Gastric balloon experience: Any thoughts?

Hey ladies!

I noticed there’s basically zero info online about the gastric balloon, so I figured I’d jump in and share my experience.

Last week, I hopped on a call with Dr. Nikolić and he told me to come in right away (no connections here, just luck 😁 ). We did the consultation, an endoscopy, and an ultrasound immediately—honestly, the endoscopy caught me off guard 😂 since he forgot to mention we were doing that on the spot! He sent me over to Miroševićka for bloodwork, but she couldn't squeeze me in, so I just asked her for the list of tests I need.

I think it's pretty much the same requirements as the gastric sleeve, but they also want TPO (one of those thyroid hormones). I'll get everything done at Sun Health 👍. They do everything there, including checking cortisol levels at 8 AM and 4 PM. I'll let you guys know the cost and how the whole thing goes. You have to go in for testing in the morning and afternoon one day, and then the results are ready the next—super fast! I have insurance through work, so hopefully it covers some of it
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👍 Once that's wrapped up, I'll give Miroševićka a call to schedule my follow-up!

I also called a psychologist, and they scheduled me for the end of June 😢. Since my lab results showed I have a bacteria issue, Dr. Nikolić gave me some advice over the phone regarding meds, so I swung by my primary care doctor to get the prescription. She's a little annoyed because I basically show up and tell her what I need, so I'll probably grab her some flowers 😁
to smooth things over.
Anyway, I didn't quite catch how long I need to be on these meds from Dr. Nikolić, other than the initial seven-day burst. I'll check back in with Dr. Mirošević 😁 once I'm done and try to squeeze the procedure in for late June or early July. Hopefully, I'll kill this bacteria by then :-)

By the way, a friend mentioned that for Medicare to cover the balloon, your BMI needs to be 35 or higher, not 40 like it is for the sleeve 👍 👍. And apparently, they have them in stock through Medicare for the foreseeable future 👍
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Hey Austin Lopez4!

Welcome to our little corner of the internet!🙂
The more people we have, the better... because honestly, there’s barely any info to go around here!

I’m still stuck in the exact same spot... just waiting... I had my hormone bloodwork done on May 2nd, and I still haven't seen the results. Ugh... at first, I thought the delay was actually helping me firm up my decision, but now I'm starting to freak out that maybe something went wrong somewhere... since it's been a full month already.

I had an appointment with a psychologist scheduled for today, but I had to force myself to reschedule, so the new date is June 13th. (And before you ask how that happened... as soon as I got the first date, I found out at work I couldn't make it... so I asked to move it immediately... but you know how it is with Mirković, the wait is endless... and they won't even recognize tests done elsewhere)

Austin Lopez4 ... (it feels so weird typing your name, like I'm constantly surprised by something 😛) ... I really hope things line up for you in June like you planned... it would be great if things worked out for me too, then we could go through this together...😉

Timothy Reed8 said:Hey Austin Lopez4!

Welcome to our little corner of the internet!🙂
The more people we have, the better... because honestly, there’s barely any info to go around here!

I’m still stuck in the exact same spot... just waiting... I had my hormone bloodwork done on May 2nd, and I still haven't seen the results. Ugh... at first, I thought the delay was actually helping me firm up my decision, but now I'm starting to freak out that maybe something went wrong somewhere... since it's been a full month already.

I had an appointment with a psychologist scheduled for today, but I had to force myself to reschedule, so the new date is June 13th. (And before you ask how that happened... as soon as I got the first date, I found out at work I couldn't make it... so I asked to move it immediately... but you know how it is with Mirković, the wait is endless... and they won't even recognize tests done elsewhere)

Austin Lopez4 ... (it feels so weird typing your name, like I'm constantly surprised by something 😛) ... I really hope things line up for you in June like you planned... it would be great if things worked out for me too, then we could go through this together...😉

Timothy Reed8, where did you go for those blood tests?
When I went to the Mayo Clinic, everything came straight to my house by mail within two weeks.
If I were in your shoes, I’d definitely give them a call and see what the hold-up is...

p.s. wishing everyone the best of luck with the balloon 🙂

Brandon Sullivan49 said:Timothy Reed8, where did you go for those blood tests?
When I went to the Mayo Clinic, everything came straight to my house by mail within two weeks.
If I were in your shoes, I’d definitely give them a call and see what the hold-up is...

p.s. wishing everyone the best of luck with the balloon 🙂

I had them done at the Vineyard hospital.
Dr. Mirošević told me it would take about three weeks for the results.
I figured I'd just wait out this week first, maybe they'll show up and then I'll call... probably the lab? 🙂 I'm already waiting on Miroković anyway, so I might as well try to line everything up at once...

