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Yep Karla you are so right everything falls on us - I knew you would get where I was comming from - not that the others won't - hell Phyl was a single mom cuz Earl was in the airforce - and she was left alone with the kids a times - This is why I won't move to Canada - hell no I ain't shoveling snow at this time in my life.. No I haven't called Phyl this evening - I think I will wait til tomorrow and call - she need her rest today - I did talk to her yesterday - Maybe Earl will post on FB Well, the car is in the shop - got off work at 2:30 - tow truck got here at 4 - p/u andrew then went to the dealership - and yes I did buy the extended warranty - so I will only have to pay $100 instead of who knows what - some gear shift box something.. Hopefully it will be done tomorrow - but it may mean that I don't get to my gym - I'll see if Idrise can push it back 1/2 hrs... Ok fish ;o) - Jake's Coconut Curry sauce - I picked it up a while back but havent' tried it yet - Sounded good at the time but am afraid to try it and not like my dinner - my dinner is the most important meal to me... I can have a shitty bf or lunch - but I want a good dinner.. Today's calories 130 - 12 grm pt - had these yummy sour cream & green onion snacks I got from bariatric choice - I took fish this morning - but with all that's going on I just haven't been hungry - at those around 1 p.m. Well need to put softner in the clothes... CBL

I do the Procare Health one-a-day capsule with 45mg of Iron. I have no issues taking large pills, but if you do, you might have to open it and put it in Yogurt or something. They also make a twice a day capsule that I assume is smaller if that's what you need? I looked at the specs on eight different bariatric vitamins and felt like the Procare Health capsule was the best. (It was also the ones my team recommended.)

Finally got home from Tijuana today.... surgery was Monday 7.26.2021 with dr. verboonen at V Bariatrics (Obesity Goodbye Center). Ever since I got to the hotel yesterday. I've been sipping Powerade, Gatorade, Water, broth, SF popsicles nonstop. Is that okay? Or am I supposed to only consume during set times throughout the day? Also how did you get comfortable? Best thing to make scars dissapear ? Trying to plan ahead I am on full liquid diet right now, but go to purée on Monday/Tuesday next week.... what are your favorite recipes? When did you notice that initial bloat go away from surgery? I'm 2 lbs down from surgery date but my stomach is stuck protruding out bc of being so sore.

I know everyone’s Bariatric surgeon’s practice is different. I was able to eat eggs and baked fish two days after surgery. I couldn’t really stomach to much at first maybe 1 to 2 ounces. I was definitely a bit nervous but my surgeon wanted me to start semi soft solids ASAP for protein in take along with the shakes. I need to get 90 grams daily. I am almost 3 weeks out and can eat about 3 ounces a serving. I can’t even finish a whole egg. lol.

Anyone on here from Baptist Bariatrics in Jacksonville FL?

Even in the best intentioned and most desired surgeries there is a thread of OMG WTF did I just do to ME? Your body is starting it's healing but you're also suffering from a wounded spirit and your world🌏 has been rocked and is quaking on its foundations. THIS IS A SHOCK! Things do get better, says the woman with a 11 week stomal stricture, but TRULY THEY DO, reach out to your bariatric team, there are people there who can help. And come on here, we too had Gloomy Tuesdays, Why did I do This Wednesdays even F*** It Fridays, we've pulled up our bootstraps, gritted our teeth and made it through. Sometimes even bariatric consouling helps.

Ahh.. I see. First off, you are very petite. 1500 calories is appropriate for a 6'4 male bariatric patient (and most of THEM don't eat that much during weight loss). Your new nut sounds much more knowledgeable. Did she recommend a calorie count? 900-1000 is probably a good level for you. (If she recommended less, that is ok too.. time is of the essence at this point). You will need to stay away from grains for the entire weight loss period, and possibly forever. Starchy veggies (beans and potatoes) can take their place when appropriate. (Some people have problems with potatoes, but I suspect it isn't the potato that's the problem.. its the butter, sour cream, bacon, and cheese they load onto said potato.) When we tried gluten free, we were starving All. The. Time. This time we aren't hungry. I'm not because of the surgery, but my hubby isn't hungry, and he didn't have it. The only difference I can tell is beans. We now eat black, kidney, or pinto beans every day. (He eats 7oz, I eat 3.5oz, drained). We eat them with eggs (me 1, him 2) and salsa, no added fat other than what is in the eggs. We were pleasantly surprised to find that when eaten every day, gas isn't an issue.

