PRE-Operation Weight Loss Surgery Q&A

Anyone in CA having(had) surgery this month and if so, How are you doing? im still on my Liver diet due to have my RNY the 30th...?

I'm thinking of going to the Mexico Bariatric Center. Could you let me know if you had your there or know anyone? What's your thoughts?

Our doctors no longer utilize opiates for pain control. I am terrified this go around. This surgery is a revision to bypass. They give you a high dose of Gabapentin in the morning before surgery and IV Tylenol after. After the sleeve I had a pca pump for 24 hrs and went home with a strong pain med for 1 week. I am terrified because I have Crohns amd my intestines are prone to spasm.

I know this might seem like nothing compared to the surgery, but I’ve been watching some WLS YouTube videos and is it true you have to give yourself shots at home post op? I had no idea until now(three weeks until surgery) and I don’t mind professionals poking me with needles but I don’t see how I will possibly have the guts to do this to myself.. Please tell me it’s not something everyone has to do?

So I had my first consultation today with the weight loss center I was planning on going through. My insurance has already approved getting surgery, for what its worth. During the meeting, the lady asked a ton of questions, and inquired about my relationship with food. She somehow got the impression that I stress eat, even after I tried to clarify that I do not. Things at home have been a bit rocky, and my stress level has been high, so you can see where this is going. After the hour long consultation, she told me that due to stress being high, financial issues being a factor, and the fact that we moved 2 years ago and have no family or friends here (No local support grou…

So how did everyone get past any fear you had? I'm so terrified of dying on the table, dying from malnutrition, or complications. On the other hand, I'm so excited that I can't stand it lol I'm having the surgery no matter what but I wanted to know if these feelings are normal or if I'm just being a paranoid psychopath....

Hey! Does anyone know a good high protein drink I can buy? I have to do a liquid diet before surgery and need some suggestions on a good tasty meal replacement?

What am I doing wrong? Grrr.... I'm drunk so much water I'm starting to think I'm a fish! Cut out all the yummy food I love and my body is like mad at me. I think I need to kick it up with some walking. Thanks for listening

Hey all, I just want to know had anyone had WLS who was battling with binge eating disorder before hand? I feel quite sad, I’m just off the phone with my surgery psychologist (who was lovely) but she wants me to hold off booking the surgery for a couple of months until I get my BED under control. I understand where she’s coming from but it’s just another hurdle to jump :( thank you!

I recently told my family that I am pursuing bariatric surgery. I have a BMI of 43, and have struggled with my weight since high school. Initially, my younger sister was incredibly supportive of my decision. She has always been supportive of any decisions I make that will lead to ultimate happiness. Today however, she told me that I was letting someone else do the work for me, and That with food addiction counseling and exercising consistently there is no reason I could not do this without surgery. How does everyone handle their friends and family making them feel like they are taking an easy way out?

Tomorrow will make a week that I had my last weigh in at the surgeons office. Today I sent an email and left a voicemail for my insurance advocate inquiring about my file being forwarded to the insurance. I even sent her information from my last dr visit, which was the day before my last weigh in, just Incase she needed something extra. NO answer, do these people not realize how inpatient “we” are once you have completed everything that was asked of us. I’m hoping she gets back to me before the end of the week, because I can’t go another weekend waiting just to be submitted for approval. #prayingforpatience

So I get a phone call this morning from my Surgeon himself asking a question on my history. Apparently my insurance company contacted them today asking for more information on a subject. I never smoked a cigarette in my life, but occasionally in the summer will smoke a cigar here and there with my husband. Somehow it got put in my medical history that I’m a smoker!? So he asked about this again because my insurance specifically says patient can not smoke in the past 6 months or it’s an automatic denial. Well I said the last time I had a cigar was last July and I never had a cigarette in my life. So he said he will adend that in my history and submit it so that problem was…

Hello I’m sue and I’m 47 have fought with ups and downs of diets and ended gaining the weight back once I stopped the pills. Powders. Whatever I was trying at the time I started this journey in August 2018 and this is my surgery month. I have been cleared by all my doctors cardiologist neurologist psychiatrist general dr. You name it. Plus. I have stopped smoking because of this ( needs to) I’m not exactly scared. But more nervous. I still can’t loose weight. And it’s hard. Really when your obiese it’s hard to do just about anything. I do walk my dogs probably 8 or more times a day for about 15 minutes and found on YouTube some exercises for elderly people beca…

Today I had my Psyc evaluation. 45 min talk with Dr then a 370 questionare no bad. Dr say he will remand my surgery. I will have my stress test on Wed

Well saw a guy about my kidney stones, yes plural, and set up a surgery date to get the thumb sized one out of me and the teeny ones too. So my bypass surgery is on hold until sometime. I am hoping that this will be quick and efficient. I was hoping to be up and working on my bypass stuff by the time my kidney surgery is going to happen.

