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I just had my 5th behavior modification group meeting with the bariatric psychologist tonight and this is one thing that he did go over, as far as the stalling goes anyway. After surgery, because our intake is so low, our brain thinks we are starving ourselves and forces the body to hold on to the weight for sometimes as long as a couple of weeks. This is typical of the sleeve surgery, more so than the gastric bypass. The weight loss will be in more of a gradual stair step type loss instead of a constant down-slope. He said as long as we stick to our plan we are given by our nutritionists and follow our exercise plans, our bodies will catch up with our brains once it realizes that we are not starving and the weight will come off again. Are you in a program that offers post-op support groups? How far out are you? From what i understand, the head hunger can last a few weeks after surgery. I have not had my surgery yet, but i am ready and looking forward to a healthier life.

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Biotin does not help and taking it could impact lab work so best to not use it. The hair loss associated with bariatric surgery (and other surgeries, acute illness, and trauma) is called telogen effluvium and has to do with the normal hair growth process, stress to the body, and hormonal changes. It often starts abruptly and doesn’t usually last longer than 6 months. Not much you can do to prevent it from happening or shorten the process.

I was looking into different sites that offer high protien Snacks and such that would be good for the whole family. I was wondering if anyone from Canada has ordered from these sites and had any problems with shipping through customs? Thanks for any information that you can share!

Tuesday, July 21, 2009 Look for the Smilemarkers A sliver of moon was showing in the sky the other day while I was playing outside with my grandson, David (4yrs). As usual he wanted to know why. I told him the moon wanted to play with him. Later he was drinking chocolate milk on the front porch and said, "The moon is drinking chocolate milk. He has a chocolate milk mustache." I love it when a four year old can use his imagination and make a joke. I love it when a four year old accidentally amuses me. David was riding in the van with his dad when he announced, "I want my crocs (sandals)." His dad stopped the car and asked him what he was wearing on his feet. David replied in all seriousness, "Dad, I'm wearing my toes." Children and laughter go hand in hand. I love being a grandmother and not having to do much of anything when I babysit but enjoy the kids. My two year old granddaughter loves to play hide and seek in her house. She always hides in her closet and she always tells me she's going to hide in her closet. When I try to go home she frequently tells me I'm hungry and I need to eat in order to keep me there. LOL. She already knows my weakness. There's a lot of evidence that laughter is good medicine. The Reader's Digest knew that before there were studies proving it. I use a lot of silly humor when I teach. To teach the ang sound I have a picture-card of a vampire with fangs showing. I'll put on my best Transylvanian accent, make my hands into claws, and say," I vant to bite your neck; I vish to suck your blood." The kids all shriek and laugh and are more likely to remember that ang makes the sound you hear in fang. I have a game that involves tossing a soft ball back and forth between me and a group of kids while saying math facts. I love to watch for the kid who stops paying attention and I'll look at another child while throwing the ball at the daydreamer who frequently gets hit by the ball which cracks everyone up and serves notice to pay attention. Today I was on Lapbandtalk, which has become my on-line support group and one of the women told a hysterically funny dream she'd had about another member of the group. Can't repeat it here because it involved partial nudity and showing off a well-shaped body part. Jokes were still flying hours later when I checked back in. Some of the best and funniest speakers I ever heard were recovering alcoholics telling their stories at open AA meetings. Some of the things they did and the situations they got themselves into were, in retrospect, hysterically funny. Without the humor, they'd have been too painful to tell. The funniest stories I tell on myself involve my ADHD and some of the things I've done as a result. Humor makes pain palatable. I'm not talking about sarcasm or angry ranting expletive deleted humor. Frankly, I don't consider that humor because it tends to be at other's expense. I'm talking about self-deprecating humor. Humor that gently pokes fun at the human condition but doesn't denigrate others. One of the funniest stories my deceased mother-in-law told involved driving off to work with her teeth on top of the car. One of the funniest stories my son tells is what happened when he tied our 6 month old 75 lb. Chesapeake Bay Retriever to a lightweight charcoal grill in my parent's driveway. Thank God for the passing motorist who chased down the dog and stopped him before the grill chasing the dog down the street caused the dog to drop dead of a heart attack. These stories and jokes we tell each other can only happen in community. We weren't created to live in isolation. And I firmly believe that God laughs with us. We're created in his image and he loves us with all our foibles so he must have quite a sense of humor. Humor is his gift to us, a gracelet that allows us to be refreshed, renewed, re-created and ready for the next thing life throws at us. So, even though food addiction is a serious disease, I try not to take myself too seriously. Life is a journey. Look for the smilemarkers along the way.

