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First of all, welcome back to Colorado and congrats on your lap band success! I just got banded on 3/19/08, so I'm a newbie, but my doctor ROCKS. He's in Denver. Associated Surgeons/Red Rocks Bariatrics is the name of the practice. His name is Dr. Melniczek. He has a great sense of humor and has been very supportive. Having worked in a medical office, I'd recommend that you find a doctor BEFORE you move, so that you can go to your current doc in Virginia now and get copies of your charts, history, insurance, etc. If you wait until you've moved back, you'll have difficulty doing some of that over the phone. Here is the phone info for Dr. Mel's office! I'll be curious to find out who you choose for your continued care! 303-480-3565

Hi Bikini, I couldn't tell you how I felt about Dr.s Brown or Metz because they didn't even come to their seminars. That put me off a lot. When I went to Dr. Johnell's he comes out and meets you and answers questions and talks a bit, Dr. Snyder gave his whole presentation (2 hours) and these guys can't even poke their heads in and say hi? The other thing that put me off was getting to the seminar in the first place. When I called to register, they said no need, just be there at 11am at '3PPW' conference room. They said it would be above the parking garage. So in I pull into the first parking garage unbeknownst to me there are like 3 garages. There was no offices over it, so I was immediately lost. I asked a hospital employee, they were clueless but said to take the walkway over to the connecting building and there would be a directory. As I was walking over I noticed a sign that said "Physicians Pavillion East" so a light bulb clicked, I bet PPW is "Physcians Pavillions West" but where the heck was it? On the directory however I saw "Colorado Bariatrics" in suite 404. I knew they'd know so I went there. I walked in and the receptionist was chomping on her gum on a personal phone call. She looked up and said into the phone, 'just a second there's a patient here' in a real bothered tone. I asked where I was to go for the seminar and she gave me directions. I had to cross the street/driveway and go to the 3rd floor where there would be a sign to the conference room on the 3rd floor. Off I go, get to the 3rd floor, no sign about the seminar at all. Did find the conference room however, and there was another gal waiting. I asked her if she was there for it and she was. There was nothing in the room indicating we were in the right place. THe board that was in the room had some scribbling on it about 'placenta delivery'. LOL About 5 min. AFTER 11 a young gal walks in, apologizes for being late and proceeds to set up at that point. In the meantime more folks showed up all as confused about if they were in the right place. Now the gal presenting the presentation was pretty knowledgeable and very nice. She however, had no idea as to cost, how many lap bands either dr. had done, 2 questions I was concerned with. Afterwards she offered to walk everyone over to the office (where I had been to get directions) to get our insurance, cost questions etc. answered. However, we still would not get to meet the dr.'s until we actually set up appts. We arrive and no one was at the desk, she had to go into like 2 or 3 offices to find someone to come out and address us. Finally the office manager came out and all she was interested in was getting our insurance cards to verify if we had coverage. I explained I was self pay and then she did give the costs. This place was much cheaper than Dr. Snyder where I decided to go but I just didn't feel good about it. Price might be more of a consideration if it wasn't my body, life, and surgery we were talking. But considering this was surgery, I wanted to feel more at ease and just didn't. I don't mean to bash this place too much and may just have hit it on an off day, but after the previous 2 seminars I had been to, they were much more impressive, I met the dr.'s and got all my questions answered. I figured if they weren't good at giving info and answering questions before surgery, what would they be like after. Dr. Johnell's office took 3 days to return a phone call. So that essentially crossed them off my list. Dr. Snyder's office has been awesome to deal with. Now I can't wait to get the surgery over with. Good luck in your decision. If you do go to Dr. Brown/Metz try and get Dr. Brown, did find out Dr. Metz is new and has only done about 40 lap bands. Editing to add: I have United Healthcare but my husbands employer excludes Bariatric procedures so not covered. I will be doing self pay.

They have a fabulous bariatric program. I hv Aetna and they cover it all. All my surgery cost was my copay of $125. Dr Hallowell is awesome and so is his whole staff. I asked him bout plicaton n he said he does it with every band because the band company recommends it for better results.

