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Self pay if you went to Mexico (there is a lot of information on the self pay/Mexico board) is generally anywhere from $4-9K depending on location and surgeon. Most people seem to average around $5K. The best I've seen for self pay in the US was around $10K, so if you're not comfortable going to MX then there are self pay options in the US, and though you would likely still have to travel, it's not out of the country. They're more expensive than MX, but nowhere near the $44K mentioned. My insurance (expensive and usually great insurance) doesn't cover ANY bariatric at all. I chose Mexico because the hospital is 45 minutes from my parents house in San Diego and I am more confident in this doctors experience with lap band to sleeve revisions than the self pay doctors I talked to in my area (and he was much less expensive than my area as well obviously).

I can hardly believe what you went through! You poor thing I wish I could hug you! Not sure where you are in SD, but I am in Rapid City and the bariatric staff here is phenomenal and I know they could help. I know if I had an emergent issue, my surgeon would be in pronto - even in the middle of the night. When I was having some issues with too much restriction, the bariatric coordinator talked me through it and gave excellent suggestions but also said she could get the doc to see me if needed, which I didn't need to because her tips worked. PM me if you ever need to talk... april k

So thinking more about this I think one of the best things you can do is find a local support group for him that's close to work. Also, there are groups that get together and make a whole week worth of meals. It's becoming kind of popular. One of the things you guys could do is maybe either find a group or create one. That way everyone is making their own week's worth of meals, him included, and it's a fun social event rather than an arduous boring task. I love that you said you guys go walking together. Walking, moving, it's one of the BEST motivators. For me it wasn't the scale, it wasn't the smaller clothes, it was MOVING. It was putting on my shoes without any effort or problem, it was my increased mobility that has been, by a wide margin, the most motivating factor in the whole process for me. The more I can move the more I WANT to move. So getting into a Bariatric support group close to his work. Find a Food Prep group he can participate in to help in learn how to do it - because some people have no idea and that's totally ok - they just need some help. Many obese people don't know how to cook, they just eat out. It's not totally uncommon. Walk walk walk walk walk walk walk walk and more walking.

Is RNY not an option? If GERD is a concern but bariatric surgery is the goal, I would consider RNY and see if that fits your needs.

I know, right!!!! My Bariatric team has already well educated us on what not to eat to keep things from getting stuck. Actually, it's that they probably didn't chew it good enough. She said to chew, chew, and chew again and you should have no problems. But everyone is different. Glad to see a fellow Dec. 7th bandster, 6 days to go.....whoo hoo.....I've lost 6 lbs already being on this pre-op diet. We're not required to do liquid until the first week post-op so now it's a high protein, low-carb diet. Keep in touch and let me know how everything goes for you.

I just saw that Bariatric Advantage has RNY Prenatals on their site. I just started using their calcium chews and was checking on some prices and saw that they existed. Congrats to all of you!!

Hearts of bariatrics Mz Shay

Rockwood Weight Loss Surgery Center This is the total cost (minus two night stay in Deaconess Medical Center) for sleeve/bypass/lapband. They also require a bariatric psych eval (around $300), an EKG and labs. Some people might need more testing. These are not listed in cost, as you get them through PCP. Cost for sleeve is just under $7000.

