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Insurance coverage will be based on your BMI and if you have comorbidities like high blood pressure, sleep apnea, or diabetes. Yours is 37.8. Mine was covered with no comorbidities at 40. If you have one, you may be able to get coverage at 35. I started at 5'6" and 250 lbs. I'm 50, so a lot older than you are. I lost 80 lbs. and have gained 12 back in about 2 years. I had no complications and was happy with the experience overall. The thing I didn't fully understand is that my appetite would come back and I would be on a serious, calorie counting diet forever to maintain my loss.

Hi there, I joined this forum in May and have been silently reading and researching all of my questions for months. Now I am close to the end of my pre-op journey, expecting to get my last clearance from dietician on September 1st, and looking back I am amazed at how much is wrong with me ha. I thought I was somewhat healthy before I started this medical journey and now I have diabetes, Barrett's Esophagus from silent reflux and I was critically low on Vitamin D. I felt like every test I took they came back at me with a diagnosis haha. Don't get me wrong, I believe everything happens for a reason and had any number of my decisions in the past been different and I had not chosen to go this route I NEVER would have known about the Barrett's because I didn't know I had GERD, so I am so incredibly grateful to know early while I can do something about it. Like many of you, I began this journey hell bent on the sleeve and that all changed for me. But most importantly, my father died of diabetic complications when he was only 58 and that diagnosis single handedly scared me straight. There is just no food on this planet worth your life. I have gone through many emotional ebbs and flows during all of this and at points talking myself out of being vain and then I reminded myself that this is NOT about beauty, bonus yes of course, but I want to be healthy and I refuse to have diabetes. Then the diagnosis of Barrett's came and I spent a couple of days rehearing the words of the Doc "This surgery just went from elective to medically necessary" and for some reason I struggled with that. I don't know why, maybe because the decision was out of my hands? I am not sure, but I can tell you that now that I am close to getting a surgery date and am expecting it to all happen in October, I'm getting nervous. I read threads about not being able to keep anything down or vomiting because they drank too fast or ate too much and I wonder if I have done enough to prepare. I will be honest, sipping and practicing sipping right now, PRE OP, is almost impossible for me. Chewing 20 times for every bite PRE OP is not happening for me. Have I sabotage myself before even starting? I just assumed, perhaps wrongfully, that common sense would kick in post op. My relationship with food has been severed. For this I am thankful. Like I said, the diabetes diagnosis hit home for me and I have been competing against my blood glucose monitor for 2.5 months and lowered my A1c from 9.1 to 5.9. So in that respect I am ready, however, I question the following things and can't find the answers. If you can help me, THANK YOU SO MUCH. 1. How in the world am I suppose to take my medication? Multivitamin, MetFormin, Prilosec etc. Crush them and drink them YUCK, that scares me 2. I am nervous about getting in 64 oz of water daily. I drink twice that now, but after surgery, taking sips, that seems like a full time job. How is everyone else doing this? 3. The liquid phase scares me more than the others as far as variety, any suggestions would be helpful, however, I just read a thread about someone eating the wrong things in the pureed stage and having to start over. Are bland foods best until solid foods are acceptable to avoid upset? You guys are awesome, Thank you for taking the time to read my post

2 1/2 days due to complications. They wanted to keep me a 3rd night but since I was able to tolerate liquids and fart they let me go home.

This touches on one of my concerns. I'd stay locally for an extended period of time after the surgery and I'd have some nursing assistance, so I wouldn't be completely on my own. I think I can handle the extra misery, but I am concerned that I'm more likely to rip stitches or cause some other complication because of my inability to compensate with my legs or arms. I have thought about splitting the difference and having two surgeries. I've looked at this every which way and I think you're exactly right about compromises. Decisions, decisions... Thanks for your input!

My surgery was 12k for self pay. But I had a complication and needed a second surgery for a gastric bleed 24 hours post VSG. My insurance won’t cover it because they consider WLS “elective” so now I owe the hospital another 30k. Yay American healthcare.

Everyone loses as different rates...stick to plan and we all pretty much end up at the same place in the end (barring any complications) P.S. I lost 11 lbs in my liquid pre-op diet (which was for 2 weeks). I ended up losing more than 1/2 my total body weight.

