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Hi! I am new to all of this. I'm excited and nervous all at the same time. I'm looking forward to start a new beginning. However, I have not had my surgery yet. I had to do six months of a supervised diet plan. I just completed the weight watchers program. I have an appointment with the Dr. on June 13th. I also, see the the behavorist and the nutritionist on June 17th. But, I have to wonder are all of these appointments really necessary. So I'm assuming they have submitted my paper work to the Insurance company. However wish me luck!:rolleyes2:

Good luck!! I am nervous too as it's my turn on the 20th! I am sure both our surgeries and weight loss that follows will be a great success! ????

After years of partying and always being the jolly fat lad, I decided after a harsh relationship break down to take stock of my life. I seem to have spent the majority of my adult life on a diet losing a little bit here and there but thing major and I would always end up pilling the weight back on plus a bit more. I am not unhealthy I was in the gym 3-4 times a week an playing rugby but nothing seemed to move the weight. I got injured playing rugby and had to stop playing an weight just spiralled out of control. it all came to a head in the summer of 2014 I was 31 years old and out of breath walking up the stairs at home and work. I grew bored of making excuses as to why I was out of breath and found it hard to admit that it was because of my weight but I knew something had to be done. I went to the my GP but he advised me there was 3-4 year wait for a consultation and offered me half price vouchers for a slimming world class. I advised him id tried that an weight watchers and the Cambridge diet etc. I decided I would go private I booked a consultation and met with the Spires health group in Bromsgrove at this point I had not told anyone about having surgery and contained to play the jolly fat guy. The morning of the consultation was the hardest thing I had done to date. I had a lot of doubt in my mind of I was doing the right thing or if I was a failure as I couldn't get the weight off and stick to a diet by myself but walking through those doors was the best thing I ever did the staff there where professional and treated me with respect. I met with my consultant Mr Nirja, and he conducted all the relevant tests an took my weight BMI etc. he then sat me down and explained both the sleeve an bypass options we decided between us I would go for the sleeve. After my meeting with Mr Nirja I was then taken in to another room and spoke to a lady called Sally who has actually had one of the first bypass in the UK many moons ago. this was just an extra thing they offered encase we felt we couldn't ask the Surgeon. All in all I was in there for around 2 hours. I came out feeling positive for the first time in a while, I decided I would have my surgery on the 20th December for the reason being I would have broken up from work by then and I would have 2 weeks off to recover as I had no holiday left to take. At this point I still had not told anyone I was having the surgery done. I was to start my liquid diet of 3 pints of milk an 2 yogurts on the 6th December 2014. I was excited and very nervous at the same time. on the 4th December after stressing about how my family would react I finally plucked up the courage to tell them. All the thoughts I had about how they would react and the questions id get bombarded with proved to be untrue my family were very supportive even if it did take me a few attempts to explain what exactly I was having done and what would happen. on the 6th I started the liquid diet and passed this off at work as another fad diet I was trying to much ridicule as per usual, It was probley the hardest 2 weeks I had in life up to that point as its a mental battle as there is nothing stopping you from actually saying sod it and eating normal food. The first 3days for me personally was torture I had stomach cramps and flatulent. But on the 4th day my body had accepted it and the rest of the time was a breeze. On Saturday 20th December I checked into the hospital in Solihull at 11am, I asked my parents to leave as I felt I had to brave this on my own. At 1pm I was walked down to theatre which was an experience in it self walking into a room that looked liked an alien space ship. I remember waking up around 6:20pm on that afternoon surrounded by doctors and nurses apparently my heart had stopped twice during the operation and I had to be brought back. I didn't wake up in pain just a dull ache really. After I spoke to a doctor they wheeled me in to ICU where I spent my first night with my new stomach. That night I didn't sleep much and spent the night talking to the nurse who was appointed to look after me. I had the last of my pain killers at 2am on the 21st December less then 12 hours post surgery an I have not had a single one since It wasn't me being a Martyr I just wasn't in any pain. On the Sunday morning my family visited me apart from being tired an sore I felt good I was up walking about. Just after lunch on the Sunday I was taken back to my room and I decided I would walk it instead of using the wheel chair. That Sunday was spent just watching TV and drifting in and out of sleep I was so bored lol. The Sunday night I slept like a log and a woke about 7am on the Monday morning a nurse asked if id like a cup of tea which I accepted and it was the best thing I had tasted in my life lol, My consultant came and visited me at 9am and said I was allowed to go home as soon as the nurses had brought my medicine from the pharmacy. I was discharged around 10:30am that morning with a bag of FastTab anti acids and some dissolvable paracetmol for when I need them (Still unopened) The First week was an eye opening experience first time Id had half a can of Soup for xmas dinner. I am now into week 7 since the op and I am not allowed to do any exercise at the moment until the end of February 2015. But I have lost 85lbs in 7 weeks so I am happy with the way its going. Already I feel so much better and happier in myself and clothes are getting baggy already, well this is my story so far sorry for waffling and ill keep updating it every so often. To anyone thinking of having surgery DO IT you wont regret it its not going to be easy far from it but my god its worth it!!!!! if you ever have any question please get in touch.

