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Like others said, it'll be different for everyone. I usually have between 800-1200 a day, but I'm still on soft foods. What would be a normal day's worth of food for you? I'm curious exactly what you're eating and how much Protein and carbs you're taking in each day. Also, I don't know how much you have to lose... the less you have to lose, the slower it'll go. What's the diet plan on sparkpeople? Is it geared towards "normal" (ha!) people or for those who have had bariatric surgery?

You also might try Washington Bariatrics in Renton near Valley Medical center. My Doctor was Dr Earl Fox and to see him I have to travel to Richland but the place in Renton said they would take me as a patient.

ok...so I started at Nordstrom yesterday. And they have Aetna PPO insurance. The HR manager is checking to see if they allow bariatric surgery. If they do...I am a shoe in. way over BMI of 40. Way over the 100 pounds over weight. A few comorbidities. No problem. Dh's insurance is United Healthcare. Great right? No. All of their new policies they are sneaking in an exclusionary clause for no bariatric or nutrition coverage. So we are not covered. So we have chosen to get my surgery with Dr. Sanchez in monterrey Mx. But now there is the possiblity that it will be covered. Dr. Sanchez is an amazing doctor. He has done a lot of lap bands. (over 5k) And the hospital is a great american owned hospital in one of the most beauiful cities in Mexico. What do I do? If I go with the insurance I can't even start the process until july 1st. There is a waiting period before the insurance kicks in. Do I go for the insurance covered surgery, wait the extra time? Is there anything I should do until then to help make the process go quickly after the insurance kicks in? Or do I go with the years of exp and the many many lap bands under his belt, and the amazing hospital in the amazing city in mx? To some this may be a no brainer on either side, but I am really stuck trying to figure this out. Thanks in advance.

I'm doing mine in Reno through western bariatrics. They have been amazing. For pre op I had to do a psych eval, steps to success class, meet with a nutritionist, an upper gi, and get a letter of support from my doctor. The diet was a gradual step down from meal replacements to full liquids two weeks pre op. there was another class to that I had to attend where they taught us what post op eating would be like. I'm ready, mostly, for surgery tomorrow

Preach sister preach! I've always said the exact same things. I go one step further; insurance will pay for cosmetic surgery changes for people going through transgender reassignment surgeries (removing dermal layers etc.) but not skin removal for bariatric patients! Both are surgeries to help the outside match the inside - to help people see themselves as they internally perceive themselves! What's the difference?

"As is the practice here I had an assessment with a psychologist who confirmed I was a suitable candidate and a dietician who again confirmed I was a suitable candidate but in the process managed to make me feel like I had already failed, in her words I was "Much heavier than most people who come to us" As she was a gate keeper and I needed her approval to progress I did not complain. That time will come." Your last sentence made me laugh, I can picture it. I've always thought that dieticians should have all gone through the bariatric process in order to work at a bariatric clinic. They really don't understand nor have the empathy to comprehend what they're saying " you want something crunchy have some celery," "Oh, you're missing noodles? Try heart of palm noodles they're delish and taste just like regular Thai noodles" and my personal favorite; "you want a treat or snack have a glass of tea!" Unfortunately, despite all their training and understanding of nutrients they don't understand its not will power we lack, we've all lost 100's of pounds on our dieting, nor is it a lack of knowledge knowing what we should be eating - its our bodies demanding certain foods, talking over our common sense. Dieticians act as if we just don't have the knowledge or that we just eat garbage for the heck of it. Food processed today was made to be addictive, why else are populations getting heavier than ever before? Good for you doing what you had to and choosing to address her comments afterwards to get what you need. I did the same thing with my dietician and psychologist (she said she really thought our session helped me open up) nope, I'm not one to talk about my feelings, I just didn't dispute her so I could get my surgery and oh yes date of palm "noodles are delish" to my dietician bleh..they're nasty to me, because I enjoyed eating slimy rubber bands! 😉 Congrats on your journey and doing what you had to do!

