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I took blood thinners for almost a year post heart stents and they never seemed to make me feel cold, I have also been hot natured my entire life. About 10 years ago, I started having MAJOR heat issues. They kept saying it wasn't a thyroid issue bc I was "low normal" not actually low. After years of being miserable and making everyone around me freeze all the time, I finally got a gyn to give me thyroid meds and voila! it helped. It was almost a miracle. I'd been on HRT for a long time, tried every menopause solution I could try from natural crap that did absolutely nothing but make the folks who sell it a bunch of money to prescription hormone pills. Yes, I was menopausal but that wasn't the main issue. It was the thyroid. Now, after this surgery, they said my thyroid was too high and that my hormones would reset themselves. I quit taking the Levothyroxine med, 3 weeks post-op my thyroid had dropped to a below normal low. Started back with meds. I also developed a rash on my throat around my thyroid area, Nephrologist said he didn't know what it is so I'm going to a regular md tomorrow at a walk in type clinic since I don't actually have a regular physician, I've been seeing a NP when I have to be seen for the last several months bc it is really hard to find an actual doctor who has openings! I'm really, really fatigued again and have been back on meds 10+ days I guess it is now. I mean EXHAUSTED. I've actually been getting much more exercise than normal but can barely walk across room smh. Call your surgeons office and ask if they need to check your blood. I called mine about the thyroid issue, they told me to see whomever I see for my thyroid normally. I'm kind of like "Why am I bothering to follow up with surgeon's office if they're going to tell me to go elsewhere when there is a problem?" bc they want me in his office every 3 months and quarterly blood work as well. Seems a waste to pay a specialist co-pay and for additional labs if they don't actually deal with any problems that arise. I know people on here apparently have a ton of variations in the type and amount of care they can expect from their surgical staff, some have WHOLE TEAMS and some of us get the girl who answers the phone who works part time....no consistency in care so you definitely have to be prepared to be your own advocate and researcher and a host of other things. Call Dr, see what they say, if you don't like or aren't satisfied with the response, call your primary care dr if you have one, if not go to the walk in clinic or an ER. Our local ER is just plain scary so if I don't get a satisfactory response on mine tomorrow I'm probably going to drive to an ER in Huntsville, AL, about 45 miles away bc it is just plain scary that we seem to have gotten all the folks who got the D's in coursework. Some may be nice but I am not getting a warm, fuzzy feeling....

I would not recommend Implanon because I experienced alot of the side effects. I would definately do your research before you decide. I think I experienced most all of the side effects at some point, even some of the lesser known ones, and I have not had a good experience with it. I'm going to be checking into some non hormonal bc pills or some alternate bc methods.

One would like to think that they are "in good hands" when they are a patient in a hospital. After all that is the place where Ambulances rush people to when they need medical help. Not a hater. Fed up with lies & deception.

Some facts: -Over 12 million (not 5 million) have lost their insurance coverage due to Obamacare -Over 7 million will remain uninsured because they don't make enough to qualify for the tax credit but make too much to qualify for Medicaid. -Obamcare doesn't only have minimum care standards but maximum. All policies must not only meet minimum standards but they can not exceed the care offered either. If an insurance carrier offers too little or too much, they are fined heavily. -The average insurance cost increase is 41% due to Obamacare. The worst is yet to come: "In 2010, the Health and Human Services Department estimated that 40% to 67% of individual plans would eventually lose their "grandfathered" status, which only was conferred if a plan was purchased before the health care law was approved in 2010." The insurance increases and cancellations ARE because of Obamacare and Obama himself freely admits it. Obama's sorry excuse for an apology for all the loss of policies and idea of fixing it? He gave them a 1 year reprieve. That's it. And that does nothing for policies already canceled. http://www.cnn.com/2013/11/07/politics/obama-obamacare-apology/ http://www.forbes.com/sites/theapothecary/2013/11/04/49-state-analysis-obamacare-to-increase-individual-market-premiums-by-avg-of-41-subsidies-flow-to-elderly/ Of course, I have been encouraging everyone who is still drinking the Obamacare Koolaid to read the actual bill. Yes, it's over 1000 pages long. Yes, it took me months but I did read it entirely. But, if you read it and get the facts versus the media bytes being fed to everyone, you'll see the horrible truth for yourself.