Noooo don't think that!!! Seriously give your doctor a call. Having gas like that even with out WLS is a sign of digestive issues. If your bariatric Dr. does not have a gastroenterology Dr. as part of his team ask for a recommendation and go see them. You do not have to live with flatulence.

Called my insurance and was told my employer specifically excluded bariatric surgeries from policy. So, my route is self pay..unless someone can tell me otherwise. Since I am going this route, I assume I can get in faster and am planning for Feb 17 Sent from my SM-G920V using the BariatricPal App

I didn’t have a whole host of health problems after my sleeve- i had a host of health problems BECAUSE of my bariatric surgery and concurrent surgeries and stricture. So let’s gets that straight. Nothing that i went through was because i wasn’t a rule follower- My story is more complicated than simply saying - oh she didn’t take her Vitamins so she got sick. Not only could I not take vitamins- I could not EAT for a long time. And I mean- anything. For months. I had multiple surgeries and was in the hospital again and again for months. Taking Vitamins was basically impossible for me during the complications I went through. I would vomit profusely every time I tried because I had basically zero food in my stomach. I ended up with a pic line feeding me for months. I did end up using patch Vitamins but I only really Improved once I was able to start eating. This whole thread to me shows that people have to do things the way that works for them. Of course it’s always better to take care of your health and follow the rules. But let’s be real- most of us obese individuals aren’t too great at self care to begin with. And living by rules- that’s really tough long term. Even short term, it’s hard. I personally applaud those of you who are able to follow the doctors orders perfectly. Good for you. Do your best. But it’s realistic to also say- find what works for you and explore your options. Know that good self care isn’t easy and the surgery is a great time to get some therapy to help with that. I wish I had much earlier then I did. The surgery isn’t a magic solution that’s gonna make you be able to live on a diet for the rest of your life. Those that think that are bound to fail. But it will give you a chance to explore what works for you, break the diet cycle and get to a healthier place with some help. With the right attitude and support it can be done, even if the way you do it isn’t “perfect”. Throwing around a patronizing attitude of “well you didn’t follow the rules but I will” just shows a lack of knowledge of living with wls long term and an unrealistic idea of what to expect in terms of challenges down the line. Most of the vets get it, some are better than others at - of I don’t know, never eating carbs again or whatever. But the majority- and I’ve met many many people who have had wls know, the majority have to find something more flexible or they do regain.

You're welcome! Both medications delay gastric emptying, so that can definitely bring back the restricted feeling. I haven't had any side effects with Mounjaro yet. I ended my Saxenda run at the highest dose, so the beginning dose of Mounjaro (2.5mg) probably won't be an issue. I move up to 5mg next month, so we'll see what happens then. My side effects with Saxenda happened early on and were very mild...fatigue and a little nausea during the first week. I was fine after that. I am grateful to have a bariatric doctor that is educated on GLP-1s and open to prescribing them when needed. I didn't want to go the revision route (and probably wasn't a candidate because even with the regain, I've maintained over 70% of my original weight loss). I just needed an additional tool. [emoji4]

Hi all, I had my surgery on Dec 30, 2013. I am in my 7th week this past Monday, and I've lost 37 lbs. I feel that I'm behind. I feel great though! I used to experience pains throughout my entire body, and now, not so much! It's a miracle. It's amazing what a difference that dropping a few pounds can make. I thank God for the opportunity to have this procedure done because my insurance didn't cover this procedure for a long time. Then, I kept praying and my husband's company was purchased by another company that provided insurance that covered bariatrics. Ohh, the power of prayer! I have a very supportive husband and family. In fact, my hubby has dropped 30 lbs himself because he has changed his lifestyle as well. My hubby is a large guy also, and he has started the process of seeing my surgeon for the procedure. He may be able to lose the weight on his own with the way that he's been losing thus far. I needed the procedure because I surely would return to my way old habits if that restriction was not in place. I'm looking forward to chatting with some of you because I would love to hear about your journeys. I get discouraged sometimes because right now, I feel that maybe I should be losing more weight, or that I may not be doing enough.

