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Hi guys I am living in Cairns Australia and am in desperate need in some more participants for my latest study on the psychological effects of lockdown on Bariatric patients being conducted in Australia. Pleeeeease can you do my survey if you can spare 5 mins! I would be sooo grateful - and it will be contributing to a good cause. I will publish results here too. TOTALLY ANONYMOUS AND ETHICALLY APPROVED. Ashley Ristanto https://cqushhss.au1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_bP1q5U3xXHlWZfM Edited 3 minutes ago by Ashley Frizell

Hi guys I am in desperate need of some more participants for my latest study on the psychological effects of lockdown on Bariatric patients being conducted in Australia. Pleeeeease can you do my survey if you can spare 5 mins! I would be sooo grateful - and it will be contributing to a good cause. I will publish results here too. TOTALLY ANONYMOUS AND ETHICALLY APPROVED. Ashley Ristanto https://cqushhss.au1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_bP1q5U3xXHlWZfM Edited 3 minutes ago by Ashley Frizell

I did keto a while back and had the keto flu for about a week. The bariatric diet and keto are actually the same except bariatric diet wants your fats 50 or less per day and keto wants HEALTHY fats higher. I did the bariatric diet for 2 1/2 months and my body hated it. I would stall over and over. I decided to switch to keto again and I haven't had a stall in the month I've been doing it and have steadily lost. No keto flu this time, tho. But it's normal and goes away. I keep my calories between 1000-1150 per day (I work out and need the extras so my body doesn't think it's starving and hold on to everything). I keep my carbs between 25-35 per day. My protein stays around 75-85 per day. My fats are usually around 70-80. And I'm completely sugarfree or very low sugar (such as certain fruits or veggies). I work out for 45 minutes per day, and I generally take in around 75-90oz of fluids (depending on the type of workout I did that day).

I don't know of anyone right off hand, but what you could do with that time is do your six-month supervised diet, if your insurance requires it (many do - but not all). I had to switch insurance companies to get WLS coverage. I decided in June of 2014 that I wanted to get surgery, but my new insurance wouldn't kick in until Jan 2015. So I asked if they would accept my six-month supervised diet requirement if it was done under my old insurance company. Turned out yes, I could - so that's what I did. So I already had that out of the way when I entered the bariatric program in Jan 2015.

I had consults for almost a year before surgery and my surgeon told me as long as they weren't extended release tablets, then I could have them after bypass. Medications were high on my list on concerns since I have asthma and a mental health condition that I wasn't willing to mess around with. I've found there is so much variability among bariatric surgeons with meds, diets, etc. that it's so hard to compare experiences, but yeah, they were giving me pills at the hospital pre-op day 1.

There seems to be some confusion in this thread and it's not clear from the original poster, what's meant by "Steroids". There are 4 things I suppose you might mean, so we should probably clear that up: Testosterone Replacement Therapy: Since the OP is female, I doubt you are on this, as it's typically prescribed for older males with low testosterone. Anabolic Steroids: I also doubt the OP means this as these are highly controlled drugs and only prescribed in very limited circumstances. That said, a lot of bodybuilders abuse these. (Ever hear of "Roid Rage"?) Corticosteroids: These are commonly used medications typically prescribed for inflammation. The most common oral example would be prednisone. It would be rare (but not unheard of), to be on this long term as the side effects can be worse than the inflammation it purports to treat. NON-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatories: As the name implies, these are NOT steroids, or even related to steroids. They got this name because they were originally developed as an alternative to corticosteroids. Common examples include the over the counter medications ibuprofen (Advil) and Naproxen (Aleve), as well as the prescription drugs meloxicam (Mobic) and Celecoxib (Celebrex). Typically this is a class of medications that doctors like you to be off of for bariatric surgery because they can cause stomach ulcers. I'm assuming the OP meant one of the latter two, but don't know for sure?

I had one after plastic surgery, but not bariatric surgery.

I always feel bad for my waiter when I go out to eat because they will usually come over and ask me if there is anything wrong with my meal. I just tell them that I had a stomach surgery and don't feel like eating and then I take my meal to go. When I am out with people outside of my family, I usually order something small and cut it up and use my fork to mix everything on the plate together and move it around to try to make it look like I ate more than I actually did. (This is a technique that small children often use to try to convince Mom that they have eaten enough dinner. I have often wondered how many other bariatric surgery patients have done this in an effort to not offend a host. ) You can also just box up half of your meal before you even start eating and just say that you are trying new eating habits if anyone asks. Buffets are just a no go for me unless they have to go options (pay by weight of meal). Even though I am several years out from surgery, after my doctor started me on Ozempic last year (for diabetes, not weight loss), I have been unable to eat more than a few bites of food at a time. My stomach literally feels just like it did a few weeks after surgery. Consequently, I have lost more weight which is great but I have to say that the daily nausea is getting old at this point.

