Search the Community

I am a couple of months into the process. I went to an information session and met with the surgeon 11/2015. I found out that my insurance requires that I follow a Dr. approved diet plan for 6 consecutive months (I have to go 2x a month). The hospital where I am having the surgery is a Bariatric Center of Excellence and all of the surgeons, Dr.'s and nutritionists have offices right next to each other and all work together. Once a month I will meet with the Dr. who runs the program and then 2 weeks later I will have a class to attend where a nutritionist/dietitian talks to us about various different things. I have my 2 visits for December completed and I had my class yesterday and will meet with the Dr. on the 19th. I also had to meet with a psychologist and they want me to attend a support group at least once in my area. Fingers crossed that everything goes smoothly from here on out.

@@gina171 I decided on the sleeve - with consultation from my surgeon, nutritionist and psych (they are all in the Bariatric Program I go to). These are the reasons I decided sleeve (which I have yet to get by the way - so something may change based on my pre-op testing). I don't have issues with GERD so the sleeve is an option for me. My surgeon didn't feel like I needed the mal-absorption that the Bypass has and only need restriction (based on my eating habits and medical history). I don't really eat sweets - but if I want something sweet I don't want to get dumping. I want to be able to eventually eat normal things - only much smaller portions (once I am at goal). I can lose as much weight with the sleeve as bypass - although it may be a little slower (which is fine with me). I didn't want the vitamin deficiency and possible issues that the bypass brings. It depends on you as to what will work best - and I would talk to your Team about the choices as well.

@puppyloverls3 My local bariatric support group runs the facebook page. It is only open to local people that have had bariatric surgery here in my area. Check with your bariatric team/support system and maybe they have a bariatric support group on Facebook in your area.

I wish us bariatric consumers could petition the GasX gods to relent and resume cranking them out! Makes me say Should have done this sooner when they were prevelent. I'm laying on my bed with my c,-pap,on, I feel asleep last PM without it, did I wake up in the night and put it on? Do not remember, so this morning I look like an out of work jet pilot. I'm trying to show compliance so my surgery will happen why can't I get,bonus points for my 6-8 hours usage, if it was a fair world they should add them all together, then divide the hours by 30 and see I'm trying to be sweetly compliant! I will not get barred from surgery on a technicality if I can at all prevent it!💦

First of all congrats on your success so far! But I’m glad I’m not the only one who obsesses over this. I’m already thonking about that issue and I haven’t even had the sleeve surgery yet!!! I have lost (easily) anywhere between 60-100 pounds a handful of times throughout my life so far and yet here I am!.... getting ready to submit my request to insurance for Bariatric surgery because I gain it back and then some every freakin time! So I’m already terrified that this will ultimately end in the same scenario. I know this is different though. It’s a great tool given for weight loss that I feel this time might be pretty darn hard to ignore.