@@beachgal2935 your post made me upset! I too fear having a stroke and not being around for my husband and kids. I worry about heart disease and all the complications that come with diabetes. As I speak, my sugars are out of control even tho my diet has been exceptional and I'm taking all my meds. The dr says sometimes there's no explaination for the rise in blood readings but that doesn't sit well with me. You went thru so much all because of that, you have done really well, I'm happy you're alive and on the mend to show me the valuable lesson. I'm seeing clearly that for the sake of "food" I shouldn't let my health and future grow dim, and that's what will happen. I'm not an obese person, here in Australia we use (kgs) and I'm 80 kgs so while I'm not BAD, I could stand to lose 15-20 more kgs. And it seems that weight is what is keeping me from being well and healthy and being taken off the list for more serious things to go wrong. You know I was put on insulin 5 months ago and for 2 months after I felt normal again, my energy had returned and my hbac1 was looking great! Now my level has started to rise again and I fear this will continue to be a never ending roller coaster. It seems to be that bypass is the answer to getting off the roller coaster......... I feel nervous going into such a life changing move but if I feel good and I get to hang around and be with my kids, then it's a small payoff. I can't thank you enough for writing your story to send to me, it has shifted my thoughts on maybe to definitely for the surgery.

Hi and welcome to LBT! I think it is great that you have decided to take care of you. The lapband is a great weight loss tool. Please let us know if you have any questions and keep us updated on your progress.

Thanks for your response!! =) Well all went well with my PCP on Friday. She said that by my BMI alone I would be recommended for weight loss surgery. They gave me a phone number to call to get more information and I called their Choices program phone line and I have an appointment to go to an orientation at their Corona Medical Office. Once I'm there, the guy said they'll give me an application to fill out, I'm guessing to go through the 12 week class. I hope that it's minimally difficult. I'm willing to put in the time and effort that's not an issue, but I hope I don't have to jump through too many hoops. =)

I had the same problem with my pcp...i had my first app with her today and i mention the bad ...she didnt shoot it down but she wasnt jumping for joy ....she gave me a referral to a nutrientionist ...sorry i have bad spelling...so i havee a app wit her on jan 11 ....i hope that goes well...im wondering what will be the next step...im ready to get this weight off:D

Nearing the end. Nearing the beginningStef big hugs of a welcome!!! luv your condensed version of the journey you are starting i know you'll work hand in hand with the sleeve, remember its just assisting you - but it does a great job - you are the one that has a lot of work in front of you but what a way to go - new wonderful health and happiness around the corner eat your small portions, follow all those drinking rules, Protein et al - you can't help but gain success by "losing" work with all your excitement, anticipation - enjoy this time get all prepped for when you come home from the hospital - get your shakes, soup/broth, popsicles - all that good stuff!!! take care january 8th is right around the corner you'll be starting the new year with a bang!!!! good luck happy WLS speedy recovery