So, we’re jumping forward to May 2021. Picture this: I’m about to talk to my cardiologist at my 1 year surgery follow-up and am getting nervous. Mentally I’m going through all the things I’m going to say to convince him I’m fine, and that he should definitely approve me for WLS. Turns out, I was worried about nothing. He went through the standard checkup stuff and at just about the point that I was ready to go into my well rehearsed sales pitch, he actually asked me if I was still considering bariatric surgery. Imagine my surprise at that one! When I said yes, he didn’t hesitate to say he was fine with it and didn’t see the heart surgery as an issue at all. He just became my new favorite doctor. I walked out of his office ecstatic and ready to call the bariatric center to get the weight loss surgery scheduled right then. I mean if they would have taken me in tomorrow, I was READY. It was late in the day though, so I decided to wait. Turns out waiting was a bad choice. I woke up the next day with horrible back pain. I’d had back issues for many years, but it had been mostly stable for a while. Now I was experiencing a bout of sciatica that was so bad, I had little to no muscle control in my legs. Great, more health issues to deal width and once again bariatric surgery would have to wait. Let me jump forward a bit here. It took a few months, some new meds, some injections, and some aquatic therapy, but the back was feeling tolerable, at least. I was finally ready to call the bariatric surgeon’s office. Remember me saying I should have called sooner? It turns out they had a 2 month backlog for “new” patients. You see, because I had been out of the program for almost 18 months at that point, I basically had to start over. Fast forward to September 2021 and I finally get to meet with a PA and start the “intake” process. I then did the standard psych evaluation and 6 months of dietitian visits required by my insurance company. The surgeon also decided that I needed to do an abdominal CT scan with contrast. Not sure if this was typical, or something “special” just for me. Unfortunately, once again something wasn’t right. This meant the surgeon wanted a closer look, which meant more testing. Pro tip, if you ever get told you need to do a fluoroscopic swallowing exam, see if you can get out of it. Seriously. This was probably one of the top 5 worst exams I've done. I went in thinking it would be no big deal and was much more worried about the endoscopy they also were planning. Turns out, I had it completely backward. I slept through the endoscopy, but the swallow study just was miserable. After a few tense days of waiting for results, my surgeon’s office said they found a couple of issues, including a hiatal hernia, but I was okay to proceed to surgery! Now it became a waiting game for insurance approval and surgical scheduling. (Apparently they are still way behind and not able to accommodate a full surgical schedule due to a COVID-19 induced backlog.) After an eternity waiting, I finally, finally got scheduled for September 20th. I just thought I was anxious before. Now the waiting really begins!

Hi there! It's nice that you have so many people wanting to do such nice things for you! Maybe try and distract them- I don't need food, I'm on a particular post op diet, but you could pick me up the new book by whoever/or the new movie/or stop by and take a little recovery walk with me? Congrats on being on this side of the surgery! That first holiday can be a little rough, but knowing it will be different helps you plan for that. My Mom literally sent us a 7 lb. cinnamon roll cake for the first holidays after my surgery. No joke. I was really firm in explaining that I wasn't going to accept these type of gifts from her going forward and we were able to get rid of it. Even knowing that I had the surgery, she still sent this(?!) it helped when my nutritionist pointed out that this kind of thing says more about the gifter than the recipient (truth!) Half the holiday will be putting food on your plate and moving it around. That's part of the social aspect of the holidays + food. Don't worry about everyone and what they're thinking- just take the food and toss it (or give it to someone else as you can) Put things in your napkin. The good news is that at holiday gatherings, we tend to move around a lot to socialize, so you're not usually at one table with one person, so they don't get the opportunity to super judge your plate. Most people won't notice or care, but you'll wind up with one person who just wants to be extra special about it all. Bring some snacks and things you CAN eat easily for yourself or to share with everyone else if it's a potluck. People didn't really notice the weight loss on me until I got to the 40+ lbs. mark. Then the comments started (but so did the compliments!) As I got further along, I felt braver (I originally planned to tell no one except immediate in my home family) and was able to tell extended family, a few friends (lost a few, but whatever- again, it's a reflection of THEM) and a few strangers like neighbors who got really needle-y about what was wrong with me/how I was doing it. The first time I was in a restaurant and said "xyz.......because I'm a bariatric patient." I thought my poor hubby was going to fall over! Let me know if you need anything!

