Search the Community

Sorry for the delayed reply. Cardiologist recommended heart cath. Had that done through the arm (radial) instead of leg yesterday afternoon. No blockages!! He said all is good!! My blood pressure did drop again during the cath procedure to 51/26 and I felt like I was gonna pass out but he said that was due to something he injected in artery. Gave me something to combAt that and all was normal again. My arm is a little sore today and I’ve got to keep this pressure bandage on until 6:00 tonight. Headed Back to my Bariatric surgeon today for follow up.

And PS I started seeking Bariatric Surgery August 15 2015--quiteca story there😪🏣😪

I've been on 40mg of omeprazole (Prilosec) for about four years now, and I took 20mg for 3 years before that. The biggest known issue with the PPIs is the development of osteoporosis due to calcium malabsorption. I am sure every bariatric surgeon makes certain that we know to take calcium citrate and not calcium carbonate. Without stomach acid calcium carbonate is very poorly absorbed, but calcium citrate does just fine in a low-acid stomach. I don't know of any studies showing long-term effects of PPIs other than osteoporosis. Also, because it's available over the counter, the drug company wants you to see a physician if you have long-term heartburn, just to make sure it's not a symptom of something terrible. Is your surgeon saying you have to stop the Prilosec, or your GP? Because my GP knows almost nothing about the management of bariatric patients post-op and sometimes gives me wrong information. I trust my gastroenterologist (my surgeon died) and my endocrinologist, though. Oh, and Pepcid is an H2 blocker (works differently to stop acid than a PPI) and tends to stop working if you take it regularly. I sometimes take a Pepcid if I'm having a breakthrough acid day and then stop eating what triggered the excess acid (sadly, it's usually chocolate). Some sleeve patients have to convert to RNY for acid issues but it sounds as though your issues aren't that bad. Have you tried keeping a food diary and noting when acid bothers you? That's how I figured out that chocolate can bother me.

Had EGD today and a hiatal hernia was discovered which will be fixed at the time of surgery. I have a tentative date of November 19. My information is being submitted to insurance on October 29, my first day of bariatric eligibility.

You can always try going on the bariatric diet but you need some big changes in what you are currently eating. You need lean protein first, then non-starchy vegetables with some fruit and small amounts of whole grains and dairy. Aim for calories about 1000-1200 per day with daily exercise and a boatload of water (at least 64 ounces but more is better) No sugar, soda, juice, processed carbs or snack foods. Give it a go. Three and a half months ago I was in bad shape. Wheezing constantly despite 3 daily asthma/COPD medications, terrible lower back pain if I was standing for more than 5 minutes. Almost a prisoner in my home due to feeling so bad and defeated. I am a nurse practitioner and hated the idea of surgery and anesthesia but I came to the conclusion that I could not fix my situation without medical assistance. So, I had the gastric sleeve. The first 3 days after the surgery were hard due to pain and general irritation about the whole thing. I got sick of drinking sips of water almost every waking minute and forcing protein shakes down a little at a time. At that point, things started getting better every day. Tomorrow is 3 months since my sleeve and I can tell you honestly it is the best thing I could have done in my situation. I am off all of my asthma/COPD meds, absolutely no back pain, walking 1.75 miles daily and doing weight training and almost 50 pounds lighter. I do get hungry at mealtime but the amount of food it takes to fill me up simply amazes me. You are not to blame for being obese any more than anyone else on here. It is a serious problem for many and bariatric surgery is just a tool to help us succeed in solving the problem. Spend time reading on here...there is a lot of great information and sometimes brutal honesty. Good luck to you!!

