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I'm in Oregon and my PCP is against it and gave me the same spiel. She keeps telling me she is treating several botched surgeries. However, I call bs because she doesn't seem to know very much about it and only has negative things to say. I'm planning on going with my tax refund in the spring. In my early research I called OHSU, the bariatric coordinator there was very helpful. She said they will always treat people in an emergency and they rarely have any emergencies out of Mexico. She did name one surgeon to avoid and said to be diligent in my research. I joined as many support groups as I could find until I narrowed it down to my surgeon.

Hello! I'm new to VST. A little bit out me and my sleeve journey. I live in Gardner, KS and I will be getting my sleeve done at KC Bariatric by Dr. Hamilton. I started this process last August when I went to their seminar. I was on my 4th supervised diet visit with Nancy their dietician. Then luckily my husband got a new job that has Anthem BCBS and they don't require the 6 month supervised diet. So all that is left to be done is for them to submit my info to the insurance company. My case manager said Anthem usually only takes 3-4 days to get an approval, and they are easy to work with. I can't believe that my surgery could potentially be this month or early next month!! I'm very nervous and excited!!! I welcome any advice from anyone about the surgery and the experiences they have had with KC Bariatric or Dr. Hamilton. Good luck to everyone!! :-)

I am using insurance. I was denied at first, but approved second time around. I'm going with the bariatric program at Wesley. My surgeon is Nicholas Brown. His office is actually at Via Christi St Francis, but he does the bariatrics for Wesley too. My surgery is Feb 4! It's soooo nice to find a fellow Wichita friend

I only found out two weeks ago. I had my surgery in Mexico @ OCC self pay and my regular insurance is through Kaiser. The only thing I told them was that I had bariatric surgery and they said that the bariatric department will monitor me throughout my pregnancy. I haven't got into the details of what surgery I had just yet. They are supposed to contact me within 2 weeks. I did the regular pregnancy blood tests and the results were all within normal range. So far so good, just wish I could drink more fluids easier.

I'm not too far away from Kansas City. I should be getting my surgery through KC bariatric

This happened to me. I changed my vitamin and split the dose half am&pm, it got better fast.Seems lots of people have this problem with bariatric advantage chewables.

I had my open enrollment meeting at work today. They are no longer covering bariatric surgery under our health insurance plan effective January 1. I was going to wait until next year for my sleeve, I am so thankful I didn't!!! I am loving my new tummy!!

I have UHC also. Here is my story so far... I called and got the requirements for the surgery.. have to be over 18 BMI of 40 or more (or 35 with 2 co morbids) use a doc that is in the Bariatric Center of Excellence So i did all of these and found a wonderful doc. Had my appt 2-8, they sent in my paperwork 2-11 and I got a call from UHC on 2-13. I was thinking WOW this is too good to be true. Well it was... the doc i wanted to use was in the plan but his facility was not. Said the only hostpital i could use in Louisiana was Ocshners in New Orleans. That's 6 hours from me!!! They didn't tell me that when i called them TWICE to get the requirements. The funny/odd thing is the doc that I want to use has done MANY people from the place where i work with the same insurance and never had a problem. So the girl that does the insurance wanted the lady's name i talked to at UHC. So she calls her and she wouldn't HEAR of looking into another hopspital. She said I HAVE to use such and such... so she told her to drop my case. She resubmitted it using the hostpital they always use(because i did want to use the oupatient one) and now i'm still waiting. That was on 2-14. I want to call but don't want to pressure them again!!! lol Good luck to all of you all that had no problems!!! Take care!

I have to admit that I will be going off plan tomorrow. I will have a spoonful of my mom's sausage and mushroom rice, I will have a broccoli ball (made with stuffing), I will have the tip of a piece of my aunt's buttermilk pie. Of course I will do the bariatric friendly turkey, green beans with bacon, one of my smoked atomic buffalo turds, a deviled egg and some ham. I will say that this will be the most carbs that I've had since surgery and this lifestyle isn't about deprivation, it is about choices. Tomorrow's portion control will be mindful and come Friday I will be doing business as usual.

The first thing you need to do is call your insurance company and determine your bariatric benefits and ask for them to be sent to you in writing. At the same time, ask for their policy paper on bariatric surgery. Most insurance companies have the requirements written in detail. Ask for them to be sent to you in writing as well. This policy paper should detail the requirements to be met for a revision. As far as the SADI-S, it is what my doctor recommended. Like you describe what “should” happen, my doctor listened to all of my issues, and explained all the procedures and recommended the SADI. Going in, I was thinking just a sleeve, but with my various metabolic issues the SADI made more sense. If you stay with your current doctor, demand that he review the pros and cons of each revision as it relates to your specific issues. You will also find a lot of information here in this forum from others who have gone through each procedure. Read, read, read! Good luck to you! Keep us posted on your progress.

