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Please be careful, insurance may not pay bc you have been successful at losing on your own. Ask you dr, talk to your insurance. And look at you, you may not need the surgery, I think that's awesome

Good luck to you too! Had mine in July and have NO REGRETS! Normal to be nervous...it is surgery. Just think when you wake up you won't be hungry anymore!! That was big for me bc when I would diet I would get myself so hungry that I'd binge on whatever it was then feel bad. Now I never get hungry. Good luck Monday!! Welcome to the club!!

Yeah, many people from here often end up going elsewhere to Mexico. There was an agency here WLS now bought by a company in BC that used to send patients from here to see Dr Pompa . Sent from my SM-G950W using BariatricPal mobile app

I'm not touching this one. Every time I call BS I get in trouble. LOL!

I’m from BC and Provincial Medical covered all expenses for WLS. You have to meet their requirements and go through the program. There are only 2 Surgeons in BC that do either sleeve or RNY so waits are long to get into the program. I was on a wait list for over 2 years and took 6 months to go through the program so almost 3 years from start to finish. Self pay was not an option here.

Hi All, one day later..I am home. Admittedly in a little pain, but tolerable. Check in wa 6 am yesterday, surgery at 8: 15 to recovery by 10 in room by 2. The heating pad was for the back ache caused by the surgery table, to control pain, and help dispel gas. I highly recommend it. They wouldn't let me use mine even tho' surgeon recommended it but room put in an order for it had it by 6pm. Was up and walking by 7. Worst experience was nausea from the sickly sweet Tylenol, gabepetin, hydrocortisone liquid after surgery meds. Sipped water by time got to room, but they would not allow ice chips. I had such a dry mouth still do. Walked again at midnight, and at 5 am. My potassium IV was hell, it burned so badly. I was grumpy with nurses - apologized. : \ My 8 am walk was a breeze but I still had surgery gas to dispel. You can tell bc your shoulder might hurt. Was packed and ready to go by 11. Had a wait at hospital pharmacy for oxycotin...BUT now home, climbed the fifteen steps to 2nd foot easily, but honestly my gut is sore. Started the protein in room, did not want to stay down but now doing fine. They did say to expect pain. I have minor soreness. That's all. Thanks for all well wishes, on phone do can't quote ppl. Y'all will be fine. I'm the biggest wimp in world, so you can do it!! Sent from my VS988 using BariatricPal mobile app

Lunch earlier. 3oz Salisbury steak and a few green beans. Just at the steak and fed the beans to my baby lol.

This is so me right now! My sister and wife both say I'm 3 bites and done. I know its because I am doing too big of bites, not chewing enough and then eating too fast. Its so hard for me to change this bc everyone I'm around eats super fast and here I am like well hell. So 3 bites and done! I am going to follow this to see recommendations as well!

In my experience, it seems like we have been in the diet mentality for so long that we're convinced that "thin=happy." That's such backwards thinking! In the media, especially diet commercials, we're shown pictures of larger people in disheveled clothes, eating terrible food and looking miserable while the thinner and more attractive (by society's standards) people are happy and doing exciting things. We are fed (pardon the pun) the idea that our self esteem and happiness is contingent on our weight when we are kids (being bullied, jokes by family, left out of teams) and it sets our expectations for the future. If we can wrap our brains around understanding that our self esteem is within our control and not dependent on the opinions of others, we can start feeling more determined to make changes that stick. THAT could be, and honestly IS the key to real, longterm weight loss surgery success. *steps off soapbox* Sent from my SM-G930V using BariatricPal mobile app

THANKS FOR THE REPLY getting 80-90 g of protein a day usually chicken or eggs (and p protein shake for breakfast) I love protein so that is no problem really - I guess I am frustrated bc i feeling like i am doing the whole thing nearly PERFECT and ?? I should be getting more payoff this is a marathon - try to keep that in mind - Turtle wins the race - right

I got put on a laxative bc of constipation as I started to add in the meal replacement drinks such as premier protein and Bariatric Fusion. That was on 12/17.

I’m wasting so much food and money these days because I am trying new things and sometimes I just hate it too much to choke it down, plus packages are so big! The other day I fed some very expensive scallops to the dog because they tasted funny to me...my husband said they were delicious and tasted just the way they always have when I have made them. I wound up eating string cheese for dinner instead! I think I’m going to stick to shrimp, rotisserie chicken and eggs to avoid wasting more food, since I still like those things. The thing I like most is multi grain toast with peanut butter...allowed on my plan but not terribly high in protein. I’m going to try the 14 gram P28 bread and see how that goes. So strange. I like veggies than I used to, especially spinach, but tummy real estate is precious and needs to be used for protein now. Any tips?

