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Hi everyone, I am due to have my initial consultation in two weeks. As it is I honestly eat very very little due to a digestive disorder. Will this surgery really help me do you think?

Hello everyone :)! I have my first consultation with my surgeon in a little over a month. I cannot wait to get it all started and I'm excited. This is something I thought about and tried to do on my own for years and I feel as though I'm ready to now use vsg as a tool to help me be healthy and happy now at 35 years old. With that being said, I called my insurance twice to make sure (I have Northwell Direct -ppo ) that they will cover all bariatric surgeries (especially vsg in particular) and to see if they have any pre-approval requirements. According to the two people I've called and spoken to, any bariatric surgery I choose is 100% covered since my bmi is 45, including everything associated with the surgery before and after. Also they both claim that there are no requirements on my plan from my insurance company to get do to be approved...(no weighs-in necessary, no 3 month or 6 month programs, no steps to take.) With that being said I'm assuming that it will be all in my surgeons hands, no? Has anyone been told that their insurance only requires a bmi of over 40 or 35 with comorbidites, and than had a surgeon who had minimal requirements? Has anyone had no requirements (besides bmi) from your insurance, but your surgeon still had you on weight monitoring and/or a 6 month plan? Has anyone had no requirements (besides bmi) from your insurance and been fast tracked with your surgeon? I'm sorry for all the questions, I'm just new here and to all of this and through my months of research it seems to be that the standard for vsg is at least getting bloodwork, getting a pysch evaluation, meeting with a nutritionist and a lot of the times getting a sleep study and/or seeing a cardiologist. I have a ppo therefore I don't need pcp approval to see specialists. I'm hoping to get some feedback for others experience since I can't find one article, post or video on the internet about Anyone who has my health insurance and getting bariatric surgery so looking for tips or insight from others under my exact insurance has been a dud. 😕

Had my sleeve on 2/22. Excellent experience so far. Manageable pain, am able to get fluids down, and I can definitely feel the restriction. By biggest issue is the lack of savory options I see out there. So far, just microwaved broth which is pretty good but I can't wait for the next phase. No head hunger nor stomach hunger that my liquid diet isn't satisfying. Down about 29 pounds since Feb 1st when I started dieting before my 2 week pre-op LRD.

I agree. I am 9 months PO, and had you told me that I would be able to reach the weight I currently am, I would not have believed you. I didn't set a firm goal at the beginning, because I had no idea where I "should" end up. I did some math with weights around the top of the "normal" BMI numbers for my height, to see what the percentages were so I could have some idea of my progress at 3 and 6 months. Then I ended up dropping weight faster than predicted. The only time I had an actual number in mind was after my 6 month appointment when the APRN told me what they had written down as my "ideal weight" in the computer. It messed with my head some, because I couldn't ever remember weighing that little, so when I got into the range with the same number in the tens place, I was psyching myself out. I had to work to get over that. I still don't believe the number on my jeans (6 - I had to buy new ones because my saved clothes only went down to 10). It's insane to me that I can wear size small t-shirts. I can feel bones in all kinds of places that I never did before. I am still slowly losing, letting my body decide what it wants to do, but my brain is still catching up with what I see in the mirror. I also agree with wearing things you have saved as soon as they fit and as often as possible. Sizes can go by quickly sometimes. Sent from my Pixel 4a using BariatricPal mobile app

My surgery is March 7th. Liquid diet first week not maintaining but am during better. This is not my first time . I am getting a revision. Doctor called me yesterday to say I need a colonoscopy before surgery. I did do the home one this summer hopefully that will do. No sure yet. Han an endoscopy in 22 so he didn’t discuss that. good luck

