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I am hesitant to weigh in here but what does one do when they have an opposite reaction to #3? I was seeking surgery, jumped through all hoops my insurance and bariatric practice requested and/or required. Now I am told they no longer desire to perform my surgery. The excuse I was given sounds suspiciously like a professional version,of #3. Since I was given no input as to how this could be repaired or circumvented- I will seek enterance into another program.My ex-program was in a Center of Excellence hospital, my new one will be be also. I am still committed to a future WLS bottom line, I feel the ex program was a waste of my precious time. I am neither a troll nor a spammer, merely a person hurt by the turn of events. Sent from my VS880PP using BariatricPal mobile app

Good luck Trixie82, I hope it all works out for you. If I can be of any help for you or answer any. questions I'll be more then happy to. That's something nice about Bariatric Pal, we all,try to help each other. Good luck with your future surgery. Sent from my VS880PP using BariatricPal mobile app

I am going to Mexico Bariatric Center. I would love any feedback if someone else has also had their surgery there. Thanks!!

Has any one had VSG or any other bariatric surgery with Dr. Sunil K Sharma ?

D Roseman and I share a state, we are both Buckeyes. I'm from the center part, she's from the NW part and not too far from Lake Erie. I've been following her journey and I imagine she's been following mine. I'm guessing she'll have hers hefore I have mine but we'll see. After your surgery they'll be wrong about everything being bigger in Texas, because I have faith you're going to be smaller. It may be a bumpy ride but it's going to be so worth it. If there's anything any of us can do to help you we'll be only too happy to. I myself have learned so much from the veterans here I'd like to pay it forward. Welcome to Bariatric Pal. Sent from my VS880PP using BariatricPal mobile app

I am so glad that a woman who had been through it gave me the insider tips on my facelift. I owe her big time for: 1) convincing me not to have my face done by the bariatric plastic surgeon who did our body lifts, and 2) preparing me that I would look like monster after my facelift. In the end, I got the most incredible amazing life-changing facelift from a FACIAL plastic surgeon, Dr. Catherine Winslow, and she was cheaper than my body contouring plastic surgeon wanted for the facelift who never could have done the work that she did. And I did not have an emotional breakdown when I woke up form surgery and looked like a monster... and slightly inhuman for weeks afterwards. Although it was quite a shock to my family! I repeat: Be prepared. If you get a facelift by a facial plastic surgeon s/he is likely to do a whole lot more to maximize the improvements to your facelift after weight loss than a bariatric plastic surgeon is able to do. Thusly this extensive amount of work might leave you looking slightly inhuman for a week or more, as it did me. And, like me, you may not look like yourself for months. Now I will prepare you just like my friend prepared me. Here are a couple of photos from the early weeks after my facelift. I look slightly inhuman or at least like someone beat me up. And you will, too, so be prepared for this and avoid a panic attack after your facial plastic surgery! This links to my blog post. http://www.mybariatriclife.org/my-facelift-after-weight-loss-and-looking-slightly-inhuman/

My surgery in Mexico is scheduled for April 6th. Everyone, including my husband, was absolutely against it and tried to shame me for even thinking of medical tourism. I did a lot of research on the facility, the doctor performing my surgery, success rates and statistics for the hospital, independent testimonials and blogs...pretty much anything I could find on medical tourism. While I still have some friends that aren't convinced, I did finally get my husband to agree. One of the deciding factors for him is that the cost of a companion is included in the cost of the surgery so he will be with me the entire time. Also, Mexico Bariatric Center is owned by a US corporation which also gave us some comfort. I simply couldn't afford the $23K which would be the cost for me to get the surgery done in Oregon. I have Fibromyalgia and Rheumatoid Arthritis which are both aggravated by excess weight. I can't do much exercise because the pain is extreme. I have been told by my primary care doctor as well as rheumatologist that losing weight will help my conditions. I cannot find any concrete evidence that having the surgery in Mexico is any riskier than having it done in the US.

... and with that, I think my time on Bariatric Pal has come to an end. Good luck, everyone!