Oh, but I did get a bariatric eating shake thingie.. it's just a cup with a silver wire ball in it (I think I got it from GNC). It helped mix up shakes, and was only 2 or 3 dollars.

I'm glad to know that there is an alternative. I was banded in April 2011. I returned for a follow up visit with the doctor and each time I go there is an office FULL of patients. What's the use of having an appointment when 5 other people have the same appt. During my follow up visit I waited over an hour in the exam room before the Dr. got to me. This isn't counting the time I was in the waiting room. I learned after my first visit that he (Dr.) not only does bariatric surgery but other surgeries also. When I went back for my 1st fill, there were people actually standing, the office was so full. I went back last week for my 2nd fill, same thing. My 3:20 appt. was over around 5:30. I felt I might be too tight because of symptoms I was having. I asked to come back. My appt. was at 2:30. At 3:00 the secretary came out and said the Dr. had to perform emergency surgery and wouldn't be back in the office until 4:30. 4:30 would probably be closer to 5:30. She said we could run errands and come back or sit and wait. Plus this means I've got to wait with what's probably a group coming in later. So once again there's a patient load packed to the ceiling. I told them to cancel me and that I would call back since I needed to check my calendar. I left the office bought fast food, fried chicken strips, fries and sweet tea. Ate it all. I guess I'm not too tight after all.

I suggest you go to a bariatric nutritionist. They will have the knowledge to get you where you want to be and still have the calories for Peyton. Congratulations!

I will be moving to Georgia in a few months. Can someone recommend a reputable bariatric surgeon preferably in southeast Georgia. Sent from my SM-N975U1 using BariatricPal mobile app

I have wonderful insurance through my company. However, they will not cover bariatric surgery. However, my husband's company insurance will so we decided to switch during open enrollment. At the last minute, he was switched to part-time and has to pick up Aetna/SRC which covers the surgery but has a limited max that they will pay for everything (including doctor visits). So, I kept my insurance and he is also getting this insurance (which considers itself primary no matter what). My concern is, if there happens to be a complication, would my other insurance company cover that if they won't cover the bariatric surgery? I have this fear that, if there is a complication, the hospital fees will quickly go over what the limited insurance will cover and I will end up owing thousands of dollars, even though I have great insurance that just happens to not cover bariatric surgery. Does anyone have any experience concerning something like this? Thanks!

Hi hi I was soooo excited to see a San Antonio group on this site! I'm hoping to connect with other local "sleevers" to create something of a real-life support network for us all... A little about me: I recently had my knee 'scoped to try & figure out why my torn meniscus wasn't healing (after 5 months) --- once inside, my knee doc saw that the cartilage was completely shredded (the pictures looked like cotton candy) & gave me the news that I needed total knee replacement. He also let me know that he wouldn't be able to do the surgery until I lost a significant amount of weight & referred me to Dr. Ramiro "Sonny" Cavazos, a bariatric surgeon at The Texas Center for Medical & Surgical Weight Loss . I saw him a few days later on 5/27 & had my Nutrition/Psychological consult. My insurance will cover WLS after I complete 3 months of medically supervised weight loss --- so that's where I am in the process. So far I'm down 23 lbs. It's been fairly easy -- had a few episodes of extreme hunger, but nothing I couldn't handle -- the hardest part has been making good choices when I'm around my extended family, especially when we're out at a restaurant -- but the more I do it, the more comfortable I am. I think the shock of being told I needed knee replacement surgery definitely helped me wrap my brain around the necessity of WLS... I've been a somewhat militant fat person (!) for a while now & always told myself I'd NEVER EVER EVER do WLS -- I insisted for the longest time that my weight had NO impact on my health & that the doctors that told me how bad it was for me were just being fat-phobic. I always took pride in the fact that I really never let my size slow me down or keep me from doing the things I wanted to do. Then...my blood pressure became an issue...then diabetes... and now, my knees -- which is making mobility an issue... and I've HAD to accept that those doctors were right all along! I'm sorry that it's come to this --- but I'm also sooooo grateful! I had a doctor that cared enough about me as a human being to be honest with me, even though it was uncomfortable. I have a fiance & a few close friends that are totally supportive of my choice to have WLS. I'm lucky that my insurance will even consider covering WLS! Anyway -- I guess that's enough of an introduction for now.... I look forward to the possibility of getting to know other San Antonio folks!

