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I'm glad I had a six month wait bc it gave me time to truly think about this decision. When I got approval for RNY, I realized I wasn't ready or willing. I came back another five months latter and my surgeon, getting to know my extensive health history and problems better realized RNY was actually not the right surgery for me and sleeve was safer. See, when I first saw him, I was new to this healthcare system and although i informed him about all if my health issues, he just saw super morbid obesity but six months to a year latter, he could see in living color on the computer all of my hospitalizations, specialist visits, medications,etc and seeing that jolted him into reality that rny was dangerous for me in reality... If it weren't for waiting periods and thinking, I could be worse off or dead from RNY in the short or long term so the waiting saved me from a bad decision And this program as well as surgeon is accredited by the barriatric associations, etc so it's not like he was sloppy but even he took things for granted and tge waiting period helped us both... Of course, this doesn't prove that waiting periods help or harm... I think having a good comprehensive program with education and support is key. One can wait..it's whats happening during this t waiting that is important I believe....

@@Candygyrl & @@The New Kel I so.... understand and know that feeling of .... Wow, he's with her? A lot of mine also came from the fact that i was not always fat.... When he and i met i was a size 0... 100lbs 35-22-36.... We both worked in the public... he a bartender and me a waitress. So when we got together... everyone in this small town know us... and he was a bodybuilder at the time so .... 6'4" Blonde, blue eyed muscular man.... He gained weight but never like i did....I was ashamed to go in public... imagined in my mind that all our old friends were thinking.... Wow, she really let her self go. Why is he still with her? I got depressed and gained even more weight.... i didn't know how to control it... i never had to diet before and didn't really know how. I learned fast... hehe. Any way, i got fed up with the up and down crap and chose the LB. Thinking i would get healthy and sexy for my husband. and he will have no reason to be ashamed of me...Even though he never said a word about my weight, the mind games i played with myself were terrible. I really thought the weight gain was the reason we never had sex (are hardly ever)... and at first as the weight started coming off... We did have more sex... but then it went in the craPPer again. Like i said before there are a lot of contributing factors.... but the WLS pushed it over the edge. In fact he said.... Your losing weight was the worse thing that ever happened to our marriage. @@Candygyrl and you are beautiful

Was wondering if anyone is from the Okanagan? I've had my band for 4 years now and haven't had any issues until the past 24 hours. Any time I eat ANYTHING I get severe pain in my stomach that radiates into my back, kind of felt the way I did when I had gall stones but I've had my gallbladder removed. Anyways wondering if anyone's experienced this? My lap and doctor is very far away from where I live. So wondering if maybe I should just go to the hospital or if anyone knows of any walk in doctors in Kelowna or Vernon BC that have experience with lap band as my GPA hasn't any clue about them. Sent from my SM-G935W8 using the BariatricPal App

I just had my duodenal switch done 94 miles away. I had a friend drive and I am paying the hotel bill for three nights. Anthem BC is supposed to pay for mileage and hotel for anything over 50 miles. I am not sure if they will pay for the two hotel days for my driver, while I am in the hospital, though. I had to come a day early, since I wasn't going to be trying to drive all bowel prep, through Los Angeles, in rush hour. In Song, MarkieZ my vlog In Song, MarkieZ

My great aunt is a diabetic nurse. She had gastric bypass 30 years ago. She ended up with every known side effect and major issues that included having medically procribed liquid diet fed directly into her stomach thru a port in her side.... but she still recommends the surgery. She lost almost all of ber excess weight and kept more than 60% of the weight off over these 3 decades and aknowledges that she is a "one off" and most people dont have the same issues. HW 385 SW 359 CW 335 (50lbs down!) Sleeved 10/5/16

yeh they told me to back off walking si much... I had to drink a whole 34 oz bottle of contrast in Water I'm an hour!!! Then getting a iv in was drama bc veins suck, then body decided to have a allergic reaction ugh Yes, definitely sore changing bed positions. I can mildly palpate my tummy and pinpoint the pain. It is very ouchie!! I think getting in and out if the car might be my downfall!! Hope it heals fast. on diesntdoesn't like abdominal binders for some reason. I bfigureicrice and rest plus Tylenol will help...