Agreed. I was actually told this by the bariatric nutritionist. “If they open you up and find your liver is too big because you didn’t follow the diet, they will close you right back up. And good luck getting insurance to pay for a second attempt.”

Bariatric Advantage recommended nectar medically unflavored so I ordered some. Haven't tried it yet but it says it's tasteless. It's just straight protein-no other nutrients so it's 40 cals & 10g Protein per scoop. So you can add two scoops for 20g & only 80 cals. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

Hello I am new.. 1/21 Consultation 2/18 will be my 1st appointment with NUT. I have to complete a 6 month medically supervised weightloss program with the Bariatric Center. This includes testing 3 NUT appointments, Monthly weigh ins, Psych Evaluation, PCP approval Letter. I'm Nervous as ever. I'm 5'1 so they say and My Highest Weight 249 when I actually wasn't afraid to step on the scale. At Consultation 243. They also have me doing a 3 month Physical Therapy routine as well. I'm Nervous about everything and I need this surgery. I need to be healthy for my kids. I want to climb stairs like most people and not be winded. I want to be able to stand without my feet falling asleep. I want to squat down with my baby and actually be able to play. I want to Live a long Healthy Life. I understand this Journey is a life long commitment and I am Ready. I went for Consultation 5 years ago but I didn't like the way they treated me and I felt it was a sign to continue trying to lose on my own. Well here we are my weight has gone up and down, lose a little gain a lot.

I was a pretty healthy person up until 2008, when my liver enzymes first became elevated. I had reached my then highest weight of 304, and then managed to get down to 263 through diet and exercise. My enzymes went back to normal. Then I got pregnant in 2010 and after I had my son, my health got worse. I was diagnosed with severe asthma around 2014, and my liver enzymes were elevated again. I started gaining weight steadily until I reached my all time high of 393 with a bmi of 69 (I am 5'3"). Back in January, I had my gallbladder removed.. I mentioned to the surgeon that I would be seeing a liver specialist because my liver enzymes kept getting higher and he did a biopsy while he was in there. The results were not good. I was diagnosed with Non Alcoholic Steatohepatitis (NASH) and hepatic fibrosis. The surgeon said my liver looked really bad, and he didn't see me living past 60. I'm an RN and have seen people die of liver failure and it's awful. I was 48 (just turned 49), and I had wanted wls for a long time but our insurance doesn't cover it. What that surgeon said was a wake up call, and so I made the decision to pay for the surgery myself. I wanted a sleeve, but the first bariatric surgeon recommended RNY because of my weight. I had planned to get that, but then COVID happened and they laid off that surgeon so I went to a different one that my cousin had RNY with 10 years ago. He told me about the Loop DS. He said I was a good candidate for it because of my high bmi and since I was self pay. It's still investigational and not covered by insurance. So I decided to do it. I had surgery on July 23rd. I was 368 on surgery day. The surgery went well but I was very nauseated the first few days and vomited old blood just like NovaLuna described. After that, and a kidney stone 11 days post op, recovery has been pretty smooth. I never really had much pain. As of today, I'm 322 pounds, walking every day, and feeling amazing, even though I'm still significantly obese. I was to the point of barely being able to walk anymore, and personal hygiene was hard. I had just been diagnosed with high BP and put on meds in May. I've been off the meds since surgery. I just had my first labs and everything was normal. My liver enzymes are still elevated, but about half of what they were. It's wonderful to be active again and being able to walk with my husband and son, who is a very active boy! I still have a long way to go but I'm so happy I did the surgery and don't regret it one bit! Good luck to you! Sent from my Nokia 7.2 using BariatricPal mobile app

