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@@erinkath you are certainly not alone in your dislike of the pre-op diet. I think that Kinda was spot on in his reply, too. I used pre-mixed shakes on work days.....just easier to handle and mixed my own using powder and Water on my days off. I had 3-4 a day. I did use unjury chicken Soup flavor powder some, too. When mixed with warm-hot water it was a nice savory change over the other shakes. Water....water....water. It was my friend. I did not go caffeine free on my plan....surgeon was okay with that. I was not allowed salad, milk or anything like that. I'm glad....as I'd have been chomping on stuff and surely add in items that I shouldn't have. One thought keep resonating around in my skull during the pre-op liquid diet......one main thought. It was a tremendous fear. It was the visions of watching the surgical videos from our seminars. Seeing the part of the surgery where the liver is lifted out of the way was scary. Both times I went through this seminar (two different bariatric programs prior to my surgery....as I switched surgeons....switched bariatric centers)....both times....the surgeons stopped the presentation with this image on the screen......they drove home the point about easily damaged the liver can be from raising it up and holding it there throughout the process. They emphasized how critical it is that we remain vigilant during our pre-op liquid diet in order to shrink the liver as much as possible. They each recounted having patients that they had to abort the surgery up getting to this point due to their assessment of the patient's liver at this time. I did not want to be that guy.....the one who wakes up in recovery to find that his surgery was aborted. Now....the above scenario was a worst case scenario that the surgeons portrayed.......but it hit me like a hammer. It was a singular reason to adhere to the liquid diet. It was enough. My pre-op liquid diet was 14 days. I lost 10 pounds during that time. This followed losing 45 pounds in the four months prior after starting my bariatric program. That is a big change in rate of loss and was a very pleasant byproduct of adhering to the diet. It had me rolling into my surgery with confidence and momentum. Please.....consider this your way to take action.....to own your safety.....to do your part to ensure a safe surgery. You will find the same liquid diet is a piece of cake to adhere to after surgery. So easy, in fact, that I stayed with it for 4 weeks vs the normal 2-3. I had no desire to do the puree phase as I was completely satisfied with the liquid and the rate of loss. I didn't then......nor do I now....have any type of hunger. None. If I get the urge...it is in my head and not real. I wish you the best and know for certain that you can do this.

From caloric/ bariatric perspective honey and agave are not good options. I have no idea about sorghum.

They give you two bariatric discs since you are taking them twice a day. And one disc of the multi vitamin.

First I would call insurance company myself to find out all the steps for yourself. If you contract a popular bariatric surgeons office they will guide you through everything. They are allot of help. You won't know the requirements until you call. Sounds like your pcp don't know what he is talking about. Go from there,might not take as long as you think. Good luck to you.

I'm not trying to be funny, but maybe a new Dr. If they are not there to make sure you understand everything, you don't want them. My bariatric center is there to see that I succeed.

Hi all I just wanted to stop in and say hi. I've been lurking for a couple weeks reading your posts and getting a feel for the forum. I went to my seminar last Thursday and I am scheduled for my first consultation this upcoming Tuesday the 18th. I'm a little nervous...not too sure what to expect. But I'm very excited at the same time to hopefully get this journey started. I'm going through the Bariatric Center on NJ for the procedure so I'm not really sure how long the process should take but I'm really hoping to be banded by the end of 2013. I look forward to getting to know all of you and also hope to be able to come to you guys when I need advice or the extra push I might need to stay focused!! So here goes nothing!!!

Had the consult today, everything is set. Also, learned my scale at home has been off. It's reading 3 more pounds than the doctors official bariatric one. So of course I'm on a Quest now researching more accurate scales lol Man, signing all the paperwork really drives home how real it's all becoming. I say that each time I experience something that moves me closer to sx but today kind of really hit me. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

carnation sugar free packs 5 times daily with 8oz of 1% milk or the bariatric advantage with water, sugar free jello or sugar free popscicles with less than 12 calories each. Or any sugar free drink of my choice. The Jello may save me! and I found some sugar free creamscicles with 15 calories! LMAO

I am contemplating Dr Illan in MX but my sister, who is a nurse anesthestitist, states that if there is any complications, no Dr state side will want to touch me. What did y'all do after you came back? PS....my sister had a bariatric patient die on her table due to blowing out his stitches 4 years after surgery. Sent from my SM-G920V using the BariatricPal App

I hope you are feeling better. One of the most prominent LapBand surgeons in the nations wrote a book about bariatric surgery. Yesterday I was reading about nausea. He recommended to sip on ginger tea (you should be able to find ginger pouder at your local grocery store) or have some mint to smell. If it persists, call your doctor. I am no expert because I am pre-op. But that is what he recommended. This guy was the young doctor on BIG Medicine on TLC. Hope you feel better!