Hi folks, I started this journey a few years ago when I was still living in Boston. I was looking into the duodenal switch and the closest surgeon who did anything other than the Lap Band or Roux-N-Y was in New York City so I drove down and fell headfirst into the WLS world. My life was a bit of a mess at the time and after the initial appointment, I never actually took the next step in the process and things just stalled out. Fast forward to last summer. I decided I needed to shake things up in my life a bit so a few days after my 45th birthday and with my employer's OK to work remotely, I loaded up the truck and I moved to Beverly... Well, no, I moved to Seattle. A new home, a new start and time to start getting serious about my health and get things back on track. After settling in, I spent a couple of weeks looking at the programs in the area and was impressed with the Swedish Hospital Weight Loss Center. They were having a seminar in a week so I signed up and went in. I was impressed with their approach, their mindset and the people running the program. I had my first appointments with Dr. McMahon and his staff on August 26th and after a bit of discussion with the staff I decided to change focus from the DS to the VSG and it's been a whirlwind of appointments and hijinks ever since. My surgery date (January 8th) was scheduled this week and so the first phase of this journey is nearing its end. The second, unending phase will start shortly. I've never had any surgery before and my emotions are all over the map. I'm afraid it won't work, I'm afraid it WILL work, I'm happy, excited, terrified, and a hundred other things all at the same time. I have the support of a great medical team and great friends and it's time to take a deep breath and jump. Here we go! Stef

Some insurances say BMI >40 and no comorbidities....call your insurance, they can tell ya! Good luck!!! HW 312, pre-op (lap-band) 294, pre-op (RNY) 255, surgery date 2/11/13, goal weight 154, current weight 225

Michelle, I can't offer any suggestions on Mexico but there are plenty of people on here who have gone to Mexico and had wonderful experiences. I defer to them and their experience. As for being fearful, here's my take. horror stories about Lap Band There are thousands upon thousands of people who never, ever go to any internet forum and post their comments and stories. People who have bad experiences are often the FIRST ones to find a place to vent. I've read a lot of stuff but no "horror" stories. Yes, some stories of complications (a few who have had their bands slip; a few ports getting flipped) but nothing horrific. The risk of complications with lap band is statistically 0.1%; with bypass it is .10%. That's a big difference. Mechelle voiced a very common concern: Scared it wont work. Most of us have had that fear. After alll, just how many diets have we been on where we didn't lose and gave up or lost a lot of pounds and then "fell off the wagon" and gained it all back with a few extra for good measure? I will tell you that I personally haven't been able to lose more than 30 pounds without falling off the wagon in quite a few years. But I'm down 52 and really haven't even thought about eating some of the crap I used to. Now, that doesn't mean I haven't eaten a little bit of birthday cake (a very little bit, just enough to get the taste) and I've snitched a few fries when I made them for my granddaughter who lives with me but I most definitely haven't gone crazy. This is a lifestyle that comes with enforcement. Your band, once you reach your sweet spot, will keep you from overeating. Yes, you will still have to make good choices, but you will have help. There are bypass patients who have eaten around their bypass surgery and regained some if not all of their weight AND GOTTEN A LAP BAND AFTER. You can eat around any surgery. "Slider foods" like ice cream and stuff has a lot of calories and can get you in a heap of trouble. But guess what? Same problem with other WLS. There is no magic in this. You have to be willing to make the lifestyle changes ... and if you choose the band, you will have a great tool. I can say that because I have the band. I can't say more than I have about bypass because I didn't have that; I've only done my research comparing the band (my choice) with GB. And I know next to nothing about the sleeve so I can't say anything definite about that.

