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mmarie, I have not had the surgery yet but I am going to have the sleeve. There is much less rerouting. It is a simpiler surgery. Your surgeon may not do these or not many since it is only been widely done for 5 years I was told. I went to many meetings to find a surgeon that has done quite a few of the sleeves and has had success. I live in a big city but only one bariatric surgeon in our area has done more than 200 in the past 2 years. You still get nourishment with the sleeve you don't with rny. Take time to read the stories on this site and go to different meetings about wls and have it explained there. Ask a lot of questions at the meetings. Lots of luck, Mokee

Thanks for your replies. I know the bariatric place where I'm going will handle insurance stuff, but maybe I'll do a little more digging before I go to the seminar. i'm just now learning that some companies make you see a dietician for 6 months and/or have other stipulations. Now I'm afraid this could get complicated. The research is overwhelming. Especially when I have next to no downtime (stay at home mom to 3 under 3). This forum looks very informative!

Hello all! I'm just starting my research into the lap band procedure and am attending a seminar at the end of the month. I will be 33 in July and have 3 children under 3. I have struggled with weight all of my life and am at my highest weight now (I'm guessing 260 but haven't been on a scale in 5 months since I gave birth to my daughter). Anyway, our insurance says "Not Applicable" under bariatric surgery. But there are some things listed as "Not covered." Does anyone have any experience with this or know if it's possible to get it covered when the insurance says "N/A" under coverage? I'm afraid to get my hopes up.

I know I had a hard time finding information on others with my situation so I thought I would put my story out there and share as I move through the stages of weight loss then maintenance… March 4, 2002 I had my original Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass (OPEN they didn't have laparoscopic then). I just turned 27 years old. My starting weight was 268 pounds and I lost 136 pounds – a little more than half my starting weight. I hit 132 pounds February 1, 2003 – it took a mere 11 months. I didn’t have any real follow up care after my staples were removed so I just exercised a lot and tried to eat right (and totally got full of myself by the way..). Slowly between moving twice out of state, getting a divorce and coming out as a lesbian to my family and trying to figure it out for myself – some of my bad habits like grazing returned. Since I couldn’t handle much food I also turned to alcohol as my “comfort” so to speak. I really don’t know why it didn’t “click” that a chocolate martini has about 500 calories EACH with no nutritional value and 3-4 of those a night 4+ days a week did me no favors. I had also pretty much quit exercising. January 2013 I decided to get my **** together and I was 208 pounds (gasp!) so I had regained 76 pounds. I started eating better, joined the gym and even spent $5,500 on hiring a personal trainer. I was seriously invested. I lost and gained the last 15 pounds several times over 7 months. It seemed no matter how hard I worked the weight just stayed… so again I gave up and decided to just eat & do whatever I wanted too (great idea right?)… November 2015 I quit drinking – yes totally it’s just not worth it… by now I’m sitting right at 204 pounds. I had been really having issues eating. I could eat “insert any food here” one day and be fine; two days later I’d warm up the leftovers and dump like crazy so my digestion was/is totally unpredictable and I’m hungry practically all the time… so I went to google and typed in WLS revision. That’s when I found Dr. Snow. I called his office and made an appointment to find out if I had totally screwed up my original surgery. December 1, 2015 My first appointment with Dr. Snow. I provided the story as I’ve written it above. So during this exam we did a barium swallow test right there in the office. It was fairly fascinating to watch it on the monitor. What Dr. Snow determined was my pouch still looked great and wasn’t stretched but my stoma reduction didn't hold from the original surgery. He scheduled me for an Endoscopy to go in and confirm the stoma was enlarged. I weighed in at 204.0 in the office. December 18, 2015 Endoscopy day – fun times! I was put under light anesthesia & Dr. Snow went in with a camera and checked out my guts. Once I started to wake up he conformed the enlarged stoma and said he would do a Endoscopic Soft Tissue Re-approximation to reduce the size of my stoma which would keep food in my pouch longer helping me feel full longer and to prevent so much dumping since the food I was consuming was falling right out of my pouch into my intestines… his office staff was to contact me with the details. January 15, 2016 After all the holiday madness I realized the staff hadn’t reached out to me so I called the office. Dr. Snow had moved to his own practice so I was given his new contact information. I called and left a message which was returned the next day. The staff was fantastic. We talked about where I was in the process (insurance coverage) and I was told I’d get a call back once my coverage was determined. February 2, 2016 I received a call that although my insurance does covers bariatric services they would not cover a “repeat procedure”. I was then told that if self-pay was an option it would be $4,900 for everything and my insurance would cover my follow up care… I scheduled surgery February 9, 2016. Dr. Snow called me later that afternoon and went over expectations and risks. He said I should expect to lose about 60% of what I had regained so he estimated 40-45 pounds. That would put me right about 155 and I would be very happy with that. February 3, 2016 I started a clear liquid diet & went in for my pre-op testing (Blood draw & EKG). February 9, 2016 I went into the hospital @ 6:30am for outpatient surgery. Dr. Snow cinched my stoma down to 1mm (yes really 1mm according to the surgery notes in my chart) and added several pleats to the inside of my pouch to make it a bit smaller since he was already in there. I didn’t find out about making the pouch smaller until the next day when I got a follow up call from a nurse who went over the surgery notes with me. I was home by 1:30pm –the hospital was a 30 minute drive one way from my house. Oh and the hospital scale said I was 196.0. After surgery Food: Basically 3 weeks later I’m on soft/moist foods. I can usually eat between 1/3c-1/2c of food and I’m happily full but not bursting at the seams. I do try and eat on the schedule otherwise I forget to eat, like today (2/29) I forgot to eat until it was 11:30 so I’ll be playing catch up all day to get in my Protein. But knowing there’s a 1/2c serving of protein ice cream I can have tonight with 20g protein I’m not freaking out. I use MyFitnessPal to track everything I eat/drink always getting protein in first. I average about 80-85 grams of protein & roughly 700-800 calories per day. Weight: I have dropped a little over 18 pounds. Follow up care: I was Dr. Snow Feb 18th and he was happy with my progress at the time. He would like me to lose 9 pounds before our next appointment March 24th. He also approved of me finding a local bariatric nutritionist I can work with to keep me on track. Insurance coverage: The office staff is going to file a claim with my insurance for the surgery on 2/9. I’m fully expecting a denial letter but that will give me a starting point to appeal and fight them on it. This wasn’t a repeat procedure it was a repair and as such should be covered so time will tell. My total out of pocket thus far including co-pays for office visits and the endoscopy is $5,161.72… …So there it is in a nutshell. I’m attaching a scan of the brochure/pamphlet pictures that explain the revision procedure for the benefit of others wondering what can be done. I’m an open book so please feel free to ask anything that comes to mind