I'm back! And the beat of my life goes on and on. Decided to post here because I was the OP and started it beck last summer. Well, the Fe Infusion wasn't too awfully bad, when I told PCP I had it done, nary an apology about failing to schedule me one in Mount Vernon, just reminded me I could end up on a quarterly schedule. Well that would make the next one within a day or 2 of Tomkitten's birthday and that's a warm pleasant time in Central Ohio. Now back to the Infusion and its side effect. Well early in the evening of the next day I was able to do #2 with a minimum of grief. Every since surgery except when I had my PICC line in, my stool is very reluctant to leave me, have to be on twice daily Miralax and when not even that works, the Trusty bottle of M.O.M. the cherry- tasting agitator of all things fecal💩. Okay I said to myself, small amount of stool, still fine, I do not eat that much. And then the tsunami hit, black viscous stool, the kind I rationalize as double or triple wiper. And it went on and on, each movement the same until the last 3 which ended about. 3 AM that were nothing more than black profuse water. And before each movement I was cramping in the same area as childbirth pains, I had 3 9+ pounder, last 2 Lamaze, that is an sensation one does not forget. Well, I says if your uterus does fall on with all this straining , we can push it back in , slap an ABD on it and see the doctor in the AM. If this is gonna happen every time, I would rather be unmagnetic, obviously my body didn't feel we needed or wanted that much iron so got rid of it as best it could! Now I don't know if I mentioned but when I had my Chest MRI at Mount Carmel East to check the status of my Thoracic Aortic aneurysm, the one my Cardiologist conveniently forgot to mention, maybe she thought it would depress me? OMG, my middle child and first son died in 2008 of an Ascending Aortic aneurysm which exploded in his chest and within a few seconds bled out and died at 31. This takes it from a horrid one in thousands freaky happening to be possibly genetic and. I , a mommy who loved him with every breath of my being, may have had a part in his destruction? I cried when I saw in Black and White, " to rule out ant enlargement of existing Thoracic Aortic aneurysm, current measurement____cm" , did not go into depression, because maybe my baby's death might somehow save me? Happy to report it is still holding at under " must do surgery" have to keep faithful on BP meds to reduce stressors. But I can do that! And now the results show I have a Renal Cyst also present, don't know which one of my 3 it's on, urologists office not as worried as me, said no need seeing you right now. Then next, about 10- 12 days ago I woke up with a stiff neck, not a "oops I strained something ", I could not turn it to either side, and I had a degree of nucal rigidity. Oh I am a Medical Geek, scary cause that can be a sign of meningitis, a disease that doesn't take hostages, and can kill if neglected. So off I go to E.R., it of course happened on a day PCP was taking off. After beaucoup levels of tests even I hadn't been through before and 2 I didn't even have book knowledge of, I received a diagnosis of cervical arthritis, okay-bee, the bad part I have a thyroid nodule approaching 2 cm on left side of thyroid. They suggested getting it checked-out by ENT, endocrinologist, or at very least PCP in very near future. Well , I just so happened to have an appointment with PCP coming up, so I mentioned it to him, at first he said" many geriatric patients have these" could shorten that man's life span, I am not geriatric I merely am in Late Middle Age and I've told him that! Says" maybe I should go to that portal and read what they said" and then had to admit We GOT to do more testing, so last Wednesday I had both thyroid screening and Doppler of my carotid because I also am having periods of double vision, it is bad enough seeing Donald Sr and Donald Jr on CNN , don't need them 2 at a time! Then to round out my week I had a Reclast INFUSION on Friday, in deference to my inability to chug down liquids, Thank You Ms. Precious Pouch, I can't have pills or capsules so get this treatment yearly because my osteopenia is rounding the corner towards osteoporosis. I am grateful to be alive, thankful for the extra years my bariatric surgery has granted me, really I am, but is every flippin' test got to have a " by the way"? I knew I had dings in my bodily chassis, but does the jalopy that is me have to have engine failure too?💦

Did well with my cataract SURGERY- took a lot longer than eye#1, Dr Koehler told TOMKITTEN, my son, it was More Complicated than He Planned, probably needed it last year when. I had my Bariatric, went back Yesterday for my One Day AFTER appointment He told me my eyesight is now 20/20, don't think it was That Good even when I was a Mini-Frustr8, now once the intraocular swellings go down I May Be Able to read my paperback books once again. I have no trouble watching TV at all, now I only have to wear my eyepatch at night, out in public where I could get bumped or when there is dirt or dust blowing in the air. So GOOD PROGRESS there. Right arm is still distended and sore, much to tell at G Surgeon about THERE. And that is my Latest Update. Until my next Posting- Frustr8 Out!