I just need to vent for a moment. Nearly everyone I've told about this surgery thinks they have some way to relate. What is it with people? If they've dieted, they think they know the same issues, or had another surgery, or ate baby food. Has anyone else had this? I'm glad I limited who I've told. This is annoying.[emoji36]

I was sleeved on 11/15/10 by Dr. Schrapps @ Christus Bariatric Center in Beaumont, TX. My pre-op tests include psych eval, EKG, lab work and chest x-ray. That was it. Good luck to you.

hi everyone. i am in the uk, and used all my savings to fund the op, i know its a different system to you guys in the usa.. but i agree with all you say.. its such a huge decision we make for ourselves and motivation is a huge part of that. its such a shame the hospitals don't grasp our motivation by the balls and put it into good use.. !! do i sound harse ? well maybe i do.. but i had to go through the usual assessments and i cant help but wonder whose purpose they where for, the psych just really wanted to check i wasn't depressed and offer my private funded counselling afterwards. I understand the medical checks... but the other long winded process makes no sense to me. I only had to lose 5lbs, and thank goodness i managed it ok. the dietician was nice , but lets face i am sure we have all been to countless weight watchers classes in the past and if there is anything we are experts on, its what we should eat to lose weight !! its not the knowledge i need it the support to do . My other issue is my hospital failed to tell me that post lap banding it can take several fills before i get any restriction.... i have only just found this out since i joined this site yesterday (i have been on the site for hours learning so so so much , its fab !!). I had my first band fill 2 days ago and have no restriction and i am gutted. i feel a bit fed up with my hospital, in my 'price package' i have two band fills and i have no idea how much they cost after that. ( i thought 2 would be enough -- but thanks to this site i know its so individual i may need many more). my aftercare package is pretty slim... i see the dietician and bariatric nurse monthy (at the same time) and my next surgeon appointment will be 6 weeks from the last. i cant tell everyone how this site has motivated me this weekend.. its great to not feel alone. my only problem now is that i have to get off the computer and do some housework :heh:,, but i am desperate to learn all i can from all you guys. anyhow i have gone on a bit .. its hard to keep motivated without that nagging thought at the back of your head ; 'i have to eat a lot now as i won't be able to for the rest of my life' ....... but you are on your forward path and i hope the path goes smoothly for you.

I am a 45 y/o female. I am a conglomeration medical problems. They all culminated in a trip to the ER in an ambulance for a strained back due to coughing caused by congestive heart failure. I knew that day that I had to do something about my weight. I slept 1-2 hours a night due to sleep apnea. I heard of this surgery that could help 80 percent of the problems wrong with me. I could not be cured because nothing cures bone growth or arthritis, but it could slow the progression of my disease. I had a consultation with Dr Awad in Palm Springs, and found my BMI to be 53 and weighed 270. He thought it would be simple to get my insurance to pay for my procedure. They fought it. Finally, after running and jumping through all the fiery hoops they threw at me, I was able to set a date for my surgery 6 months after I first spoke to the surgeon. I had my surgery done 08/26/15 and I am sleeping now. I did not have any problems for my first 3 weeks, but now that I have reached the 4th week I have problems. I have difficulty getting fluids and Proteins in on the same days, and I am having difficulty eating enough times in a day to keep my hypoglycemia under control. I wake up sick, nauseous, and vomiting from not eating for more than 6-7 hours just from sleeping. Sleep was supposed to be a good thing. The bariatric team is great. I can not complain about how they have supported me through the last 40 pounds. I still have 90 more to go.

Dr. C, Thanks for posting this. Makes me feel I've chosen the right type of bariatric surgery for me. NancyRN

But all of that being said in my previous comment, I think they tell people that to get their asses into gear. I think what they are trying to do is create a sort of "now or never" mentality in hopes that it will shock people into action. Because I do think that if you cannot make some significant headway while the surgery is still fresh and new, the thinking is that you never will. If your stalling at 4 months out, throwing the rules to the wind and frequenting the local fast food joints and have not made any significant headway or have completely hit the brakes on weight loss, chances are you probably will never get with the program again. Its a sad but true assessment of bariatric patients. Of course that does not apply to everyone and its obviously a generalizations but where there is smoke there is fire and there is a reason why its a general assumption.... GENERALLY it's true.

