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Well, Im new to this app, and in the beginning stages of my gastric bypass surgery. I've completed all of the necessary steps except my Psychologist appointment , which is a couple weeks away...after that my surgeons office will submit an authorization to my insurance for the surgery itself. This whole process has taken so long. (Made the decision to get wls in Sept/Oct 2012) Im hoping it wont be long before I get my surgery date!

Hello! My name is Sondra and I will be having my vertical sleeve surgery in 3 weeks. I am having a revison from the lap band to the sleeve. I had battled with having a revision surgery for about 1 year now. When I finally got the nerve to make the appointment for a consultation I called and canceled. I felt like a failure because I gained the weight back from the first surgery. But after praying and talking it over with my husband I made a second appointment and kept it. What really helped was the support from my husband and a very dear friend who had the surgery as well. We both struggled with our weight all of lives and thought the band was what we needed. While we both continued to struggle with our weight while having the band, my friend was never able to get off her high blood pressure meds. I was just blessed to not have any medical problems that required meds. Long story short after my friend had her surgery and said it was the best thing ever, she is officially 3 months pre op, down 41 lbs and off her high blood pressure meds. I was inspired yet motivated to make the lifestyle change. I received the call on April 1st (Yes April Fools Day) that my surgery was approved and that they could schedule the surgery for April 30th. Take note when they called I was taking a nap so I thought it was a joke. I had a ton of questions like do I have to go thru the classes or psych evaluations. To my surprise no, just get my lab work done, see the dr for post op and then have my surgery. I am still shocked because I hear of so many people waiting for thier approvals. I guess you get what you pray for. I am still new to this sight and learning how to maneuver thru everything but I want to post my pictures and interact with others who have the same issures that I may have but until then..COUNT DOWN TO A NEW ME!

Stress is one of the contributing factors to elevated blood sugars. So with surgery you are definitely going through a lot of stress or lets say the body is. I've been a type II diabetic since 1995 and had gastric bypass. Before bypass, during the day, I could pretty much control my levels, come bedtime they would jump to over 200 upon waking. So had to go on Lantus along with regular insulin (quick acting). Well, my body is now calming down and I have gone from 125-150 units of insulin daily to less than 110 units in three days. Still not free but surgery has helped it. They say as I continue losing weight I should be coming off the insulin. I'm taking a wait and see attitude. Have only 36 lbs to go. (Also if I would excerise like I should I probably would even be using less insulin than what I am now, or probably none at all).

I feel bad because I was suppose to get Sleeved. But my insurance said band or gastric bypass. So I went with band. People can't get approved here I am being ungrateful.

Hello everyone, My name is Bariatric852. I am a 28 year old female who has just undergone laparoscopic gastric bypass surgery earlier this month. I am coming up to three weeks post op on a full liquid diet. I am craving solid food so much - I miss chewing my food. I am actually looking forward to puréed food stage starting on the 27th of May. The various weight loss surgeries were initially brought up by a specialist in a sleep clinic dealing with my sleep apnea. This was nearly three years ago. During these years leading up to my surgery, I have seen a multitude of doctors and specialists. Psychiatrist, clinical psychologist, surgeons, dietitian, physiotherapist. A lot of professionals to see. I have quite a few health problems such as Clinical Depression, PCOS, Sleep Apnea, high blood pressure and Borderline Diabetes... The doctors gave careful consideration to all of the above and gave me the green light to go ahead with the surgery this year. I was given the choice of gastric sleeve or gastric bypass. I chose the bypass. My weight, at it’s heaviest was 155kg or 341.7lbs. In preparation for the surgery I had to lose 5-10% of my body weight. I managed to do this and my weight pre op was 125.5kg or 275.6lbs. Three weeks later and my current weight is 120.6kg or 265.9lbs. My family say I look a little thinner especial around my face. I know I have a long journey ahead of me. Life-long dietary supplements and antidepressants (21 pills a day). And a lot of hard work to be put in. But I look forward to seeing my weight drop and my body and mind becoming healthier.

Same story here. Wanted the sleeve but turned out I have reflux, so my doctor said forget about the sleeve, you are getting the bypass I am now happy I went with the bypass but I was heartbroken than. But it all went smooth and I am surprised that I can eat a lot so I am actually glad for the malabsorption... By the way my surgeon said that people so overweight like me (us) will have reflux, and if endoscopy do not show reflux then the endoscopy was not carried out properly. Now I dunno if he is right or wrong but this is what he told me...

I had Gastric bypass on March 9, 2006. Looking to get more inspiration for reaching goal.