have you purchased the bariatrix from western bariatric in reno nv? i think it is a great product, however, very expensive. what is the breakdown of protein for the product from GNC?

I agree with Jacqui; we need adult Vitamins, preferably bariatric ones designed for bandsters. (Jacqui, I hope you're feeling as well as can be expected; you are often in my thoughts and prayers.)

Yes, I had that problem when I first began this journey. You will find that a lot of the bariatric rules are different than normal nutrition rules. Especially the newer nutritional finds. For example, the latest consensus that sugar free products are bad for you, the margarine vs butter health debate and other food things like that. But with this surgery, some of that changes..lol. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Sleeved 11/16/16 Starting weight :415 Pre surgery appt :412 Current :402

My employer offered the coverage and many ppl took advantage. In one year 11 ppl had VGS. One week before my consult they dropped the bariatric coverage because it became "too costly" So I am stuck obtaining loans and using my meager saving. My surgery is now 10/22/14 Good luck to you, I hope it works out for you

Ok thanks sooooo much. It's weird that I just haven't been able to find much info on him but I guess it's really actually not given the amount of TJ bariatric surgeons not all get press on the web and add to that the many popular Ortiz, Kelly reviews and it gets anything on Dr.M tucked away.

I believe God helped me decide on getting the band and curing myself. My belief is that God helps those that help themselves. As far as Bandarama (whatever her name is) being on total liquid diet. Done that, I am so over FAD diets, maybe her God told her to do that. She will be getting bariatric surgery down the road just like all of us when she is tired of YO-YO dieting. I have learned a lot about fad diets and my own eating habits since being banded and she thinks that liquids to get off the weight will work. Ha Ha, it will come back twice as fast when you do eat. There is not a single diet out there that I have not tried in 60 years and this is the answer, love it or lump it honey. That's all I can say is God be with you my dear!!!!!!