Love, They will offer it to you as soon as you get to the clinic on surgery day. I think the Endura is $30ish dollars and the Bariatric Meal Replacement is $59ish... all together I spent $96 on food at the clinic. I got the lemon lime flavoured Endura (it tastes better than I expect the orange would taste) and the Dutch chocolate Bariatric meal replacement (I don't try that until Wednesday when I move to full fluids). They will also offer you the Metagenics Multivitamins. I don't know how much they cost because I didn't get them. My fiance had the gastric bypass a couple years ago and he uses chewable Flintstone Vitamins. So, that's what I'm using for now. They didn't seem too concerned that I wanted to use a different Multivitamin. Are you getting excited about the surgery yet? I had mine done on Friday and I have felt pretty good since about day 2. No real pain, the only thing that's been bothersome is the gas pain. It's not completely gone yet, but just about. Day one and two were pretty bad for gas, but I'm on day 4 now, and it's really only coming once every couple of hours for a few seconds. My last Demerol was taken the morning of Day 3. I took it religiously every four hours for the first two days, just in case! But, yesterday I didn't want to be out of it, so I didn't take one after my first one in the morning and I've been absolutely fine. I even slept on my side last night!! Make sure whoever you go with asks questions and gets the right information about aftercare. When I was still out of it recovering after surgery, the nurse came and explained everything to me that I needed to know about going home and aftercare... I absorbed nothing and passed right back out! Thank Goodness my fiance asked all of those questions before he took me home. I only had him here on Day 2, then he had to leave for a business trip, so I've been alone since then. I'm very happy I went through TLBC. They seem to have done a great job, gave me the "good drugs" and made the entire process REALLY easy. I feel silly for worrying so much for nothing beforehand!!! Wasted energy!!! Good luck!!! Keep me posted on your progress!

hello, I had my surgery 19 months ago (to the day actually), and yes I am a slow loser, but am not going up and do continue to lose, albeit slowly, I have lost about 42lbs since surgery and have gone from a BMI of 47 down to 41. and here is my question: I hardly ever drink booze, I maybe imbibe once or twice a year and try to take very good care of my stomach. but thursday night was one of those nights where I decided to break that personal rule.In addition I did everything else that is ill advised if you want to reduce your chances of feeling like death in the am. I had not eaten anything since about 6:30=empty pouch. I did not drink Water in between drinks. Then from the hours of about midnight to 4am I drank 5 nips of 70 proof vodka with punch, 1 nip of whiskey with cola and a hard cider (my friend works at a liquor store and gets free stuff), I proceeded to go to sleep at about 4am, still with nothing in my tummy and the spins.I ruffled around in my purse to try and find some of my zantac or pepcid but I had forgotten it. Large mistake. I woke up at 11am and when I sat up almost instantly puked. It was black, and granular. I puked like this 2 or 3 more times over the next hour. On the way home my friend stopped and got me a gatorade, I took one sip, and about 15 minutes later that came up too, it was gatorade with little black flecks in it. That was the last time I puked. My friend said I was fine, and that what I was seeing was the cola from last night, Except I has only had about 6-8 ounces of cola, but that was 7 hours previous. I have a history of ulcers and bleeding in my family (my dad had his first bleed when he was 18, bled in the same spot when he was 43, 50, and 55). And almost died once. I overuse nsaids, although since surgery I take about half the amount that I used to and try to take them with zantac or pepcid b/c my bariatric doc said that's ok. I had an endoscopy about 8 month before my LAGB surgery and it showed mild erosion in the antral area of my stomach. I do have GERD but refuse to take PPI's regularly (I am against them for several reasons) and use zantac and pecid as needed, and was told this was ok by my doc Problem is, I hate the doc and the hospital, and I am a very anxious person especially when it comes to this because I watched what my dad went through, which means I can over-react a bit. I have felt a little woozy and like butterflies in my stomach, but that could just be anxiety, because I'm thinking of what ifs. & My BP runs very low anyway .I guess my main question is, Would I have thrown up cola 7 hours after drinking it? is that even possible? one would think it would be way past my pouch by that point, but is that even possible? I am posting here because I really don't want to go running to the doc unless absolutely necessary. (I once peed pink like 10 years ago and freaked went to the ER, and then realized I had eaten beets lol). AM I over reacting about my black/dark dark brown, somewhat granular vomit? Could it be anything else than blood? Please help tell me what I should do..thanks! P.S. Sry for the long post, I tend to be quite wordy :-)