Hello All from Columbus, Ohio. How do I begin? I am Kim and I am happy to see others who joined this forum today have the same surgery date that I scheduled today. I think it will be wonderful to chat with each other and follow our progress. Anyone going to Tijuana for their surgery on 3/16/2009? I started researching lapband surgery 2 years ago and was just able to schedule my surgery for March 16, 2009. I am excited, anxious and now a little worried. I know I have made the right decision for me. As my Patient Coordinator said (when I told her I had recently lost 15 pounds) "this is a permanent weight loss". Hooray! Can it be true? She had just confirmed my 18 month dream of finding a permanent solution for weight loss and control.

I just found out today I was denied for a revision because even though it's for GERD my insurance says the GERD is a complication from weight loss surgery and therefore they won't pay. I hate insurance!

Thank you for sharing your story. My weight loss slowed for a few weeks even though I was eating right. That passed and now I am steadily losing.

Hi please never use the word "only lost " instead say I lost 7 lbs . I think 7 lbs is a lot in 2 weeks . Try to not compare yourself with others . We are all different . Is funny how much we want this weight to come off so fast but it took us years to put the extra weight on . The weight will come off , do not stress yourself . Stick with the sleeve rules and you will success. One day at a time . You are doing fantastic , good luck .

My insurance excludes weight loss surgery. I am two days out, got sleeved on Friday with Dr. Kelly. I am currently a the Hotel Lucerna - very nice - I spent thur night, surg fri, recovering sat - mostly sleeping and walking the hall. That said, if my insurance had covered it, I would have done it in the states. I have had a great experience with Trish and Dr Kelly, and my PCP is very supportive. jean

Sorry you are having trouble. I don't know how I will do it either, but i heard you have a "honeymoon" period oif 6 months to a year to lose the most weight, so that is my motivation. I can't wait to get post opp. Maybe you could find a workout buddy so you can help eachother stay motivated. there is a buddy forum down there near the bottom of the forum list, you might even be able to find someone close to you. take care Kat

Well it's now Friday was sleeved on Wednesday had a bad reaction to the anesthetic and was wrenching for 24 hours so just on a drip. My surgeon swapped my meds and so I had a my fluids yesterday . It's a but like a funnel gurgling down into ur stomach!! I'm trying to drink really slowly but still getting a few bubbles the nurse said to sip and then walk ??anyways worst is over and thankyou for the mantra. I went under the anesthetic repeating I will do this I will wake up I will lose weight I will be healthy I will love myself more I do love my family. I will love me. So thankyou for all ur support any tips about the bubbles would be great!

I visited my primary care physician yesterday...exactly 3 weeks post op....I told her how the information re: diet was so varied from doctor to doctor and she told me that when you see such variations, it suggests that no one way has been proven to be more or less effective. For example, if your doctor says you need to be on a clear liquid diet for two weeks prior to surgery, but mine said only three days (to "shrink" the liver), three clearly is enough, but some doctors may use that extra time to make sure that the patient takes the direction seriously and it certainly helps with weight loss BEFORE surgery. As for post surgery, I believe it is almost impossible to eat something that you shouldn't have without knowing it. I COULD eat a lot more things than what I am actually eating (based on my doctor's list), because at this point, the discomfort of certain things prevents me from wanting to eat those extra things. So for those of you with more rigid plans, maybe the doctor is trying to spare you the agony of knowing you can have tuna safely but it feeling "bad" when you eat it?

Hi - I have had many times of discouragement in the almost 8 months since my surgery. (Mine was October 2007) I am a very slow loser, and there have been several meltdowns where I just cried, convinced I was a total failure at this. But, all things considered, I am going in the right direction and that is what really matters. I could not get the number on the scale to go down before surgery no matter what I did, and here I am down almost 40 pounds. And my doctor assures me that my weight loss is quite normal - I average 5 pounds a month and that is within normal range. As was said before, just keep doing what you know you need to do and you will continue to lose. Don't get too discouraged and go crazy (I can have a tendency to get depressed and start eating the wrong things out of frustration) and eventually the weight will start dropping again.

