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Honestly, this thought scared me too. At 28, there is nothing in my life that is PERMANENT. It's hard to think about 60 years down the road. However, WLS supposedly began as a treatment for stomach cancer so we aren't the only ones who have been down this road. But, because of this, I was leaning towards the band for a while. I'm indecisive and I like reversible. Then when someone described the band as having a foreign object in my body, possibly forever, that changed my mind. Plus, two different bariatric surgeons recommended sleeve over the band. It's scary, I know. That's why I'm so glad I found this place!

I take the caramel Bariatric citrate chews and the mixed berry vitamin chews I believe the brand is bariatric fusion. At first I really enjoyed them now I cannot stand the taste. I was taking barimelts for calcium citrate and vitamins but I started hating those as well. I just to find something that I can tolerate. I asked about the patch but the doc said no ☹️. I guess I’ll keep taking the chewables for now aargh.

I am not on optifast but bariatric advantage. I cannot have herbal teas :-(. I have 3 shakes, two bars and I can have sugar free jello and Popsicles and one small banana. I just want to start so I can get to the big day! Preop begins tomorrow!

I would like to know if anyone has experienced IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome) post Bariatric Surgery. I had the Sleeve Surgery in Oct 2013. When I transitioned to solid food, I started to have extreme abdominal pain. This condition has continued off and on since late December 2013. I ended up hospitalized in January 2014 because the pain of eating anything even water was so bad, I could not eat. I became dehydrated and was admitted to the hospital where they did "a million dollars worth of tests" (my own term) and found nothing wrong. These tests included blood tests, stool samples, a 2nd upper endoscopy, and an abdominal ultra sound. All were negative. I was released from the hospital after being rehydrated without any answers. After a while the pain went away, but two months ago it started again. I was given more tests: blood, stool, untra sound and again everything was OK. I decided to do my own research and IBS seems like the likely candidate. Has anyone else experience IBS post surgery?

Advances in Obesity Coverage Under the ACA The ACA does have some provisions that help to reduce obesity on a national level. It includes $15 billion in funding for wellness and disease prevention programs, many of which will target obesity. Another preventive measure is that the ACA requires restaurant chains to post calorie counts on menus. The ACA requires Medicare providers to cover obesity screening and counseling when you go to the doctor, and many healthcare insurance providers are also providing these services. Another provision of the ACA is that employees in qualifying programs are reimbursed for their healthy behaviors. If they do not smoke, maintain a healthy weight, and have blood pressure and blood cholesterol levels within the normal range, employees can get up to $800 per year. Employees with obesity can get cash back if they lose at least 10 percent of their body weight, but will not receive the money until they reach a BMI under 30. The ACA also forbids health insurance providers to deny you coverage based on pre-existing conditions. Since obesity is now recognized as a disease, according to the American Medical Association (AMA), health insurance providers cannot refuse to accept you just because of your obesity. You also cannot be denied coverage just because you had weight loss surgery in the past. Measurable Benefits Expected With These ACA Provisions Each of the above provisions can lead to small amounts of weight loss. For example, counseling for weight loss can lead to a loss of about 5 percent of body weight on average. This modest weight loss can improve blood sugar, blood pressure, and other measures of health, and it can save you, your provider, and the government money. Limitations/More Is Needed However, if you are a weight loss surgery candidate, losing 5 percent of body weight will still leave you with a good amount of excess body weight. Obesity-related health conditions such as diabetes and arthritis are still a threat, and your obesity is likely to continue to interfere with your daily life. Bariatric surgery can be effective against obesity, and it can also fight diabetes and other conditions. With its potential to treat obesity, you might expect it to be covered under the ACA. Unfortunately, only some states cover it. State by State Differences in Healthcare Coverage – Benchmark Plans The ACA requires states to offer acceptable health insurance plans, but these plans may vary by state. The plans that states can offer to fulfill the requirements are known as benchmark plans. These plans set the minimum level of benefits that a state must provide, and the benefits are based on current plans within a state. So, states where competing private plans do not cover weight loss surgery are not likely to offer Obamacare plans that cover weight loss surgery. To make matters worse, the states that do not cover weight loss surgery tend to be the states with the highest rates of obesity. In effect, the more likely you are to have obesity, the less likely you are to live in a state that covers bariatric surgery. You can find out more about each state’s benchmark plan from the government’s The Center for Consumer Information & Insurance Oversight (CCIIO) within the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) site. Which States Cover Weight Loss Surgery? So far, 22 states cover bariatric surgery. Arizona, California, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont, West Virginia and Wyoming Five states and cover weight loss programs, but do not necessarily cover weight loss surgery. California, District of Columbia, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Mexico Twenty-eight states do not cover bariatric surgery or other extensive obesity treatment. Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin Coverage Often Seems Reluctant Even if your health care coverage includes weight loss surgery, it can come with a lot of hoops. For example, you may need to wait a certain number of months or diet to lose a certain amount of weight before you can get the surgery. Your plan may not cover the type of weight loss surgery that you are hoping to get, especially in the case of newer surgery types such as the vertical sleeve gastrectomy (gastric sleeve). There can also be a lifetime limit of one surgery, which does you no good if your first surgery did not work. If surgery is a disease, shouldn't you be entitled to treatment that works? What Can You Do? You can advocate for making weight loss surgery a required service under Obamacare by reaching out to state and federal representatives. If you live in a state where bariatric surgery is already covered, contact your representatives in Congress. If you live in a state where bariatric surgery is not yet covered, contact your Congress people, and also contact your state representatives. In your letter, phone call, or email to your representative, explain what bariatric surgery means to you and to the thousands of others like you. Explain why you need it to lose weight, and how you feel that it could impact your life. Describe the obstacles and health problems that you face because of obesity. Your goal is to convince the representative that weight loss surgery needs to be covered. If weight loss surgery is the only effective treatment for obesity, it should be included in a healthcare plan. Otherwise, we will continue to struggle with these same problems because not everyone can afford the thousands of dollars it takes to get the surgery done.