If I could give it less stars I would. I had surgery at OCC in Mexico over ten years ago (lap band) and the surgery center was state of the art, clean and everyone spoke english. The care was impeccable. This time, after reading many positive reviews, I chose Mexico Bariatric Ctr. Unfortunately, my experience there was the opposite. They were extremely fraudulent in their advertising and the entire was nothing less than DANGEROUS! Here is a list of things that were fraudulent: 1. Only one nurse out of about 20 spoke English. When I asked for jello, they brought me a pillow. They did not know how to use translators on their phone. When I began having complications this is where things could have gone very wrong. I'll explain more later. 2. The conditions of the hospital (pictures below). There was no hot water in our bathroom. The shower was full of thick green mold. The shower doors were broken off and unusable. The floor drain is held by duct tape. The mirror fell off the wall and sat on the floor. We had no handsoap (luckily I brought sanitizer to Mexico with me). The air conditioner was BROKEN. It was so hot they opened the window for us for our entire stay. Unfortunately there is ALOT of construction and traffic noise 24 hrs p/day so sleep was impossible. The trash was overflowing and never changed over a 4 day stay. Needles, bloody bandages were on the floor. The hospital building is dilapidated and should be condemned. Many patients were told that MBC is moving to a new building in April, but when I asked the administrators they said maybe next year and they have no building chosen yet. Ice was made into chips by the pulling a bag out of the freezer and smashing it with a metal weight (like for fishing) for each cup ...this went on outside our room 24 hrs per day. They picked it up with their bare hands, off of a counter that was not wiped clean first, and put it in a cup for you. 3. My doctor never met me before or after surgery until I finally told a specialist doctor and she reached out to him. The anesthesiologist also did not speak to me before surgery. 4. The toilets in the waiting area were dirtier than most gas station bathrooms. The one in our room was about the same. 5. When we requested pain meds the first 24 hours after surgery the nurse stated it was only allowed every 12 hours and we had to request them. On the third day when a specialist had to come see me, we learned that they were written for every 6 hours WITHOUT request necessary. Both my roommate and I were in excruciating pain the first 24 hours and only got two doses of pain meds rather than four. 6. DANGEROUSLY LOW OXYGEN LEVEL. I let them know ahead of time that I brought my cpap and sometimes have difficulties with oxygen exchange after anesthesia. Right after surgery my oxygen level dropped to 80 (normal is 95-100). They gave me a canula (hose that goes under your nose to administer oxygen) but it wasn't giving me enough. So they gave me a full mask. But when night time came and I needed to use a cpap they told me to not use my cpap, but for me that is super dangerous so then they said stop using oxygen....my level dropped to 78! Organ damage can begin at that low of a level. The nurse stated I didn't need oxygen anymore (luckily this was the nurse who spoke english). I asked for a doctor and the specialist came in. They did not have any idea what to do for me. So I decided to wear the canula under my cpap mask. Karla (administrator for MBC came by and said "Don't worry about the canula, the water in your cpap will mix with the air and make oxygen". Ok, first of all Karla is not a medical professional, not a nurse and clearly had no idea what she was talking about and luckily I knew enough not to listen to her. My oxygen level did straighten out the next day thank goodness. 7. I came home with two of my incisions infected. They were red and swollen in about a 3" radius each. Two weeks of doxycycline before they cleared up. Nothing was sterile at this hospital. Nurses did not wear gloves for wound care but when you ask them to, they CANNOT UNDERSTAND YOU! With all that they charge it seems they could buy an ice machine for sterile ice chips, a/c that works etc. Even our toilet seat was broken and you had to be super careful how you sat on it. It doesn't appear that ANY MONEY goes into the hospital. 8. I was charged 450$ in extra fees that they refuse to explain what they are for. You must pay before they will take you to the border. 9. I was overcharged, their receipt shows a $300 overpayment but they won't send it for 12 weeks! 10. I called to speak with Mr. Ron Elli in San Diego who is the director. He refused to speak to me, hear my complaints or respond in any way. I am now 5 weeks post op. I understand that there are quite a few good reviews, but in reviewing them upon my return home I realized they are from 2019 and 2020. Perhaps the hospital was in better shape then, I don't know. Useful Funny Cool

I was about a month post-op before I could drink water normally, but it got consistently better during that time. I started out with little tiny 1 oz cups my nurses gave me at the hospital and I just poured out 4-5 of those at a time and kept drinking them/re-filling all day. I did that for almost 2 weeks post-op. I found I got a lot of water in that way since the little cups didn't seem like too much and were easy to drink down. I think most people are able to drink "like normal" eventually after the swelling in our innards goes down, so you should get there in a few weeks or so.

Just my weekly check in. Another good week, even with less activity. While I did not lose power, we had an ice storm that took out power to most of my area and closing my gym. I've done little to no walking since Wednesday and no weight lifting since then either. I also have a tendonitis strain in my left arm that's really bothering me. I can barely lift a pot of coffee. So, forced rest is probably justified. Posting a new low today. I'm happy but also concerned that it appears I'm losing muscle mass. I may need to add a new supplement to my shakes to help. But if weight were my only concern and goal... I'm still heading the right direction. See ya next week.

