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You should do it the night before your 10 day pre op diet.

I feel you! I had my 1st group appts (met w/NP, NUT, Psych) on 10/16. I was unable to meet w/my surgeon due to her flight being delayed but they rescheduled me for 10/23. I have Horizon BCBS Avantage EPO. Their financial counselor gave me a form w/all the info I needed for my ins. co to cover the the surgery.I've been so anxious since! Worrying about a rejection too but I decided to let it go and focus on getting the necessary things done meanwhile.. St. Michaels Metabolic & Bariactic Center is the best. Their office gave me all my referrals (lab, Upper GI, sleep Study) and my f/u appts for Nov. So good luck with your process!

Hi. I start my 2 week pre-op diet this Friday. I have to replace Breakfast and lunch with a Protein shake in either Water or fat free milk (I'll put it in the milk) Amazon is convenient for me, anyone have any brand and or flavor suggestions? My guide from surgeon says sugar free, at least 20g of protein per serving , under 200 cals per serving and less than 10 carbs. There are plenty of powders out there but not many that say ugar free but meet th other criteria better than the few sugar free ones. Most are low carb, lower than the sugar free but have like 1-2g of sugar listed on the label is that ok? otherwise not much to choose from, plus spendy. Any advice? flavors, brands? thanks, getting close!!

Many people over this last year have asked me what I did to prepare for my weight loss surgery. There were many things that I did and not one was more important than another. The biggest thing to keep in mind is that your preparation heading into surgery and especially the liquid diet the week or two prior will be the hardest and most important thing you do as a part of your journey. You will work hard to prepare your mind, your body, and to some degree your spirit to go though the surgery. Once you do have the surgery the hardest part is over. If you can survive the months before taking the plunge then everything you do after will be a piece of cake in comparison. I am here to tell you that anyone who says having a weight loss surgery is taking the easy way out is someone who will never understand what it truly takes to go through this process. To some degree I feel sorry for those who don't get it. They will never understand the joy and excitement that comes with going through this transformation. To be honest, even though my wife loves me and has been an amazing support through this whole process, she will never full know or understand what it is like to make this decision and prepare for the surgery like I do. This is part one, in a series of three posts, detailing my preparation for surgery. The first aspect of this preparation I will cover is how I prepared my body. This was pretty simple for me really. I was in bad shape and was huffing after just sitting up from a chair; as my transformation video in an earlier post has shown. I was miserable! I would practically crawl through my front door after just my first night back to work. I work as a pharmacy technician at a hospital and walk 8 to 12 miles a night. I was living off of Tylenol and Bengay. Honestly I smelled like I was probably 90 years old. Looking back I find myself completely disgusted that I ever let things get that bad. Since I could not really do much working out because of the toll work was taking on my body, what could I do? The answer came from my brother. He is a nurse and knows a ton about medicine. I honestly think he should have became a doctor, but he didn't want the added responsibility. Before I had fully decided on having the bypass surgery and long before anyone knew I was even contemplating that option my brother came to me, as serious as I had ever seen him. Those that know my brother know he's a bit of a joker and very lighthearted. His demeanor kind of scared me, but in this conversation would be the answer that would help me prepare my body for surgery. He explained to me that he wanted to see me healthy, that he wanted me to be able to be the cool uncle when he had kids, and how he wanted his brother back. He was scared that I wouldn't be around much longer and didn't want to see me die. Looking back I really think he was right. Then he did something that floored me and provided and amazing answer to how I would physically prepare for the journey I was about to take. He explained to me that he wanted me healthy so badly he would pay for my gym membership if I promised to go three times a week and swim. On a side note; He religiously checked up on my progress with the gym manager to make sure I was going and even went so far as to meet me at the gym and swim with me. I swam on a team in junior high and he explained to me the benefits of working out in the Water. Water has the ability to take all of the pressure off of your knees and other joints. It can keep you cool if you are prone to overheating and provides an amazing about of resistance if you find ways to take advantage of it. He set up a plan and told me just to come three times a week to swim and do what I could. So that is what I did. I did not want to let me brother down and I would hope he would agree it was the best investment he ever made. So that is what I did; I swam. I swam freestyle, I swam breast stroke, I saw backstroke, and when I was feeling particularly squirrely, I swam butterfly. Butterfly was my specialty when I was on swim team but man it is a butt kicker. I started out with 10 laps, which was a lot better than I had thought. I found I could move more freely and with less pain in the water. From there I just simply added one or two laps each time I went. Before I knew it, I was approaching my surgery date and I was swimming close to an hour non-stop! Why should I work out prior to surgery? There is a very simple answer. To prepare your body. You need to prepare your body for what you are about to put it through. This is major surgery and not something to take lightly. You also want to work out to build up your cardiovascular and pulmonary endurance. Strengthening the heart will make you strong for surgery because your body will be stressed, because of this your blood pressure will spike for a short time after surgery and it is a lot to put on yourself. Strengthening your lungs will help keep you from a common post surgical complication which is pneumonia. My goal in preparing my body was simply to be able to survive the surgery, keep my complications down, and my hospital stay short as should be your goal as well. I want to tell you right now that preparing my body worked out well. I had no major complications and I left the hospital three days later, which was the minimum hospital stay my doctor required for his full bypass patients. What if I can't swim? The key here is to simply get moving. If you can walk, then walk. If you have access to a pool, then you can water walk or water jog. If you love biking and can do that, then do that. You just need to move. Your goals with this are simple. First, you want to make sure you are panting a little from being out of breath when you are done. This will show you that your lungs have been pushed a little and if that is true then your heart will have been pushed also. Second, each time you work out, just add a little to it. If your taking laps on a track, add a lap or a half a lap each time. If you are walking your neighborhood then walk for another 30 seconds or a minute. If you do this early, as soon as you begin contemplating surgery the further along and better prepared you will be, come surgery day. As always, if you have any questions, or if there is anything unclear, please post your questions and comments below and I will work to answer them all as soon as I can. Also check again soon for part 2 of the series about dealing with the psychological aspects of preparing for the amazing journey you are taking.

