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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.

hi theekimmy my bmi was too low for anyone i contacted in the u.s. to do surgery on me. I found dr arturo rodriguez in monterrey, Mexico who did band surgery on me 9/24. about a week afterwards i went to nyu's bariatric center and had dr. george fielding check arturo's work. fielding said Rodriquez did an excellent job. rodriguez' fee wasd $7900, a third of what i would have had to pay at nyu. dr. fielding also said that he would band patients whose bmi's are too low (according to most docs) but who have good cause to get the band. (i had the band put in mostly as a prophylactic measure because of side effects from drugs i will have to take for the rest of my life from newly diagnosed lupus). here is the contact info for both docs: dr. arturo rodriguez: md@thebariatric.com dr. george fielding: (212)263-3166 good luck anya

Well thank you for sharing yourself with us. I know I just share what my bariatric team tells me and it seems to work for me. No, I'm not at goal yet, but sticking to my Drs orders, I plan to be. Everyone has a different story. All our journey's are our journey's and I appreciate everyone's story, no matter where they are in that journey. Matter of fact, I learned so much starting out from others in the middle of their journey. The likes of Missy, Sojo, CG,AJ, Dee,Chez, Floridays & Jean, just to name a few. Not to mention all the books I've read. I figure most of us have educated ourselves before WLS, to know rhetoric from fact. So we take things with a grain of salt. Thank you for sharing your journey. You have done amazing. May the rest of your journey be like wise!

Talked to the wonderful Cris (Dr. Erbella's nurse) and mentioned the changes in my insurance (thank you so much Jim1967 for the info) at first she told me the same information as before... 6 month wait, psych eval, dietician, and letter of recommendation from my primary care doctor. My heart fell. Then I remembered I had called my insurance company the day before and had them send me the new policy on bariatric surgery. Oh man was i excited again! She called Cigna and Jim and I were correct. I only have to wait 3 months now. Insert massive smiley face here! I am currently on my 4th month so that means as long as i get my other stuff done before August I'll most likely be able to have the surgery by the end of August. Don't you know come Monday I'm calling the psych and dietician to see if they can move up the appointments. Cris is already contacting my primary care doctor so atleast i don't have to worry about that. On a seperate note, I bought my first ever scale today. Kids thought it was the coolest thing but when you weigh under 120 its easy to be excited. Heck if i was under 120 I'd be excited too. Hoping one day soon the scale will be my friend. Today wasn't the day though

Is there such a thing as too much too fast? I Started my pre op diet on Oct 12, 2012, my begin wieght was 337, yesterday was my 4 week post op mark, and I wieghed myself this morning and I am down to 278, if i am not mistaken thats 59lbs. Granted I was down to 309 the day of the surgery on Oct 22, 2012. but altogether it seems like its a lot of lbs to loose in a short amount of time. I beleave I will slow down as soon as I can start to eat better, but as it is now I am not holding down much, I can do a protien shake, it takes about an hour to get down, I can eat some soft foods like yogurt and apple sauce but only about three very small bites at a time, then i am done for hours. I had my surgery done out of the US, for a couple reasons, first of all the bariatric surgen would not even talk to me because I take narcartics for pain, plus the local surgen wants 25K to 30K so I went out of the country (Mexico), The doctors and nurses were exeplery they were so nice and accomidating to our every need it seemed like, but the only problem is there is no follow up care which i would have thought that if you follow the diet like it says there should not be any problems, but to my surprise there are unforseen things that one just does not think about, like I think the doctor might have made my stomach pouch too small be cause it is really hard to keep anything down, but maybe this is the way its suppose to be, time will tell.

I was given a list of aproved shakes and vitamins at my first visit to the Bariatric clinic. I take Celebrate Vitamins. I ordered a sample package of them and decided on my flavors pre-op. I chose this brand due to price and the ease of scheduling them through my day.