Well I went for my quasi- 1 year checkup on the 14th- why did I even bothered--- IDK? Got there promptly, well even a little ahead of time, have an abiding fear if getting caught in Big City Traffic, and in the waiting room I sat, a couple after surgeries like me, the rest "pre" and anticipating. Got weighed, a mini- ooh wow at my weight loss, they DID NOT EXPECT. me to be below 190. Then Tomkitten and I were shown to a room to wait for whoever deigned to see me. He attends99% of my appointments for 2 reasons 1) security for ME 2) he has the hearing of a hidden microphone- nothing gets by him. Finally ( my appointed time was 3:30, it was 5:15) in comes Shannon, one of my absolute unfavorite nurses, has sneer on her face often, complaining that 2 nurses are having to do the work of 3 since Valerie( the chief one- the one I wanted to see if I couldn't see my surgeon, him I will in all probability never seen again unless I have a bowel torsion or another surgical OMG) . Well whine whine NMF- not my fault, we all don't have sunshine and bluebird singing in the trees! I tried to verbalize a few of my concerns, paid more attention to her laptop keyboard than to ME. I'm sure a court stenographer or such would have billed less to my insurance. Basically told me I was fully healed whether I believed it or not, no more endoscopies or testings needed, then proceeded to make a liar of herself, only blood testing record on my chart was one my PCP had done closely after my iron infusion in March to see if my Ferritin level had stayed LEVEL had stayed stable, I had had another DONE just after it was finally ordered on July 19th. Yeah it was done at my hospital here in Mount Vernon but they had each other's fax numbers, if they were concerned one side could have called the other, Not to insinuate I AM A LIAR! If it had been My Call " Hi this is Ohio State University Bariatric Clinic . We faxed you an order on July 19th for one of our patients to have blood tests run, if you are able to access it, if you are Not able to fax it in its entirety, the facets we are most interested in are ___,____, &____. Thank you very much, we will be hoping to hear from you soon." Neat, Sweet and Complete. Then she said in essence, my pain levels will not lessen , I may remain nauseous for the foreseeable future if not the rest of my life, why not just come OUT and admit " We Made You a Gastrointestinal Cripple when we did your Surgery, Sorry but Not Sorry. Just the Way the Mop Flops, honey!" I would just like to wake up one morning, not in pain, not nauseous, not to be told I am delusional, needing psychiatric help for what seems to be bodily symptoms. I would relish wakiing up to "Hurray a New Day" not "Is That all There Is?" And also the reason I was treated So shabbily in May? She claims I told her I was depressed and suicidal . For this you tell someone to go away , stop bothering you and call your county overburdened mental health agencies? 1) I said nothing similar to that , only that I was vomitting for a prolonged period and scared and 2) If I were going to "off" MYSELF, this would push me over the edge to Complete it, because I would feel Nobody really cares for Me, Might as Well Die! If anyone wants to know further WHY I NEVER WOULD KILL MYSELF feel free to P.M. me, although I won't take up space in the Public Domain, there is a Story and I am not reluctant to Speak of It. Okay? So I am not scheduled for another Appointment until August 2020, with this feeble excuse for a Caring Person, at the very Least I will call and request Somebody Different, I no longer want or trust this person, her advice, such as it is, I find flawed, not helpful to my future. I would not have difficulty finding another, you barely can turn in a circle without running into a nurse, indeed it is like they have an Industrial Conveyer Belt. somewhere in the building, as the 60s song said " All made of Ticky- Tacky and they all LOOK the Same". So I remain your buddy, a few tears for what might have been, because intrinsically I do believe,things could have ended up better, maybe I will become resigned to lessening of expectations. But I wanted the GOLD RING, to find out it was cheapness metal and turned my finger Green breaks my❤. I believed I deserved the Very Best outcome and I'm not sure I Got It. Your thinner(⬇188 pounds) Sadder maybe Wiser Bestest Bud--- FRUSTR8

Went to my bariatric surgeon yesterday for my check up. (was sleeved on 12/17) According to his scale I was only down 50 pounds. Time to regroup. He wants me doing 45 minutes/cardio/day, and weightlifting every other day. arggg. I guess I have to do it if I want results, because I'm not doing so well, especially these last few months. I'll keep you all posted on my results, and I have a goal to only weigh myself twice/day. I usually weigh myself a gazillion times/day which is obsessive. Thanks for all your support.

