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Hi everyone I just wanted to say a few words that may help any of you who are on the fence with your surgery plans. I was the worst when it came to waffling on this desicion. I cancelled one surgery date & very nearly cancelled the second one. I was scared to death of possible complications from the surgery. I am a pilot so I felt stuck with the idea of staying where I was & losing my medical because of weight related issues or having the surgery and possibly losing my medical due to complications. I only looked at and focused on the possible negatives, not the positives. Well finally I reached out to folks on this site & received the ass chewing that i had coming. It brought me the insight on myself that i needed to have, and im greatful for all of the advice I received! I finally had my surgery on May, 5 2011 with Dr. Bellenger, who is awesome by the way, in Gonzales, La. Im from Wisconsin. I must say it went off without a hitch. I never had a single problem of any kind from the moment I woke up in recovery. I didnt even take any pain meds the entire time i was in the hospital. I spent one night and was discharged the next morning. I took Prilosec for one month following surgery as was prescribed and have not needed anything since. Ive never thrown up since the day of surgery and I can eat anything I want, albeit in smaller quantities then before. I try to follow the diet as close as I can and I work out regularly. I started at 267 and hit a low of 178 about 7 months after surgery. Im holding at 180 and am almost 8 months out. I think my BMI started at 37 and Im currently at 24. I run abouut 20 miles a week and try to lift free weights a little each time im in the gym. Anyway, I just wanted to drop a line for any of you who are as worried as I was. I can only speak for myself but I believe this is one of the best desicions of my life! It has saved my aviation career & most likely saved my life. I am healthier now at 41 then I was at 21. My only regret of course is that I did not do this much sooner, but i try everyday to not look back, only forward, and I feel the future is bright! So good luck to all of you and anyone who is nervous and has questions feel free to pm me. Thanks & good luck!

Hey eveyone. I have not been on here much since my surgery but i have a question for anyone who can help. Im sure this topic has been discussed before but i cant find anything on it. My surgery was 7 months ago & all has went perfectly. I started at 267 and am down to 180. All is well except some loose skin in my abdomen area. Its not bad at all but im assuming all the sit ups in the world wont tighten the loose skin up. I also shold mention im 41 now so its all part of my age as well. Im wondering if there is a lotion or ointment or something that has helped anone else?? I dont have stretch marks or anything just loose skin. Any suggestions would be appreciated! Thanks!

I have inquired about this myself, but my plan was clear liquids for 3 days, full liquids until 14 days out, then soft foods until one month out, then normal foods as tolerated. However my plan seems much more lax than most on this site. Yours seems a bit more typical. I may extend the soft foods on my own for an extra week just to play it safe. Im 3 weeks out now and everything has gone down well so far. Good luck! Jason

I cant believe you were on clear liquids for 14 days! These dr's are all so vastly different! My Dr's plan was clears for 3 days then full liquids until 2 weeks out, then soft foods until 1 month out, then normal food. I keep worrying im going to damage something because most of you guys have a much more strict plan early out. Im almost 3 weeks and all has been fine so far. I quess this is the way he has always done it so i have to trust him it just seems too quick compared to everyone else.

Im 18 days out & have been sailing through this with no problems (knock on wood!). One small issue though that is becoming annoying is I wake up every night at about 2 or 3o'clock with horrible cotton mouth. I get some water but have trouble going back to sleep. Im drinking lots of water. Some plain & some with crystal light pure. I was drinking isopure but now that im on soft foods i quit that and have not seen any improvement yet. Before surgery I was an enormous diet dr pepper drinker and never experienced this. Now that all im drinking is water it seems strange this would be going on. Anyone else experience this or have a possible remedy?

