keward

I found a great group in Houston, Texas. UT Physicians rock! They do all their sleeve procedures at Memorial Hermann in the Texas Medical Center which is a Bariatric Center of Excellence.:cool0:

I live near Katy TX. I don't know a single person that has had a sleeve, so it's really nice to have some folks to relate to.

Me....me...pick me!!! I was sleeved on January 27th in Houston. 50# down....about 50 more to go :thumbup1:

I don't know what the cost would be for a self payer. My insurance actually covered the sleeve. I had an out of pocket expense of about $2,ooo. Dr. Snyder told me he had only done about 30 sleeves, but he had done hundreds of gastric bypass procedures. He and his partner have had only one fatality and it was from post-op pulmonary embolism. I don't know if the study is still in progress, but they are also conducting a trial for the TOGA procedure. One day post op you get a swallow test first thing in the morning. My physician personally wheeled me down to x-ray, because he wanted to see the study in person in case there were any issues. I spent 2 nights in the hospital. I was ready to return to work (as a nurse) in one week, but took a full 2 weeks anyway (just because I deserved it).

Brad Snyder he is with UT Physicians. I hear his partner is really good ,as well,- Eric Wilson. This is who I was originally referred to by a very experienced OR nurse, but he was not available for an appointment. I went to Snyder instead and have been very satisfied with my results. You can find out more at www.utmist.com. I had my surgery on Jan 27th starting @ 234#. My current weight is 184 and I have never felt better.

No surgical complications at all. Just need to concentrate on drinking more water.

I have the sleeve. The clear-cut difference to me is the way food travels through your upper digestive system. With the band the restriction is concentrated to a single area of your stomach. This causes many "banders" to feel like the have an obstruction when eating too fast or eat certain foods. Most banders I know "spit -up" a lot. The sleeve maintains a more natural route of ingestion since the fact is you just have a smaller stomach. Although I strive to get all my needed prtein in every day I am still able to enjoy all the foods I have in the past including bread (in small quantities).