Good for you for taking control of your health at an early age! All the evidence suggests that it's incredibly unlikely for people to successfully lose weight on their own - no more than 5% of those who lose weight with diets are able to maintain that loss longterm. The stats for bariatric surgery is about 50% success which is dramatically higher. As you say - you're an adult and you can make your own decisions. I wish this surgery was an option for me when I was your age. Wishing you the best in your journey, and hoping you can find people to support you.

What about Iron? Are you getting enough iron in your multi-Vitamin, or do you need to supplement? I tend to be borderline anemic and when I don't supplement my iron intake, I feel very run down and tired. I agree with the others about the Water intake, B12, exercise, and checking with your surgeon/bariatric group and NUT. Something else may be going on that supplements can't fix.

Oh elcee luv, you have,definately beaten my" Peek aboo, incisions I see you" Tale.Glad you're better and,right here with us. We need,our elsee right here on Bariatric Pal!

Last week, my Bariatric NP sent me for a sleep apnea test. The sleep disorder doctor said that my file showed me have surgery in August, so he would have me test right away. That was the first I'd heard of date, but I'll take it. All of my pre-op appointments will be finished by then. I'll have my CPAP. I'm almost ready.

LOL - thanks! I've been hanging out on bariatric boards for a few years - plus I used to work with the pre-op groups at my clinic (well until COVID hit, anyway - so for three or four years). You hear and learn a lot of stuff that way!

I'm scheduled for surgery with Dr. Alvarez in Piedras Negras on January 6th (a week and two days!!) I'm excited and scared. I'm not so scared about the surgery itself, I'm scared about life afterwards. I guess the unknown is always scary, right? I've been doing my liquid diet for a few days now and not liking it very much. I tried the powdered stuff from Bariatric Advantage and couldn't do it. It was so disgusting I actually gagged! So I'm drinking cans of Slimfast (or the Safeway brand), and V8 and sometimes fruit juice. I found this really good juice at Safeway called Fruit 2day. It has little bits of fruit in it (my favorite is the Pomegranate Blueberry.) It comes in little 6.5 fl. oz. bottles and is 120 calories. I also tried the broth you buy at the store in the can Soup section and it wasn't very good. So I have been heating up cans of chicken noodle and then just straining the solids out. I'm using the liquid Protein bullets to supplement my protein. I saw that someone asked about where to get Vitamins. I got the gummy Multivitamins and SF chocolate calcium chews at costco. And then I got the sublingual B-12 and chewable Biotin from iherb.com. iHerb has a lot of good stuff.

Yes I do. I keep them as a back up but I really LOVE the Bariatric Advantage shakes. 27g of Protein and they taste awesome with just water! I can get most of what everyone gets in the states at the commissary, but when I can't find it..I order. But while I'm waiting on my order, I bought some more EAS. I'm going to try the Designer whey with almond milk in the morning (would have today but I"m trying hard to get in 3 shakes...just not hungry!). I guess I should be "forcing" things down but I just can't. 5 days till band day...I can't wait!

I've tried Bariatric Advantage, BSN, Un Jury and Syntrax nectar. The Syntrax IMO is the BEST! If you call them and ask for a sampler they will send you a single serving of all their flavors for $9.99 with shipping. It's a total of 10 or 11 flavors. The number is 1-866-333-7403

IMO, he's wrong. At least until you achieve restriction, you really do need to watch closely. Once you've got restriction, the band will help with portion control---but making good choices is still up to you. It's important to give your body what it needs, and that does not always coincide with our preop conceptions of "eating normal." (If it were normal, we would not have required bariatric surgery.) I second the advice to seek out the counsel of a dietitian/nutritionist VERY experienced with bariatric patients.