HOW WE GOT HERE In Part 1 of this article, I introduced the idea that positive self-esteem is the key to weight loss success. In Part 2, I’ll talk about why so many obese people have a negative self-esteem Now let’s have a quick look at how we came to be such sorry specimens. Any psychologist or sociologist will tell you that some of the most troubling factors contributing to low or negative self-esteem (on the levels of individual people as well as the aggregate of citizens called American society) are a person’s physical appearance, weight, intelligence and peer pressure. Very often all four of those factors are tightly intertwined. In an elementary school cafeteria, Jane, an obese girl with a tray piled high with food winces at her classmates’ teasing. Unable to find a friendly place to eat her lunch, she sits down alone and cries at the sound of other kids’ voices: “Fatso!” One of the school bullies shoves Jane’s lunch onto the floor and laughs, “You didn’t need that food, Fatty!” Jane heads to the lavatory to cry in private. She hides in a stall and hears the popular girls chanting, “Fatty Fatty, two by four, can’t fit through the bathroom door!” I’m sure you’ve guessed by now that Jane’s name is actually spelled Jean, and that the school cafeteria scene above lives in my distant memory. Even when I don’t consciously think about that unhappy incident, it and many others like it formed my beliefs and feelings about myself a long, long time ago. Sometimes I feel that I’ll never get them all weeded out of me. In my case, that ancient stew of negative self-esteem flavored my life with some miserable symptoms: hypersensitivity to criticism, perfectionism, guilt, shame, irritability, a defensive attitude, a sense of defeat and insignificance, and a persistent, low-grade “fever” of dissatisfaction with myself, my life, and everybody else. And yet, despite all that, at age 62 I can call myself a success, not just at weight management but at a host of other things. No, car repair is not one of those things, but on the whole I’m doing pretty well. I have my husband, my friends, and my own determination to thank for that. If I can turn myself around, you can do the same for you. Low self-esteem is not something that gets fixed overnight, and having bariatric surgery is not the cure. Choosing surgery is a wonderful first step, but it’s not the end of the journey. So please, be kind to yourself! I’m not talking kind in the sense of indulgence but in the sense of a loving caretaker who understands that you’re weak and believes that one day you’ll be strong. WHERE ARE WE GOING NEXT? Psychologists say that self-esteem is linked to a sense of competence – the awareness that you have the knowledge, skills, and resources needed to accomplish a task. It’s unlikely that you’re going to start your weight loss journey with a strong sense of competence regarding weight loss. In fact, it’s quite likely that your self-esteem in that area is torn down and tattered from all the diet and weight battles you’ve fought and lost in the past. No matter how much information you’ve gained from your pre-op education, you don’t yet have a history of weight loss success to buoy you along. So how do you even begin to feel good about your ability to make the lifestyle changes required for weight loss - make good food choices, control portions, take tiny bites, avoid grazing and so on? I’ll adapt the take tiny bites strategy to this effort. You tackle the weight loss project one tiny bite at a time. You repeat the effective actions of making good food choices, controlling portions, taking tiny bites and avoiding grazing over and over again until you’ve learned how to do it with less effort and more enjoyment. You seek and acquire the knowledge, skills and resources to help you succeed. You seek assistance from your surgeon, your support group, your family and friends. All this work may never become fun for you, but in my case, weight loss made it all worthwhile. TODAY’S WEIGHT LOSS SUCCESS FORECAST IS… Does the importance of positive self-esteem mean that you’re doomed to failure if your self-esteem isn’t already strong on the day of your bariatric surgery? Certainly not. If you take on the challenge of a weight loss winner’s lifestyle one tiny bite at a time, your WLS journey can actually help you increase your overall self-esteem while decreasing your weight. Each step you take, each new behavior, each pound you lose, will prove to you how capable and worthy you truly are. From time to time, you may have to ignore or silence the voice of self-doubt. I like the way my friend Lisa counsels self-doubters. She says, simply and firmly, “You can do this.” So when your inner Doubting Thomas (or Thomasina) whispers (or shouts), “Forget it! No way! Lost cause!” take a deep breath and tell her “I can do this. I will do this.” Eventually you’ll turn your eating behavior around, reach your weight loss goal, and finally feel proud of what you’ve accomplished.

Do you journal? Pre-op is a great time to use a journal to process your feelings and emotions, write a bucket list, envision what you want your future to look like, etc. Also, if you struggle with eating issues, emotional eating, compulsive eating, etc. you may want to find a good therapist and/or attend bariatric support groups or recovery group meetings (like Overeaters Anonymous OA.org).