A cardiologist I consulted with yesterday suggested WLS. Before they were looking into my issues now it's because I'm obese. Sigh I do not want surgery or general anesthesia.I feel like I have flu muscle aches and joint pain 100% of the time, have hypothyroidism - my tsh is between 20 - 70 never normal despite synthroid, have severe sleep apnea/hypoxia which is currently untreated, have edema that I take 80 mg of lasix for, high blood pressure that I take 200 mg lopressor, and am always short of breath. I had a 1cm biopsy and was in awful pain for 2 weeks after, besides the health issues and fear of anesthesia, I can't imagine an actual surgery. So I told him I was scared of surgery, what if I just followed the diet without it. He said I would have to drink protein and to google the bariatric diet. Had anyone tried it without the surgery? I eat measured 1cup grains, unlimited raw/whole fruit and veg, keep my sodium under 700 mg. Sometimes I eat grilled chicken and bread if I eat out.i didn't really like the idea of going to more processed shakes but I will if it helps me lose. Thank you so much for any advice. It's a really difficult time and doctors telling me you are to blame for being obese and if you would just try to lose is upsetting. I gave 160 pounds after thyroid radiation. The only one who hasn't blamed me and actually assessed what I was eating first before giving advice was a nutritionist.

I guess those seeds are small enough that they won't bother? Guess it's the same thing as some being able to eat mushy foods right out of surgery and others (me included) having to wait until week 3 post to start. You can find plenty of Ricotta Bake recipes on Pinterest along with tons or other post bariatric recipes. Just type it in search and it will pull up plenty. You'll spend hours there though so be careful.

I'm only halfway through the six months of visits I need before a request can even be sent to insurance, but I decided I wanted to tell my story so far anyway. I'll update here as things go on. I just want to give a bit of a warning, however. For those of you with triggers, there is talk of mental health and suicide. On with the show, I suppose. I've been heavy since I was a little girl. Big boned, yes, but also more than my fair share of baby fat. But at the time, it was nothing too concerning. "It'll disappear when she gets older," people would tell my parents. If only that were true. By the time I was about 12, that baby fat had turned into even more fat. My mom, who had also gotten heavy after the birth of my younger brother, decided it was time for a change. She and I started Atkins. But that didn't last long. Sure, we both lost a little, but a long stall coupled with cravings made us stop. As a teenage girl, I became a lot more conscious about my weight. I started trying everything. Weight Watchers, counting calories, Atkins again, even starving myself. But nothing worked. I would lose a little, then regain it and more. It was rough being a 200+ lb girl, especially one that ended up gaining three big issues. The first issue was that I became a boredom eater. The second was that I had become a binge eater. This compared with the first was a problem meant when I got bored, I would binge. But there was yet another problem under all of this. I wanted to die. Failures in my weight and other unrelated areas of my life such as school, caused me to spiral into a deep depression. I slept most of the day and had almost no friends. Not even the voice in my head was a friend of mine. Whenever I started a binge, I would hear it. "Yes. Eat, little piggy. You're so fat and ugly, and a failure. You deserve nothing, not even love. No one likes you, so just eat yourself to death." I wanted to commit suicide not by any normal method, but by slowly destroying my body. Eating until I was so big I died of any number of issues. I knew a few people cared about me, my parents and at least one person at school. That was another reason for trying to die slowly. I wanted them to become so disgusted with me, that they wouldn't care if I died. This carried on into my first two years of college. And then I had a psychological breakdown. I won't go into what happened, but I ended up seeing both a psychologist and a psychiatrist. Together we started to work through my issues, silencing the voice in my head, dealing with my depression, treating anxiety, getting me to be a functional part of society. I was seeing an OBGYN during this time as well, and I was diagnosed with PCOS and the insulin resistance that came with it. That seemed to be a lot of the reason why I couldn't lose weight. But what was left for me to try? Another diet? I felt like nothing worked. I tried Nutrisystem, but the food was gross and I was unhappy. But due to the psychological help and a name to what's been plaguing my weight (and the love of my fiancee, who I met after receiving help), I no longer wanted to die. I wanted to live. I wanted to see 30. So two years ago I turned to weight loss surgery. I planned to have the bypass done, but right off the bat, I wasn't too fond of my surgical team. I felt like a number to them. My surgeon I would only see for maybe a minute each appointment if I saw him at all. But still, I stuck with it until my sixth appointment got canceled. It was late December. He had gone on vacation. My PCP, who I had been able to see for some of the check-ins, had a full schedule so I couldn't see her. No one would do the check-in. I had to start all over again. It was at this point that my mom suggested I try Keto. It worked for my Uncle. It was working relatively well for her. I decided why not. The reason why I shouldn't have was because I gained an obsession with numbers. In Keto (at least the way I understood it), the general maximum grams of carbs per day is 20. I felt guilty if I went over 5. In a sense, it worked. I lost about 30 pounds. But at this time, I also started to abuse laxatives because I wanted to keep seeing that number on the scale go down. Still, much like everything else I had tried before, I hit a stall then started to regain. Frustrated, I gave up. I went back to my old ways, figuring that I had screwed my body up too badly to be recovered. Then, three months and a change in insurance ago, I got curious. Would my new insurance cover bariatric surgery? I checked and saw that it would. That day, I made a decision. I would get on the path to surgery again. And this time, I would complete it no matter what. I found a new surgeon with a new group. It's one that actually specializes in obesity medicine. Half of my six appointments are actually with the surgeon, and he explains things in more detail than I got before. The other half is with a nutritionist who is actually knowledgeable about the dietary needs of bariatric patients. I feel like a person, not a number. I feel actually informed. I feel more ready for this surgery. In October, a week after I get married, I will be having my last check-in with my surgeon. Then everything will go to insurance. I'm ready.