I'm here, always ready to listen, I'm the Bariatric Grandma, probably the oldest pal currently, doesn't mean I have everything together, just means it took a few more years for me to have my "come to Jesus" moment about weight loss. Like many I tried diets, most every one to come out under the sun, least I ever weighed was 7lb12oz, most 355 last October. I'm currently 323 on a 5ft8in body so I have a BMI of 47-48. I'm widowed have 1 son who lives with,me code name on here is Tomkitten, real name is Bryan, 1 daughter R D short for Rotten Daughter and she so richly deserves the title, and 1 son who died suddenly at 31, of an underdiagnosed heart abnormality. So I have had some sorrow in my life, but then we all have. I am 72,recently parted company with 1 bariatric program and will be switching to another. I had contact with ex program for 2 1/2 years, after putting my faith and trust in them they kicked me to the curb. If you want to hear more I can tell you or you can go to my posting on "Change Your Hospital" I wrote it shortly after the experience. I am not soured on WLS in general, only on them. I will be happy and proud to answer any and all questions you have. I originally was having bariatric surgery early-mid March in Columbus Ohio, now maybe a slight delay but I still plan a roux n Y gastric bypass. I have done oodles of research, feel it's best for my case but know about VSG and the others. Also had a lot of life experience, a straight shooting type of gal, I promise never to tell you any lies. I've suffered with esteem issues also, low confidence. Don't sound like it? Well I'm a lot braver on paper than I was in the real life. I was a wet soggy doormat for friends and family, went through a lot of belittlements and putdowns trying to win love. First thing I thought was I'm not worthwhile, I'm a nobody, I don't deserve to be treated better. Then I reared back on my haunches, said I gave no one permission to treat me shabbily and I'm trying to stand up tall and proud again. I've had 2 knee replacements so not as easy as it once was. But i will make it through, I'm tough, I'm strong and I deserve the best of everything. Also have sleep apnea, GERD and arthritis but I'll still keep going. Sent from my VS880PP using BariatricPal mobile app

Hello all, I have my first appointment with a bariatric surgeon on Monday and I'm nervous about what to expect moving forward. I've been reading through the forums and am looking forward to having a strong support system. Maria

@kakatlady612 yes, i feel much better now. i will finally get some sleep tonight LOL sorry things aren't that great for you now. but you have so many friends and counting, tomorrow will be a new and better day never fear, i will always have your back!! your bariatric god-aunt kathy

So are we all better now Kathy? I'm praying so you'll still be my bariatric god-aunt, my natural family's pretty well died out. I need you, Fluffy Chix, Creek Imp and Little Green to have my back, life has been pummeling me recently. Sent from my VS880PP using BariatricPal mobile app

I take Bariatric Advantage multi with Iron and A & K twice daily. I also take D-3, Zinc, Biotin, once a day and calcium chews three times a day.

Mine did. But my therapist was very supportive. She's more of a life coach at this point in my life, and she thought surgery was a great idea. A lot of what we spoke about were the goals I wanted to reach, and how my weight was prohibiting them. She also knows the stuggles that I faced trying to lose the weight after the birth of my child. I would dedicate myself to diet after diet, hours in the gym, with little to no results. Does your psychologist know THE WHY behind the surgery for you? Does she know other things you've tried, the struggles you have had, etc. You maybe should ask her what she knows about bariatric surgery. And if she has an unfavorable opinion, might be a good idea to remind her that projecting her assumptions on you are kind of against the rules of her job. Maybe bring some research with you? Good luck!

Hi. My psychiatrist is also a psychotherapist, so therapy is part of the relationship. i seperately have to pass the psych evaluation with the bariatric psych recommended by the clinic. My question is whether the bariatric psych would require my psychiatrist’s sign off. Thanks!