Thank you for your replies. May post op appointment is on Tuesday the 15th, so I’ll be talking to them about it then. Hopefully they can suggest a psych that has experience with bariatric patients. If not, I see my primary later that week. I’ve felt a lot of stress and anxiety that I can’t find the triggers. It’s also possible I’m starting a manic phase because I know mine are triggered by extreme stress. My moms picking me up for a “mani/pedi” day later, so fingers crossed that helps. 🥰

Good Morning: I just wanted to get some feedback in case anyone else has experienced this (I'm quite sure some have). My last bariatric follow-up was fine. He told me my numbers were good and to keep it up. This week, I had a visit with my new primary care doctor. My previous PCP retired after 15 years (which I was very sad about-her retirement was unexpected). I was with her before & after my RNY, and she was very knowledgeable about everything related to the surgery. When I went to the new PCP this week, after he reviewed my numbers (BP was a little high-I was told to stop taking my birth control because it can cause high blood pressure for woman over 35), he looked at my weight and advised me to lose more weight, which could help with my BP. I wanted to go on the defensive but did not. My BMI stays around 28-29, and that is after having skin removal on my entire body. I wear size 6-8 jeans and small to medium in pants. I honestly don't know where the additional weight could be lost lol. My question is: how does everyone else handle this with a medical provider when it's encountered? I wanted to tell him that I used to weigh 311 pounds, so my weight now is considerably better.

I am so excited... I didnt use my insurance coz it is so ridiculous... I have to pay $5000 + 20% of the surgery that would total to $7000... The surgery is only $9988. So, i have decided to just pay it n my own and use the bariatric surgery some other time if I need to do the gastric bypass which I doubt. I am very excited! I don have to go in so many hoops if i go with my insurance. Government insurance sucks ... I wish they have better plans someday!

My surgeon recommends that any store bought multivitamin will be fine. I read the labels carefully and chose the chewable with the most nutrients in one pill. It's difficult to find any with enough calcium, so that one has to be separate. Right now, I'm using some samples from the docs office that are Bariatric Advantage chewable calcium with Vit D. They kind of have a sourness to them and are cherry flavored. They are huge so I hate to be bothered sucking them down but the taste is manageable. I'm on the hunt for a store brand that I can use when those run out. I guess I need to check the iron level in my multivitamin because I can't remember if it's high enough...

I forgot to mention, it was specifically on the bariatric (sleeve) diet at the hospital on full liquids. that and potato soup. Frankly hospital made soup is total crap...and the tomato was HORRIFIC but at home I make it quite often. I am a bit further than you are, but I like it over a scoop of cottage cheese Sounds odd, but try it LOL Umm when you are allowed heh heh

I had VSG almost a year ago and had my gallbladder out just last week. I was told to go back to my normal bariatric diet after a couple days of "taking it easy"; so that means going back to high Protein 80+/low carb -100. With the exception of the first 2-3 days, I have had no issues with food and the subsequent bathroom issues. The only things you should be having issues with are fatty or greasy foods....which we shouldn't be eating anyway. I've gone back to all my spicy stuff including sriracha on everything and its all good. No problems at all. It is common go to have loose stool for up to a couple months after GB removal since you now have a direct bile line between the liver and intestines....so it constantly drips in and it takes the body some time to get accustomed to that. Luckily mine did it in a few days but as I said, some can take a couple months. Normal bariatric diet is all you need, its just your body may need a longer to adapt is all.

The consensus is that there is no consensus, its all over the board.. i had another sleever at the same bariatric clinic i went to, told the exact opposite of me. i was told "no Protein drinks do not count towards your liquid goal", and the other sleever was told yes by a different NUT.. now you would think 2 NUTS (no pun intended but funny) would at least talk with each other and speak on the same page.. So here is my 2cents.. I don't count protein shakes, but I do count coffee, I drink mine straight with a little creamer.. now there is some scientific evidence that coffee dehydrates you, but the initial consumption in liquid, I can't be held responsible for how my body breaks it down (thats the 13 year old in me).. I do try and get 24oz of crystal lite in, i don't count my vodka drinks I have sparingly throughout the week .

How is bariatric surgery cosmetic???? I get having a tummy tuck or something afterwards, but really?! Good luck! It's right around the corner!

