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I chose a surgeon (Dr Kelly) who had been drug through the mud on the boards regarding a patient death. It did not change my opinion of him because that type of complication could happen to anyone and 1 in 400 Bariatric surgeries end up very badly it's just a fact. Now, if she was septic and died of an infection that is just downright malicious. Why didn't someone take her to an American hospital? Oh God bless her and her family. How sad

Making good food choices is a key part of surgery, and that includes getting your Protein in. Definitely follow your doctor's plan because they've put it together based on the specific needs of people who have gone before us. Here's a really good article that addresses a few of these things, in particular #3, 9, and 10. It is not an easy thing to make the change, but for the best chance at long term success it's so worth it. http://www.bariatriceating.com/2015/03/02/top-10-bariatric-post-op-mistakes/

I have also been having a really horrid time. Stricture has been ruled out so they have changed my meds for stronger anti sickness and anti acid. They have also put me back on liquid Soups and Protein drinks only. This is now day 6 of the new meds and everything seems to have settled, surgery was on November 7th, I now have a endoscopy booked for the January 9th. All this took place due to the support I was given by my GP, who also put pressure on the bariatric team, have spend nearly 3 weeks out if the last 6 all in hospital. Keep up the pressure on the doctor who did your surgery, in fact if you can go there in person so they have to help you. I promise you one thing it does get better, its hard very hard the journey but you will get there. God Bless and I pray that things will be get well for you Sent from my HTC 10 using the BariatricPal App

Adding calories is super easy even with a lot of restriction. Go for things with high fats like nuts, and sugars, like raisins. For someone with a condition bordering on being underweight you can probably even go get a GOoey high end organic treat from Whole Foods and get 500 cal just from that. If you had a need for the surgery at one time, then you know how to put weight back on. I would also consider doing everything I can to increase my nutritional intake-less focus on calories and more focus on organic vegetables and fruits. Just intuition based notions I have. It's amazing to me that anyone who is overweight enough to need bariatric surgery can actually get too thin. This is definitely not been an issue for me, and I can't imagine what you must be going through from one extreme to the other. You can do this! Just ask your body what she needs. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

Bariatric therapist is a great idea. I hope you will work through all this and overcome the struggle. Have you thought about marriage counselling to address what going on in the relationship?

http://pinterest.com/eggface/weight-loss-surgery-desserts/ http://bariatricfoodie.blogspot.com/p/favorite-recipes.html Not sure if this one has any Desserts on it but it has lots of yummy looking pictures! http://pinterest.com/kelestra/bariatric-friendly-recipes/

I've had 100+ hours of therapy at http://mocsa.org a few years ago. I was of "normal" weight then. My weight gain took off after I fell down some steps and mangled my right ankle. I had one unsuccessful surgery on it. Later, two ankle reconstruction surgeons told me there was nothing more they could do. I was sedentary and very depressed after that. It doesn't help that I have an autoimmune thyroid condition. I'm not suggesting that more therapy might not help me but a sedentary lifestyle really derailed my ability to walk or do much in the way of weight-bearing exercise. It's been 10 years since I injured my ankle. Morphine is the only thing that even gets close to taking the edge off the pain. (And I tried many other non-narcotic meds first, plus holistic treatments. My PharmD daughter finally explained to me that being dependent on a narcotic for actual pain relief is different from being addicted to a drug when no physical malady is present.) Taking 300mg of morphine per day doesn't give me a "high"; it just helps me move around without writhing in pain. I also take oxycodone for breakthrough pain. Believe me, nobody WANTS to rely on powerful meds like these. It's weird to say, but I often welcome competing sources of pain (gallbladder surgery; lipoma removal, or even my knee replacements) to help keep my brain confused about where the pain is. I expect my bariatric surgery to be no different. There's nothing that my surgeon can do to my body that can overtake the pain I live with everyday. Boo-hoo me.

now I'm curious also. By the time one enters my decade of life,one has disposed of :gall bladder, appendix,tonsils adenoids. a breast or 2, a kidney or OMG 2 and most if not all of your female organs. And a hip, 1 or 2 knees,and even maybe an ankle fused. Fair to say, every thing has been removed or surgically stabelized, and here you are knocking on the front door of the BAriatric God's begging to have your gastrointestinal system monkeyed with. And that is the portrait I see being painted.🎆