I went to a doctor for over 10 years. He told me on several occasions that he would never agree for me to have WLS. I changed doctors and the first thing my new doctor asked me if I had ever thought about WLS surgery? I ordered my records from the other doctor (my insurance required five years). They sent me the records on a disk. Before I went to see the WLS surgeon I had complete records on what my insurance (BCBS) required in hand. The insurance clerk was so surprise....said she had never had a patient bring everything in with them. After I had all of my test ran...they submitted my claim on a Friday and the insurance approved it on Tuesday....never dreamed they would approve so fast.

I am 9 days out... I am glad I did it... but no one told me of the weight stalls. Just be prepared for anything. Things that changed this past week.... 1. SMELLS are exaggerated and some are deceiving. Have a hanky ready if you are in a public place to breathe through. I sat next to a guy eating beef Jerky on the airplane on the way back from hospital. I thought the jerky smelled like road kill. and the stewardess had some awful perfume... the combo was not pleasant! 2. those first days of drinking... a sip means a teaspoon...not a tablespoon... else OUCH 3. prepare for nap time for at least the first 10 days (cause that is where I am at) 4. make sure you have Gas X strips! I took some on the way home from hospital... boy do they help with the gas pains. 5. try to find a couple clear Protein drinks... I like unjury chicken broth... but it is getting old. and Isopure (rightfully nicknamed isopuke) 6. Have some adult liquid Tylenol for when you get home, OR have a way to crush some pain pills. 7. your gauze when you get home... get the kind that doesn't stick to wounds.... learned that the hard way! 8. stock up with your Clear liquids and have a variety. (fruity G2 and Jello... gets old too. ) and get rest! Good luck with your surgery!

LOL.... you are going to open that can of worms?!? It really comes down to YOUR choice... the surgeon will explain the varieties and why they may be good for you, and then you (or your insurance) decides. Some insurance companies still don't cover the sleeve. Personally, the sleeve felt like the best for me... I liked the idea of keeping my insides in tact so the nutrients stayed in my system, etc. I know several people that had the bypass 10+ years ago and said if they could do it over, they would have chosen the sleeve. Your co-morbidities, gerd, and other factors will play in to your decision. Good luck (glad you are not considering the band...just MY opinion)

Green , Herbal or Decaf Tea. Also try the Protein Waters chilled or my favorites Propel (Strawberry-Kiwi) or Nestle Splash ( Acai- Grape) plus don't stop doing an ounce, 2 oz tops with your baby medicine cups every 15 minutes. I still often do it THAT WAY, even at 10 months nearly. Will be 10 months July 5th, lost more than 120 pounds, a bunch of dress sizes, the size I am now is the size many Bari-pals start out at but I started with a 52+ BMI so I AM PROUD OF ME!

And don't worry. liquids and other squishy stuff will go down too easy but when you really get to solids you will focus on the Protein to get it in. I still have a Protein shake every morning (surgery 1/19). Just don't graze. I still follow a high protein low carb diet with a treat from time to time. Typical day is protein shake, cheese stick mid morning, Atkins or high protein lunch, yogurt or other afternoon snack and pretty much whatever the family protein item is with a spot of veggie for dinner. Good luck. No worries.