It gets better. I am on day 6. The first 3 days sucked bad. It took that long for my body to adjust to the calorie deficit but it did. Caffeine headaches didn’t help. Hang in there, try not to cheat as the diet helps shrink the liver making surgery easier. One cheat leads to two, etc etc. Be strong, you can do this! I also lost 8 lbs so far…

I felt like I was missing something every day. I counted that I had 12 different appointments for tests and the dates and times kept changing so I feared I dropped one or asked for the wrong test. As it happenned I got every last test correct, but the surgeon decided on another at the last minute. Grrrr. Because of my surgery being 20 years ago and the fact I had a couple of huge risk factors, Doc said I had about a 1 in 20 chance of dying on the table. In fact, his last words when we talked just before surgery were "You know you can die from this surgery?" Yes. "Do you wish to continue?" Yes. I never worried about my recovery but I did research complications and visualized how I would deal with them. I had an 'open' surgery, meaning they openned me up from stem to stern and closed me up with 30+ staples and a drain. Every little movement was exruciating pain. I knew this was a short term thing and the staples would come out at 4 weeks or so. I told myself I could do anything for 4 weeks. Pain meant eating (puree) and drinking were impossible but I kept trying. Always keep trying. As I said, I prepared by knowing what could go wrong and mentally preparing for it. Knowledge, for me, is power. Just focus on doing the best you can. Don't kick yourself for what you can't do or do wrong, it's part of being human. If you have a rough time, it's just the price of admission. If it's easy take the W and keep going. Success starts and ends in the mind. Good luck, Tek

I had VSG surgery in September 2021, and had a REALLY rough go of it recovering. I had a really rare set of complications, ended up in the hospital for a week, and generally felt like I was starving to death for 4 or 5 months. About six months before my surgery, my husband had purchased me a motorcycle. I'm very short, and it was one of the few bikes I had even a prayer of being able to reach the ground on and be able to hold up on my own. I attempted to take the class to learn how to ride and because of the stress of attempting to hold up a 400 pound machine when it was clear my pre-surgery body was still struggling to just carry 150 extra pounds. It was too much. I couldn't finish the class, never got my endorsement on my license, and the bike sat while I was completely terrified of it. After my surgery and I got to a point where I was alert, able to safely drive my car and didn't have concerns about fainting...we traded the too-tall bike for a three-wheeled one that I didn't have to worry about being able to hold up, that fit my dimensions perfectly. At the time I was doing much better than in the beginning, but I was still struggling to eat. I was 5 months out from surgery and still only eating 4-500 calories a day because it was all that would fit. Once I got my license and started being able to ride my new toy, though, I was hooked. It BECAME the reason I pushed myself to eat more, the reason I pushed myself to keep myself hydrated, because I needed to make sure I was nourished enough to be safe, and properly fueled enough to keep going as long as I wanted to. Operating the bike also helped build back a lot of the muscle mass I lost while recovering because it's quite a workout on the shoulders, core, and hips to steer and corner. In a matter of a couple months I went from still incredibly weak, and almost still regretting the surgery, to being stronger, more confident, and having successfully lost more weight than I could have imagined when I started this process. 18 months out, I'm in so much better shape than in the beginning, I'm already considering giving two wheels a shot again, and the confidence I gained by coming out the other side of this life-changing process makes me wonder what else I am capable of that I never dreamed I would be. TL;Dr this is the story of how my weird little motorcycle helped me recover from bariatric surgery. What is your weird thing that helped you recover and get to know your "new" self?

I am starting a hybrid liquid for breakfast and lunch and a 400 calorie dinner effective Sunday 2/26 through 3/5 and then 3/6-3/7 full liquid ahead of 3/8 surgery. I have hit food fatigue though after having eaten at my favorite restaurants in December and January in preparation for my life change (but while still losing weight and reaching a calorie deficit).