Hey it's all good now, felt good from last surgery on. A bariatric pioneer did my surgery and accidents happen. Before my surgery, I had never been in the hospital before, always felt food until the last year before my surgery, then struggled with knee problems, foot problems, diabetes 2, but all that is gone now.

I had my surgery on 08/20/07, I lined up one of the best doctors of Bariatrics in Missouri. 5 weeks later I awoke from a medicinal induced coma in ICU. My Laproscoptic procedure failed when my surgeon accidentally cut my colon and didn't know it. I was in recovery when my wife asked a nurse if the drainage bag was supposed to be red like blood. Yes yes she answered, at three the next morning my surgeon called her and said I was in trouble and he doesn't think he'll be able to save me. However I suppose it wasn't my time, I kept right on breathing, my wife said my blood pressure got down to 60/32 but it was there. The surgeon, of course, had to open me from sternum to belly button and for five weeks they just used some kind of hose to temporarily close me up, because they packed and changed salt packs in me about three times a day the 5 weeks I was out. After sewing me up the final time, I developed leaking fistulas, meaning I could drink a glass of Water and see it leak out of my tummy after it's trek down my gullet. My surgeon sent me to a rehab facility soon afterwards to die. Even the most seasoned doctor was surprised I hadn't kicked the bucket. One young dynamo told me they had just gotten back from a large doctor gathering in Phoenix the night before, and I was the topic of conversation! Anyway, the rehab hospital had never had a bariatric patient before so with my leaking fistulas they had me eating the same thing as everyone else. I got stronger, they pulled the god awful trach thing out of my neck, I must've sounded like a monster to my children! However, the fistulas continued to leak my bile from my innards and being horizontal, the bile kept my skin from healing. Two emergency surgeries at a large famous hospital next door (w/out) my wife's permission or knowledge led her to talk my original surgeon to transfer me back to University of Missouri Med Center. While there I was visited by Dr James Kraatz (my absolute hero), he said he thought he could fix me up, stop the fistulas, 50/50 chance. Okie dokie, when do we get started. This was in December of 2007. He transferred me to the Burn and Wound ICU (wonderful place!). I had my first surgery in December, stay in hospital thru January. He sent me home with intravenous feeding, (nothing by mouth for 5 months), and a drain (nasty). Lots of great medicine!! In June of 2008, he operated and fixed my fistulas and sent me home with a wound vac, I never leaked again but was fearful for months and uber careful. (He had to wait for 6 mos. for the final surgery because of the trauma inside me from the previous 25 surgeries.) I never had the dramatic weight loss that most people experience with gastric bypass. Today I weigh 280, 100 pounds lighter, no diabetes, but hypoglycemia. No joint pain, reminders are a big honking scar on my gut, I've thought about tattooing it as a tree of life. People ask me if I'd do the surgery again, of course I wouldn't knowing how it turned out, if I told you it wasn't hell I'd be lying. Am I satisfied today, I'm satisfied with living.

Hi Chris..I'm 72 5ft8in 323lb down from a high of 355, BMI close to yours. Resident grandma of Bariatric Pal since I'm older than dirt. Should be having RnY...early-mid March unless a miracle happens this month. Mother to 3, 2 living, my son who I call Tomkitten on here and his older sister known as RD, short for Rotten Daughter. She lives 7/8 mile from me. After not speaking to me for 6 months her best friend died of a heart attack Christmas . She started calling and texting me, Will it last?Don't know, she should know I love her cause I've told her repeatedly over the years,,i just don't like some of her past actions. Hurts me she doesn't want to be closer. Sent from my VS880PP using BariatricPal mobile app

@@rockpaper Everyone is really nice at Mountainside, I don't see why you wouldn't be able to attend. Maybe we can attend a meeting and grab a Protein shake one day! LOL When is your surgery? Here is the link so that you can call them and find out a schedule, I don't have it yet: http://www.mountainsidehosp.com/departments-and-services/advanced-bariatrics/contact-us/