I just had a nice surprise. My husband and I are going to Italy and Greece for 2 weeks in June. I don't know what made us start talking about our passports but we did. So he goes and pulls mine out of our lockbox. We got it renewed in March of 2008. Here is where I digress a bit... so, my 'ah ha' moment was in november of 2006 while at my moms house. I didn't own a scale and she had one in her guest bathroom. I jumped on it and saw 267 pop up and realized I can't do this anymore (at 5'2", I was easily 140lbs overweight). It was right there that I decided to do whatever it took to take the weight off. If someone told me shooting horse pee into myself would work, I'd do it. Luckily for me my answer wasn't as gross. I scheduled a consult at the mayo clinic to get the lapband. Mayo has an extensive bariatric program and requires six months of appointments prior to surgery. I jumped in full force. By March of 2008 I was 25 lbs down, tracking my food religiously and exercising regularly. So when I had that picture it wasn't even my 'come to Jesus' moment but wow five years makes such a difference. As many of you know the band didn't work for me. I had it placed in June 2008 and did well the first 2 years. Then I started having terrible reflux and playing what I referred to as my food games ( waiting until 2 or 3 in the afternoon to eat, get stuck, throw up, look longingly as others ate around you knowing darn well you can't even swallow Water but you are starving). In December of 2012 I couldn't ignore it anymore. I made an appointment with mayo again to get an EGD and find out what was going on. I found oyt later that week that the two years of vomiting, reflux and heartburn had manifested itself into intestinal metaplasia. It was then I decided the band has to come out and I wanted converted. Having a friend die from Barrets several years ago, I knew I was done playing. June 2013 (almost five years to the day from my lapband) my band was taken out and I was converted to RNY. I was 220 on the day of surgery and am 160 this week. I am confident I will reach my goal if it takes me another 20 years. God willing horse pee won't factor in. So back to my NSV.. Seeing that picture was a great visual reminder of my journey to this point and reminded me how every step along the way helped me get here. My relationship with food is better than it has ever been, I feel healthy and while I have the all too damiliar freakouts from stalls I never take my eye off of the prize. Me and my worth to achieve anything I desire.

My consult was 1/21 I completed my Nutrition Class 2/18 and I'm waiting for my Psych Evaluation right now.. I have to do 6 months of supervised weight loss program through the Bariatric center. I'm trying to remain positive about the time. Hey I'm already 1 month and 2 days in.

So, it seems like I may have to do my nutritional visits over again. The new bariatric program is much more strict regarding their testing and requirements...which is a good thing. However, all of this pushes me back even more! Smh Oh the wait!!!! Dawnie_doo

I haven't even been to my first consult yet but I am so excited to start the wls process. I know Dr. Chung taught at Harvard med and put together the bariatric program at Capital Health just a few years ago. I was wondering if any of you are her former patients? I'd really like to hear about your experiences good or bad with Dr. Chung as your surgeon. Thanks in advance! Sent from my VS985 4G using the BariatricPal App

I take 1 Bariatric Complete Orange flavor (don't EVER get the berry, it's like berry flavored dog food!) and to me it tastes like a slightly stronger Flintstones vitamin. And I take 2 Celebrate multi's (without iron) that are grape flavored (these are actually good). The Bariatric Complete are sold in my doctors office and you can buy 2 bottles for $45 or order online and it's $20. I get the Celebrate on Amazon and I order a three month supply at a time for $46. The site I order the Bariatric Complete on is where I get my calcium as well and they're Bariatric Advantage. I order both the chewy ones for $33 or the tablet chewables for $25.

I have Lincare, they have been super, not one problem anywhere. The tech, Chico, who taught me the little ins-and-outs my sleep,lab forgot, clear through the misc. little monthly changes of. nose pads and filters. The new items are here just when promised, they check,with me monthly to make sure everything ok. Now if my bariatric care team functions as well I will be a super happy camper.😛

I'm trying different ones, and I haven't cared for the Bariatric Advantage too much. The Premier Protein shakes are AMAZING.

