Search the Community

I don’t need an education on what off label means. They were saying off label for bariatrics. But feel free to to discuss with the 2 docs who presented.

Just been doing, got down to 228, when you consider where I once was (365+) that's dogg9ne good. Still marching toward Onederland, I though for a while I'd never get as low as I am now so maybe,i is achievable. Danged of I know which dead relative I resemble this week, that's the blessing of coming from a large family base, you always resemble someone. Hope its one of the M9onshone brewers, oops I mean Small Businessmen, they're more interesting than the polecats, scoundrels and thieves. And yes I have tasted Corn Liquor, one of the reasons I don't drink, it can give you a blinding headache! Looks clear, may even not taste all that bad, uncle ran it through coffee filters, but when it hits bottom, you can repent of sins you hadn't even had time to comitt! Managed not to vomit but sat on that tree stump a while until the world stopped spinning. That's a benefit of living as long as me, you garner a lit of stories and happenings. But still, best thing I ever did for ME is Bariatric Surgery! And the rest of my life will be the best of my life!😝🙏🍀❤

I would guess yours will be Smooth as Silk by now. If not, you know you did yourself the best thing . You dropped a habit of 5 years and you deserve a big hug for that! Well really you deserve a salute but my right shoulder hurts too much to do a snappy one. Had surgery on it April 4th, my ortho went in to remove the hardware he had placed 9 years and 2 months ago when I severely broke my humerus and needed it surgically repaired. Since it already was an open instead of laproscopic incision, he decided to look around at the surroundings in my shoulder. That's okay, I told him at my pre-surg appointment " Do what you need to , because I know I need repaired!" Well he did take me at my word, instead of subjecting me to another surgery within a few months, he went ahead and repaired my rotator cuff. I am really glad within me he diff do THAT but it does remain painful. Most often by 3-4 weeks he has patients in PT and doing Wall walking, where you have your fingers climb up the wall. Not me, I am still on pendulum swings and circles, since I went through all that therapy after the initial fracture I have all my therapy papers to refer to. And since I am older, he wants to make sure everything has reknitted well before attempting shoulder level and above. Okay with me, cause that stinker is SORE, know that is the pain reason. Simply removing the hardware I would merely have a tender incision now. Who would have thought with my weight loss the harware would have become less stable and start rocking in there? Don't think of being fat in there. Anyway before the right arm flared up we had discussed repairing the Left. I had favored the right, So I did many extra things left- handed, and wore it down also. So we were on a "Watch and observe- but soon Repair" basis there, like this autumn after I hit my year bariatric recovery date. He has a peckish sense of humor, well I do too . Got a twinkle in his eye, said "Well how soon can I play with your OTHER shoulder?" Told him not for a while, you play TOO Rough! Stoll have to take pain meds, but don't make a habit of Norco, that reserved for when I CANNOT SLEEP, it's tylenol, ice or heat packs, arm propped on a pillow but many times sleeping sitting up in the recliner. Oh it's nothing more than others have suffered, they all Got better so I will too Today I go for more testing, takes a fair amount of maintainance as you get my age, and I swear everything that gets done comes with a " By The Way". When having an MRI to check the status of my thoracic aortic aneurysm, Thank God not enlarging, they discover I have renal cysts, not all that uncommon as one ages, then when I had a cat scan of my neck to rule out bad things happening there, an throud nodule, just smaller than operating size, further testing showed I have mutiple litter ones in the right lobe also. Not sure where we go next on that! I have gotten a huskier voice , is it pressure on the nerves and vocal cords from the thyroid nodule, too many years of GERD irritating it? or could it be something else? At least my carotid arteries are pretty good but when I had my endoscopy the 12th of this month, I have had 11, quite a story there, anesthesia at OSU got all "het up" about my noticable heart murmer, enough that they faxed my PCP, now I have cardiac retesting at 1 today. And I can't sleep because of shoulder pain, got maybe 3'4 hours of sleep so I'm posting on here. But you know, with all this, I am so much better off than I was before my Bariatric Surgery, at least I have made many specialist friends, so all these things will be addressed, I won't go in at Stage3' Stage4 levels where nothing can get done. And I am over 130 pounds smaller than my High Weight, dropped multiple sizes, smaller than I was 40+ years ago when I warms having babies. Don't recognize myself in the mirror, starting to look like Dead smaller relatives that I never knew I resembled. If it wasn't for getting a little wrinkled I would celebrate my Fat Shell cracking and falling away. I am about ready to go into 18s, I started at 28-30W, 💘 the varied styles as I get smaller, no longer have look for the largest sizes or go buy sweats from the Mens Department. Had jeans fall off the other day, luckily I didn't have my old Granny Panties on, had to invest in belts and I don't look when wear them like a sack of wheat with a rope tied in the middle. Oh things aren't perfect yet but so much better than once they were! Not under a death sentence anymore, believe I'll hang around for some more years! And I will be hoping to hear good things from you Too!