My NUT explains it this way to both her RNY and VSG patients - Most over the counter vitamins are only 50% absorbed by normal people. Bariatric patients would only absorb 25% - so you need 4x the dose. When you look at it that way, Bariatric vitamins don't really cost more than over the counter since you don't have to take as many. Also, vitamin deficiencies take years to show up in blood work. I prefer to take Bariatric formulated vitamins knowing that I'm getting the maximum absorption. 95% for Nutrametrix Isotonic powders you mix with water.

My nutritionist has me starting eating things like scrambled eggs, canned chicken or tuna with very little light mayo to moisten it so it won’t get stuck going down while swallowing. I can eat lean ground beef, thin sliced deli roast beef and turkey, shrimp, cottage cheese, yogurt some cooked vegetables. I still need at least one protein drink included in my day. My nutritionist stated I have to introduce these foods slowly to determine if my new stomach can digest these food. She some patients find out that the foods they ate before surgery find out they are unable to eat afterwards. I am so excited to start transitioning to textured foods but nervous at the same time that my new stomach will handle it now. Wishing all my fellow November Surgery Buddies who are transitioning to the next phase of your diet plan. What do you all think of changing our group name from “November Surgery Buddies” to “2021 November Surgery Warriors” I believe this group we are all warriors from our decision making, preparing or already has their gastric bariatric surgery as well as joining BariatricPal for support. I will understand if no one wants to change the groups name. I just wanted to bring it up as a suggestion. Reading these posts and seeing how much all of support each other made me look at how much we have a lot of strength and are uplifting thoughts for each other. It reminds me that we are warriors of battling our challenges together.

Thanks all. While I did have gastric bypass in 2015, and pretty much aware of my issues with digesting some things, I just started MM last month, so...had no experience with this. The edibles are gummies, and I've tried both chewing them up and swallowing, or just keeping in my mouth as they dissolve and get the same results. At my next prescription renewal, I'm going to get all tincture, with no edibles.

The pain on the left side might be due to the surgeon closing you up on that side, for me I had more pain on my right side because my surgeon tends to do all his work on the right side. I'd say if it's too much and pain meds aren't working or if you're out of pain meds to try to contact your surgeon so you can ask what side you were closed on and/or inquire about the pain you feel or you can do so at your post op appointment if they gave you one (typically they give you one for a week after the surgery). You could also inquire about pain medication - try to find out if they can prescribe a little more, or ask what you are able to use in it's place.. One of my bariatric doctors said I can take extra strength Tylenol (which I didn't try, I just dealt with the pain), but every surgeon is different in terms of recommendations.

Congrats on your wl, you are doing great. I’m 7 months post bariatric revision and have lost 79lbs to date. I’m officially stalling been 180-181 for almost 3 weeks now. This is longest stall I’ve had and starting to wonder if I’m done losing?? Got a couple more months to go to reach a year and my projected wl is 100lbs.. I hope this stall breaks this week!!!