Simple fix. Switch doctors. And write him up on every patient opinion site you can find. He sounds like a turd who wants to bolster his image with you looking as thin as possible regardless of how unhealthy it might be for you. You are not his personal bulletin board and his behavior is not only dreadful, it reinforces disordered eating that can lead to future gain. Find a new bariatric group. Wouldn't surprise me if another group near you has others of his refugees. Run. Today.

Contact your insurance company and they can tell you right off the bat what their expectations/requirements are. Even though you meet the specifications for bariatric surgery a lot of insurance companies still make you jump through their "hoops" before they approve you. Good luck to you!

I to am Hypothyroid. There is a site on here for people like us, because we know it's a harder for the weight to come off. I am on Armour Thyroid for my Medical condition, and it's helping. Does he know all these problems exists with you? Because if he does, anytime that he sees you, and you have weight loss, he should be HAPPY ! If he is a beotch about it, then I would find another Dr...... I found a new Bariatric Surgeon, and the weight is starting to come of..., I went to a good ! Endocrinologist, was diagnosed, and my meds are watched. The two together, with me watching my calorie intake, is letting me lose weight at 1 1/2-2 Lbs a week. Do you have a Endocrinologist? I hope you do. Let him know whats what with your Health and Care. If he is just a pain in the A$$. Then for sure move on.... I will try ti find our site, and send it your way. Good Health to you, Shirley.

I have a fancy scale that measures body Water, body fat, bone weight, visceral fat, etc. While it may not be 100% accurate, it is the same brand as used at the bariatric center and is good enough to monitor trends. My bones weigh no where near 20 lbs, and weigh the same before surgery and after reaching goal, 5.6 pounds. Of course, others will be different, but my husband who is quite stocky, has bone weight of about 6 pounds. I can't imagine anyone's bones weighing 20 pounds, but I guess it's possible. Having said all that, I look like I weigh about 150, when I weigh 165. I often wonder if that's the case because of the loose skin. We cram it into our clothes, and look smaller. We would likely weigh a lot less and have a lower BMI without all that skin.