My friend, it's a HUGE commitment and a major life change - if you didn't have moments of second thoughts, I'd worry about you! And everything seems so much more difficult when you're hungry. What I CAN tell you is that, statistically speaking, there's a REALLY good chance everything is going to be just fine. All those feelings you've got now are normal. Yesterday I read a story about an agoraphobic woman who left her house for the first time in 10 years and fell in a sinkhole - no joke! The truth is, I kind of went into surgery feeling like that would be me. I'd finally try something drastic to take control, and be the anomaly that ends up with complications or bigger than I started. Neither thing happened, and other than 3 weeks of a nagging pain in my right side and a monster case of what felt like morbid constipation, it all turned out alright. I have two regrets - getting myself in the position of NEEDING surgery, and waiting so damn long to do it. I wish you had someone to go with you. Heck, if I had two nickels to rub together right now and some time off work, I'D go, lol. But if you can get past the jitters and go for it anyway, I think you're going to be really happy that you did!

I know 10 days seems like and eternity after all of the appointments we have during this process but, be thankful that your insurance doesn't require more. Based on your signature it's been roughly 2 months for you?

October 28th will be my 6 month visit. My surgeon did request foe me to lose 10 pounds by the end of the month. I am a big rice eater and i can't believe i stoped for one week so far. My biggest thing now is the juice, lord know i love juice. And using my treadmill a little also. Linda305

I am a single mom with a now 9 year old son. I had a 3 night hospital stay then stayed with my parents for 3 nights. Went home with my 8 year old on day 7. Cooking was not a problem although I certainly didn't do anything fancy!! I had a 10 pound weight restriction for 6 weeks. My son carried the laundry basket for me but otherwise it was life as usual around our house. There was a time or two I dropped something and he would pick it up for me so momma wouldn't have to bend over. I do recommend doing as much as you can (within reason and within your docs restrictions of course!!!) I honestly thing getting up and taking care of my kiddo and our home, etc is a big part of the reason my recovery was so smooth. This would be TOUGH alone with a young child but as others have proven, it's absolutely possible good luck!!!! HW 312, pre-op (RNY) 255, current weight 204.2

My surgery is scheduled for 12/10. I know exactly how you feel. I keep thinking I am going to always have the "fat girl" mentality even when I lose the weight. We are all going through this and this page is here so we can support each other.

I am scheduled for surgery on 11/19. I have a bad cold with cough and earache for about ten days. I went to my pcp and she gave me antibiotics on Thursday and my ear is better. But I am still coughing and feeling generally awful. I hate to reschedule the surgery, I have been on the preop diet for week almost (4 new directions servings per day, about 800 calories) . I hate to have to restart it. I am afraid the reason I have not gotten well is the diet. I just feel like the whole thing has turned into a mess. I have scheduled my whole life around this surgery date. Time off work, people coming from out of town. I have waited for months!

Congratulations! I'm glad to hear things went smoothly for you. My surgeon gave written orders for me to walk 5 times a day after surgery. At first I was shocked at the expectation, but once I got into doing that, it was great!! I set a timer for when I needed to do a walk and would walk 10 minutes. (the first few days it was 5 minutes, but I quickly went up to 10). That is close to an hour walk a day! For me that is over 2 miles...which REALLY shocked me! One reason to keep moving is that it keeps your stamina up. Plus it helps with the removal of the gas they used to bloat your abdomin up during surgery. It also helped with my mood, giving me a sense of accomplishment since I couldn't do my regular activities. It helped structure the day! So, it's one idea I wanted to pass on to you. Walk every 90 minutes of daylight. Take good care of yourself while you focus on letting your body heal this first month. Since I was eating a lot less, I decided to buy all organic foods. Be kind to you. It's wonderful that you've provided this intervention on your own behalf! ~hiddn

Went to class this morning. I thought I was going to have to start pre-op diet tomorrow for 11/19 surgery. I start it 11/12 instead! Yay!!! Seven days instead of 14...Yessss

I get there on 10/23 for surgery 10/24 - Dr. Diaz

I'd like to know how many people are being banded the same week as I am - June 19th? Not sure how many of your know the significance of this day, but I find it ironic that it will be the beginning of my personal liberation. Some say it's not a good day, considering the history - I don't see it that way. Although freedom came 2.5 years late for slaves on the gulf coast of Texas, it came and should be commemorated. Just as I have waited my entire life to be free from extra weight, it will be a day that I commemorate for as long as my band does what it should do for me. If you've never heard of Juneteenth, it was a pivotal time in our nation's history, even moreso for African Americans. In Galveston, Texas (where it actually occurred) it is commemorated by the original declaration of freedom being read on the same mansion steps it was heard from by thousands of Galveston, Texas slaves in 1865. (The mansion is so amazing, it's hard to imagine it being a plantation, it looks like a castle). There are theories about why it took 2 1/2 years for them to be freed - the most common belief is that the information was deliberately withheld - and why they had to ride through the entire state before making the announcement makes it even more logical since they passed millions on their way across nearly 800 miles. While it angers some, it is a part of history that should not be forgotten. Thanks girls and boys, I hope you enjoyed your history lesson for today!