I’m just sharing info in case there are people who aren’t aware of this option. I know some people get very bad GERD after the sleeve that can’t be controlled by medications. I was told the only other option would be to convert to bypass (which is why I ended up choosing RNY). Turns out another option is out there. I’m a nurse practitioner and went to a meeting last week that included dinner and an educational presentation. The presentation was done by both a GI doctor and bariatric surgeon. They were talking about the Lynx procedure. The simplest way I can explain it is to imagine a beaded bracelet that goes around the esophagus. It applies enough pressure to stop the regurg. Complication rates are low. The bariatric surgeon said he has had excellent results for his sleeve patients. He said right now the procedure is still off label for bariatric but the literature on it will be published later this year. Just something to think about or to ask your physician about if you are having GERD issues. If your physician wants more info he can contact a LYNX rep or I can share the name of the surgeon who presented.

I just checked to see if there was anything on MeetUp - none in my area, but the site somehow knows that 4 are interested. Maybe you'll have better luck in your area? I just searched "Gastric" and "Bariatric" to see what popped up, in case you want to try it.

I agree!! Love reading these topics. Although my surgeon told me to stay off the bariatric surgery forums until surgery is finished...yeah, like THAT'S gonna happen! Lol

Try your nearest State university hospital, they probably still do them. I know there a bunch-and- 3/4s hospitals in Your Area, but the first one that comes into my mind is Tufts, but I bet Brigham and Women's is also good. You're lucky to have so many, I have to travel 50 miles to Columbus Ohio to get a decent Bariatric Hospital.Mind you, I am not sorry, these people are wonderful, they do stilllap-band although that was not my surgery of choice.

