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I'm with Way2go123 ... what works for one, may not work for all. Pre-surgery I tried every shake I could get my hands on and discussed with my support group. Personally, I use unjury vanilla or chocolate powder every day in my coffee ... I am terrified of hair loss, so I am not using it as my meals, but supplementing my Protein. Also have used Bariatric Advantage, really liked the coffee flavor, their powders shake up nice and thick and even GNC has a great premade grab and go Lean Shake. I loved the pumpkin spice flavor they had that was seasonal so I grabbed up several cases. Pretty much in the same boat with the Vitamins. I really like the Opurity chewable Band specific Vitamin, but it nauseates the heck out of me. Find something that works for you BEFORE your surgery ... you want to stock up so that's one less thing you have to think about while recovering.

I had to wear them after my knees were replaced but I have no idea about bariatric surgery, mammecan said she didn't have to wear them so let's ask others that have had their surgery. AFTER. SURGERY, DO YOU HAVE TO WEAR SUPPORT HOSE ? Take care, Mary

Dr. Krahn and Dr. Chin at Western Bariatric in San Bernardino CA use the silicon band. The have offices in Riverside, San Bernardino and Rancho Cucamonga CA.

Rinny. I am using Bariatric Advantage crystals citrus splash and really like it but I have to have it morning and night. It goes in 8oz of water and sipping it takes a while and I still need to get my 2 shakes in and 3 meals and find I get to full. So I thought the chewable would be fasted, it ha no sugar and should not have caused a problem?! Ha Ha

I really, really hate to be treated like I am stupid; one of my "buttons" so to speak. So here I am on Rants and Raves asking for your help. I had gastric sleeve surgery a year ago. I have told no one that I had surgery. So posting this is my way of reaching out to someone besides my husband. After the surgery, my surgeon told my husband that everything went very smoothly. After a few hours my blood pressure was dropping below 70/30, the nurse called "a staff assist." About ten people suddenly yet calmly came into my room, surrounding my bed, attaching equipment etc. I was rushed back into another 2 and 1/2 hours of surgery. My husband and I were told that the surgeon checked and re-checked everything and never could find the cause of my internal bleeding. "It happens," we were told. We accepted that I was one of the few who have complications with gastric sleeve surgery. I was sent home on a step one, liquid diet for three weeks, gradually progressing to full liquids then mushies and so on. I was hospitalized about two weeks after my surgery when I experienced syncope, i.e. I passed out. I was taken off my bp meds. The hospitalist visited me in my room and casually mentioned that he'd been there when I went into surgery the second time. He said that he'd never seen anyone squirt blood like I did and that they used all the factor X coagulant on hand during my surgery. A year passes. I never see the surgeon again. I've been having follow-up visits and lab work at the bariatric center every three months. I recently went to my general practitioner to update my status with her as I haven't seen her since my gastric sleeve surgery. She calls up my surgical records on the computer and there I see what I expect with one big surprise - "Repair Perf Duod/gast ulc- wnd/inj." I was reading the computer screen, over her shoulder, at an angle and it didn't register clearly while I was sitting there. Wait! My duodenum is the beginning third of my small intestine. Gastric sleeve surgery shouldn't involve that part of my body. No wonder I was on a liquid diet for so long. My husband and I had directly asked both the surgeon and the PA why I needed the second surgery. Both told us the same thing, i.e. that I had unexplained internal bleeding. I haven't been back to this bariatric center of excellence since discovering the new information. Now I've poked around and found my online summaries of each follow-up visit. They bear little resemblance to what actually happened at the visits. We did not discuss mal-absorption, nor did I have Vitamin B-12 or Vitamin D deficiencies etc. It looks like "cut and paste" notes to us. So now I know more about what really happened. What should I do with this knowledge? Thank God that the surgeon was able to save my life and just move on? Stay silent, keep up my bariatric exams, while relying on my GP for my real medical care? Call them on it and change doctors? (The PA always responds to my questions with a blank look and then a smile when I have questions. She usually has no answer and never offers to find out anything.) I live in a remote rural part of the state and would have to travel many hours to see another bariatric doctor. This bariatric center of excellence is the life blood of this small hospital as it is nearly empty otherwise. They ran every possible test that insurance would pay for including echo cardiogram and a scan of my gallbladder. There were no babies in the nursery and only a few patients hospitalized. When I was hospitalized with syncope, they sent my nurse home for lack of work when I checked out a day early. She was NOT happy with me and commented that it was a good thing her husband was the primary breadwinner. I know I need to keep up my lab work for the rest of my life. Perhaps my GP cannot order those tests. She seemed really reluctant to be involved in any potential dispute with the bariatric center. Thank you for reading this. Any constructive suggestions?

