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I'm only a few days from getting a sleeve and honestly it can't come fast enough (plus missing work sounds great which I never do) I've been really enjoying reading peoples experiences on here, more than I thought I would. Does anyone have any reading material related to post-op that they'd recommend? Books, blogs, articles etc. I also am a minority it seems because bc I'm 25 years old, bmi 30 and 6'1, so if anyone has similar stats I would love to hear about your process.

Today I'm on a clear liquid diet bc ds surgery is tmrw. May sound silly but, I wanted to check and see if bone broth was ok to drink vs chicken broth? I know bone broth has bone marrow and pureed organs in it. I just had this sinking feeling come over me that I should check before I drank some. Thanks so much! Sent from my SM-G930P using BariatricPal mobile app

I would definitely not get the surgery now if you are feeling this way. To be honest, I had no idea how restricting the surgery would be. I thought I was going to have no cravings or hunger. Therefore, I was so excited and ready. I am 25 years old. I got the surgery on 08/17/2018. Let me just tell you, I am still dealing with food depression. I have no way to comfort myself now. I used to do it with food and alcohol after a long week of work. Now I cannot do that. Therefore, this tells myself I was not mentally prepared for the surgery. It’s too late now. I am stuck with the exhaustion and depression and boring life. I am stuck with this fear of food and fear or of gaining weight back. Still have an unhealthy relationship with food, but now it’s not eating. Ugh just terrible. I was a binge eater, though. Good luck. It is your choice. I am happy I got it because I am losing weight and feeling more confident. I hated being super fat. I felt disgusting after the fact I ate. So yes I am happy I did this, but it sucks at the same time. I think surgery is harder than actually dieting because you have no choice on how much to eat and you can’t have your cheat day because it all just hurts the little sleeve. I am just ranting now Bc I’m tired. Best of luck!!!

So I assume you were stable on one medication a year ago at the time you had surgery and now you need two additional medications to be stabilized and your BS is giving you phentermine to counteract the weight gain. There has got to be a better option than taking all these drugs. Besides weight loss, has anything else happened to make you more emotionally unstable in the last year? If so, maybe that needs to be addressed. IMHO, you need a good therapist, good support in your life, good sleep and daily exercise. Psychiatrists are trained that the only way to manage mental illness is via medication and I agree with this for people that are psychotic, schizophrenic, bipolar etc. but people need more than drugs to become emotionally stable. I urge you to take control of your situation and not to believe that you have to take every medication a doctor prescribes. I am not saying you don't need any medication but it can not do the whole job by itself.

Oh my gosh! Im so glad someone posted this because I wanted to talk about it. Honestly I don't like much lately. Everything is entirely too sweet or too salty. Im craving spicy all the time so I jazz up my veggies and protein sources with Cajun spices. Most of the things I crave I get it, try it, hate it. Ive also started doing something I didn't use to. I smell everything before I taste it. Like hum...what IS THIS THING....Nope! Not going to like it. Not only has my taste buds gone wackadoo, my sense of smell has gone haywire and I can smell everything a mile away. Not that I couldn't before but now its ultra sensitive. Last week an employee downstairs was cooking in our kitchen we have, and what ever it was made me nauseated to the point that I threw up an hour later just from the stench. Not to mention she was literally boiling everything in vegetable oil. UH! I laughed with a friend because I used to eat everything now im ridiculously picky, to the point of annoyance. Protein bars? Picky! Shakes? Hate them now so I moved to mixable "watery" type protein sources like Isopure. Only flavor I like is Grape. Eggs? Yuck! Soups? Picky as heck! Pretty much only vegetable minestrone no noodles. BC noodles taste like rubber to me. Deli Meat? Too much for me threw that up. System cant handle it. Chicken? Barely able to get it down. Tried the infamous "Real Good Foods" & "Halo Top Ice Cream" both didn't agree with me at all. So what am I living on? Chicken salad (tiny bit), tuna salad, ham salad (any kind of salad mayo type), Isopure Zero Carb, Quest Bars (ultra picky with these too), Quest Protein Chips, Amy's Chili & Minestrone Veggie soup, green beans, Salmon (any types of fatty fish), Caulipower Pizza, still looking for the perfect organic green juice with low fruit sugars even cold pressed like Buda Juice. Need to check the macros on it. Just as an FYI - My surgery was 7/30 so im not super recent but it hasnt been very long either.