It can take ages for our heads to catch up with the reality of how we look when we’re losing & have lost the weight. I’m almost 4 years out & last week I was folding my knickers & wondered how these tiny things actually fit around my butt. But they do. Same with how other people see you. It takes time for their image of you to change from the overweight you to the slimmer you. It’s why we get all those how much more weight are you going to lose & you should stop losing you’re getting too thin comments. I picked my goal weight based on the lowest weight I was always able to get down to so I was able to visualise what I’d look like & what size clothing I’d be able to wear. Well that fell to pieces when I lost more. I couldn’t see myself at all. Would be shocked when I realised reflections in stores mirrors & shop windows were actually me. I haven’t weighed this since I was 12 (almost 46 yrs ago now) & I didn’t know how much I actually weighed then so it makes sense I couldn’t understand or visualise it. Proved it to myself by putting on the tutu I wore then but it was super freaky & weird me out at the time at the time. I also did something that probably sounds a bit odd but I used to google the weight & height of celebrities I thought might be about my size to get a better idea of what I may look like. Oh & I second @Smanky’s advice to get in & wear those beloved old smaller sizes when you can. I remember I was only able to rewear a beautiful Dries Van Noten outfit I’d kept twice because in 4 weeks it was simply too big. I also lost my window to wear some clothing because the seasons were wrong. 😩 For a laugh, here’s a pxt of me in 2021 wearing the one tutu I kept & one of me at 12 in 1977 wearing the other tutu I wore at the same concert. (Wish my arms & thighs were still that slim - dang loose skin. 😁)

Walking. Please check in with your surgeon so you can be cleared for exercise. Most people dont start until 6 weeks after the surgery.

Well, make sure you keep telling the Dr's bc after I made that post last week I ended up and am still in the hospital as of today.... they found infection from a perforation of my stomach... last night they cleaned out infection and I currently have 2 drains... also, they found a hiatal hernia that had to be removed from my esophagus... if you aren't getting better, don't let them tell you nothing is wrong... listen to your body!

You got this right. For me personally I got the sleeve. I was really not into them rerouting my intestines' lol But that was me....I will be 3 years out in a few weeks. I still have my gallbladder, I have some issues with my GERD, but again I just have to watch what I am eating. I am very happy with everything. I will be turning 59 in April. Wish I had done it sooner. Best of luck on your journey

March 10 started 2 week liquid diet today. Only allowed sugar free drinks, water, protein shakes and for snack a few choices of vegetables its been really rough so far/ how bad would it be if you cheat? i just want a boiled egg or some tuna salad. I’m so not a sweet person I need something savory. Even plain Greek yogurt will do

Need help-on clear liquids but broth makes me nauseous. Feeling week and know I need protein-suggestions?

I should have noted that I still had 35 or so staples holding my insides in and the outsides out. Every movement, no matter how slight, was a new experience in pain. I was able to move more freely shortly after 4 weeks. We enjoyed going down to the strip and people watching while we walked. Good luck, Tek

This is baffling. How much exercise do you do each week?

I was swimming 30-60 mins/day, 5 days a week.

Regardless of which procedure you decide on, this is a lifestyle change. If you don't already have one I suggest talking to a mental health professional before scheduling your big day. I was leaning towards a bypass, but my doctors shared with me that the bypass comes with a lot more risk, and that for the types of medications I take, a sleeve would be best. I am now 3 days post-op and while I used to have a severe sweet tooth, I can honestly say that it's been difficult to choke down some of these protein shakes because they're simply TOO sweet. This is a big change, and I hope that you can find a comfortable place emotionally/mentally to pick a date. Good luck!

Pizza is a slider food for me - wonder if it might be for you too OP? I can eat way more of that (volume wise) than just about anything else. To the degree that it's what I choose to eat when I'm concealing the fact I've had surgery or what I'm eating is under scrutiny by other people in a negative way. I can eat plenty pf pizza - certainly 3 slices, and then even more if I drink liquids at the same time to push it along even quicker, as Tek says. Not something I would advocate at all but I do use this technique when under pressure.

Just approved, no date yet but I am obsessing over sleeve vs bypass. My Dr wants me to have the sleeve and I agreed but I’m worried that it won’t be as effective as bypass and because I’m an emotional eater and addicted to sugar, I’m worried about gaining weight back. My husband had bypass 3 years ago and lost 120 and said it made him lose desire for certain foods like sugar. I need to lose 70 or 80, I’m 5’6 and 220 and my Dr thought I don’t need to lose that much so sleeve is best but I disagree on how much I should lose. I do have to take a baby aspirin for risk of stroke along with antidepressants so I know he is worried about ulcers but my husband takes a aspirin every once and awhile and is on Prozac and never had any problems. If anyone can put my mind at ease that the sleeve is best I’d appreciate it!

I went to see my primary care doctor. He loaded me up on antihistamines and nasal sprays, and encouraged me to get a neti-pot to clear out my sinuses. By the time I got through using all of that for 2-3 days my sinuses cleared right up, and there were no issues with keeping my surgical date. I am 3 days post-op, and feeling a little sore but overall good.