I've found the popular strength programs to be very helpful - many have apps and you just plug in the numbers and do what the app says. It will systematically increase weight over time until you plateau - they even know how to deload when you hit plateaus. On Monday for deadlifts I'll pull 330lbs for 8+ reps which puts my 1RM around 400lbs. I started at 180lbs after surgery and followed Strong Lifts 5x5, 3x5, 3x3, then Madcow 5x5 and now Wendler 531. My goal was a base level of strength with 1RMs of bench 315lbs, Squat 350lbs, overhead press 200lbs and deadlift 400lbs. Now I'm moving to adding more size. Most of this I did with a caloric intake of 2500-3000 calories and 180-230g of protein per day. I've found with this intake getting the lifts done is not the issue but recovery the next day is the issue. I'm still working through this stuff myself. I'm sure non-bariatric surgery lifters doing my programs and weights are probably up around 4000+ calories.... Keep up the great work!

Hi I am 6 days post op on liquids now for almost 21 days - I am gazing longingly at the cat's food at this point - & if I have one more Bariatric Advantage Shake or broth or pudding or pureed whatever I am going to puke!

Getting banded in 5 days... Had my final pre-op with my surgeon earlier this afternoon. I can't wait for surgery & to begin my 'new life'. I have been drinking the Bariatric Advantage meal replacement shakes - not to bad... a little chalky, but not to bad at all.... Adding a tablespoon of peanut butter to the chocolate shakes (in the blender) adds a nice flavor!

I attached an interesting article I found about adjusting to Bariatric surgery. Thought you would find it interesting. Counseling Bariatric Surgery Patients.pdf

There are many insurance companies that have a bariatric exclusion in the policy due to the contract your employer has with the insurance company. It doesn't matter if it's BCBS, Aetna, Cigna, UHC, or Joe Blow down the street, your employer negotiated the contract with the company. If there is an exclusion it will not be covered even if you can prove medical necessity. There are lawyers that will take the case and try to get it covered but that often is a long process and still no guarantee. I work for UHC and it is excluded, therefore I am self- paying. Hope this helps!

Hi everyone! I am currently 4 weeks post op and was told to start my vitamins this week. I have the bariatric advantage multivitamin chewable and the calcium chewables....to put it bluntly, I hate them. I cant even smell them without gagging. Not to mention the calcium is so spicy on my tongue for some reason. Did anyone else have this issue?? Also, does anyone just take ones that you can swallow? I swallow pills just fine and if that's an option, I would sooo prefer it! Let me know! Sent from my SM-G965U using BariatricPal mobile app

Hi serenity28, I live in NJ and have United Healthcare Choice Plus too. I consider my approval process fairly easy. For me all I had to do was call United Healthcare and open a case. I was then called by a company that United Healthcare uses to assist with the Bariatric Surgeries called Bariatric Resource Services. I was assigned a nurse by them and she called me and asked me a few questions and let me know exactly what the requirements for my Insurance were. (I've read on here that many individuals requirements vary even with the same insurance. It depends on the policy that the company you work for chose.) My requirements were 6 month supervised diet, must be older than 21, BMI must be 35 or greater, and Psych evaluation. (I also am required to use a Center of Excellence) My surgeons office submitted all of my paperwork on February 23rd and received an approval call by February 24th!! My surgery is scheduled for May 15th. Hope all goes well for you!! Keep us updated on your experience.

Surgery was done by Dr. Mario Almanza (http://hospitaljerusalem.com.mx/bariatric-sleeve-gastrectomy.php).

Which surgeon did you use in Denton? Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App I am using Dr. Le at Kim Bariatric in Frisco. I don't have my surgery date yet. Just waiting for insurance. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App Is this the same dr lee that's in Denton? Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App I don't think she has another practice she works with. I could be completely wrong though. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

Maybe your bariatric surgeon could do the fmla forms for plastics as well, I am sure they know how to do it.

