Search the Community

EXTREMELY UPSET! I started all my paperwork and testing in May. I was told my surgery would be in August. I received a phone call that the psychiatrist had not cleared me. I had three counsel sessions with a counselor prior to the appointment with this psychiatrist. I've made several phone calls to see exactly how many more counsel sessions he wants me to have. He does not return my phone calls. I can't switch to a new psychiatrist because it is not allow with the bariatric program I'm involved in. I doubt my insurance would pay again. I go to two support Bariatric meetings twice a month. I'm involved in three bariatric online groups, my best friend went through the procedure years ago but she's aware of what it is all about. I feel it is very unprofessional and disrespectful not to return my phone calls. I have called him because the bariatric employees could not get him to return their calls either. I have called once a week since the first of September. Everything has been approved by the insurance company and everything I needed to do to prepare for surgery is done also. He's the only one messing me up. I'm very depressed over it. I thought I would be starting my new journey in August. Thanks for reading. Torrielynne I'm extremely upset. I'm doing this for me but I also have two daughters getting married in September and October of 2015.

Hi everyone, I wondered if anyone out there has had their surgery delayed 6 months due to a medical complication found during pre-op testing? I was in the final stages of my Doctors bariatric program and had a date for my surgery. Their program is 6 months long and involved pre-op testing and nutrition counseling etc. My surgery date had been set for 11/3/2014. The Dr. ordered one last test when he saw me at the pre-op appointment : a "baseline" ultrasound of my legs because I had a prior DVT 4 years ago. Surprise.....there was a DVT in my leg again. I saw a Vascular specialist last week and he recommended that the surgery be delayed 6 months to place me on blood thinners and allow the DVT to heal. The major complication of an acute DVT is having a PE (pulmonary embolism) during or after surgery. I was so close, had worked so hard--lost 20# etc, and now..... wait 6 more months?!! It just seems so far away, all my clearances will have to be redone, etc. Plus, I was just ready mentally to do this. Anyone else out there in the same boat? How do you stay motivated? Thanks, ~Annie

My physician is Dr Ruby Gatschet with Northern California Bariatric and Metabolic Institute

This book helped me: Emotional First + Aid Kit (bariatric surgery) by Cynthia Alexander Also, the new psychiatrist's D.S.M. manual has a category now for binge eating. There is medication that might help.

YAY you!!! I wish I could say I was that day, but sadly, I have to wait till after Jan 2nd to enroll in the Bariatric program. Best wishes, and keep us all posted!

Because it's an initial consultation, there isn't much that actually "happens". In fact, my initial consult didn't even involve my surgeons. I spent most of the time with the office staff, then with the nutritionist. My visit involved going over fees, insurance procedures, medical clearances, a discussion of why I was interested in bariatric surgery, and finally an overview of the lifelong dietary changes that I'd be signing up for. At an initial consult, I'd try not to worry too much about being "rejected" if you've done your homework first about a couple of things. Meaning... 1. Insurance coverage. Insurance policies vary widely, but from what I've learned, it seems as though most of them have a minimum BMI to cover a bariatric procedure- usually 40 with no comorbidities, or 35 with the presence of one or more comorbid conditions like Type II Diabetes, High Blood Pressure, etc. As well, it seems many insurance policies (in addition to a doctor-supervised weight loss program prior to considering WLS) require a sort of "laundry list" of other weight loss interventions (Weight Watchers, Herbalife, etc...), complete with approximate dates, and amount of weight lost. 2. Expectations for the procedure. Though you may go through a formal psychological exam as part of your preoperative clearances, both the surgical office manager and the nutritionist had a dialogue with me about what brought me to the office in the first place. How you'll fare with WLS surgery depends on a lot of factors, one of which is how realistic your expectations are for results. **How far from consult to surgery? Honestly, that's a question with no definitive answer. For me it was almost exactly 3 months. But.....it depends on (among other things) your clearance tests, how quickly your insurance company approves your procedure (if you're going that route) and what the availability is for your surgeon/hospital to schedule your procedure. One of the best things about my consult visit was my "Bible Binder". My surgeon's office had a fantastic binder assembled that outlined the whole WLS surgery process. Every. Single. Step. That consult appointment is an information overload, and to have everything written out for me was wonderful. I remember how excited I was at that initial appointment- it was all starting to become "real" finally! I wish you the best of luck- keep us posted on your progress

My surgery is scheduled for March 2015 and I'm going alone to Tijuana Mexico with Dr Gustavo Yanez. I chose him because he specializes in both Bariatric surgery and Cosmetic surgery. My fee is $4999.00 and I don't pay on anything until the day I arrive for the surgery. I'll stay one night in the hospital and two nights in a hotel. I need a surgery partner

I suggest asking your NUT or bariatric coordinator whether or not this will make a difference in being approved. I imagine there are different insurance company rules on that.

