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There are so any different programs and guidelines, I’m sure someone has been able to skip ahead. I personally know a couple people who went to eating scrambled eggs on day 4. It really depends. Is it the right thing for you? Well, I think that’s up to you and your bariatric team. I’ve heard that liquid phases are helped by taking in saltier things like broths, thinned soups, etc. if those don’t go well, Gatorade or other electrolyte drinks could be helpful. Just some ideas to help in this phase 😊 I do know it will get better, but definitely follow your instincts and don’t let the bariatric team brush off your concerns. 🌈

My only regret was that this surgery was not available years ago. I had my VSG 12 years ago, in my mid 50's. I am now 67 years old ( next week !) and lost and gained back weight my entire life. I weigh less now what I weighed in graduate school, which was in 1980. I have lost half of myself. I started at 320 before my pre surgery weight loss. I am not skinny by any means. But I went from super morbidly obese to now in the (high) but NORMAL range of BMI - but more than that, I have learned how to maintain my weight loss. Can you lose 70 pounds without Weight loss surgery ? I don't know. Will you lose 70 pounds with surgery ? YES. Is it scary to have surgery ? Yes, especially thinking about it ahead of time. But having surgery in your 30's is easier than in your 50's !!! And By the way, having bariatric surgery helps us to lose weight NATURALLY. There is nothing un-natural about surgical intervention for a medical problem. Don't think of yourself as being broken. Think of this surgical intervention as a medical necessity for your future.

Hello, I am new to these forums. In March of 2022, while in my rheumatologist's office for treatment for my autoimmune disorder, I was sent to the emergency room with what turned out to be a heart attack. On the day of my heart attack I was 44-years old, 5'11" 351 pounds with a blood pressure of 214/103. A couple days later I had my first visit with a cardiologist, who told me he believes I am a great candidate for bariatric surgey. I looked at him like he was crazy, "thats for people on 'My600-lb Life'" I thought. I didn't need that, besides 'men don't get this kind of surgery." A few months later after some thinking, searching for information on the internet and watching my father, who was not as big as me, pass away at 67. I decided I should look into it, worst case scenario, I get some diet tips. So In October I scheduled my first consult. Five months later, last week I was given my surgery date of 04/12/2023. Due to my auto immune disorder, my Doctor and myself have settled on the Gastric Sleeve. Back in October I was given a pre-op goal to get down to 330 pounds before my surgery. As of today I am at 296. I am excited, nervous and scared all at the same time. On one side I have people telling me "you look so good, you lost 50 pounds, keep going you don't need the surgery. On the other side, I have been able to do it before, but never to the amount where my BMI was in a healthy range and I always gained it back. Their answer is always "don't gain it back." If it was only that easy, I think. What really has me worried is the 2-week pre surgery liquid diet I start on 3/29. While I have been doing good things, mixing in protein shakes, eating a lot of soup... I'm terrified of slipping during that two weeks. How has everyone else dealt with that?

I am self-pay too. Surgery here in Texas with My Bariatric Solutions on 3/24. I started liquid diet today...I'm so jealous of other plans that allow for food pre-op! I can't even have yogurt or pudding. Good luck to you! Sent from my SM-S918U using BariatricPal mobile app

