I had the RNY nine years ago today.  I know someone on here that had the band and was successful at weight loss and maintaining.  I'll send her a message and have her contact you.  Best of luck with your journey.

Stephanie E

 I don't think I classify as a lightweight...

5'11 356lbs :(

 I have no clue on the cost side.  My wife and I had our surgeries in the same year, and we'd already met our deductible by that point due to another surgery I had earlier in the year.  

Dr. Inman likely won't be the one to supervise your diet.  It will need to be your PCP/internist or they have a doctor at St. V's that does non-surgical weight loss (used for those who don't want surgery or those who have had surgery and just need help getting rid of the last of their weight).  I was able to use a medically supervised diet I had from a doctor a couple of years prior.  Most companies want a doctor's note showing that you were there every month for six months, that the purpose of the visit was to talk about your weight loss/diet, and that you were compliant with whatever program they had you on.  It doesn't have to be anything fancy - you just have to have documentation that a doctor supervised diet was attempted and it didn't work.

St. V's recommendations are woefully inadequate for after surgery supplementation.  Dr. Inman and her staff don't manage that as much as St. V's dieticians do.  The dieticians are starting to take a more active role in ordering and monitoring labs (or so I've been told).  I've been on Vitalady's plan since about a month out, and for the most part the dieticians haven't given me too much grief.  They question why I would take 30 pills a day instead of the 8-12 they recommend, but when I explain that I'd likley get to 30 after adjusting for my labs anyway, they seemed to understand that.  That being said, they don't order labs as often as I'd like and depending on who you see they try to give RNY eating advice instead of DS advice.  

n    

Dr. Inman isn't my surgeon but most of the St. V's surgeons require about the same thing. So..this is only a best guess and you'll learn much more on the 5th.

1. I don't know about the payment plan stuff but you could try going to www.carecredit.com and see if you can get a credit card to cover it. Care Credit is for medical expenses. If Dr. Inman's office will work with Care Credit, you can get free financing for 12-18 months (depending on how they set it up) provided you pay it off in that allotted time. That is how I paid for my portion of plastics & my bridges.

2. A medically supervised diet is any medical doctor or dietician. Usually the insurance required fod journals from you and a copy of the doctors notes from when they saw you & discussed your diet with you. That can be an internist. It usually is not the WLS surgeon.

3.  Any good WLS surgeon will require you to take supplements. If you don't, you are going to be one sick puppy. It will be a given that you will need to take (3) chewable multi-vitamins. I recommend the one a day chewable gummies for adults. WAY better than the chalky Flintstones. You'll also be required to do (3) chewable Calcium, B12 sublingual (or monthly injections), and B1. I would recommend you start doing Biotin at least 6 weeks prior to surgery. Many post-ops have issues with the condition of their hair & nails shortly after surgery. Biotin helps to lessen those. Post-op, you will also be required to drink protein drinks. It is the only way you are going to get in enough protein to support your body. Remember, you aren't going to be eating the food it is use to. I know you think you know your body now but trust me, your body changes post-op and it's needs changes rapidly. Follow as closely as you can to your surgeons post-op requirements. The better you do at this, the healthier your outcome will be.

Best of luck...