MacMadame

That's old info. Originally, extremely obese patients were giving the sleeve part of the DS so they could lose enough weight to have the DS laparoscopically. Once they lost about 100 pounds, they'd have the switch done. Except a lot never came back for the second part and that made doctors go "aha!" and start thinking that you could just do sleeves for a lot of patients. So now it's considered a standalone procedure.

Highest Weight: 223 (as of Feb. 2008) Weight Date of Surgery: 191 - 32 lb. loss in 7 months First month: 179, 12 lb. loss Second month: 167, 12 lb. loss Third month: 159, 8 lb. loss Fourth month: 151, 8 lb. loss Fifth month: 144, 7 lb. loss Sixth month: 134, 10 lb. loss Seventh month: 128, 8 lb. loss Eighth month: 122, 6 lb. loss Ninth month: 116, 6 lb. loss Tenth month: 113, 3 lb. loss Eleventh month: 113, 0 lb. loss

Here are my weight loss stats: Highest Weight: 223 (as of Feb. 2008) Weight Date of Surgery: 191 - 32 lb. loss in 7 months First month: 179, 12 lb. loss Second month: 167, 12 lb. loss Third month: 159, 8 lb. loss Fourth month: 151, 8 lb. loss Fifth month: 144, 7 lb. loss Sixth month: 134, 10 lb. loss Seventh month: 128, 8 lb. loss Eighth month: 122, 6 lb. loss Ninth month: 116, 6 lb. loss Tenth month: 113, 3 lb. loss Eleventh month: 113, 0 lb. loss I did stop losing for 6 weeks but then I started losing again. I wasn't losing when I was tracking my food and making sure I ate enough to replace what I lost via exercise. But then I decided to try to only eat when I was hungry and then I lost a bit more. I think I need to do something in between as I need to fuel my workouts better or my performance suffers.

Actually, even normies absorb more calcium citrate than carbonate. But calcium carbonate requires acid to be absorbed properly and most of us are either on a PPI or our tummies have figured out they are smaller and aren't making as much acid. Bandsters can have carbonate, though.

Those are some great NSVs, Size 7!

My surgeon is seeing his sleeve patients lose as much as his RnY patients at one year out so I can't see getting RnY. It costs more, has more complications, but doesn't get better results?? That does not compute.

Psst. It's the other way around: VSG is the first part of the DS.

Congrats! ......

Yes, I like the Orange. Actually, the banana is good too but mostly I get vanilla and then add SF syrup and fruit to the shake. I think WASa must have done the math wrong, because 9-11 is what my tubs say.

Liquids is 2-3 weeks in my program. If you move to the next phase and have problems, you have to move back to liquids as well.

If you can manage it, weighing once a week is a good way to stay accountable without going nuts. Maybe you could find a scale not in your house... like at the doctor's or the gym.

For me, getting rid of the ghrelin solved most of my food issues. I was never truly addicted to food so I didn't get a transfer addiction. I still have head hunger sometimes and I still use food to Celebrate. But I truly am satisfied on the amounts I'm eating and I see food as fuel mostly so I'm not going bonkers from not being able to eat a lot. Plus, I feel in love with triathlon so I can eat a lot more calories than I could if I didn't workout so much. That helps too except sometimes I have the opposite problem -- I have to force myself to eat or I lose too much.

Welcome to the Bench!

I think Fremont doesn't require classes like Richmond does. But all the centers have their pluses and minuses. The main thing about Kaiser is that, no matter what their pre-op requirements, it takes FOREVER to get a date. I recommend you come to a meeting of this group: East Bay Bariatric Home Page I'd say at least half the regular attendees are from Kaiser and they will give you the real skinny on how these programs work and what it takes to navigate successfully through them.

My consent said they might need to do X, Y and Z. I think the gal was mistaken. :lol0: My understanding is that they will biopsy your liver if doesn't look right. Which you really want them to do.

Hee. There is a link to the same tutorial right on this site... no need to venture into LapBand Land. :lol0:

I agree about asking your surgeon. Some will test you and, if nicotine is found in your bloodstream, they won't do your surgery! Your chances of leaks go up if you smoke too, so it's really in your best interest to quit. It's not just the doctor torturing you.

In the end, you have to keep calories down. Even Dr. Atkins says so if pressed. My mom dated a guy who consulted with him when the diet wasn't working for him and Dr. Atkins told him flat out that even though he says in his book that you can eat "whatever you want," that doesn't mean you can eat 3 steaks for dinner. (And the guy did eat 3 steaks for dinner.)

It completely depends on your insurance company and the policy you have with them. Some won't pay for sleeves under any circumstances. Some will pay for them for a revision, but not for a virgin sleeve. Some will pay no matter your BMI -- you only have to show you were compliant with the program and your WLS failed for reasons not under your control (like a band slipping or eroding). Others want you to re-qualify for the surgery (i.e., have a high enough BMI). If you self-payed before because WLS wasn't covered under your insurance and you have the same insurance, they absolutely won't pay to remove the band and won't pay for the new WLS. If you now have insurance that covers WLS, then they should pay for band removal, but they may or may not pay for a revision to a new surgery depending on what their criteria is for revisions. A lot of time, you can find their clinical policies on their web sites and then you can read the criteria for yourself.

They are tasty!

My surgeon prefers to do it all at once.

It's very hard to build up enough muscle mass to negate weight loss. If you work very, very hard at it, you might gain a pound of muscles a month. But when you first start working out, your muscles will need a lot of Water to repair themselves and that might mask any fat loss you have on the scale for a week or two.

You shouldn't have had to melt your Nexum once you moved to solid food. I'm now doing Pepcid AC but only because my heartburn is occasional. The PPIs really have to be taken regularly to work and I don't want to take a pill every day if I only need on once a week.

Also, most of us are on a low-fat diet and first and that can make your skin dry. (On top of everything else that can cause itchy skin.)

I'm confused. I thought there was BCBS of XX (state) and BCBS Fed. I don't think Fed can be Fed of XX state. Fed approves it, states vary. BCBS of CA (which was recently renamed to Anthem BC just to make it more confusing) absolute does not approve them.