I saw Dr Pablo Fok Russell. I was very particular about where I went and it took me a very long time to decide. I do not have one negative comment at all. .. .NONE. When researching for a clinic to get gastric sleeve I looked on Tik Tok, and online. I knew what I did not want. I did not want to go to a facility that only did weight loss surgery. I did not want to go to a "factory". I think at larger facilities that only do one thing, like weight loss surgery, you get complacent in how you work. And can become only about profit. I wanted a physician whose main concern was my health. When I came across Dr. Pablo Fok Russel what impressed me the most was his career was not only bariatric surgery. He is well versed and knowledgeable in all areas of anti aging, weight loss, hormone therapies, hair loss, stem cell therapy, plastic surgery, cosmetic surgery, addiction medicine, etc. I was intentionally seeking a talented and intelligent doctor and I felt that I found one. I contacted the facility and had many emails with someone asking a multitude of questions. I never once felt pressured. i never once was told I had to put a deposit down to get answers. At other facilities I was told both. At other agencies I was pressured to put money down in order to speak to them. Money that was non refundable. Before I paid any money I was able to have the date I needed guaranteed. That was important to me also. I made my deposit, scheduled my date and prepared. When I arrived to San Diego my driver had contacted me the day prior with his picture and car information. He was waiting outside the airport for me. I was able to get off the plane, walk straight to him and was waiting at the car, I was inside the car in less than 5 minutes. It was effortless. We drove straight across the border, we were not stopped. We drove straight to the clinic. I was met by a woman with a big smile who opened my door and welcomed me by name. I was very impressed by this. I desired a personalized friendly environment and I was receiving it. Once inside to my pleasant surprise things were done quickly. I was given an EKG, blood work, x-rays, etc. The lab results from my blood test were back in less the 2 hours. Maybe even less. The anesthesiologist read them to me and I was impressed that they were received that quickly and accurate. In my first two hours, I meet the internal medicine physician, anesthesioligist, the X Ray technician, the nurses, and maybe more, because things moved quickly. I was SO happy that I was not just sitting around. I was in surgery that day. That evening was my most discomfort. I had two nurses that were very compassionate and kind to me. I was up all night long and they both were with me helping me. Helping me stand, walk, use the bathroom, etc. I was always with someone when I needed someone. The rest was very easy. I had an assortment of different nurses. Everyone responds different to surgery. I was tired and slept. My nurse Deigo would wake me to remind me to walk. It was not intrusive, and i was grateful. He was kind, polite and showed me compassion, his english was great. I was very thankful for him. All my nurses were good. Some stood out more then others. I liked Deigo because without him I would of slept all day and not done the things I needed to do. My night time nurses the first night, they deserved medals. Brenda and Clio were amazing. There was another, but I dont know his name. He was awesome! All were amazing!!! I have worked closely with Doctors in my profession. I am in behavioral health and I admire an intelligent, compassionate doctor with a good work ethic. And I found one. He was amazing. I am so impressed with his knowledge. And grateful that he shared some with me. In the United States as a patient, I do not get attention from Doctors. I only got their time as a co worker, never as a patient. Dr. Russel gave me attention as a patient and it was appreciated. And I learned a lot from him . I could not give a high enough rating and I am extremely impressed.

Is it possible? Yes. Is it likely? No. And even if you do lose it, you said yourself you have a lack of willpower. You would need to make solid, permanent dietary and lifestyle changes. Can you do that, and maintain it, on your own? And if so, why haven't you done it before now? I've lost weight several times, but I wasn't able to keep it off. Are you thinking about surgery because you have health concerns? Do you have comorbidities? Or is it just because you want to lose weight and drop a size or 2? Will you follow the bariatric diet to the letter and make all of the lifestyle changes that will be required? The surgery is a tool. And it's absolutely not easy at all to change your mindset, your relationship with food, and your eating habits. You have to go into it ready and willing to do everything required to improve your health and life. Surgery or not, you have to be ready for that. Can you say that you are?

Firstly hi all, I'm new here. My name is Helena. Just a little backdrop - I'm 37 years old, from the UK. I'm 5'9 and weigh 270lbs/20 stone. I talked to my local doctor recently about getting weight loss surgery and then I few weeks later I suddenly get a letter through telling me that an appointment has been booked with a bariatric surgeon in a few months time! If I'm approved I will be getting the surgery done on the NHS which means I essentially don't have to pay for it. That sounds like a blessing. But of course now I'm freaking out, being the massive coward I am I have been binge watching vlogs and from everything I'm hearing - whilst the end result is great - I don't know if I want to or even if I CAN go through the operation. For many reasons. Firstly I have never been operated on. I've never had children so don't know what childbirth or a c section feels like. I've been pretty blessed, aside from a herniated disc I had a few years ago, I've managed to live a pretty pain free life. The second thing might sound a little bit selfish but in my 30s I grew to accept myself as a bigger person. Whilst I hate the size that I am I feel like I don't really care about getting down to my ideal bmi and that I would be perfectly happy being 220lbs or if I'm really lucky 200lbs (I told you, thats gonna sound selfish). I can live with a heavier me. Ideally I just want to lose some weight. But by some I don't mean 10lbs, enough so that I can lose a few dress sizes. Many years ago I lost just one dress size and felt amazing, so much more confident. But that was in my 20s and achieved from pretty much a starvation diet (about 700-800 calories a day, only lasted a few weeks and of course eventually put it all back on). I won't be able to do a starvation diet in my 30s, don't have the willpower now. So I want to keep the surgery option as my last, last, LAST option (without sounding ungrateful) but so far all the success stories I've heard of people who have lost roughly 50lbs-70lbs or more is that it was achieved through some sort of surgery. Do you honestly think its achievable to lose the weight naturally within a year (I need to lose it within a year) or do you think I should just prepare myself for the surgery?? Sorry if you think its a stupid question, I'm just kinda lonely with no one else to really turn to so I kinda need to get this off my chest. If you think it can be achieved naturally could you tell me what diet/weight loss plan I should opt for? Thank you for listening x

Greetings - I received approval from my insurance today and the Bariatric team informed me that I will be having a robotic surgery… my surgeon will be in the room but my sleeve surgery will be performed by a robot… has anyone heard of this?????