I know I won't be needing much, but I guess it was just so ingrained from my mom, I just had to get a few things! My poor bras and underwear are ready for the rag heap, and since I got them so cheap, I couldn't pass it up!! I don't really have but one pair of loose pants, so I bought a couple more pair of loose fitting lounge pants to wear to go back to work. I wore them for about a month after I had my gallbladder removed 10 years ago.

He was and is awesome. I kinda have a crush on him. Lol He is very straightforward and always asks for my questions...although I don't really have anymore now. I had surgery at 5 or 6pm (it was an hour late) and was discharged the next day at 2pm. So it's normally one night. He also fixed a hiatal hernia i had. No swallow tests...he'll tell you why he doesn't do them. I'm 6 months out. I'm pretty much at goal but he'd like me to lose 10 more so it's easier to maintain here in the long run. I'm not sure what the lowest bmi he'll operate on but he didn't flinch at my 32. He believes it's better to get obesity under control now before things get worse...why wait? He does have patients fly in to see him. I'm lucky enough to live in the Bay Area so I see him once a month or two.

I am so sorry you are going through this - but I really admire your "don't give up" attitude! I was absolutely devasted, embarrassed and had a certain disbelief about my own failure with the lapband, I was so sure I could make it work and be successful, but after 10 years I weighed significantly more than I did when banded. If it were me, I would want to better understand the "whys". It is true that the RNY has the malabsorptive element, but studies show very little difference in percent of excess weight loss compared to the sleeve. i failed miserably with the band, and I spent a fair amount of time "pondering" the why question. I asked the surgeon and my NUT - why do revisions not do as well? Why do so many not do well on the lapband longer term? What can I do to influence my outcomes? What I learned from that did help me overcome some of the pitfalls that some revisionistas run into. I of course have NO IDEA how come different people have different outcomes and I in no way "blame the patient". I am just sharing how I would consider looking at it. There were several shifts in mindset that I personally had to make - the number one being accepting just how little a woman my age, my genetics (apparently my anscestors survived famines very well) needs to eat. I think when I was banded, I never really "got" it. I thought I was "eating small" but I really wasn't. Also, I had to learn to forget about feeling "full" but rather trained myself to strive for "absence of hunger". Wow. That meant alot in terms of portion size, but also how often I really needed to eat. the final thing I had to adjust to was really understanding the role of sliders and carbs in my previous "failures". Turns out I am pretty carb sensitive and so I don't lose weight (after a certain point) unless I restrict them which isn't particularly fun as carbs are my favorite foods. I am not saying those are your lessons - but they were some of mine. I have to be honest, if I needed to revise due to poor weight loss, I would be considering the DS. It is the highest risk WLS (get a GREAT surgeon) but also statistically the most successful due to significant malabsorption. However, DSers do have a much bigger issue with nutritional defeincies. Ask alot of questions, choose a great surgeon, keep up your great attitude and I know you can make this a success!

I like them but costco premier has more Protein per container than Atkins, but I still buy these for the variety. BUT I would no stock up.... I did and your taste changes what you like now will gross you out later and you don't 10 packs of stuff you can't even look at :/ I have containers of protein (Cookies and cream, chocolate fudge, and French vanilla) at $30 a pop and I HATE THEM lol. Save the money and buy what you like. Surgery date 7/25/12

Hey guys. I just have a little concern, just wanna hear if someone is having something similar situation. I got my surgery in October of 2010 and lost about 45 lbs in four months from, I'm sure, the result of the surgery and being a little timid of the foods on the restricted list. So after about six months of monthly doctor visits, monthly fills... I still felt no restrictions. After about 8 months, I started to fall into old habits because, well ... I guess I was mad at myself for not being the typical band patient and having normal restriction... I don't know. But 10 months out, I've gained 25 lbs back... all my fault. I've never felt stuck, I've never slimed, I've never pb'd. It's like the band isn't there. I think I have 8 or 9 ccs out out of 11, I believe. Has anyone gone through this? Had 8 fills and felt no restriction? I realize that 90% of losing weight on the band is me. Eating right and exersizing but I was counting on the band to help. Has anyone gone to maximum fill to get restriction? I'm back on the program with smaller portions and getting my 150+ minutes of walking in but I'm getting a little discouraged after almost a year. Any response is appreciated!! Amy

Everyone is different I lost 10 lbs.