I'd like to try them. Bariatric Pal has some interesting products but I live in Germany. WLS products has some nice Protein Bars as well, my favorites however are Clif Bars. 20 g of Protein per bar, very good taste and texture (IMO) and they're vegan on top. Price is ok. Not the cheapest, but by far not the most expensive.

When I saw my name at the bottom of your post my eyes filled up with tears that flowed freely....Yes this is the time to start to live again. To fight and be renewed in spirit and health.... Please don't look at it as I will fail at times..All of it is a part of the journey. The ups downs, screaming, the whys it is all for the good of who you are inside.....I have fought this fight for a long time and still struggle with my demons and I am so proud of you for knowing you have a huge fight ahead of you.. We will be here if and when you need us to sound off on and be there to console you as well.....Thank you for your comments....Your resolve is wonderful...

Okay, I've been forced to do a lot of soul-searching recently. Despite sailing through any pre-operative psychological assessment (in fact I was so convincing and probably 'cause I was self pay I wasn't actually referred for the full tests), there is a nagging truth which keeps tapping me on the shoulder and making me uncomfortably aware of the reasons as to why I found myself in this position. The position whereby I felt bariatric surgery was my only viable option to lose weight and take control of my diet. Or more accurately and for me; my portion size. Although I can intellectualise my way out of a paper bag (as was stated by the psychologist when I finally met them), I had, and have, to be honest as to the reasons I ended up this big. The answer, as painful as it is, was; my mother. My mother is a tough cookie. Born in a depressive era in Ireland, with enumerate siblings. She was poor and although educated, she was curtailed in her life choices and was always shown that 'if you love someone, you feed them'. I assume this was their truth, as to feed a very big family was difficult at this time, and was the only example her poor long-suffering and abused mother could muster under extreme circumstances. It was also the only expected long-term outlook for women of childbearing age. The impact of this, was clearly passed down the genetic line. That in this, the nature/nurture argument for our food weaknesses becomes more pressing. This was exemplified not only in the way my mother behaved generally, but how she administered herself in her marriage and how she behaved with her children. The extent of this dysfunction only became apparent in how skewed my food choices (and more appropriately: portion sizes) were - and how I was born into those food choices - when recently cooking for my mother. She skipped anything resembling a vegetable, ate her body-weight in meat, potatoes and fresh bread (despite my making from scratch; Hummus, Baba Ganoush, Fatttoush and Lamb kebab). She was a wonderful cook herself and we never went without anything (all food groups represented) and it was never out of a packet. However, I got a rude awakening as to how a mothers preferences in showing affection and her deeper psychological state, totally influenced us kids. When pressing me on my weight loss, she conceded that she'd always focussed too much on the carbs ('tis an Irish thing) when we were children and how she'd misrepresented the importance of bread and potatoes in our diet. This was also, and sadly, tempered with how her inability to show affection, manifested itself in the reward system she'd assigned for herself. In that by feeding her offspring, she'd aligned this with the ultimate expression of love.... As much as I love my mother and as much of a wonderful cook she was; I realised that the burden of responsibility for the reason I was so overweight as a child, which then carried on into adulthood, was as much her responsibility as it was mine. I, too, now feed those I love. Not because I have an incapability to show love, but that these deeply engrained examples have become the example I work from. Despite these factors changing - because of the surgery - I can see where these behaviours are hard cycles to break and have left me with a mental quandary over identity and 'healthy' expressions of love and affection. I have no idea as to the extent to how people evaluate the impact of bariatric surgery on their lives. Tactical and strategic analysis is difficult to do when everyone is so enraptured by the immediate gratification gained from losing pounds and having all those non-scale-victories (lest we talk about the 'my cats blacker' self affirming attitudes which occasional pervades this website).... But has it forced you to re-evaluate the causes for your issue? Have you searched your soul and now have a better handle on how you ended up in this position? 'Cause lets face it - most of us can sit in a psychologist's chair for hours at a time, spinning the wheel - but unless you're willing to strip back your insecurities to the bare-bones truth, doesn't it all feel a bit, well, empty? Have we learnt anything other than to count the carbs, count the Protein, measure the Water consumption and count the calories in order to be fitter, tighter, healthier, smaller, more socially acceptable? I truly believe our surgical endeavors absolutely force us to re-evaluate our lives, our succor/comfort systems and our behaviour. Consequently and because of how hard it is (emotionally), do we not sneer with derision at those who proffer 'surgery is the easy option'. Out of the curtailment of our ability to chow down and eat our way to 'happiness'; is there not something more emotional and scarily deep, that we've had to confront every time we look in the mirror? i know I'm not an island unto myself. We were weak. We are, still, weak. Outside of the victories in maintaining a life of low fat, cottage cheese virtuous goodness. There is a deeper significance to combating the external expression of our hurt. What are yours? With utmost respect and affection, Revs x