Thats the problem, bariatrics wont do anything if I utter the word infection other than cancel it =( As I have to have blood work done they are going to find it so, I haven't talked to my surgeon about it in case i have to cancel again...guess Im going to have to tomorrow =( I might have to be a winter buddy instead of an Indian Summer buddy lol

On the topic of water... I love Water, but even I get sick of it. Someone on this board turned me on the Powerade Zero and O M G it is so good! It tastes just like kool-aid to me. My favorite flavors are Grape and fruit Punch. (There is quite the lively debate somewhere on this board about the Grape flavor!) I hate grape everything but I used to drink fruit punch Gatorade when I was sick, lol. I can drink plain ice water any time. I am thinking about buying the Bariatric fusion pink lemonade drinkable vitamin packs. It was delicious and 2 packs a day covers your vitamin needs. My surgeon’s office gave me a sample of the pink lemonade and the mixed berry. Didn’t care for the mixed berry though

I’m so excited, I had my second visit with the Cardiogist. There was a little bleep on the 1st and 2nd EKG’S, so I had to have a Sonagram a week and a half ago! My follow up was this morning! The dr said I have the heart of a 20 yr old. Pretty good for a 68 yr old, too bad my body feels like an 80 yr old!😂 Tomorrow morning I’m calling the Bariatric dr to see how soon I can have my surgery scheduled! Be nice the end of July but I doubt it. Seems like the merry go round turns slow sometimes! But I’m still getting excited!

Never tried Bariatric Advantage but did try Premier Protein. They were "OK" but the fake sugar after taste put me off a bit. I've been using Body Fortress, which they sell at Wallmart. Have had Vanilla and Chocolate and Peanut Butter and they taste pretty good even mixed with plain water. 60g of protein per scoop.

Just need to vent for a second. I’m so frustrated. My bariatric group requires 6 months of nutrition, psych evaluation and an exercise class. It won’t schedule surgery until after you’ve completed everything. As an attorney, it’s really hard to book things on my calendar with no real idea when the surgery would be. But I was told that surgery is often 4-6 weeks after the last nutrition appt. Mine was 6/25, so I was thinking late July to early August. I finish the last NUT and she tells me they’ll submit it to insurance. But then they come back and say, oh there’s all this blood work you need to do too. I was frustrated because I could’ve already done that if they’d told me I needed to. Especially since some stuff they test for, like H-Pylori, takes time to treat. I took the tests and thankfully everything was great...except my white blood cell count was high. Turns out I was diagnosed with a sinus infection the day after I went for the blood work. I just finished the antibiotics today, but the doc said I should be fine to be retested over this past weekend. I waited till Tuesday for good measure and it turns out it went up (only slightly), not down. My WBC was totally normal just in March, so it’s not that I “run high” as some say. I’m sure it’s just that I’m still somewhat fighting the infection and it’ll go down soon but it’s surprising it hadn’t gone down at all. And it’s so frustrating that I now have to get tested again. But I don’t want to go too soon and risk it still being too high. So how long do I wait? And I still don’t understand why I can’t get a date. Obviously if the WBC doesn’t come down, it’d have to get cancelled. But it’s totally screwing with my job and the people I work with to have no idea when this is happening. Thanks for letting me vent.

cb 1986 tis me, your friendly old as the hills poster. Anesthesia and sedation is pretty cool these days. Not at all like the bad old days when you puked until you swore your toenails were going be next thing coming out. A sisterly FYI, ask for the antinauesea patch, goes behind your ear, works as smooth as A hot knife through butter. You might get a little blurry vision afterwards, most people don't, but you weren't going to perform brain surgery for a few days anyway. Oh I'm not going to say there is no chance for nausea, but 8 to 5 you won't and those are ok odds at the track. Dread is usually worse than the actual thing, and bariatric surgery is one,of the v smoother ones around. You want it to go nice and easy, well surprise they,do too and the whole staff is devoted to making that happen . Do you think they want you telling your friends Dr Whopplemeir and Blessed Confusion Hospital. are a,bunch of total idiots. Nope, they care about you but they also care a lot for their reputation and budget, every goes good, you praise them and the money keeps coming in. Something,goes bad and you tell people, the revenues fall off. Well that's how things go in the world these days. If surgery was such a fearsome thing I wouldn't be a candidate myself. Yep you heard right, I'm having surgery also. At the great or bad age of 72, depending on your viewpoint I will be receiving a RnY bypass at OSU in Columbus Ohio. And I sincerely believe it will make a wonderful change in my,life, I am being given a good chance of living long enough to be a nuisance to my family and the Western World. I came into third world screaming and with red hair, hair is still red and I'm not leaving without a fight. I still can influence the world🌏if I'm given a chance! Hang around, the best is yet to be, come watch with me!👍😛