I had my surgery on Monday 3/13, so I’m 3 days post-op (my bariatric team considers surgery day to be “day 0”). Pain was manageable Day 0 and 1, but as soon as the anesthesia wore off, I could barely walk. Turns out I had gas putting pressure on my large incision. Increasing to the high end of the pain meds dose made everything so much better. I can walk now and started Protein shakes today. I’ve spent the whole day trying to get through the first shake while also drinking Gatorade with Miralax to get things going.

Hello, As of Feb 18th, I was 4 years out from surgery. Surgery went well, except for about 2 weeks after surgery I had sever GERD. The doctors weren't sure what was causing it other than I went from the Lap Band to Sleeve. It lasted about 2 weeks and then there after never had a issue until just recently. I was taking 1 Prilosec a day and now bumped it to 2x a day. Since that was not really working, I tried Pepcid and that has not worked that I can tell. I do have an appointment next week with my bariatric doctor and Im thinking they are going to order a upper GI. Im just wondering if anyone has experience this being this far out from surgery. I thought with being 4 years out that I wouldn't have this issue. Im scared to death that they won't figure it out and they will try to transition me to full bypass. Thank you,

I’m also really sensitive to the metallic, chemical flavor of protein shakes (Muscle Milk makes me want to vomit), so I tried dozens of different protein shakes before my surgery. My favorites: Fairlife Vanilla (melted DQ ice cream is the best way to describe it), Fairlife Chocolate (like chocolate milk), Premiere Protein Cake Batter (to me, this tastes like a vanilla shake should) I like these flavors blended with ice and banana: Fairlife Power Strawberry Banana, Premiere Protein Chocolate, Premiere Protein Peanut Butter Chocolate For unflavored protein, I use Bariatric Fusion. Can be mixed in with all sorts of things, like yogurt, sugar free pudding and Gatorade Zero. I’ve also heard that Unjury protein powder is good (but haven’t tried it yet).

There's a chicken flavored protein that I mixed with hot bone broth. That wasn't terrible, lol. I was able to get to 3 weeks then I started small amounts of well chewed chicken or salmon. As for protein shakes I got to the point where I couldn't stand Premier or Orgain. But pre-made Orgain Clean still tastes good. The chicken protein powder is Bariatric Fusion Chicken Soup Meal Replacement 27g Protein Powder They also have a Strawberry Banana that is pretty good. Sent from my SM-S908U using BariatricPal mobile app

My surgery is in two days so I'm thinking WAY down the road but I'm curious - does anybody use a healthy meal delivery service like Hello Fresh, Hungryroot, etc? I'm a single mom of two with a demanding job and I wonder if it might make sense to use a service like this (eventually) to take the pressure off meal prep once or twice a week. In your opinion, are any of these services bariatric-friendly, specifically the keto plans?

Hi All , thanks so much that valuable info .I dread trying to get an appointment with my G/P - as anyone in the UK will tell you - it's a miracle if you don't just get the nurse or pharmacist . The dietitian told me that gentle Iron , Feraglobin , and Bariatric Vits won't do it for me and I need to get a treatment plan off my G/P .Yeah like that's easy . She is sending me to be re-tested in a month .I have found it nigh on impossible to stomach ANY food that isn't soft ie I live on cottage cheese , shakes , Oatabix ( when it's soft ) and yogurt plus Protein water .I have really tried to digest proper food but it kills me going down .I can manage chocolate and am tempted to have some very dark chocolate every day to get my iron up .It doesn't give me the runs . Memoryissues - you are so right .The dietitian will only do so much .I wish I could have an infusion but I'm likely just to be put on Ferrous Fumerate which hasn't worked so far . Thanks for all the tips everyone re caffeine , spacing out my iron pills, the Vit C etc .I can't have V8 juice unfortunately as I have a stoma ( have a colostomy ) and veg juice would play merry hell with it .My stoma must be male 'cos it's very loud , embarasses me in front of people ,and never shuts up 😒😆