This is the best quote from the "Low-fat or Low-carb?" article: "On both sides, we heard from people who had lost the most weight that we had helped them change their relationship to food, and that now they were more thoughtful about how they ate." In all of my time participating in BP, that's what I keep saying. There are those on here who don't buy into low carb or keto diets. I get that. But I do take some offense when it is called a fad diet. I have been eating this way for 2 years (since six months pre-op), and it is a key to my success. I have eaten this way with the support of my entire medical team (PCP and bariatric), and my labs continue to be perfect -- absolutely perfect. I am below goal, and have been maintaining for months with ease. That being said, this way of eating isn't for everyone, just like treating food as strictly fuel isn't for everyone. The later was necessary for me, and the former is sustainable for me; that is the key. For me, however one chooses to proceed with this journey, the key to success is making the relationship with food positive and healthy. In so many posts on BP, that continues to be the issue. People treat the surgery (whichever one they choose) as if it's the primary answer when it is merely a supporting player.

“I have to eat..what? For how long?” This is a common response I receive from my clients when we begin discussing what their diet will be like after surgery. Most bariatric surgery candidates fear the pureed stage. Many feel it it is like eating “baby food,” and associate it with being unappetizing. While some surgeons have done away with this stage, it continues to be used in a significant amount of bariatric surgery centers. If you need to be on a pureed diet, take a look at the following strategies to help make this part of your journey easier. Buy the Right Equipment Having the right equipment will save you time in the kitchen and make your life easier. These kitchen tools include a high speed blender and ice cube trays. The high speed blender will help you prepare your food faster and give you a smoother consistency. The ice cube trays can be used to freeze your pureed food items in, so you can just “pop” them out and reheat for your meals later. Prepare Ahead of Time It may be helpful for you to prepare your food before you have surgery to reduce your anxiety. This will also give you more time to focus on your healing instead of worrying about what your next meal will be. As an extra bonus, this will develop your meal prepping skills which will be an important habit to develop as you embark on this new chapter in your lif. Use Spices Don’t be afraid to use spices to increase the flavor of your food. While “spicy” seasonings are usually not recommended initially after surgery, other more “cooling” spices ones such as basil, dill or oregano may be well tolerated. Plus, there are extra antioxidants stored in those spices. Add these seasoning during the cooking process to fully develop the flavors. Garnish Your Food Garnish? Really? This may seem like a silly step but it is helpful to make your food look attractive. If it appears unappetizing, then you likely will not enjoy the food. Try placing parsley on the side or garnish with basil flakes to add some color. It may also be helpful to serve your food in pretty dish-ware to feel more festive. Make Your Own Food Skip the baby food! Baby food usually doesn’t taste very good and may have added sugars or other ingredients that are not bariatric friendly. Food that you prepare from scratch usually tastes better and is healthier for you. Try modifying one of the dishes you already love. Instead of a traditional lasagna, prepare a lasagna that uses zucchini noodles and ground turkey. Blend it up in the blender and have a delicious meal on hand. If all else fails, remember this is only temporary and you will soon be eating regular food again soon. Have you already completed the pureed stage? What tips do you have? Please let me know in the comments below.

Most bariatric surgery candidates fear the pureed stage. Many feel it it is like eating “baby food,” and associate it with being unappetizing. While some surgeons have done away with this stage, it continues to be used in a significant amount of bariatric surgery centers. If you need to be on a pureed diet, take a look at the following strategies to help make this part of your journey easier. Buy the Right Equipment Having the right equipment will save you time in the kitchen and make your life easier. These kitchen tools include a high speed blender and ice cube trays. The high speed blender will help you prepare your food faster and give you a smoother consistency. The ice cube trays can be used to freeze your pureed food items in, so you can just “pop” them out and reheat for your meals later. Prepare Ahead of Time It may be helpful for you to prepare your food before you have surgery to reduce your anxiety. This will also give you more time to focus on your healing instead of worrying about what your next meal will be. As an extra bonus, this will develop your meal prepping skills which will be an important habit to develop as you embark on this new chapter in your lif. Use Spices Don’t be afraid to use spices to increase the flavor of your food. While “spicy” seasonings are usually not recommended initially after surgery, other more “cooling” spices ones such as basil, dill or oregano may be well tolerated. Plus, there are extra antioxidants stored in those spices. Add these seasoning during the cooking process to fully develop the flavors. Garnish Your Food Garnish? Really? This may seem like a silly step but it is helpful to make your food look attractive. If it appears unappetizing, then you likely will not enjoy the food. Try placing parsley on the side or garnish with basil flakes to add some color. It may also be helpful to serve your food in pretty dish-ware to feel more festive. Make Your Own Food Skip the baby food! Baby food usually doesn’t taste very good and may have added sugars or other ingredients that are not bariatric friendly. Food that you prepare from scratch usually tastes better and is healthier for you. Try modifying one of the dishes you already love. Instead of a traditional lasagna, prepare a lasagna that uses zucchini noodles and ground turkey. Blend it up in the blender and have a delicious meal on hand. If all else fails, remember this is only temporary and you will soon be eating regular food again soon. Have you already completed the pureed stage? What tips do you have? Please let me know in the comments below.