I find it surprising that there are so many different "reasons" for people to avoid caffeine coming from their surgeons. The "acidic" nature of it is always hilarious to me. Your stomach has hydrochloric acid in it already. Like, as soon as they close your stomach, it's producing acid again. The diuretic nature of caffeine is nullified by the amount of water present in pretty much any caffeinated beverage, so that one isn't true either. The appetite stimulant is one I haven't heard before. Doesn't make sense to me either. Hell, all the diet pills and appetite suppressants on the market have caffeine as a key ingredient. So I would call bunk on that one as well. The only verifiable thing I could find on why bariatric patients should not have caffeine is because caffeine attaches to the same receptors that absorb Vitamin D and calcium; and those two are vitally important the first year. It is also common for caffeine to irritate the bowels in some people. And as a gastric patient, whether you have a sleeve or a pouch, you no longer have a reservoir to hold the coffee in before it seeps into the intestines. So you get a full dose pretty much right off the bat.

My wife has been in Dr. Davis's program since the first part of this year. We have Aetna and they required the 3 month program along with medical records from the last five years, a letter from her primary doctor, etc. Unfortunately, Dr. Davis's office has not been much help in this process. His office staff seems overwhelmed. Basically, my wife gathered all of the info they needed and gave it to them. They have botched the internal process every step of the way. Dr. Davis has changed office managers and other key employees at least once this year. The change didn't seem to help. They consistently assure my wife that things are being taken care of (like submitting the paperwork to Aetna for final approval) only to find out a couple of weeks later that they have done nothing. It's very disappointing that Aetna has chosen Dr. Davis as the only bariatric doctor in the Houston area. I am sure they wouldn't be happy with his performance if they knew. His whole program is very impersonal. The patients get treated like a number from day one. It seems that the entire goal of Dr. Davis's office is to process patients through the system (mental health visits, nutritionist visits, & all the other things required by insurance) in order to get them approved rather than really creating a program that educates the patient on what they need to know pre & post surgery. If you use Doctor Davis I believe he probably does a good job on the actual surgery but everything else about his practice is greatly lacking. You'll need to do your own research to equip yourself properly for the aftercare program. If my wife had a choice she would take her business elsewhere. Repeated calls to Dr. Davis's office to resolve these issues fall on deaf ears. It seems he doesn't really care if he has a disgruntled patient or loses one here & there. After all, he's got a line of 'em out the door waiting to get in. Its kind of like Wal-Mart losing a customer....so what, who cares? There's more where they came from.

The carbonation stretches your pouch...if u keep drinking it over time it will stretch it. My husband had bariatric surgery, lost weight, started drinking soda again, and all the sudden could it more bc pouch was stretched. I recommend to leave it alone. Drink crystal light or freeze the soda to make a slushy so it isnt carbonated.

I have been in the position of responsibility for infrastructure and upgrades and I was a paid full-time employee. I never had to endure the amount of abuse and bitching that has happened here in the last few days. If I had, I would have gone straight to my boss and HR. The amount of abuse that has been heaped upon Alex and his colleagues due to this upgrade has been downright ugly at times. I just hope people realize that he could decide to just close the site completely and do something else with his free time, and that we should all be grateful to him for the time and money he has thrown into this site, just to educate people about bariatric surgery. This is not a government-sponsored website and it is certainly not our right to have access to it. It is our privilege. SydneySusan, fair enough, keep giving feedback. But can't we all be a bit nicer about it?