It’s like a corset you wear around your waist. It’s not tight tight like to shape your waist, but firm like those belts guys use for heavy lifting. It supports your tummy and keeps it from jiggling around which causes pain. It’s very comfortable and reduces pain significantly. I got mine from amazon a couple of days after surgery and it’s helped a lot. Here is a link: https://www.amazon.com/Everyday-Medical-Abdominal-Binder-Surgery/dp/B07G4N752D I highly recommend. I got the suggestion from someone else here on Bariatric Pal.

I have been having the same problem along with nausea. I had an ultrasound, which showed a fatty liver due to obesity, had an X-ray of my abdomen, they were looking for blockage in my bowels, which was negative and then I had a hidascan. All were normal and my lap band is fine. I returned to my bariatric surgeon and he tried to order a CT scan but my insurance denied it. Now I am not better and there are no answers. I am very frustrated. I know how you feel. Sent from my iPad using LapBandTalk

Welcome, I'm scheduled for 6/27 and on day 5 of my liquid diet. I've also found it difficult to explain to people that aren't knowledgeable about the process such as my coworkers. What I have found works for me is that I'm just telling them I'm going to be out 2 weeks for surgery and if they ask why, I'll give em a quick explanation that I'm having weight-loss surgery because i've decided that my health is more important to me than eating and drinking in excess and I know its risky but its much better than heart disease or diabetes which is otherwise in my future. Although most still probably don't understand, everyone has actually been very supportive and want me to be successful. I feel it also keeps me accountable and I'm going to try my hardest to stay on track until I hit my goals. So far I'm down 28 lbs since Jan and about 120 more to go! Regarding the support groups, the "secret" facebook groups are great. I'm in two different groups called June Sleevers and everyone is super supportive and sharing their experiences since we're on similar timelines. There's also a massive closed group that can be found via search called "Gastric Sleeve and Bariatric Surgery Support Group" with like 65k members. Theres tons of good info there. HW: 330 lb SW: TBD 6/27/2017 CW: 302 lb GW: 180 lb VSG, Dr. Jawad, Orlando, FL

Before my surgery I was planning my meals that would be a couple months down the line from the Weight Loss Surgery for Dummies cookbook. I NEVER made one of those meals. All of my palnning and i never did make any of those meals. Just take it day by day. You need to sip, sip, water all day. You must stay hydrated. I could not stand the taste or consistency of powdered whey protein or Unjury powders, so i never drank them. I concentrated on Premier Protein shakes from Costco, and reduced sodium Wyler's chicken boullion cubes. I have always taken Bariatric Advantage chewable mulitple vitamins, chewable iron, sublingual B12. and gel vitamin D. I am 10 months out and at goal and I still take these same vitamins and still drink almost a gallon of water a day as well as a rtd protein drink. You will know what your restrictions are so don't worry. Your sleeve may not tolerate the things you would like it too. In fact your taste buds do change, so you can not really plan ahead like you may think you can.

I don't think he's done that many lap bands (in comparison) probably around 200 but he done many other bariatric surgeries. I know he did some training in El Paso and then his fellowship in Fresno, CA (I think). I liked him and feel really comfortable with him. Do you know the cost of his fills? I get 6 months of free fills and then I have to pay for them. Are you going to do the band? If so, do you have a date? What facility? Cindy

I don't think that you can go wrong with either the LapSF guys or PacLap - both have extensive experience in bariatrics. I went with Dr. Rabkin (paclap) mostly because my wife had her DS with them and I've been going to their support meetings for the past eight years, so the comfort and trust levels had already been established. Another thing that you should do is look at their pre/post op procedures as that can vary widely between different practices. I believe that LapSF is one of the groups that has you go thru a more extensive pre and post op liquid diet while Paclap doesn't have any particular preop diet and starts you on mush/puree in the hospital moving to more solid things as tolerated. Both have their reasons for their programs and it's hard to argue with the success of either practice, but it's something to consider (one week of Soups was more than enough for me - haven't had any since) beyond the basic qualifications of the surgeon. It is certainly worth going to support meetings for both and get a feel for how they work and get a feel for which procedure they may recommend for you - they may recommend a different procedure for your circumstance and that should be considered before making a final decision. Also, if you have any hint of liver problems, Dr. Rabkin is the one to see as he is also a liver specialist in his non-bariatric life. On the other hand, if you think that you may have a problem giving up drinking alcohol for the 12-18 months of major weight loss, then the LapSF guys are probably more tolerant of that than Dr. Rabkin, for the same reason.