Boiled eggs are a waste of calories and sleeve space. Not enough protein .Research before you put anything in your mouth. I live on greek yogurt 14-15 gr of protein. Tilapia, chicken, red meat. Cottage cheese is high in protein. Special K PROTEIN PLUS cereal 1/2 cup with 1/2 cup Carbmaster milk. I don't have space for veggies or bananas in my sleeve. No protein? I won't eat it. Water? Yes, but not as much cause I forget to drink it. I take my Bariatric advantage vitamins and 1 iron pill every day. I am not doing ANY excersise but to walk from my cubicle to the mail room a few times per day. I've lost 35 lbs in 8 weeks. Ps: I take Wellbutrin. What is depression again? You gotta take something. See a doctor. Get serotonin levels up baby. Check your thyroid levels. You'll feel great.

I was sleeved on August 5th, just now getting up the energy to get this written. Anyhow, my husband and I arrived at the hospital at 8am and I was feeling pretty good, not all that nervous, Just ready to get it done. I get admitted and set up in the pre-op room waiting for 10am to come around. My inlaws drove over that morning to be with me and with my husband while he waits and I can tell that my MIL is sooo nervous, she keeps rubbing my arm. When the nurses come in we all chit chat while they are taking vitals and hooking me up with this thing and that thing. Someone brought up the question on if I needed a blood type band, but the other nurse said no it wasn't necessary. My husband asked why and was told that my Surgeon "Never needs to do transfusions so we don't worry about it." Meh, sounds good to me, I have complete trust in my surgeon! Before i know it my surgeon is here and the anesthesiologist is here and we are headed down the hallway. I don't even remember making it to the OR. Fast forward a few hours and I'm in a small hospital room, my husband is there and he says everything went great! I remember my mouth being soooo super dry and the nurses let me swish some Water around and spit it out. I remember telling my husband to go out to lunch with my inlaws and get something to eat! Then darkness. I wake back up to several nurses in my room and my husband and lots of beeping going on, someone is trying to either get a vain to put something in me or take blood I'm not sure, I'm so tired I can hardly even keep my eyes open. Everyone is shaking me and telling me to open my eyes, wake up, stay wake but I'm so tired. I hear my husband tell me to open my eyes and now my surgeon is in the room and nurses are on both hands trying to get a vain, I don't feel anything anymore. I hear my husband say "Take Her!" and then I don't remember anything. Fast-forward to 8pm that night, I wake up in the ICU of the hospital with a very stressed out looking husband. I am hooked up to several machines at this point. My surgeon comes in to check on me and tells me what happened. My sleeve procedure went smoothly, but while organs were being moved around some blood vessels that go from between the stomach and the spleen had gotten pinched/torn but it was in a way that nothing was showing itself as a problem. I had my surgery and was in recovery for 2 hours and in my room for 1 hour without any issues at all, I was a star patient. Until, as my husband told me, the nurses came into the room to start getting me up to walk, as they lifted the head of the bed all of my vitals crashed. As they were trying to get me to get up those blood vessels that were pinched were shifted and I started bleeding out. My surgeon took me back into surgery and said it was like a mini geyser in there. He said he cauterized it 9 times to stop the bleeding. I lost a lot of blood and while I was in ICU, I received two units of blood. I was on a pain pump, morphine and I remember I kept asking the nurses for something stronger, I just couldn't breath, it felt like I had done a thousand ab crunches and I couldn't even take a breath. After giving me morphine and Vicodin through the IV they finally called in something stronger called HydroMorphin. That stuff was AMAZING! within 20 minutes I was able to take my first real breath. I had lab techs coming in every hour to take blood samples and check my platelet count, my veins were collapsing and they had to call in the big wigs, he said he was only called when no one else could get anything, and it still took in a try or two, I;m still foggy at that point. I think I fell asleep because I open my eyes and my husband is there the next day, he had to go home shortly after I arrived in ICU to feed and let out our dogs and get some sleep. I am still having labs drawn and by this point I'm still not really feeling the needles, at one point the poor tech only got out a few drops before it was over. That lab had to be redone since it was so small it had clotted. They successfully attempt to get blood out of the IV that they had been giving me blood through. It must of been ok because they didn't hook me up to anymore blood bags. Yay! It's time to start getting up! My ICU nurse starts to position the bed into a seat position and my heart goes from 98 to 160, she panics and lays me back down and starts on the phone with my surgeon who has told them to call him if I go over 110. At this point my respiration drops and more alarms are going off. the nurses come in and check my breathing and open up the air thingy behind me. Respiration goes back up, but I can still hear my heart beating in my ears. that slows down and they draw more labs! Over the course of the day and three shift changes, I was able to get up and out of bed, I walked a few short trips around the ICU and I was bubbly happy when I was cleared for my first sip of 1oz water! I over heard the ICU nurses talking about me and how crazy it was that they actually had a bariatric patient because "That NEVER happens!" My Surgeon came by and told me how i was a first for him as well, as in bleeding and having to go to the ICU. I was in his "less than 1% complication" I graduate to phase two and started on my Protein drinks, no problems at all, maybe a little gassy but not bad. At 11pm that night, (day 2 post-op) I get moved to the bariatric floor of the hospital. I text my husband the room and try to get some sleep. No luck, hourly checks have me awake most of the night. I scare the hospital staff when I try to getup to go to the bathroom, (they took the catheter out at the ICU), my heart rate jumps back up into the 160s and I suddenly have a couple of nurses in my room. Eventually they come to accept that if my heart alarm is going off then I'm out of bed. They slowly stop checking on me throughout the day. I've been up and walking the floor, I've peed tons! I've walked some more. I keep asking to have the IV lines taken out since I wasn't hooked up to them anymore. I keep getting told at 3pm. I am going to get checked out at 3pm. Thankfully 3pm shows up and I've meet with the head nurse, and the nutritionist and some other ppl and I am cleared to go. By 3:45 I am home and exhausted. I sleep on the couch and my husband tends to me sweetly. So now that I am 8 days post op here's what I have to say. I absolutely LOVE my surgeon, as my MIL said, other surgeons would have maybe tried to wait and see if my vitals leveled out but not my surgeon, he saw that there was a problem and took Immediate action! I would absolute do this surgery again even with time spent in the ICU, The staff there were amazing. Days 1-6 TOTALLY Completely SUCK Monkey Butt, but it gets better. I don't want to weigh myself until my two week check up, but I am as gitty as a school girl about it! So, pick your surgeon wisely and trust him/her completely! I did and still do!