Please read the rules you agreed to upon signing up for BariatricPal. We will permanently ban anyone that does not follow these rules. Forum Rules and Guidelines Welcome to BariatricPal! A warm welcome from the entire BariatricPal team! Forum registration is free. Our community includes members from all kinds of different backgrounds and regions of the world, but we all share the goal of leading healthier lives. To keep BariatricPal a friendly and helpful place for the entire community, we have developed the following rules and policies. We ask all member to follow these guidelines, and members who do not follow them may have their posts removed or accounts suspended or terminated. Your use of BariatricPal is your agreement that you accept all forum policies. Forum Moderation and Community Standards Full-time BariatricPal administrators moderate the forums. All posts must follow the posting guidelines outlined below. To maintain BariatricPal’s high standards, we reserve the right to remove, modify or move any post or thread at our discretion and without explanation. Please contact us if you do not understand any of the rules, guidelines or policies outlined below. BariatricPal administrators and moderators attempt to prevent or remove all objectionable messages. To help us, please use the “Report Post” link to let us know when you see a post that violates the forum guidelines. A moderator will look into the matter. BariatricPal.com reserves the right to accept or dismiss user complaints at its sole discretion. Disrespectful and Hurtful Posts are Forbidden All posts must fit within BariatricPal’s guidelines for acceptable posts. Posts must be consistent with BariatricPal’s core beliefs. Weight loss surgery can be an effective tool to fight obesity. Our common goal is to fight obesity through a unified voice. No weight loss surgery is inherently better or worse than any other. Each has advantages, and each has disadvantages. Some individuals are good candidates for one kind of surgery, and other individuals are better candidates for another kind of surgery. No individual is more or less deserving of weight loss and health because of a decision to get or not get weight loss surgery, or because of which type of weight loss surgery he or she chooses. BariatricPal serves as a place where anyone can ask questions about weight loss surgery without fear of ridicule. BariatricPal serves as a forum for open discussion and polite disagreement so that everyone can benefit. Weight loss surgery “bashing” is absolutely prohibited. This include, but is not limited to, statements that a specific type of weight loss surgery is: Bad or wrong Easier than another type of weight loss surgery or “cheating” when someone is trying to lose weight Out of date or obsolete Doomed to failure In addition, “bashing” of individuals is prohibited. This includes, but is not limited to, statements that a person is: Lazy for choosing one type of weight loss surgery over another Unprepared for or undeserving of weight loss surgery because of Deserving of complications or disappointing weight loss because of their choice of weight loss surgery Violations of these rules and consequences will be determined at the sole discretion of BariatricPal and based on individual situations. They may include, but are not limited to, the following: Editing or removal of the offensive post(s) Warning from BariatricPal staff or Forum Hosts to avoid such posts in the future Temporary suspension of membership Permanent removal of the member’s account These guidelines do NOT forbid disagreement and candid discussions on BariatricPal. Members may discuss and defend their points of view in respectful manners. Please feel free to contact BariatricPal with any questions about these guidelines. Remember that written communication is different from face-to-face communication. When you post a message on the discussion forum, send someone a text message, email, or private message, or meet in a chat room, a lot of the message is lost. When you are face-to-face with someone, you can