I had my RNY at a CENTER OF EXCELLENCE also. I traveled 2 hours from home. I had to stay 1 week in a Hotel and went home after my 1 week check up. Not all CENTER'S OF EXCELLENCE live up to their names. My Surgeon did mine and my hubby's WLS. He was a good surgeon but really lacked at bedside manners. He called me a PROBLEM CHILD because I had Strictures and he had to do follow up care on me. 2 months after my RNY he did a failed revision from a lap band to a RNY on my husband. Who developed abscesses also was labeled as a Problem child!! Come to find out our MEDICARE and other insurance paid a certain amount for our surgery and aftercare. So he made his money doing the surgery not so much for the aftercare. So we ended up firing him and going to another BARIATRIC CENTER also an EXCELLENCE CENTER which is 4 hours away. So happy with our decision. But our blood test are faxed to our Bariatric Center. I am far enough out that I don't need to see them only if I have a problem. Better care, which helps with our confidence in them. Well worth the move!!

My hospital bariatric center holds one every second wednesday of the month. There's one coming up this wednesday. I love going to them and always feel inspired and comforted when I go to them. I started a month before surgery and have gone to every meeting since. Lucky for me my hospital is about 45 seconds drive away from me, just two blocks. XD

I'm new here but hoping someone can help me or give me some sound advice. I decided in Aug 2014 to have the bypass surgery as I read it can really help with diabetes which I was diagnosed with last year and now take 5 shots per day. I was familiar with the director of bariatric surgery of the local hospital as he had performed my colonoscopy last year. After attending his information class, I decided to proceed with the gastric bypass. I've completed all of his requirements then yesterday had another appointment with him hoping my package would now be ready to submit to the insurance company for approval. I've told him all along I neet to get this done by the end of the year since I've met my out of pocket maxium and because of my job. Our busy season starts January 1st and it's impossible to get PTO until June. He had previously said at my Oct appointment that if I was able to get everything done by the Nov appointment and assuming my insurance company doesn't take weeks to approve then I should be able to get it done by the end of the year. At my appointment yesterday he said he would review my paperwork at my Dec 11 appointment and I should have surgery in Jan or Feb. I left his office in tears! I'm ready to find another doctor! Any advice would be very appreciated!

I attend monthly support meetings held at the hospital's wellness center sponsored by the bariatric group. There is an information session for people considering surgery from 6-7pm (attended by one of the bariatric surgeons). That is followed by the support group meeting from 7-8pm. The monthly support group meetings have a theme and sometimes there are guest speakers. Some of the guest speakers included a bariatric psychologist and a trainer from the medical integration program. The meetings are attended by about 40 people and I will continue to attend until I no longer find them useful.

I browse Pinterest for healthy recipes! I also lurk on bariatric pal and reply to every post I can. Trying to support others. Also I will eat a sf popsicle of in really needing to munch. We keep at least 2 boxes on hand- that way I get liquids and my sweet fix . So far I haven't had more than 3 in one day. Usually 1. Mich W Hw 223, SW 217 CW 200 GW 135