Not sure how you define “too much too fast”, but in the first month or so you will likely drop weight without even trying: your stomach will physically prevent from eating alot (at least in volume). That’s not to say that you have ZERO control of this as you still have a choice of the TYPES of food you eat, i.e., low vs high calorie. I mean you could choose a clear bone broth or you could reach for a creamy higher fat soup. Though I personally wouldn’t recommend purposefully slowing weight down by increasing calories so early on...but if that is what you really want, you talk to your team and they can advise you. As for drinking lots if water, I think most find that this ability returns within the first month of surgery (barring any complications, of course). I was back to drinking a ton of water by the end of week 2...BUT I couldn’t (and still can’t) drink while I’m eating nor for about 30-40 minutes after eating. Good Luck! Edited to add: as for toning your body, nothing will prevent you from doing this (unless you have physical limitations). Now whether or not you can SEE the toning is another story. If you have alot of weight to lose, the excess skin may cover all your gorgeous muscles up. Unfortunately the only way to get rid of a lot of excess skin is with plastic surgery. I didn’t have too too much excess skin on my stomach (looked like wrinkled fabric), but after my tummy tuck, my abs became clear as day.

I had RNY. I was originally scheduled for just one night but ended up staying three due to complications. It was a bit of a setback but all ended well! 🙂

Hi. This is all new to me & I’m glad you’re all here to reach out to. I’m having gastric bypass in October & must also have lap band removed. Any body have that sitch? Any complications or problems?

Had mines the 8/20 I’m still in the hospital mines was more complicated because of scar tissue from previous surgeries appendix and gallbladder removal. The only pain I have is GAS OMG

Day 6 Postop....[Revision surgery from sleeve to bypass] Today I feel much better. I have to be honest the pain from VSG versus the RNY bypass is much severe at least for the first couple of days. This didn't happen to me when I was sleeved. The good part now is, I am feeling much better. No complications here. I take in my daily vitamins, get my 40 to 60 grams of protein [isopure] and my water intake is about 40 to 50ounces. To those who are in the process or will be having surgery...stay strong and think positive. The pain will go away...and by watching so many videos I think 2 to 3 weeks at most. I wi be concern if there are any complications after this period. Location: NJ Age: 37yrs Male Height: 5'11" Surgery Date: August 17th 2020 Weight at Surgery: 281lbs Weight as of today [Aug 23rd]: 269lbs Concerns: No complications. What I've Learned: 1) [emoji2211] walks for 30 minutes really help me out. 2) Rest and sip on water whenever you can. This really helps. 3) pain meds help me recover on the first 3 days and I will take them at night time purposely to sleep through the night. 4) don't compare your results to anyone on this platform. NO JOURNEY IS THE SAME...and every body metabolic system works different and their gastroenterology works different. Will post again once I go into my 2nd phase of my eating diet. Sent from my SM-N975U using BariatricPal mobile app

Before deciding on lapband, be sure to do lots of research on results 5-10 years out. When I had mine about 15 years ago it was the it surgery and I was really excited. And the first few years I had great results and lost 145 lbs. However, what they are finding now is that the complication rates farther out are a lot higher than other surgeries. I myself had mine out about a year ago, but for almost 10 years before that I was completely unfilled as I would wake up at night choking on acid and would throw up regularly with even a tiny fill. Last year I had it removed, and then at the end of the year I had RNY. I specifically chose RNY due to my history with heartburn and the band and have been very happy. Whatever you do, just do your research and be honest with your doctor. Best of luck!