How is everyone doing that have December dates? My date is Dec 17th, I will be having my gallbladder out also. I am nervous as to be expected. I also had to have a stress test on friday--that was gruelling. And I have to have an echocardiogram tomorrow morning. I have to get "cardiac clearance" before they can operate, since my EKG came back "abnormal". I had to go visit a friend in the hospital where I amhaving surgery and she was right where my surgery will be in the pre-op room! So I got to see how it will all go down! It was kinda scary but I left thinking "hey, I can do this!" I was at 250 when I first when to the Bariatric Center, now I am at 239(or maybe less now) So I am doing everything I am supposed to. Just have to get comfortable instead of all of these nerves. Blessing and much luck to all of the Holiday Hotties out there! Next year we WILL be Holiday Hotties fighting off those men(or women) with a stick! :biggrin:

Ok so I am confused. In my nutrition class it was a mix of lapband, gastric, and sleeve patients so sometimes it was hard to tell what was meant for who. Ok so in the class the lady said that we could have all the liquid we wanted during this "full liquid" post op diet. (I am 4 days out) But when I was in the hospital they kept only bringing me 2oz. of soup at a time. So I am only eating a 1/4 cup of soup at a time. Now that I am feeling better this is not really doing much in the way of making me feel satisfied. I know it is going straight through. So can I eat more? I remember her saying the soup at hands were perfect. But I am thinking the hospital just clumped all of the bariatric patients together with the same diet. I really don't want to make a mistake but it is saturday and obviously the office is closed. Any advice?

Hi Paula, I was taking pepcid complete more and more frequently for the discomfort, but it wasn't helping. I go back to Tijuana November 11 to have it removed. I have found a few studies that say it actually is safe to be rebanded after erosion. There of course is no guarantee that it won't re-erode, but in the studies I found, the incidence of re-erosion is pretty low. Then again, erosion with the midband is pretty low...and here I am... I won't be able to go back before christmas for rebanding so I'll have to wait more than my dr's recommended 5-6 weeks if I do decide to have another band placed. After what I've read, I'm leaning in that direction for the moment. My insurance doesn't cover squat for bariatrics, I'll be self pay all the way, and I am currently still paying for the loan part of my first band. The idea of a second loan to pay for more expensive, more invasive procedure makes me queasy. Are there any eroded bandsters on here or that anyone knows of that has been rebanded? I'd love to find someone who's been there before I have to decide.

I have only said that I have certain requirements, and made the same comments regarding the sleeve being an outpatient procedure here in the US. You don't see any of the members that had their surgeries on an outpatient basis here in the US, or any other facility coming out and saying that I'm rude, brash based on my opinion that I would not choose to have this surgery done on an outpatient basis. The operative words here are "I", "my standards". I've said my opinion or choice of surgeon was because of my specific needs as a revision patient. I don't think any surgical clinics should be shut down. I've never once mentioned that even about Dr. Almanza. All I've ever stated is that their specific facility didn't meet my needs, and I would not choose them to perform my revision. I can't recall one single time of discarding anyone's great experience with Almanza. As for my gallbladder, obviously a lot of bariatric patients need their gb removed at some point. But, I also know that not every patient has to have it removed. I have more issues eating post GB removal than I did with having VSG. So, while you would like to insult my surgeon's choice to leave my gb, I'll stick with the fact that my surgeon based his decision on years of experience, and training. I didn't ask about my surgeon's ancestral background because it wasn't a concern of mine. I've never once insulted, bashed, or claimed that Almanza is not good, qualified, highly trained surgeon. I've never questioned his licensing, his years of experience, how many surgeries he's performed. I don't know Dr. Almanza so it's not a fact of not liking the man or even questioning his surgical skill. All I've stated, once again, for the upteenth time, that I would not choose him because of the the clinic he operates out of. I choose to stay around because the friends I've made here were my lifeline during my recovery. It's the internet. I'm not going to lose any sleep over your or any other member's attempt to insult my age, my posts, or my opinion. Perception is 9/10th of the law, and if you choose to perceive my opinions as rude, tactless and/or brash, that's your cross to bear not mine. Not everyone is going to get along. Not everyone is going to agree. Not every single member here has to get along. It doesn't happen in real life, and it sure isn't going to happen on an internet message board. Support site or not, everyone has the right to post as they choose.