I'm relieved! My insurance nurse called me yesterday to say that they still hadn't received my EGD op report or my Cardiac Clearance report even though they had requested them a few times. I called the providers for both of those tests and requested to have the reports faxed directly to my insurance nurse. This all happened around 4pm yesterday, so just when everyone is fixin to close up shop and head home. Anita called me this morning to tell me that my phone calls worked because she arrived to work to both reports sitting on her desk! woohoo! There's something to be said for being an RN and knowing how to deal with doctors to get what you want from them. She said she su…

Hello everyone, Am seriously thinking of having this procedure done. Is there a Dr. in California who is currently performing this procedure? I am 33 years young, 5'2", & 190 pounds.I go to the gym at least 4 times a week. Have been trying to lose weight for the past 4 years. Killing myself at the gym and seeing no weight change has me very depressed. To be quite honest, I've always binged eat. Too bad it has finally caught up I need to change my eating habits asap. I love my life thanks to my beautiful family. But I am eating my life away. Phentermine no longer helps (weaned off it over a year ago). My stomach is too stretched out and have horrible hunger pains …

I’m am scheduled for surgery May 15th. I want to start the “liver diet” can anyone give me any advice on what to eat and or a website to visit for help?

Any sleevers going to Blossom Bariatrics in the next couple of months (2019)?

Hey everyone...I’m finishing up day 2 of my liquid diet and have had killer headaches by the end of the day yesterday and today. Does this go away once your body adjusts? I have terrible migraines already...not liking this headache either.

Looking for some reassurance about being scoped tomorrow. I'm mostly worried about the anesthesia: either not being enough, or causing complications! I have sleep apnea with a CPAP and worried that it will for me to be adequately ventilated, especially being heavy. But the rational part of me says that there must be others in the same situation who have gone through this safely! Would greatly appreciate any shared thoughts. Thank you!

Hello: I just had my first visit with a nurse navigator today - considering the sleeve. I’m 38, 5’ 10”, current weight is 310 pounds, have had diabetes type II for 13 years ( current A1c is 8.9). BMI is 44. I’m going for a surgical eval 4/30, and then after than I can schedule my first nutrition class. My insurance (Aetna) requires that I don’t gain any weight from now until surgery. Given that my nutrition visit won’t be for a few weeks, does anyone have an easy sample meal plan they followed? Thank you in advance!

Can someone tell me what i can eat 2 months out of sleeve surgery and is it normal to still have stomach and back pain

Im having gastric sleeve surgery on January 11, 2019. I want to know if anyone has had gastric sleeve surgery performed by Dr. David Vasquez?

Hello all.... I have my last appointment (friday) before my paperwork gets submitted for approval. I had a recent doctors appointment and I could not believe the scale. I gained 10 pounds since my last month bariatric weigh in. I believe the weight gain came from self sabotage knowing that my last appointment was coming up. I found it very hard to stay on track. My weight has fluctuated during this whole 6 month process but the 10 pound weight gain would put me right at what I started at 6 months ago. Im Thinking about cancelling my appointment and giving myself a week or two to really push myself and see how much weight I can loose before I do my last weigh in for my 6 m…

Tell me your This is why story! Here is one of mine from this past weekend ( I am in the beginning stages of this journey) My husbands birthday is coming up and so I got us tickets to go see Jim Gaffigan as a surprise. We went to dinner before and were cutting it pretty close, the event was at the event center at a local college and by the time we were trying to park they were full. So we ended up parking about a mile away 10 mins before the show was starting. A little background on my husband, he weights 160 soaking wet and walks an average of 10 miles a day at work. I on the other hand am seeing 282 on the scales these days and sit at a desk working from…

Hello... I am new to the site and from what I have read so far this site is so informal and I'm excited to share my journey with all of you. I am "Que" I'm 33 y.o 5'0 CW is 220 BMI 42.8 and I recently attended the weight loss seminar on the 1st of April and now I'm waiting to hear back from the surgeon's office who is Dr. Northup; I haven't had my "initial" visit with him yet due to waiting in the approval of ins. My question is with Anthem BCBS how long does that take? If someone would let me know or share their experience with BCBS Ohio that would be great!!!.

my sister say I'm taking easy way out by having weight loss surgery, but she doesn't realize how hard it is to be over 600 lbs. Do you have any advice you can give me to tell my sister I'm not taking easy way out by having surgery to help me live healthy and better life.