Well I put in an order for a Terrific Tuesday, but let's see what I can do to insure that! This is an every- other-day week for me. Yesterday was Urology. My former urologist Dr Clemens decided to confine his practice to Franklin County and Columbus so I now belong to his partner, Dr Jed Henry. Seems very nice, a little older(42) than Dr Clemens but still young enough to be my kid. That happens a lot when you're 73. Going to call me back on Wednesday with a proper antibiotic instead of prescribing an antibiotic willy- Billy. Said I don't like the color and consistency of your urine, well Duh, I don't either, and that's why I came in. We had a good laugh at the expense of my PCP who told me last Thursday he would give me a 5 day script for Microbid and never faxed it over to Wal-Mart, my usual pharmacy. If I knew he was gonna forget, I should have asked for a hand-written script, He's only 50 or so, young for senility, maybe a transient stupid attack? Wednesday I also go over to my local hospital, Knox Community aka the "Band-Aid Station" dubbed this by the Columbus hospitals. They have a habit of treating what they want and sending the rest by land or helicopter transport to Columbus. Hence the sarcasm. When I was getting ready for my endoscopy on April 12th, the anesthesia doctor had a low-grade hissy because she heard a Frank heart murmer. Had my PCP. talked with me about it? Well he MIGHT have mentioned it but I thought it was mild, functional and probably part of aging. She still was a less' than- happy - camper, would not let her resident do my sedation, did it herself, and must have sent a little note to PCP because I got more cardiac testing tomorrow at 1 pm. Oh Happy Happy Joy 😂 Joy! Then on Friday I see my ENT, Dr Suzie Helming, she is a really sweet person. I have had a noticable huskiness coming over my voice, usually a high alto/low soprano quality. Now I think I sound like Lauren Bacall & why is this? Is it the culmative effect of all those years of Gerd, is my recently found thyroid nodule pressing on a vocal cord, could it have some sort of heredity basis, my late Mama was also husky- sounding the last few years of her life( died 16 years ago at 87, I was 57 then) or could it be something else? Saw her hubby Dr Jarrett, the orthopaedic surgeon, he did my 1st knee in 2014. Asked why I was sitting outside the office building on a bench, told him about going to visit his wife on Friday, we joked about that I didn't have to go to such lengths to see here, he had pictures on his wallet of her and the kids. Their daughter Charleigh is petite like her, but poor child, she otherwise looks just like her daddy. Maybe she'll outgrow it? Must going to be 3 in June, and their son Dylan, gosh I do not see a resemblance to either of them. The last picture I saw of him, he looked like Suzie had gone somewhere for Donor IVF, maybe he resembles Suzie's Dad or Jarrett's Mama? Funny how genes work! One of the cousins, Brandee, on late hubby side, spitting image of their Aunt Lois, but her grandma Aunt Woneta and Aunt Lois looked nothing alike. My hubby was the son of the oldest sister Faye, then came Aunt Ruth ,Aunt Lois and lastly Aunt Woneta. If you saw them on the street, didn't know them, you would never suspect they were sisters. So we Will see how this week pans out. And next week on the 30th I go to Columbus to be seen at the Bariatric Clinic , my paperwork says I see Dr Noria, my surgeons partner, but one of the nurses I spoke to the other day said No I merely see Valerie the head Nurse- Practitioner. Well no big thing either way! In the meantime celebrating being down to 228 from alk- time high of 365+, I say + because I got to the point I would not get on a scale unless you jabbed me with a sharpened stick. Knew all scales carried a grudge and wouldn't say anything nice about me! Suffice it to say my BMI was in the 50s and now it's mid 30s and lowering by the day! Yippee Skipee Yahoo!👍😝👍🍀🌈

I had the sleeve. I lost about 127 I gained back 25. How I handle stress lately varies. Sometimes eating, sometimes drinking sometimes working tour I don’t hate exercising I love it. Never gave that up. I don’t have a bariatric buddy to face time with or spend time with

Hypertension is a valid co-morbidity. Sleep apnea is another. Here is UnitedHealthCare's bariatric surgery policies to give you an example: https://www.obesitycoverage.com/united-healthcares-criteria-for-weight-loss-surgery-coverage/

Which surgery did you have? How much weight did you initially lose before you starting regaining? How do you handle stress? Do you hate exercising? Do you have a bariatric buddy to spend face-to-face time with?

If you have access to Aetna's website, you can access the list of providers. aetna-ioq-bariatric-guide.pdf

Thank you Diana, If I was not an employee of UHC I would be covered, they do not cover as an employee currently, they stated last year that they were in the works with adding it, they said it may be added this year but its just a waiting game. And yes changing jobs would actually help because a lot of companies in CT offer it - I am a coder so I have lots of options- it is just the fact my company is based in TN I am a remote coder so TN isn't currently a mandated state for offering bariatric surgery, Neither is CT but majority of the companies that I have considered do offer it. I just have to weigh out the fact of being remote for 5 years to going back into an office setting.

Step one - review your policy - look at the documents - either they were given to you in paper or are avaialble on line - that will outline what is covered and what is not. Since you did not get them to commit in writing in the first instance, you can't rely on that. If the policy website/paper copy says covered demand a denial of coverage letter so you can appeal. Talk to the insurance coordinator at your surgeon's office - they have done this more than once before and maybe she/he can help you. If you are coverage is provided as an employee, you may be covered by a Federal Statute called ERISA which gives you specific rights regarding appeals of denials and the requirement that they put the denial in writing. Secondary insurance will likely not cover it at this point. Changing jobs will only help if you get a job with a company whose insurer covers bariatrics and many don't. Call your human resources department and ask them for copies of the paperwork for your plan.

I was less concerned about the hospital and looked for the best surgeon I could find. As it turned out he is affiliated with a Center of Excellence hospital and is bariatric certified. Hope you get some responses.