It really is normal, and understandable. But the truth is, you are reducing your risk of death significantly -- by 90% -- by choosing to have bariatric surgery. Surgery does pose risks, but they pale in comparison to the risk of death from being morbidly obese. The surgery risk is just grabbing your attention right now because it is looming so close. But you are giving yourself the absolute best chance of life by choosing it, as scary as it seems. So, try to focus less on the risks of surgery and more on what your life can be like afterwards.

I read an article that suggests 0.8-1.8 grams per kg of weight. Calculations depend on activity level 0.8g for sedentary 1.8g for very active and then somewhere in the middle if your somewhat active like 1.2g. so for a 140 lb sedentary woman which = 63.5 kg x 0.8 averages out to be about 50 g Protein a day. The higher the weight, the higher the protein requirements. THIS is just for an average person. Weight loss patients I would imagine need more to maintain muscle mass especially during rapid weight loss. So to answer your question NO I personally do not think 100 grams is too much especially for bariatric patients during weight loss mode. I also believe once you reach goal weight or achieve a steady weight during maintenance those program requirements may need to be recalibrated.

Hi I know this is going to be a crazy question but I need to know which surgery I had. I had my surgery in 1979 when I was 18 years old. It was done in Milwaukee, Wisconsin at Mount Sinai Hospital. I am now in my late 50s and my health is failing. I guess the reason I never knew which surgery I had was because I never had great medical care beyond the day I walked out of the surgeon's office. I spent years of throwing up my food and not losing much weight. When I asked other doctors about malnutrition they just laughed at me and asked if I had rickets. They made me feel stupid so I never pursued it further. I didn't have great medical care beyond that. I never had the energy or stamina that other people had, I just thought I was lazy and I pushed myself harder. Other people thought I was lazy too, and they never understood my eating issues. My teeth started breaking off and became painful in the back from all of the throwing up I was doing, which impeded my eating habits even more. I got pregnant several times and became very ill and I was not offered any medical help to get through the pregnancies. My husband was very upset about how sick I was he did not want lose me to not getting any help and did not want me to go through with them. My final pregnancy I spent 7 months hospitalized and tube fed because of malnutrition. That was 25 years ago and after I had my daughter again no doctor would presued the malnutrition issue they just told me that pregnant women had worse issues in third world countries. I went on from there to live my life until the last 4 years when I started getting too sick to even go to work. Finally I got social security disability but because you don't get actual medical insurance for two years after you start disability I did not get medical attention again. I am told by other people that the malnutrition issue is well-known however it seems to be unknownby any doctors I am seeing. So anyhow back to the original question all I know about the surgery is I have a large scare from the top of my abdomin to my belly button, I was told they had to take my stomach out to work on it, the staples show up on x-rays or scans and something was done with the opening to the intestine, I think it was moved to form scar tissue to slow down the emptying of my stomach. I have attended seminars given by bariatric doctors and when I pose the question to them about which surgery I might have had they tell me they can't help me. So what was the name of my surgery and what was done to me? I hope someone can give me some help here.

I just received my Self magazine today. It is the August 2008 issue. I was flipping through it and notice and article that said "The weight loss miracle that isn't." It talks about the scary things that can happen with bariatric surgery. It mostly talks about the bypass procedure and the complications that some people have with it. Like malnutrition and needing to have the procedure reversed so they can live. It also gave a least one negative example for the band but over all it shows the difference between the two. If you get a chance you should pick it up and read it. My mom had bypass 8 years ago and is doing great but has to take alot of supplements to keep her numbers up. She said she would not do anything different that the consquences of the surgery out way her being fat. But it shows what works for one peron might not work for all. I am still glad I got banded. I think doing things slower will work better for me.:scared2:

Have any of you tried the Barimelt multivitamin smooth fruit flavor or Bariatric Fusion Soft Chew mixed berry? I have an anaphylactic allergy to shellfish and nuts and these are the only ones that are manufactured in a facility not with these items that I can find. I did contact my allergist and was advised not to even test the waters per se even though they follow rigorous cleaning. Thanks for any help you can provide. I have read different reviews.

Has anyone else utilized Hamot Bariatrics in Erie, Pa? :tongue_smilie:

I am scheduled for surgery on 1/30 and my Doctors office requires purchasing Bariatric Advantage Protein powders. They gave me a bunch of samples to see what flavors I like. I still have the unflavored packet because I'm not quite sure what to do with it. I will be on a liquid diet for 4 weeks and I am sure I will be looking for variety. How did you use your unflavored Protein powder during the liquid stage and beyond? What else did you do for the liquid stage beyond the Protein shakes? Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

Can anyone comment on the waiting period between your consultation and your surgery if you had no bariatric benefits and paid cash in the US? Did it change your pre-op testing? I was given a quote as a cash pay pt and it stated that your pre-op diet plan was not included, about $60-120. However, it made no mention of EGDs, sleep studies, etc. If I need those, my expenses will sky-rocket. I'm wondering if those are insurance requirements or physician requirements. Asking here instead of pre-op because I thought I may find more people who have been through it. Thanks!