I met with my surgeon on Friday for the first time. I settled on the sleeve after discussing it with him. It seems the surgery with the fewest behavior adjustments and the most normal eating. He said that I'm supermorbidly obese at 296 lb. I've always had to watch the calories but it wasn't until my early 40s that the pounds piled on and wouldn't come off. I decided to have bariatric surgery this summer when X-rays showed that I'm bone on bone in my knees and can't have knee replacement surgery until the weight is in a normal range. Dr. Hirai of St. Francis will do my surgery, but he wants me to lose 30 lb before surgery. I want to have the surgery in December, so that doesn't leave me much time to lose it. Is there anyone else who has had to have presurgical dieting and succeeded in getting it off fast. Right now I'm looking at using a protein drink a couple of times a day in place of a meal and cutting out the simple carbs.

Many of them are Google ads. They pick up on things that you have searched for in the past in an attempt to target you. They also track your location. Right now I have ads for a New York bariatric group and Amazon Mom which is where I order diapers for my 2 year old.

For me, this isn't a matter of "stop liking what I don't like!" This is a matter of someone going beyond "the vegetarian path worked for me." It directly trashes the medical profession, as well as advocates for a lifestyle that is exceptionally difficult to maintain, disregards the long-standing advice of doctors/nutritionists, perpetuates pseudo-science, and takes thinly-veiled potshots and side jabs at others. Advice that has the potential to be dangerous matters, and deserves appropriate criticism. As for the sarcasm, when you are deliberately provocative and continue to refer to meat as "dead animal flesh," expect a bit of tongue-in-cheek response. I can definitely see why the language would cause offense and it's a pity because I do think there is a good point to be made and discussion to be had about the current state of our food, the standard American diet and even the nutrition guidelines given by bariatric surgeons. I think for me I am able to look past the inflammatory statements because my interest in eating a vegetarian or vegan diet does not stem from moral or ethical concerns really. So I don't get on that high horse. I mean don't get me wrong, I don't think it's okay that so many animals are kept in deplorable conditions and force fed foods/given things that are causing issues in humans like antibiotics with poultry etc. I come at it from reading scientific research that is increasingly suggesting that consumption of animal products maybe detrimental to health. Some of the people saying this are bariatric surgeons who themselves have treated thousands of patients and have data to back up their assertions. So I get the ire, but I also can see the original point being lost in the flames.

Friends, thanks for all the feedback. It wasn't my intent to spark a heated debate. For the record, I'm not a vegetarian. I went Veg a few years back and at times felt I would collapse and was always a big meat eater but my surgery changed the game, obviously. I still eat meat but much less of it. Not several times a day most days, but only when I crave it. Mostly I have been craving nuts, fruits, and raw chocolate and coconut oil based foods. I supplement with non-gmo Collegen protein. I just hear the bariatric gospel of high protein, low carbs so much that I started to worry, but I did Atkins 20 years ago and I don't think it's healthy and that is basically what many surgeons' offices advocate.

Dumping is not guaranteed. So maybe not the best ideas to make a decision on that. You posted on the bypass thread so you'll get a lot of pro bypass perspectives, too. I decided bypass because I wanted the greatest chance of my co morbidities being completely resolved. I wanted long term data. I've been on this site a while and I can't figure out if sleeves are just being offered more lately and there by we are hearing more about folks not being able to eat being 6 wks, 6 months out and other stuff or if sleeves are more vocal about it. Can't tell. I'm two weeks out and can tolerate everything I tried with no problems, nausea, vomiting. I know when I'm am eating too fast but I think that would be the same for everyone at this point. You need to make this decision with your surgeon. I think most people go with their guts and at their fear edge. Some people are gonna be creeped out by the re routing, I was afraid of the long line of stitching with the sleeve or developing any sort of reflux, heartburn etc. Also, what sealed the deal for me and you might ask your surgeon. How many of each procedures has he/she done? Which one has he/she done the most revisions or fixed complications with? And how comfortable with it are they? If his or her child needed bariatric surgery which would they recommend? Honestly, you are young and healthy and would probably do well with a uncomplicated sleeve or bypass process, but you may not need all the bypass has to offer.