Hi everyone! I had VSG surgery two and a half years ago (Feb 2020) I'm finding that there are days (most days) when I feel like I am my best, strongest, healthiest self and then sometimes there's a day or two where I'm the most frail, delicate, exhausted, fussiest critter in the world because of my VSG needs. Is this pretty normal, do you think? Sometimes navigating "new normal" things really frustrate me and make me feel like I am weaker because I have different needs than a "normie" does. I get to drink all of that water, again. Not enough water= confusion from dehydration which is REAL. It seems like it gets hard when the differences post VSG are really obvious: my boss pointed out that I didn't each much at a lunch, because she thought I was nervous- so I disclosed my surgery to her privately and then she understood, or a stranger will comment on how strange it is when I am waiting 30 minutes to drink water before/after a meal. These are usually people that didn't know me when I was obese, so I get it, it's a little out of the ordinary to strangers. But I deal with it. And then I go to an outdoor festival and there is a no outside food policy and I'm left with eating half of a greasy burger patty with my bare hands, no, I don't want the fries or the bun, thanks- but because no forks either, for some reason- but protein, is protein. These are things that *I* have gotten used to, but sometimes they are still incredibly frustrating. (Venue got an email with some suggestions!) Anyway, do y'all need some bariatric friends, so we can have safety in numbers? Because I am yet to encounter someone who openly eats like me in the wild. It's not really that disruptive all the time, but there are times when I'm just like...... WTF did I do to myself? (and why didn't I do it sooner?!) No negativity from me, really. I have no regrets. I just wish I had people to help me navigate!

Hello Arizona_Guy! Saw your post and have been meaning to reply. I’m in Phoenix and after going back and forth on options available to me to assist in managing my weight, I decided on the ESG (I used Plication here because ESG isn’t offered in the surgery drop down!) procedure. I learned that Dr Rahul Pannala / Mayo Clinic is a leading Gastroenterologist with many subspecialities who has also been working in the bariatric field. I met with him and his team and felt very comfortable and at ease with them. From my first consultation thru my procedure I heard from someone on the team: the dr, nutritionist, nurse for my procedure prep etc. weekly. They answered all my questions and Dr Pannala patiently talked thru some last minute anxiety issues I was experiencing 2 days before my date! I was extremely fortunate in that when I first had my consultation on June 21, I was advised that my procedure date would likely be in August, possibly even September. I lucked out because Dr Pannala had a surgical cancelation so I was able to get my July 29 date! I know, suhweet! The pre-procedure protocol isn’t too bad, apply anti-nausea patch night before, clear liquids 1 day before (I did 2) and that was it. I weighed in at 195.4 the morning of the procedure, 202.8 when I returned home some 6 hours later, lol. Since home I was on clear liquids for the first two days and have been on protein shakes and taking Liquid IV thru last Sunday. Sunday afternoon I made my tasty chicken veggie soup and have been having that puréed for one of my meals each day this week, the rest protein shakes. I typically have one premade and one homemade, gotta switch it up! So, that’s where I am now. I am feeling very good about it all and believe I made the right decision for myself. If you have any questions, Arizona_Guy, ask away!

Hmm, that probably why my program actually doesn't want me eating fruit at all in the pureed stage. They even caution that raw fruits are not well tolerated early on and that they are best held until at least 2 months post-op. Seems like it would be a good choice, but bariatric tummies don't seem always fit our preconceived notions.

Hi, I sure did. At Baptist Medical Center downtown. I was self pay. (My insurance would not cover it) after everything i paid roughly around $18-20K. The surgery went great, The hospital was great, Recovery was great. My surgeon was Dr Hodgett. I shopped around. This one in particular was a bit more expensive than others but i liked the place and what they offered. Here is their website. https://www.baptistjax.com/services/bariatric-surgery

Well done, that equates to nearly 18lb a month which is pretty good, not slow at all, probably a high rate for that starting weight. Hair loss is quite common after weight loss surgery, you can read about it below. As long as you are reaching your nutritonal requirements it should be fine within three to six months (may be longer though). Some people use supplements for special shampoos/condiitoners. https://mercybariatrics.com.au/hair-loss-bariatric-surgery/#:~:text=The most common type of,percentage of hairs falling out.