That does seem unusual, actually. My insurance provided approval of eligibility - but I have to do a six month supervised weight loss program, plus some additional stuff, before my actual application, if you will, can be sent in for approval. So I'm eligible - but not approved - at this stage. On the other hand - all the zillions of insurance companies and all their zillions of policies may make it so for you. It is so different for everyone!

Your thoughts are normal. But u have no idea what it feels like to succeed in weight loss. It's the best feeling in the world. I promise you the skin won't be an issue! You will be just fine so now quit looking behind u look forward And do something for yourself!! You will be so glad you did.

I am 36, have a family and would like some real life honest experiences about bypass. I have type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and I am on metformin, karvizide, and injecting Byetta twice a day for my diabetes. I have had a gastric band for 6 years now and successfully kept off my lost weight since the band was put in. I still have more weight to lose which may be why my diabetes isn't under control, and blood pressure still not stable. Today my specialist and gastric doctor said it would be a very good idea to have the gastric bypass to solve the problem of my diabetes. They said That it would either help a lot or cure it altogether. I am reading bits and pieces about the benefits of losing weight etc, but who of you out there wants to share the side effects?? With the band, a side effect was acid reflux,.......so what bad side effects do I need to consider for the more permanent bypass. The other thing I could consider is putting more fill into my band and putting MORE effort into weight loss, but I just don't know if that will kickstart weight loss again,,,,,,,enough! I have heard examples of people getting diabetes and problems associated with it, then having bypass surgery, they drop all their weight and their diabetes goes into remission! No tablets or injections ever again? I am still in the throws of just considering this surgery so any experiences or relative information would be appreciated!

I'm 58 years of age, male, 340 lbs, 5'11.5" and semi-retired from teaching. I made the decision to have gastric bypass of some kind in 2014. During the fall of 2014 I made an appointment with my physician, actually I think it was my annual checkup! When discussing my health issues, i.e. pre-diabetic, sleep apnea, morbid obesity, osteoarthritis, and borderline high blood pressure I brought up the possibility of having gastric bypass. I was VERY nervous to ask about this as I figured he would treat me as a failure for not wanting to lose the weight the old fashioned way (which I had done 3 or 4 times since I was married 34 years ago). Shockingly, he was very positive about it! This started the process, he said there were surgeons in the metro area, I live in the Omaha/Council Bluffs metro, but on the Iowa side of the Missouri River. The bariatric surgeons were located in Omaha. So off I went, first I contacted a surgeon in Omaha who said I needed to do 6 months of nutrition counseling. I could do that through my general practitioner's office. During August and September 2014 I met with the nutritionist and was off on my journey, so I thought. Late September, my wife and I were stunned to find out she had advanced ovarian cancer, it was truly heartbreaking and awful for us, our daughters and other family and friends. She became quite ill very fast and we were so worried that she wasn't going to make it two months. My surgery plans, of course were put on HOLD. Anyway, through lots of prayers, great physicians and my wife's determination she licked the cancer and by January 2015 she had been through 3 rounds of chemo and surgery to remove the tumors. The pathology report came back with such good news about being in complete remission the surgeon called my wife personally to tell her, he was VERY excited that it went that well. My wife still had 3 more chemos in front of her, but finally on February 27, 2015 I restarted my process. Initially, I had begun the process through an Omaha bariatric unit, we quickly had found out in the fall at the same time my wife became ill that our insurance would not cover physicians in Nebraska. We were limited to Iowa. Because of the severity of the wife's illness she was able to get a waiver to get a specialist in Nebraska. My "illness" as such was not life threatening and they would not approve the surgeon in Omaha. I made my second shot at appointments with the University of Iowa in Iowa City, IA. This is a 3.5 hour drive from home but it was a major medical university and the original home of the "father of bariatric surgery". So I felt that this would work, even with the long drives on occasion. The first appointment went well, they sent me home with nutritional counseling, paperwork completed and a pre-surgical diet to follow. They told me to lose 35 lbs by May 22, 2015. I went home, two days later I had a eschemic colitis attack. Four days in the hospital, one partial colonoscopy, lots of bleeding etc. etc. etc. I had never had a problem with my colon before, let alone an attack. The diagnosis came back that the attack tends to be one and done. But could possibly happen again, more than likely it would not. Thank god. My biggest fear was that gastric bypass wouldn't be an option because of the colitis. Gratefully, the doctor's had no problem with me continuing. After a rocky start, I was back on track by the middle of March and the weight loss plan that the U of Iowa put me on was basically the soft diet that I would look forward to following surgery. I found their diet was very helpful and keep me from being very hungry. I think working on the 64 ounces of Water a day and the 3 cups of skim milk for Snacks was probably the key to my success during the pre-op period. I did start an exercise plan at that time which for me was 10,000 steps a day AND/OR 30 minutes on the treadmill. It took a few weeks to work up to 30 minutes as I started at 20 but within 3-4 weeks I was there. By late June, I had lost nearly 45 lbs! On or about June 27th I went in for my pre-op checkup and they were very pleased with my progress. All systems go! Surgery was now officially on July 1, 2015. Stopped at a BBQ place in Des Moines on the way home. I suppose this was a last supper sort of thing lol. My wife and I hit the road for Iowa City. Arriving the night before, as I didn't really want to get up at 4 a.m. to make it there for surgery at 7:30 a.m. Remarkably, surgery was very uneventful, took about 2.5 hours was in recovery for another couple of hours because my room was ready and then started walking around the hospital floor that evening. Pain was minimal, I have had some other abdominal surgeries so kind of knew what to expect after gallbladder surgery, hernia surgery, etc. This was my first laproscopic though. It looks like you have been shot with a machine gun as you have 5 holes in a circular pattern of sorts around your stomach. I had two drains. These stayed in for a week! I went home the next day, and the drive back was also very smooth. Kudos to my wife who is an excellent driver too :-). Way better than me....lol. I stayed home the rest of that week and the next Monday as that is when my post-op appointment was and another return trip for a 20 minute doctor appointment. (7 hours for 20 minutes, uggh). But I did get my drains removed, those are a pain in a couple of ways. First they dangle from your body, second you have to drain and measure the amount of Fluid that you are dispelling from your body for the doctor's information. Of course, my menu was full liquid at this point and for the most part that went pretty well. I couldn't get 64 ounces of water down very well, but usually 50 or so. Lots of blended, hmmm crap.

