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https://www.stitcher.com/s?fid=35555&refid=asa Sent from my SM-G965U using BariatricPal mobile app

I was prescribed Pepcid. It helps. Look on your drs webpage to see if he has a handbook on bariatric surgery.

Considered a Go Fund Me Page for myself, don't think it meets Alex' s criteria so quickly trashed the idea. Bariatric Pal and being a member,means more to,me. Besides my problems may cure themselves.

I will confess- I will miss my pumpkin cake donuts with good Ohio -squeezed fresh cider, several orchards in my county make a goodly amount, if you can't find them, the ones at Newcomerstown have a good product. That was always my Autumn go-to! Hey as a bariatric patient can I still have cider if I cut it half-and- half with H2O? Cut!down cider better than nothing, yeah?

I thought after 3 years of struggles to get my RNY, which I did on September 5th 2018, everything would smooth out like new asphalt on my roadway. Well it hasn't, I have a cranky crabby Turkey-Egged Size Empress, in my life, whom I have Named Precious Pouch. My surgeon Bradley J Needleman MD said on September 11, Precious could handle a Stage III diet, Precious did not agree. She has an Elevator Maneuver which she has delight in using "Everything Up! Next stop- outside the Body!" It hurts to argue with her, my whole chest hurts afterward.So we are slogging along on Stage 2- liquids, very smooth thin pureed. My baiatric dieticians have a motto: If you have to chew, it is not Stage 2! So P.P. gets strained cream soups, broths including bone, protein shakes, sf Jello, sf popsicles, she likes the tropical ones, flavored and plain waters, and if she is in a mellow mood, Musslemqns unsweetened applesauce. And my multiviamins, melting B12, got a nice Black Cherry one from Bariatric Pal store, my Calcium Citrate and Magnesium ( to lessen leg cramps). And I travail daily to give,her Q.S. fluids, minimum 64 oz. We have a temporary truce, by me seeing things HER WAY I get to take walks and gentlely preform my ADL. For those not in healthcare, Activities of Daily Living, as long as one can perform these no doctor threatens to put your Happy Hoohah in a lond term care facility. Hey, I am 72, at that age non-geriatric friendly medical people start threatening. And I am a 2-pronged person , geriatric and bariatric , hard to find a file drawer that fits me! But I don't have enough sense to lie down and die. You see I am a bumblbee🐝. A little side story for you all. The bumblebee is aerodynamically impossible, his wings are too short for his body, he by every specification, should not be able to fly. But no one ever explained this to him, so he just keeps flying. And that is also me. The difference is I have been told: Too old- Too undeserving- Too broke down- not enough commitment- set up for failure- even had one nay-sayer tell me I was emotionally unsound and too stupid! Baby I have been Mensa-caliber since baby- Frustr8hood, I just don't always parade it! So I say Nah Nah to all those peoples and keep on keeping on to the ultimate finish. A marathon instead of a sprint, fine with me, I tripped more running than I ever did at a slow steady pace. And if I have some smiles😛 from others on their own journeys, that's fine and dandy. Never get back my youth but I CAN ROCK MY MATURITY TO THE INTH DEGREE! And I'll take that over death any day. Know a lot, seen a lot, and laugh at this silly old world🌏. want to stroll with me a while?

Welcome to the forum. There's LOTS of resources here, both pre & post surgery. My suggestion is to contact the bariatric surgeon nearest you. Schedule a consultation. Talk to the surgical team. Get to know them. Let them get to know you. If you have a good rapport, pursue your surgery through them. If you don't feel comfortable, try another surgeon/surgical team. Be careful not to let your own apprehensions about surgery make you unable to decide which surgeon to work with. Good luck. You are not alone.

I'm with Blue Shield/Covered California. I was extremely disappointed to learn that my Blue Shield coverage only covers doctors and facilities in a select list, all of which are in Southern California. The closest one to me is 6 hrs away. Even though they have a bunch of bariatric surgery centers listed on their website and the surgeons I tried to schedule appts with are in network, because my plan was through Covered California, I can only go to a doctor who is 6 hrs away. So if you're reading this thread because you have Blue Shield in California through Covered California, you only have the option of one of a dozen centers in Southern California--nothing north of Bakersfield. If you're "regular" Blue Shield, you have more options. If you're regular BS through your employer, you have to be sure that the employer has not excluded WLS from their benefits (some cheapo employers do that to keep rates down).

I’m going to Orlando health bariatric Center.

Staple line leak can happen in any of the bariatric surgeries but it is only 0.5% that is way less then 80% failure rate of the lap band at ten years. I will take the risk.