I too have waited many years thinking about WLS. I work in healthcare and see so many bypass complications that haunt patients for years. I don't see band patients though (I work in a bariatric hospital). I have the issue that even though I know I'm overweight I don't feel overweight. I'm very active and "see" myself skinnier then I really am. I lost 110 lbs in one year (11 yrs ago) doing Atkins/exercise.....kept it off for 2-3 yrs then it started to creep back. I've gained 60 back total, so not a total loss! I decided on getting banded this past fall, have done all the work for approval (lost 18 lbs too!) and got my surgery date today! April 16th will be here before I know it!! I wish you the best with your band and know that we are taking a great step towards healthier lives!!!

I'm getting banded Friday. The cost is $12,500, including a year of after-care and free fills. In addition, it was $250 for the initial consultation, $75 for the nutritionist, $150 for the psych evaluation, and $515 for the labs and tests through my GP's office. I will also pay $100 for the preoperative appointment next Tuesday. So that's a total of $13,500. I will probably also get a bill for the blood tests from the lab. Here's Dr. Ganta's site: ::: AUSTIN INSTITUTE OF BARIATRICS & LAPAROSCOPY ::: If you give them a call, you'll talk to Joy, who is very friendly, helpful, and informative. Good luck!

Hi there, I wasn't banded here, I moved from Scottsdale, Arizona, but we (husband also) have found a Dr. Patel who is establishing a bariatric practice here (he's from San Antonio) and he seems to be quite good. He's uncovered something with my band by doing fluoroscope that hopefully can be corrected. My other doctor didn't use the scope and this wouldn't have been uncovered until it was an emergency. He's only in Austin 1 day a month, going to 2 days soon. If you want his name and number, just let me know.

I was banded on 12/20/07 by Dr. Nancy Marquez of Southwest Bariatric here in Austin. I am self pay and my total came out to $15,700.00. She was very thorough in her consultation. So far so good. Will keep you posted.

http://www.obesityhelp.com/find/bariatric-surgeon/WA/ BTW here is a list of Bariatric surgeons in your area.

Purple for the Raven's win today people... Ahh. The weekend is over, but there's still one more day of work. Ughh. Not looking forward to it. I've been eating a little too much at work, a little too much "bad" stuff. I have an appt with my counselor at the Bariatric practice soon. Its stress right now, I'm moving, having bf issues, money issues, etc. It shouldn't be an excuse for me to not follow the plan. I'm probably headed down the road of screwing up if I don't break off now. Anyone else out there struggle with this?

I used Dr Sonny Cavazos who's head of bariatrics at Northeast Baptist; there's a section here for surgeons (it's a forum, you can scroll down) but I don't think anyone has posted there about Dr. Patel.

Hi, Im just starting my journey and will actually have my 1st consultation on Sept 18th, already did seminar...I was just wondering if anyone knows anything about the "I can change program" thru Health Alliance, this is who I have and must do this program to qualify. Its Health Alliance HMO of IL, looking to have my surgery at Genesis Bariatric Center in Davenport IA Thanks!