Hi everyone! I'm looking forward to getting to know some of you and reading thru the wealth of information in your posts as I embark on my weight loss journey. A little bit about myself... I'm 33 yrs old single mom of 2 boys (8 & 9 yrs old... My body had no break lol) my heaviest was 256lbs I currently weigh 238 lbs (which is what I used to weigh when I was 9 months pregnant) My goal is 120 - 130lbs. Originally it was 150 but I think I can be less and still feel good about myself. I lost the first 20 lbs when I ended my relationship and moved = major reduction in stress and more sleep, I was only sleeping like 2-3 hours a night if I was lucky due to school and work. I attended the mandatory orientation for my bariatric surgery program on June 18th. I had my initial consultation with my surgeon on June 23rd. I met with the dietician on July 24th. I will met with the psychiatrist on Aug 13th. After the required psych visit I can submit to insurance for approval. Once approved, I'm looking to have the surgery about 2 months later so I can get coverage for work, but have the procedure before the end of the year. I know there is a lot of work involved! I'm ready to do whatever it takes, but I'm only human and it helps to have support from those who really know what ur going thru. I'm lucky to have a few coworkers that had the Roux Y gastric bypass and are around18 months out or more. Although the sleeve is different, they are a great resource for me. I will do my best to keep everyone informed about my progress but preop and especially postop. I am open to any advice or recommendations and suggestions that you may have. If I ever say I'm about to do something that you know is a big mistake, please do not hesitate to speak up! I welcome constructive criticism!

I had a small band and had no trouble having the revision surgery and the band removed at the same time. Are you having any problems or symptoms of band troubles?

I got my lap band in 2002 and the doctor installed the smaller band. (Dr. Beinevidas, TX) They had two sizes then and used the smaller size if you were under 40 BMI. I was just at 39 and after surgery I ended up in the hospital for a week because of swelling that did not allow me to get Water down. I am hoping that the smaller band has not done extensive scaring or overlapping. I am having revision done on Dec. 30th and the Dr. Kim said that if there was a lot of scar tissue that I might have a two part surgery. Their office said that this was not common but I should be aware of it. Has anyone gone into surgery for revision and told that it had to be done in a two step process because of scar tissue? I had the EGD but they said nothing could be determined until they are in there. Are there any out there with the smaller band?

Hey everyone. I had bypass surgery on 7/28 and am almost 3 weeks post-op. Lost 30 pounds from surgery date to first appointment afterwards, only 10 days! Handled clear and full liquids pretty well, finding it challenging to get enough fluids, however, just not that thirsty. Anyone having trouble with cravings? I'm not hungry, so it's clearly in my head. Any tips on keeping it off my brain? I have no problem during the 60+ hours away at work, it's just at home. Thanks!!