Has a GI doctor ever assessed you for and recommended a Nissen fundoplication, which is a surgical procedure to treat GERD disease and hiatal hernia? PPIs just take mask symptoms but don’t resolve root cause, so you may need to address the underlying issues in order to correct painful GERD symptoms. GERD is no joke and needs to be managed by clinicians with extensive experience with it in bariatric patients. Your RNY surgeon may not be the best person for this. I speak from experience with this myself. I recently had a hiatal hernia repaired, which appeared small on imaging, but was much larger in the operating room. A new revision surgeon fixed the HH and added the fundoplication. I’ve been dealing with this issue for years and am finally optimistic I may be on the mend for good.

I bought celebrate chewables and have to take my multi in pieces because it makes me vomit. I can tolerate it in small pieces broken up. Take celebrate B12 sublingual quick melt and bariatric advantage chewy bite calcium citrate with d3. Those I tolerate twice a day no problem.

Has anyone been through Northeast Georgia Medical Center’s Bariatric program? I’m scheduled for surgery 10/29. I’m looking for experiences with this provider.

I like my Bariatric Advantage calcium chews (in caramel). They actually do taste like caramel. I hated the same brand’s chewable Multivitamin (so gross), but I stuck it out for 2.5 months because my doc wanted me to start on chewable and prefers I stick with multis that are specifically made for Bariatric patients. I have graduated from chewables and now take the Celebrate multivitamin in capsule form (no chewing necessary just swallow whole with water). My BariMelts Biotin tastes good. I think it’s some sort of berry flavor. I also take Vitamin D drops. They are oily and taste slightly like grass, but you I only taste it for a second or two, so no big deal.

Hi!!! I like 🍅 soup too... big mistake... too acidic... I got healthy choice but still too acidic and worded reflux.. which makes since.. it did taste good though.. I did cream of chicken a lot and didn’t eat the chicken and did creams of mushroom too!!! I also go the bariatric protein soup.. watered it down... I’m having some problems against protein drinks all the sudden...

Try Campbell's Healthy Choice commercially, otherwise my other advice? Check out,the ones from Bariatric Pal Store or maybe Injury, they are crafted with Bariatric patients in mind. I keep putting off buying my Box of Month for Bariatric Pal and the only,one,being punished is ME! When you add up all the varieties of items you receive it IT IS,A GOOD VALUE!

Try adding flavorless protein powder to your crystal light to get your protein in. It is quite norma to not have the desire this early out. For some, it lasts months, for a variety of bariatric surgeries. I use Genepro brand powder to mix in with my crystal light. It clumps easily but use a blender bottle or blender to mix well

I use the Bariatric Fusion in orange cream and it’s pretty good.