Hi All - My gastric surgery is July 28th and I slowly started eating low carb with a replacement shakes to ease into my actual 2 week pre-op plan. I'm supposed to drink 2 shakes for b/l, eat 2 bars as Snacks and/or a shake or lean protein/non-starch veggie for dinner. Having hashimotos (thyroid) I worked with a non-bariatric focused nutritionist the last several years eliminate foods that are not right for my body. I don't normally eat a lot of soy, whey or milk based products and typically only stevia as alternate sugar. It was interesting talking to several bariatric nutritionists about options and levels of Protein and different perspectives on what I should or should not drink. To whey or not to whey! It seemed like Premier Protein Shakes (liquid or powder) and their bars were highly recommended by doctors and also on here and other outlets. Can't beat 30g of protein in a serving so I figured I would try them out. For convenience, I bought chocolate ready to drink Orgain Grass fed and mixed in some Premier Protein ready made shakes and bars. After one week, my tummy feels a little inflamed - like a gastric ulcer. Today I have switched to a vegan non-dairy shake and going back to my hydrobeef based Protein powder until my surgery next week. Sadly, not many options for Protein Bars (maybe Quest?). I suppose what I'm getting at is no matter the expert, I am still the best advocate on how my body feels and sensitivities. Although whey is a leading protein source for pre-op and bariatric patients, I'm finding it's not quite right for me. Yep. I was really bummed because it did taste good, was filling and economically priced. Moving on and ignoring that my tummy hurts a little and is hungry tonight!! Big Picture!

I was waiting until someone posted this.. I found them at Walmart. I never got them BC I was scared of the chalky taste. Please inform me on how they taste. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G750A using the BariatricPal App Berry flavor is great....really refreshing over ice Sent from my SM-G920T using the BariatricPal App So no chalky taste? Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G750A using the BariatricPal App I drink all my Proteins over ice because I think it helps if there would be a chalky taste...I did not taste any chalky taste Sent from my SM-G920T using the BariatricPal App

Great Info....still relevant so many years later. Thank you. I actually sent you a friend request on FB. I wanted to learn more about Dr. Alberto Aceves. I am also a revision surgery candidate. I had the lap band removed in October 2013 bc of complications. I couldn't do the revision at that point bc of too much damage and the insurance company didnt want to fund it. I'm now looking into Mexico bc of continued problems with the insurance company. Ironically, I already have the Insanity DVD also. Can't wait to get to the point where I can start it as well. I actually like working out so right now I feel like crap. Hope to get more advice from you. Thanks again.

Welcome back. Glad to hear everything went well. I'm actually doing good myself. I haven't post bc I'm just in shock how well everything has turned out. Any who, Congrats Sleeve Sister !!!

This is a tough one bc there is no guarantee how your body will react. I had the sleeve, but totally would have had RNY if I had GERD preop. I had terrible GERD when I was pregnant and I never want to go through it again! I have serious compassion for all of you out there with chronic GERD. You said you read a lot of research. Just curious, have you read any that included the elevated risk of esophageal cancer with chronic GERD?

Are there any doctors doing the vertical sleeve in Vancouver bc or Washington state?

Hi I am from Surrey BC. I am going to Bellingham WA. Pudget Sound Medical centre. Self pay is about 16k. Self Pay is not a long weight. K

God is good. my surgery went well. the NYP Cornell weil team was stellar. I was sleeved on june 8th. down 17 pounds. initially it was 20 but gained back 3. I've made a few posts and have learned that I may have been prematurely concerned about he WL. The day after surgery was ruff, lots of vomitting; however, all tests displayed my anatomy was ok. After the naseau meds were adjusted, i was feeling good. I never took the pain meds prescribed after my discharge. I have a little incision pain- but nothing major. I am working to increase my food and liquid intake bc I am not having BM like I should.

Not trying to "win" anything. Just pointing out that this is a wls forum where we should be discussing wls not bashing a group of people. I came here to read about wls not transphobic bs. This type of content should be removed. Sent from my SM-G960U using BariatricPal mobile app

Yeah it was after cancer scare #2 in early 2018 that I was seeing a new, young, female PCP. I was so horrified bc I was in her office seeing her for the first time and I started crying when I saw my weight. I’d managed to gain over 20 pounds in 2017 and was falling apart bc of it. She wasn’t phased at all by the fact that I’d shown up as a hot mess. In fact, she’s the one who gently asked me if I’d ever heard of/considered WLS. I was stunned bc I honestly thought that WLS was just for the super-MO people (thanks to shows like my 600 pound life) so I didn’t even realize someone like me (bouncing between 36-42% BMI) would be a candidate. If my PCP had not put that idea in my head, I would’ve never come to it on my own due to just assuming I wasn’t “fat” enough. It took me several more months of researching, checking with my insurance, going to a seminar, and—quite honestly— gaining intentionally an extra 15 pounds so I could qualify, but once the idea was there and I learned what I needed to do and determined I was ready it all fell into place. Yeah, the months leading up to surgery after the decision was made was tedious. It took me over 8 months from decision time to surgery day, but now the reward is just simply life-transforming