These are what I take: B12-Natures Bounty sublingual Calcium Citrate- Bariatric Advantage chewy bites I have the lemon, chocolate and caramel. I also have the Calcet bites lemon and chocolate and Citracal + D. I like variety!! Multi-Centrum I buy the Walmart brand-same ingredients and ALOT cheaper. Until I was able to swallow BIG pills at 4 weeks, I did the Bariatric Advantage Orange chewable multi. Iron- Bariatric Advantage Chocolate Raspberry Truffel chews and Ferrous Gluconate supplements from my dr. (I am anemic and have to take more!!) Hope this helps! Kelly

I honestly don't get the angst of your post in looking at your selections? I'm so sorry. I would truly encourage you to start working on reframing your reality and doing head work to work through the grief you are clearly feeling about the changes you chose to make to your body and how that is going to affect your eating. You don't see this now, but a year from now when you are 50-100lbs lighter, your life will be TOTALLY different! I promise. You will be able to feel how fortunate this is! I sometimes think surgeon's give you these limits not only to protect your new anatomy (you can do serious damage by challenging it too early), but also because they want us to break the cycle of using food for in a disordered pattern and putting too much importance on meal variability and too much on "food being good/yummy/comforty." In this early time you have the opportunity to lose THE MOST WEIGHT IN A MONTH you will lose in all of your WLS history. We lose the most weight in the first 2 months following surgery. So please please embrace this time. I swear, it gets SO much better if you relax into it, keep it simple, measure and log everything, but just keep it simple. You know? Keep it low low cal/meet your protein goals/keep carbs and crap out of it. I didn't have to do puree. I had to do soft foods that were chewed to puree. But here are things that would fit your reqs. All you have to do is put em in a food processor (mini chopper) and bam you're there. 1. Eggface Ricotta Bake (google it) 2. Green bean casserole (bariatric style) with canned chicken 3. Tuna casserole (bariatric style) with green beans instead of peas 4. Mexican beef with cheese or beans with cheese (too carby for me--made me hungry too soon after eating) 5. Broccoli, spinach or cauliflower pureed with light cream cheese, lemon juice, s/p/g (steam the crap out of it first) 6. Smashed cauliflower with bacon and green onions (put in a food processor) 7,. Any soup or chili made bariatric style 8. Fish in foil pouches with lemon and spices/herbs. 9. zucchini sauteed with onion, tomatoes and herbs and pureed--can add any kind of lean meat. 10. yogurt/cottage cheese blends with berries. I just ate the same things all the time in rotation usually. And the time went by quickly. Hang in there. The time does pass quickly.

Yes I’m taking 5-6 different vitamins, I decided to not take b complex right now. I am on a very tight disability budget, I shop where I can get lower prices and extra savings both coupons and rebates through a site called Rakuten. But I do my best to budget in important things. I take gummy vitamins so what, we aren’t supposed to take tablets for the first few months post op. I talked to my nutritionist she said as long as there isn’t more than 4 grams of sugar in it it’s fine. They are easier to chew and I couldn’t find bariatric vitamins without added iodine. Things like centrum just go right through you. I just looked for more food based vitamins in a chewable form. Vitamins are very important after gastric bypass surgery. A single multivitamin especially just a basic one that isn’t food based or bio available won’t do much. Also your vitamins are adapted based on bloodwork and your own personal needs. if people want to rake me over the coals for what vitamins I take or what kind. Or if it looks expensive When All I did was answer a question. Then I guess I won’t comment anymore. If I could go back and remove my comments then I would.

Some pain med - I requested Tramadol over Percocet. Only needed it a couple of days and then used liquid tylenol. Some Zofran for nausea - never needed it. Omeprazole. Then of course you need your bariatric multi vitamins with iron. Also calcium citrate, vitamin D, vitamin B-12. All the vitamins are OTC - the best deal you can find for multivits is here on the BariatricPal site.

And keep sharing with us as time goes by, and when your date does come,letus know so we can celebrate with you. This journey is scary, wonderful, life changing, life altering all at once,but,it is vibrant and far from dull. I myself,am just finishing,up my pre Surgery preparations, I've come a long way but still have a distance to traverse. But I will make it thtough, do you have the guts to join me, do you have the commitment to let nothing stop you, to jump over barriers if they come up? Are you scared less of Surgery than continuing to exist as you are? Can you battle nay-sayers, be they doctors, clergy, friends, or even family? Do you believe,this what you need at this time, even if it means changing parts of your body? If you can answer these questions with a YES, then Welcome aboard the Good Ship Bariatrics, we always can use a new crewmate or two. And when you come into the Safe Harbor,of Weight Loss Goal you will be so proud of YOU! That is a guarantee.⛵😝