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I completely understand the regrets. Knowing all I know right now, I would probably still have the surgery, but my side effects are not as bad as some of you (thank goodness the Miralax--after 6 doses and 3 days--is working on my horrific constipation, but only in small doses over two days now---gotta stay close to a potty). I had my first mandated-by-my-surgeon of three meetings with the bariatric support group sponsored by my nutritionist. It was a mix of folks who are considering the surgery, those about 9 or less months out, and those who had the surgery in the last couple of months. Much of the talk centered around whether to tell friends and coworkers about the surgery. Tonight we have dinner with a small group of friends where I know the host will have delicious steak and top-notch wine. She always makes the same dinner when we come over because it's my family's favorite (steak, mashed potatoes, buttery brown mushrooms, and asparagus). My brother and his wife will be there, and they know about the surgery, but the host and her husband do not. I will have to just go with it and see what comes out of my mouth when they notice I'm obviously not having cocktails, wine, or steak. I guess I'll find out what I say if asked as I doubt my brother will mention it (although I have not told him NOT to so he might). Someone in the support group said once you tell one person, sooner of later everyone will know so I guess it's just a matter of time. I suppose the most compelling reason for NOT telling folks is because I don't want "having gastric bypass" being associated with my identity....that is, people saying: "Oh, I know her, she's the one who had bariatric surgery." What do y'all think of that? Do you think it becomes true of someone who has had the surgery? Is it a stigma? Thanks.

Dr Balsama is also with Kennedy Bariatric. Has anyone had experience with him?

Google Bariatric Psych Evals. They did mine by phone for 100.

My all in one Bariatric Choice chewable wafer supplement has Iron in it~ and it is like sucking on a candy- yum But just in case your tiredness isn't from low iron, the nurse at my clinic always says that if we start to feel that way to start charting: 1)how much Protein we are getting in 2)how many fluids 3)how often we are taking our Vitamins and are e taking enough? She said that often we will find that we aren't doing what we are supposed to be doing and that's why we get really low energy. Also~ my sister had extremely low Bs. It affected her very badly with low energy. She ended up getting a B shot every week. She said she felt so much better right after getting it too. If it continues def go to the dr and see what's up! I hope it passes quickly, I hate that feeling

Thanks so much for the info! I've never heard of Built Bars, but will look into them. I have a bunch of Premier Protein shakes onhand, but was told they're off-limits as they're not on the "recommended" list for my specific bariatric program. Sucks because they are 30g of protein and I figure it's better than nothing. I follow the protein first rule as well, but as I mentioned, I can only eat so much of it before I'm full/very uncomfortable. BTW....glad I'm not the only one who can't stand Unjury! LOL! I keep getting told by my dietician and doctor that it's not that bad...YES, it is! LOL!!!

I use the Multi Vitamin patch from the Bariatric Pal store. I have had great labs. I put one on in the morning and it is there until the next day. I have even taken a shower with one on and it stayed put. I have them on a monthly subscription along with my Protein hot chocolate. Am thinking of getting other Patches for some of the other Vitamins I need to take.

The first doctor I went to was the one referred by my bariatric surgeon. She works with a lot of his patients so this is her thing. She even attends some of his support groups for bariatric patients. I would like to get my chest and arms done but she said that would be too much for one surgery. That would also be a lot of money so I'll focus on my middle section for now. Sent from my VS990 using Tapatalk

I used premier after my sleeve surgery but find my stomach won’t tolerate them after my recent revision to bypass. I highly recommend trying these samples. https://store.bariatricpal.com/products/syntrax-nectar-protein-powder-trial-sizes-17-flavors-to-choose-from?vec=eyJ2ZVRwIjoiRk9SVU0iLCJ2clRwIjoiTU9TVF9QT1BVTEFSIiwidnJJcCI6IjEifQ%3D%3D my favorite is the chocolate truffle and I tolerate them very well. I would be Leary of a one per day vitamin. Iron and calcium will counteract each other in certain doses. Also check with your team as they may require you to start on chewables. I take the bariatric fusion. Bottle says take 4 per day but my dr assures me that if I take two twice per day I will get the same results. I like that I don’t need any extra d3, iron or calcium with these. good luck!