5'3" 152 pound woman here who is down about 150 pounds. I do Olympic lifting to support my fencing (I fence foil and saber). I lift 3-4 times a week for about an hour with a trainer. I deadlift 240, Backsquat 235, and have horrible upper body stregnth. I can clean and jerk about 80 pounds - shooting for that 100 pound mark. I have mental issues with my ****** and I'm only at about 65 pounds. Just started bench pressing and can go 75 pounds for about 40-50 reps. When I'm not lifting, I'm fencing 2-3 hours a day. I eat about 1500 - 1800 calories a day with 125g protein and 113g carbs. Adding the carbs back in was essential for me to build muscle - I was cannibalizing muscle with my lifting because I wasn't getting enough carbs in. I found a sports registered dietitian in my area (she was covered by my insurance - even better) and had experience with bariatric patients. She helped me refine my numbers. I use BCAA when I'm lifting and lots of electrolyte replacement stuff - e.g. nuun or Ucann Hydrate. I had my resting metabolism checked after surgery to find that my resting metabolic rate is about 967 - so that's 1100 calories if I'm sitting on my butt all day. Best of luck!

And guys maybe I will be joining you in Hashimoto Land. Still testing, still no official confirmation, no announcement, no Frustr8 you definitely have______, but it will come, this I believe. Remember if Doctors got everything right, then it would no longer be called " practice", would it? I have urologist this afternoon, heart scans, fun and games Wednesday, see the ENT doctor Friday and next Tuesday see my Bariatric surgeon, unless he sends Valerie, his chief Nurse- Practitioner as proxy. And thus ends April for me!

Not sure if you use myfitnesspal. It’s a great community of fitness minded people. Great place to find people that don’t fit the typical *smile* Lifters that inspire me- Check out this guys profile. Staffordshire hes 55 years old, started at 402 and is now 207. not sure if he had bariatrics but he is helpful and a wealth of information. (photos below) https://www.myfitnesspal.com/profile/staffordshire62 Bigviffer - He has had surgery. His profile. (photos below) https://www.myfitnesspal.com/profile/BigViffer Bariatric profile https://www.bariatricpal.com/profile/252425-bigviffer/

@PWMDMD Lifting and fueling can be tricky to figure out. A few memebrs that may help you out. @BigViffer @BlueCrush @Albus I’m five years out, It’s been trial and error. Bariatric dieticians did not know what to do with my fitness level (I distance run and lift) Trainers advice on diet I had to laugh at. I finally went to a sports medicine dietician and figured out what works for me.

Hi there, I am very glad that I decided on the bypass as I too have noticed quite a few people ending up having the bypass after the sleeve op. What I will say, though, is that I do still feel hunger but am able to control it more and so I am keeping to what I must do. It has been a sharp learning curve in terms of what kinds of food I can eat at different stages as my body adjusts and the process is ongoing. This is hard work but worth it in the long run. The worst bit has definitely been a bit of the ‘dumping syndrome’ and getting some food stuck at the pouch opening but I now know what to do to avoid these occasions. I am so glad I had bought several books on bariatric Surgery and the bypass as they have been very helpful indeed. This forum is great too but I would love to meet some people here in North Devon in a group setting as well so we can discuss different things. This kind of thing gives reassurance from concerns.

Anybody with Hashimotos that can share your success or struggles with the sleeve? I travel today to Vegas and will be sleeved on Thursday, 4/25 at Blossom Bariatrics. Hashimotos plus menopause has made it impossible to lose weight- despite diet, exercise, medical weight loss drugs. I’m so hopeful that this will provide the missing tool. I’m not afraid of pain or hard work. I have lost 26 pounds in the last 5 weeks (only needed to do 2 weeks of preop diet but I thought I’d start as soon as they gave me the diet). I’ve done 2 Protein Shakes and one lean and green meal a day. Maybe averaged 700 calories a day. Anyway I’d love to hear your experiences! HW: 244 CW: 218GW: 140 5’6” Age: 48