I'm with you and can eat more then I think I should. I can eat 1 scrambled egg and 1.5 ounces of chorizo. I'm also starting my 3rd week after surgery. I honestly can't feel my stomach getting full and someone elses post made sense to me that a lot of our nerves have been cut so maybe as we heal more we'll be able to feel that full feeling before we eat to much. I was never given any size or calorie advice from my bariatric team so its a really hard thing to judge.

Agree 100%. I called my insurance to ask if I was covered, and they provided the full coverage policy for gastric sleeve. This helped a ton! When my bariatric place did the initial check on the insurance they said that I was not covered and would have to be self pay. I told them that I had already checked with my insurance and that they should try again. Come to find out I was covered and the person she spoke to thought she was checking on plastic surgery vs. bariatric surgery.

I also have been diagnosed with Nutcracker throat, among slow emptying stomach and a hiatal hernia by my bariatric team at Stanford University Medical. I had initially asked about the Nissen, but my surgeon, Dr. Dan Azagury strongly advised against it. Thus, I'm set for a Roux-en Y, with my surgery date next month. I'm sorry you've had such a rough time of it! Sorry I'm not much of a help, but I am hugely sympathetic!

It's amazing how much better I feel while I eat. For a minute there before I started taking it I literally thought to myself "all enjoyment of eating has pretty much vanished". Now it's back and I feel renewed. I was depressed for a few weeks about it, wondering why I did this to myself. It sucks to be tethered to a drug forever but I'll take it. Prilosec is one of the most effective, safe drugs out there. Especially when you take it with a probiotic since PPI's usually disrupt your good bacteria in your stomach.