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.😛

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!👍😛

Here's a link to the forum on obesityhelp.com that talks about it. ObesityHelp - Gastric Bypass, LAP-BAND® System, DS and Other Surgical and Non-Surgical Weight Loss Options. - Forums - Mini Gastric Bypass Surgery (MGB) There is a lot of controversy about it, lots of negative, some positive. Not many surgeons do it. The "Father" of the procedure, Dr. Rutledge, in Nevada does not have the most stellar reputation amongst bariatric surgeons. Take some time, research it well. Good luck!

:happybday2: :happybday2: :happybday2: HAPPY BIRTHDAY SHERRY!!!!!!!! :happybday2: :happybday2: :happybday2: Hope your special day is happy, and full of great surprises! A wonderful person like you just deserves a wonderful day the way I see it!!! In fact I think all of you deserve to have a great day. It is supposed to be windy here again. I am so sick of wind! It messes with me wanting to get outside and exercise. I am renewing my efforts. I figure with Spring, and Easter, it is time for new beginings---so it is back to basics for me. Like Cindy the scale is playing games with me, I see the infamous 199 and by the next day it is 201 again---and I have had enough!!! Going to try to work it off, watch what I eat a bit (not gonna go totally nutso here!!!), and see if I can do it with this fill. I don't feel hungry, I am begining to eat just because I CAN! I hate to chance another fill, and get too tight, and start all the trouble that can lead to. I think in all honesty, my fill will be ok, if I respect the foods I put into it!!! I like being able to eat anything---I do not want restriction that causes me to eliminate foods---so it seems heaven forbid, I may have to pick up my pace here!!! I began Monday, and am now back to seeing 201 on the scale again---it had went up to 203 again. I think one thing I really need to pay attention to is my sodium intake, because I retain water like crazy!!! For the last several years pre banding I took a diuretic as part of my high blood pressure meds, and now, if I eat chinese for instance, it is an instant 4 pound weight gain---which has to be fluid---it goes away quickly---but it sucks seeing the weight go UP! So watching my salt....that's hard! I actually got into a bit of a "discussion" regarding my band, and my SIL with my MIL on the phone last night, and neither of us hung up very happy! She tells me she has a message for me, and the message is (done in a Kindergarten sing song) "Ha ha ha I have lost 80 pounds!" It just struck me in the wrong way!!! So I told her I was glad my SIL had lost weight, I wasn't sure who decided I was against her doing so, but they were wrong, that I would no longer discuss my band, nor my weight loss with either of them, I was sick of her acting like a 5 year old. Of course.....I had to add that no this was not jealousy, I had lost more than 80 pounds, and I would never again tell any of them how much! This is an 80 year old woman telling me what a 58 year old woman said. It has been building, all along for the last year! She had tried making it a competition at first, then she had complications from being too tight, so I had to hear how bad the band was---and amazingly now that she found the right place of restriction, they love the band again---and I am the enemy! The two of them are very close-as I am with my own Mom, but I don't appreciate being made the common denominator for them to pick at---and it has been non stop....little jabs. I know I have to have a TT---I have had a muscle tore loose on the left side of my stomach for many years---courtesy of my ex husband and a well placed boot. And they make non stop comments about how my stomach really needs work, and how atleast the way SHE is losing, is feminine and attractive, as men like broader hips. I would love not to have the issue I do with my stomach---I cannot help how I am built otherwise, I have now and even at my heaviest had slim hips and legs--it is the way my Dads family is built. My DH tells me to make gray hair comments, because she went gray in her late 20's. But I can't do that! Ok I'll quit----thank you for listening, I have been stressing over this! Whew----thanks so much for always being there!!! My Mom went and did her sleep test last night following her problem waking up after her knee surgery. The technician told her she fought sleep all night long, that she would hear back today, that her condition is quite serious! I hate that she had the problem, but I believe it was a blessing in disguise, we had tried to get her to ask about her sleep before, and her worthless PCP blew her off! I am so glad she is going to get help! I am off to lunch with my friend Marie, here soon. She wants a burger at Fudruckers (oh do NOT try to get my 2 yr old granddaughter to say Fudruckers---it ends up a 2 syllable fu'uckers----sounds SOOOO bad!!). I think I can get a salad, or some chicken---and if not, I'll do better tomorrow!!! Everyone take care, will get to personals next time, I used up all my time and space venting---thank you AGAIN!!! Kat

Hello all, To anyone that lives in South Carolina, I'm looking for any insurance plans that cover bariatric surgery. From the research that I've done, I haven't found any that do. I don't qualify for any Medicaid plans, so I'm not sure what my options are at this point besides either paying out of pocket (which is a last resort possibility) or going outside the country. Any help regarding finding any insurance plan that could cover bariatric surgery or a way to get my current healthcare provider (BCBS South Carolina) to somehow cover my surgery is appreciated. Thank you.