Thanks... wishing you luck with the balloon too 😉

Hey ladies!
I think Timothy Reed8 is onto something—we seriously need to start a new thread just for the bloating situation. It’s a whole different beast!

Quick heads-up on the doctors: Dr. Mirković is on vacation starting this week, no clue when he'll be back. Same goes for Dr. Mirošević; she’s out until July 16th. Word is Nikolić is heading out in August.

Here’s the breakdown for bloodwork prices at Sun—straight up, full retail, no discounts or fancy stuff, just the raw numbers as they tell you at the front desk:

glucose - $4.00
HbA1c - $20
urea - $4.00
cholesterol - $5.00
triglycerides - $5.00
HDL cholesterol - $8.25
LDL cholesterol - $3.25
T3 - $23
T4 - $23
TSH - $27
prolactin - $40
FSH - $40
LH - $40
E2 - $40
cortisol + cortisol 16h - $100
blood draw fee - $5.00.

Dr. Mirošević told me to get these done, so I did. Now I gotta drag the results back to her. I’m betting she’ll try to kill me with an ECG, a chest X-ray, and probably whatever else she can throw at me.

So, I’ve checked off the psychologist, the GI doc, and my PhD—now I just need to see Mirošević and hopefully get some good news. The bad part? My hormones are a complete mess. Cortisol is through the roof (which basically means I'm constantly starving, lol), uric acid levels are wonky, and all that good stuff. Honestly, I have no clue if they'll even clear me to move forward... I already got kicked out of $200 at Sun, and yeah, things got a little heated, but that was just for the hormone stuff. I'm low-key terrified of what Miroševićka is going to say...

Realistically, I don't see myself getting in before September, which is totally bad...

How’s everyone else doing? Timothy Reed8?

On a brighter note, I’ve actually dropped about 15 pounds since the start of the year :-) Still sticking to the diet and living the healthy lifestyle... But still, I definitely need help because usually I hit that 20-pound mark and then just completely stall out...

Looks like this thread has gone totally stale 🙂 Why's that? :-)

Just finished my follow-up gastroscopy to confirm everything for the PhD study (yeah, yeah, round two!) and I'm alive! YAY! Psihić told me I’m basically nuts, but said I’m cleared for the balloon 🙂🙂🙂 If I can just wrap things up with Miroševićka on Wednesday (she’s back from vacation this week), then I'm hitting the balloon clinic the following week. Of course, that’s assuming the stars align—Miroševićka, Nikolić, my job, and all the other chaos... I seriously can't believe I'm this close... but nothing is set in stone yet, so I'm not getting ahead of myself... if it happens, it happens 🙂 What's the latest with you guys?

Hey everyone!
Looks like nobody’s really feeling the balloon stuff as much as the Lap discussions, so I'll just drop a quick note that I put in a balloon last week. If anyone needs a hand or some info, hit me up. Happy to help.

😍

Timothy Reed8 said:Hey everyone!
Looks like nobody’s really feeling the balloon stuff as much as the Lap discussions, so I'll just drop a quick note that I put in a balloon last week. If anyone needs a hand or some info, hit me up. Happy to help.

😍

Timothy Reed8,
please reach out... I'm waiting on you☕

Timothy Reed8, walk me through the process. When did you get there, when did they hook you up, and when were you out of there?
What kind of side effects are we talking about—you still breathing? 🙂🙂🙂
Props to you! You finally made it happen, huh!

Lisa Rodriguez13 said:Timothy Reed8,
please reach out... I'm waiting on you☕

I tried sending you a DM, but it's giving me some error saying you either turned off your messages or you aren't allowed to get them🙂

Austin Lopez4 said:Timothy Reed8, walk me through the process. When did you get there, when did they hook you up, and when were you out of there?
What kind of side effects are we talking about—you still breathing? 🙂🙂🙂
Props to you! You finally made it happen, huh!

Yes N. 😉, finally got it done! 🙂

I have zero clue what the actual procedure felt like because I was totally passed out 😛 .

I spent one day at the hospital—showed up, they put it in after about an hour and a half, I just lay there and slept (well, "slept" is a stretch 🙄) and was discharged the next day.

The side effects for those first three days? Absolute hell... brutal nausea, pains, cramps, vomiting, and the worst part is you can't even throw up because you're hooked up to an IV. You can't sleep, you don't know how to get comfortable, whether to lie down, sit up, or just scream 😲 Honestly, you need nerves of steel for this...