Hi there, I'm a health reporter at VICE News and MedPage Today working on a story about a JAMA study that found bariatric surgery patients are more likely to self-harm after surgery than they were before surgery. I'm hoping to report beyond the study numbers and talk to a few patients about the mental challenges that can arise after surgery and how they got past them. Would anyone in this forum be interested in doing a brief phone interview with me? What would YOU want to share in a story on this topic? What experiences would YOU have found useful to read about that you can share? How do support groups, blogs and forums like those at BariatricPal help after surgery? My deadline is end of day tomorrow, but I'd like to do interviews this afternoon and early tomorrow morning. Please send me an email so we can set up a time to talk. Thank you so much! And thank you, Alex, for granting me permission to post here. I'm really looking forward to hearing your stories. -- SYDNEY LUPKIN Health Reporter VICE News/MedPage Today sydney.lupkin@vice.com s.lupkin@medpagetoday.com

Mexico Bariatric was recommended to me. They gave me the option of two surgeons. I did some research and picked her. I dealt with Karen to start with and now Rika :-)

Hi, I am in the fact finding stage of my bariatric journey :confused: We went to NYU's information session last night and my ob-gyn has recommended a doctor at his hospital Dr. Palmp (sp) at NY Presbyterian/Cornell hospital. Both hospitals are well regarded here in NYC. Is there a way to qualify the different doctors? Does it matter who does the procedure? Thoughts very appreciated. BrooklynMom

I started with my insurance policy. It required I use a Center of Bariatric Excellence. That pointed me in the direction of a couple of hospitals and surgeons. I was lucky enough to find out the father of one of my son's friends had surgery with one of the surgeons in my group. His feedback helped a lot. But all things being equal, I usually start by searching my state's licensure records; though it's not the best gauge of doctor competence, learning whether a doctor has a ton of complaints against him/her is a starting point. Referral by other doctors is iffy---they are not always motivated by real competence. That said, I don't think you're going to find too many shoddy doctors at NYU or Cornell; university-affiliated hospitals are generally the best in terms of quality of care (including nursing care). Since you're dealing with guys who are essentially "tied" in terms of competence, I'd go with the one I felt most comfortable with. You're forging a lifelong relationship--so rapport is more important, IMO, than it is for most other surgeries.

With about 5 months ahead of you, I suggest making some changes to your eating now to break yourself of bad habits and get into better ones. For example, I started this journey in July and spent the first month cleaning my cupboards. As I used up unhealthy snack foods, sweets, and processed foods, I opted not to buy more. I replaced the crackers and chips I would snack on with dry roasted, lightly salted nuts. I added a lot of veggies and fruit to my diet every day. The next month, I stopped drinking diet soda and artificial sweeteners and cut way back on sugar. The next month, I stopped buying bread and cut way back on dairy. I bought a few bariatric cookbooks and have been finding recipes to try. I might still have bread, diet soda, dairy, or sweets every so often when I'm out, but I don't keep it in the house, which means I'm avoiding it probably 90% of the time. I also started taking my vitamins so I will be in the habit of taking them every day and not forgetting. Oh, and I got into a good routine with water and trying to remember to take a water bottle with me wherever I go. Changes like that will hopefully go a long way in helping you feel mentally prepared for the changes you have to make post-surgery.

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?

In the first 6-8 weeks it was definitely a challenge to eat anything more that 1/4-1/2 cup at a time. Now that I'm 12 (almost 13) wks out I am up to about 3/4-1 cup at each meal. I'm Canadian and had my rny surgery via a bariatric centre where I live. It has a whole team that has supported me throughout the process, and my dietitian has assured me that my intake amount is right on track. She stresses that when eating, the focus should be on getting the Protein consumed first. So I do just that. I've been eating a lot of peanut & almond butter lately, lol. I also love cheese so I try to have some of that everyday too. Tuna is something else I've been enjoying. My dietitian said that at this point any deficiencies from not being able to eat any or very little veggies & fruits should be balanced out by the daily multi-Vitamins and calcium/Vitamin D supplements that I've been prescribed to take. I stopped drinking the protein shakes (powder & liquid) at about 3 weeks because I couldn't find any that I liked. I then focused on Protein Bars (the soft, brownie consistency kind, not ones with nuts) and ate about 1/2 a bar at a time. Again, my dietitian said this was fine as long as they were sitting in my tummy fine. Now that I'm further along I make my own protein shakes using unflavoured Protein Powder. There are quite a few good recipes online - I just googled "high protein smoothies for gastric bypass surgery". One of my faves has soy chocolate milk, protein powder, 1/2 banana, 2 tbsp. Peanut Butter & ice. I admit that I don't really keep track of my protein count so I may be falling short. I have my 3 month follow up in a couple of weeks, and just went to get my bloodwork done for that this morning. So I'll be finding out where all of my levels are at - hopefully all is good!