I knew a leak was a very small possibility. We never want it to be us but it can happen. I wish I had known more about leaks and the process of healing from one. 2 weeks in the hospital, 3 weeks on tpn (this means no food or liquids,,you are fed by a picc line)..which is also not so comfortable. I wish I knew that once my leak was healed that I would have to start back to square one where my diet was concerned,,at 4 weeks out from surgery,,I was back to clear liquids then full liquids,,mushies,,etc. I wish I knew you can/more than likely will gain weight on tpn,,I had lost 24 pounds on my pre op and 1 week after surgery combined..but then on tpn I gained back 13 pounds. So when I say back to square one not only diet but trying to get that weight back off was a little disheartening. I have 3 pounds to go where I had left off and I had surgery on Dec 27th. I wish I had known that eating normal food would be hard to get down and keep down (probably not for everyone but it happens often enough). All that said..I am now at the point that I can say I am glad I had this surgery. As for what people say about having surgery, you have to look at your reasons for having it and weigh if it's more important than what people think of you having it,,you'll get your answer and not care what people think,,if that makes sense

Why am I so fat... okay.... I'm the youngest of 7 children. Mom & Dad (poorly educated) always working. Dad was a happy lovabe drunk, always worked but had no time for us kids. Mom (who can't read, write or drive) struggled with two jobs just to keep us fed. My Mom know's what starvation is and never wanted her kids to ever know that feeling. Our dinner table was always full of breads, potatoes, Pasta, rice, starches, anything that stuck to 9 hungry bellies. Never abused physically as a kid but emotionally negelected, okay, totally ignored. Never encouraged, never complemented. If I was noticed I was mocked for being fat. I wouldn't dare open my mouth because no matter what I said I was shot down and called stupid. food became my best friend, my love. It never put me down and it was always there by my side, It was my way out and it felt so good, still does. Lived with alot of people but grew up very lonely. Still to this day, I can be in a room with 100 people and still feel alone. My Weight Chart: Age 0 - 7: Skinny kid. Age 7: moved to a new town, very shy, no friends, started gaining weight. Age 7 - 20: Highest weight was 300+ Age 20: My Father died of Cancer. Shortly after I met the love of my life (so I thought), he dumped me and I was so heart broken I couldn't eat for months, I mean this man loved me, all 300 lbs of ME. So the depression and starvation process began. Age 22: I weighed 150 lbs (starvation). Age 23 - 25: Met new boyfriend, fell in love, got married - weighed 160 lbs Age 25 - 33: Kept weight between 175 - 185 lbs (but notice it rising). Age 33: Sister died unexpected. Rapid weight gaining started 100 + lbs. Major depression starts. Age 36: Weighed 226 lbs (got pregnant and swore I wouldn't get any bigger). Age 37: Had DD and at the end of the pregnancy weighed 260 lbs, lost 38 lbs and gained it back same year (postpartum depression is why I lost the 38). Age 38: Weighed 250 lbs. Age 39: Lost 30 lbs with Atkins Diet Age 40: Gained back 30+ lbs lost on Atkins Diet Age 40: Diagnosed with ADHD Age 40: I weigh approximately 254 lbs. Age 40: Tired of losing the battle, tired of the struggle, TIRED! Age 40: Seeking Lapband I have arthritis in my knees since I'm 12 (and in my back). Bone spurs and DDDisease in my spine. I have gone to psy doctors for therapy time and time again...sigh. My entire life I have been on every stinkin diet there is, tried all diet pills. Last diet pill tried was this year, May, 2005, Merida (still some left in my purse). July, 2005 - Researching Lap Band Surgery August 2, 2005 - Going to Doctor for medical lap band referal. August 9, 2005 - Going to Surgeons Seminar on lap band. This is me..... Eileen