Who is your ins co? *if you don't mind my asking... I have UHC and they use Bariatric Resources Solutions. BRS assigned me an RN that takes me through the entire process. She told me that it has to be six consecutive months of SOME doctor- not necessarily the the same doctor- counselling me on my weight, and exercise. So I was able to use my GP, OB, even the first consult with my surgeon will count b/c he's going to be addressing my weight. When I see they psychiatrist I'll be able to get her to sign my little work sheet as well, so I'm not doing fifty appts in one month!! I've tried to space them out some, and when i did miss an appointment b/c of circumstances out of my control, I was able to use my sleep apnea consultation simply because she advised me that losing weight would help me with the sleep apnea, and encouraged me to walk walk walk!! I hope this will help you!

I only have the one incision in my belly button. Dr Enochs of Bariatric Specialists of NC. He did a great job! I just got sleeved March 13th.

I ultimately told UHC to go f@*& themselves and wound up self funding. They can kiss my large arse and the sting of the cost is subsiding with every pound I lose. My experience, though, came from me following up on a number of health issues over the last year. Each surgeon/doctor I met with coached me to have bariatric surgery. I took their referrals and went straight into THE bariatric program. Seemed a logical progression. The problem is that THE program, while affiliated with the area's most prestigious hospital (out of 6 hospitals) wasn't yet certified as a "center of excellence" (bariatric certificate). They had a great staff, very supportive....and each were former bariatric patients, too.......excellent surgeon...etc, etc. They told me that it'd be no problem to continue and they'd had UHC patients go through all the time. 1/2 way through the deal UHC....who'd been supportive....all the sudden balks over the lacking "center of excellence" bullcrap. I involved the HR department of my employer......and found out that we were actually dropping UHC and moving over to BCBS. The games continued. Our policy with UHC would have only covered me at 50% anyway.....and UHC was delaying. It was looking as if the surgery would be delayed to 2016....by then I'd be under new insurance and no telling how long I'd wait then. Good news was for me, that when I did contact the center of excellence program they were fast in getting me started. They also had been at this for a while longer and had special self-funding insurance safeguards....you self fund and part of your money purchases a policy that covers ANY complication that comes from your bariatric surgery for out to 8 months. This was very appealing to me and I jumped all over it. I'd already met most of my pre-op requirements for the surgeon and my patient advocate at the new center was extremely fast, aggressive and organized. She and I stayed in contact and had everything wrapped up swiftly. The end result was that I had my surgery on October 13, 2015.......when it was looking like at best it would be late December or beyond. By self funding I was able to anchor down the timeframe and it actually cost me less than it would've to use my insurance. Wild ride. The upshot of my story is this.....when working with UHC, or any of them for that matter.......stay in step with them upfront and avoid any bs later on. Involve your HR department at work if/when you are able to. It's amazing how much they can help. Best wishes.

I know the info on the Wellesse website is provided to sell their products but they specifically say it is good for bariataric surgery patients. I'd like to find out more about this product. 10g of protein in one ounce while my stomach is the size of an egg sounds great to me. My protein shakes now give me 20 to 23 grams of protein but they are 8 ounces of liquid -- it would take hours to get it all down and I'd still need more. 10 g in one ounce liquid sounds smart -- just for the early weeks. I am going to a required nutritio class on Monday. I'll ask about it, altho I bet the NUT knows nothing. I have yet to meet a NUT working for a bariataric clinic that knew anything about the needs of bariatric patients and nutrition.

The article link has been updated to The Post-surgery Diet for Bariatric Patients: What to Expect .

I am a life long dieter...read a journal I wrote when I was 8 and even then I was talking to myself about losing weight. I've been a pauing member/meeting attender with WW for numerous years and although I love the program, I still struggle with portion control, emotional eating and general grazing. I see a therapist to help with the emotional aspects...and that has helped. I do WW and that has helped...especially with improving overall healthy food selections. But......highest weight of 273 led me to a WLS Seminar in December 2010. I am lucky to live near a Bariatric Center of Excellence. Went for my first consultation a week later. My insurance covers the VSG and I passed the "exceeds a BMI of 40" test with flying colors. Now I am faithfully following the WW program while I navigate the insurance approval. My therapist wrote my psych evaluation and I attended a WLS Support Group Meeting. I plan to continue to attend those as continue towards surgery. I have even purchased all the stuff for the two week preop diet (got to shrink that liver!). I've lost almost 7 pounds since the seminar. I'm looking forward to having the surgery and moving on. I want to decrease the grehlins, enfirce portion control, continue WW, and WLS support group meetings. I'm hoping this site will be a great source for ongoing support and advice as well. Bring on the VSG!