Hello all! I txt msg Tracy earlier and got the same news that Judy already reported.. I am worried about Haydee and all her family, and Juans. I went to a support group meeting today Bandwagon and it was good. I hadnt been since the personel change and it has grown and was pretty well organized. It was nice to have staff from my docs office there and big news.. one of the well known bariatric docs in town is now part of his practice... (Suzie this will mean something to you) Hitchcock is now with Malley's practice... (as in Hoehn and Hitchcock at Shawnee Mission Med Center) Anyway.. I've got household chores to do tomorrow.. I really need to get in the yard and prune up some of my flowering shrubs... and it REALLY NEEDS mowed. Hoping it will dry up enough to get some stuff done.. and there is also painting I need to do. Have a great evening! Keep the homelights burning Terry!

It seems to me like she might just have a personal preference due to what ingredients she might think are unsavory in the Premier? That's odd. Premier are pretty popular among the bariatric community.

A friend of mine highly recommends Bariatric Advantage. She had bypass surgery a few months back. I do think it’s weird that she’s insisting you order Unjury. I went over my paperwork and it mentions whey protein isolate powders and shakes and listed some brands but in the end I can choose what ever I want as long as it has at least 25 grams of protein. So I’m basically taking the long way to say don’t let them push you around and oh by the way we are surgery twins!

Right! Are you having bypass or vsg? I’m going to Tijuana, because my stupid insurance stopped covering bariatric surgery this year.

Hi Aqua... did you have the sleeve, lap and or complete bariatric bypass?

Exactly! Instead of beating ourselves up for not reaching our goal weight, we should focus on how much we have accomplished! And for most of us, the original goal weight was a fairly arbitrary number. The important thing is that you are way healthier than you were two years ago. Congrats! Well if we’re doing confessions, I’ll admit that I can have mimosas (yes, plural) and not suffer. Weird story, but I actually ran into my bariatric surgeon at a padel ball tournament last fall. Weirder still, my husband and I got paired up against him and his wife. Mimosas and breakfast burritos were flowing and my bari-surgeon himself poured me a mimosa after our match! I told him I either had room for the mimosa or the burrito and his response was “damn surgeons, can’t trust ‘em” Lol, I chose the mimosa 🤣 Hope everyone is doing well So far I’m hanging into the high 130’s and I too think that I look much better now with 5 extra pounds on. I seem to be in constant flux-regaining then losing the same 5-7 pounds. I’d like it if I had a bit more consistency, but as long as I can keep within my window I’ll take it.

Whether or not you have excess skin relies on lots of things---but rate of loss is not one of them. (People who have gastric bypass may seem to more dramatically develop the issue, but that is simply because their loss is more rapid. The rapid loss does not CAUSE the problem; the loss causes the problem--which means that yes, it can indeed occur after banding.) The things that influence the degree to which you are affected include age, genetics, smoking history, sun exposure history, how much excess weight you carried, how long you were overweight, how many pregnancies you have had, how many times you had large fluctuations in weight, and so on. Losing fast, losing slow---it doesn't really matter. Think of a balloon. If you blow it up to capacity, then let the air out, it looks pretty much the same. If you do this many times, it starts to change. It gets less elastic, striations appear in the latex. Your skin is pretty similar. If it's stretched and stretched, then the tension is released (again, fast or slow, doesn't matter), then elasticity is lost, especially if there is yo-yoing. There isn't much one can do about this other than hope for good luck and good genetics. Meeting your nutritional needs can give skin what it needs, too---that for sure is important. (Get enough Protein and Fluid, get adequate heart-healthy fat, take a good-quality bariatric Multivitamin.) Exercise to build a good "scaffold" for your skin to drape on. Know that exercise will not tighten skin, but will improve your health and appearance anyway. I'm almost 49, am almost 90 down from banding almost 10 months ago (and over 100 down from my highest), and have been very, very pleased with how many of my body parts have rebounded. OTOH, I have had 3 pregnancies, breastfed, and am no spring chicken; I have a plastic surgery consult scheduled for May, when I'll be in the surgeon's city for my daughter's graduation. I am nearing goal. I look pretty darn good in clothes. I look a HELL of a lot better naked than I did before losing weight. If I decide to proceed with surgery, it will really just be icing on the cake, something to do for MYSELF, to complete the journey. But the laxity of the skin is not something that torments me----really, it is weirdly symbolic of the positive changes I've made. ETA: To answer your other questions: I am aiming for the lower end of the normal BMI scale because my frame is small. Since yours is large, I'd go for a bit higher on the BMI scale. "Normal" BMI is defined as 18.9-24.9. At your height, you'd hit the high end at 159 pounds. I've had great success! I'm 0.4 pounds away from 90 pounds down, and have not yet hit the 10-month mark. The band has really addressed my particular weight issues, and I've found it quite easy to work with. I was taken aback by the hair loss that occurred beginning around 4 months postop. This is a result of an interruption in the hair growth cycle caused by the trauma of surgery and anesthesia. While it's important to make sure you get the right nutrients (protein, fluid, Biotin, zinc), and it can be helpful to use growth-promoting shampoos/conditioners such as Nioxin, really---it's just a matter of time. Just when I thought it would really become noticeable to others, my normal hair growth resumed---no harm, no foul. Otherwise, it's been pretty smooth sailing for me. I accepted the lifestyle changes (permanent eating changes, a lifelong need for daily exercise) pretty happily---so I have no real complaints.