This is a rant and a rave. Firstly I would like to say that I have always found the people here to be in the most part helpful and supportive. The same cannot be said for all other sites. Some of the sanctimonious BS from some peeps is unreal. Example Wow reading this thread is depressing. So many people saying never to drink alcohol again. Absolutes ( never )are very hard to accept. I got my band 9 years ago and was never told I had to give up alcohol. I enjoy a glass or 2 of wine a couple of times a week. Maybe I'm lucky I didn't become an alcoholic! Now looking at revising to RNY so I understand that I am going to have to give that up, at least for the foreseeable future but I would hate to think that I could NEVER have a glass of wine again. alcohol is pure sugar. The body uses that pure sugar to function instead of burning your stored fat for energy. Maybe ifvyou had not used alcohol you would be at goal weight and not looking for a revision. You are a perfect example of the truth of what those who are saying about alcohol use are saying. Alcoholics and drug abusers in recovery use the never absolute every day. They have to, no other choice. Not using absolutes, like never is often just an excuse.

Were you cleared to eat beef? I am not UNLESS its grass fed. Cuts of beef are very restricted from my program. Which is fine I am doing great with NO animal protein and feel amazing!!!!!!!!!

The last case i picked up was really thick and I haven’t been drinking them bc I was thinking there was something wrong with that batch. Interested to hear what others are thinking. Thx for posting this! Band to sleeve revision surgery 1/16/17 HW: 283 CW: 171 GW: 160

Adding to my list: When you tell someone to use the search, knowing that there are over 1000 hits and they come back with some snarky bs about searching and not finding anything... like, yo, I know how many hits there are, because I searched before I told you to search, so nice try asshats.

That makes a lot of sense. I can see how helpful this forum is just being in the pre-op phase. It's been since 2016....long process for me bc of multiple insurance struggles. I can see how valuable this community will be to me even more post op! Thanks for your opinion. It's definitely helpful to me! Sent from my SM-G930P using BariatricPal mobile app

Hi there! I'm wanting to hear from the DS'ers who have made their DS public. Do you wish you hadn't? Fb or Instagram? What has been your experience? I'm trying to decide how I want to handle this. Surgery is set for this Monday 10/29. Part of me wants to make it public bc I'd like encouragement but another part of me don't bc I don't want ppl scrutinizing everything I eat. Sent from my SM-G930P using BariatricPal mobile app

Congrats on your surgery and what is important is everyone is safe/healthy/ and fed.

So glad you bring this up! Because this gentleman Ben Bikman, PhD, who is an expert in the field of energy movement (biochemistry) explains it so DANG well! The study linking protein consumption to insulinogenic activity was done in GLUCOSE burners--not in the framework of low carb/ketogenic dieting. He explains it VERY well in the YouTube of why in a low carb diet the protein is no longer associated with a silent insulin spike. It's at about the 31minute mark in the interview. It has to do with the insulin/glucagon ratio. It has a 20% increase in a high carb fed state. When you feed that same insulin/glucagon ratio to subjects in a low carb state, the insulin remained in a steady line and did not spike (32:38) in the interview. Don't believe me. I'm just a schmoe who's been studying this for 18 years. LOL! Believe this dude and I can hook you up with COUNTLESS professionals (MDs, PhDs, RDs, biochemists etc) who have access to true LABORATORY knowledge...lol

I had my sleeve surgery in August. I have a 2 year old boy, and a 5 year old girl. It was tough at first, because I didn't have the mental energy to worry about food for my family - I could only focus on my own nutrition and hydration needs. It was an adjustment for my husband because I'm the primary grocery shopper and cook. He was very supportive, though, and made sure that he and the kids were fed and happy. My two year old often wanted snuggles, but he's also very protective of me - I told him once that he couldn't jump on my belly, and ever after that, he'd ask "Tummy hurt?" before he hugged or snuggled on me. He's very sweet. I think your kiddos will be understanding if you explain what's going on in language they can understand. Don't feel selfish. This is a hard thing to go through, it's not the "easy way out" like so many people like to tell us. You're not just doing it for yourself - anyway, I didn't do it for myself. I did it so my kids will have me in their lives for longer. I'd like to meet grandbabies some day, and if I'd continued as I was, I probably wouldn't have.