I began the bariatric process last summer. I thought I remembered it being in June, but it was actually the beginning of July 2015. I weighed 478 pounds. On high blood pressure & cholesterol meds. Been suing a CPAP machine for 10 years prior. Had a herniated T-12 disc, spinal stenosis and severe advanced arthritis in both knees. I had the sleeve surgery in mid October 2015. Surgeon also repaired a large umbilical hernia at the same time (third surgical repair for the same issue). I weighed 422 lbs on the day of my surgery. Hospital stay was short....released the next day. Came home and recovered. Slept in a recliner for the first couple weeks. I highly suggest this, too. So easy to get in & out of....and very little stress on the abdomen. There have been absolutely zero complications from my sleeve surgery. The hernia repair is not doing well, but I was advised to think of it as a temporary repair that would have to be addressed as the abdominal muscles were no longer being pulled outwards by excess fat and gravity. I go back at the one year mark to see where I'm at with the hernia. I feel good....great on some days. The back is healing on it's own. Arthritis is more tolerable. Blood pressure meds are cut in half. I don't snore near as bad. I used to take 800 mg of Advil twice a day just to get around......now I go through most days without taking any. I exercise by walking and through some light weight training. I am limited in the movements I can make due to healing back and pending hernia stuff....but I get around the gym and do the stuff that feels good. I now, for the first time since high school, weigh under 300 lbs. I am closing in on my goal weight and have high confidence that I'll beat it and live at a lighter, more lean weight. I'm very happy with all aspects of the progress and can say without reservation that I would do the sleeve surgery again without a seconds thought. My surgeon has given me very simple yet effective instructions to follow and as long as I do so.....the scale number keeps getting smaller. I'm very grateful for this. My only regret is not doing this sooner. Much sooner. You are doing the right thing in doing your research and making sure you are getting the best from your surgeon and best nutritional advice upfront. The sleeve is very easy to live with and the weight loss is is going to happen for you.

Jenn 298 at the bariatric center at Christus. Sent from my iPhone using VST

Thank you all so much for your kind words and above all your generous support. I have 2 people in my life who are very supportive and all of you. I will just concentrate on all the positive around me as I become closer to starting my journey. I wish I could go to bariatric weight loss support groups but unfortunately there is none in my area, I live 2 hours away from the hospital and surgeons office, so would make for a long drive. I will just get my support and information on here through all of you. Thank You Again

A vit D deficiency can be very serious. There are several negative effects of having low levels (especially over a long period of time) that are irreversible. Definitely look into it and talk to your nut about it. Don't forget that you must take bariatric vitamins for the rest of your life. I have a severe Vit D deficiency that is being treated with high dose supplements for at least 6 months. I stopped taking my vitamins over a year ago and I quickly became deficient. I'm post op 9 years but I'm now having a revision due to weight gain and some other issues.

@@My Bariatric Life Definitely have to take everything you read on the internet with a grain of salt. There are all sorts of reasons for people to post false reviews. Or maybe they even did have legitimately bad experiences, but are prone to exaggeration. It's so hard to tell. I think that's why it's important to try to get into direct contact with multiple past patients and try to find as much out as you can, the good and the bad, and try to sort through it all to make the best decision for yourself.

@sgc - Still no luck. I have not been on for a little but I hoped that you would meet someone. I would say, try the group activities. Try a bariatric conference or meet up. I think meeting people whom are at the same point in their lives as you are and understand your struggle will help tremendously.

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!