You have very good reasons for having the surgery & questions & doubts about progressing are common. It’s surgery. It changes your digestive system. There is a period of healing & recovery. To be successful for the long term, you will have to make changes to how, what & why you eat & your relationship with food. The months post surgery give you time to work through all of this & certainly therapy, as @SleeverSk suggested, can be very helpful. The surgery also gives you time to develop better eating habits & routines like being more mindful. Will you forget & take a too big sip or bite or eat too quickly? Yes it will happen but your body soon tells you & you’re usually extra careful after the experience. Often all you’ll experience is just discomfort but occasionally foamies or vomiting. Complications after surgery aren’t common and many are related to pre existing conditions or predispositions. The risks are lower for bariatric surgeries than many other common surgeries. I used to control almost all my reflux with dietary choices before surgery (no spicy, fatty or rich food, little carbonation & reduced caffeine) which is why I had sleeve. I still have reflux but it is different & I need meds every day which I didn’t before. I hate taking tablets & often forget. Multi vitamins always make me nauseous but my bloods are good & I don’t need to take them anymore though some sleevers still do. Just depends on your diet & absorption for us. But it is a necessity after bypass as malabsorption of calories (& therefore nutrients) is how it contributes to your weight loss. Dumping can occur with bypass (about 40% chance I think) but if you discover you have it it is simply a matter of avoiding fats or sugars as they are the usual culprits. Some even find they can eat small amounts as time passes. You can also have it with a sleeve but it is less common (30%??). The average weight loss with sleeve & bypass is about the same 65% +/- of the weight you have to lose to put you in a healthier weight range. Some lose more some lose less. Make a list of your questions to discuss with your surgeon. They’re best placed to answer them in relation to your specific needs, health status/issues & weight loss/gain history. All the best whichever surgery you have.

Ask your Doctor to check your vitamin levels to make sure you’re not deficient in anything especially iron (ferritin), vitamin d and zinc. I agree that a regular Bariatric multivitamin should be enough however I think that supplementing with amino acid L Lysine is beneficial. Ask your Doctor of course! Good luck ❤️

My bariatric surgeon is in Washington DC but I'm now living in Australia, so I'm working my primary care doctor. He does understand why I need to do regular blood tests and has been quite good about it. I have done the fecal smear and am awaiting results. My doctor wants to rule out colon cancer, but he has not mentioned the possibility of bleeding at the stoma. I'll raise this with him when I go in to discuss the results of this test. I just started iron supplements in response to these most recent low iron levels. I'm also going to raise the possibility of an iron infusion at my next appointment. Thanks so much for your thoughtful comments!

I don't understand why surgeons ask their patients to use chewable vitamins. Flavorless capsules dissolve quickly once they're taken orally, and they don't get stuck. Solid tablets definitely can cause issues. I use BariatricPal Multivitamin ONE “1 per Day!” flavorless capsules from https://store.bariatricpal.com/collections/bariatricpal-multivitamin-one! BariatricPal has a special offer where it’ll cost you only $99 for an entire year's supply! Check it out at https://store.bariatricpal.com/99 With just ONE convenient & affordable BariatricPal Multivitamin ONE daily, you can get the bariatric vitamins and minerals you need to stay healthy! BariatricPal Multivitamin ONE was designed and developed by the world’s leading Bariatric medical professionals. Please take a calcium supplement separately to prevent interference with iron absorption. You can view a large selection of bariatric-friendly Calcium supplements at https://store.bariatricpal.com/collections/calcium. You can also find MANY other brands of bariatric multivitamins at https://store.bariatricpal.com/collections/multivitamins.

If you take a real bariatric multivitamin and consume enough protein, you should be covered. There's no need to buy a separate hair vitamin. I use BariatricPal Multivitamin ONE “1 per Day!” flavorless capsules from https://store.bariatricpal.com/collections/bariatricpal-multivitamin-one! BariatricPal has a special offer where it’ll cost you only $99 for an entire year's supply! Check it out at https://store.bariatricpal.com/99 With just ONE convenient & affordable BariatricPal Multivitamin ONE daily, you can get the bariatric vitamins and minerals you need to stay healthy! BariatricPal Multivitamin ONE was designed and developed by the world’s leading Bariatric medical professionals. Please take a calcium supplement separately to prevent interference with iron absorption. You can view a large selection of bariatric-friendly Calcium supplements at https://store.bariatricpal.com/collections/calcium. You can also find MANY other brands of bariatric multivitamins at https://store.bariatricpal.com/collections/multivitamins.

