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Sorry I missed this initial question Mikeyy! I had a first appointment at Ashford with the bariatric physician in late March talking about my weight and health history, explaining the sleeve procedure (which was what I went in wanting), the pro-op diet etc. Had second appointment with the surgeon himself, Dr Michael France, only a week or so later, and was able to book in for my sleeve surgery 3 weeks after that on 2nd May. I think the out of pocket costs were about $150 for each of the visits? (may be over-estimating). With PHI the $3500 gap fee for the surgery includes all follow up appointments which so far were at (I think) 2 weeks, 6 weeks, 12 weeks, 6 months, and soon 1 year. Anaesthetist gap was I think $400, and my health insurance excess on admission was $250. Very happy with my surgeon and outcomes. As per our recent private messages, Dr Michael France primarily does gastric sleeve surgery (and I think is the most experience with sleeve in Adelaide) but there are many others who do bypass if that is your preferred surgery.

You have to do what you think is right for you based on your research. Coming on here is a good place to get information. I had my lapband for 10 years and got it removed in January and wish I would have gotten it out 9 years ago. There is a reason some insurance companies won't pay to have them put in anymore and Allegan who was the biggest maker of them stopped doing so. The lapband requires a lot of post-op follow-up and your bariatric surgeon needs to know a lot about fills and realistic expectations of weight loss. Plus it is inevitable that you will experience a "stuck" episode which is very painful. I am not trying to scare you but am being honest and you asked for words of wisdom. My advice (wisdom) would be not to get it and instead get the sleeve (I didn't do a revision - just got it out). If you read the posts by those who switched from a band to the sleeve they say "this is what I thought the band would do (and didn't)". There are many who are happy with their band, though. But in the end it is your decision and I hope you are discussing your hesitations with your surgeon.

I bought a lot of the Premier clear protein drinks in the tropical fruit flavor to add some extra protein but they have a WEIRD almost chalky after-texture if that makes sense?? I'm still drinking one protein shake a day, which gives me 30g in itself (also premier brand), and for the soft food diet I've been able to get the rest through things like chicken salad, tuna creations, and "burrito bowls" with taco meat and refried or black beans mushed up. As for liquid, I've never really had a problem with my water, I just keep a Yeti cup at my desk. I've heard about a little reminder thing that blinks at you if you haven't drank in awhile? It's in the bariatric pal store. Crystal light helps break up the monotony of plain water. Sent from my SM-G950U using BariatricPal mobile app

So the best thing I am finally understanding is eat slowly, smoothly and when you feel full don't push another bite down. When I came back to p.o. feeding again, and hopeful of sustaining that way, I had a few oopsies, I read of others at the same calendar time out romping and stomping with their diets, I got a tad envious, wanted to emulate them. No No No said my small boss, Precious Pouch, THAT'S their recovery, not yours. And she does have her way of showing her contempt. So I still eat my 2 oz at a time, drink unceasingly except for mealtimes, stop fixiating on the fact I am BEHIND every other 6 monther in the Bariatric World and PP sits there and lets my liquids and pureed through to my small intestine, actually let me have refried beans last p.m. and a few things are starting not to have. liquification. So I am hopeful, that's why I am posting here, cause I am still at the early levels in some respects. Saw something in one of my inspirational quotes. It is not good to try copying from others, Life may have given them an entirely different Exam Paper, so the answers may not be the same. Fighting the Fight, Trying to get Everything Right! your Bari- bud Frustr8🍀😝🍀

I have something I'm happy about, instead of a NSV it is an TSV but there is no " thread " for that! READY? I now weigh less than my son the Tomkitten! Does this give us the same BMI? Nope, PCP says he measures nearly 2 inches taller, do I am beat still there but I believe that may come also. On my official ( bariatric scale at clinic in Columbus) I am 245.1 pounds, he is 245.4. I am weeping my teats💦 of joy , at my highest we were very very far apart in weight and I felt it was insurmountable. Even if he does try to lose weight, and since PCP has taken to put " Morbid Obesity" on his appointment summeries, he told me I may talk to Dr Needleman at your next visit, he doesn't have the GERD I did, so might be a mere metabolic weight loser or at worst as VSG. Told him that will be between you, Dr Needleman or Dr Noria, because that is who I am fated to see in Apriln this is a decision your. Mother can't make for YOu! But for a short time I can really be called his LITTLE MAMA and it will be the truth.👸 &👨