I usually don't buy special bariatric anything -- I'm convinced that special bariatric vitamins and calcium and whatnot are overpriced scams. That said, I've been taking the Bariatric Advantage probiotic chewables every day since surgery and I have had zero problems with constipation, nausea, gas, anything like that. I don't know if that's attributable to the probiotic but I guess it isn't hurting! The ones I get are strawberry flavored and taste fine. http://www.nashuanutrition.com/store/vitamins-and-minerals/bariatric-advantage-chewable-probiotic-strawberry-90-tablets.html

Ok...I'll jump in and post to reply to some of your points. Some of what you said is very valid, other stuff not so much, altho please do not take any of this to be criticism on your thought process !!! I am over 2 years post-op and have emailed, phoned and sat face to face with numerous bandsters who were banded all over the place. Some in Ontario (keep in mind I am in BC), some in Mexico and some like myself, in the US. Saying this is just to say that I have heard plenty of things, both good and bad, from all 3 of the possible surgery scenarios. First of all....Mexico. - Hospitals and clinics have unknown standards True enough, altho I think by reading sites like this one, Obesityhelp.com and the many Yahoo groups available (I name these because it is where I did most of my early pre-band reading) you can learn a lot about different surgeons and clinics in Mexico. I have sat face to face with people in meetinns who went to Tijuana who have told me that they have ~never~ been in a cleaner or more organized facilty anywhere. - Dr's claims to huge surgical numbers are unverifiable Again, I agree, but I would never chose a surgeon that I had not read extensively about and spoken to some of his patients. By reading thru these sites you can easily pick out a few Mexican surgeons that it is easy to tell that they have numerous patients. As well, if you read things about certain surgeons (Dr. Ortiz immediately comes to mind) you will see that they are outstanding in this field and have in fact trained certain 'big-name' Drs both in Canada and the US. (by 'big-name' I mean well known in the bariatric surgery field) - Free follow-ups require traveling to Mexico Yes, however there are plenty of Canadian clinics who only offer short-term or limited 'free' aftercare. - No liquid diets noted prior to surgery... does this not put the liver at risk? I never had any pre-op diet to follow, liquid or otherwise. This is almost entirely dependant of your surgeon and varies greatly, the same as your immediate post-op diet will vary surgeon to surgeon. Another variable my be your health status at the time of surgery and how much weight you have to loose. My surgeon did not put me on a pre-op diet, but I know other people from the same clinic that were required to follow one. This said, there are 2 ladies in my support group who have just recently been banded by Dr. Ortiz in Mexico and they ~both~ were put on a pre-op diet. So Mexico is just like Canada and the US on this point, some require it, some don't. - Unless you speak Spanish, are you sure you are safe? Not at all. These clinics depend on their American and Canadian clients and all speak full English, all the way from the fellow driving the hospital 'taxi' (most clinics provide transportation from the airport to the clinics) to the surgeons. And the US... The US dollar issue is a given. If you manage to have surgery when our $ is good, then it can be good, if our $ is down, it's not so good. You will pay for your aftercare in USD which will fluctuate as the $ goes up and down. - The consultation we had in a good hospital in a good market gave us the cost of the procedure at 16000 USD but they did not provide any free follow-ups after the first year or fills ever. I paid 16000US and my clinic provided free fills for 13 months, free support for life and if I need to have any 'repair' surgery that will also be covered for life. I was happy with that and found it comparable to anything close to me and Canadian. - Even if you decide to get it there and use the clinics up here to fill and follow-up... expect to keep paying and paying. Agreed, but everyone needs to know what is included in their surgery regardless of where you have it done. Plenty of Canadian clinics don't offer free care and fills for your lifetime....so any of us can keep paying and paying. And Canada.... - Since you will use a clinic close to you... the follow-ups and fills are probably free As I said...this is only true ~if~ the clinic you choose offers free care. Everyone needs to be certain of what is included in the cost of your surgery and for how long. - Your band clinic will be contacted for emergency complications and I should hope that your banding doc would have something to say about the band's removal before it happens. Yes and no. I just spoke to a woman in Ontario recently who had some complications with her band and went to emergency at the local hospital. The attending Drs had no idea about 'bands' and were not willing to call her surgeon. They would not access her port to defill her. Her hysband finally took her home after having an IV to rehydrate her, and they called her band clinic once they got home. It is pretty rare to have some kind of complication come up that will require ~immediate~ surgery and removal of your band. I would hazard to guess that in 99% of the cases you would personally be able to contact your surgeon regardless of where s/he is. The people that I know who have been banded in Mexico come home with the surgeons personal cell #, and a 24 hour emergency call #. - If you have complications that only require a visit within 24-48 hours to your clinic... you can get there! Agreed, and this is exactly why I chose the US and not Canada. This will depend on where you are located. There were 2 surgeons in Vancouver for me to choose from for my surgery and I decided that neither were a good fit for me. That left me to either drive to WA state or fly to Ontario. I decided that I wanted to be able to drive to see my surgeon and not worry about a plane ticket and trip across the country. I personally think your post is great. It will give everyone something to think about when they are deciding what is best for themselves. You've pretty much done what I have suggested others do before surgery.....make a pro and con list and see what works best. I'm glad you've decided to go ahead with banding....I honestly don't think you'll regret spending the money, it's an ~amazing~ journey !!! All the best and good luck !!!! Patricia