Maybe we could start with a closed or secret Facebook page of mass- sleeved or lap and or what ever bariatric people? ( I say closed or secret) because even though I am just over 1 year out. I am not out. Only my husband kids and I friend that also had surgery know! Would love to meet up and maybe even find a group to do monthly activities like hike or what ever with. Ok just my 2 cents even though I posted before lol

I thought this post was appropriate for this thread too, to help clarify recent questions. I just received a copy of this thread from one of my clients. I want to clarify the differences between Dr. Valencia's own practice that that of Hospital Angeles and "BeLite Weight". Dr. Martin Salvador Valencia FACS has opened a practice in Tijuana and Ensenada, Mexico. Previously, Dr. Valencia finished his surgical residency in 1998. He was then appointed as Associate Professor of the Advanced Laparoscopy Fellowship at ABC Medical Center (One of the most prestigious medical schools in Mexico). He was then invited as a visiting professor of minimally invasive and bariatric surgery at UCLA in Los Angeles, CA. He was a full time professor there. When not doing surgeries as part of the UCLA bariatric team, he traveled all over the world proctoring other surgeons in minimally invasive bariatric surgical techniques. He continues to teach at UCLA part time while building his own practice in Tijuana and Ensenada, Mexico. All this information is not meant as a commercial, just an explanation in my attempt to clear up the confusion. Dr. Valencia was invited to be part of the staff at Hospital Angeles in Tijuana, one of the finest hospitals in Mexico. He began to perform Lap Band surgeries for the hospital. However, he additionally has his own patients. Dr. Lopez is also on the staff of Hospital Angeles. Belite Weight represents Hospital Angeles. Belite does NOT represent Dr. Valencia's in any way. I am Dr. Valencia's coordinator for his practice. Dr. Valencia is NOT part Dr. Lopez’s nor is he “partners” with Dr. Lopez. Dr. Valencia has his own team. I personally do not agree with the practices of Belite. I believe Belite is deliberately using Dr. Valencia's credentials and expertise in the forefront of all their advertising to further there own business rather than doing what they should be doing, selling the lap band services of Hospital Angeles. I believe them to be unethical in their business practices and I would not recommend using their services. I'm sure not every one would agree, but that is my opinion. For various reasons, Dr. Valencia very recently decided to stop doing surgeries for Hospital Angeles. He will concentrate on his own patients and building his practice in Tijuana and Ensenada. If anyone has any questions regarding Dr. Valencia's status, affiliations, etc., I would be happy to answer any and all questions. My best to everyone here and I wish all of you a healthy successful weight loss journey!