9 months post op, RNY. Was on an insulin pump for 5 years taking over 100 units of insulin daily, type 2 diabetic. Now I take nothing for diabetes. Following the Bariatric diet is controlling my sugar levels . Hopefully by maintaining the Bariatric lifestyle I will remain in remission. Good luck with your diabetes and your Bariatric journey.

For a little background info, I was diagnosed with Crohns in 2011, have been asymptomatic since 2012 and stopped my crohns medication in 2013 due to loss of insurance. I started my WLS journey 9 months ago in July. At my first appointment my surgeon thought I may have been misdiagnosed and recommended I have a colonoscopy as WLS is contraindicated for people with Crohns. He seemed pretty sure I did not have Crohn’s since I had very mild symptoms before being diagnosed. I wasn’t able to get a colonoscopy until the end of October, and it came back still indicating I do indeed have Crohn’s. My GI doctor wasn’t sure why I wasn’t having symptoms, but did see inflammation which was contained to my colon. She put me on mesalamine and wanted to do calprotectin labs to check inflammation in February. I returned to my surgeon and was informed that he did not feel comfortable performing WLS with this condition. I was pretty devastated but wasn’t going to let it get me down. I had lost 20 pounds (10 pounds more than the goal he had set for me) and accepted the fact that I will have to do this on my own. A month later I was called back into the bariatric clinic and my surgeon had went to a bariatric surgery conference in DC and proposed my case and spoke with other surgeons and all of a sudden he was able to offer me the sleeve. He advised against RNY due to if I ever became symptomatic I might require addition surgery as it could spread. I was looking to do full RNY due to the possibility of having dumping but I would take the sleeve over nothing. The catch was we have to wait until the inflammation in my colon goes down. 3 months was basically wasted on the mesalamine. Nothing changed. My GI doctor started me on a 2 month prednisone taper. Prednisone is the freaking devil. I gained 23 pounds but had the labs re-done and my inflammation went down from 374 to 81 and normal was Now my VSG is scheduled for 5/31! Does anyone else have Crohn’s? Have you had problems?

