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Thank you all for your well wishes. I missed it and my heart is broken... I have been admitted at a bariatric hospital. I have suffered so much. I was on my way to pick up my kids from school in the pouring rain (the 30 min ride was over an hour due to an accident), and I was on the freeway stopping every 10-20 minutes on the side to throw up. At one point in time my heart was palpitating and my fingers and toes started to go numb so I pulled over at a gas station and my husband who was over an hour away from me dialed 911 for an ambulance to come . They showed up with the Fire department and run an EKG to make sure I was not having a heart attack, my heart was racing and I continue to feel like I had an elephant sitting on my chestFire department and run an EKG to make sure I was not having a heart attack, my heart was racing and I continue to feel like I had an elephant sitting on my chest. I told them I needed to get to a place that handles Bariatric’s, But they refused to transport me all the way to Dallas where my doctor is private surgical center, as that would have been two hour ride in rush hour traffic, so I refuse to go with them to a local emergency room as I knew that they would not really know what to do with me and judging from my experience at the ER the previous day they would just try to control the nausea and let me go even though the strongest medicine they have, promethazine has not been controlling my vomiting.i also knew the wait there would be hours and hours as I would be triaged with trauma patients. My husband picked the kids and they met me in the gas station and I watch my eight-year-old son well up with tears streaming down his face when he realized mommy will not be making the mother son dance that he has been waiting for over a year )missed last year’s one due to being out of the country, and this year I promised him come whatever, I’ll be there! I even rescheduled my work trip out of county to be there (scheduled to leave this Thursday and I just don’t know how I can go...). My heart just broke and I felt like I had failed him as A mom, and even then, the crazy side of me tried to tell him it will be OK and we will still go but then I proceeded to violently vomit in front of my kids and realized it’s just not gonna happen . I had my husband stay with the kids and I still drove myself to the hospital in Dallas. Because him driving me would mean bringing along the kids for a long night and what is the point in that. I drove through the rain vomiting most of the way by the time I made it here I was vomiting every 10 minutes. Exhausted, my esophagus burning, felt like a giant grapefruit was stuck in it. They started an IV and gave me some nausea meds which did not work and I just keep throwing up spit and bile. Morning can’t come soon enough so my surgeon will come and probably scope me. sorry for long post... got nothing but suffering and time here. But I thank God he’s kept me alive, so please pray they fix me soon... I am so sorry! Sending you comfort, healing, and peace.

Thank you all for your well wishes. I missed it and my heart is broken... I have been admitted at a bariatric hospital. I have suffered so much. I was on my way to pick up my kids from school in the pouring rain (the 30 min ride was over an hour due to an accident), and I was on the freeway stopping every 10-20 minutes on the side to throw up. At one point in time my heart was palpitating and my fingers and toes started to go numb so I pulled over at a gas station and my husband who was over an hour away from me dialed 911 for an ambulance to come . They showed up with the Fire department and run an EKG to make sure I was not having a heart attack, my heart was racing and I continue to feel like I had an elephant sitting on my chestFire department and run an EKG to make sure I was not having a heart attack, my heart was racing and I continue to feel like I had an elephant sitting on my chest. I told them I needed to get to a place that handles Bariatric’s, But they refused to transport me all the way to Dallas where my doctor is private surgical center, as that would have been two hour ride in rush hour traffic, so I refuse to go with them to a local emergency room as I knew that they would not really know what to do with me and judging from my experience at the ER the previous day they would just try to control the nausea and let me go even though the strongest medicine they have, promethazine has not been controlling my vomiting.i also knew the wait there would be hours and hours as I would be triaged with trauma patients. My husband picked the kids and they met me in the gas station and I watch my eight-year-old son well up with tears streaming down his face when he realized mommy will not be making the mother son dance that he has been waiting for over a year )missed last year’s one due to being out of the country, and this year I promised him come whatever, I’ll be there! I even rescheduled my work trip out of county to be there (scheduled to leave this Thursday and I just don’t know how I can go...). My heart just broke and I felt like I had failed him as A mom, and even then, the crazy side of me tried to tell him it will be OK and we will still go but then I proceeded to violently vomit in front of my kids and realized it’s just not gonna happen . I had my husband stay with the kids and I still drove myself to the hospital in Dallas. Because him driving me would mean bringing along the kids for a long night and what is the point in that. I drove through the rain vomiting most of the way by the time I made it here I was vomiting every 10 minutes. Exhausted, my esophagus burning, felt like a giant grapefruit was stuck in it. They started an IV and gave me some nausea meds which did not work and I just keep throwing up spit and bile. Morning can’t come soon enough so my surgeon will come and probably scope me. sorry for long post... got nothing but suffering and time here. But I thank God he’s kept me alive, so please pray they fix me soon... Ohhh Ellie! My heart goes out to you!!!! Hoping you get answers and healing ASAP.