I had a great experience with the hospital and the Bariatric team. My bad experience was with the anesthesia team, and the customer service people afterward. I woke up in recovery and they told me that they chipped my teeth taking the breathing tube out. I was told a dentist would visit me before discharge. That didn't happen. I shouldn't have left the hospital without a plan to get them to commit to the repair(turned out they broke two crowns). Calls in the weeks afterward got me promises to look into it with no return calls. Later the hospital denied there was any problem and even went to far as to engage in lies and cover ups stating the teeth damage were noted in a report prior to anethesia. When I stated common sense would state that if such a thing happened that I would probably have been required to sign this prior to surgery, their tune started to change. After Surgery the surgeon came out and told my wife that this had occured. Next I had my dentist fully document the damage and give detailed records of my visits. I have great dental insurance and take full advantage of it. The damage would have cost $1200 to repair. After continous delays, I finally wrote the hospital a letter stating I needed their decision by a specific date or I would persue other methods of compensation. This finally got them to authorize the work by my own dentist. That was completed in June. The Hospital was great, the Bariatric staff was also great, but I wouldn't trust the administration one bit. I'm glad my wife was with me.

lovealways...call your surgeon's office. They'll tell you what you'll need to do. The folks in that office that do the billing for the surgeon/bariatric group will know what your specific insurance commonly looks for in order to approve folks for surgery. I was denied denied the first go round but, was approved a month later.

It's your surgeon's and dietitian's JOB to help you lose weight. They are better qualified to do that than anyone else you know, and avoiding seeing them is (as you've discovered) self-defeating. So many bandsters are embarrassed or fearful to admit their problems to their surgeons, but unless the doctor has a lousy bedside manner, I can't think of a single good reason to avoid a come-to-Jesus meeting with him/her. Your surgeon and dietitian already know that you have an eating problem, as evidenced by the obesity that brought you to their office i the first place. Every single bariatric professional I've ever talked with or heard speak at a WLS convention has expressed chagrin over losing patients to aftercare. It's very, very frustrating to them to have a patient drop out of sight. That said, I will also say that the prodigal bandster may not like what he/she hears when finally talking with the surgeon again, but sometimes we need some tough love to get us back on track.

I really feel you. I was terrified of being put under. I know I drove everyone in my life crazy leading up to my surgery because I was 100% convinced I wasn't going to make it. I even didn't renew my AAA membership because I figured I'd die I talked to my surgeon and asked him how many sleeve patients he'd ever lost. None. I talked to the anesthesiologist and asked how many patients he'd lost. None. I saw how this surgery has no more higher rate of mortality than any other and I started feeling better. You're going to be better than okay. You're going to be awesome and on your way to being healthier.

Well, I'm not sure where to start. I have been lurking for quite some time and now I am coming out of the shadows. I have known for over a year that I wanted WLS but never thought I would be able to do it. I thought I would be miserable for the rest of my life. I am at my highest lifetime weight and it is seriously impacting my quality of life. I can't walk for more than 5 minutes without my back screaming at me. My knees are constantly aching as is my left hip. I have a 2-year old daughter that I want to play with and take on walks, and I feel like I am only partly in the game. A dear friend of mine lost her mother earlier this year. After the funeral she sat me down and said that she had all these regrets for what could have been in her life and that I don't need to waste one more minute being unhappy. So I got off my keester and started making things happen. I am the HR Manager at my company, so I know quite well what is covered and not covered. We use BCBS of GA and our policy does not provide for WLS. I also have Tricare but that will be going away here shortly. I just finalized my divorce. Knowing all this helps a lot, because I decided I will have to do self-pay. There is a bariatric program (Center of Excellence) in my city, but I am not comfortable with it. I have been admitted to the hospital for several different things in the past so I know the level of care to expect. It stinks like hot garbage. So after a lot of research, I want to go with Dr. Aceves. For a lot of the reasons that have been listed before in the forums and the research I have done online, I feel like this is the place for me. I pressed the "contact me" button on his website and now I'm waiting to start my journey. I am a bundle of questions and most of them it seems everyone else has already had. I am a single mother but a dear friend has volunteered to stay with my daughter while I am "out of town". She is the only person that I am willing to tell about all this. She supports me regardless. My parents do not. Other people put a lot of fear in me by asking "what about your daughter? you are being reckless because something could happen to you." My thought behind that is that something could happen to me right now. I am already functioning well below capacity so I need to make things better. I have no intention of telling my job what I am doing. I will tell them that I need time off for "a personal surgery". I am hoping I will be able to go back to work when I return from Mexicali. This has gotten quite long so I will close it out and hope that everything goes well.