I've been following the pre-op diet very carefully but have questions about the diet. I've continued to fall below the 800 calorie per day quota and 30 max carbs. I do exceed the protein requirement by a great deal. Is this normal? Has anyone else had a hard time keeping to this diet? I don't cheat at all, no desire to actually. Just worried about the numbers not matching.... I'm scheduled for the 26th and don't want to get rescheduled! If I eat more calories, my protien will increase also...

I have an appointment in the beginning of May and I’m hoping my doctor will give me a referral. I’m 5’8 and around 274 pounds. I was wondering can anyone tell me the process? Did I need to have tried a medically supervised diet to qualify? Will my BMI alone be enough to make me eligible? I also have medi-cal.. do you know if they cover the costs? Anything I need to do to prepare for my appointment? I’m so sorry for all the questions! I’ve read some posts but still a little confused. I know that Kaiser NorCal and SoCal process is different and information is so hard to find. I don’t want to get my hopes up and not be eligible or get approved Thank you for all y…

Well today was my last weigh in appointment. Upper GI, Psych eval, sleep study, dietician appt , 3 month supervised diet all complete. 1st weight 257 lbs. 2nd weight 259 lbs. 3rd (today) 255 lbs. I have Aetna Choice POS ii and from being on this forum and from what my insurance advocate says I need to stay at my original weight or come in 5 lbs under for the finally weight. So with those above #’s I’m hoping I don’t have to start over with the supervised diet. Anyway I feel good about the next step which is submitting everything to insurance. We are still waiting for sleep study results that should be in by the end of the week. I’m praying that I can have my …

I was just told by my cardiologist that I should consider bariatric surgery. What was the deciding factor for you? I am worried about side effects and I hear it’s a long process to be approved by insurance. I would love to hear how everyone got started on their journeys. Thanks.

Hi. Having surgery this morning. I’ve read a lot about listening to your pouch. I’m concerned because so far in my life, I’ve done a really bad job of listening to my stomach. How do you listen to your pouch? Will I understand after surgery?

Hello fellow bariatric pal users, My name is Jen, and I fairly recently decided to go on this journey again. I went through the process a few years back and chickened out. So here I am again AND ready for this to happen. I chickened out of the first time because I thought my step mom's problems had been from her bariatric surgery. Come to find out, it wasn't. So here i am. I live in the Inland Empire, and I am going through my insurance which is United Healthcare. My surgeon will be either Dr. Krahn or Dr. Chin from Western Bariatric. I had my informational seminar last night which is required, so now i await my consult. Just wanted to say hello to everyone, and …

Had my first "supervised nutrition" appointment Monday of this week and my EGD today. My PCP said that I just have to come in and get weighed once a month for 3 months and talk about any dietary changes I made so the first one is done, also did a physical while I was there and my BP is elevated but the past two weeks have been hell in my personal life so that is probably the cause. EGD showed nothing, no reflux, no ulcers, no hernias, no esophagitis. He did take a biopsy and I'll know in a week what those results are. Feels good to check off the appointments, two more "nutrition" visits and a dietician visit then insurance submission!

My BMI is 36.3 however I don’t have any other health issues. My height is 5’6 my weight is 225. Do you think they will allow me to have surgery? I have my seminar next week.

I’m scheduled to have surgery April 16th. My surgeon wants me to drink two bottles of magnesium citrate the day before surgery to keep me from getting constipated afterward. I just tasted this stuff and it’s awful. There’s no way I’m going to get all that down. It’s like soda water with some rubbing alcohol mixed in. I have Miralax, so I may drink that instead. Has anyone else had to do this before surgery and how critical is it that I do this? Thanks for all the great information that you all give.