:biggrin1: I can't believe it is 5 days to go.........geex it has come round so fast, remember when this thread started and it seemed so far away! Do you feel better or lost weight with the no carbs the last week or so? thanx for the lists everyone, I can''t believe we have 25 people or scheduled, hopefully we will have lots of messages going strong in next few weeks with it all happening. Yes, I am feeling a little nervous, but also glad of what I am doing, just getting so fed up being overweight and now I see a spot of light and hope on the horizon. Maybe I won't feel like this next week on the liquid diet though hehehe!!! Talking about grandparents, my granny did the best scrambled eggs ever and I loved staying home sick from school to get them, hehe, and also the best toast!!! I was going to be in my new house after op, but doesn't look like it will be ready to be moved in so will stay with my mum also.........she will fuss over me I know as she is excited about this for me.Byeee for now! Fiona

Hmmm…Why am I fat… Let’s see, I am an active person, work a full time job, have kids and pets to take care of, remodel houses (flip), involved in charities, etc…I always have something going on, so why am I fat? l Boredom…with as busy as I am how could I be bored? OK, I’ll be honest. My job is boring. So I sit at a desk in an office with bunches of people around for 8 -10 hours a day and all I do is gather data and make fancy reports. BORING! But Hey, they money it good! And I can certainly snack and type at the same time. lBoredom – I can remember when I was a child, coming home from school, nothing to do (my mom wouldn’t let us play outside while she was in one of her depression episodes), but attach the frig, that is when there was a frig to attack (I grew up pretty poor and usually there was no food to attack but junk)! Yippee! And that junk tasted so good! And I could eat and do homework at the same time. And with 3 siblings, it kept us out of mom’s hair so she was happy and not yelling! WIN - WIN lBoredom – I find that I still do the same thing, only now I come home from work, pet the pups, and attach the frig which is always full (a survival technique learned in early life I’m sure)! After a long day of being bored and everything being so bland…all that tasty food exciting all those brain neurons! Wonderful! lBoredom – I don’t have any friends really (I'm way to busy) and those that I do are always so busy, we have to have a “date” to get together. Besides, maintaining friendships take so much energy! AND the kids expect me to be home, cooking something for dinner & taking care of them (who cares that they are 19 & 23)…and the dogs have to be fed. And after sitting in that small cube all day consuming all those carbs, who has the energy to really do anything anyway? And it is so easy to just sit in front of the TV or read a book with a nice bowl of soothing ice cream, yum! And then one day I was listening to the radio, and this silly person was saying that “boredom is only a state of mind”. Golly, he obviously doesn’t live my life. How could I be bored if I am so busy? So why is it that I am so “bored”? Who said life was supposed to be exciting? Who said it wasn’t? (me!) So let me think back. When did I have a time that I wasn’t bored and eating and I was skinny (I hate that term – makes me think of those silly models that wear skin on their bones then cover it with some cloth and try to make us think we should look like them – thank you Cosmo!). Oh, I know. I was outside riding my horse or my bike, having fun. I was playing and chasing butterflies and catching snakes, fun! I was swimming in the lake and diving off my horses back and looking for crawdads at the bottom, fun! I was in the sun, with no cares in the world, fun! So, now I know why I’m fat. I am an adult. I have responsibilities, bills to pay, people to take care of and I am busy! I have no time for me. I have no time for fun. I am bored!

June 8th baby! I'm getting it done with Dr. Ortiz in Tijuana. In all honesty I'm more concerned with him seeing me naked bc that Dr. is HOT!!! (j/k...not really lol). Started my pre-op liquid diet on Monday. If I had started earlier I would have been allowed one small meal a day as well but I just couldn't get it together. But the nutritionist scolded me and told me to make it happen so that's what I'm doing. Can't wait! I'm a June Jewel baby! (sorry....can't think of anything befitting for the men lol)

If it's any consolation, you shouldn't be too hard on yourself. The band has limitations that people didn't know about the first few years it was out there. I read a few weeks ago where doctors are being urged to not even install the band into patients anymore because the long-term issues (weight re-gain, failure to loose, scarring, etc...) just are not worth it. The feds have sent subpoenas to Allergan about the lap band and expect them to testify about the low weight loss results and the complications. It was in the news back in May. If you are convinced that you'll regain, I think it's better for you to act proactively, especially with your co-morbid conditions. Why climb back up when you don't have to?

