former_vbg

That is a bit scary. Just did a google search on that and it said: Esophageal thrush, also called Candida esophagitis, is a fungal infection of the esophagus. This infection characteristically occurs in people with a weakened immune system, including persons with leukemia or lymphoma, those receiving chemotherapy or immunosuppressive drugs, and people infected with HIV. http://www.livestrong.com/article/124290-esophageal-thrush-symptoms/ Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/article/124290-esophageal-thrush-symptoms/#ixzz1KJ9eMrbN I guess I will discuss it with my Dr. and see what he says, but boy it would be great if this would resolve the issue for me to have my surgery. I could then go back to the PPI if needed to maintain the healing.

Not only a great next chapter, but a healthier one with more mobility, less meds and better quality of life!!! Why NOT at 60 I would ask...

Thanks, no, they have me on something called Lansprazole. It's a delayed release orally disintegrating tablet. It worked almost from the first day at controlling the acid reflux. I have another EGD scheduled for May 4th. I'm wishing though I could go out and get this inhaler type of steroid now based on what I am reading of how quickly it can heal things. Going to be calling Monday and see if I can get my PCP to get me a prescription for this.

Just curious, has anyone ever used Fluticasone propionate (Flovent)? I was reading up on the use of steroidal treatments for Esophogitus and this looks quite promising. Just curious if anyone has ever used this treatment. Here are a couple of links that describe it more. http://www.medicinenet.com/eosinophilic_esophagitis/page4.htm http://www.eosinophilicesophagitishome.org/treatment/EE-treatment-swallowed-inhaled-steroids.shtml

Thank you for that suggestion. Is that normally in the form of shots or pills?

I'm sorry you are having these problems. I don't know what to suggest, but maybe see if your PCP can give you the correct prescription? Also, I'm curious- were you diagnosed with any specific grade of Esophogitus before your surgery? Like maybe A, B, C, or D? I was just told I can't have my surgery until its completely healed which seems ridiculous to me. I don't know that it will ever be completely healed, it's been a problem for so many years.

You might also check out Dr. Jay from the Dallas Bariatric Center. www.dallasbariatriccenter.com He has done some of the more complicated revisions. What is your husband wanting a revision from?

That is really cool about all the places you have lived. I have a small farm where I keep my horses and drive an F350 dual cab to pull the horses around- but I don't drive that vehicle for much else w/the price of fuel.

First, congratulations!! It's neat to hear about people in other parts of the world who have had this procedure. Do you worry about stretching your sleeve too much if you eat beyond feeling full? Do you know what size bouge your Dr. used? That might be one way to tell the size of your new stomach compared to others. Last, I have to say you seem so Americanized with your comparisons. I had to laugh when you made the comparison to an F-150 truck. Are those commonly sold there? Anyways, great to see you on the boards! Keep us posted on your journey!

Putting out an SOS for anyone in the Dallas or Plano, TX area. I am traveling out of state to Dallas for my surgery, but don't know anyone there. I was going to try to come down this Sat to have an EGD done- but I got it worked out to have a 2nd one done locally. I have a Grade C Esophogitus and the surgeon won't do surgery on me until it's improved. The EGD is an outpatient procedure, but they won't let you have the procedure unless you have someone to check out. I'm still waiting to find out when I should go back to have my EGD done locally here- no idea how to tell when the Esophogitus would be healed or improved. I hope to get an answer on that tomorrow. Anyways, planning ahead now- hoping I can have my surgery sometime in May and so the plan is once I get the clearance on my esophogitus I will have a definite surgery date. I will have another EGD a day before my surgery and that is when I will need someone to check me out from that procedure. They won't let me stay in the hospital because it is an outpatient procedure and they won't do surgery that same day. Soooo.... please anyone who can help me I would be so ever grateful! I can help with $ for gas if that helps. You wouldn't need to stay during the procedure, so hopefully maybe 30 minutes or so if we time it right would be all the time you would have to plan for. PM me if you prefer. Thank you for your help!

Thank you!!!!! I'm not sure what days they do them there, but it would be during the daytime. I won't know what day until I get the green light from another EGD up here, but I will PM you with my contact information so we can stay in touch.

