jbtcat

I am just over 3 months Sleeved. In the last few weeks, when I either start to eat or drink I get a sharp pain that last 3-10 mins. then I am able to drink or eat. It does not matter when drinking if it hot, cold or room temp. With food, I am taking small bites and chew very well. I had a lap-band for 19 months and I learned the hard way about eating too fast or too large of a bite. I did have this happen with the band, but it was only the first week after surgery. If you had this problems, how long did it take to resolve or what was done to help? Thanks,

I am doing injectable B-12. Per my doctor I will be injecting 1 cc every week and if needed I could do 1 cc 2-3 times a week if needed for energy. I just did my 3 month blood work and I was at 505 pg/mL with the "normal" limits 211-946 pg/mL. My surgeon start treatment if you fall below 400, but my primary is a little more pro-active.

I had my Sleeve on a Tuesday and I got a massage the following Wednesday after my pain ball was removed. My masseuse has a memory foam topped table so I was fine with it. Just tell the masseuse that you had surgery. He was a little more gentle on my lower back than normal the first time post surgery. I got my band on a Friday and I had a massage Sunday- it help to be friends with a masseuse. I have been getting massages about every other week since I got my Sleeve.

Jim K- I had GERD before I got the band, it was control with Rx. I did go from one Protonix to two a day with the band. I am now a little over 3 months post sleeve and I take one every day and once in a while I do take the second one. I have gone over a week with out take any and just started to get the acid, so I went back on one a day. My first surgeon was not willing to do a sleeve on me because he thought I would have all the same problems as I did with the band. I found a new doctor who though all my problems were cause by the band intolerance. I am so glad I fought to get the sleeve. I am so much happier not being in chronic pain. I have people who do not see me every day say I look a 1000 percent better than I did with the band. I had thought that I had covered all the problems I was having, but I guess not. The final decision is yours and your doctor. You can always say that you are following your doctor order to lose weight.

I was cash pay for my sleeve due to an exclusion of a second WLS. I was a revision from a band (it was off a little more than a year) to a Sleeve. I had a higher risk of problems due to being a revision and the fact that I have many auto-immune diseases. I was rocking along for the first 10 days. The tenth day I did an hour of PT from a different surgery in Dec, had a hair cut and went grocery shopping. I woke up about 4 a.m. the next day in discomfort, but I was able to go back to sleep. When I woke up at 6 a.m. I was running a 101.6 temp. I called the office and was told to go to the hospital where I had surgery. I spent 6 hours in the ER before I was admitted to the hospital. I was in the hospital for 5 days on IV antibiotics for a possible leak or an infection of the staple line. I was admitted with the diagnoses of abdominal pain. The hospital is out of my insurance network, so I was dreading the bill. When I got my bill, I found that the insurance company paid for everything except for about $2000 as my copay.

There is a group located at University General Hospital that meets at 6:30p the second Wednesday of the month. There are a mixture of surgeries- band, by-pass, sleeve and at least one DS. May's meeting we are going to take a tour of the Kroger's on Main Street just south of the Med Center. I like this group because there is a mixture of people- some pre-op, just had surgery, and those that are more than 5 years out (there was one 10 years post at the last meeting). This is open to all who had surgery, want to learn about the surgery and the support people in your life if they want to attend. We have a wife who had RnY who husband always attend, a daughter who's mother had surgery.

How much Protein did your doctor tell you to get in a day? I was a cash pay revision from a band to the sleeve, I missed a lot of the education about the sleeve. My initial education was for a RnY, but I was change to a band a week before surgery due to a change in health. I know each WLS has is own requirements.

I used Dr. Garth Davis for my band and removal. When I was looking around for another doctor to revise me to a Sleeve I went to several different seminars. With Dr. Eric Wilson I did not think he was listening to me and my medical problems (6-8 different autoimmune disease), it was like I was a walking bank to help pay for the vacation he was planning. With Dr. Marvin- he listen to me about my medical problems, he really cares about his clients. I also like that he was a trauma surgeon who could also do the critical care if needed. I know when I was re-admitted to the hospital 11 post op due to a temp of 101.6 with a possible leak or an infection I received the best care. Just an FYI- when Dr. Davis removed my band in 12/09 he left part of the band tubing behind. I wondered why I was still having some of the problems after the band was removed- found out when I got Sleeved.