Hey everyone I was wondering if you guys have any recommendations for protein water or clear drinks. If you do can you leave the name of it, where you purchased it, how much it cost, and which flavor or flavors you like. Thank you so much, Marissa

Hey guys I just wanted to know how did u guys find out your surgery date. Was it after all the tests were done? I'm halfway there and I wanted to call and ask but dont want to be annoying. Should I call

So I finally got approved for surgery all test have been schedule and the coordinator said I might get an April date. But I am having a hard time quitting smoking, i started taking chantix and i am goin to buy the patches too i just really really want to quit for the surgery yeah but also for my health. Any thoughts or ideas. I'm very scared of being denied for this nasty habit. HELP

Hey everybody. I am scheduled for may 22nd for the ruen y bypass. I am anxoious and mentally getting ready for the big day. Although im curious if anybody knows of anybody who has cancer and having this surgery . Mine is in remission . Although i am receiving chemo meds and hormone therapy.my oncologist has green lighted the surgery as well a diabetes doc and in addittion my cardiologist. I am currently 6 ft 2 370 lbs and my head is spinning a bit on the multi issues before going under.

April marks my 5th month of a 6 month medically monitored weight loss plan that was required by surgery. I’ve done everything else that the surgeon required and now I’m just waiting. I’m starting to get nervous about whether or not my insurance will approve me for the surgery...or that I will have gained weight and not be able to get approved for the surgery. According to my PCP and my surgeon, I meet all of the requirements for the surgery and I’m down 7lbs. from my starting weight but I’m struggling to lose anymore. I can’t seem to help stressing out about it all. What do you do to get out of your own head and not stress? Any words of encouragement are welcome!

I can’t believe I can possibly be having my surgery in less then 2 weeks!! Saw my surgeon today. He went over everything again and explained my pre-op liquid diet that I have to do for 5 days. Signed the paperwork needed for insurance and they will submit it on Monday. (They would’ve submitted it today but they just need my notes faxed over from the weight loss Dr and their office is unfortunately closed on Fridays.) just praying now that I get the approval and I get it in time. Looks like I’ll be having a nice clear broth and protein shake for Easter dinner this year! Lol

Over 65 next week go for 3 month pre-op diet. Gained 10 pounds in two months. Time to get serious. I hope nobody makes me feel uncomfortable. I need some buddy help to get to the end of this journey at age 67.

Well, I am officially APPROVED and scheduled for my RNY on June 3rd! For those of you that saw my introduction, I had mentioned that I had a weird insurance deal (small company policy) that made it questionable as to how long of a supervised weight loss was required. It was written as if it was 12 months, and I kind of settled into that in my mind as just how it would be. However, my insurance nurse is awesome. She really stepped up for me and worked so hard to clear the road blocks. Amazing.... So now I have a kind of mental whiplash, but a good one! Feeling excited, nervous and above all else, BLESSED.

Hi, I’m scheduled to have bypass surgery in 5 days. I already had my pre op appointment and all labs came back fine. I was smoke free for over 20 days. I recently smoked and was wondering if I will be tested for nicotine prior to surgery on the day of? Please help I’m nervous.

So I met with the surgeon's office today. Had the first meeting with the dietician, filled out the gigantic pile of paperwork and met with the doctor. Got some super amazing news from the coordinator of the program, which is not only does my insurance pay for the psych eval ($200), but also pays the program fees for the meetings and everything ($600). I was blown away. Then the super awesome amazing news - while my insurance carrier normally requires a documented 6 month dietitian/food class, my particular group does not. So that requirement is waived. On top of all that, when I went to check out and make my psych eval appointment, the nurse said - "Can you do today…

Hi guys! Has anyone here had VSG done already and was a heavy smoker before? Did you follow the guidelines to quit before the surgery and did you have a hard time. I'm 37 and May will be my last visit with the physicians before they submit the authorization for the surgery. I'm diabetic, high blood pressure and high cholesterol which I do take medications for all 3. I've also been a smoker since I was 17 and I've been smoking a pack a day for quiet a while now. I've been having a really hard time trying to quit and I know I don't have much time yet. Has anyone had some complications due to previously being a smoker. I would like to hear your story.

Hello! Im new to Bariatric Pal. I am trying to get some information on CHAMPVA and if they covered your surgery. I Was truely wondering how long the attempts to lose weight before had to be. I have tried many diets in the past and never successfully kept weight off or lost more than maybe 10% of body weight. I have one attempt on record with my doctor of like 3 months ... and maybe one of a month. Im wondering what everyone else has had and been able to get approved for. Im afraid i go thru with the surgery and get stuck with a huge bill cause CHAMPVA doesnt want to cover cause i didnt have accurate history. Thank you In advance!!!

Hi all. My surgery is scheduled for October 16! It’s coming so fast. I’m excited and nervous! I’ve waited so long for this. I’ve spent so much time taking care of everyone else and now it’s my time! Who else is out there that’s having surgery in October? I’d love to connect with you.