My bariatric program gave me Premier Protein Clear in Tropical 👊, it seems very strong so I have been cutting it half-and-half with Minute Maid 15 fruit punch , than topping it off with enough cold bottled water to fill my complimentary plastic cup from OSU. Then I pour it out into my baby 2 oz cups. Impromptu Poem Ounces 2-That's the thing to Do! Not good enough to win me Poet Laurete of the United States🇺🇸 but I do work cheap---even FREE!

Question- maybe I should already,know this answer- if so refresh my over-wheled mind. How long to you have to crush medications? I am now 3 weeks and 3 days post-surgery😷 yeah I know___ YEAH ME! Sure worked long ( over 3 years) and hard with roadblocks, nay- sayers, and a sneering surgeon and staff trying kill things before my plans finall achieved. This RnY, my last and I hope ultimate Bariatric Success! So penulimate query( gosh I love Adult,Language!) was I crushing because of size, I was told pills larger than M&M(smartie size- my Commonwealth Cousins), difficulty swallowing- that was never a problem! I could bolt foods down great abandon in unlimited foods days or is it my egg-sized pouch unable to digest and pass things along to my "jj" small intestine unless pulverized? I do recall the average stoma size is maybe dime-sized ? Now as I heal I have developed crabby crappy urine -although I am struggling toward fluid nirvana- color is still warmish and odor is strong. Tried to consult PCP, tried to consult my own urologist, transportation fouled up, both went on their weekend holiday without seeing me. So I consulted my Community Hospital ED, always an iffy choice but surely THIS is not beyond their experiences, after all, even non-bari- people get UTI. Did not want to be driven 50 miles to OSU and HAVE the people say " does your local hospital NOT know how to handle URINE?" That would be mortifying. So this AM after last Lovenox shot, Hail and Farewell, I have laid out. & planned my Zofran, teeny pill size and Ditropan, also teeny size, then to add to group Bactrim, a medium- sized white lozenge . Crush, no crush, what is the Correct answer? Frustr8 knows she can swallow Big Bad Bactrim down, but can Precious Pouch, the Queen of this Post- SURGERY adventure, handle this medication? Have a horrid mental. image of it sitting sideways straddling my stoma, on the other side I feel like I'm "grinding" my life away!. Any Veteran of The Weight Wars want to,weigh in?😭

The American Diabetes Association has pretty good information. Here's a short article: http://www.diabetes.org/living-with-diabetes/treatment-and-care/bariatric-surgery.html I also read their book: https://www.amazon.com/Things-About-Diabetes-Weight-Loss-Surgery/dp/1580406149 The American Society of Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery has a longer article: https://asmbs.org/patients/surgery-for-diabetes If you're interested in wading through medical studies, I'm happy to point you at some. I know that isn't everyone's cup of tea, so I didn't want to start there. The short version of what studies are finding is that many people (above a BMI of 35) experience a very fast improvement, so quickly after surgery that the drop in body weight can't possibly be the cause. There are a lot of theories about what the cause is, but there are enough pieces of evidence both in favor of and against each of them that it seems like the best answer is "it's a variety of mechanisms." No matter the reason, because of the speed of the change in people's diabetes after surgery, you might find that your current need for 100 grams of carbohydrates per day to keep your numbers stable may not be the case after surgery--almost certainly won't, in fact. (I'm not saying you will definitely be able to control your diabetes with diet alone -- it happens for some people, but some others are merely able to decrease their reliance on medications. Just, the things you know about your body will change.) Someone posted the Kaiser Permanente list of post-surgery foods on here, not long ago, which I only remember because they were throwing carbs in there right away, where my surgeon's nutritionists are very focused on protein, then vegetables and fruits, and only much later carbs. So different places will have different rules, and if you want a look at that particular set, to see how it matches up with your needs (keeping in mind that those may change!), that might be worthwhile! Anyway, best of luck in making your decision!

Most primary Dr's are supportive. You can always shop for a primary Dr that is pro bariatrics. A pre surgery supervised diet may be required by your insurance company or surgeons office. Call them to find out. My experience: My Dr was supportive. There is a process and hoops to jump through. It was all worth it. I had a six month weight loss requirement from my insurance company and a psych evaluation. The psych eval was straight forward not difficult to get through. Seems like an eternity waiting. But honestly, I look back and all of this has been in a timely manner.