Dr. Marvin is a great doctor. He is the doctor who revised me to a sleeve from the Lap-Band. I like the fact he use to be a trauma surgeon so he has experiences when things are difficult.

You can do the liquid diet. For my first surgery I had to lose 10% of my weight. I did a medically supervised liquid diet for 63 days with three meals that I cheated on (with the doctors permission)- high Protein, low carb. Find something to do with your hands. I learned to crochet during my diet.

I wish that I could have had this to begin with. I know I am not losing as fast because I need to exercise more, but I have to balance how much I do. If I do too much one day, my arthritis will make me pay the next day. I have lost more with the sleeve than I did with the band. I am losing large amount of inches, even if it does not show on the scale. I have gone down one pant size from 22 to a 20 since surgery. If I did not have a 20-30 pound apron I would be in smaller pants. I should not complain- I started out wearing 32-34 pants and 4 XL shirt. I am now wearing 20 pants and large shirts. I can wear 1x skirts. The first photo is from 12/25/07, my weigh was around 330. The second photo is 16 weeks post band. The last photo is from this month. I am wearing a large shirt and 2x pants that are too big.

I had the band between 30May08-29Dec09. I went in for adjustments at least 3 times a month (or more); one to get Fluid in, and 2-3 to remove fluid. At 33 weeks post op, I had been total unfilled for 20 of those weeks because of problems I was having with the band. I travel a lot. I had my stomach move to cause slips that were very bad, but the band was always in the correct place. I flew to Copenhagen one weekend and spent the day I was there praying to the porcelain god. I was not scheduled to get a Lap-Band originally, but to get a by-pass. I got results of some routine blood work showing that I might have Lupus (or Lupus-like Syndrome) two weeks before I was schedule for surgery. The doctor at the time would not do the RnY because of the possible Lupus (he had clients in the past who had lot of trouble because of the damage done to the digestive track). I was going to one of the best surgeons in town so I did the Lap-Band. My doctor knew of my full medical history including the fact that I have Psoriatic Arthritis (a connective tissue disease). I should never have been banded. Less than a month later the makers of the Lap-Band started to say people with a first degree relative with connective tissue disease should not get the band. I did not want to lose my band, but at then end even totally empty, I still could not eat even SF pudding with out pain, let alone trying to drink anything. I was told by the original surgeon that he would consider doing a sleeve if I followed his medically supervised diet- which I gained 20 pounds while following it to a T. He changed his mind at the first follow up visit stating because I had all the problems with the band I would have the same problems with the sleeve. It took me 6 months to find another surgeon who would touch my case and I cash paid for the surgery in Jan. I have had very little problems with the sleeve, except for a possible leak on day 11. Oh, the original surgeon left part of the tubing behind when he removed the band... I was still having problems like when I had the band. I did not know until I got the sleeve done and found the piece of the tubing.

Thanks

I started going to support meetings 10/31/07 and have gone since. I had been attending two different hospitals open meetings. The one that I started with went through a lot of growing pains because of the TV show "Big Medicine" with the Davis. It grew too big- more than 400 people monthly. Now because of program changes it is down to around 50 - almost all who show the one time before surgery and never again seen. The second group is a smaller one- around 30 people give or take, 95% have had a WLS any where from last month to more 10 years. There is a large core group that shows up every month. My current surgeon does not have a support meeting. My old surgeon started to go vegan and that made for strange meetings. They are also held on a day that I work.

I was revised to a sleeve in Jan and ended up readmitted to the hospital 11 days later with a possible leak. I was glad I had the surgery done locally because I ended up very sick- on IV antibiotics for 5 days. I know, even working for an airline, I did not want to fly internationally when I am sick- I did it 3 times with the band. I know I could not afford a last minuet ticket to make sure I could be seen by my surgeon. Driving 15 min at the ER was bad enough- I was glad it was 5 a.m. on a Sat so there was no traffic. Driving an hour plus at least a 2 hour flight with a temp over 101 would not been pretty. I also do not speak any Spanish- so getting a taxi in a Mexican city to go to the doctor office or the hospital would have been fun. I will admit I have multiple auto-immune diseases so being exposed to "foreign" bugs could have made me sick too. Many of the reasons that I should never have been banded- my doctor knew of my diseases.