According to the internet: Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is one of the most common causes of chronic liver disease worldwide. Treatment recommendations for NAFLD are aimed towards weight reduction, thereby reducing insulin resistance. Unfortunately, lifestyle modifications have not yielded long-term success, while durable weight loss is routinely achieved with bariatric surgery. https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/763056 So what this summary says it that lifestyle modifications such as dieting and exercise have not yielded long-term success but bariatric surgery has. Another article says: Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease is a progressive disease with potential evolution to liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. Another article says: Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is one of the most common causes of chronic liver disease. It encompasses a spectrum of conditions associated with lipid deposition in hepatocytes. It ranges from steatosis (simple fatty liver), to nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH–fatty changes with inflammation and hepatocellular injury or fibrosis), to advanced fibrosis and cirrhosis. Studies suggest that although simple fatty liver is a benign condition, NASH can progress to fibrosis and lead to end-stage liver disease. The disease is mostly silent and is often discovered through incidentally elevated liver enzyme levels. It is strongly associated with obesity and insulin resistance and is currently considered by many as the hepatic component of the metabolic syndrome. NASH cirrhosis is now one of the leading indications for liver transplantation in the United States. I underwent RNY gastric bypass surgery because my health was deteriorating rapidly. I dieted and exercised and still could not shed the pounds but instead continued to gain the weight. I had the surgery to correct my health conditions. The surgery corrected a number of my health conditions including diabetes, high blood pressure, sleep apnea, acid reflux (GERD). It even corrected my asthma condition. If your focus is to become healthy and live a long productive life, then I would suggest the surgery. I dropped 120 pounds after surgery and my BMI went to normal. Weight loss was just a little gravy on top of health improvements. One of the factors that enter into the equation is cost. The operation is expensive and therefore it is important to have insurance that covers the operation. Therefore the guideline requirements from your insurance policy will dictate how easy it is to obtain this surgery. Many insurance policies are written very similar, so this will give you an idea: Surgical treatment of obesity (bariatric surgery) is covered only if: - eligible enrollee is 18 of age or over - clinical records support a body mass index of 40 or greater (or 35-40 when there is at least one co-morbidity related to obesity). Applicable co-morbid conditions include the following: * Type II diabetes mellitus (by American Diabetes Association diagnostic criteria). * Refractory hypertension (defined as blood pressure of 140 mmHg systolic and or 90 mmHg diastolic) despite medical treatment with maximal dose of three antihypertensive medications. * Refractory hyperlipidemia (acceptable levels of lipids unachievable with diet and maximum doses of lipid lowering medications). * Obesity–induced cardiomyopathy. * Clinically significant obstructive sleep apnea. * Severe arthropathy of the spine and or weight bearing joints (when obesity prohibits appropriate surgical management of joint dysfunction treatable but for obesity). - Documentation of failure to lower the body mass index within the last 12 months through a medically supervised program of diet and exercise of at least 6 months duration. So if your health insurance policy was similar to mine, you would not be able to qualify because of age; but the moment you turned 18, you would get a green light because your BMI is over 40. So the best advise I can give you is to dig out your health insurance policy and read the fine print.

My doctor said no gummies too, but the Bariatric Advantage chewables i could not keep down. I took gummies until I got to where I could take capsules. He was not happy. Bariatric advantage has capsules that don't make me instantly barf. I still get a little nauseated but at least it doesn't come back up. I take those now

Was doing some research today and thought of this thread when I ran across a study by the National Institutes of Health. Two very important quotes from the study - "Subjects who engaged in self-monitoring were less likely to regain any weight following bariatric surgery." "Postoperative self-monitoring behaviors are strongly associated with freedom from regain. These data suggest that weight regain can be anticipated, in part, during the preoperative evaluation and potentially reduced with self-monitoring strategies after RYGB." Self-monitoring = food logs. Just one more reason to add to a long and impressive list of benefits from maintaining a food log. Quick, easy, available to almost anyone and most (including MFP which I believe is the best) are free. And in spite of that, the vast majority of us do not log our food. Why? You can view the summary (short) of the study at - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19554382

My pre-op journey has seemed to drag on forever. Monthly weigh-ins, a very occasional appointment. I was all psyched up as I finally had my cardio appointment scheduled, labs scheduled, next nurse practitioner appointment scheduled. Then came the phone call. A very strange phone call from the cardiology department, sounding like they had no idea why I was even coming in. Then another phone call. This one from the Bariatric Department. It seems that when cardio got my referral, they made my appointment with the WRONG DOCTOR!!! How does this happen? It seems to me that if Bariatrics is making the referral that it would be pretty obvious why I'm coming in. So, now, my cardio appointment has been pushed back a month. Because it got pushed back, my nurse practitioner appointment got cancelled! So, I went from full speed ahead to still in the Water (my famine). Very down, wanted to eat everything in sight. But!!! I stuck with my diet, kept going to weigh-ins. And this morning...another phone call. Due to my last weigh-in being in November and the holidays coming up, the patient advocate didn't want to take a chance of my appointments being "lost in the madness" (his words). So now I'm feasting with three appointments in September, two in October and my last weigh-in and follow up in Bariatrics to send everything to the insurance company in mid November! I'm keeping my fingers crossed for December surgery. It seems that it would make a nice circle as last December is when I decided to have RNY surgery.