You can google bariatric friendly recipes. I still get in foods ruts at four years out. This is a long term sustainable way of eating and still is flavorful. I think the fear and questioning if you are doing this right is normal. It gets easier as food becomes habit. Beef, chicken, seafood, dairy and eggs. Hundreds of options to cook them. I do fajitas no tortilla, Smoked salmon salad, bariatric pizza (my goto) eggplant as lasagna layer instead of noodles. Experiment to find what you like. Below is my dieticians recipe page for food ideas. Make sure they fit your plan. http://insidekarenskitchen.com/bariatric-friendly-recipes/ Are you logging your food in a food app? I use myfitness pal. My food diary is open https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.myfitnesspal.android&hl=en_US My username is fit_chickx https://www.myfitnesspal.com/profile/fit_chickx

What is, "What are things that are painfully slow?" Bariatric surgery for $400, Alex. So for the past three weeks I have gone back and forth between stalls and losing like .5 pounds a week. I tried mixing it up--more exercise, less carbs, more carbs, less calories, more calories, more water, more protein---more hair pulling!! I was afraid of this. When I lost 112 pounds in my 20s, it was in the 220s I slowed down and got a little crazy--purging, laxatives, fasting (aka starving). Now I am a big grown woman and I can't say I have those urges again but the panic is the same. Why does it need to be like this? Why this reaction? Why can't we all just chill when we stall?

They have them here at Bariatric Pal, protein gummies. They are just relatively high cal vs. protein content

According to the internet: Nausea and vomiting are the most common complaints after bariatric surgery, and they are typically associated with inappropriate diet and noncompliance with a gastroplasty diet (ie, eat undisturbed, chew meticulously, never drink with meals, and wait 2 hours before drinking after solid food is consumed). If these symptoms are associated with epigastric pain, significant dehydration, or not explained by dietary indiscretions, an alternative diagnosis must be explored. One of the most common complications causing nausea and vomiting in gastric bypass patients is anastomotic ulcers, with and without stomal stenosis. Ulceration or stenosis at the gastrojejunostomy of the gastric bypass has a reported incidence of 3% to 20%. Although no unifying explanation for the etiology of anastomotic ulcers exists, most experts agree that the pathogenesis is likely multifactorial. These ulcers are thought to be due to a combination of preserved acid secretion in the pouch, tension from the Roux limb, ischemia from the operation, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) use, and perhaps Helicobacter pylori infection. Evidence suggests that little acid is secreted in the gastric bypass pouch; however, staple line dehiscence may lead to excessive acid bathing of the anastomosis. Treatment for both marginal ulcers and stomal ulcers should include avoidance of NSAIDs, antisecretory therapy with proton-pump inhibitors, and/or sucralfate. In addition, H pylori infection should be identified and treated, if present. 1. So generally the advise here is to avoid NSAIDs such as aspirin and excedrin. 2. Use a proton-pump inhibitor or sucralfate which is a gastric acid inhibitor. [My surgeon directed me to use Omeprazole (OTC - Prilosec) for the first year after surgery so that my stomach would heal properly. After that to discontinue use. I did. I am now over 5 years post-op.] 3. Make sure you are tested for H Pylori Infection. This is a very common infection. About half of the world population has it. And it is very difficult to kill. It may take several treatments of antibiotic cocktails to kill it.

Lastly......if you have not tried the Flapped Jack Mighty Muffins at the bariatric store? You are missing out! Chocolate Tart Cherry...Yum!