I am a PA with many years experience in AGB. Was the erosion found on an EGD or a barium swallow? Did you have any port infection or any other surgical infection in your past history? If there is truly an erosion, the band must be removed and another should not be placed in the future. A gastric sleeve would be risky and many surgeons will not attempt it. Bypass may be an option but consult with a surgeon with experience in doing bariatric revisions. You shouldn't have to regain your weight back, a letter from a surgeon that reads "in order to preserve his excellent weight loss and return of comorbidities, a revision surgery should be performed" would help. I tell my cash pay patients they better have at least 10K saved up for future complications.

mine requires it and he's on the med school faculty of a major research university - so he teaches other surgeons how to do bariatric surgery. So definitely not a "bad surgeon". It's just a difference in opinion.

Just checking in, really trying to stay consistent on the forums here seems to help me stay accountable. I am 22 months post op and was doing great at my lowest (although still not my goal), then i gained 10 lbs during a SUPER stressful two semesters of grad school and starting a new job, and switching that job from days to nights, and just life in general. Because I haven't seen my surgeon in about 9 months and didn't have the option to see my usual nutrition clinician (new insurance doesn't cover their services), I took the steps today to make an appointment with my surgeon in June AND called for a NUT appointment with the bariatric clinic in a nearby town that my insurance covers. I had every intention of starting a 5 day pouch test too, but having just accepted a huge promotion in my new job, my coworkers are giving me a big giant potluck tomorrow night and even though I'll eat healthy, i didn't want to stand there with a shake and turn my nose up at their efforts. So, 5 day pouch reset starting sunday night... I would love any input as far as pouch test success, getting back on track, etc. I currently have 10 lbs to get back to my lowest, and about 25 to my goal!! I CAN DO THIS.

Hello! I am not from NJ, but I am on medicaid. I know different states have different requirements for Weight loss surgery if you're on medicaid, but I'll let you know what I have found out about north Dakota's medicaid requirements. I believe, but dont quote me on it, that the requirements are the same for all Weight loss surgeries. You must be over 18, have a BMI of 40 or over OR have a BMI of over 35 with at least one co-morbidity, complete a 90 day documented diet (some require 4-6months), have weigh-in meetings 4 times over that 90 days with a nutritionist, and complete a series of other appointments. Those appointments included: Information session with bariatric coordinator, meeting with the nutritionist about pre-op and post-op diet, meet the surgeon, have a consult with bariatric coordinator and finally have a psych evaluation. ND likes to schedule most of them all on the same day. After going through all that, the bariatric coordinator still has some doubts I'll get approved because ND's medicaid makes it tough to get approved. I have high blood pressure and high cholestoral, but ND requires the co-morbidities to be "out of control", as in medication is not helping. I'm having a sleep study done in order to determine if I have sleep apnea, because that might help my chances. She said they most likely will deny the first time she submits everything, and then we can appeal. With the appeal, you can get a letter from your primary care provider stating why it is medically necessary to have this surgery, and you can also include a letter you wrote yourself stating why you believe it's necessary. It's tough but Im hoping and wishing and crossing my fingers that I'll get approved. I started this journey in January and would have liked to have the surgery by june. I'm hoping to hear from medicaid by the end of May. It seems like a long process but it has gone by fast and it's given me lots of time to research the gastric sleeve.

I am the Bariatric Coordinator for Dr Travis Eggl - the Bariatric Surgeon here in Lubbock Texas. I am happy to help answer questions and be a resource.. My name is Tiffany Willis...please let me know how I can help... I also had the Gastric Sleeve Surgery in Oct 2012 and have lost 327lbs.... Love and Live life!!

@@esskay77 They are doctors that specialize in Bariatric medicine. They do not perform the surgery but follow patients who are obese or were obese. The program at park Nicollet in Minneapolis has Bariatricians, Bariatric nurses, Bariatric nurse practitioners and Bariatric surgeons.

I use Unjury products (Google the name). Their vitamins are specially formulated for bariatric surgery patients. Note that PROTEIN, not vitamins is the key to forstall or stop hair loss!