Okay so my first year was phenomenal! I did so good! And this past year? Well... not so much. My loss slowed around the end of last year and continued to be slow/creeping for the first couple of months. Chalk it up to holidays, the stress after a move, poor planning, it wasn't a great time. And I should have followed that up with renewed vigor, but instead I re-introduced two things into my life that has made this year, frankly?, a complete waste! 1. Carbs! I started re-introducing them back in February. Just a little at first. But what was an occasional thing turned into an every day thing, turned into an (almost) every meal thing, turned into an (almost) every meal/every snack thing. It's a slippery slope. And the worst part about this is that I don't even enjoy them that much! They're just convenient and EVERYWHERE. 2. Snacking. Before I was mostly doing the strict 5-6 meals/snacks per day. It would occasionally deviate, but for the most part, that was my mainstay. After introducing carbs, the desire to snack became so much stronger. The more carbs I ate, the more I snacked, the more I snacked, the more I ate carbs. It was just a gross gigantic avalanche of snacking/carbing. 3. Facebook! Can I blame the fact that I re-introduced Facebook on this? I recently read (a real article, though I can't remember the name of the publication at the moment! I THINK it was NYT.) that surveys suggest that Facebook takes up more of our time than exercising, reading, and socializing per day COMBINED. COMBINED. That's... INSANE. To know that I've wasted good quality exercising (and reading!) time on Facebook (which I don't even really LIKE, which is why I avoided it for SO LONG.) is mind boggling to me. I haven't deleted the app from my phone yet, but I'm doing it tonight! I'll keep messenger because for some reason people prefer that to texting these days. STILL. This is unacceptable in my world view. How did I allow this to happen? I have not technically gained weight this year because I looked back and I'm around the same I was this time last year. So that's... something? But with gains and losses, I did gain back about 25 lbs. You could say ALMOST 30, but the only reason I ever dipped that low was because I had mycoplasma pneumonia (the one with gastrointestinal symptoms) for 2 weeks in the middle of the year. Apart from that one week period where I had lost weight because of Illness, I'd been hovering at about 255 for a pretty long time this year. Then, when I stepped on the scale one week ago I was shocked to discover that I was weighing in at 278.5. 23 and half pounds higher than my (non-pnuemonia-induced) lowest weight! The little progress that I did make this year, just kept being erased by my poor choices! I hadn't stepped on a scale since I'd been sick. I was in deep denial! I immediately joined a dietbet (which I'm going to lose because I'm losing too quickly!) and started eating right again. No carbs, veggies, Protein (at least 70/day), getting in my fluids, only eating 5/6 times/day. I began losing weight so rapidly that I couldn't believe it. Still can't. That was Dec 1st. When I weighed myself this morning. I'd already lost 12 lbs! This is TWO YEARS out from surgery. I haven't had ANY TIME this week to exercise (though I do babysit after work so I usually get all my steps in.) This tool still works! It still does EXACTLY what it's designed to do! And the REALLY remarkable part of this? Half way into this week, my dentist had to prescribe me an antibiotic AND a steroid. A steroid! Yet I still managed to lose 12 lbs. I feel like I JUST had surgery. These are astonishing numbers even if it's mostly Water weight. Even if I'd just lost 6/5 lbs this week I would have been astounded. 12 is beyond anything I ever expected. Some things I've noticed this week: 1. I still don't miss carbs (much!) It's hard to step away. But honestly? I just feel so dissatisfied with what I'm eating when I'm eating carbs. I've always been more of a meat and veggie girl. Carbs are just so abundant, so easily accessible and convenient, and so weirdly addictive even if you don't really love them, that it's just a habit I fall into that is almost exclusively environmental. I just need to REMEMBER that I control my own "food environment" if I make the time to plan! 2. I have to remember to take my Vitamins. I still have them, I just have lapsed in taking them. Now that I really need them again, it's more important to remember! 3. I am going to the bathroom very infrequently, much like I did the first year post-surgery. 4. My capacity really is not as high as I feared. When you nibble, stretch out your meals into long social affairs, snack frequently, eat slider foods, it can really be a bit of a mind trick. You start to believe that you can still eat like you used to. But you can't, you're just adapting what you CAN do, to what you WANT to do. If you want to eat more, you'll make it happen. You have to MAKE YOURSELF use your tool the way it was intended. If I eat good quality veggies and protein, eat from start to finish (no stopping to chat OR BROWSE FACEBOOK for ten minutes in between bites!), I can still only eat ABOUT a solid cup of food before I'm comfortably full. Might take a few extra bites to make me UNCOMFORTABLY full depending on what the food is. I made a double-batch of Skinnytaste's Stuffed Pepper Soup (without rice) last week. Which is not very brothy and more like a stew. Yesterday I had a cup of that for lunch. (my ladle measures exactly one cup). By the time I finished the cup, I was UNCOMFORTABLY full. I actually should have stopped a few bites before I finished. Because it was stew-like, it was way more dense. For dinner today I had about 2 ounces of roasted chicken breast (which doesn't equal a half cup if you cut it up in chunks), about a half a cup of sauteed brussels sprouts, and a little less than a tablespoon full of homemade pimento cheese melted over the top. I was perfectly full by the time I was done. Not too full. Not still hungry. Just right. 5. I'm worried this will not last. I don't mean I'm worried I will fail again. I'm sure I will and I have a plan for that. (Get back on that horse, not 10 months later, but two minutes later!, etc.) I'm worried that I'll somehow do the same thing I did this week and for some reason I won't lose. I think I told myself for a long time this year that it wasn't ME and MY CHOICES that were causing me not to lose. It was something else. So I just have to remember that I am in control and I think these worries will go away. I'm really excited to get back to the gym too. Babysteps! I'm so thrilled at this NEW START. I wonder if anyone else is in the same boat I am, or is in the same boat I was a week ago? Has anyone had long-term success with a re-start? After a period of not losing or a period of slight re-gain? What are you doing? What's working? What's not? How did you "re-boot?" Did you do the pouch test? What warnings do you have? Etc? I feel like a newbie. It feels kind of good!