Hey hey! Ull be glad to know we have similar starting stats! I am 31 years old, had a BMI of 40.67 and was a size 18-20. I was 252lbs at my highest (10 days prior to vertical gastric sleeve surgery) and I was 242lbs on 7.27.20 (day of surgery). I am 5ft 6. I am 2 months post op now. Already i am down to 206lbs. I have lost 45lbs in total and 35 in two months since surgery.my bmi is 33.25 at the moment. I no longer have hip and back pain, my face is back to looking like "myself" again, I wake up happy every single day now and don't feel like I need to to hide away inside the house because of shame. I wear a size 16 at the moment. I have always had a big butt. Washing and wiping my own butt before surgery had started getting difficult which was one of my main wake up calls. I no longer have any issues with this at all only two months out! I could go on and on. There are sooooo many pros to having wls of any kind! My husband was skeptical that wls was necessary and wanted me to diet and work out with him for another year before we considered "something so drastic"..he now agrees this is exactly what I needed and is glad we didn't wait another year of me feeling the way I did about myself. As far as recovery, it was very easy for me. Sharp pain from incision sutures for abt a week, maybe 1.5 weeks. Within 2 weeks I had no pain. Can eat very little (have to remind myself to eat bc im not hungry and it seems kind of tedious to eat now bc its only like 4-5 bites of something) and i have no desire to eat sweets or junk anymore. That is huge for me bc I would easily and regularly consume cookies, brownies, candy bars, chips and crackers by the box/package by myself in just a few days. I craved snacks all day everyday. The only "con" i am experiencing is that i loved water before surgery and chugged it all day everyday. Now it's another thing i have to remind myself to do and it feels so tedious because i can only sip water now, not chug. Oh oops i forgot.. vitamins and meds are another "con" for me because I was not any meds prior to sleeve surgery and didnt take vitamins. Now i take like 3 meds and vitamins daily. My stomach is so small it feels as tho I've eaten after just taking my meds. I used to be able to throw back 3 Tylenols and swallow at once but now i take each pill one at a time because i feel like im gonna choke on the smallest pill size. I think this is just a fear tho..like a mental thing..and not actually a legit concern or something that is experienced by others lol. Anyways, i hope i covered enough for u. If u have any other questions, feel free to ask. Im an open book and wish i had found this app when i was preop. I did find TONS of videos on YouTube that convinced me sleeve surgery was just as good of an option as bypass for me tho! The videos I watched showed sleevers years out remaining successful and losing over 100lbs. The videos showed me ppl experiencing restriction and maintaining their goal weight years out which proved to me that bypass wasn't necessary for me to reach my 100lb weight loss goal and maintain it. This was encouraging for me because i was self pay and sleeve is cheaper. I would not let money be a determining factor tho. I was kind of forced into sleeve anyways because I am a smoker..still trying to quit at this point. OHHH BTW My mother had bypass 13 years ago and has remained at her goal wait this far out. This made me believe bypass had a higher success rate because she gets dumping, forcing her to not eat certain things or too much. Many surgeons disagree abt whether sleeve patients get dumping. I can eat whatever i want post op without getting sick but obviously can only eat a small portion. Many surgeons and patients argue about whether this restriction is lifted a few years out but there are ppl on here who will tell you they still have restriction with sleeve years out so it's hard to know what each of our bodies will experience. Do your research, watch youtube vids, listen to what people have to say, but most importantly choose a good bariatric team and trust your surgeon! Sent from my SM-N960U using BariatricPal mobile app

So frustrated. Right before everything went to Corona Hell, I was supposed to get a psych eval. I had been asking about it for months prior to thiat, and the place where I regularly see a doctor kept putting it off and putting it off, citing the fact that I "didn't want to get it too soon". Initially, I was scheduled for April 8th, and my psych eval was scheduled for March 25th. A week before that appt. I get the call from my surgeon's office that everything is on hold until June 10th. Okay, acceptable, considering. Frustrating af, but I completely understood. I got a call a few weeks ago from the surgeon's office asking if I was still interested. I said yes, and they reminded me that they still need my psych eval if I wanted to do it by June, otherwise they'd have to push me back to August. I had a telemed appt with my psych coming up, so I said I'd ask then. Of course, since elective surgery hadn't had a restart date as of then for my state (New Jersey), she balked and basically said "Ain't nobody got time for that." Last week the governor announced that elective surgeries in NJ are scheduled to begin on the 26th of this month. So, naturally, I call to ask about the psych eval, and am again denied--and by the temporary receptionist, no less, who didn't seem to be listening when I told her I wasn't a new patient ("They're not accepting new patients right now"). She checked and said my psych isn't doing any evals by telemed or otherwise. I'm done, yawl. I think what's exacerbating my frustration is the fact that I also recently had a conversation with my PCP and learned that I am pre-diabetic. Lovely. So I'm feeling a bit put out and dismissed by my psych people. I was hoping to avoid something like this; this was the point of going through this process to begin with. I feel alone. I get the sense that they're taking this attitude of it's not important due to it being elective, never mind that it's extremely life-altering and could possibly help me save my health. I think there's this stigma attached to it as if bariatric surgeries are considered frivolous; for instance, the reaction to people who opt for cosmetic surgeries. It's not the same thing. So here I am searching online for someone who might be able to help, perhaps another mental health provider in my area who does these by telemed. Sorry for bxtching. I...I just dunno what to do at this point.

Wow Susan! How do you have time to do this is the middle of a move? Much gratitude and thanks from us all out in Bariatric land! Xoxo

I, too, was denied by insurance. I went to KC Dr. Hoehn of KC Bariatric. It was about $14,000 by the time it was all said and done.

