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Nursing student here! If you have known issues with your kidneys, this could be an expected result. Your kidneys secrete HCO3 which is a base. It helps maintain the acid-base balance in your body. In this result, the pCO2 is more basic to compensate for the fact that the kidneys are not secreting enough HCO3 (bicarbonate). If you don’t have kidney problems, I’m not by any means telling you that you do. I’m just saying that for whatever reason, your bicarbonate was low, so your PCO2 being more basic (less than 35) is a compensatory mechanism. Honestly, I’d think a PCO2 on the higher side would be a problem for surgery. That means you’d have a problem with ventilation (45+ is more acidic) and were retaining CO2 which would be a problem for anesthesia. I don’t think you have anything to worry about!

I'm watching this as well. I've noticed I can't seem to lose anymore from my belly. Not keeping me from trying though.

A little more about us ... We are from Louisiana, I’m 30 he’s 34. We both work for Chemical Companies. I’m a Board Operator he’s I&E. We have two kids 7 & 2 and two chocolate lab fur babies. We are a very active family and we spend all of our spare time outdoors at the ballpark or on the water fishing. He’s a former Marine and both of us have athletic backgrounds but as it does marriage made us comfortable and somehow with all that was going on in life our health took a backseat. But now we’ve reached a point in life where it’s time to be a little selfish. We have worked hard and made a lot of sacrifices to build a beautiful life for our family but this decision to have the sleeve done is finally putting ourselves first and doing something for ourselves and our health. oh and yesterday we set a date of July 9th!

I'm 5'3" and had bypass at 228 lbs 10 weeks ago. I also had GERD/acid reflux. I'm happy with my choice. Sent from my SM-N960U using BariatricPal mobile app

“I recently had bariatric surgery and am on a restricted diet.” I say it matter of fact, with confidence. If it’s someone I know well, I don’t care if they know. If it’s a stranger, well, what do I care if they judge me?

I think this is such a potentially bad idea. I get when your insurance won’t pay and going to Mexico but to have major surgery knowing you don’t have insurance for follow up care is crazy. What if something goes wrong, even people with the best surgeons and medical care have complications. I 100% get wanting the surgery, but why not wait until you have health insurance so you know you can seek care without going bankrupt. Plus you are way more likely to seek care early because you know you will get billed.

Obviously everyone is scared before surgery but you have it done and then you realize it's really not that big of a deal. I've had no complications, no vomit or foamies, no food stuck. No regrets. No hair loss. No gas. No dehydration. None of the scary things people talk about.

Never heard of that, but I guess we all live and learn as time goes on#

Well my appointment with the Psychiatrist went well. I spent most of my time answering a 370 questionnaire and listening to the Dr speak to a group of 10. After that we each had a one on one visit that lasted about 30 minutes. I also meet with the dietician and say the surgeon assistant to go over my labs. Next month will be my last weigh in and the last step is my sleep study. I did gain 3lbs. so hopefully that want cause any issues with the insurance approval. My goal is to loose 10lbs by my next visit and hopefully I will be approved for May.

Hopefully you have a good program that educates you about the different options. You should along with your surgeon be able to make a choice that best suits your medical needs. I had a class that I had to attend to start things off that gave me two options, sleeve or gastric bypass. The surgeon spoke to the class with illustrations on a projector and took questions about both procedures. I then went home and started a 6 month diet that was laid out in detail by a nutritionist. During the 6 months before my face to face with the surgeon, I had lots of time to think about the pros and cons of both surgeries. During the 6 month diet, I would become dead set on the sleeve then read or hear something that changed my mind and I would start feeling like the bypass was the best choice. It kept going like that for about 2 or 3 months until I watched so many YouTube videos and read so many articles and forums that I decided on the bypass. Whatever you do, make sure you go into this educated and you are not pushed into making a decision based only on what one doctor says. I don't know if it will happen but I would like to go the rest of my life without another major surgery. I was determined to get this right the first time. Take it slow, do your homework and make sure you are putting your trust in a reputable center of excellence.