I can answer your questions. I had the same orientation you had. I met with a nutritionist for 6 months and had to log my food choices too. She said I was one of the most successful ones in pre-op weight loss. She knew I was a person who followed the rules. She explained all the food choices that would be appropriate. She had all the fake food in her room (you know a rubber hamburger patty, the empty boxes of diet frozen food, etc..) to show portion size and healthy choices. Before I even contemplated the LB, I had lost about 20lbs on my own. Then another 20 with the 6 month diet. I, too, had to go on a liquid diet two weeks before and 2 weeks after the surgery. Another 20 lbs. So, I had lost 60 lbs before the band even had a chance to work. My BMI was 34.8 before surgery. I not only had a psych evaluation but every other conceivable test there is - heart, gallbladder, upper GI, chest x-ray, EKG, stress test, sleep study. I was banded September 2008. Part of the problem was my former surgeon. He was a general surgeon who kept his general surgery practice while jumping on the $$$ WLS bandwagon. He and his partner took over a retiring WLS's practice. Even though I had lost a lot of weight at this point, at my first post-op visit, my surgeon wanted me to lose 10-15 lbs. in 3 weeks, without a fill. Not only is that unrealistic for how much more weight I had to lose, but not within the guidelines of 1-2 lbs. a week. This should have been my first red flag. Then when I didn't lose any weight at that second visit, I got the come to Jesus talk and about how the band is only a tool (I have learned to hate that statement). I told him what I ate, a Smart Balance dinner and he said to throw them out. I told him the nutritionist promoted them in her office and they should be on the same page. I received a 2cc fill at that time. I lost a few founds before my next fill of 1 cc. Then I started having big time problems. Heartburn, reflux, pain, the inability to even drink a sip of Water in the morning to take my synthroid (the water seemed to come up) and you know what he said "don't take your pill then, take it another time". But the problems persisted and he ordered an endoscopy and upper GI. The GI doctor said my band looked high and tight and thought it was positioned too high. The upper GI showed that nothing much was getting through. It was only then, when my surgeon saw these results, did he have me come in immediately to get a slight unfill of 1cc. I was told that I had a 10 cc Allergan band, so I couldn't understand why 3cc's would cause so many problems. I was soon to find out. I knew at this time that I needed a second opinion. I got all my test results, including the CD's of all my upper GI's and took them to an experienced bariatric doctor at a center of excellence. He told me that I had a 4cc band and that it had a slight slip. Now I knew why I had so many problems. Plus, he was very impressed with my weight loss at that point (75 lbs. - 15 was from post band) whereas my former doctor never was. So, I quickly switched to this doctor. I did some research on my band and found it had an expiration date of June the following year (for sterility) and I think my former surgeon was using up old inventory before investing in new which is why I got an older band that isn't used much anymore, if at all. I followed all the rules, all my food choices were healthy. I made healthy choices when eating out. But in Dec. 2009 I had a major stuck episode that resulted in a trip to the ER and an overnight stay. All my fill was removed and that is where I am now. But here is the most important part of my story: At no point from no fill to 3cc fill did the band ever reduce my hunger or provide me with satiety. NEVER. And that stuck episode was so incredibly painful that I couldn't even talk. I NEVER, EVER, want to experience that again. So, as long as I am going to be hungry, at least I have reduced my chances of getting stuck. So, you see, the band doesn't work for everyone like it does for some, even when we follow the rules. I don't regret getting it because I doubt I'd have lost this weight without embarking on this journey - I mean I wasn't going to go on a liquid diet for 4 weeks. So, don't assume that when the band doesn't work it's because we aren't following the rules or changing our mindset. I have been dieting for 5 years this month. It started before the band. I have made healthy food choices during that time. I chew, don't drink with meals, etc.. but it just doesn't work for me and my current surgeon says it doesn't work for everyone.