I’m looking for October 2018 sleevers to share stories and best practices. This has been a long journey and I’m so excited to finally get towards the end. I started in the Bariatric program, September 2017. I completed all pre-surgery requirements and was scheduled for surgery 1/26/18. I was going through this journey with my mother in law. She had sleeve surgery 12/14/17 and passed away one week later on 12/21/17. This was a huge setback for me  and at this point my husband was no longer supportive of the surgery. This resulted in my surgery being cancelled. It has taken time for my family to put the pieces back together. I have had so many ups and downs over the past few months and became discouraged and depressed. My husband is no onboard and has been a big support to me lately. I reentered the bariatric program on 7/26/17. I am tentatively scheduled for surgery on 10/29/18. I have an appointment with a Pulmonologist Monday to be cleared for surgery. I am very happy and am looking forward to a successful journey.

Abbreviated in Bariatric Land as YMYC. Another one for the lists 2 BARI-Buds are compounding. At any rate, there are 2 schools of thought on which is better in the long run for people. Know what I am planning, know what 2. other classes of Bari-seekers and currently,no one,i know personally,are planning a lapbad. Did know of one, the local surgeon who was doing Bariatrics as well as General Surgery, had someone die,on her table, not sure which variety of surgery was being performed but since this is only a community hospital with small-town, small-minded values she left,town in disgrace. She had done an proceedure on me in 2012, I liked her personally and had no qualms about her abilities, she did right by me. And of course this is all I do know, tried to explore the rumor, but "wagons are being circled" nobody claims to know anything and I got a stiff "SHE is no longer with US" for my troubles. They had started with lap-bands and Sleeves here locally,Thanksgiving 2017, although some were completed the program is shut down for a year, possibly into 2020 when they complete a Family Health center annex to my community's hospital and they expand to more than 3 G .Surgeons, certainly no one remaining are touching bari- patients MMNNM( short for Makes Me No Never Mind) I was going to Columbus in the first place, my body requires an RnY to make me All Better, and I KNEW it would not be offered here, if ever. So that is our" Little Tempest in a Teapot" in my little town, and as Pual Simon so musically stated " nothing but,this Dead and Dying in my little town. A crying shame,because this is a pretty🌱🌷🌱🌻🌱 green lovely section of MidAmerica.

Omg I was just texting my Bariatric friends the same thing I feel angry , over whelmed etc etc, I’m just tryin to grasp everything now , and like you I need for my husband not to divorce me . I’m thinking I may need to increase my work out, that always makes me feel better. Let me know what you come up with

At the end of the day I think your post illustrates the best in a bariatric patient. The intense thought process considering all of the possible complications for getting, revising, or removal of the surgery. Going into this blind after watching a few "My 600# life" shows is about the worst thing one can do (And yes, I watch the show myself). It sounds to me that your mind is in the right place - considering what is going to improve your life the most, and yet doing lots of research on it. I applaud you for your research and I am very sorry for what seems like an awful number of years. I'm only 3 weeks out from my revision from a band to a RNY, but there were a number of reasons I went with a RNY over the sleeve. One of which is the possibility to do a reversal. Yes, it is not without complications, and no, it is not a complete reversal, but yes, it is still possible. With the sleeve? not so much. I would imagine that something as complex as a reversal would be quite variable between patients - what reason for each reversal is probably drastically different. So while I do think it is really good to see how outcomes were, I would postulate that your surgeon is probably going to be the best to trust. I was told that my surgeon was very "conservative" when it came to revisions. I was told he would go in and remove the band, and if things were really bad from scarring, he would not do the revision, and instead allow me to heal for 3 months before coming in and doing the revision. Maybe have a frank talk with your surgeon and make the same request. Maybe when he goes in, there is an obvious problem that can be fixed without actually reversing the procedure? Just throwing out another idea, if there is someone in your life that you trust your life with, consider filling out a medical power of attorney, and have a long conversation with them about your desires. Then, if doing the surgery the doctor would have a person to turn to and present both options...Your medical power of attorney, knowing your intents, could make the decision instead of a doctor who has spent an insignificant amount of time with you determining your interests. For my revision surgery, I did the above with a family member, so I'm not recommending something I didn't do myself. I will be praying for you and I wish you the best outcome, no matter what needs to be done to improve it!