I'm bored and raised in Tennessee with redneck family members that are all from the South. To us, going North is Kentucky. I'm not ignorant, but we're Southerners at heart. I think that is a good question because my life has always revolved around food. As a kid (I've even noticed I've done this with my kids) we're rewarded with food. When people came to our house, you were just fed. If you didn't eat what was offered it was considered rude. Cleaning your plate was a must to show respect. I know as I've gotten older (I'm 36) it makes me happy to see people devour my food I've cooked or to praise me with how it tastes. Food was used as comfort. If I was sick, eating would cure it all (except a tummy bug). Us Southerners have "comfort foods" that are fried in lard, bacon grease, or oils and you had your sweets like homemade pies, cookies and cakes. Carbs was/is a staple. Every meal had biscuits or cornbread (not the sweet kind). I actually just finished making biscuits for my husband that I freeze for his breakfast. We are all up in peoples business. When something happens in a persons family, it's nothing to take casseroles, cakes, breads, etc. I have struggled so much to lose weight. I'm 9 months post op and I've been stalled for 2-3 months. Winter is hard for me because of deaths and birthdays and I've used food for comfort my whole life except when I was on drugs. I can't speak for all Southerners, but this is my own personal experience.

IT JUST SHOWED UP IN MY FEED. This is BS. You feel the need to emphasize that this is a year old. It should have not showed up in my feed unless somebody else mentioned it. Your brining this up AND EMPHASIZING IT only exaserbates (sp?) the situation. This whole bariatric site is supposed to help. Honestly, I don't think to that this is helpful. Before you decide to berate me for responding to a post that shows up recently, ask. If you can't be understanding and find out the circumstances, do me a favor and DONT RESPOND. I don't find any of this beneficial. I think I will remove myself from this whole app. Sent from my SM-G965U using BariatricPal mobile app

Awesome!!! I have a new Anthem BC California policy but live in Texas. What were your requirements?

September 5th, 2018 at 7 Am EDT. I believe I started having stricture symptoms at 2 weeks, I was either ignored or poo-pooed, Oh you're just swollen, give yourself a chance to heal, you have had major surgery, You can trust us, we have your best interests at ❤, we know more about recoveries than YOU do et cetera et cetera. Finally at a full month out, largely to shut me up, they scheduled a upper endoscopy with Dr Noria, my surgeon's partner who LOVES doing endoscopies, yep she Really Does! And who was right? ME ME ME! Those nurses might have had the fancee shamancee degrees but I have lived in this body a Long Time, I Knew something was not adding up right. She started me on ulcer medicine, told me to stay on this full liquid diet until SHE told me I could move on , normally she and her partner Dr Needleman progress bypass patients to Stage 3, puree and some finely chopped if they can handle it at 2 weeks out. a Well since my pouch , I call her Precious Pouch for many reasons , had stenosed, that with the ulcers made me an atypical patient. Stenosis means the normal opening that had been made between my pouch and small intestine had swelled and narrowed until only liquids could pass through. And that at a slow rate of speed, I had and still have 2 ulcerations within the pouch and multiple ulcerstions on the back wall of the jejunem, the portion of the small intestine the pouch drains into. Was scoped October 12th,26th, November 9th, 28th. At that point I was hospitalized. because nothing in there was showing any signs of healing. The end of October she asked if I smoked, nope never, neither does my son, so I cannot be in the presence of an active smoker or one with smoke on their clothes. I have on a jelly wristband that states Secondhand Smoke Kills" because in my case it could! On the morning of the 29th, after a discussion. that I was protein deficient from my limited diet, could not ingest the 90-120 grams. of protein needed for tissue repair, could still measure my food intake in Tablespoons instead of Ounces, I would need to go on Total Parenteral Nutrition or commonly TPN and a PICC LINE would be installed in my upper left arm that afternoon so I could receive sufficent protein and also for Life Sustainment. I was pretty malnourished at that point although I had been trying my level best. And much as I hate to admit it I did start to feel more like the Former Frustr8 within a day or 2. Still stayed for a week before my dismissal, had to regulate me , I was been fed 12,on , 12 off in the hospital, those were electric pumps, at home my pump is battery- powered so 14 on, 10 off, didn't like it much at first, I can be a prideful red-headed person, like to think I can do everything for myself, hard to accept help. I now know before the 1960s, I would possibly had a nasogastric tube or slowly starved to death, unless my ulcers perforated or my 73 year old tomorrow ❤ stopped beating. Your own mortality is a fearsome thing to contemplate. So whatever must be, must be. And not much use to cry, it turns your 👀 red, your nose runs and not many people give a Good Gol--durn in the first place. Maybe when I get to Heaven God will let me sit on His Lap, I ache to cuddle someone and be told Everything Will Be Okay💦😪💦