Hi, I'm a newbie here from the other land Down Under (New Zealand). I had roux en y gastric bypass two years ago and while the lead-up to my surgery wasn't without its hassles, my recovery and life since has been almost boringly easy. Touch wood! I've been overweight nearly all my life: I arrived kicking and screaming into this world weighing a healthy 9 pounds and was pretty much "normal" weight until I hit my early teen years. It was then the weight just piled on, and stayed there. I managed to lose a decent chunk of weight a couple of times through old-fashioned healthy eating and exercise, once in my late teens and then again in my mid-30s. But as we all know, losing it and keeping it off are two entirely different things and as much as those who have never struggled with their weight like to insist it's simply a matter of eating less and doing more, that is so much easier said than done. And let's face it, if it was really as easy as all that, there wouldn't be a multi-billion dollar industry built around weight loss. We have free major medical care here, which is funded by our taxes, but because demand far outstrips availability of surgical care, there are waiting lists for pretty much everything and even if someone has been scheduled for a particular surgery, they can still be bumped from their spot by emergency procedures (accidental injuries etc). Aside from that, some of us do have private medical insurance, often subsidised by our employers. However, our major insurers have weight-loss surgery listed as one of their exclusions. I was fortunate enough to have chosen an insurer that does fund it with some qualifications (basically at the recommendation of your primary doctor). There are a very small number of procedures done on the public health dollar (in my region, with a population of around 50,000 people, I believe about a dozen cases are funded per year). Most people I know who have had the surgery have actually self-funded via personal loans or extending their mortgages. About 8 years ago, I developed gallstones and had my gallbladder removed. While organising the claim with my insurer for that hospital stay, I noticed a one-line mention of weight-loss surgery in my policy and phoned the company to ask about it. I was told I didn't qualify because I needed to have at least one co-morbidity. I was still recovering from my emergency gallbladder surgery and was also probably a little naive, so I didn't question their response. Then, about three years ago, I was looking over my policy again and decided I should go back to my insurer and question them further ... demand some answers and justifications on why the co-morbidity was needed when it wasn't actually mentioned in the policy. Interestingly, the person I dealt with immediately agreed that yes, they would generally fund the surgery if a bariatric surgeon recommended it. At that point, there was no bariatric surgeon in my home city so I booked an appointment with one a two-hour plane trip away and started counting down to my initial consultation. During that time, I'd been feeling a bit unwell and things got a lot worse very quickly: I became incredibly short of breath and tired and just felt terrible. As it turned out, I'd developed dilated cardiomyopathy with a bundle branch blockage, incredibly high blood pressure and type 2 diabetes for good measure! Yep, I felt like death warmed up: heart failure will do that for you! That meant the surgery was, of course, put on hold. My cardiologist reckons the cardiomyopathy was probably caused by a virus and that the heart condition was likely what caused the diabetes because I'd been tested just a few months earlier and had been fine (family history ... mother was type 1, father type 2) so I'd gone from healthy blood sugar to HbA1c of 85 in just 4 months. The next year was spent dealing with the heart problem and I have to admit, I was a bit stunned by the whole situation: I really just wanted to survive at that point, to get well enough to have the heart surgery my cardiologist said I needed (an implanted cardioverter defibrillator) but was at that stage too sick to have done. A year later I'd had quite a remarkable turnaround, still in heart failure of course, but my heart had reduced in size and everything was looking a lot brighter. Bright enough, in fact, for my cardiologist to decided I perhaps didn't need the defibrillator surgery after all. I was about then I decided to push ahead with the bariatric surgery. I'd lost quite a bit of weight when first diagnosed with the heart condition but had come to a screaming halt, I just couldn't shift another pound. I had to get a cardiac clearance from the anaesthesiologist, which he was happy to do (said my blood pressure, blood sugars and cholesterol were better than those of his marathon-running, vegan wife!) Meanwhile, a New Zealand surgeon who has spent several years working in America as a bariatric surgeon had returned to NZ and set up shop in my home town, so I was able to have my surgery much closer to home. I got had my consult, phoned my insurer, got approval that same day and was booked in for three weeks later. It all happened so fast my head was spinning! The surgery itself had one little hiccup: my heart went out of rhythm and gave them all quite a fright. However, they phoned my cardiologist and she told them that so long as it went back into rhythm on its own, they were good to go ahead (I knew nothing of any of this until after the surgery of course, I was already knocked out). Aside from being incredibly tired when I woke up, and for the next day (they reckon because of the heart rhythm thing), being left with a lineup of fist-sized bruises across my ample tummy from the blood thinning injections, topping off those bruises with some impressive red welts after a cracking delayed reaction to those same injections on day 4, and developing a weird all-over itch for just one day a week after surgery that we never found a cause for, my recovery was pretty good! I wasn't able to sleep in my own bed for about three weeks because our bed is quite high (I'm 5ft 4 and it's hip height on me), so I have to climb on to it. However, I just slept on a recliner chair and it was all good. Oh good lord, and sorry for what turned to be something of a novel!

Been there done that, got the tshirt....only I was never that successful with the band and started having issues around year 2-3 timeframe. Revised to sleeve 4 years ago, lost 150# been maintaining that for last 3 years.

So I have been told that I have to have surgery prior to getting another surgery. I have never considered WLS in the past because I have always been able to keep my weight down with diet and exercise.....until I had a colon resection that I have yet to heal from. The last year has been a painful reminder that I am getting older and unable to recover like I used to. Because of my colon resection, I am unable to get the bypass surgery so my only option is the sleeve. I hope that it will be enough of a tool to help me lose this weight so I can get my second surgery done and on with my life. I have a four month wait period because my insurance still says that this is an elective regardless of the fact that my doctors (I have seen 4 different doctors and have been told the same thing) say that it is medically necessary. Next week I go in for my psych examine and to finally see my nutritionist, as well as have a ton of blood work done, a chest x-ray and something to do with my heart. I have tried to look at this as a plus, as it will help me lose some weight that I have been unable to lose as I have grown older. But at the same time, it is an extreme response to a problem that was created by another problem. I am not given any other options so I have no choice but to accept the diagnosis and move on. If anybody has any insight, I would appreciate it.

Gigi, i started feeling hungry all the time, and there was no restriction, when i went to my doctor he would try to add sailine, he was able to put in more then the max amount allowed...my insurance only paid for a removal of the band or just a revision of the port, they wouldnt pay for anything else, because i wasnt considred obese. so i had the band removed, and then paid for the sleeve out of pocket.