The folks at the hospital told me I was a pretty average case regarding side effects; some people have it way worse, others barely feel a thing. Guess it just depends on how sensitive your stomach is.

By the fourth day, things started getting back to normal. I'm okay now, just feeling a bit weak since I haven't been eating much, but it'll be fine. Already dropped a few pounds too. Not complaining. 🙂

Totally👍 I mean, it’s pretty standard to feel wiped out for a bit while your body figures things out. It’s still a weird sensation, though, especially when you can barely eat anything.

I’m just a little lost on the IV thing—you mentioned being on an infusion for three days. Does that mean you had to swing back to the clinic for more after you got discharged on day two??
Did they give you any actual guidance—like what to expect during the adjustment phase or how to handle those first 10 days? Is the recovery process basically the same as getting a lap band?

Fair point, I totally botched my wording regarding the IV. You’re getting it while you're actually stuck in the hospital bed.
Once you finally get discharged, you're basically just living off liquids at first. For me, the first three days were a nightmare; I couldn't keep anything down. Every single thing I swallowed came right back up. It was freaking exhausting... 😲 ...it was honestly a miracle because I wasn't even dizzy or dealing with a headache.

When they let you out of the hospital, they give you discharge instructions and they're pretty decent. Can't really compare them to the ones for a laptop, though, since I don't know anything about those.

Timothy Reed8 said:I tried sending you a DM, but it's giving me some error saying you either turned off your messages or you aren't allowed to get them🙂

ugh😂

Hey ladies!
New here... Nikolić told me there were discussions online 🙂🙂 so I figured I'd pop in! Getting my gastric balloon this Tuesday.

Everything moved so fast... he’s going on vacation starting August 1st, and I guess I just got lucky since the waitlist isn't nearly as crazy as it is for the sleeve or bypass.

Honestly, I don't even know what to say, it all happened way too quick 😁😁😁 I thought I wouldn't be doing anything until fall, but hey, better sooner rather than later!

Timothy Reed8, I have a million questions for you 😁

I'm trying to gather all the info and stick to the rules like glue... feels like the only way to survive this.

If anyone can help, I'm wondering about post-op stuff:
- multivitamins
- pain meds
- what's MANDATORY to take with the balloon so it doesn't burst? (Lanzul, Ortoloc? Or something else?)

My immune system is kind of trashed, so I might need extra supplements, but I'm not sure if that's safe. What meds are you guys taking? What's the diet like? How many days am I stuck on just water? And after that? What should I stock up on now so I'm not running to the drugstore or the doctor's office later?

He mentioned I just need a referral for the hospital and gastroenterology, and that's basically it. Does anyone know how much the stay and the whole procedure costs? I don't have extra insurance coverage.

Anyway, I'm still reeling... gotta dig out my hospital gown and slippers this weekend, because by Tuesday, I'll have my little baby. 😁

What's the deal with the coffee? Is there even a decaf option... 😁

Basically, I’m still reeling. Looks like I need to dig out my hospital gown and slippers this weekend because by Tuesday, I’ll officially have my little one here. 😁

Benjamin Sanchez51, that’s awesome. 🙂

I think I’m going to give Dr. Nick a call today. I want to see if swallowing a balloon might be an option around the 8-month mark. Benjamin Sanchez51, how did you handle the payment? Did you just pay cash on the spot right after the procedure?? And what was the damage?

Hey :-) Haven't paid anything yet since my procedure isn't until next week 😁 I'll let you know the damage. Hoping the balloon is free... fingers crossed 😁😁 It sucks that there aren't any ATMs near the hospital, and I'm really not feeling the whole cash thing—plus, I don't want to leave my room unattended 😁😁

Dr. Nick (he's actually a pretty cool guy) is taking vacation starting August 1st, so you'll probably be looking at sometime in the second half of August. Seems like he doesn't take more than 2 or 3 weeks off at a time

Benjamin Sanchez51 said:Hey :-) Haven't paid anything yet since my procedure isn't until next week 😁 I'll let you know the damage. Hoping the balloon is free... fingers crossed 😁😁 It sucks that there aren't any ATMs near the hospital, and I'm really not feeling the whole cash thing—plus, I don't want to leave my room unattended 😁😁

Dr. Nick (he's actually a pretty cool guy) is taking vacation starting August 1st, so you'll probably be looking at sometime in the second half of August. Seems like he doesn't take more than 2 or 3 weeks off at a time

The last time I checked, there was an ATM over in the main administration building, just down the hall to the right of the entrance.
I'm not totally sure if it's still there, but it should be!