Ok, I was approved to have my surgery, which is a revision from a VBG to a Sleeve. Here is the issue. The surgeon is out of state, and my original EGD (Endoscopy) showed I had a Grade C esophogitus and he won't let me schedule my surgery until I have another EGD done. I can actually go down to TX to have this done this Saturday, but they won't do it unless I am released to "someone". I am single, do not have any family anywhere in my geographic area and I don't have any friends who are available for this trip on such short notice. I am hoping someone in the Plano, TX area might be willing to "check me out" after the EGD. It is an outpatient procedure. I am currently scheduled to show up at 9:45am this morning and I think I should be done sometime around noon. I can get an exact time. I hate to put anyone out and I can give you some gas money- god knows how expensive it is getting. Anyways, if you can help- send me a PM. Thanks.

That is so kind of you. As for reposting- Thanks, I will do that. I still need to find someone, just not as quick now.

I'm not going down Saturday, its just turning out to be too much of a hassle. The surgeon won't do the surgery until he confirms personally that I no longer have Grade C Esophogitus. Ideally, he wanted to verify this before scheduling surgery, but I talked them into getting that confirmation locally and then he can just do his own scope before I have surgery. I would never ask anyone to drive me other than to someplace else local. They just wanted me to have someone check me out. I will still have to figure out having someone "check" me out when I go down there to have this procedure later after I have confirmation the Esophogitus is healed enough. But, at least I will have more time to prepare than just a few days. I have to find out how soon I can schedule my local EGD now.

They won't start the procedure if I don't have someone lined up to check me out and that would be an expensive trip for me to make to have them cancel the procedure. Believe me, I thought of that too.

Alas.... I had the VBG almost exactly 13 years ago. I was 305# at the start before that surgery and got down to 167. I didn't reach my goal weight, but I was feeling so much better about myself, was wearing size 9 jeans, receiving lots of compliments from friends, getting attention from men (something I was not used to), was able to enjoy all the outdoor activities I so love to do. I would have even been happy if I hadn't lost anymore but the problem was it didn't stay off. In the early years, I did pretty well sticking to low fat, low sugar for the most part. Then, I had some low points personally and I got off track- but while I gained some, I would bounce up and down doing the yo-yo thing. This past year has been the worst in terms of my gain, am up to 251# and HATE it. It affects how people view me at work, my personal life, family, the list goes on.... Not to mention how limiting this weight is for all the activities I love to do! There wasn't NEAR the amount of information out there about WLS then, like there is now. There was no such thing as the 5 day pouch test, no liquid diets before surgery, very little post-op support once you got off liquids. I don't think surgeons can be blamed, there just wasn't enough information to know what or how to educate their patients. I actually maintained for several years, had learned to "deal" with the dumping issues when eating dense food (regardless of how well it was chewed). To be honest, I never thought there would ever be a "second chance" because I remember vividly to this day when I had my original consult that he said this was a "ONE SHOT DEAL". It was only because I happen to accidentally run across an article last November of someone who had had a revision WLS that it made me sit up and pay attention. I immediately made a request to get a copy of my medical records from that surgery. It turned out I was lucky to get them because in that state they are only required to keep them for 10 years. I became obsessed with researching all the changes in the realm of WL surgeries, the pros, the cons. Then, learning surgeons have come up with these stupid program fees which seems to me like that at the very least unethical because if they had contracted with various ins. companies, they were agreeing to the amount they would be paid and this was their way to circumvent the process. Given that the sleeve has no maintenance like the lap band and the surgeons were still demanding it for out of state patients that likely would never set foot in their office seemed like quite the racket. So, then it was onto why some people chose one surgery over another, complications. And, then all the DRAMA around the various Dr.'s and all these accusations of fake posters to bolster reputations or attack/ report on those bad mouthing other Dr.'s was just unreal to me. This quickly turned into what felt like a cloak and dagger mission to figure out where the truth was in all this information. I found myself staying up into the wee hours of the night wanting more and more information. Then, realizing given my original surgery that having a revision surgery would be a bit more complicated than I originally thought. Very few surgeons even have any experience with VBG's, and as a result if they would do a revision on me they tried to steer me to the RNY. After all, it would be easier to do a revision to that, than take on something that required greater technical finesse and expertise. I never thought I would have to leave my local area living in a large metropolitan area- but I did. I went to a few seminars and personally they are a joke. For the person who doesn't do their homework beforehand it can appear to be informational- but as someone who already had studied all the pros and cons of all the procedures out there (more than just the mainstream), it was comical in some regards because you can tell based on how they talk about the different procedures where their surgical skills are at based on which procedure they push the hardest, ESPECIALLY if they couldn't really answer the hard questions on the other procedures or gave you non-answers. What really annoys me though is these Dr.'s are claiming success when their patients loose 50% or more of the excess body weight. So, if someone starts at 450# and assume her excess body weight would be 250#- so as long as she looses 200#, that procedure would be a success? Give me a break! Have they changed it so that if they get at least 50% of their tests right to get their medical license that they would be a success? Sorry, that just doesn't fly with me. So, back to the journey.... I remember calling Aetna to see if my policy would cover WLS, what types, revisions, etc. Even though I had coverage, I became concerned whether I would meet their criteria for having a revision because the policy bulletin was a bit generic and their customer service could offer no specific advice except to refer me to their policy bulletin. So, I went ahead and did the psych eval, the nutritionist visit, PCP records, and I also had an endoscopy done which was good because I learned I have a Grade C esophogitus (sp?) which the only worse level is D. That explains the increasing issues I have had with dense foods of almost any consistency causing them to get lodged and make my body want to repel it back out like a rocket. Talk about embarrassing in public situations. So, the slider foods became the path of least resistance. I didn't put two and two together until I started reading about others who experienced these same problems and realized what was happening. Sorry for the long story here, but I don't see too many post who have had revisions- much less from a VBG and wanted to share. I will be calling to start figuring out a surgery date, and making preparations to be out of state. I am single and w/out family or friends that can travel with me- so that does add some anxiety to this. Getting care lined up for the horses, a handicapped dog, and a few others will be a challenge- but I'll get it figured out. Then, letting my boss know I will be out for a few weeks. He will only be told I am having surgery to correct a surgery from years back and requires a specialist out of state. I'm sure he will want me to share more, but he will not prod if I don't offer. I could probably go back to work sooner, but it will be easier to go back sooner than to extend it. So, that's my story. I expect I will have my surgery the first part of May. Now I will get to go and get my post-op supplies in order. I am so thankful the insurance approval went so easy!