use tone of voice, gestures, and expressions to help get your point across. These aids are lost when you communicate online. Your message can accidentally come across as harsh or rude. A good way to reduce accidental misunderstandings is to read your own message before posting it to see if there is any way that a reader could mistake its meaning in a negative way. Additional BariatricPal Posting Guidelines Be polite. Rudeness is not tolerated and can lead to post removal or account suspension. All members have the right to express their opinions and are encouraged to do so while maintaining a courteous tone. Posts that are forbidden include, but are not limited to, the following: Rude posts Obscenity, pornography and profanity. The following are examples of unacceptable content in photos: nudity underwear, thongs, g-strings, or banana hammocks excessive cleavage close-up shots of cleavage, butt, breasts or crotch in any state of dress hateful or violent imagery images containing profanity. Posts that are disrespectful or include personal attacks. If another user attacks you, do not reciprocate. Instead, use the Report Post link and an administrator will handle the problem Any abuse towards our staff and/or management in any form Posts that contain derogatory references to sex, gender, ethnicity, religion, or sexual orientation, or endorsement of violence against any person or group, even if couched in humor. Use common sense. Don’t break the law Don’t use others’ experiences as medical advice. Do not use the forums to share private contact information, such as telephone numbers, email addresses, mailing address, instant messenger IDs, etc. Use PM or email for personal discussions. Never post an email or PM from another BariatricPal user or administrator. BariatricPal forbids commercial activity on the forums. No advertising, self-promotion, fund-raising, direct marketing or selling on the forums. You may not post any links or mentions of other services, websites, or businesses from which you or an associate might benefit financially or otherwise. You also may not solicit off-Forum contact from which you might benefit. Examples of forbidden activity include "Message me for more info" and "I can get you free samples." Members may use their signatures to indicate a commercial affiliation by including a single link to a web site of their choice, with no more than one line of explanation in addition. This signature text is not to exceed the default font size of forum posts (size=2). Requests or solicitations for donations are prohibited. This includes requesting contributions to "pooled fund" competitions, requests for votes in any venue (e.g., online contests) and requests for charitable contributions. Posts and messages to members promoting websites that compete with BariatricPal are prohibited. Recommendations or reviews of surgeons, hospitals and other bariatric products and services are welcome only if based on the reviewer's personal experience. The reviewer must have no financial interest in the subject being reviewed. Violations will result in the posts being removed and a possible permanent ban of membership. BariatricPal allows one account per member and one member per account. If you are unable to log in, please contact us. Cross-posting is prohibited on BariatricPal. Cross-posting refers to posting new duplicate threads or posts, or the linking to threads or posts already started by the member with the intention of gaining exposure. Posting the same message to multiple boards or multiple groups is a form of spam. Please note that this is NOT a guideline against inadvertently posting a question another member has asked before. We explicitly allow members to post questions that have been asked previously by other members. If you see a member post a topic that you think has been asked before by another member, please respond politely or simply move on. However, the same member cannot ask the same question or post the same topic more than once. Do not hi-jack topics. Please stay on-topic within a forum topic.