Ellie123 I think that your son would rather you be alive rather then you be at a dance, please take care of yourself for you and for him. Thank you all for your well wishes. I missed it and my heart is broken... I have been admitted at a bariatric hospital. I have suffered so much. I was on my way to pick up my kids from school in the pouring rain (the 30 min ride was over an hour due to an accident), and I was on the freeway stopping every 10-20 minutes on the side to throw up. At one point in time my heart was palpitating and my fingers and toes started to go numb so I pulled over at a gas station and my husband who was over an hour away from me dialed 911 for an ambulance to come . They showed up with the Fire department and run an EKG to make sure I was not having a heart attack, my heart was racing and I continue to feel like I had an elephant sitting on my chestFire department and run an EKG to make sure I was not having a heart attack, my heart was racing and I continue to feel like I had an elephant sitting on my chest. I told them I needed to get to a place that handles Bariatric’s, But they refused to transport me all the way to Dallas where my doctor is private surgical center, as that would have been two hour ride in rush hour traffic, so I refuse to go with them to a local emergency room as I knew that they would not really know what to do with me and judging from my experience at the ER the previous day they would just try to control the nausea and let me go even though the strongest medicine they have, promethazine has not been controlling my vomiting.i also knew the wait there would be hours and hours as I would be triaged with trauma patients. My husband picked the kids and they met me in the gas station and I watch my eight-year-old son well up with tears streaming down his face when he realized mommy will not be making the mother son dance that he has been waiting for over a year )missed last year’s one due to being out of the country, and this year I promised him come whatever, I’ll be there! I even rescheduled my work trip out of county to be there (scheduled to leave this Thursday and I just don’t know how I can go...). My heart just broke and I felt like I had failed him as A mom, and even then, the crazy side of me tried to tell him it will be OK and we will still go but then I proceeded to violently vomit in front of my kids and realized it’s just not gonna happen . I had my husband stay with the kids and I still drove myself to the hospital in Dallas. Because him driving me would mean bringing along the kids for a long night and what is the point in that. I drove through the rain vomiting most of the way by the time I made it here I was vomiting every 10 minutes. Exhausted, my esophagus burning, felt like a giant grapefruit was stuck in it. They started an IV and gave me some nausea meds which did not work and I just keep throwing up spit and bile. Morning can’t come soon enough so my surgeon will come and probably scope me. sorry for long post... got nothing but suffering and time here. But I thank God he’s kept me alive, so please pray they fix me soon...

I made a pumpkin pie shake. It was fine for my taste. The no bake pie above was a bit too sweet for me. Here is my dieticians bariatric friendly recipes site: http://insidekarenskitchen.com/bariatric-friendly-recipes/ I'm going to try this one out. Pumpkin cheesecake pudding parfaits ( for bariatric patients she says to substitute splenda for sugar) http://insidekarenskitchen.com/pumpkin-cheesecake-pudding-parfaits/

I went to a bariatric seminar to get information on bariatric surgery. One of the surgeons gave the talk, since then she has been the one who has ordered all of my tests, so I am thinking she will be the surgeon who will do my surgery but not sure at this point.

I did the online seminar and heard back from the bariatric center the next day...had my surgery consult about a week later and began my insurance hoops...I had already started a dr monitored diet about a month before so I continued with that and will have my final appt Tues....meanwhile, i've had the sleep study and psychological eval...I'd already had the required Endoscopy. Assuming i've lost the requisite 10% of my weight, everything will go back to insurance for final approval next week and then I will finally get my surgery date. It's been about 6 month thus far. It's a process, but be patient and it will fly by.