OK let me start with a warning. My experience is not the norm for this surgery and it is a long story so I will do it in sections. Also some background. It actually started in the late 80's or early 90's don't really remember. Bariatric surgery was really in its infancy. I was in my late 40's early 50's. Part 1: The first surgery I had was to have my stomach stapled. That worked to a point, I lost about 80lbs. I was getting so depressed at never being able to eat over about 2 shot glasses of food, After about 10 years of this I just wanted to be able to eat. I knew that this surgery was completely reversible so in about 98 or so I had it reversed. I was able to eat again and loved it but started gaining weight. I was around 190 then. My weight just kept going up. At about 275 I heard about a surgery at that time called a BPD-DS which very few doctors did but there was one about 150 miles from us. My wife was also quite overweight. We thought about it for around a year or so. In 99 we decided we would both get this if insurance would cover it. To our surprise they would so we joined the wait. The doctor Adrian Heap had been doing this for quite some time and felt comfortable with him. Dr. Heap told us that all we would have to do post surgery was take a multiple vitamin and we could eat anything we wanted that didn't bother us and we would lose weight. Sounded like a miracle. The internet was really new and there was very little info on this procedure. It just sounded too good to be true. Our turn came up in around 2000, mine was first. At the time this guy was doing about 3 of these a week. I was a little leary when it came to the night before and the only clean out we had to do was to drink 2 bottles of MOM and stay at a hotel that he had previously made arrangement with for all his patients. So early the next morning I went in and by that afternoon it had been done. I spent about a month recuperating and was able to return to work on the railroad. My wife was 6 months after mine. Everything went along just fine the first couple of years, or at least I thought it was. I was eating everything I wanted to and take my multiple vitamin. The weight was just melting off. People at work started noticing I was looking really bad, pale getting thin and I just shrugged it off. I continued to lose weight. I started not feeling very well at around the 6 year point but not so bad that I was worried. I hadn't seen Dr.Heap in a few years, he was still doing the surgery but had come up with and unapproved version of the operation by then he called the mini BPD-DS. I read some horror stories about it. I started getting worried in early 07. I was down to about 150 and thought I was fine but by then my PCP didn't like the way I was looking and did a big battery of labs. He found I was dangerously low on albumin and several other things but the albumin was the worst, it was at 1.8. In the summer of 07 he had me admitted to the hospital for an infusion of albumin. It was supposed to be just overnite. They started the infusion and part way into the first bag of it I had a reaction, anaphylaxis. I came out of it and they continued the infusion, first mistake. The second reaction was worse, they couldn't get me to start breathing again normally. They rushed me to ICU. They put the tube in and all I remember is that first breath of air. The put me in a medically induced coma and on the respirator. I'll stop here for now. It starts getting pretty dicey after this.

Here are a few more reasons to choose COE Another important feature of an accredited Center of Excellence is the training that is required. Below are a few of the required training courses that the hospital’s staff are required to take. Obesity Sensitivity Training Proper Moving of an Obese Patient Recognizing the signs and symptoms of bariatric surgery complications Post-op care of the bariatric patient Bariatric surgery post-op nutrition For these reasons its a good idea to have your surgery done at a COE even if your insurance doesn’t require it.