I had gastric sleeve Sept 2018 and I’ve done fantastically well - I’m down 90lbs and my current stats are 40 yo, 6’5” and 255lbs. I’ve been lifting weights seriously for the past 6 years. Prior to surgery I was lifting +325lbs in bench press, squats and deadlifts for reps. As I expected in the 5 months after surgery I’ve lost a lot of strength with the weight loss. My weight stabilized to 255lbs about two months ago and I started back with a 5x5 weight lifting program. I’m back up to bench 225lbs, squats 245lbs, deadlifts 265lbs, Overhead press 150lbs and Barbell rows 190lbs in my 5x5. For the past 2 months I’ve been eating 2000 calories per day and trying to get a minimum of 200g of protein per day. Weight is stable, I’ve put on significant lean mass and strength in my 5x5 program. My goal is to try and get back up to +325lbs for my BP, DL and Squats for no other reason than I really like lifting and I tend to be goal oriented. My goal from day one was lean mass preservation and avoidance of becoming skinny fat. All that said, I’m starting to feel “gassed” as I continue to add weight and I’m showing typical signs of over-training - something I never dealt with in my pre-op calorie excess days. Speaking to various fitness people has not helped. If I speak to a fitness person at the gym who is not familiar with bariatric surgery the answer is I’m in severe calorie restriction and sure a guy my size lifting what I’m lifting could be eating 3500+ calories per day easily and still maintain weight. If I speak to the bariatric program fitness person I’m like the first person they’ve ever met who has come through the program who has maintained any strength and wants to lift 300+ lbs and for everyone else she’s recommending people do pushups...against the wall. I blew the nutritionist’s mind that I was eating 2000 calories per day and still losing weight at my 6 month. She doesn’t know what to do with me other than to say I look good and if I feel good then it’s good. So I’m looking for answers that appear to have no data in the literature and no one knows what to do with me. Anyone here doing heavy lifting post-op and consuming 1500 to 2000 calories per day successfully? If so....Anyone experiencing overtraining and if so what have you done? My plan is to schedule “deload” week every 4-6 weeks depending how I’m feeling. I’m reluctant to increase my calories over 2000 per day as this seems to be my maintenance intake to maintain 255lbs - I’m very happy at 255. Thanks in advance.....

I was sleeved on Feb 1st. It has been the biggest blessing to me. Thru the program that my bariatric dr has set up and I would say I've been very successful so far. My nutritionist stated that if I look at a label on food. I should be looking for single digits for carbs and single digits for sugar or carb free/ sugar free. I would contact your dr and see what they can do for you and get you on the right track.

Suspect my hospitalization in late November was for that reason, they told protein- anemia complicated by malnourishment My body was in that mode perhaps to save ME A PICC line and 3 months of TPN ensued, sure stopped my fast weight loss, but I accepted that, I truly did want to live! As soon as the PICC line was removed, I dropped 30 pounds and am I happy to report I now weigh 228. If that still,seemed excessive, remember I weighed 365 when I raised my little hand to join bariatric Palm So I am happy to report this! Still a big girl,may simply be my Karma but I am smaller, not in so much pain and feel I have a strong hope for my future. At 73 you just no longer know how many days your allotment is, but stiil The Rest of My Life will be The Best of My Life, this I do promise. Now I can get up and say "Lord what have planned for me today?;" ther is no scale on the bathroom to reproach mr, and I find something of beauty in each day. I do believe Frustr8 is gonna make it after alll!

I got lucky (well none of it was luck, but you know....) Mine was caught before it had a chance to go anywhere outside of the ducts. TNBC has the worst prognosis in the first 5 years (50% survivor rate) but after 5 years the risk of recurrence almost bottoms out. I’ll never forget going in for that 5 year check up and crying tears of joy when my oncologist pronounced me “free and clear” of the dread 5 year window in July 2014. Then in February 2018 I had some really weird lymph nodes found on a breast MRI and everyone was convinced I had lymphoma. Thankfully I did NOT, but it was the longest 4 weeks I’d had in quite awhile and after it was all over is when I started looking into bariatric surgery as a solution. I was sick and tired of always looking over my shoulder and the fat I was carrying around was like a ticking time bomb. Lol, my “girls” are much worse for the wear also. After the chemo and radiation, I qualified for a reduction and I took it. Went from a DDD to a small C cup and I haven’t regretted it for one second. There’s so much scar tissue and the left one is rock hard compared to the right due to the radiation, but I’ll take being alive over odd-looking tatas hands down. Lol, I do wonder what will happen to the cup size as I get closer to goal. Maybe I won’t have anything left. 👀👀👀👀