I went to Dr. Bellenger on May 5th, 2011. I thought he was very professional & he claims to have a very low complication rate. They told me they have never had a leak. I hope thats true as I'm still worrying about it everyday but unfortunately that's my nature. My surgery went perfect. From the moment I awoke I never had any nausea or much pain. I took one dose of pain meds the first night before bed about 12 hours after surgery but only because the nurses couldn't believe I hadn't taken any yet. I also have had no problems with liquids at all. Drinking at least 60oz a day. I started mushies today at 15 days out & they have gone well so far. His Blis coverage is what attracted me. I am from Wisconsin so I went a long way because I was impressed with my research on him. They also told me that they have never made a claim on their Blis coverage ( I think about 3 years) so I took that as a good sign. Good luck and if you want more info you can PM me.

It seems that most of the folks on here have a much more restrictive post-op plan then mine. I was on clear liquids for 3 days and then full liquids until day 14 (this Thursday). After that its mushies until I am one month out, then whatever I want. I seems like almost everyone else is on liquids & mushies much longer. I went to a very experienced surgeon in Louisiana and this is the way he has done it succesfully for a long time. It just worries me as I have had no problems at all to this point. I dont want to screw it all up by starting to eat too soon. Your thoughts?

I used Dr Bellenger in Gonzales. Im from Wisconsin & am a self pay. He has the Blis coverage for self payers which was important to me. I understand that he is one of their best covered surgeons. Since he has been using Blis they have not made a claim for a complication. For my sake I hope the streak continues! Good Luck!

I also had my surgery on 5/5/11 & have felt no restriction at all. Cant eat cream soups with ease and drink tons of liquids. Now i seem to be different then most on this site. Im more worried about getting to mushies then solids and only being able to eat 2 or 3 bites. That seems abnormal to me. I want to lose weight obviously but I hope I dont get just three bites of dinner the rest of my life. That will seem more like a handicap then a tool. Also how can we keep our bodies nourished on that small amount. Im worrying about that alot.

I am confused. I am only 6 days post op but ive been reading this site & watching you tube vids for 2 years. Ive seen where people 7 or 8 weeks out go to a restaurant and eat half of an 8oz steak and a couple bites of a veggie. Then you read where people say they get full after only 3 or 4 bites obviously small ones. That doesent sound like enough to even survive on. So I guess my question is this. Is it different for everyone or can you just get more in the futher out from surgery? That doesent explain these 8 weekers eating half a steak or one slice of pizza. That would feel being close to normal to me but only 3 or 4 bites of dinner everyday doesnt. Anyone??

Thanks to all who gave me the advice i needed when I was thinking of cancelling. I pressed on & had my sleeve done yesterday. Had no problems at all including no nausea. Was discharged today at noon. Just sipping Isopure & water hoping it continues to go well. It all seemed to go too smoothly so I am hoping it continues this way! I am flying back home on Sunday. Thanks again for all of the encouragement. I guess now the real work begins.

I have mostly been reading on this site for the past year but have not said much. I am scheduled to have VSG surgery next Thursday May, 5th. I was suppose to have it late last August but cancelled due to the fact that this scares the crap out of me! Thinking of cancelling again but if I do then thats it, I wont try a 3rd time. I have a job where my health is required and if type II diabetes arrives it will be all over. Already have high BP and diabetes is probably next. Im scared to death of possible complications there by also causing job problems and even more scared of life afterwards i.e. not being normal anymore cuz i cant eat anything. I already know im an idiot. Any other advice?

Thanks for putting it that way iegal. I like it when people speak their mind & not just hand out lip service! A good kick in the ass is just what i need. Thanks!

Thank you to all for your great advice. I will try to put fears aside and use my better judgement. Thanks again!

Does anyone know of any reasonable self pay vsg surgeons in minneapolis, MN?

Is it true that dr Aceves has never had a leak? I find that difficult to believe. What is the cost with him for a sleeve if anyone knows. I was planning on going to Dr Umbach in Vegas but after reading so much positive things on dr Aceves i may reconsider. Any info would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you very much I will try to find him.

I am a corporate pilot who has been considering VSG for some time now but am nervous as to whether the FAA will have a fit about it or not. I have read many conflicting things on the internet and cant get a clear answer from the FAA either. I am wondering if there are any other pilots out there that have had this surgery and how their medical certification went with the feds following surgery. Anyone???