I wish you all the best. I'm reading and reading and probably going to go with this doctor as well. Thanks for sharing your story. I've got a small procedure coming up that won't allow me to have the GS till June but truthfully, I'm at the point where I can't wait to get this done and begin a new life. I've read "Women, food and God" by Geneen Roth and formed a small support group of women who love her work as it will be more important than ever to learn how to deal with my emotions rather than eating over them, so that's my game plan for changing my life (I'm 300 and 5'8 and 58 years old): surgery and working on the rest with the help of a support group, maybe therapy, etc. Someone also told me that Marianne Williamsen's new book, "A Course in Weight Loss" is phenominal so I'm buying that today. Anything that adds the emotional/spritual component to this journey, will, I believe, help me keep the weight off, and at some point, allow me to live free of this insane obsession with food. Of course, one GS surgeon who I recently saw, in order to begin the WLS discussion, asked me how many women in my little support group of 6 women, were 30-40 lbs overweight vs 100+. I told him it's half and half. He said this matched what he'd found as well. That even though ALL of us are emotional eaters, living lives that are RULED by food, it's the hormones in the stomach, among other physical factors that make the difference. No one really knows why some of us who are overeaters, only gain a little, and some a lot, but I"m sure it's any number of metabolic and hormonal differences because those "thinner" members tell me what they eat and it's not much different from the way I eat. I'm lucky as these women FULLY support me doing whatever surgery I need, and I'm very grateful for this. Wow...didn't mean to go on that long. Just wanted to wish you luck! Looking forward to reports on how you are doing, and how Dr. A treated you. Nina