I was going to do rny but bc if complex medical issues..chronic pain treated with narcotics and sometimes steroids, psych meds, and so on, my surgeon felt sleeve was better bc I could still properly metabolize meds but rny often messed that up. My psychiatrist even backed that when he told me he has a really hard time adjusting meds in his bypass patients. So consider your health history and potential for future health issues as much as one can predict...lol Sleeve can bring about lots of weight loss too but you have to likely work a bit harder for it then with rny so they both have pros and cons. Rny been around the longest so there is much more data available but sleeve is showing lots of longitudinal positivity!! Good fortune

I'm only two weeks out on sleeve but off of three of my four diabetes medications!! I was taking five insulin shots daily and now I'm on two and even that will likely improve bc sugar levels are going down more and are mostly near normal when I check. I lost 20lbs thus far and no major complications as of yet. They also knocked the diuretic off my blood pressure pill and lowered the dose if the bp pill to ten mg which I believe is the lowest dose! Tge really cool thing is that my surgeon had felt before my sleeve that I would not get a remission of diabetes or a significant improvement..just some improvement due to years of having it plus years of insulin dependency!! I'm stoked!! I have no regrets even though I had wanted RNY originally due to high BMI and increased difficulty getting it all off with the sleeve but my need for corticosteroids at times and pain med requirements. Psych meds etc made me a bad candidate for RNY since it screws up your ability to handle many medications. I'm looking forward to seeing less of me... still learning the food ropes but ecstatic!

Honestly the shoulder pain was the worst part of my surgery, it is still sore and I was sleeved 11/4. I'll tell you that meds DO work. I needed narcotics to help relax the shoulder, and combined with heat and walking I finally got relief. I ran out of my liquid pain meds, so I had to call the Dr Sunday night, he gave me the ok to take liquid motrin as long as I was taking my antacid. Please note, this usually is contraindicated bc motrin hard on the stomach and risks one for ulcers. I have to tell you that it was the best relief!!! If you are still hurting, you may want to run this by your dr and see if they'll let you take a couple doses of motrin. It gets better every day, I'm post op day 4 today and my shoulder still sore, and when I take a deep breath I still get a sharp pain in my shoulder (left one). It has to do w/the diaphragm and nerve involvement combined w/the gas. I just hate it, thats what I know.

im allowed to have surgar free no carb drinks like o carb propel and crystal light ect those type juice drinks but I don't drink anything but Water bc I don't like any of that stuff or juices or anything. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

Hi I read your post with interest. I had my band put in Aug 2008. In April 2014 I had further surgery to readjust it as it had slipped. I am no longer losing any weight. Almost back to where I started. But I can't swallow properly. Everything you described is how it is for me. 2 hours to eat a meal. Rushing to the toilet to purge all the time. Sometimes even fluids hurt like hell. Im thoroughly miserable & fed up with it now. I've had 2 episodes of the severe pains under the ribs that you described. I was crying in agony. It's got to point where I'm avoiding solid foods completely. I'm living on Soup. Just wanted to let you know I'm thinking of you & wish you a speedy recovery. I have an appointment tomorrow with my Bariatric nurse. For the second time in a month. Last time she removed 2ml but it made very little difference.

Yea I won't did anything to risk my surgery one for my safety two bc I have three kids that need me. And three I'm doing this to change my life style!!! And I'm ready for this change!! Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

That's funny bc you said empathy I don't speak it. And I said if you could read the past post including what I myself had already said. And again you can say that your not condescending but you are and you know it. But like I said thanks for your advice. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

I'm pretty much crying everyday hoping that one day I will feel better. So fed up.

Can you keep me updated with how it goes for you? I really want to book my apt for January, but I am worries because my husband will only be home for the first week also. I hope your surgery goes well! Sent from my SM-G930W8 using the BariatricPal App Things are going well. Having my husband home for the first week was very helpful. It is hard with my youngest being only 18 months. I do have to pick her up (21lbs) even though I'm not supposed to bc I still have to load her in the car and get her in and out of the crib. I try to be very careful but that is the hardest thing. Otherwise, no issues here...just watching the scale go down! Sent from my SM-G920V using the BariatricPal App

Try isopure. Sent from my SM-G920T using the BariatricPal App actually the rep at GNC showed me the nutritional labels on g6 sport and isopure to shoe me that isopure actually has way more sodium and a few other negative qualities and according to him, says it's so popular bc they do tons of marketing to weight loss clinic abd doctors.... Now, I loooove my g6 sport but it only comes in chocolate or vanilla so I got isopure unflavored bc surgical nurse recommend it and so many people here on bariatric pal were all for it but I have to say I've only tried it once in tomato red pepper soup and it was horrible...I could very much taste it and it changed the soup so much so, I couldn't even force it down .... maybe it was that particular combination...hope so..cause if not..I hope Amazon will refund me!! That's my two cents Amazon is usually good with refunds! Just select return and print off the label, it also depends on the manufacturer though Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N915A using the BariatricPal App