Everyone loves before and after pics:) Figured I'd throw in a teaser for my reveal pics at the Fat Prom..lol:) It's been suggested I might be dishonest. Nope, I have not lied about any of my stats or my eating plan. Here's a little proof, as requested:) My surgeon group is doing research on regain after bariatric surgery and the best way to prevent it. Part of the study I'm involved in included pushing us to eat 1000-1200 calories per day at 3 weeks post op. I can honestly say I have not eaten less than this since the third week after surgery. (this scandalized many people..lol. how dare I eat that much? and eat carbs! OMG! LOL) Toward the end of hitting my goal, I was eating 1400 calories per day (sometimes 1600). I'm maintaining pretty effortlessly at 1600-1800 calories per day these days. 1600 is an extremely generous and comfortable daily intake limit for me, and I don't journal anymore...just kinda keep estimates in my head of what I'm eating....and as long as the scale looks good... I figure, Meh, close enough:) I do weigh every other day. If weight goes up, I pay attention. Honestly, I'm having more problems keeping it up than down. 1600 calories is a LOT of pea salad and oatmeal. It's a lot of stir fry and fruit. It's a lot of whole wheat toast and almond butter. It's a lot of complex carbs and protein and veggies and tofu chili! I can afford to thrown in a protein bar AND have a Burger King Veggie Burger for lunch! (Ok, I can only eat half...and a few fries...but still! That's only like 300 calories and I'm stuffed) And I do follow Mayo Clinic Diet for the most part...because I love it. I bank my "sweets" calories and eat a treat here and there...and I'm allowed. I eat ice cream cones cause they're wonderful and require measurement. Though, I've gotta say, my tastes have changed. Refined stuff no longer sings to me. Love my complex whole grains! Lentils, beans, chickpeas and brown rice? Don't mind if I do! I crave fruit. I am a watermelon addict. Would prefer it to candy, cakes and ice cream. And since fruit is fair game on my diet I eat my melon most days and feel pretty smug about it not even eating up my "treat" calories. Time will tell when all the research comes in (I might be an anomaly), but it really looks like the folks in this study are doing well and are able to eat pretty normal balanced diets three years out without much regain. The whole idea is to not set yourself up for a starvation set point by restricting calories or carbs too long. Again, time will tell what we learn from the data...but I'm grateful to have my cake...and eat it (in moderation)...too:) I feel like there's a terrific chance for lasting peace in my war with food. Sleeve surgery was a life changing, wonderful decision. Gratitude to my surgeon, to diet researchers at Mayo Clinic, to my psychologist, and to my incredibly supportive family. Thank you all. PS...to all you ketovangelists...you do you! If it gets you where you want to be, that's awesome. Fight the good fight and do what makes sense to you. I've got no answers for anyone...except me:) But I've gotta say....I like my diet better than yours..because...ya know...I can eat stuff. Neener, neener, neener:) LOLOLOLOL:) (I am SO teasing...) Best Wishes! Myself and hubby in August of last year. Myself and the hubby in August of this year. Damn, it's nice to be the little one:) And yeah, I'm kinda hiding in this shot...but it's a teaser. Waiting on the formal wear for the full reveal:) So glad my hair is finally growing back! Whew!

Are Genepro and Genpro the same or different products? I just got Genepro from Bariatric Pro Store, a 60 count amount.🍯

And I did, ordered twice now, and the products are so nice, was able,to tailor,them to my current needs, and things make it to Ohio,in just 2 days from New York. Well boxed, now I dream of joining the Box of the Month club but I can't use my bonus points for that! BARIATRIC PALS IT IS WELL WORTH IT, SHOP THE BARIATRIC PAL STORE!

And my Bari-Bud @Orchids and Dragons in Texas, a shout -out here! She was my friend Presurgery , she is my friend still. She has perked me up when I am full of Whim-wahs, she is a cool head of reason in the Bariatric wars of life. May you all find your own Orchids and Dragon, sure you can go through all this aline, but it is SO MUCH BETTER when you have a friend, especially, one who has gone through the same things.

Update ITS HERE! Sweet Freema Jones ---they have an uber cute postal person delivering today! Not my usual 40ish tired looking dude. Hey I may be getting old but I still see good! Promised if I would wait until he delivered the next block and a half he would bring it back! Okey Doaky I'll sit right here and wait! A signature and it's mine, all mine! Haven't opened it just yet, Christmas isn't for 3 months, might as well prolong the JOY! But it will be good, Bariatric Pal stuff usually,is. Why enrich Amazon , the greedy. base-born souls they are, when I can shop at Alex Brechers store where things are geared to US?

My favorites, Premiere Protein peach and cream, some people think it taste fakey but not me, I think it tastes like the candy circus peanuts, and I loved them critters when I was a little Frustr8. Muscle Milk, strawberry, blueberry Greek yogurt , the strawberry - banana you would hate, I do eat bananas but I didn't like it either, my only other Premiere Protein was the caramel, I can't have chocolate and I feel pretty much about vanilla shakes as you do bananas, who wants thick, white and tasteless.? Adkins are not as good--, sorry I know you were an Adkins baby. DO NOT BUY WALMART EQUATE! They are cheaper, but they taste of over processed evaporated milk, leave a vile aftertaste, poured the remainder in a old pie plate for the outdoor cats and other animals and it sat and soured. A couple soy based I found okay. I just got a box from Bariatric Pal store with other flavors to mix with skim milk, anxious to try the cheesecake, orange creamsicle and their 🍓 strawberry delight. See I am 3 weeks pist, my surgeon swiches many of his Bypassers to stage 3 sooner but Precious Pouch and I am going sliwer, I'm staying level 2 until October 9th at my next surgeon visit. That way she doesn't upchuck, I'm happier and I still keep looking. 18 pounds down since surgery, best weight loss I have had since having a baby. Dropped 25-30 pounds with each one, but pain, muss, fuss and bother to do that!