My surgery is on August 6, and I am on the liquid diet. I just got a call from the hospital that they are expecting my entire deductible to be paid upon arrival. I have a separate bariatric deductible of $3k that covers everything above the $3k for surgery. I had to point out this deductible to them weeks ago, because they were quoting me all sorts of outrageous prices for the surgery. When I pointed it out to them, they said, "OK, so you would pay $3k, but the day of surgery, you could just pay a percentage of that. Like, around $600." So that's what I was planning to do when I went in on Monday. I've budgeted $600, not $3k all at once. I may not end up getting the surgery after all...

I don't know if this. Will be helpful but just might be. Get in touch with your local Children's Hospital. I am sure they have an Adolescent Medicine Department, they may be able to give you referrals to consulers willing to work with young ladies like your daughter. I live in Central Ohio, thought I had lived long enough to know a lot about a lot of things. I just found out recently my nearest Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus has an Adolescent Bariatric Medical department and one of my Bari-pals @ mercmerc who had a VSG at,13 recently had a RnY gastric bypass in her early 20s done there. And her director of Bariatrics was assisted by,my future surgeon Dr Needleman from Ohio State University, was done July 25th and she's doing pretty dog-gone good! So there's some info and I hope you'll be able to do the best for your daughter. PS You are a Wonderful mommy and she's lucky to have YOU!

How MattZ? I dont' seem to have any real abilities running on the Android Beta style app Ken S convinced me I needed. Have never attempted righting it on a normal computer, figured if I did it would technologically snicker at me, say " you are already using another device, you cannot,use 2 at once" then I have to sign out of here, hope Bariatric Pal will accept me on an additional device which it may not , try to to remember my password to sign back in. if I was electonically brilliant, I wouldn't be in this stew anyway. Remember while you younger people are zipping along I am at a virtual" one finger hunt and,peck stage" Saying,GD I KNOW I can do this if it starts making sense soon!💦Tears of Frustration👎

It's only Calcium and Iron that cancel each other out. Some multis have iron and/or calcium. You have to read labels. I'd always stick with a bariatric-specific vitamin. Our needs are different. The Celebrate has everything except the iron because they know they can't put it with the calcium. They sell iron separately. However iron can be found much more easily in local stores.

And since t want maximum good results fo rmy surgery, more " bang for my,buck"if you will, I have commited myself to 4 weeks meticulously following the prediet OSU feels is proper for a " female weighing under 400 pounds". although when I see myself or think about how much I still weigh it is scary at my age. If it had been. hand-written I might have thought,I a non- subtle dig at my poundage, but no, it is nicely printed so there must be other " portly princesses" doing,exactly,this diet. Since I don't know them, have their phone numbers or e-mail addresses, when I get sad, mad, frustrated , ready to give up, you, my bari- friends will be the first to hear about IT. Oh it WILL be a long hard road, a true Dietary Purgatory, and like the Purgatory of Theological History, it is going take a lot of praying and indulgences granted before I Am,Set Free! Nobody ever said this would be all " giggles and laughs" but it is my, best chance to shrink, an NASH liver into sleek smooth sleek submission, make my surgery smoother, easier and quicker to heal from. And if Dr,Needleman is feeling kind about finding a liver like a 20 year old awaiting instead of a Hepatic Blubberpile, doesn't have to,use Industrial sized detractors to move it out of his way, he just could see fit to give me an Turkey-sized. instead of a pullet egg- sized pouch for my RnY. And I will heal so smooth, so fine that I will have be insrived in the "Annuals of. Bariatric-dom" as Ms Total Perfection! So tomorrow I plan to March into THAT DIET will all the bravery I can summon. As the late Bette Davis once was quoted " Hang on, it's going to be a BUMPY RIDE!"😥💦😥🙏🌈