How is your insurance covering this? As a revision bariatric procedure or as reflux surgery? I think it’s normal to feel nervous. Good luck!!

Hi all!! I had the band removed and was sleeved on 5/2017. I immediately had bad reflux but was told to just keep taking the meds. Here I am today 17 months out with extremely bad reflux. I’ve regained about 20lbs because only crackers and bread don’t give me flare ups. I’m choking nightly even while sleeping on three pillows and can’t eat anything without acid attacks. I switched surgeons offices because I kept getting the runaround from the sleeve doctor. So far in the past 6 weeks with my new doctor I’ve had an endoscopy which showed a hiatal hernia, esophageal weakness, I’ve had the 96 hour Bravo ph test which showed severe reflux. Tomorrow I am having post prandial esophageal manometry to check pressures and such. My current doctor is an esophageal specialist and has already suggested he cant do much in the way of help except changing meds which he has already done. He did suggest at my next appointment with him to also meet with his bariatric partner to discuss surgery. If they suggest RNY, is that considered reflux surgery or a bariatric revision in the eyes of insurance? Thanks!!

Update: wounded up in ER for Vomiting and dehydration. They obviously don’t know much about Bariatrics and doc and nurse were so unsympathetic! Pouch has been balled up since yesterday. Today I had nada to eat but threwup 4 times, just awful. They did an X-ray said I don’t lol blocked and gave me IV with Zophran and then Promethazine. I threw up while on their IV too. I refused pain meds cuz was so dizzy from anti nausea and did not want their strong stuff. They told me that’s all they can do for me and sent me home, where I continue to throw up. I NEED to be well! I have a mother son school date tomorrow (he’s been waiting a year for this!!), I have work in the morning! I have an international trip next week! Ughhhh, can’t beliebe I’m laid up like this...

The practice I am going to had three surgeons on staff. I got one that I sort of didn't like, but he had 1000's of operations under his 40 years of practicing, so I felt comfortable, safety-wise. Well, he retired a month into my process and I got his replacement, a much younger guy. I actually like him a lot more. He is less experienced, but is one of the pioneers of robotic laparoscopic gastric bypass and I may actually be the first patient at this hospital to have it done. The practice itself is very thorough. They have several nutritionists, a psychiatrist on-staff, they are a Bariatric Center of Excellence, they have support groups, speakers that come in, they have annual Christmas celebrations for patients, they sell shakes/vitamins on-site, and are very responsive. They are an "all-in-one" place and I like that.

Beware....Rant Rave. This whole process has taken longer than it took for me to custom order my Mini Cooper, have it built in England, shipped across the pond to America, and hauled to Texas. I need both knees replaced and started the bariatric process in June, out of pocket in anticipation of choosing the higher end insurance at reenrollment time. I though to myself....Linda, take the weight off and that will help....it’s October and I just now finished classes. The Dr will submit within two weeks and then Aetna has to approve. My out of pocket, with insurance, is $5k for surgeon alone and my orthopedic surgeon wants to do the first knee mid-March and wants 3 months between the bariatric and that surgery. I’m sweating bullets here... Rant over. Luckily, I, too, only have to do a two day prep, an endoscopy and a gallbladder ultrasound.

hello everyone, my insurance denied me bariatric surgery so I am now looking into self pay. of course, the prices are way too high for me in the us but I have done some research on having the surgery in Mexico. I was initially interested in the bariatricpal Mexico facilities but after using the chat function on the website, they say they do not accept care credit. so I am wondering if there is anyone here who had surgery in Mexico and paid with care credit? thank you in advance!

I'm currently pregnant also. I'm almost 13 weeks. My obgyn has me checking my blood sugar with a glucose meter 4x a day for two weeks to check for gestational diabetes. My obgyn also sent me to a diabetes education class to learn how to use the glucose meter and also what foods to eat. Maybe mention this to your obgyn as a possible option for you. You may also want to find an obgyn that has more experience with treating bariatric patients. Good luck and congrats on your pregnancy 😊

I agree 100%. My wife doesn't blink an eye when it comes to these things. I stress over going in for a routine exam. I have a commercial drivers license and dread having to renew my DOT physical every 2 years...LOL... Women spend their whole lives being poked and prodded by doctors and the like. My hat's off to you.