My dad and husband have been super supportive but my mom has been worried telling me I could die and this surgery isnt safe and I need to just lose the weight as well. My Monster in law (mother in law) has always harped about my weight and when I told her the surgery I get backhanded compliments like, "well at least now you can wear smaller clothes and look great but youre pretty now." *rolls eyes* (and yeas she says them outside earshot to my husband). My boss knows bc i needed the time from work and were a super small office and then one of my friends knows bc shes having the same surgery as me in Jan. and i made the mistake to tell one coworker (i knew her from school before i started working there) and she said "are you sure you can do it? i mean youre always eating" (which im not at work bc no food is allowed at our desks and i dont see her outside work so how would she know) but mostly im just tired... im tired of the negativity and having pains in my ankles all the time bc of my weight , and starting to develop an array of other health issues due to my obesity. I know this inst a fix but in the end i deserve the right to any tools necessary to HELP better my body ....

I have BC/BS in NC. My guidelines pretty much say the same thing. But I had documented history with my doctor's going back years, that they filled out and say's yes to the V. Sleeve. I also have 5 months with a nutritionist the year before. When the W L center filled out all the forms and also entered the Physiatrist evaluation it went thru with no problems. But if you have to do six months W. Loss don't loss to much and take that chance of not having it done.

So I know I will need to have the excess skin removed from my stomach and a breast reduction. I went from 285 to 165. Surgery date was Aug 29th 2017. I have been lucky bc I am on my Mom’s insurance. Unfortunately she is retiring in a yr and a half so I will need to get it done before then. I haven’t heard of Medicare covering it all like my Mom’s insurance would. I didn’t pay anything to have the sleeve done. I know I won’t be that lucky again. I have stalled the last couple months to the point I canceled my one yr follow up. I haven’t gained but I haven’t lost either. I am going to go back to the beginning to get the sugar out of my system and I need to get back to the gym. I was walking 6 days a week but I started a new job that is stressing me out and doesn’t work with my hours. It was so much easier when I wasn’t working. Sorry this turned into a rant. At what weight did you all start consider plastics? I know I still need to lose at least 20 ibs if not 30.

9 weeks post-op here. I can eat like 2 Oz dense protein. Then it starts hurting my little sleeve. Sucks Bc I sorta still feel hungry but I’m so uncomfortable

You didn't mention this, but their flour was rationed and consumption extremely limited, as were fruits. You just listed a host of confounding items. Also limited as you mentioned is sugar. So during this time, they limited sugar, flour, fruits, baked goods. They ate high fat tinned meats, high fat butter (limited), real meat was limited, eggs/bacon as was alcohol and beer were limited...many fasted but def observed a calorie restricted diets. BUT, the issue with the people who do low carb or keto is NOT that it's our way or the highway, or that we believe and say that ALL people MUST low carb or die...the issue is with having alternate agendas so rudely and repetitively shoved down our throats and lambasted for believing in the efficacy of our woe (way of eating). The other issue is having our dietary choice misrepresented by nonfactual BS. And most of us are sick of it. Cuz the OP posts it OVER and OVER and OVER ad nauseum. Like it's being shoved down our throats with the force of Thor's mighty hammer. Most of us who are objecting are all in the same camp: THERE IS NO ONE DIET that is suitable for everyone! LOL. We pretty much all agree that we must find our own path through the woods to arrive at a sustainable liveable diet that turns into a forever lifestyle. And that is A-okey-dokey with us!!!! I'm glad this high carb diet works for OP and others. I am. More power to them. They clearly did not have the same degree of metabolic derangement or medications that necessitate a low carb, adequate protein, lower fat diet as I have. LOL. That's ok. LOL. The even bigger question is why then, if they can now magically tolerate all manner of carbs, why did they get so fat they needed bariatric surgery? And how is their lifestyle modified so they won't repeat history? But I do hope we all agree, that you wouldn't give a diabetic or pre-diabetic heaps and heaps of carbs and expect their insulin levels and blood sugars to improve. At least I hope that's a universal understanding cuz if it isn't, then someone is engaging in magical thinking. And btw, wouldn't it be fun? Let's all make a pact to meet back here in 3-5 years and measure our success with pics, weights, and tape measures.

It's so sad that people are so judgmental! My surgery is scheduled for October 31st and so far I've only told my children (all adults), my boyfriend, brother and sister in law. I'm afraid to tell my mother bc she thinks I'm fine as I am. I will tell her beforehand though. Like someone else said earlier, I told my boss and coworkers that I am having a medical procedure done and thats it. It's none of anyone's business especially on the job. I'm taking 2 weeks leave and hopefully I'll be feeling well enough to return full-time.