Hey everyone. I wished I could have came across this forum years ago. It may could have possibly helped save me from the misery I'm going through right now. I know that the lap band is a huge deal and very popular, mainly because I have...had one. I really wanted to share my story. Not to try to discourage one person, but to try to help gain a little more knowledge for those that are thinking about having this done and are looking into these forums for a little more answers than what our surgeons give us. Which, in the beginning, seems to be a lot of knowledge and a lot of information! It all seems too good to be true. In 2007, I made the decision to have a lap band. I found a surgeon and he seemed very nice and knowledgeable. I had confidence in him because you're supposed to, right? He told me about a few risks and such, mainly with the surgery itself due to the anesthesia. I was already well aware because I'm in the medical field, myself. I work in pre and post op. Knowing my health outside of my weight problem, I was pretty confident I would be just fine. On October 08, 2007, I had my band placed. All went as accordingly! It was almost too good to be true. I was sore in the beginning and I basically had to learn to eat all over again. We all did, right? My food seemed to get stuck right in the beginning. I blamed it on not chewing good enough, too much bread, Pasta, etc... it took me awhile before I even got my first band fill. Probably 6 weeks! By that time, I already lost quite a bit of weight! He filled it quite a bit. I ended going back and getting some Fluid taken out. I think I honestly had it filled a whole 2 times! Let's fast forward. I had eventually lost 129lbs. Wonderful! But, NOTHING had really changed. My food was still getting stuck,. The first few bites I took, I would always have to get up and either go purge or walk around...the first few sips of anything to drink or if I even swallled my own spit...it was just awful. Here it is December 2010. I'm getting very sick. Fever of 104-105, severe abdominal pain...I went to my local ER and they gave me, I believe a pain shot and antibiotics and told me it was just a viral infection. Keep in mind, I'm used to telling everyone that I have a lap band. It's just what we get used to! Especially when we order from a kids menu and we get funny looks! Lol I get better after a hard week of antibiotics but a week later I'm as sick, if not sicker than before. Back to the ER. At this point, I know what they're thinking and I reassure them I'm not there for pain meds! I insist on a CT and to call my bariatric surgeon. They see my lap band and had no idea what it was, I was slightly amused but angered at the same time. Immediately I was transferred to the hospital that my surgeon as rights at. I had my port, ONLY, removed January 2011. Which, he left it to close from the inside out. Talking about painful. My husband had to pack that twice a day.... Fast forward After my port was removed I transitioned to a new norm. I still got sick, but not near as often. I learned new ways to eat, or not. It seemed if I took the first bite or two slowly and sat and waited...I could start my dinner basically when everyone else was done. Sometimes, it hurt when I ate. I got where I didn't eat too much because depending on where we were or what we were doing, I'd end up purging if I didn't have the hour or two to sit and take my time. I've never ate inside of a subway or firehouse! Cannot eat bread...I have to bring it home and sit there for over a good hour to eat a 6 inch! And steak, haven't had one of those in forever!! The last few months have gotten a little weird for me. A little more difficult to eat. Not as painful, just strangely difficult. Yes, I knew I should have went back to the doctor but you see, I have seen so many hypochondriacs and attention seekers that I figured I could handle it. DO NOT DO THAT!!! The last week or two were just AWFUL. And by awful I mean my husband said if I didn't call and make an appointment then he would. He's not one tocever get involved in that kinda stuff...I always make him his appointments! Well, it was so bad that when I took a single bite of anything...it really sunk in when I made homemade chicken and dumplings and I couldn't even eat the broth, but, it was so bad that if I did take a bite the upper abdominal pain was so severe that I seriously thought someone was ripping my abdominal wall open from the inside. So, that next morning, which was Wednesday November 2, 2016, I called. He made me come in that afternoon for a barium swallow test. He said it wouldn't tell if my band had eroded my stomach but we could see if it had slipped. So, I got there, checked in, he came in and since I have t seen him since 2011, and he had again, switched clinics, he didn't have my records. He doesn't have them from the beginning, 2007, anyway, they said. Why wouldn't you?! I know, you're supposed to keep records for 10 years of DATE LAST SEEN. Anyway, he asked why we took out the port but left the band. I looked at him a little funny and said "umm...because my port was infected but I don't know about the band. I really don't remember those few days in the ICU"... he mentioned that usually when your port is infected it is because your band has slipped or eroded and the infection and "juices" travel down your tube and land on your port. And that's what causes the infection in the port...(he had a new nurse and was telling her all of this...I was paying careful attention). We did the barium swallow test...it looked funny as hell (excuse my language). The fluid went through and around my band. Weird huh? He scheduled me for 6:45am EGD for the next morning. I said okay, left and all was well...except I still couldn't eat bc of the pain! The next morning, my mother in law took our kids to school and we left for my EGD. It was right on time! Hallelujah! That never happens in a hospaital. Little known to us, I was g leaving just yet. After my EGD, apparently it was a little worse than he had expected and it needed to come out today( that day). I was scheduled for emergency surgery just a few hours later. I had my surgery and what I was told the next day, because I dont remember much that evening... was that it was much worse than he had expected after the EGD. My band had not just eroded the side of my stomach wall and part of my esophagus, but had completely eroded my stomach. My barium swallow test looked funny because the fluid I drank was going all around my band, literally. Anything I was drinking, partially was going into my body cavity. Most was not because the band was blocking the opening in the lining of my stomach, but we won't know how much was leaking out. He patched my esophagus, and had to cut open a bigger hole in my stomach more than what the band had made because it was so compacted and scar tissue was all around it that he had to take the clips and band out in pieces. Like I said, he patched my esophagus and ended up stapling my stomach together after he pulled my band out of it because he said there was no way sutures would have held it together...I can't live without my stomach. I honestly like food too much. I just haven't been able to eat it. I'm sure I have staples in the double digits... I'm thinking between 20-30. I really would like to know because I think this could have been avoided had he took it out in 2011 when he took my port out and left a hole in my side. So, that brings us to today, Monday. November 07, 2016. I'm laying here. More sore as I have ever been. My parents, husband and in laws have been wonderful so have our friends. Made sure my husband hasn't had to cook, and they keep trying to make me eat...I'm not really hungry. I have ate a few bites but what no one understands is that once you've been accustomed to eating a certain way for 10 years, it's going to take a bit to change...especially having staples in your tummy toldong it together and your afraid if you eat it'll rip apart and leak into your body cavity! So, there's my story. It's a long one. But, it's mine. Would I have this done again if I could redo it all. Knowing what I do now about the statistics (I don't know where they get their statistics from) because all of the friends and people that I've talked tocthat has had this done...something has went terribly wrong...but, would I have it done again. No way. A few pounds lost isn't not worth my son losing their mother or my husband his wife or my parents their daughter. I know how to lose weight and we all try to eat healthy now. My husband goes to the gym, my son drinks Protein every morning. We're all in the healthy track... and now, I can put all of this behind me. So, please, if you do decided to possibly get something g like this done, make sure you know all of the risks involved. Not just complications of the surgery but of the start to finish everything. The life of the band, etc. did you know a band was made to last 10-12 years before erosion? I didn't! I just leaned that. My surgeon told me it was made to be permanent even though it's removable. Just do your research.