Today I played my first (American) tackle football game (Stockholm Mean Machines) I am SUCH a rookie! I only got my pads 3 weeks ago and had to borrow all of them from the team and other players... BUT boy was it fun. I (now) play Offensive Right Guard and was deathly scared before the match but it turned out that our own team during practice hits much harder than our opponent. At 48 years old and about 16 months post GPB, I am soooo happy to have done this. I still have problems seeing myself at my weight though and think i'm still "fat" in my head even though everyone else sees me as somewhat of a bean poll (Im 5 foot 11). I also could only play this one game this season because I'm getting surgery on my foot which is what killed my playing sports when I was 19. On the other hand, I was Googling around about football and weight issues since I dont want to gain weight from eating too much (like I did after injuring my foot but muscle is fine though) and I ran across this article about a very overweight somewhat famous player (that I had no idea about). A great read by the way. After reading the article, I wondered how he was doing now and saw the blurb in the middle. He had died at 38. So it just reminds me (my sister died from complications from obesity) that I truly need to keep "on the wagon". Still happy but cautious....

My RnY has FINALLY been scheduled for September 2nd. I was just about to get a surgery date in March when my state shut down due to COVID19. I wasn't a bit nervous earlier this year when I thought I would be getting surgery in April, but now I am like, AAAAAAAAAAGH! 😱😱 My surgeon told me I will be in the OR for twice as long because I had a fundoplication surgery before and they have to undo that first. He also said I shouldn't be surprised if I have complications due to previous scarring from the fundoplication and my two kidney transplants (there is a whole lot o' things going on in there) But I am praying that I will miraculously come through with no problems. God is good. So yeah,😏 I could use a buddy.

I had a few reasons for not telling anyone about my surgery. I didn't tell my family because I first looked into this surgery about 15 years ago, and my mom played a big role in talking me out of it because she thought it was dangerous and that I was going to die or have horrible complications. This time around, I did my own research and made my own decision and didn't want to give my mom or anyone else a chance to talk me out of it. I have three siblings who have always been thin, so I have a feeling they would be judgmental about it. People who have never struggled with their weight don't understand why it's not that easy for everyone to just eat less and exercise more. I didn't tell anyone at work because I have heard negative comments about weight loss surgery from coworkers. Something that has stuck with me for years is a former coworker who complained about his wife's health insurance costs going up because she worked at a small company and two employees had weight loss surgery in one year. This guy was on his wife's health insurance instead of our company's because it used to cost less, and he complained that it was now more expensive than ours because these two ladies were "too lazy to just go on a diet." I have several current coworkers who are really into diet and fitness to the point that they make me uncomfortable, and although I've never heard any comments from them specifically about weight loss surgery, I have a feeling they would be judgmental. Finally, I am a very private person in general and I am careful about what information I share about my life. I wouldn't tell my coworkers if I were having, say, gallbladder surgery or a hysterectomy, either. People might figure it out on their own if I lose enough weight, but I'm not going out of my way to tell anyone about it.

I had RNY on June 8th and I feel amazing. I healed fine without any complications. I am currently down 44lbs (74lbs total) since surgery. I probably would have lost more if I had made a few better decisions, but I am incredibly happy with my decision and am happy that it's working out for me.

So I’m scheduled to have my VSG on 8/27. Because I have a fatty liver, I started my pre-op liquid diet on 8/10. For the most part I have followed the diet pretty strict (mine is the true liquid diet) except I substitute an Oikos triple zero for a shake but am still getting 80 grams of protein and staying between 60-85 grams of protein a day and 650-800 calories. When I first looked into bariatric surgery back in January of 2020, my weight was 252 and I’m 5’ 8 1/2. Prior to the diet my weight was 236 (my insurance requires 6 months of nutritional visits and I did lose some weight). Now I’ve dieted off an on for over 15 years and can usually lose 20-30 lbs but it has never stayed off and I revert back to the 250 range which puts me at a BMI above 37. I have fatty liver & sleep apnea and when I made the decision to pursue bariatric surgery it was for my health. Here is my conundrum, in 11 days I have lost 10 pounds which to me is amazing so I’m now at 226lbs and a BMI around 34. Why am I now second guessing having surgery??? I know deep down the reason why I’m doing so well and sticking to the diet is because I’m terrified of having a fatty liver during surgery because of the complications (soft livers tear easily). Have any of you experienced this?