As much as I love my band, I have to say that it's a fickle mistress. It can take several fills to achieve optimal restriction, and then as you lose weight and the fat surrounding your inner organs (including your stomach) shrinks, your band will feel looser so you'll need more fill. Also, restriction can be affected by the time of day, the climate, medications, allergies, hormones, and the position of Mars in the sky. You'll feel more restriction when you're making healthy food choices of SOLID foods, less restriction when you're choosing to eat soft and slider foods (some of which are healthy, like yogurt, but a lot of them are high-calorie and nutrient-poor, like ice cream and potato chips). We're all sick of dieting by the time we have WLS, but in a sense success with the band does involve dieting. Your band can't make good food choices for you, it can't make you exercise, it can't make you say no to trigger foods. That's all up to you. I'm over 4 years post op, 2 lbs. below my goal weight, with excellent restriction, and I still have to work on all of that in order to maintain my weight loss. It's a lifetime project. Finally I have to say: just because you can eat anything or overeat doesn't mean you should. Overeating can indeed stretch your pouch and/or esophagus and it can indeed cause your band to slip. Nowadays self-control seems to be a no-no word, but portion control is up to you, at least until you learn your soft stops. Your band won't ring a bell or flash some lights when it's time for you to stop eating. You have to eat slowly and pay close attention to how you feel as you eat. Soft stops are usually subtle - a hiccup, a sneeze, a sigh, a burp, an urge to clear your throat. If you eat through that kind of signal, looking for your pre-op sense of satiety (what I call "Thanksgiving dinner Full"), you'll go on struggling indefinitely. Success with the band is a lot of work. Although it's possible that you've stretched your pouch, only an upper GI study can prove that. If you go on overeating, it'll just make the situation worse. So I suggest that you make yourself do the evil D word (diet) for a week, pay very close attention to your satiety signals, keep a food log including the times of your meals or Snacks so you can get a handle on how long your satiety lasts, and only then go back to your bariatric surgeon to discuss another fill. Jean

I have been maintaining within a few pounds of my goal since Feb 2013. It's hard My goal is not super skinny either. Part of the reason I picked it, is I felt it was more realistic to maintain and because the bariatric surgeon and 3 plastic surgeons all advised me to stop right here. I would like to weigh 10-15# less, but frankly I don't know if I could do it without really dieting. Then, I fear I couldn't maintain. so, I will probably only lose about 4-5 pounds with the plastic surgery so I will be staying in the 150s. Works for me - I am a solid "medium" and you know all I ever wanted was to be normal.

I'm an OR nurse in a large Boston OR that also does bariatric surgery. I have been and OR nurse for 25 years and I have to tell you that I can probably count on two hand the amount of times someone died from general anesthesia. It is extremely rare unless you are a very sick individual. It is a myth perpetuated by TV,the movies and people's fears that "I won't wake up!" I have assisted tens of thousands of surgeries and am happy to be having general anesthesia for a lapband in the future. The biggest risks of surgery are not the anesthesia but the postop course which for a lap-band is very safe compared to gastric bypass which holds the bigger risks. Postop they have to watch for blood clots,pulmonary embolism and infection.

Thanks again! I appreciate all of your advice. I just picked up 5 years of weight records so I will fax those too as an extra measure. I need to schedule a psyc eval still. So I should fax the psych eval, the letter, the 5 years of weights and the nutritionist 6-month diet program all together right? I guess I need to make the copies and give them to US Bariatrics and they can fax them with their paperwork so it is all together. I really hope and pray that Cigna goes easy on me. I have gotten this far and they will not discourage me with technicalities. I will call and call and call until I get what is needed. Thanks again! And thanks for the prayers!