Of course I plan on having no serious complications, but I think it might be safer to travel the 1 1/2 hours vs. 4 hrs. Having kids and making arrangement for fills/unfills might be a pain at the greater distance. The main thing is emergencies and can I get to my surgeon. In my town we have no surgeons that do bariatric surgery. I'd hate to put my body in the hand of the unexperienced! Hmm.

Anyone what the right goal percentages are for a bariatric diet? Like how much fat, carb, Protein? Putting 100% protein is unrealistic because everything has some kind of fat or carb. Doing so will throw your numbers off.

We saw a surgeon at the Mayo. He said that it does need to come out and for now surgery is scheduled for August 14th. And yes, it does seem to me exactly like it should be considered basically removal of a foreign body type of thing instead of bariatric. But the surgeon said that it is still considered bariatric. But he was willing to write a letter to the insurance company and push to have it covered and will file any appeals necessary. He also said that even if they have not approved it before the surgery, we can keep fighting it after the surgery also. We will also be speaking with a lawyer next week. I am hoping that since he is part of such a large organization he might get a little further. I just don't want the hospital to say they won't do the surgery because we don't have insurance.

I didn't do a manual setting. I just put in my basic info and activity level. It won't make a difference. Anything under 1000 calories is still going to give you a warning when you close your diary for the day because there is no setting for bariatric diets. I'm on and accept friends as long as they share their diaries. My username is Milaxx if you want to add me.

NO! I had some stupid resident that doesn't know what she is doing. She gave me Maalox and a protontic and told me to follow up with a GI specialist. I've had issues with being stuck before and having some pain and swelling after, but never pain like this or for this long! Since the episode, I've only been drinking Water and just a few hours ago, I started taking small spoons of runny pudding. I had my surgery in Mexico so I don't have my surgeon here. I have a Dr. that does my fills but she is not a bariatric Dr. She is 1hr and a half away. They told me to go to my family Dr. so I'm headed there by 2:30 today. I'm also experiencing pain in my shoulders like I did after surgery. The pain is very sharp at times and gets worse when I move around. I have to keep moving positions to get comfortable.

My wonderful surgeon covered various bariatric surgeries and the success rates (and successful "reversal" rates) of each. He then went into more detail on the 2 he performs, banding and bypass. He described his "credentials" including how often he's done each surgery, what type of band he prefers/uses and why, etc. He discussed the procedure and life style changes required by each. He discussed the negative side effects (like hair loss and slippage, death...) and how much and how severe each is for his patients. Then he had a Q & A time (very patient) and THEN that great guy took another 20 min to just talk to my husband about it all (Husband is an RN who worked in a GI lab and was against it but was all for the band after doc and he talked and doc addressed his concerns) Afterward if we wanted we could immediately schedule a follow up appt, or we could take our time. No hard sell whatsoever. I immediately felt at ease and valued as a person, not just a patient.