Well I wanted quick healing and to get on with life. Oh I was going to exercise, eat a proper bariatric diet, NoBody told me I would have a PICC LINE in my upper left arm, be fed 14 out of 24 hours 7 days a week TPN and no scheduled termination. Maybe the end of January, maybe into February? March will be my Six month Surgiversity, surely not THAT LONG? Mind you I will retain it as long as Drs Needleman and Noria say so, but this was not the "paint by number masterpiece" I was planning all along. I wanted to go to Kings Island and Cedar Point in 2019, maybe the Ohio Statehouse, do I show up with my backpack , battery pump and bag of feeding fluid. I'll be right there with the people on oxygen and tubes in their moses, and when they finally remove it, will I have a permanent scar on my upper left arm? Not really That Vain but people might think I had skin cancer or they removed a small tattoo on there. But it is what it is, and although the Good Times aren't Rolling maybe they are Still Ahead?

Wow, so sorry you are dealing with this. I would like to second the popsicle advice. I even started making my own post-op with low sugar juice/water/little bit of crushed fruit/protein powder/Benefiber etc. Had to hide them from the fam though bc everyone was tearing through them! I also made - and still do even at this point actually - protein pops (I call them) - as I only like 1 type of protein shake and was having a hard time even taking that in. I mix Orgain Iced Mocha protein drinks in the blender with chia seeds, a banana, scoop of peanut butter, square of high quality dark chocolate super high in coco powder, little crushed coconut & coconut extract, several scoops of Bariatric Fusion meal replacement powder, Benefiber...I think that's it, lol. I make a huge pitcher - about 80 oz. Then pour it into little 4 oz portion cups I got on Amazon (they are called jello-shot cups, but are basically plastic take-out sauce/dip cups w/lids). I put all the lids on and put them in the freezer. Every morning I take one out when I wake up. By the time I start to feel hungry (45-60 mins) it is softer, like water ice. I just use a spoon and scoop it in! It tastes great, is awesome for me, and because it is not really a solid or liquid, it goes down really easy. Initially I was using popsicle molds and freeze-pop molds, but it was too messy that way. They also have 2 oz cups for early days post-op and also for a quick snack. - You don't have to wait for them to thaw either, just pop it in the microwave for 10 seconds to soften if you don't want to wait. This made it so much easier to get in protein/vitamins/calories the first few months, and now I just look forward to it and still get all those benefits. Sorry so long - just another suggestion - I couldn't drink a lot of water for a long time - actually drinking a lot of anything, even now, makes me feel way too uncomfortable. So, I have sucked on a lot of ice. Ice chips, crushed ice, ice quarter/half moon shapes. Helps get fluids in (albeit slowly) when you just can't take drinking too much. Also helped me with dry mouth from my meds. I use a metal water bottle so it doesn't melt too quickly. Good luck w/everything!

Wow never heard of a surgeon not doing it because of an enlarged liver ? Thought that liver shrink diet was just BS to get u to stop eating for a week before surgery to get in the groove !😱. As far as recovery and meds, I was on morphine for about 24 hours after surgery , then just had a liquid Tylenol at night before bed to sleep . Getting up from a laying down position hurts for sure and initially rolling to ur side and pushing up hurt too but am coming to say 5 post op and today is definitely better . I expect to be sore for another week to 10 days and will have to be careful lifting for 2 more weeks . Worst part for me is the inability to swallow very much water at one time . Lots of chest pressure when I drink , but I had a hiatal Hernia fix as well so maybe that makes it worse.. still, am adamant I will get liquids and protein down so I don’t dehydrate and don’t lose my hair !