One of the reasons I was leaning towards sleeve surgery was because issues with malabsorption were less frequent than with other weight loss surgeries, or so I understood. I stopped taking my vitamins early this year after I started maintenance (made me nauseated so I wouldn’t eat) & my bloods have come back twice since then with all my levels being very good. My bone density is excellent too. My surgeon & dietician are happy with me but we’ll keep monitoring just to make sure. I do eat a balanced diet: protein, vegetables, fruit, dairy, whole/multi grains, low fat, etc. And I think I just absorb my nutrients well - genetics play a part here I think. We’re all different & those who’ve had issues may naturally not absorb nutrients via food &/or supplements as well as others. Some sleevers happily give up regularly taking vitamins yet others continue to take supplements for myriad reasons. Follow your team’s instructions re vitamins & keep up with your blood tests to monitor your levels. That way it there are any significant drops in your levels they are picked up quickly & something can be done about it. There’s a difference between being aware of possible complications & worrying about something that may not happen. Good luck with your surgery.

VSG is on the 24th for me and my anxiety is in overdrive (fear of dying). I’m glad to read all the good outcomes on here but of course that then makes me think I’ll be the one to have complications. *sigh* Anyway, I’m hoping all goes well. Good luck to everyone!

I'm pretty new to this but from what I've read here, everyone who takes their recommended vitamins is doing well and their regular blood tests are all good. Being obese also develops into major complications which are not easy to address... I know what I'd prefer.

Hello all - I am going through the pre-op process for Gastric Sleeve and have been doing some research to be better prepared post-op. One topic that is really concerning me is the risk of low Thiamin/B1, Iron and Vit D3. My original understanding was that as long as you follow the post-op instructions and take your recommended vitamins/supplements long term, that you will be Ok. However, after reading a number of posts online, it sounds like even then you could develop major complications due to extremely low levels that Dr's may not be able to address? Any info, pointers, or advice would be much appreciated. Thanks

I think that's a reasonable plan. I had surgery on July 16 and went back to work July 27. I could have gone back July 20 if I really had to, but it wouldn't have been a great idea just because it takes a lot of effort to get enough fluids and protein that first week, so it's best to take it easy and focus on that. Now, I have a desk job, so it may be a little different for you as a student. For example, how far do you have to go to get between classes? You might not be up to brisk walks across campus. And do you have decent seating in your classes, or do you have those horrible one-piece desk-chairs that are difficult for some of us to squeeze into? You're not going to want to squeeze yourself into anything right after surgery while your incisions are still healing. Also keep in mind that everybody's recovery is different. Some people don't even spend a full day in the hospital while others have to stay several days. It's unlikely, but possible, that you could have complications that put you out of commission for weeks. Or you could have a difficult recovery and not feel well enough to go to class that soon. More than likely, you'll be fine by the 21st, but think about what you'll do if you're not.

I hope you end up feeling like the surgery was a positive thing! I’m not quite 3 months out and had complications as well. I had a gastric bleed, needed a second surgery and blood transfusions, plus had a full liter of blood just sitting in my abdomen. I’m down 45 pounds today with no lingering issues and feel great. I’m able to do intense exercise in a way I haven’t for years. My complication was super scary and I initially had some regrets, but looking back I’d do it again in a heartbeat. Hang in there! Best of luck to you.