Thank you, that was nice of you to do that. I'll keep it in mind. I just wish they would have told me this a few weeks ago when they had all this information instead of trying to jump through hoops in just a few days. They only do Sat appts 1x a month. I'm trying to see if I can have him do the procedure a day or so before the surgery. Waiting to find out if he expects the esophogitus to be healed before surgery or if he just wants to look for himself before he does the surgery. And, I thought my hoops were done after I got my ins. approval....

Thank you. I don't need anyone to stay with me, they just want me checked out to someone. Liability issues on their part, which I understand but its a bit of a problem when traveling out of state for medical stuff. I'm driving down, it's just an 8 hr drive.

Congratulations. I have to say though, is that a little weird to be the patient in the same surgery room you have worked in before? Maybe its more of a comfort than those of who don't work in the medical field. Keep everyone posted with your journey!

Thank you for the idea. They won't release me a "taxi" type service. I am coming from out of state, otherwise I would easily be able to find someone to "check me out". I live about 8 hrs away. The church thing might be an idea though, just not sure if they would still view that as someone acting in a "taxi" capacity.

. Thank you so much Tiffykins!! You are a godsend to so many people on this board, including me. Even though we might be about the same age, I kind of see you as the godmother around here offering such helpful advice and encouragement to everyone, and at the same time calling it as you see it when appropriate. The surgeon wants to do another EGD before I can schedule surgery since I had a Grade C diagnosed. I need to find someone in the Plano, TX area who might be able to "check me out" this Saturday. It's an outpatient procedure, and well, they won't release me on my own. I can't be the only single person who has medical procedures done that can't have someone at their side everytime they get checked out of the hopsital.... Yeah, I know- liability. Sigh.... So, if anyone in the Plano, TX area might be willing to check me out around noon Saturday- I sure would appreciate it. Figure it's a long shot asking on here, but worth a shot anyways. But, again Tiffykins, thank you for all your support! This forum wouldn't be the same without you!

Thank you. I'm just glad to have a 2nd chance now!

Ok, if a person googles living will templates or samples, a ton of them come up. In order for a living will to be valid, its best to be sure to follow the guidelines set by the state you live in. Here's where I'm struggling. All the places that say they offer free samples or templates lead you down the path of getting all the way to the point of actually giving something to you but then you have to buy something or sign up for a service - but whatever it is, it really isn't free. Just looking for any referrals if anyone knows where a person can download some basic templates for living wills. I don't expect any problems going into my surgery, but I just think its best to be prepared regardless. Thanks for your help!

Thanks, I need a template. If you don't follow the guidelines by the state you live in- it can be null and void- plus it also needs to be notarized which would be pretty difficult if not impossible to do at a hospital. Thanks though.

I'm with you. Why aren't you answering any of the questions? People are sincerely trying to offer their help and support.