Hi I was approved for my band and due to have surgery on Sept. 10 My insurance company lists that my Dr. is on their in plan and his name is even in my health plan manual along with a lisiting of all the other bariatric surgeons/general surgeons in thier group for they fall under the same address at least. Well anyway yesterday I got in the mail a letter from the Bariatric Group telling me that I need to sign the enclosed document in order for them to submit the claim to my provider which is no problem however as I am reading this over and over again not to miss anything I read the partWaco Bariatric Surgeons and physicans are non-participating providers with insurance companies for bariatric services and in order for me to have the surgery I need to pay up front 3500.00 for the surgeon and his assistant surgeon and it includes two pot op visits. But according to my provider yes they are covered under my plan and I have a letter stating just that and a fax from them too! Ok now here is the real kicker at the seminar I attended in March, we were all told that the fees paid will cover 1 year free fills, and that all the visits were included this was discussed several times by other people at the seminar. Wow now what do I do I don't have the money and cannot afford another bill coming in and I am just so confused and thinking of not having the surgery even ifg the insurance does cover it all due to the stress and the un known after surgery as to the costs. I just need to vent here but i still don't feel better. I will call my insurance company on Monday and tell them of this and see what they ahve to say and I am contacting the bariatric center as well. Seems really odd that no one mentions certain things at the seminar but now after insurance approval comes through tehre is a whole list of thigs I have to do and buy before surgery. Wow. Well thanks for listening. Sharon

I am in my early 20s and just got the band. I was similarly concerned about how it would change my social life. I am only a few days into being banded, but I think the real changes for me on this topic came about a month ago, before I had the band. The truth is, you can have fun in moderation. I am a big drinker and social eater and often plan outings surrounding these things. The thing I have found out from being on my preop diet and being restricted in eating and not drinking is that people don't really care if I am eating fatty foods or drinking alcohol with them. As long as they can do those things, and I am not making my not-participation the focus of what is going on, then no one really minds. The bigger change will not come from your friends, but from you. You will have to learn to be fun and jolly and entertain yourself without the food/alcohol. No one is going to care if you order a Soup instead of a Pasta dish, or if you have a cranberry juice instead of a vodka tonic if you are still being fun and normal. Your friends like you for you, not for how much you can drink or eat. It is a hard transition though. I have added other things to my social life too, like doing-non drinking activities, like seeing a movie or going kayaking with a friend or going shopping, as a replacement to some of drinking/eating related things. I also went to a BBQ at my friends house where people could bring food but I provided food that I knew I would be able to eat without feeling deprived (I brough lots of grilled veggies, veggie burger and crab stuffed mushrooms and propel zero-- no one cared what I was eating or that I wasn't drinking and it was a ton of fun. I enjoyed myself way more not feeling guilty about over eating or worrying if someone counted how many chips I had had and was judging me and I felt the need to drink less). It will be different for every person though. These life changes are good ones. The sooner you start the sooner you get the band you will be able to have control of your life, feel good about yourself, and show other people how confident you are. Being able to have fun without alcohol is an awesome skill, and being able to having conversations and socialize without using food as a crutch will only make you a better friend. I just work hard not to make my new eating habits or band anyone else's problem. It requires planning and has changed my life, but for the better. I have had to really look at what is available on menus before getting to a restaurant and I always carry something that will curb my appetite in a pinch (although there are some fast food options that aren't awful, just look at nutrition and do your best to stay high, Protein and low carb). These things aren't hard though. I think it is good you are asking these questions and if you aren't ready to make some changes inside yourself with how you cope with social situations (not drinking or eating your way through them) then it probably isn't the time for you to get banded. It would be worse, in my opinion, to get banded now and feel like you are failing then to wait until you are mentally ready to give up some of the social comfort and let your friends still have it. The band won't be a cure for any of your bad habits or mental reasons for eating, so those changes need to either come first or you need to be prepared enough to fight them when the cravings come. Doing the 6 month preop nutritionist consults, meeting fellow bariatric surgery patients, being on this site, watching youtube videos, reading blogs and meeting with a therapist have all helped me realize that I don't use food in a normal way and in some ways that hinders my social life more than it helps. This is all just me though. I don't know if it relates to you, but as a young 20 something, the sooner you are happy, the better. It just might take more work mentally if you don't want to change your lifestyle 180 degrees, because the triggers and reasons to eat will still be there after the band. Good luck deciding and feel free to message if you have more questions.