Dr. Sampath is the surgeon that was assigned to me through the Richmond Metabolic Program. He explained both the procedures, the gastric sleeve, and the gastric bypass. We were under the agreement that we would do the gastric sleeve with the fact that I had a very low BMI of about 38 at the time. He has been a great surgeon, and he is quite friendly and does a great job at the surgery that he does. It hasn't been an easy journey, but Dr. Sampath does explain carefully what he does, and what is expected of you! If you want a great surgeon, he is great, and willing to help you! For more information regarding the program, if you're in British Columbia, you can look at www.rmbsurgery.com Hope that you have good success with him too! The stats that I have are at my high weight, I was 327lbs, when I went for my thyroidectomy I was 286. When I went for my consultation with the bariatric program, I was 236lbs and then the day before my first surgery it was 219lbs. When I was seen in consultation for my second surgery, I was 176lbs. Today I sit at between 156 and 165. Below is the picture of me through my journey. The one close to the face photos was when I started at my highest weight. Then the picture in the top right was how I was at Christmas time of this past year! And the two facial pictures, one happened in Sept 2018, and one was before I had my weight loss and thyroid surgery.

I have 2 weeks left and I'm definitely going to take capsules after that. I take bariatric fusion, the orange flavor with iron. The iron in it is what makes it taste so bad. Just gross! I'm going to beg to go to pills. I don't see why I couldn't, tons of people here start pills immediately!

I'm sorry. I didn't know gabapentin came in capsules. I have tablets. They were the worst tasting crushed, but I could stomach them just cut in 4. (2 a day) tastes good Caltrate 600+D Plus Chewables, 155-Count https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001IY03L8/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_SzYHCbPNBF7B8 (1 a day chewable is gross and the capsules are big) ProCare Health Bariatric MultiVitamin Iron Free- 30ct Capsule On https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06XS5JCD7/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_w-YHCb4WBTQ6R (1 a day) tastes good BariMelts Biotin, Dissolvable Bariatric Vitamins, Natural Strawberry Flavor, 90 Fast Melting Tablets https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00OKO1OMK/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_A7YHCbAQBNAWW Good luck and God bless

All of my prerequirements were done, some twice, quite a story behind THAT, had my presurgical July 17th, found out that day when it would be. Started on my liver-shrinking diet August 1st, met with a Internal medicine resident, who went over in great detail my previous surgeries, any reaction to anesthesia, went over my med list with a fine toothed comb, a lot of meds on there but truly boring type stuff. Gave me 2 bottles of a prep diet solution, one at midnight, other 2 hours prior to surgery.Made by Abbott Labs, the folks that make Ensure, also headquatered in Columbus, do I sleek a slight kickback there? Wanted to give me a nice big bottle of Hibiclens, get that nasty stuff Away from me, found out at previous surgery ( on my left knee) I am quite allergic, looked like somebody thrown acid on my poor leg. So I got special instructions , Dial Gold liquid soap, double shower, 2nd shower leave on 5 minutes and be sure to scrub your navel. Hnnnh? Turns out my surgeon Dr Needleman uses there as one of his portal sites, so I got 7 , one in the navel so it was made clear. At 6 months they have faded some much into the surrounding stretched marked territory they are not easy to find. Only one still clear is the one just below the sternum kinda between my breasts, that was where the liver retractor went in, and the liver shrink diet work, lost 15 pounds that month alone and he said my liver was small, sleek and smooth like a newborn calf, once I was certain he wasn't going to sell me for veal I felt pretty proud of ME.. Would I do it again? Oh no doubt, I have not had a textbook recovery but I'm more mad at my crabby old 73 year old body for mal- healing than I could the hospital, surgical procedure or my wonderful surgeon, in my ❤ he was and is a miracle worker. And to my dying day, and I don't plan to do that for years, I will be intensely grateful he took a chance on me when many programs would have turned me down on age alone. I fought seen and unseen hostilities for 3 long years to get Precious Pouch installed, although she is an ornery brat who rules my life, we will still make our final peace, the GERD freedom makes up for a lot of things, the blips, twists and turns in my bariatric journey . Basically we each write our own journal, in our lives, mine will be a cliff- hanger, you won't go to sleep if you read mine. 📝

I'm new to this forum... I am currently 2 1/2 weeks post Gastric Sleeve surgery. My question is... Is it normal for my bariatric surgeon to tell me to crush all my pills, after my surgery? And if it is. How long do they normally have you crush them? Sent from my SM-N950U using BariatricPal mobile app

I'm new to this forum... I am currently 2 1/2 weeks post Gastric Sleeve surgery. My question is... Is it normal for my bariatric surgeon to tell me to crush all my pills, after my surgery? And if it is. How long do they normally have you crush them?