You would want to choose a COE whether your insurance requires or not IMHO COE stands for Center of Excellence. Hospitals have to go through a rigorous reporting process and inspection to become a COE certified hospital. Along with having certain types of equipment geared towards the bariatric patient, they also have to maintain minimum number bariatric cases per year in order to maintain their standing. Hospitals that are accredited Bariatric Centers of Excellence are required to maintain a minimum of 140 bariatric procedures per year. Currently, in the United States there are two institutions that inspect facilities, collect data, and accredit hospitals with the Bariatric Center of Excellence designation. The American Society of Metabolic Surgeons (ASMBS) and… The Surgical Review Corporation (SRC) While these institutions have slightly different requirements, the intent is the same. Their accreditation signifies a level of excellence in the field of bariatric medicine.

So, one of the great things about my surgical program is that they both do the surgeries and they are also involved in doing a lot of research being a teaching group. Yesterday i met with my surgeon and during the appointment she mentions that she has seen that those who have bariatric surgery and are on an antidepressant medication tend to lose more weight and have an easier time through the process. So my question is has anyone one else heard this or were you offered meds leading up to the surgery and then post surgery? Generally im not the type who likes to take meds without reason and while i initially said "yes you are the one with the experience and you think it is a good idea then lets go ahead" to the surgeon, but now im second guessing my decision.

Update and cold*** sober serious**** After a relationship of 2 1/2 years, off and on, I feel my bariatric program has kicked me to the curb. I completely finished the program once- in Spring 2016 and after a change of insurance, the new insurance had approved me for surgery and I could have had it then. They never told me of this fact until maybe a week ago. I started the process once again in November 2017, got all my prerequirements done December 2017 thru January 2018. Things looking well , yes? Not so you' d notice, when checking over my paperwork the contracted psychologist not even affiliated with the hospital had given me a less than stellar evaluation. This self-same person had told me face to face I had passed all testing and she would submit it into my records. Not my word against hers for my son (who is an adult) heard her also. So they had a meeting yesterday, I called it the Bariatric Court of Appeals. I was ruled against, none of the 3 surgeons were willing to continue the case. The scheduling woman who called me back suggested I get counselling, how can I do that when I don't know where I did wrong or what hidden flaws I may have? I did receive a grudging admittal that the records belong to me and could be released to another program of my choosing. So I called the other programs in that city, both Centers of Excellence Hospitals, one wanted the paperwork and then they would consider me, the other invited me to the first informational seminar they had open during the day, March 10th, said I could fill out release of information paperwork that day and get things moving.Which one do I really want? To tell the truth I wanted the place that was not faithful to me. I had re-arrainged my life to have nothing bar the early-mid March date they had originally promised. Will I have to start back at the total beginning of a new program, Gee i hope not for I am not getting any younger. Do I feel my deepest wishes and desires were violated? Dang straight! Those if you who have read my postings know me to be a level- headed straight shooter of a gal. I hate duplicity in any form, always have, always will.I am not doing well being told I am unworthy, not good enough or important enough to go forward with surgery. I would have tried my best to be a model patient, wouldn't have complained of pain or anything else. They did not give me a fair chance to be successful. Do I go along losing a pound or 2 a week and hope that's enough to prevent me from dying prematurely? I can't lose any more sizable amount without surgical assistance, Lord knows I've tried everything up to and including starving myself. No diet really works. Any advice Bari-brothers and Bari-sisters?----- kakatlady 612 Sent from my VS880PP using BariatricPal mobile app

@Nanajoy@Sammy 10-30 glad you both are enjoying Bariatric Plan. ask any and alll of your questions suggest maybe use the SEARCH button in top right hand corner you will find that many OP have already asked the same ?, and you can learn from them. you will get answers, opinions, experiences and more many responses will be different because we are all supposed to do only what our NUT tells us to do never compare yourself to others - you'll learn many important/valuable things here. after listening to OP, medical questions should be asked and answered by your doc or NUT good luck kathy

Didn't your doc give you a plan in advance with a list of what you can and cannot have? We all get told different things and doctors have their own way of doing things. Some were allowed lean meats, others (like myself) were not. Liquids diets generally mean broth, speciality bariatric/protein soups, shakes, and maybe things like jello. The liquid diet isn't going to be tons of fun no matter how you cut it. It's a short bit of suffering for a lot of long term good. Main thing is that you should be getting a solid answer from your clinic and not this website. Go with what your doc tells you to do.