I ordered Calcium chews online and they really curb my sweet tooth. Bariatric Advantage is the maker and they are sold on amazon. I really like the caramel but they also come in lemon, chocolate, and raspberry. Good luck!! Sent from my iPhone using LapBandTalk

Welcome SBSheila, I live in Morro Bay and I chose Dr. Cirangle at http://www.lapsf.com/dr-cirangle-your-bariatric-doctor-for-weight-loss-surgery.php. He is in SF and has done over 1700 VSG's. He sees patients in Templeton, 20 min. from my home. Well worth it not to have to drive.

I would think they'd approve it based on other factors like BMI, weight & your high cholesterol too. As for low iron, I've had that several times due to chemo and just had to pump up my intake of spinach and other leafy greens and it's always worked like a charm. The insurance company will base their decision on what paperwork the doctor submits and if bariatric surgery is allowed under your policy.

I hadn't even heard that Flinstones chewables was an option. My doctor told me to take Bariatric Advantage only the first few months after surgery. I will have to research further about it. NieMarie I am like you and am not sure what to take! But I know my Dr said I should take liquid Vitamins for some things. I am getting nervous that if I don't take the right things afterward then I will get sick. When is your surgery?

I have been thinking a lot about how I want not only my stomach size to change, but that i want my dietary habits to completely change for the better. I believe in the power of habits and I need to use this tool to break many or most of mine. I have been thinking about how I eat but also about how my kids eat, age 2 and 5. My son is five and is a very picky eater and very slim. His favorite food is an apple! My daughter is 2 and she is already a little plump, and she will eat anything you put in front of her and is a sweets aholic. I don't want then to have a weight problem one day and suffer the way I have. For a long time I have worried about their diet. We eat family well, mostly whole food without any fast food usually, we don't drink soda and barely ever drink juice We eat out occasionally but mostly eat from home. The meals I make are fairly carb heavy but my kids usually prefer to eat the Protein unless it is spaghetti or pizza. We eat things like stew, chicken Soup, pizza, grilled cheese, tacos, spaghetti, lasagna, hamburgers, eggs, etc. We eat a lot of desert sweets. We love to eat ice cream, cake, Cookies, fudge, candy, etc. we eat tons of it. I want to take refined super totally off our menus and out of our house. I also want to eat only lean protein and whole grain, unprocessed carbs, increase our vegetables and cut out pizza and juice altogether. I don't mind the kids eating wheat bread but I won't post surgery. I'd like to replace the Desserts with fruit or yogurt or take them out entirely- which do you think is better? Is it easier to just go cold turkey and stop doing dessert? I was raised eating desert and I find I am programmed to crave sweets after eating. I was to undo this habit and not give it to my kids. I also want to eat my last meal of the day by 6, 6:30 and be done for the day. I've though about writing out some meal plans for us to follow for the first few months and would love suggestions. Also, my kids take food to to school with them and I need ideas for healthy lunches that don't involve processed carbs. Do you all think this is possible? Any advice? I'm worried my sweets cravings are going to make me miserable. I also found a link to a bariatric food pyramid. Pretty awesome!!! http://www.drsharma.ca/obesity-the-bariatric-food-pyramid.html

I didn't even lose that much during the first MONTH, and I started out at over 300 lbs. 5 lbs a week is about average for the first month or two (an average range seems to be about 15-25 lbs for month 1, but of course there are outliers), but after that, it slows down quite a bit. I've been involved in the bariatric community for about six years, and I've never heard of anyone losing 15 lbs a week. Maybe five lbs - but again, usually just for the first month or two.

I'm getting 60-70g of protein, Im taking all my vitamins and getting between 60-80oz of water a day. Im following my bariatric bible!

OUCH DL...hope you feel better soon. REDSON - Divide it all. If 14 ounces is 25 grams of protein...then half 7 ounces would be 12.5 grams. 3.5 ounces would be 6.25 grams etc. Baltomomma - It's my understanding the goal isn't so much calories but, protein. Have you tracked your protein intake? Checked with your surgeon/bariatric center to see how much you should be taking in at this point in your weightloss journey? Good Luck!

I think it is the best gym for the money especially for people who have had bariatric surgery. It is focused on cardio, and that is all we really need after surgery. I still have my membership at my "weight lifting" gym but I am not ready to be there yet. Planet Fitness offers a full year for $99 in Dec. so you can't beat it. I go there every night after work to walk the treadmill or ride the bike for 20-30 minutes. Go through the circuit training area (after it was okay by my surgeon) and out of there in 45 minutes.