Hi Everyone It has been 3 years since I last posted. During that time I had 3 more Plastic Surgeries despite the fact that I never got to my goal weight. The Dr felt that with all the excess skin from having lost 280 pounds it was best to get it off and see if maybe I would be able to walk again. So in May of 2018, I had an extended Brachioplasty. Within 1 hour of waking up, I was sent home and within less than an hour of being home, I was rushed back to the hospital as I had blood pouring out of my left upper arm. The Surgeon's assistant was called when I got to the hospital at about 9 pm. He came right away and said I had a baseball size hematoma and c would have to go back into surgery. No room was available until 4 a.m. so I remained in the ER until an Operating Room was available. I remained in the hospital for 3 days and almost have to have a blood transfusion. I was released but was told I immediately had to go to the PS office. As I was being loaded into the van my arm started bleeding again. The Dr greeting me at the door and I was immediately taken into a room. I remember him saying I looked like death warmed over. He called insurance and they approved for a nurse to come every other day to clean and rewrap my left arm. It took me 10 weeks to recover from that surgery. I must say I am glad I had the surgery but even though he took off 7 inches of skin from each arm he could have taken off more. I have Micheline Tire Baby Syndrome and the excess skin removal did not take all the rings away. I still have one roll on each arm and some excess skin as my arms are 14 inches instead of 21. To this day I still cannot wear sleeveless shirts and added sleeves to my bathing suits. Insurance will probably never approve another surgery on my arms. After this surgery and complications, I had two more. In early Dec of 2018, I had my panniculectomy and a second hernia was repaired. I had no complications with this surgery and was thrilled to get 10 pounds of skin off my tummy and not have the huge overhang any more. Wearing the binder was not fun as it kept riding either up or down my butt. By the end of January, I was able to buy my first compression garment and was back to work 2 weeks later. Despite the 10 pounds being gone I still was not able to walk without a cane or a walker. All this excess skin being removed is not helping my 6 herniated discs, yet there is one more surgery and this I am told this one may be the one that allows me to walk. In late May of 2019, I had a belt lipectomy. The first week was very painful but by week 3 I was doing great. Two days I had terrible pain on the V spot on my back all the way around to my left groin incision. I was in terrible pain, my skin was hot and I had become so swollen I could not sleep on my left side and I had developed a blister. The Dr had been called the weekend I had terrible pain and felt so sick but I was not able to see him until Wednesday. He Popped the blister and over 5 Emesis Basin of fluid came out. He sent it for testing and 2 days later I was told I had to go to an Infectious Disease Doctor. The Doctor had no appointments on Friday and by Sunday 2 more blisters developed and I was so scared I went to the ER. It was determined I had MRSA and was in the hospital in an isolated room for 5 days. I had to have a MIdline put in as my veins were collapsing. OMGod that procedure hurt like you cannot believe, I was told I had rolling veins and it took them over 40 minutes to get that midline in. To make matters worse I still had a lot of excess skin in the area they wanted to put the midline. I could not move my arm for at least 2 hours after that procedure. For the next 8 weeks, I had 2 hours of IV Vancomycin 2 times a day. Finally Mid August I was well enough to return to work. This surgery did not help my ability to walk any better. I started going to a pain management clinic and he tried all kinds of procedures I can not even remember what they all were. By January 2020 the pain management Doctor thought that radiofrequency ablation might work. So in late February, he stuck me 4 times on each side of my back with the heat probe that cuts the nerve. I knew within weeks I had not worked and then Covid19 hit us all and I was in South East Florida a very bad hot spot. Even today as I wrote this we are still under phrase one. With my body the way it is I am afraid to go anywhere. My last day of work in the office was March 12th. I have been out of the house 3 times since that day. Thank God I can do remote Zoom lessons with my blind clients otherwise I would be homeless. So where do I go from here? I do not think the pain management Doctor who I went to for over 6 months is someone I would want to return to. In Jan I will be 65 years old and even though I have been on a Medicare advantage plan since 2008 I could change insurance companies and get all new Doctors. The only problem is I have no idea what kind of a Doctor to go to or whether or not these Florida Doctors would do anything for me. I am still obese despite having lost 250 pounds and have another 80 pounds to lose. I am over 4 years post-op for my sleeve surgery and barely manage to lose 5 to 8 pounds a month if I am 100% on plan. I was hoping to be walking by my 65th birthday but it does not look like it will happen. I wish I could say losing all this weight was the cure to my being able to walk but it was not. I am so totally disappointed that it did not happen. But I suppose when you have 6 herniated discs losing weight is not going to help them. Yes, I am thinner but am still in a great deal of pain and cannot do anything without a walker or a scooter. Some Golden Years I will be having. Am so tired of being like this. Jan 2021 will be 27 years since I was so badly injured at the Quiet Waters Park Kiss Country Chili and Band Competition. I wish I had never gone it was the ruination of my life.

Really complicated answer but in short, it depends. I used to keep a digital folder of scholarly journals on this but lost them Here's a few, dive in! https://academic.oup.com/ajcn/article/90/1/106/4596769 https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/10/3/322/htm