I didn't realize this group was also on FB as well! I feel like there is this whole new underworld of bariatric members and support groups that I had no idea existed. It makes me wonder if I had found groups like this earlier, would I have decided to go for it earlier as well! Definitely excited to stay connected and share this journey with all of you :)

I’m currently pregnant and my OBGYN is clueless on how to care for patients who have had Bariatric Surgery.. she wants me to do a glucose challenge test to check for gestational diabetes. I’m supposed to drink 75grams of glucose.. obviously it will cause me dumping syndrome. She didn’t know what dumping syndrome is and asked me to look for an alternative because the HbA1C wouldn’t give her a clear indication of gestational diabetes. Anyone with experience here?

OH NeversayNever and group, HE355, lost 15 pounds the month of August, and 24 since my surgery on September 5th. When I ended up on October 1st in our local community hospital ( aka the Band-aid station) they claimed my blood work showed perfection except for mild dehydration. Fluided me up by IV until I could give them an urine sample before going home. Why do I go there at all? Its closer than my Bariatric Facility 48 miles away. And rumor has it local yokels have found a general surgeon who wants to institute a Bariatric program, so like a purple spotted giraffe, everyone wanted to talk to or at least look at the strange beast there. They knew a little about lapband, a few about VSG but nobody seemed to have ever seen a live RnY bypasser, ended up lecturing a tutorial. Really didn't feel like doing a free one, but one serves where they can. Another bari-pal says the Friday EGD may leave me sore, NBT I'm there already. Not sorry for the surgery, the experience not even the surgeon, only sad my body is healing in this way. Just a minor blip in my recovery, I'll be putt-putting🚕 down the road again, you know I started out So Good!

You should check with your PCP to make sure the absorption rate will not be affected by the size of your stomach. At the beginning I took mine two at a time with sips of water. After about a month I was able to take them all at once again. I was also told no pill bigger that the bed of your pinkie nail but fortunately the only one that was, was my multi which I switched to a bariatric brand and they are much smaller. I felt full but it lasted a short time. You should be fine, especially doing it right before bed.

**UPDATE** I went to my family doctor who felt around and seemed to think that I just have a pulled abdominal muscle. I was not convinced. This does not feel like a muscle, I can tell you that much. He referred me to a surgeon for a second opinion. The surgeon felt all around and then he pushed in the belly button area and there it was!!! The pain!. He was very thorough and had me stand and lay down. Checked around other areas. The end result....he said it is an incisional hernia in the belly button. I do have to have surgery. He went over everything with me. Now the issue is...shouldn't I technically be discussing this with the bariatric surgeon who did my surgery (even though his nurse kinda blew me off)??? I will probably give them a call tomorrow and see what they say.

Saw somewhere recently that Bariatric Surgery,is cheapest in Sour Dakota.. Is this true? I have heard of reduced rates in Michigan, Louisiana. Florida, Nevada and Texas, is this true?, is a pot at the end of the rainbow for someone seeking a more budget friendly area?

It is worth noting that the group doing that paper (Inabnet, Gagner, Pomp, et al,) were early adopters of the DS, so they were already well familiar with the VSG as part of that, so this study was contemplating applying what was then a fairly normal two stage DS approach of doing a VSG followed by the switch to the RNY. Most bariatric surgeons of the day were unfamiliar with the VSG, and the more normal approach of two-staging the RNY at that time was to use a lap band as the first stage, as that was familiar ground to most bariatric surgeons of the time. The VSG did not start to become a normal practice in the bariatric world until 6-8 years ago when the insurance industry started covering it more consistently; prior to that is was largely the "property" of the DS world, and that is where most of the early work in moving it toward a stand alone procedure came from.

Many insurances require you to be in a Circle of Excellence for Bariatric Surgery Hospital. Not all hospitals qualify for that...it's very specific. Also, typically, you are not allowed to miss any appointments or you start over from the first day. Also you should qualify with ins based co-morbidities of diabetes and possibly on high BP if you are on 3 meds for it and it's still high. Otherwise, 36BMI is at the cusp of not getting in. If you have to wait 6 months to do your pre-op visits with the RD, monthly, and you go below 35BMI, you are screwed and will be denied. That's just from a lay perspective, I am not an insurance specialist. It's a very grueling and stressful process and filled with "Will I's or Won't I's". Keep plugging.