Hello all, My name is Charise and I live in Philadelphia. I am new to this site as well as the lapband. Around 2 years ago I thought of having gastric bypass but thought that that type of surgery was not for me. Now I am in the process of learning more about the lap band. If you have any insight to all of this, all suggestions and comments as well as experiences are more than welcomed to respond to my thread. Hope to hear from you all and hope all is well. Charise PartyWithMook:cool:

Does anybody else's doctor tell them they had to do the test even though you had gastric bypass? I thought we weren't supposed to have this test done because we had surgery and I'm 25 weeks out and need to know what most of doctors are telling you guys DOS: 1/21/12 SW: 367 LBS CW: 185 LBS

Here's a list of questions (with recent updates) that I posted quite some time ago. Since you're coming up on your last appointment you'll likely have answers to some of these already but hopefully you'll find others that will prove useful. What are the risks? How often do patients have complications following surgery? What side effects are the most common? What are the benefits? What should I expect after surgery? Realistically, what weight loss should I expect following surgery and over what period of time? What are "stalls" or "plateaus"? How long do they last and if I do experience them, what can I do to shorten their duration? Will any new technology be used e.g. robotics? Is the hospital and surgeons office accredited by the Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Accreditation and Quality Improvement Program (MBSAQIP)? This is a combination of the programs formerly offered by two highly respected surgical societies - The American College of Surgeons (ACS) and the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS). Beginning in 2012, this accreditation replaced the former Bariatric Centers of Excellence. Are you board certified in bariatric surgery? How many roux-en-y gastric bypass surgeries have you performed? Have you experienced any surgery related mortalities? Do you have patients that are willing to share their weight loss surgery experiences, positive and negative? What types of support groups and counseling will be available post-op? What information can you give me to help family and friends better understand the surgery? How often do you see your patients following surgery? What is the significance of Protein following surgery? Does your practice offer support services for psychological needs? What assistance is available for helping me secure insurance approval? Who should I speak with regarding insurance related questions? What pre-op testing will be done? What post-op testing will be done? Will I need Vitamins after my surgery and if so, what types? When can I start exercising after my surgery? How likely is it that I will regain weight after surgery? Think of the meeting with your surgeon as an interview. You're looking for an answer to "Why are you and your team the most qualified for the job?" You're gonna love the new you!!

Sleeve was the right decision for me, I'm sure it will be for you, too. If you have any doubt vs the band, go over to the band to sleeve revision forumm here and read all the band nightmares.

My surgery is November 10th. I chose gastric bypass because I have type 2 diabetes and after researching it and talking to my doctor, I found out that there is a much better success rate at reversing type 2 diabetes with the gastric bypass vs. the sleeve. The majority of the people in my support group are post-op sleevers and have done very well with with it. I suggest consulting with your surgeon and doing some research online about the sleeve vs. bypass. There is plenty of information out there. Good luck and let us know what you decide!

Hello Every. I am new to this forum so please bare with me. I recently called my insurance co. (care first blue cross blue shield) and they informed me that they dont cover weight loss surgery. I then called my local dept of health and mental hygiene, they informed me that medicaid will cover both the lap band and gastric bypass "if Medically necessary ." I dont have medicaid yet, but I am sure I'll qualify. I truly want to know how to go about it through medicaid? I will apply for medicaid, but once that's approved, where do I go from there. I honestly need this surgery, I am a female age 20 5'4 and 240pounds. Since 2008 i have had this respiratory problem, my general doctor never officially diagnosed it as asthma but I do take an over the counter inhaller daily, I am thinking it may have something to do with my weight. I have been on diets since I was 12 years old, only to gain more weight. My doctor has even given me a form of phentermane and that still did not work. I would have no other way to pay for this surgery, although I really need it. Can anyone please provide me with the steps I need to take to go the medicaid way? I have no credit so I cant just take out a loan and pay that way (im a full time college student, no job but I have the support of my parents) Thank you so much

I can't can't can't believe that I am only 5 days pre-op. Unreal that the big day is almost here. So incredibly grateful for finding this board and all of the wonderful and helpful people on here. This board is a gem. I hope Monday-Wednesday goes by quickly at work. I want to get on that plane and head to San Diego NOW!!!

1) depends on your policy....I had a total exclusion on any WLS so I had to pay out of pocket for my revision 2) I would have done it again in a heart beat! I'm 7 months post-revision and my life has been great! with the lapband I only lost 40 pounds, then gained it back and then some...with the sleeve I have restriction, I'm doing the right things and it is paying off....love it!

Interesting articles. I had revision surgery for a slipped lap band and had a new lap band placed 1 1/2 years ago. The new band slipped twice and I had my lap band removed totally a month ago. I'm sure that is a complication of revision surgery because my surgeon said that I had so much scar tissue from my previous surgeries that the scar tissue pushed my band up into my esophagus. Certainly this is a complication of revision surgery?