exfatsowannabe

Here’s my two cents as a self pay 50-something overweight (not obese, but too close) male considering going to MX for sleeve: First, don’t listen to naysayers spouting unsubstantiated nonsense about things they know nothing about. It’s your life. WLS with an experienced and competent WLS surgeon is far less risky than doing nothing, especially at your age with your whole life in front of you. Many of the answers you seek can be found on these boards, including some patients who needed follow-up WLS because their sleeves weren’t restrictive enough. I see no shame in considering WLS. Civilization is a human invention. We humans were never meant to be surrounded by the low cost high energy foods we are. It should be no surprise that a portion of the population can’t handle it and would be healthier as hunter-gatherers, never knowing when or where their next meal would be. Isn’t gotten worse here in the USA as manufacturing labor jobs have gone overseas, leaving more and more sedentary jobs as the only viable way to earn a living. For me, Lab band is just too high maintenance to consider, and for many people it can’t be left in for many years w/o complications. I’m not surprised some Insurance plans have dropped this option vs. other WLS. With the sleeve, the digestive track is maintained w/o bypass, so there’s no malabsorption if you don’t need it to lose/maintain weight. But a bypass component (duodenal switch) can be considered later if the sleeve alone proves insufficient.

Gall stones?

Aren’t NSAIDs more for minor or chronic inflammation? For acute inflammation, I prefer short term steroids like prednisone or dexamethasone to nuke inflammation. If the inflammation recurs, I go for a steroid shot in the affected area. Is there a waiting period on steroids after sleeve surgery?

Capt, show you what, favorable Almanza reviews besides yours? The fact he's done thousands of sleeves? You can read just as well as I can. Come on, your "entire broad" comment was just over the top hyperbole.

Capt, I don't get the hyperbole in your "I went against the grain of this entire board"? Most Almanza reviews are favorable, as is yours. Of the surgery center options, many seem to think he's a better choice than any in the USA, just on his experience level alone. Of course if someone insists on surgery in a hospital, then obviously Almanza isn't for them. But why write the entire board questioned your choice when only a small fraction does? Back to low cost Texas options, has anyone used this guy? http://www.texasgastricbanding.com/vertical-sleeve-gastrectomy.php

I don’t mean to upset anyone, but I’m troubled and concerned. Reading about complications, I have come to believe some surgeons are jumping on the sleeve band wagon w/o long enough mentoring or fully understanding best practices for this procedure. I remember reading a WSJ article several years ago about a cardiac surgery clinic in India doing assembly line surgery on people that in many cases USA docs would deem far too ill to be surgical candidates, and having better outcomes than the Cleveland clinic comparing procedure to procedure. With the sleeve, I can’t help but believe people just have to fare better with surgeons who have done several hundred to thousands of sleeves. Are too many wannabes doing sleeves?

Never had cancer, but on clomid for low T since age 52. I think you're making the right call doing what's right for you. You're quality of life won't be near as good w/o the T, and you have to balance that into your decision. Moreover, if the cancer recurs, it can learn to grow w/o T anyway. FWIW, the NP treating my low T is skeptical about T and prostate cancer because in her practice it’s typically guys with untreated low T that are getting prostate cancer. But who knows? On a side note, I'm very skeptic about needle biopsy. It just seems too primitive for our age. No man ever died from cancer that stayed in his prostate, and the biopsy must spread cancer cells all over the place. There has to be a better way to confirm cancer.

Bedhead, Wishing you all the best, but I'm confused. Why isn't your sleeve surgeon dealing with this?

Vickie, FWIW, I didn’t write that you were being unreasonable, but rather that from the title of your post any reasonable person would conclude you are blaming the surgeon. I can accept that blame wasn’t your intent, and you cyber screamed to gather more information in a timely fashion from other Almanza patients that may have had the same problem. But the title of your post is what it is. Until I open the thread, I thought you might be near death and warning others about a butcher surgeon wannabe that destroyed your life.

From the description, it makes little sense to blame patient or surgeon. There are just too many variables patient to patient to do that. But vickie, your disclaimer aside, the title of your post screams you are indeed blaming the surgeon. No reasonable person would conclude otherwise. That said, I wish you all the best with your follow-up surgery.

joyceob21, My apologies for my wrongful accusation. At that time two commenters said after my first “cut the crap” comment (inspired by your not mentioning Trish by name) that Trish was still booking for Dr. Kelly. Since then many have corroborated what you posted, and so, again, I apologize. So I’m back to if Trish isn’t working with him anymore, it’s case closed. There’s more than enough indication to stay away from the guy.

So the original poster on this thread is a deceitful lanceur de merde posing as someone seeking WLS and honestly posting his/her findings and inquiries. It’s scary enough for Dr Kelly’s patients he lost a patient on the table during an elective procedure. As others have pointed out, we don’t know what happened. Why pile on Dr Kelly with utter rubbish? Unbelievable!

Let’s cut the crap here. Is Trish now throwing Dr Kelly under the bus? Can someone else corroborate this? If true, it’s case closed n'est-ce pas?

I couldn;t get beyond the same genetics nonsense comparison. Since when did having same parents = same genes? Siblings are not identical twins. My wife and I have five great kids, ages 30-11. Three of our kids are normal weight and two are obese.

I hope you're not talking about Juarez across from El Paso, the most lawless town in MX?

FWIW, I'm in Houston and also contemplating VSG w/ Dr Almanza. My BMI is 29-30, but even as a self pay, many USA bariatric surgeons wouldn’t consider me heavy enough. I’m sick of dieting and gaining back. But finding a USA surgeon aside, I'm just more comfortable going to a Henry Ford of surgery, assembly line type operation with a surgeon who's done thousands of bariatric procedures. There are surgeons here doing VSG for ~$10,000 or less, but in strip mall surgery centers, not hospitals, just like Almanza. So why not go to Almanza who has far more experience?