It’s Friday night, and your long-awaited bariatric surgery is scheduled for Monday morning. Ahead of you are two days of the freedom to eat anything you want, in any quantity. You’re supposed to be on a pre-op liquid diet, but when you walk into Cheesecake Factory with your friends, your resolution to order soup goes down the drain (literally as well as figuratively). You grasp the menu in sweaty hands. What to order, what to order? You’ll never be able to enjoy food like this again, you think. Don’t you deserve to order one of everything on the menu? After all, it’s your last meal! Sound familiar? Last Meal Syndrome is very common among people facing weight loss surgery, and chances are you've already suffered it sometime in your life, perhaps the day before you started New Diet #832. Since New Diets almost always start on a Monday (there may be a law of nature covering that), you spent every minute of Sunday gorging on all the foods you could no longer eat come Monday morning. You ate so much that you made yourself slightly ill, and you probably didn't taste half of that food in your haste to cram it into your mouth. Overeating because of anticipated deprivation is an old, old habit. Until the earliest humans learned to plant seeds and cultivate their own food supply, nutrition was largely a matter of opportunism. If you caught a big fish or felled an animal by heaving a rock at it, you ate it all because you didn't know when another meal would swim, crawl, walk, or fly by. Although I sometimes joke that being self-employed as a writer is terrifying for me because it's a hand-to-mouth existence, at no time in my middle-class American life have I ever been truly threatened by significant food deprivation. My repeated bouts with Last Meal Syndrome have been caused mostly by my emotional over-attachment to food. When starting a new weight loss diet, or contemplating my coming bariatric surgery, I was terrified not that I would starve, but that I would suffer from emotional pain, boredom, or stress unrelieved by my usual comfort: whatever food I wanted, when I wanted it, in any quantity I wanted. Intellectually I knew that I would be able to eat small amounts of healthy foods and thus lose weight and gain better health, but the spoiled, petulant child within me feared and hated the very thought of that. A few days before I was banded, my husband asked me, "Are you going to have anything special to eat before your surgery?" I said virtuously, "I'm on a clear liquid diet for the next three days. I can't eat anything at all, never mind something special." My surgeon had told me that if my liver wasn't in good shape (that is, having a manageable size and texture), he would bail out of my surgery. After all I had gone through to get to the operating room, I wasn't going to blow it, and it wasn't (as I reminded myself) as if I would never be able to eat again in my entire life. I was facing food deprivation, yes, but for a matter of days, not years. Now, let's get one thing clear here: I'm not claiming superiority over pre-ops who give in to Last Meal Syndrome and celebrate their own private food festival a day or a week before their surgery. My compliance with my surgeon's instructions was driven by fear, plain and simple. I wasn't (then or now) a paragon of virtue. But in the last 4-1/2 years, I've learned something important that newbies and wannabes may not realize about the adjustable gastric band. And that is: The only food deprivation you will suffer after band surgery involves the QUANTITY, not the quality or nature of the food you eat. With a properly adjusted band, you should be able to eat a wide variety of foods you like. You don't have to give up Cheetos or Haagen Daz or McDonald's or prime rib of beef forever. All you have to give up is eating those foods in excess. It's true that when your daily calorie budget is limited, your health will depend on your making the best possible food choices - eating a piece of cheese instead of the Cheetos, a Skinny Cow ice cream bar instead of a gallon of Rocky Road, a Happy Meal instead of a quarter-pounder, two ounces of prime rib instead of the whole cow. You and your band will still be able to tolerate just about anything, so when you look down the road that your bandwagon will travel, you should see plenty of nice places to stop and eat instead of a dry, barren desert in which you'll have to subsist on stale melba toast and lukewarm water. That's the good news. Now here's the bad news: After band surgery, you'll be able to eat a wide variety of foods you like. Yes, I know I already said that, up there in the good news paragraph. But the tolerance of almost any food you can imagine means that you will have to exert some self-control to avoid overindulging. Now you may be thinking, "If I had any self-control, I wouldn't need weight loss surgery." If the need for self-control is a deal-breaker for you, maybe you should consider a different bariatric procedure, one that will allow you to eat anything at all and lose a pound a day. I'm not convinced that such a procedure exists, because I've heard too many gastric bypass (and even duodenal switch) patients moaning about significant weight regain, but by all means give the Magic Weight Loss Surgery a go. Maybe self-control will never be an issue for you again. My thoughts about self-control would fill up another whole article, so right now I just want to reassure you that eating with your gastric band is not necessarily going to involve an endless series of bland, dreary meals. It's not going to be like the mysteriously popular diet that requires you to eat nothing but cabbage soup three times a day. It's going to involve eating like a normal person who enjoys food but has a small appetite. Depending on your experience of restriction after each fill, you may have to forgo certain foods at times, but just because you can't comfortably eat a bagel with cream cheese today doesn't mean you'll never again be able to have a few bites of toasted bagel. Your food tolerance is going to depend not only on your fill level but also on your eating skills. The day after my first fill, I suffered my first stuck episode after taking a huge bite of a grilled cheese sandwich. A year later, with a lot more fill in my band, I could eat that same sandwich for lunch because by then I was used to eating slowly, taking tiny bites and chewing the food very well. I probably wouldn't eat the whole sandwich because I'd get "full" so quickly, and that's a good thing!

:confused2: Has anyone used the Bariatric Department at Cleveland Clinic? My doctor is recommending it, but I have heard that it takes them a long time to work through insurance? Anyone have somei nfo on that?