I had my pre-op today and the good news is that even though I haven't lost the full 15 pounds (15% of my body weight) that I was told to lose I am still a go for surgery on Friday Dec. 18. I lost 10 pounds and the bariatric nurse told me that as long as I lost 2/3 of the weight recommended that I was ok. Have to stay low carb with no cheating to make sure that my liver doesn't re-enlarge before Friday. Yippee!!! Good luck to everyone this week, can't wait until Friday!

So one thing I’ve learned is that the dont’s vary WIDELY between each Bariatric doctor/clinic. The do’s are pretty much the same; mainly, focus on protein and water consumption. The dont’s and other instructions after surgery for me (per my doctor) includes NO ALCOHOL; no drinking from straws; no chewing gum; no carbonated drinks; no caffeine; no beef/red meat for the first year; deconstruct every meal; every meal to be low cal; no drinking liquids for 15 mins before and 30 mins after a meal; chew your food for 30 seconds before swallowing; eat your meal within 30 minutes; exercise/weights at least 3x a week. TAKE THE PRESCRIBED VITAMINS EVERY DAY WITHOUT FAIL - especially thiamin. Soooo - I’ve lost 140lbs - sleeved December 2019. ONE OF THE TOP BEST DECISIONS OF MY LIFE. Wish I did it sooner. I struggle now with the type of foods I put into my body - I have a hankering for chocolate and cookies. 😩 BUT! 99% of the time it’s because I’m bored and will mindless eat. I have to reel it back in. It will always be a recurring process for me.

Awesome! I went to his seminar and liked him from the start, I feel really comfortable with him. Which is definitely important! My doc was a transplant surgeon before he began specializing in bariatrics. (Been doing bariatrics for the last 15 years). It's so good to see fellow Michiganders - and hear your experience. It makes me excited! I wish you continued success and hope to keep in touch!

Have you tried other brands of protein shakes, check out Bariatric Choice.com, they have drinks, puddings, fruit drinks, soups all with about 15 grams of protein each, at this site you can purchase single servings to "try " them out before you spend the money on a larger size.the ones I've tried are pretty darn good. Also try some Ready to drink shakes-cold. Premier protein at Costco, EAS strawberry or fudge-available at many stores and online. Sometimes the RTD shakes are more acceptable for some people. Unjury makes a shake mix with 21 grams of protein comes in strawberry, chocolate, vanilla, unflavored, and chicken soup. Use the unflavored in regular soups or puddings. Try mixing crystal lite with water and adding some vanilla protein powder. Also check out GNC, you can return products even if opened, if they don't go over so well. Good luck. I am 1 month out and am starting to try small (fingernail size) bits of foods or finely chopped items. Eating on chicken and fish, no beef yet. I put tune, a stalk of celery and a bit of mayo in the food processor and it works very well, blend more for puree, less for later. Check out "The world according to Egg face.com. Lots of ideas and recipes."

I’m really fortunate, my hospital has a state of the art gym. Bariatric patients are offered a 3 month membership for $100. It includes a personal trainer, before and after body composition and anything (including spin, classes and pool) you want to participate in. If I decide I like this gym it is $85 a month after that. I meet with my trainer this afternoon. I waited until I was closer to my goal weight because I knew that was when it was going to get tough! I think programs would be wise to offer this when feasible.