You need to be fully informed to decide which surgery to have. Please read everything you can here, and ask your surgeon. Do not rush it. If you meet us next Saturday we can have a group discussion. Please post a question (new topic) here, and ask "Which WLS do you recommend, and WHY?" This might help. There are some smart people on Bariatric Pal!" I will give you my phone number also if you want to call me to talk. Linda

Thats awesome. Im doin a 5k at my sons school on friday with his classrom and then in july we are doing the 5k walk/run for my bariatric clinic. Its for the opening of the coast guard festival. Im hoping to be able to run about half of it by then. Been practicing running at the gym. I have a bad leg and knee. I had an accident back in 1993 and ove rthe years ive developed severe osteoarthritis and my knee doesnt sit rt but will never get it replaced because my bone is so bad. But im gonna do it. Good luck to you on ur 5k. It will be easy peasy for you evem if u finish last, its more than you would've done before u started this.

Hello! I began my pre-op diet today as well In my case it's for 2 weeks and I am on the 'Bariatric Advantage' product per my doc. It's the Protein powder shakes (I got chocolate, orange cream, and strawberry) and also the Protein Bars. I'm supposed to be on 4-5 shakes and 1-2 bars per day (plus all the crystal light I can drink). The bars look like something I might clean up after my cat (gross) but don't taste too bad. The shakes will take some getting used to, pretty chalky but not too bad. I'll have to see how I feel about it in a few days Hang in there!

If you're near any hospitals that do bariatric surgery, call and ask about support group schedules. It's unlikely that you'll be barred for having had surgery elsewhere if that's the case. If you really mean that you worry about everything, not only things related to surgery and losing weight, there's - ahem - help for that, too.

I just had my one month w/my surgeon, and dietician. I am cleared to go to the gym and eat solids but I feel I’m not there yet, food-wise, just by listening to my body. I’m stilll doing protein shakes, yogurts and some Bariatric broths to be sure I get all my protein. I can still only eat a small amount in a sitting!! Bit feeling good 💪🏼💪🏼

Same glowing experience. He hired an American post-op assistant named Lora. The contact info above is still correct. I loved Lora, I texted her nonstop. His price is now $5500. It includes the upgraded leak test at Hospital Angeles and the Lucerna hotel. You can book through Mexican Bariatrics but my fellow post op across the hall was MAD at them for downgrading her hotel post op without telling her. Their price is $5200.