It sound very much like Dumping Syndrome. It may be the oiliness, the bread, the amount of food or the eggs. All are symptomatic. Eggs, chicken, fats, sugar and bread are particularly difficult for lots of bariatric patients Even now I can not eat bread unless it is toasted so crispy that it snaps. Its all about trial and error, you are early out and I dont know what regime you have been given but at 5 weeks out I was still on soft foods. Even now I can only eat one egg for a meal. Until your new tummy heals, you wont have any feelings of fullness. At your stage my nose would run or I would sneeze and that was my cue to stop eating. Its all a learning curve and its not easy.

Surgery set for Sept 9!!! I’m working on stocking up on vitamins now. My doc recommends Bariatric Advantage brand?? Anyone have feedback on this?

So I was discharged less than 24 hours after the surgery (I'm in Dominican Republic), was walking and going to the bathroom by myself just after 2 hours (I think, is a little fuzzy) post op. The barium test was the worst (But my surgeon said my procedure was test book perfect!!!), I started vomiting right after the test and after that it was on and of on Saturday and Sunday, I think I was getting used to the smaller sips. Something that help was having little ice cubes filled with Gatorade (wich I hated before surgery now the mere sight of it makes me gag) and Electrolyte, those are life savers. The food for this stage are bahhh, the high of my week was today that I got to make my own vegetable and chicken consomme, have my 2.5 ounces really slowly, tasting the chicken. Sleeping has been tricky, but I must admit that last night I didn't need pain meds to sleep, I was restless, but it has to do with the fact that I'm not sleeping in my bed or in my apartment ( I moved during the pandemia to another city for work and now I don't recognize my old bed as my own anymore). My sister and my nephew are taking care of me, support that I don't have in the city I work. Tomorrow is my 5 days post-op follow up, gonna ask my surgeon if I can go home on Saturday, I just have to be mindful of the schedule for eating and drinking water (and not rely so much on my sister and nephew for that). My wounds are healing really good the one in the belly bottom fell by it self today and it doesn't hurt. The bigger insicion (where they took the stomach) and the fartest one on the left are the one with some discomfort today. Walking is a must, today I feel great compare with other days, because I've been really active, coming up and down the stairs of the house, cooking for my self and my nephew, playing lightly with the dog, doing some light house shore to help my sis a little bit. No being in bed the whole day ( like sunday and monday). Sorry if you see any grammar mistakes, english is not my first language and in Dominican Republic we don't have forums or social groups for Bariatrics patients. Sent from my SM-N975U using BariatricPal mobile app

Thank you so much for that information! How do you figure out plan exclusions? I work for a large bank and in their little healthcare “breakdown” it shows Bariatric surgery is covered (in-network with “distinguished centers”) covering 80% after co pay/out of pocket max. With that I am assuming that because the “brochure” states it’s covered that means that all three options my job provides for medical insurance will cover it. My job only lists very minimum criteria (must have BMI over 35, dietician, Psych, etc.) nothing specific, no exclusions listed. I would love to figure all of this stuff out BEFORE I pick an insurance company/plan, but when I call my jobs HR they tell me I have to contact the specific insurance company and tell them the plan & when I call the insurance companies they state the need a “group number” from my job and cannot give me any information until they have it. I can’t even look for specialists/surgeons because no one will even tell me who’s in network. It all just seems crazy to me that no one can tell me ANYTHING.. I feel lost and stumped as to where to look next… do I wait for open enrollment and HOPE that there may be an HR rep that can give me more info or do I have to blindly pick an insurance to go with and hope that their criteria/exclusions aren’t too crazy? Or would it be the same criteria/exclusions across the board because that’s what my job puts into place? I probably sound crazy but I just don’t seem to understand the whole process. It seems like my job, the insurance company AND my specialist/surgeon will all have their own criteria to go by… I just wish I could get all that information (or atleast some of it) before hand… thank you for listening and anymore insight would be much appreciated! Congrats with almost being done with your pre op journey!! That must be so exciting!!!! Are you getting the sleeve or bypass? I’ll be doing the bypass because I have GERD. I’m terrified of the endoscopy ( I hateeee needles) the best of luck on your continued journey!!!