Since you've made up your mind to go ahead with the surgery things will be just fine lean on the Lord make sure before you have your surgery have plenty of chicken broth beef broth your water and for your first two stages and you have to walk walk walk walk walk and listen to your doctor and listen to your body on Facebook as a wonderful doctor I believe his name is dr. Z and he's with the bariatric support system he's really good you could ask him anything good luck

@ChloeLives4 Take a deep breath darling. <breathe> Your emotions are all over the map. #1 Check with the bariatric team to see if they have counselors or can recommend someone so you can work through these emotions. #2 Schedule sessions with the team's Nutritionist, thst person will give you all the info on the eating stages before and after surgery. #3 Go on YouTube and look for Dr. Anthony Weiner - he explains all of it. There will be scary and amazing changes ahead in your life, take it one step at a time. Good luck.

The secret to chicken and turkey is to soften it up. You may not notice this prior to surgery but it will become a major issue after surgery. For example I take chicken breast and put it in a pot, add Water and one or more chicken flavored bouillon cubes. I bring this to a boil and then put the stove on low for a few hours, until the chicken is so tender that it falls apart. The bouillon cubes adds plenty of flavor to the chicken. Since you are interested in soup recipes. I have included some recipes in my article How I Survived Bariatric Surgery available at http://www.breadandbutterscience.com/Surgery.pdf

I had my surgery last week. I took my Kindle (my second husband as my family calls it), Galaxy Tablet, iPhone and all chargers. I used my phone only. I packed chap stick and I did use it. I did take lotion but with the nausea, the smell made me feel yucky so I wished I had brought unscented. The hospital provided slippy socks. I hate hospital gowns so I packed loose comfy jammie pants, oversized cotton panties and cotton tank tops. I worse both sets and used the bariatric gown as a robe. Braless was my friend. SWEAR! With the abdominal distention from the gas and trauma plus the incisions, any bands would have killed. Worked perfect. I was allowed a shower my second day and they asked if I had brought my own supplies, I said no and they provided everything I needed (soap, shampoo and conditioner). I honestly had very little idle time on my hand nor the concentration to read or web surf. I walked, sipped, walked, sipped, rested, napped and time passed quick ..... I did watch a bit of TV but don't remember much of it .....I had the poots but there was no odor to worry about (it was CO2 and I had no solid food in my system to cause it) .... I packed baby wipes however preferred the cool or warm washcloths from the in suite restroom so I did not even open them. Hope this helps!

Last week I went to get my surgery date set. My surgeon's P.A. is the one I spoke to. She did EVERYTHING she could to try and get me to switch form the band to a G.B. I do not have diabetes, high blood pressure, or other co-morbidities. I have a BMI of 42. BTW, my surgeon is Blue Cross Bariatric Surgeon of Distinction She went on and on about what a hassle the band was and what would happen if I was on vacation and it got too tight or too lose. She said no one would touch it. She said we had better never move cause other surgeons won't do fills on patients that are not theirs. She mad it sound like I would never be able to travel again and that the band would become nothing but a hassle and a curse to me! Then she launched into the problems. She said 80% of all Lap Bands have problems. They get so tight they can't swallow their own spit, band erosion, reflux, esophagus dilation, having to get fills or unfills every few weeks, not losing any weight. Yet when i asked how many bands they had have to remove she said only one since they began doing them. Finally, she wrapped it up with the fact that, if I was lucky, I might lose 40 pounds of the 100 i need to lose.:smile: She said the only way for the band to work was to follow the diet without one goof-up and to exercise like a Trojan Warrior!!!! Why, why, why??? Please tell me it ain't so!!!!!

I seem to be able to access some information easily (basic profile stuff, threads etc.) through Bariatric Pal but then when i click on More- my surgery story and to change settings (which I have yet to do successfully) it seems to open another app or something. I just found a box that shows notifications, messages etc but it doesn't seem connected to my bariatric pal homepage. I'm not very technical so this may be a silly question but are there two apps? Is there a way to have all my info accessible through the phone app? I've never used whatever is offered through the web. I seem to have an app within an app. Perhaps I'm missing an update or something? I have an iPhone 4s.

I cannot creat a weight loss ticker. It never goes through. I think Bariatric Pal is having some glitches

You can get protein powder without flavor. Be sure to buy whey isolate. It's better tolerated by bariatric patients. I order mine online at Bariatriceating.com. They have TONS of stuff special for us. It's very high quality and they ship to your door. the unflavored you can put in gravy, soup, all kinds of stuff.