^^^I'm not worthy! I'm not worthy! (to @MIZ60 and @jess9395 ) The other thing that is hilarious is that "fat people are getting cancer cuz of eating massive amounts of dairy!" Excuse me but there are a substantial amount of fat mediated cancers. Which came first the chicken or the egg? The researches of these fat mediated cancers (of which hormone positive bc is one seem to say that the "Diabetes Type 3", meaning the progression of metabolic disease started the cascade toward obesity and over-expression of hormones from androgen conversion in the fat along with the insulin resistance and high blood sugars that set up rapid inflammation and upregulation of mTOR and igf1 (among other inflammatory factors) that led to the progression and genesis of these same fat mediated cancers. In my case, when I was 6 months old dying of ITP, and receiving massive doses of prednisone to try to stem the rush of the ITP--and for the next 11 years of my life where I battled that "type of blood "cancer"" and had copious prednisone courses--more on than off, I was already set up for metabolic disease which is why I developed full-blown PCOS by the time I was 14--which later progressed into Diabetes Type 3 - hormone positive breast cancer. And my being fat--I hardly ate dairy my whole life--some small amounts of cheese, came AFTER the metabolic derangement. But of course, my diet that was super high dairy gave me that horrific Stage 3C disease. LOLOLOLOLOL. You are so full of sh*t it is hard to even stand your presence on this board. Why don't you go back to school like you claim and ACTUALLY learn a thing or two about biochemistry before coming here and trying to assert your intellectual superiority here.

Ahhh well goodness that makes sense and I guess stirring the pot gets her lots of credits bc she can post responses and such.

I was unable to locate specific guidelines for the BC Complete Medicaid program dealing with bariatric surgery. I don't believe they have a separate criteria but I may be wrong on that; however here are their guidelines for other plans. I've included a LINK and the PDF. Good luck! Michigan BCBS Bariatric Medical Policy I've also attached the PDF file in case the link doesn't work. BCBS Michigan Guidelines.pdf

My Dear Bari Sisters and Brothers. I’m alive! Hallelujah! But I’ve been through the ringer. The ER visit last Thursday did not help. I was throwing up every 10-15minutes on Friday. It got...bad....Started having numbing of fingers and toes and felt like an Elephant had taken a seat on my chest. Hubby failed 911. Long story short, I wounded up in bad shape at my surgeons hospital and was admitted right away. I was displaying classic acute Stricture symptoms. And I was severely dehydrated. I thought they would just scope and dilate me, and that would be that. But nope! Surgeon was gone for the day and I had to begin a LONG and exhausting wait for Monday to come, and I had not eaten since Wednesday night! Ofcourse they did their favorite thing and put me on Nothing by mouth... It was torture. Thirsty, naucious, the minutes oozed like molasses, waiting, suffering. They tried to make me comfortable but...the wait was excruciating. My highlights were the kids and hubby visiting in the evenings. I hated kids to see me this way. Monday morning finally came and I was SO excited. Relief was surely on the way. So you can imagine how I literally BLEW A FUSE when my surgeon waltzed in at 1:30PM and instead of prioritizing me and putting me out of my misery, asap, he proceeded to to into Surgery to do a Tummy TUCK! Lets just say I got the hospital director involved. Problem is...he owns the whole center, he’s the ultimate CEO, what’s she gonna do...call the boss? GRRRRR.....I was livid! The added stress is that I knew I had a flight to Europe on Thursday (ie. Today!). I was not scoped till 5:30PM Monday, and was in limbo for a while from anesthesia. They kept me Tuesday through evening to make sure I could tolerate liquids, the softs and fed me well before they cut me loose. It tasted like heaven. heck, my shoe would have tasted like heaven at that point. Got home at mid-night Tuesday and had one short Wednesday (in my compromised state of energy), to get the house as in order as I could, work, pack, think through what I need to take to be successful on my first Airplane ride and long haul trip since surgery). Stress was the word, but i prayed my way through it. I even got a USB chargeable blender on Amazon. The kids were so happy to have mama home. My 8 year old son and 6 year old daughter. And then came this morning...and as I was dropping them in school, I had to let them know mama has to go out of town till next Friday. :( I bearly made my flight. I have a whole suitcase of Bariatric stuff. If I had more time I would have documented what all I prepared. But alas, I was RUSHING! I just landed in New Orleans and the first leg of my journey went well. I ate a bit of airport bought humus on the flight. Waited 2mins between bites for good measure! Had two mini pretzels and drank water in between. I am about to board the big Transatlantic flight. Nervous about how I will do. I will always live with the trepidation that a Stricture might return. Cabin pressure and all...but God has not given me the spirit of fear, so I press on. Hope you are all doing great. I have had zero chance to catch up. Please, do say a little prayer for me! Love and hugs, PS: Attached area pics of the lovely flowers kids and hubby brought, my heavenly first meals, and the card my son made for me.