After many years as a lap band patient, I am at the end of my rope. I had my original surgery in June of 2002. Since then I have been through 3 doctors. One resigned, I fired one, and a new one since I relocated. Additionally I have had 4 surgeries all related to the lap band. Lets see, my first fill resulted in a raging infection that was treated for 6 months unsucessfully. Ultimately,my port had to be removed until the infection cleared up. That took another 2 months. All of this time I've had no restriction! Then we started again and I got up to two cc's and my port flipped. Another surgery. We start again and the tubing disconnects form the port. Another surgery!! Now we move on to a new doctor and he wants to put in a new port because the old one is on a angle and "hitting" the port for a fill is near impossible. Another surgery!!! We start again!!!! I get back up to 1.75cc's and my husband and I hit the road for 6 months. The doctor tells me to see him when I get back, which I did, and even though I had not lost any weight in those 6 months(I wasn't tight enough) he refuses to give me a fill. I get slightly annoyed to say the least and after a few words with him, I ask for my records and never went back!!! Still only 1.75 cc's. We relocated to South Carolina and after searching for a bariatric Dr. I find one that was somewhat reluctant to take me as a patient with all my previous problems, but finally agreed to see me. I really liked him and we arranged for a fluroscopy to see what's happening , and before I can get it done, I get a letter saying that he had resigned and relocated to another office 300 miles away. OH BOY!!! Should I be surprised?? Well. he has a partner and I started seeing him last October. This Dr gave me a fill under fluro in October, I feel nothing and I tell him so. Another fill in Nov....nothing... I tell him I think I have a leak.... I feel nothing! But he says no I don't have a leak. OK, I'm thinking maybe I just haven't hit my sweet spot yet. I get another fill in January of 2.8ccs and actually feel a restriction!!! ALLRIGHT now we're cooking!!! Finally! Well........2 days later...guess what....I FEEL NOTHING! I finally talk him into putting a little contrast in there and under fluro we find out that the inner ballon is leaking. Very slowly, but its leaking!!! YIPEE!!! I'm relieved to know that I'm not losing my mind!! So I ask the DR about a revision. But, because of all my previous surgeries with the lapband, it would be a BIG surgery!! I am not willing to put myself through a major surgery with no guarantee of leaks and flips and infections not happening again, so I'm sure you can understand why I am fed up.....and.....I AM DONE with the lapband and am resigned to live with the appliance sitting in me doing nothing. :cursing: In closing let me say, I do know several people that have been quite successful with their weight loss with the lapband, unfortunately, I am not one of them. Than you for taking the time to read this. Colleen

I go into the New Hope Bariatrics center in 3 weeks but my surgeon is Dr. Malley. I am glad they treated you well. Gives me hope. I have had 4 c-sections so I am hoping that experience with make this experience cake! LOL Hope you feel better soon and congratulations.

well i did it. this surgery for me is a breeze. thank you dr. dirk rodriguez at bariatric solutions in decatur texas. he placed my four small incisions in a place where they are least likely to get in way of daily life. i am thrilled. my surgery aug 2nd.very little gas no nausea.yay im banded and plan to be a healthy person soon.starting weight 326 and 5'3 age 57 female.hope this encourages trhose still waiting to be banded. ginny echols

I reiterate my advice to MsKeeKee01: be totally honest with yourself about what you are eating and trust your own instincts. Two weeks and one pound are not going to be the win-or-lose point for your bariatric surgury success. If eating two meals a day for the next two weeks is going to help you achieve your goals, don't let "health care practitioners' (and it is called PRACTICE for a reason) and no two docs or NUTs or any professional in any field has the same opinions and ultimately MsKeeKee is in charge of her destiny. One pound in two weeks is nothing. I didn't tell her to lie. I told her to trust herself. No soccermama, I am not post-op, not for weight loss. I have survived a couple near-death health crises but I have not had to eat all liquids for six weeks and chew everything X number of times and eat pureed food for awhile. It is a fantasy to think there are single right answers to anything having to do with our health, even weight loss surgery. It is great to have faith in the pros you choose but it is even more important to have faith in yourself and MsKeeKee has shown a deep commitment to her self care by quitting smoking. I know a whole lot of folks who just couldn't quit smoking but she did. Cling to your fantasies that doctors are gods. they aren't. Trusting one's self is the most important thing. If folks want to keep pounding on me, go ahead. I will not bend my opinions. A couple of my closest friends are doctors and I have heard too many stories from them to be able to delude myself that doctors are all knowing. they aren't. And one pound, two weeks of two meals or three -- whatev. Such a trifling thing. I am aware that a lot of behavior mod is involved. I have already lost 90 pounds without surgery, I expect to get my approval this week and I might not do it but you better believe I exercised Iron will and learned a whole hevkuva lot about nutrition while losing 90 pounds on my own. Once while talking to my bariatric surgeon she said "Oh my goodness, it sounds like you are losing all this weight on your own." Later I recounted the exchange to my wonderful primary care doc and she said "What does she think? that you have unlimited access to meal planning, nutritionists and even chefs? If you can't trust yourself and do things on your own, you shouldn't be considering surgery. We're all on our own." Trust yourself MsKeeKee.