I can't say that mine has been quick because of insurance issues. I had Cigna before and they wanted me to be dead or dying to even take out my band so this has been a 2 and a half year struggle. BUT I went to my consult on 4/11 and they had to submit for approval to get the band out. Insurance approved on 5/2 the removal and denied the sleeve on 5/7 due to no nut or psych and some other ppwk. We knew that would happen but they wanted to be sure of the requirements before I started jumping through hoops. So I had Psych appt Friday 5/17 and nut appt will be 5/21. Then resubmit for sleeve approval. So it has been relatively quick since consult considering... So I will say that they will give you a list of recommended people to do your Nut and psych and the majority are one month out but I called everyone on the list because I cannot afford to wait one month as my insurance will change 7/1 of this year So I saw Dr. Patrick for Psych he got me in within 1 week and he was great! Also for Nut I am going to the Forrest park dietitians bc they got me in within 1.5 weeks. Hope that helps if you are looking for quick turnaround. Insurance took 1.5 weeks to review original sleeve request so I expect it will be about the same when we resubmit next week. Good luck and I look forward to hearing about your journey

I ultimately told UHC to go f@*& themselves and wound up self funding. They can kiss my large arse and the sting of the cost is subsiding with every pound I lose. My experience, though, came from me following up on a number of health issues over the last year. Each surgeon/doctor I met with coached me to have bariatric surgery. I took their referrals and went straight into THE bariatric program. Seemed a logical progression. The problem is that THE program, while affiliated with the area's most prestigious hospital (out of 6 hospitals) wasn't yet certified as a "center of excellence" (bariatric certificate). They had a great staff, very supportive....and each were former bariatric patients, too.......excellent surgeon...etc, etc. They told me that it'd be no problem to continue and they'd had UHC patients go through all the time. 1/2 way through the deal UHC....who'd been supportive....all the sudden balks over the lacking "center of excellence" bullcrap. I involved the HR department of my employer......and found out that we were actually dropping UHC and moving over to BCBS. The games continued. Our policy with UHC would have only covered me at 50% anyway.....and UHC was delaying. It was looking as if the surgery would be delayed to 2016....by then I'd be under new insurance and no telling how long I'd wait then. Good news was for me, that when I did contact the center of excellence program they were fast in getting me started. They also had been at this for a while longer and had special self-funding insurance safeguards....you self fund and part of your money purchases a policy that covers ANY complication that comes from your bariatric surgery for out to 8 months. This was very appealing to me and I jumped all over it. I'd already met most of my pre-op requirements for the surgeon and my patient advocate at the new center was extremely fast, aggressive and organized. She and I stayed in contact and had everything wrapped up swiftly. The end result was that I had my surgery on October 13, 2015.......when it was looking like at best it would be late December or beyond. By self funding I was able to anchor down the timeframe and it actually cost me less than it would've to use my insurance. Wild ride. The upshot of my story is this.....when working with UHC, or any of them for that matter.......stay in step with them upfront and avoid any bs later on. Involve your HR department at work if/when you are able to. It's amazing how much they can help. Best wishes.

Okay so one of my friends almost died earlier this year and she’s currently needing to get on a heart transplant list, but they won’t even put her on the list due to her super-MO ( if I had to guess, I would say she’s at least 350+ pounds, and that would be a conservative guess). The answer her docs have come up with? Bariatric surgery to get off a hundred pounds or more, then she can be on a transplant list. Her prognosis without transplant? Not good at all. She’s 46 years old and they are telling her she’ll likely not see 50 without it. Her response? She’s still freaking “undecided” bc she doesn’t want to “lose her current relationship to food” It was an extremely rough convo for me to have bc she’s a highly intelligent woman, but I just can’t believe that she’s honestly thinking about allowing food to literally kill her. For the record, all I did was go over the pros and cons of WLS, and tried my best to not sound like I was trying to convince her, but dang it was tough bc i know what will happen if she doesn’t do it

Got home. Got naked. Stepped on scales. Back at 70.4kg. So up 1 kg (2.2lbs) since last Friday .One full month of being stalled today. Starting to get very very very fed up. No way am I consuming over 1000 calories a day even counting every drop I drink, every splash of milk I put in a coffee. So p*ssed off at still seeing a 7 on the scales. Doing my head in. Going to have a nap and reflect.

What's really wild? My great grandparents (Slovakian immigrants) planted a poppy field JUST to make this old world bread (and of course planted it by the road to share the pretty flowers with their neighbors)...and got visited by the feds because their dozen children were out there barefoot working the fields and neighbors driving by got concerned. LOL No, officer, our children are not opium slaves, we are making tasty sweet bread. That said....this is some addictive freaking bread.