It was suggested that I start a thread on this topic seeing as I do have first hand experience. This is the founder of The Pound of Cure, Dr. Matthew Weiner. The link is to his Youtube channel. https://www.youtube.com/user/DrMatthewWeiner My story started about 4 years ago I would say when I chose to seek out BS (Bariatric Surgery). I first reached out to a different clinic in my state. But I ended up never scheduling my surgery through them. THANK GOD! Ok now fast forward to January 2018. I got on Youtube and started watching videos and doing more research. That is where I found my saving grace! LITERALLY! I reached out to his office and scheduled my consultation. From my very first phone call into the office its been nothing but a positive learning motivating life changing experience. Every person I came into contact with made an impact. They are so helpful. My first time meeting Dr. Weiner I really didn't know what to expect with only seeing him on Youtube. But I will tell you that he is the same exact person you see in the videos. It is very easy to talk to him and open up to him about questions or concerns. I had to do 6 months of a pre op diet required by my insurance, so we started right off with ways to start changing my diet and how I really look at food. He is very encouraging and prints out step by step suggestions for your entire process. His idea behind Pound of cure really helped me loose 20 lbs before my surgery. If I was struggling with areas of my diet he had many different suggestions on things I can try. You can tell he really speaks from experience. He would ask me what my trouble areas were and gave me different options to try which I wouldn't have tried before. When eating a pound of veggies a day was first put in play it was quite daunting. I enjoy veggies and I thought I ate enough of them but quickly realized that I just needed to tweak a couple things. I feel like my taste buds have changed a few different times along my journey. Even this past week I have noticed changes. For my surgery with Dr. Weiner. That took place at Oakland Regional Hospital in Southfield MI. Dr. Weiner is part owner of the hospital. EVERYONE there was great. I went home the next day and did great until about 4 days out. My taste buds changed and couldn't take in ANY protein. So he told me about his smoothies and I was able to do that for a while until I could take in more food. I also had problems with my vitamins. The taste was absolutely horrible. So he switched me to the capsules. He listened to my struggles and made one suggestion that helped drastically. He really knows and understands what bariatric patients are going through. This program has changed my mindset on food. I now eat for necessity and fuel for the day. I know everyone has different results from the surgery and their program but I do not feel hunger. I most definitely feel when I am full. I've seen posts that his program leads more towards a vegan lifestyle but not completely. I will say that is true. I had a horrible time with cheese for instance. The crack of all foods right. Well now I no longer eat cheese and if I do I use vegan cheese. He even suggested recipes to make our own. I would never have started eating beans if it wasn't for him. And my new tummy LOVES beans. Those around me don't but hey I have to eat what I can eat. I can most certainly get by with out eating animal protein and I think anyone after surgery could. I know for me I have chosen to not eat animal protein if I don't have to. I've had chicken for dinner for example and that next morning I felt completely different. I just knew right away what it was. You have to eat what makes you feel good. With his program I get by drinking ZERO artificial protein. No shakes, no powder. I cant stomach the taste. Even the unflavored is a lie. It is flavored. Greens and beans give me life I know every program is different and there are those people that strictly abide by their surgeons word and that is fine. That is clearly also what I do. I am not suggesting you do anything different unless your body is telling you that you need to change something. If something isn't working for you WHY NOT seek out alternative options. Only you know your body. Only you know how you feel and what things feel like in your new tummy. Go with your gut. No pun intended I am only speaking my experience and what I went through. If you are in the Michigan area and are looking or someone you know is looking into BS I would say for sure reach out to his office. If you've had complications from a previous BS again I would for sure reach out to his office. He also fixes previous botched surgeries or those with complications.