I can't speak to whether the vitamins that say they help will. I did ask my surgeon about a month ago what I needed to look for in a vitamin if I wanted to switch to a different one. She said that as long as it has bariatric in the name, it should provide the nutrients I need (I double checked labels anyway). I can tell you that I lost what looked like a lot of hair every day around 3-4 months. I did not go bald, but I could tell that my hair was thinner. I have noticed it growing back this month (months 9-10). It does get better.

I have a quick question. If I order some bariatric vitamins that are for helping to stop hair loss will this effect my bariatric multivitamin? Like will I get too much of certain vitamins? Also has anyone tried these and did they help or not? I am losing tons of hair after 3 and a half months out from surgery, it’s scaring me I need some advice!

I was sleeved 2/23/23 at West Medical in Tarzana CA. Cost - $10,000. Time from first consult to surgery was 3 weeks. I had a psych eval phone call, and one zoom nutrition class on post op diet. Pre -op tests were done through my insurance, including EKG, labs, chest xray and sleep apnea test. Days on the PreOp liquid diet is based on BMI. The surgery is outpatient, but if there are complications, it is possible to spend the night. My surgery was scheduled for noon, and I was back in my hotel room by 6:00PM. I did pee before I left, but pretty much the requirements were being awake enough to put your clothes on. The facility was clean, and they welcomed my husband and tried to make him as comfortable as possible, but they said most family don't wait there. It was raining, and we were 3 hours from home, so he didn't really have anywhere else to go. We spent the night before in a hotel so we would not have to worry about the long drive in LA traffic in the morning, and the night after in case of any complications we would be close by. I would give every staff member I encountered 5 stars. From administrative staff to the nursing staff, they were all wonderful and very responsive. When I arrived, there were 2 patients Post-op, and the nurses were very supportive and caring. My consult was done with a bariatric Dr., but not the actual surgeon. He had been sleeved as well, and has a great repore with patients. I met him day of the surgery as he assists. He was also the one that did my follow up call 5 days later. I met my surgeon right before the surgery, but nothing since. He didn't even talk to my husband after, even though it is a small facility and he was right there. There will be another follow up call 4 weeks post op. I have phone numbers to call if there are any complications, I haven't had any, but I have no doubt they would be handled promptly and taken seriously, although remotely. They want to be notified by any ER or urgent care facility if necessary. PostOp full liquid diet is 4 weeks, then 1-2 weeks pureed, and 1-2 weeks soft. All in all I had a good experience and no regrets, but I do lack the relationship with the surgeon and follow up support. I've joined a local support group through my insurance, and am finding my way with groups like this.

Are you working with your bariatric surgeon on this or your primary care family doctor? While this may well be unrelated to your WLS, a bariatric doctor will, of course, be more sensitive to issues specific to their specialty than a generalist. My thoughts, not as an MD but just from having been around the WLS world for a couple decades, is that if it is WLS related, then given the fairly rapid onset of this, I would be looking for some bloodloss somewhere. With an RNY, the likely place would be the stoma, as that is a delicate structure that is easily irritated - if the semi-common marginal ulcers occur, that is where they usually happen. It may not be particularly symptomatic, but some minor blood loss can occur unnoticed until something like this shows up - one of those simple fecal smear tests can show whether there is any blood in your stool. If there is, then an endoscopy can show where it's coming from, and if there isn't any, then you have eliminated one possibility. Iron supplements may or may not do much for an RNY person, as most of our mineral absorption occurs in the duodenum (part of the small intestine immediately downstream of the stomach) which gets bypassed along with the stomach; this is why iron infusions are not uncommon for malabsorbing WLS patients with iron problems. Were you on iron supplements to begin with and then increased the dosage, or just started when this problem showed up? I had an internal bleed a few years ago (non-WLS related, though certainly symptomatic) that sapped my iron levels, but not quite to the point of needing an infusion, and they came back after a few months of doubling my normal iron supplement (but I have a VSG, so not the same absorption problems as an RNY or DS will have,) and now I don't take any at all. For now. Good luck in getting this worked out....

I started vitamins one week post-op. The instructed me to take the chewables. I have the bariatric pal chewable multi with 45 g of iron. I think the flavor is mixed berry. It tastes okay. They also advised me not to take capsules. So I have to open up the Prilosec gel cap and pour the medicine on applesauce. All my other medications are pills and I cut them in half. I've had no problems with nausea. Sent from my SM-G981U1 using Tapatalk

My team instructed me to start vitamins at 3 weeks post op. The chewable vitamins with iron didn't really upset my tummy, they just don't taste that great. I recently (at about 4 months post op) switched to the one-a-day capsule that Bariatric Pal sells. I've had no issue with them at all.