My surgeon - the bariatric team at St Joe's hospital in Chicago does it so it was provided as an option. I know not all surgeons do it though. Here's some more info from a press release I found: SILS -- A New Houston Weight Loss Surgery -- Single Incision Laparoscopic Surgery Posted on : 2010-02-01 | Author : PRWeb News Category : PressRelease In Houston, Texas, a new weight loss surgery technique known as SILS – single incision laparoscopic surgery – is now available for some bariatric operations (weight loss surgeries), including the Adjustable Gastric Band (AGB) and the Laparoscopic Sleeve Gastrectomy (LSG). It involves performing the entire obesity-surgery through a single small incision... (PRWEB) February 1, 2010 -- A new weight loss surgery technique known as SILS – single incision laparoscopic surgery – is now available for some bariatric operations, including the Adjustable Gastric Band (AGB) and the Laparoscopic Sleeve Gastrectomy (LSG). It involves performing the entire procedure through a single small incision, ideally at the umbilicus (belly button). SILS is usually less painful than standard laparoscopic surgeries (4-6 small incisions), and the cosmetic effect is thought to be superior. Some obesity surgery cases still need a balance of diet and exercise after the surgery to maintain long term results. SILS weight loss surgery is done under general anesthesia with the patient completely asleep. A small incision is placed at the umbilicus and either 3 standard trochars (tubes through which the instruments are passed) or a single specialized SILS port is placed to gain access to the abdominal space. The space is then insufflated with carbon dioxide to create enough room to manipulate the instruments. SILS requires specialized instruments that are able to articulate (bend into angles), and a novel camera that can be turned to a variety of angles. The operation is done using the same methods as the regular laparoscopic surgery. For the AGB procedure a tunnel under the skin and fat layer is created to place the port for later band adjustment. This is required to move it away from the umbilicus. Postoperatively, the patient will only have one incision, usually with less pain than a weight loss surgery with 4 to 6 incisions. Also, as the scar heals and contracts it usually becomes less noticeable as it is partially hidden by the umbilicus. Most weight loss patients feel this has a better cosmetic result. Not all patients can have the SILS approach. It is best used in patients of lower weight (BMI of 35 to 45) and whose body habitus (the physical and constitutional characteristics of an individual) is favorable. This depends on the individual patient and their surgeon’s judgment. Body mass index (BMI) is a measure of body fat based on height and weight that applies to both adult men and women. BMI-Body Mass Index formula is a specific calculation. For basic understanding of the BMI, here is a simple example. A person who is 5’5” to 6’0” with a weight of 225 to 300 pounds could be a possible SILS candidate. For each 7 to 8 pounds of body weight, they will get 1 point of BMI. So, if you divide 250 pounds by 7 you will have an estimated BMI of 36. If you are dealing with obesity or are interested in the SILS version of either the AGB or the LSG operations, please ask your Houston surgeon prior to starting the process to qualify for Houston weight loss surgery in Texas. There is also the option of a gastric bypass surgery for people with higher BMI. Houston Surgical Specialists Operating on a Personal Level (713) 993-7124 Houston, Texas

Well, today is the day. SURGERY DAY. It's more complicated than when I had the gastric sleeve because not only are they doing a revision from sleeve to bypass, they are removing my entire lower and mid stomach (the part that is bypassed) because that's where all my polyps develop. It's a 2 hour surgery, and I was told I'll be in recovery for about an hour after. It's like having 2 bariatric surgeries in 1, so the recovery/healing/down time will be worse than my original surgery. I'll be in the hospital for 2 nights, so I'll be home sometime on Friday the 30th. That sucks, and is really annoying (I hate hospitals) but I know it's necessary and will be worth it. I can't wait to get my life back. Working out, feeling good, no more in and out of the hospital, being ME again. This has been a looooong road, but I'm finally almost at the finish line. It's gonna be awesome when I hit my weight loss goal (I'm 70 pounds away and speaking it into existence now that THIS TIME NEXT YEAR I will be at my goal weight). So wish me luck, and I'll see ya'll on the flip side

With UHC - do you not have to contact the Bariatric Team at UHC? I did and I have UHC CHoice Plus as well - and did the (well still doing) the 6 months, psych, ekg, pulmonary testing and blood work. Did not have to provide 5 yr weight history and I DID contact the Bariatric Care with UHC who mailed me a list of all the documents and testing that they require prior to approval. So i knew from Day One what the process was. You should call the #800 number on the back of your ins card and ask to speak with a Bariatric Specialist - that should get you the correct answers.