My health insurance plan does not cover bariatrics (united health) but my husband put me on his plan which started covering bariatrics this year (anthem/bcbs state health benefit plan -Georgia school employee insurance) I have had to get: a sleep study 3 months consecutive weight loss program/advisement by dr Psychological exam (virtual) cardiac exam/clearance nutritionist consult (virtual) endoscopy weekly inhealth coach visits (virtual) 1 year history from primary dr letter of recommendation from primary dr I am mostly done with the requirements.. so far I am lacking one consecutive dr visit (aug 29th), doing cardiac testing tomorrow and endoscopy sept 6th. Don’t have surgery date yet, but end of September or first week in October likely. remember, bariatric coverage is not insurer specific but plan specific. Your plan has to have coverage and no exclusion. Most plans have exclusions in my experience. More are covering it, but they are usually very large employer plans with good overall coverage (expensive coverage ) it’s getting closer and real!

I’m sorry you’re feeling so crappy. The nutritionist at my doctors office recommended a chewable multivitamin, two in the morning two in the afternoon, and then the only other thing you would have to take is one B 50 supplement chewable pill. But the chewable makes it much easier. The company is bariatric fusion.

Ok, thank you for that information! Did you get your surgery done in a hospital setting or specialist with his own Bariatric practice? Seems like I just need to pick a insurance and hope for the best haha

So I called them, and it took 3 different calls, but they were able to tell me a little (they confirmed I have the coverage, and because I have the diamond plan, it has the absolute most coverage). SO then when I had my first appt with my bariatric surgeon, I was able to speak with the person who handles the insurance and she pulled up my coverage and was really able to give me more clarity on what's covered (basically, all 3 major bariatric surgeries, all the testing, the psych eval, and the 2 nutritionist appts). It really depends on the level of coverage you choose. The higher the plan, the more coverage you get. I have MS and I have had every medication, every MRI, every specialist, every EVERYTHING covered no questions asked. Same with my bariatric surgery, same with PCP, same with pretty much everything. Lower plans (and this goes for any insurance) cover less. Higher plans cover more.

Much happiness and good thoughts to everyone who is having surgery this week! I'm officially 1 week post-op RNY (with hernia repair)! Here is what I've learned this week from my surgeon, my partner (who is a nurse) and myself: 1) If you are in pain, take your meds. There is no shame in taking pain meds for a major surgery. Everyone's pain tolerance is different and I have been in a fair to high amount of pain since surgery. I'm not sure if it's the RNY plus the hernia repair that is causing this level of pain, but I took whatever pain meds the nurses gave during my hospital stay (there was a combination) and then every 6 hours after I was discharged for the first 3 days and now I'm only taking them when I feel pain, but I still feel pain, so I'm still taking them. 2) Rest. I'm a person who is always on the go and it's been difficult for me to just REST. It's driving my partner (the nurse) crazy. He keeps reminding me "It's only been ____ days! You just had two major surgeries! Rest please!! Sit down! Take a nap!" Don't feel guilty about resting your first week (or weeks) home. 2) PLAN PLAN PLAN. Once I was on full liquids I was shocked at how low the protein value is per BARIATRIC SERVING and quickly realized if I didn't plan what I was going to eat and when I was going to eat it, this will get out of control really fast. Yes, a container of protein greek yogurt has 20 grams of protein in it (a 5.3 oz container), but if you are only eating 2 oz servings at a time, you have cut your protein down to 7.5 g per serving. I've added Isopure to almost everything I eat and I do 5g Isopure per 2 oz food which adds another 4g protein. 3) It's extremely difficult to get your 64 oz of water in. Pre-surgery I was like "that will be easy." Nope. Not at all. First, your new pouch will only hold a sip or two at a time. Too much and it will hurt. And once you are eating full liquids or purees, you have to stop drinking 30 min before, 30 minutes after (and another 10/15/20 to actually eat your food) and if you are eating 3-5x a day...this becomes a full time job. I know it will get easier, but it has been overwhelming right now.

Hey! I was a tried and true user of ibuprofen before I got my surgery but now that I'm bypassed, it's a no go. I take tylenol as recommended by my doctor for my period cramps and injuries now. I went camping this weekend and hurt my tailbone hiking (took a slip and fell on my booty). Now I have a pretty sore tailbone, it hurts to transition from sitting to standing and hurts to bend down and back up. I have broken my tail bone before so I know it's not broken, just a bad sprain or bruise but man it HURTS! Tylenol is not doing anything for me and I really don't want to take oxy leftover from my surgery because it's a terrible drug, it makes me constipated and makes me fall asleep. Are there any drugs you take with your bypass that actually relieve pain and don't make you tired/high? Thanks!