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Hi SleeveGirl88. Having GERD isnt' the same thing as having reflux every once in a while because you ate some food that disagrees with you. When they are discussing GERD as a contraindication for VSG, they are talking about people that have it regularly at least one or two episodes a week that don't necessarily have anything eating greasy food. You also don't seem to have any co-morbidities and a relatively low BMI of 40 (the average bariatric patient has a BMI of 42.5). If you're goal is weight loss, I would probably go with the VSG. While RNY may have slightly better total weight loss numbers and slightly lower regain rates over 5 years, the differences aren't really statistically significant--particularly for someone with your BMI. You'll do great with either the sleeve or the RNY and you're not going to get much of a weight loss advantage going with an RNY. There have been a lot of comparative studies that have been published over the past two years that support this conclusion. In terms of weight regain, some people start to see it earlier in the process with the sleeve but in the limited number of long term studies that track people beyond 5 years--there really isn't a long term statistical difference. What does seem to make a difference your starting BMI. Whether you're a sleeve or an RNY, if you start the journey with a BMI of 40 or less, the chances of you having BMI below 30 after one year is 95% and the chance of you maintaining a BMI under 30 after 5 years is over 75% with either procedure. The numbers for both procedures drop considerable the higher your BMI is at the time of surgery. The other thing to think about, particularly if your young (under 50), is that you're going have to live with this surgery for a long time. While RNY may have slightly better 5 year outcomes on the whole, the differences aren't really statistically significant. For someone like you, it might only mean a 5-8 pound difference (maybe)--but ultimately, it's probably not much of a difference at all. Ten or 15 years post op, you could be at a point where you have had significant regain with either procedure (hopefully not) and then you have think about revision (since obesity is a chronic condition). With this in mind, you should consider which procedure gives you the most and best options for revision. With RNY, you're revision possibilities are currently limited. In some cases, the pouch can be made smaller. Surgeons can also increase the length of the biliopancreatic limb to increase malabsorbtion or convert you to a distal bypass. The weight loss benefits of these procedures are disappointing for the most part, but these procedures can help treat co-morbidities. A more aggressive or radical approach would be to reverse the RNY and switch to a totally different procedure, but this is a very complicated and risky procedure that most bariatric surgeons aren't comfortable performing (at least not in 2018). In truth, your options of revision from and RNY are limited and may not be very effective for weight loss/regain. Options for revision from a sleeve if there is significant weight regain or re-occurrence of co-morbidities are numerous and more effective. Resleeves are common, easily performed and can help get you back on track. Since holds more volume to begin with and the pyloric valve is preserved with a VSG, resleeves seem to be more effective than revisions to a RNY pouch for treating weight regain. A sleeve also can be easily converted to an RNY down the road, but this is usually done to treat severe GERD--not so much for weight loss (although it can be used for this too). The most exiting option with a sleeve is that it can easily be converted to a BPD-DS or modified duodenal switch (also called a loop DS, SIPS, SADI-S), which is still considered an investigational procedure in the United States, but is probably the future of bariatric surgery. This is essentially a VSG with a single long limb bypass that attaches midway down your small intestines (roughly speaking) and has only one anastomosis (one connection point). It gives you most of the benefits of a BPD-DS (which is by far the most power bariatric surgery, but also the most risky), with approximately the same risk factors as an RNY. More studies are needed for the modified DS before it will be widely adopted in the US, but it's being adopted by many surgical centers and long-term RCTs are being done as we write (with excellent short and mid-range results). As a revision from a VSG, the SIPS procedure will be an easy upgrade that will only take about 30-60 minutes and will mostly likely be performed on an outpatient basis in the future (The SIPS bypass is much less complicated and less invasive that the VSG part of the procedure). In the end, both the RNY and VSG are excellent options that are very effective for weight loss. You can't go wrong, with either one. However, if you like and trust your surgeon and if he or she has been gently nudging your towards the sleeve, you should probably take his or her advice.

I think I've posted it several times in the last couple of weeks... It's very easy to find in google - Average weightloss bariatric surgery - then click on images