in mice plus it made me feel horrible every day. Then recently, when I saw her to get a release for WLS, she wanted to put me back on it. I declined. Ironically, we had a discussion about Ozempic face at that time. She told me if I lose too much weight in my face after surgery, to look her up and she will fix it. She owns a business that does fillers. botox etc. So she lives in that world. I guess I've always felt that since she is a PA, she may not be as knowledgeable as an MD when it comes to medication. But I will wait to see what the bariatric team tells me first before deciding anything. Like assuming I would change doctors based solely on her looks? I recently had 3 of her patients tell me they already changed doctors for some of the very reasons mentioned here. So nothing "snap" about it. If anything, I'm biding my time and giving her the benefit of the doubt. For now. Agree... I'm more holistically minded and need a doc who's likeminded. Not someone that hands meds out like candy. I'm not working this hard to be told I can never reverse the need for them. I realize it will take time and I may not be able to eliminate all of them but just never tell me never. Not yet anyway.