you nurses need to relax lolol... in reality.. sure you have a lot if extra info in your head that maybe u shouldn't but also that knowledge can be power...you can take better care of yourself too..but right now it's time to let go and be the patient...let them take care of you... don't give then a hard time bc you know better... and everyones trajectory is different and even unique so you can't predict what's going to happen and obsessing about all that can go wrong due to ur knowledge base isn't going to help you cope ir heal physically or emotionally....so try to let it go and get off the hamster wheel

Try isopure. Sent from my SM-G920T using the BariatricPal App actually the rep at GNC showed me the nutritional labels on g6 sport and isopure to shoe me that isopure actually has way more sodium and a few other negative qualities and according to him, says it's so popular bc they do tons of marketing to weight loss clinic abd doctors.... Now, I loooove my g6 sport but it only comes in chocolate or vanilla so I got isopure unflavored bc surgical nurse recommend it and so many people here on bariatric pal were all for it but I have to say I've only tried it once in tomato red pepper Soup and it was horrible...I could very much taste it and it changed the soup so much so, I couldn't even force it down .... maybe it was that particular combination...hope so..cause if not..I hope Amazon will refund me!! That's my two cents

Thanks, these are the things I like to know before hand. If my insurance is being charged for things I don't need, that worries me. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App yeh, that concerned me too. I did call my drs office and they said the vitamins were acceptable to take which is good but I'm not taking them bc you have to take them four times a day and since you have to separate calcium from multivitamin, that's just complicated...not only that...I don't know if they are going to continue paying for them or not... So I see pros and cons..yes I got four cases if premiere but i also feel they tricked me or used shady practices to charge my insurance for additional itemandvthatand that scar cream was so misrepresented! Maybe I should have asked more questions but whst they sent me us very potent stuff for like psoriasis....!!