The following extract brought it home to me totally - I can so relate to all the efforts it takes. I wish many fellow bariatric patients would read it - especially those at the beginning of the journey or trying to decide about surgery. Because let's face it: apart from a few lucky ones who can stay at their target weight without much of an effort, this is what we are all facing after loosing so much weight: Extract: "...Janice Bridge, a registry member who has successfully maintained a 135-pound weight loss for about five years, is a perfect example. “It’s one of the hardest things there is,” she says. “It’s something that has to be focused on every minute. I’m not always thinking about food, but I am always aware of food.” Bridge, who is 66 and lives in Davis, Calif., was overweight as a child and remembers going on her first diet of 1,400 calories a day at 14. At the time, her slow pace of weight loss prompted her doctor to accuse her of cheating. Friends told her she must not be paying attention to what she was eating. “No one would believe me that I was doing everything I was told,” she says. “You can imagine how tremendously depressing it was and what a feeling of rebellion and anger was building up.” After peaking at 330 pounds in 2004, she tried again to lose weight. She managed to drop 30 pounds, but then her weight loss stalled. In 2006, at age 60, she joined a medically supervised weight-loss program with her husband, Adam, who weighed 310 pounds. After nine months on an 800-calorie diet, she slimmed down to 165 pounds. Adam lost about 110 pounds and now weighs about 200. During the first years after her weight loss, Bridge tried to test the limits of how much she could eat. She used exercise to justify eating more. The death of her mother in 2009 consumed her attention; she lost focus and slowly regained 30 pounds. She has decided to try to maintain this higher weight of 195, which is still 135 pounds fewer than her heaviest weight. “It doesn’t take a lot of variance from my current maintenance for me to pop on another two or three pounds,” she says. “It’s been a real struggle to stay at this weight, but it’s worth it, it’s good for me, it makes me feel better. But my body would put on weight almost instantaneously if I ever let up.” So she never lets up. Since October 2006 she has weighed herself every morning and recorded the result in a weight diary. She even carries a scale with her when she travels. In the past six years, she made only one exception to this routine: a two-week, no-weigh vacation in Hawaii. She also weighs everything in the kitchen. She knows that lettuce is about 5 calories a cup, while flour is about 400. If she goes out to dinner, she conducts a Web search first to look at the menu and calculate calories to help her decide what to order. She avoids anything with sugar or white flour, which she calls her “gateway drugs” for cravings and overeating. She has also found that drinking copious amounts of Water seems to help; she carries a 20-ounce water bottle and fills it five times a day. She writes down everything she eats. At night, she transfers all the information to an electronic record. Adam also keeps track but prefers to keep his record with pencil and paper. “That transfer process is really important; it’s my accountability,” she says. “It comes up with the total number of calories I’ve eaten today and the amount of Protein. I do a little bit of self-analysis every night.” Bridge and her husband each sought the help of therapists, and in her sessions, Janice learned that she had a tendency to eat when she was bored or stressed. “We are very much aware of how our culture taught us to use food for all kinds of reasons that aren’t related to its nutritive value,” Bridge says. Bridge supports her careful diet with an equally rigorous regimen of physical activity. She exercises from 100 to 120 minutes a day, six or seven days a week, often by riding her bicycle to the gym, where she takes a water-aerobics class. She also works out on an elliptical trainer at home and uses a recumbent bike to “walk” the dog, who loves to run alongside the low, three-wheeled machine. She enjoys gardening as a hobby but allows herself to count it as exercise on only those occasions when she needs to “garden vigorously.” Adam is also a committed exerciser, riding his bike at least two hours a day, five days a week. Janice Bridge has used years of her exercise and diet data to calculate her own personal fuel efficiency. She knows that her body burns about three calories a minute during gardening, about four calories a minute on the recumbent bike and during water aerobics and about five a minute when she zips around town on her regular bike. “Practically anyone will tell you someone biking is going to burn 11 calories a minute,” she says. “That’s not my body. I know it because of the statistics I’ve kept.” Based on metabolism data she collected from the weight-loss clinic and her own calculations, she has discovered that to keep her current weight of 195 pounds, she can eat 2,000 calories a day as long as she burns 500 calories in exercise. She avoids junk food, bread and Pasta and many dairy products and tries to make sure nearly a third of her calories come from protein. The Bridges will occasionally share a dessert, or eat an individual portion of Ben and Jerry’s ice cream, so they know exactly how many calories they are ingesting. Because she knows errors can creep in, either because a rainy day cuts exercise short or a mismeasured snack portion adds hidden calories, she allows herself only 1,800 daily calories of food. (The average estimate for a similarly active woman of her age and size is about 2,300 calories.) Just talking to Bridge about the effort required to maintain her weight is exhausting. I find her story inspiring, but it also makes me wonder whether I have what it takes to be thin. I have tried on several occasions (and as recently as a couple weeks ago) to keep a daily diary of my eating and exercise habits, but it’s easy to let it slide. I can’t quite imagine how I would ever make time to weigh and measure food when some days it’s all I can do to get dinner on the table between finishing my work and carting my daughter to dance class or volleyball practice. And while I enjoy exercising for 30- or 40-minute stretches, I also learned from six months of marathon training that devoting one to two hours a day to exercise takes an impossible toll on my family life..." Extract ends.