Careful on juicing, especially if using fruits as you can start exceeding calories. My Nut recommends smoothies over juices since the fiber is what makes you full and is beneficial. She also says to keep fruit to a minimum and use veggies more for bariatric patients. This is here Instagram https://www.instagram.com/nutritune/ , she also shows us how to adapt some of recipes she has and make them bariatric friendly

If the fear helps you to stay on track, then it’s useful. I smile when our bariatric minds can get so crazy. I get it. *laughing* I admit I have had to deal with my fear of weight gain. I always blew it when I’ve attempted to maintain my weight in the past. I would gain plus more just like you. Funny and not funny where the mental battles take you. I also obsessed my way through weight loss phase. I can’t say it was a bad thing, it got me to a healthy weight. I had to really think about if my fear was healthy. At times, it has not been. Third year I had a gain (I worked it back off) I freaked out. It really messed with my head. It took me on the crazy train trying every diet, logging and obsessing. Ugh not a healthy head space. It’s taken some work to relax and to trust myself.

Protein powder just went in everything when I was at that stage. High protein yogurt, soup with protein, applesauce with protein, jello with protein, hummus with protein.. you get the idea. I bought and still buy bariatric food items from the bariatricpal store. The points I get participating in forums helps get it discounted and I can always hit the free shipping if I include purchasing my vitamins through them as well.

I use a Bariatric brand from vitamin shoppe. Tastes great. Celebrate was just gross.

Just an update in my band insertion with Darrin Hansen. This is not a post to slam the dr, the procedure or the method. It is also not an advertisement for other types of bariatric surgery. This is just my exerience. So I had my lap band put in on March 6th. I was super excited for that day. I arrived to the hospital and all went as planned and before I knew it I was banded. The rest of the day left me feeling weak and in a bit of pain, nots from the incisions. This was an internal pain. I made it through the rest of the day on ice chips and very little liquid. That night however, I was up all night with severe coughing. The next day I couldn't keep down the smallest of liquids. I called dr. Hansen's office and was told to come in to remove any fluid from the band insertion. I went in and removed .2cc liquid as well as some air that was in it. I was told that my inability to keep any thing down had caused the lining of my stomach to get inflamed and it would take a few days for that to subside. After still not being able to keep things down I knew I needed some nourishment. I called the dr. Office again that day and was told to get some iv fluid in an urgent care. Well urgent care wouldn't touch me and sent me to the er at the hospital I got the surgery. Also please note that I am in considerable pain this whole time. So we drove the hour to the er and upon admission I was given iv fluids and pain medication close to morphine as well as a ct scan. The hospital tried to make me drink a liter of contrast, yes, the person that couldn't keep anything down. All I did from the moment I got to the er was puke. They did the ct with iv contrast instead. I was told that the band was still in place despite my constant vomiting. After a second bag of iv fluids I was sent on my way. Although I felt a little better I still knew that there was more to come. I waited until the next day, Friday to get to the super fun part. Fade in, me starving from no sustenance for two and a half days. My stomach is on fire and I can barely stand for any amount of time. Called dr. Office again, they arranged for me to get a feeding tube from the hospital closer to me. I went in and waited an hour for radiology to get me in for the tube placement. I was writhing in pain from sheer starvation. After I endured getting the tube in, the staff was nice enough to get me some apple juice to put in my small intestine though the new tube that went up my nose. I left with a tiny bit of energy from the immediate sugar rush. I spent the rest of that day and Saturday on the tube getting nutrition where I could. I forgot to mention that I have severe anxiety and get panic attacks and was not able to take my meds for 2 days so I wasn't sleeping at all. Once I got the tube I was able to crush my anxiety and pain pills. I had already been in contact with Dr hansen about looking into all my other options as nothing was starting to be viable for resolving any of the primary issues. Saturday night it all came to a head. I was still in so much internal pain where the band was attached as well as still undernourished. I called dr. Hansen again after I had a severe mindblowing panic attack. I felt claustrophobic and trapped with something that has caused me pain since the moment I got it. I asked the Dr about getting it removed. He actually went out of his way based on everything I went through to get a surgery scheduled for the next day, Sunday. So today my very supporting love of my life wife who went through all of this with me, drove me to the hospital, was admitted for the surgeryand finally got this removed. The moment I was out of surgery i was at about 100 percent back to my normal self. After leaving the hospital I was able to go out to lunch and finally eat without a tube. I also learned something that I had forgotten earlier from when I went to the seminar about the procedure. Dr Hansen also does a stomach plication (folding) when putting in the band. That was left after the band came out, so I still have a weight loss surgery in place and learned the hard way that I can't eat anywhere near what I used to be able to eat. What did I take away from this? The lap band is not for me. I couldn't tolerate it at all as my body wanted nothing to do with it. The staff at dr. Hansen's office are awesome and did everything they could to make sure I was taken care of and gave encouragement for me to get through this, but the clincher is that dr. Hansen went out of his way to get me into a surgery on his day off. I, of course, still recommend his office if you are considering the band. I really hope that if you get the band that you are not a huge minority with the problems that I experienced.