And other things you need to know about WLS but are afraid to ask... I wonder sometimes if bariatric professionals forget to emphasize the importance of good band eating skills because they they've never had to live with a gastric band. Of course, a few bariatric professionals are also bariatric patients, and thank goodness for that. I also wonder if bandsters are unaware of the importance of good band eating skills because their brains slipped into neutral during that part of their pre-op education. You'll have a hard time convincing me that's never happened to you, because I am the Queen of Lists and Note Taking. In high school and college, classmates would pay me for copies of my class notes. (Not only were they thorough, they were neatly penned in my prize-winning handwriting and decorated with cunning cartoons depicting my teachers and professors in embarrassing situations.) I take a notebook and a list of questions to every medical appointment, I ask questions, I re-read my notes, but despite all of that, my brain tends to shift gears when I see or hear something that strikes me as unimportant or irrelevant. And aside from being The World's Greatest Living Expert on Everything, what exactly qualifies me to make the unimportant or irrelevant judgment? Nothing. Nada. Nichts. Niente. During my pre- and post-op patient education, which was tailored exclusively to bandsters and administered by well-prepared bariatric dietitians, nurses, physician's assistants, and so on, I must have heard the eating skills lecture a dozen times. I was told that if I didn't eat carefully, I would end up in pain or with my meal in my lap. I nodded my understanding each time I heard that and could repeat the lecture verbatim, but it wasn't until I took a huge bite of a grilled cheese sandwich 24 hours after my first fill that I truly understood what all those folks had been telling me. And that’s not an experience I’m likely to forget. Take Tiny Bites I talk about good eating skills a lot. Why do I go on and on about that? Is it because I like the sound of my own (editorial) voice? Well, sure - that's no secret. But for what reason besides that? Important information bears repeating, and repetition is one of the ways that we acquire new information and learn new habits. If you doubt that, pay attention to how many times the Geico lizard appears on your television screen each day. Good band eating skills must become a habit if you're going to succeed with your band and avoid side effects and complications. Those eating skills must be your habit every hour of every day, not just as a new post-op or after each fill, but every day for the rest of your life. That sounds like a pretty tall order, doesn't it? Don't panic, though. A well-ingrained habit doesn't take as much conscious thought as a brand-new one. Your own behavior has already proven that if you've ever found yourself with a half-finished Twinkie or a cigarette or a beer in your hand and couldn't remember how it got there. It works the other way too. Your healthy new habits will eventually dig themselves into your life and using them will get easier as you go along. When you forget your band eating skills, your band will give you a loud reminder in the form of side effects like PB's, sliming, or stuck episodes, but I beg you not to rely on your band's built-in warning system on a regular basis, because doing so will send your bandwagon skittering down the road to complications like esophageal dilation, stomach dilation, band slips and even band erosion. One of the problems with the band's alarm system is that the truly destructive behaviors it reacts to may trigger relatively mild warnings so long before the damage is done that it's easy to shrug them off. For example, let's say that you often take big bites, don't chew very well, eat quickly, and/or eat beyond your soft stops (soft stops are gentle stop-eating signals, like hiccups). Each time you do those things, you experience mild discomfort. Nothing horrific. It happens, you think, "Oops," and you go back to whatever you were doing before the discomfort happened. Eventually this mild discomfort becomes just a part of your post-op life - the same as the way you sneeze when you pet a cat, pass gas when you eat beans, or get a headache when you don't wear your eyeglasses. Hey, that's just the way it is, right? But one bad day after dozens of ordinary days you can't even swallow your own saliva. You rush to the doctor, who does an upper GI x-ray and tells you your band has slipped. "How can that be?" you cry, "Everything's been fine until now!" In fact, everything has not been fine, because your careless eating has been pushing, pushing, pushing at your band's limits, until finally it pushed your band up your esophagus or down your stomach. I don't like finger-pointing any better than you do, but whose responsibility is that band slip? Is it your surgeon's, for not stitching it on there well enough? Is it the band manufacturer's, for not making your band slip-proof? Or is it yours? There can be a happy ending to your story, though. Even if the band slip is clearly your fault, you won't get sent to prison to sip brackish water and gnaw on stale bread for the rest of your days. Your surgeon can unfill your band (or, less likely, re-operate to reposition your band), and you can revamp your eating skills, lose weight, and live happily ever after. Or better yet, you can avoid the pain, inconvenience, financial and emotional costs, and pay attention to your eating from now on. I ain't gonna lie to you...acquiring and practicing this new habit won't be easy, but I can think of a lot of things that could be worse. A lot worse. The official Bandwagon® Eating Skills are: 1. Don't drink while you eat or for 30 to 60 minutes afterwards. 2. Take tiny bites. 3. Chew, chew chew. 4. Eat slowly. 5. Eat the protein first. 6. Learn your stop signals. 7. Pay attention to problem foods. 8. Eat only when you're hungry. 9. Avoid liquid calories and slider foods. 10. Use a small plate. 11. Plan your food in advance. 12. Don't watch TV or read while you eat. 13. Don't put serving dishes on the dining table. 14. Eat sitting down at the dining table. 15. Follow the HALT rule (don't eat when you're too hungry, angry, lonely or tired). You’ll find full explanations of each skill in Chapter 12 of Bandwagon, Strategies for Success with the Adjustable Gastric Band, by yours truly.

Thanks for the link to the Bariatric Pal store website . I didn't notice it and it looks like it has lots of useful items. Has anyone tried vitamin patches?