They specialize in bariatric s

10 hours in ER, finally got a room this morning. Not private though and not in bariatric floor. Only thing they did today was leak test which looked OK. I'm on iv fluids. When they gave me contrast for leak test I threw it up a few minutes later so still can't tolerate fluid. No one knows what's going on. Scary

You will have this post op diet regardless if you are banded or have a bypass After surgery you aren't hungry but as you heal and the swelling goes down your hungry does return. Once you get proper restriction - which can be your first fill or your 10th (it is diff for everyone & some people have restriction just from the band being in place and don't need a fill for quite a while) You don't have to do baby food - you have to have the texture of baby food. This is where protien powder and drinks come in real handy. I ate refried Beans, mashed potatoes, soft mushied up fish - zuchinne cooked real good. Being a meats & potato girl is what got you to the place where you are looking into bariatric surgery... The band is only a TOOL just like bypass is only a tool - it will be up to you to make healthy food choices and add exercise into your life. People who have been banded or have bypass can and do gain their weight back - Also it does depend on what your drug of choice is - are you a sweet eater or just an over eater - candy & ice cream goes right through the band - where as w/bypass you will dump - and have malnutriional problems .. Horsegirl - it doesn't matter which you choose - they both have their problems - it's a personal choice - but what you have to understand that with either of the surgeries - NO MORE FOOD IN THE QUAINTIES OR QUALITIES THAT YOU ARE USE TO EATING IF YOU WANT TO BE SUCCESSFUL... Neither of these surgeries are our quick fix magic cure to our food issues - you will still have head hungry (eating when you aren't really hungry just cuz it taste good) This is a lifetime lifestyle change - not a quick fix... IMHO if you are going to do something as drastic as surgery you better be ready to put the work in to loss the weight.. and let me tell you at times it is work and other times it not. Keep researching - ask questions - there are other surgeries you can have too VGS - but they all require heathly food choices & exercise by you (the one with the brain) cuz they only band your tummy and not the brain and half the problem lies in our mind not our tummies. Good luck on your journey....

I can understand that, if the country's health care system is gov't based. It doesn't mean I have to like it. They are not turning out their own citizens, but denying immigration. I am a Benefits Adminstrator for my company and see our premiums jump 10% or more with every renewal, because we are forced, through our premiums to subsidize un-insured people (both citizens and non-citizens) who either can't or won't pay their medical expenses. If the couple agree to not use the gov't medical system and pay for the expenses themselves, New Zealand should let them in.

I don't like pain. Surgery is painful, and gastric bypasses are major surgery. If I were in your shoes, I would try to find another surgeon in my area who would be willing to take on another surgeon's patient. If I couldn't find one, I'd go back to my original doctor. You might get a disapproving look. You might not. Explain that you were discouraged and afraid, but now you're ready to do what you can to make the band work for you (but this part applies only if you are really ready). I'm newly banded, but I've done a lot of reading and have learned that fills are fickle things. The first one doesn't usually give restriction to people. I was told to expect four to six fills (or more!) before mine would be where I need it to be. Maybe one fill wasn't enough for you. Don't forget that nutrition is important, too! If your surgeon didn't give you instructions on how to eat after you were banded, do research or call your surgeon's office! There's a wealth of information available in this and other forums. Find a nutritionist who specializes in bariatric surgery. Exercise!! If I did all of this and the band still wasn't helping me, I would consider other surgeries, but not before. Mainly because of the anesthesia, cutting, and recovery time :confused: Really, this is how *I* would approach it. You have to weigh your options and consider what is best for you. Lap-bands don't work for everyone; neither do bypasses. Sometimes it's because, for whatever reason, the particular method was incompatible with the patient's body. Sometimes it's because the patient cheated the system, which is possible with ANY weight loss procedure. You HAVE to follow the rules or you're not going to be successful. You HAVE to go to follow up appointments to make sure you're doing well and things are working as they should. *hugs* I understand feeling out of control and spiraling into a bad place. That's how I got to be 300 pounds. There came a time when I realized that what I was doing wasn't helping me at all. I had to pull myself up by my bootstraps (that was hard), admit to my mistakes (even harder), and decide what to do about the situation. It sucked! But I did it. And you can too. (Sorry for babbling and/or incoherency. I'm tired!)

i just got my orders of protein in the mail today. i ordered the sample packets from bariatric eating that betsy mentioned and i also ordered some sample packets from unjury that someone else on this site had mentioned. so far, i've tried the chicken soup one from unjury. it was really good. :frown: you mix it with 8oz warm water and it tastes like chicken broth. it even has the little green things in it. kinda salty but i added a little pepper and it was fine. it mixes well, too. it has 21g of protein in it. i am about to try the inspire dutch chocolate from bariatric eating and i'll let you know how that tastes.

I have attended seminar 8/3/13. Turned in my paperwork and medical records 8/15/13. Now waiting on nurse to call to schedule my appointment at the bariatric center by suburban. How did you decide on Dr. Gellar? Dr. Tanner was the one who did our seminar and I liked him. Haven't met any of the others.