Our protein bars are Fulfil and Carb Killa. You can get them at pretty much any supermarket like Tesco or Supervalu. You can also buy protein powder and RTD shakes from Holland & Barrets (they're all over the place). The produce, meat, cheese here is pretty good quality. Beef that is grass-fed is normal here. You'd struggle to get non-grass-fed beef. You don't need to tip in restaurants here unless you get outstanding service. Most coffee places will have Skim milk or soy available (some, like Costa also do coconut and almond milk). I'm trying to think what else might be helpful to tell you. I'm not in Dublin so I can't recommend any specific markets but is there anything else I can tell you? We have Aldi and Lidl which are discount supermarkets but you'll get a wider range of products at Tesco. Sent from my SM-G930F using BariatricPal mobile app

I wouldn't like hearing my co workers talk about me either but I agree with the weight change that happens so fast I think people do wonder. A lot of people have asked me how I've lost so much weight. I def have a sensitive conscience so I don't like to lie. I usually just say "I am eating less and working out". All true. But with that being said I've lost 67 pounds since July and some people may say "she has to have done something" (I haven't heard anyone say that about me but I wonder)bc of the amount in a short period of time. So I decided, for me, that I'd tell some people and just say I don't care what they think. Surgery was the right choice for me and I'm the only one that needs to be "ok" with it. So at the end of the day it's my body, my decision and people can either be ok with it or not but I don't care either way. Just stay focused on your goal.

This a million times! ^^^^^^ I heart all of yas! Yes, for me my only regret from this was that I didn't do it sooner...like YEARS sooner! I'm off 7 drugs!!! My high BP is in remission, so is my insulin resistance, so is my asthma, so is my BC. My average daily pain level has gone from an 8 to a 3-4. I sleep longer than 1-2 hour stretches (can now sleep 4 hours at a time). So much better!!! I was chair bound (slept in a recliner). And couldn't stand longer than 5-10 minutes and could barely walk to the "terlet" or shower. I was so isolated and it was such a taxing thing for Mr. F. Now I can do SO much more. I can take care of myself and my body, clean, make dinner, shop, meet with friends and am taking business meetings again. I walk 1 hour per day (sometimes more). I feel like I have a life again. The last time I weighed what I do, I was in high school. I regret nothing other than whining so much about fear of not being covered by insurance. (Heck I don't even regret being such an obsessive ninnymuggins...

GGLFH, OMG I am so so sorry to hear this! Are you and Andrea💞 still together, if so I'm sure she is helping you through this twisted and tortued path. Yes- your Mama would be very proud of you, if you remember from before, I always felt she was one of your most committed supporters. And you should dedicate each,pound lost to her memory, because if there is a Heaven as I was taught, she is watching and smiling, maybe telling the other angels " Look, that is MY BABY GIRL. Look how wonderfully she is doing. I am so proud." USALLY I agree with Orchids and Dragons, we have become very close Bariatric Pals, but we no longer all like to eat, I am an exception, & perhaps I too will need therapy. Today I do not care if I eat again. So often when I attempt I urp up or vomit. I have had a PICC LINE in since November 29th & at the least it will be in until mid- January. 14 hours each day I am fed by TPN, so I have 10 free hours when I do not wear a backpack,with my pump and feeding solution in it. I try to do my household duties then, shop if necessary. I tried to speak with my surgeon and dietician about this on December 17th, they were rather dismissive, "Don't worry, it is because your getting sufficent calories from the liquid feed" but I have a deep-seated conviction they may be wrong. So I will reach out to my surgeon one more time on January 15th, if necessary make him sit down a minute instead of him being a Doorknob Doctor, one hand on the door knob so he can keep moving. I hate to sound whine-like but HE IS Not Addressing my needs! I have lost 50+ pounds since surgery in September but just now starting to go 8nto a smaller size. Lost weight in arms , neck, shoulders , face firsts Now tummy, thighs , blobs and rump are finally,following up. They always say as you lose you start looking like a younger cuter version of yourself, not ME- look like,my Mama and my Aunt Grace and they are long-dead. But Good to hear from,you once again!😛👍🍀💞

They told me don't lose between now and my 2/14 appointment although they said with the nutrition it would be hard not to but try. My nutrition is fasts tracked I have an appointment 1/10, 1/14 and 2/11. I was told I need 3 appointments but they don't have to be a month apart for my insurance (Independence BC). Thanks for the heads up on the soups. I'll stick to the bars and puddings. I'm not too much of a soup girl except creams... I'll do broth if I have to though.

After a 14 day stall I’ve finally started losing again- thank the lord !! I’m down 51.5 since 11/19! I started exercising this week (had to rejoin the gym Bc it’s been so long). I keep looking at other peoples Instagrams thinking.....one day!!! Hope everyone is doing well!! This group (even though I don’t post much) has been a safe haven for me- and I’m so glad that I’ve been able to learn from all of you!