Politics and beauracratic mess... Medicaid didn't even add the sleeve as soon as other insurances did but now they did so it's much easier to get approval depending on each stated requirements people always complaining about the government and control but medicaid. At least in my experience used to be quite good overall and still is in many places. It's changed for the worse here in California at least in my experience Insurance companies are ran by capitalist business ppl...they are trying to make money..not spend it so, it's no surprise we pay high premiums....I pay over $400.00 monthly for mine and still have to jump through hoops..I had to do six months of this and that and I think I was approved on the fast side only because of my high BMI and multiple preexisting conditions. On top of that, my insurance doesn't even fully cover the surgery...covers most but not all! Bahh Still, I am grateful because if it wasn't for Obamacare, another sore topic, I wouldn't even have my good insurance because before capitalist insurance companies, for the most part denied insurance to ppl like me with pre existing medical issues or charged extreme fees with a long wait period before you got any coverage! Soo the whole hoop thing is more of a problem of them not wanting to pay whereas government medicaid doesn't concern themselves with that as.much since it's not a direct hit. Bc I'm low income, I have medi cal as well but it's so bad here in San Diego I had to buy my own insurance. They were killing me literally ...I wouldn't trust them to give me bariatric surgery. I hope it's not like this everywhere. My pain specialist overdosed me in a pain med during a procedure and I had a seizure and nearly died. So yeh medicaid/ medi-cal is not always the picnic it seems and maybe my experiences are unique bc I have complex medical problems Now that I have private insurance, costing me a mint, I go to a hospital that doesn't even accept medicaid by itself. I have top rate doctors and care. It's just not fair So just some food for thought about things beyond the basic appearance... I understand the frustration for sure but I been on both sides...

I can't have it either - particularly sugar alcohols (sorbitol, manitol, xylitol, etc.) Nausea an chronic migraines. I'm also concerned about my options aftersugar alcohols make me even sicker then sucralose... I feel ya I'm a real stevia fan even though it often has a bitter taste in it bc it is natural unlike the other stuff. My nut also said I can use sugar, honey etc as long as I stated less than 10grams per serving and surprisingly there are alot if options out there like this ....I found vanilla and chocolate protein powder with 25 grams if protein sweetened with stevia, no after taste and super clean by g6 sports at GNC. They sell it on Amazon too but it's cheaper at GNC if you have one near you and become a member for free vthe give you $25.00 off so it's easier to pay for. I love the stuff Plus there's the unflavored by a lot if companies suggested here that have no sweeteners or sugar in them at all so you have a lot more options I think someone needs to write a book on sugar free alternatives for WLS..their missing out on a money topic there I feel my weight clinic prepared me quite well but not well enough in this area. .I was kinda left on my own to figure it out. It's kinda like ohh you're one of those allergic people, which people dobt understand or take seriously and then like well good luck!! But realky, it's very possible to do this diet wo sugar free crap. You just have to do your research on alternatives like blue agave nectar, coconut sugar, stevia, and find out what tge acceptable limits of regular sugar, honey are... Plus once you get to purees, then you can use fruit as a sweetener too.

I thought exactly this when girl was asking for help bc she ate a whole pork chop bc she was craving it or some shit @@Day 7 post-op and was in pain... I was thinking how unbelievable people can be Sent from my XT1254 using the BariatricPal App

I have severe endometriosis, diagnosed in my mid twenties and have had 6 surgeries since. I have done soooo much research, I found that dr's shrug off the diagnosis bc they just don't understand it. I figured out that endo is believed to be caused by too much estrogen and not enough progesterone so I started take prometrium (straight up progesterone) 100 mg every day a year ago. They usually only use it to help keep a pregnancy so not being prego my dr questioned me a little bit. But it's been over a year since my last surgery, where the dr said he might have to remove an extremely diseased ovary but left it bc I begged him, I am almost symptom free (knock on wood!!!) I don't know of I can get pregnant I'm 35 and never really thought about it but I'm hopeful it could happen. But for now I'm just trying to be healthy, was sleeved 10/12 and I'm really hoping the weight loss will help my endo stay at bay. Research also points to endo being an inflammatory disease and eating crap food can tend to exacerbate the symptoms so I'm hoping my new diet of mostly Protein will also help. I'm sorry you're struggling, and I hope things will be looking up for you in the near future!

Como on we are food addicts, who are you kidding? I heard you and I appreciate the advice what I don't appreciate is how condescending your being. Suzzzzzz I appreciate the advice I did buy some and they are god send and the sugar free ones aren't that bad Someone told me gum would help too, I bought some sugar free trident and that has helped me with my chewing urge it's getting easier. I still look forward to being able to chew real food it's hard bc it's so drastically different from a life style of years and having it change in a matter of day. Thanks everyone for the positive advise. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App