Well, I made it through my first shift back at work. But I have to say, I was BEAT this morning! Thankfully, it wasn't a hughly busy shift, so I could pace myself, sip on my water all night, got to take a break, etc. Some nights it is so crazy that even a bathroom break is out of the question (sorry, TMI!). Only problem was, I was way to beat to swim with my roommate this morning before going to bed. I got home and told her, "sorry, I am headed straight to bed!" And I slept like I had died. So now it is back to work again tonight and tomorrow, and then I have a couple of nights off, which will be nice. When I got home this morning, I made my usual "Pit stop" at the scale on my way to bed, and was disappointed to see that I weighed the same as yesterday morning. Sort of discouraging. I walked a lot last night at work, and thought that would help in the weight loss battle. But then I know that weight loss isn't always smooth and even. I was somewhat discouraged when I got to work last night. I had told two people at work (IN CONFIDENCE!) about the upcoming weight loss surgery, and when I got to work, it seemed like EVERYONE knew I had had the surgery, that I had gone to Mexico to have it, etc. I am not sure which one of my co-workers "spilled the beans", but am sort of upset that one or both of them would tell something that I had told them in confidence, and asked them NOT to tell anyone about! I am a contract worker, and did this between contracts, so it isn't like I had to inform administration or HR about the surgery. For all they knew, I was just taking some time off between contracts. I had tons of "unsolicited" advise last night, about my diet, my weight loss, my vitamin intake, etc. There are three gals at work who have had various bariatric procedures (not sure what exact procedure) and one of them came to me to tell me how it was "the worst thing she had ever done in her life!" Now why would she tell me that? I am working hard to make a success of my surgery and post-op experience, and she tells me about her infections, her subsequent surgeries needed to "fix what the weight loss surgery did to me", etc! I mean, how depressing. I guess some people just can't let someone else be happy that things are going right! Oh well, enough complaining. Have to start getting ready for work. Hope all you pre and post op Sleevers are doing well. Talk at you more later............

1. sleeved on July 3, 2012 2. Empire blue cross/shield 3. Pre-op experience: Other than some administrative frustrations (people not sure if my tests were in, and recorded, et...) I had a good experience. I was a little'pushy'....I had no intentions on waiting 6 months for surgery! 4. Post-op: great! I came through the surgery with flying colors, never filled my pain meds once home. The Bariatric Team at Mercy Hospital, was supportive both pre and post op. I am down 12 lbs so far, and trying to not to weigh myself every hour! LMAO!

Good luck..I find most bariatric surgeons offices rather curt...busy and you have to keep on them...the doctors are so busy ...really...you have to be very diligent and persistent.

Teabody, I've been pulling my hair out with Obamacare since the open enrollment started on 10/1/14. I'm self employed so I pay for my own insurance out of pocket. I tried to enroll for an Obamacare program, but I made too much money for 2012 (they base your eligibility on your last tax returns). I bit the bullet and just upgraded from my old plan with Horizon (my previous plan doesn't cover bariatric surgery). I'm at the tail end of my preops, met with my surgeon's office yesterday and will probably be scheduled for surgery mid-February. So basically, I'm going to pay for my current expensive plan for two months, then reapply for an Obamacare subsidy plan before the 3/31/14 deadline for open enrollment (after I have my taxes done).

Don't let some of that scare you.Are you that weak emotionally?Pull up your boot straps and get back to exercising and eliminating some of the calories and types of foods you don't need.one has to work with this tool.Plus a trip to the Bariatric doc can help.get back in the game

I have Cigna, I had to do 6 months of dr visits with the bariatric dr, 2 visits pre op and 1 visit post op with the nutritionist, a psychiatric clearance, and a pulmonologist clearance to get it done here in NJ. Not sure if its different there though. They didnt say anything about it being within such amount of a time frame after though...

Excercise is hard for some of us, I am an amputee, have ms and have to use a n elctric wheelcahir most of the time- exercise/activity is really tough but every little bit helps. I have found a couple of dvd that are aimed at people with physical lmitations or severly overweight- one is "the bariatric workout" another is "Chair Dancing around the world" if you google the chair dancing you will find there site has modified tai chi, yoga etc etc in a series of dvd's I am finding that I am at the lowest level on these programs but it is getting easier. I am also making sure that I spend more time in my manual wheelchair when I am at home- i figured that when I have been immobile for so long it was best to try to increase activity in small bites throughout the day. I have also thought of a couple of sessions with a personal trainer and a friend has actually recommended that I look for a rehab specialist who will understand how to address the health problems- i will do that pretty soon when my stamina has improved a bit. it probably would be best if you spoke to you cardiac specialist before starting an excercise program on your own though- as for the smoking, giving up the smokes really should be your next priority, i know it is a tough habit to break but it is jsut so damaging