Even though this thread is so old, I am so glad I found it and hope that we can renew it again. I had that thought all day today, " I don't think I can do this anymore" I am not even a month post-op and I feel like I am already a failure and back to my old ways of eating. Why can't this be easier? It was the first three weeks and all of a sudden the last few days, I feel so out of control and I am eating to the point that my lower stomach is stretched and hurts so much! I feel miserable! I am not doing the right things-taking my time ,taking small bites, chewing enough and it is just slipping right through the band, making me so full and horrible like I always used to. I feel like I gained back the 30 lbs I lost. I know this isn't true but my mind is so confused and I DON"T KNOW HOW TO LISTEN TO MY BODY!!!! I never did before, so why did I think this would be the magic to cure a behavior I have carried with me for 30 years? The difference is now I am in so much pain from overeating and I risk complications of all sorts because now I have to worry about hurting the band, too!!!! I feel helpless. I know I will probably wake up with my period tomorrow and that has to do with it but right now I can't take this feeling!!!!! I feel like I am suffocating. Can anyone relate? Give me some advise? I know tomorrow is another day, the minute I get this in writing, I can think of it as a cleansing and the next minute is a new one! I know I can pull myself together, but why does it have to be so F****ing Hard!:thumbup::wub::w00t::thumbs_down::w00t::thumbs_down::thumbs_down::thumbs_down:Thanks for letting me vent here.

As many of you know I'm very new to this and already it has been super frustrating! Monday I had a doctor refer me to the center that was not very professional and the surgeon had many bad review on many different sites! ( I'm so glad I research EVERYTHING before I commit to anything!) Since then I have been calling many centers, looking up many surgeons and finally called one and set up an appointment for the 17th of May. I'm super happy especially since I was getting very discouraged! How long did it take you to find your Bariatrics center? Sent from my iPad using the BariatricPal App

Thank you!! Yes, being consistent with recommendations and staying with the same provider is a key aspect to keep in mind, in the case of bariatric surgery being so personal having the same nutritionist during follow-ups would better help patients.

I think nutritionists should ditch the standard advice - if the nutritionist is going to dish out standard advice the patient can as well refer to a high gloss booklet. Costs less money and might be more informative as well in some cases. IMO nutritionists should give out tailored advice. For standard advice: see a booklet. When visiting a nutritionist when it comes to bariatric surgery I demand that the nutritionist is able to do a few things: - different surgeries and the challenges that come with them, this includes supplement advice according to bloodwork - different dietary approaches (e. g. the low carb approach vs. the pound of cure) - being able to advice patients of different cultural backgrounds when it comes to food choices - being able to change gears when one approach obviously doesn't work instead of scolding the patient and telling him to "just try harder" - being able to cater to different dietary preferences of patients (might not be a good idea to advice patients to eat more fish when the thought of eating fish makes the patient want to gag, you maybe also shouldn't advice "lean meats" to a vegetarian) - being able to incorporate the patient's activity level and lifestyle into the dietary advice (e. g. shift workers, patients with high activity levels)

Cat, Welcome and congrats! One thing I will say is you may still be on pain meds at that point so you will not be able to drive. I would plan for the following week. Also, that will give you time if you have complications. I did and there was no way I could go back in two weeks. Also, I am Sr. HR person with my company and a lot of companies have medical leave options if you are not yet qualified for FMLA. I had mine at 6 months. I know you are excited to have your surgery but make sure you plan for complications and contingency plans if you maybe not reacting well to the surgery. I did not tell really anyone at work, not even my manager. However, she did see my return to work note from the bariatric center.

Hi all - this is repost from the financing forum. I was hoping to get your input on this as well if anyone is from Chicago area/Indiana...please chime in. ---------------------------- Of course I'm set with Dr. K in Colorado - but, I called all day Thurs & Fri - was unsuccesful in getting someone to accept me for local fills. fillcentersusa is not local for me. So... today, I begin considering going local and paying more. So, I'm posting messages to asking for prices locally (Chicagoland/Indiana). I do have 4 prices here so far. Actually found a couple good prices - just need to know if they will accept my current financing option which is all set and ready. RightWeigh Bariatric in Kentucky charges $12,500 - they also have a location in Indiana - I will call in the morning to see what they charge (hoping its so close to this). Lifeway Bariatrics in Downers Grove & Merriville, IN charge $15,500. Synchronyhealth: $16,000 Midwestbariatrics: $16,211 If any of the lower ones accept my financing and can band me sooner, I'm going to make the switch ASAP to free up that 10/30 date at Dr. K's office.

I ordered ENS drink mix from Celebrate Bariatric vitamins...they have a 3 flavor 30 day pack...get your vitamins and water in lol