I had a sleeve done just over 5 years ago. I lost a lot of weight very quickly and managed to keep it off. However, I had ongoing issues with gastritis, GERD, and GI motility. At the beginning of 2019 those issues got much worse. I ended up being hospitalized because I couldn’t eat or drink and was in terrible pain. I had a great bariatric surgeon who was persistent in figuring out what was happening. He determined that my sleeve was not functioning, everything I ate stayed in my stomach and esophagus for way too long. After trying several non-surgical interventions we ended up having to convert to a bypass 4 weeks ago. The conversion to bypass has been a completely different recovery than when I had my sleeve. I never had dumping with the sleeve, and I learned the signs of being full easily. After the bypass, I don’t have any sensation of fullness until I suddenly have terrible stabbing pain under my left collarbone. I also have experienced both the “slimeys” and dumping multiple times. Dumping syndrome is no joke. I’ll immediately start to feel flushed, weak, intense nausea, and within 10 minutes have diarrhea. The only relief is to lie down for a couple of hours until the weakness and nausea pass. I never vomited after my sleeve, but following the bypass my stomach will randomly reject something, even if I’ve eaten it successfully before, and I’ll vomit it all back up. The positive side of the conversion is that I have no reflux at all anymore. After living with terrible GERD for decades, even after my sleeve, that’s a huge relief. It has been a struggle to try to stop losing weight after this surgery, because I’m way under my target weight. The only advice I’d give to you is expect that this will be an entirely new journey, and some of the things that worked after your sleeve won’t work this time around. Be patient with yourself and follow your diet restrictions. With bypass it’s been even more important to get my protein and liquids in. Don’t worry about food for a while, that will come in time.

That’s awesome they approved you and it’s ridiculous how much you have to worry to get the approval. I just met with the Bariatric nutritionist this past sat. She made me feel better saying she knows my surgeon and she knows he is good at getting people approved and feels I would have no issues but also not to lose any weight right now or gain.. I need to focus on maintaining this until limbo and if approved see if my surgeon does a pre op diet to shrink liver. 🤷‍♀️

I've been taking Bariatric Advantage multivitamins and calcium citrate chewy bites. They're kinda like Starbursts candy, not the chaulky chewable kind. I'm 7 mos post sleeve.

WHATEVER YOU DO, DO NOT GET A LAPBAND. It is not too late to cancel the surgery. There are much better bariatric surgeries that result in real weight loss without ALL the complications of the lapband. Getting one will inevitably lead to health issues and limited weight loss. There’s a reason that very very very few surgeons propose them any more. I’d be concerned that a surgeon that does offer the procedure is not a very good or ethical surgeon.

I’m also having a revision from sleeve to bypass at the end of May. I originally got a referral to my surgeon because of reflux (I’ve been on a ppi since the day of surgery... 7 years ago!) but as he works with a bariatric clinic he insisted I go through the clinic’s program even though he has warned me numerous times that I won’t lose much weight (ouch!) I haven’t found a whole lot online about weight loss success after revision especially from people that had some regain after their sleeve. Im motivated to get off the meds but knowing that it would help me with this regain would be extra motivating!

Have trouble with using multi vitamin, Celebrate. Three weeks out and they are now making me throw up. Any suggestions?

Oh no. I’m so sorry! Having your gallbladder removed is the best thing. I had mine removed about 10 years ago, long before surgery. My bariatric surgeon says many gastric bypass patients end up having gallbladder issues after surgery, unfortunately.

I have very similar stats to yours. Started at 232. Had lap band 7 years ago. Got down to 142 and now struggling with regain. I have had pain and nausea that I never used to have and also am considering sleeve suggested by my Bariatric group. Unfortunately bc my BMI is 27 insurance won’t pay for sleeve. Dr will do revision at no charge but will have to pay for hospital fees which no one can give me an answer to cost. I too never considered having what I considered a drastic surgery like the sleeve but yo continue gaining would be devastating for me. My health has been so much better since the band I don’t know what to do. I have an appt to discuss my options and also have a swallow X-ray done. Good luck to you. Hope we can figure this out!

And they want and need, although kids seldom verbalize it, their Mom, healthier and lighter in weight, actually hip is easier to heal from than knee replacement and I have had 2 of them. But God Bless you, I do routinely pray for all of us on Bariatric Pal, that we have what we need, when we need it and that every surgery is successful and smooth. And those who have not walked the walk, have no room to criticize, nobody knows what it is like 👀unless 🙎they have experienced it. It is not and never will be the EASY way Out, but it rewards in a lot of good ways. 😝