GreenBayGirl

Hey there! First of all....GOOD FOR YOU!!! You are going to do great! You have picked the very BEST surgeon for the sleeve, at a really nice hospital! The procedure itself is quite easy and the success you will have is astounding! I have had the sleeve, (july 2009) as well as my sister (Jan 2010) my hubby (May 2010) and friend (May 2010) Now my hairdresser is also having it in November. If you have any questions I can help you with, please let me know! Jean

I can help a bit....My sister also had cancer of the thyroid, both sides removed. She went on to have RNY and has lost 110 pounds and kept it all off. Another friend of mine and my OTHER sister just had the sleeve. Both were on thyroid medication and have lost alot of weight and are now OFF that medication. So, while everyone is different, I would say your chances are pretty good to be off the meds, and you will lose! (I promise) Good Luck to you!

I am soooo happy for you. I was excited to get below 200, you will get there too! It really works, and I cannot wait til you hit your next big milestone. CONGRATS TO YOU! Keep it up!

I also used him for myself and family members three times. There was good, there was bad and then there was ugly. If you want to know more, you can read previous posts of mine or pm me.

How much bleeding, how much blood? What color is the blood, bright red or dark? Is it mixed at all, watery? How long since your surgery? Please give more details. Hubby had this happen 3 weeks ago....let me know.

I only told two people, hubby and bff. When anyone asked anything I simply state that I am eating alot less and exercising, which is true. I never feel compelled to say more unless I WANT to.

Hey Guys, Got the sleeve July 16, 2009. Hubby just got his May 14th, and starts mushies today so he is really excited. My sister got hers at the end of January. My girlfriend went with us in May and got one also. We all went to Mexico. Since I am the "old timer" if you have any questions, ask!

Wow, I just found this thread and I am SOOOO happy for you! I hope you had a wonderful time and felt like Cinderella. You look fantastic!

My sister had RNY and 8 months later had a serious gall bladder attack while on business in Washington DC. I had the sleeve in July of 2009, and had continual problems with my gall bladder until March 2010 when they took it out. When hubby wnet for his sleeve a few weeks ago, we opted to have his removed at the same time, hopefully saving him the incredible pain and expense I went through. Just my 2 cents.

FYI .......Orpah did a show with Dr. Oz not that long ago where this was discussed....see answer below... Men can make their penises bigger. If you are overweight, losing 35 pounds adds one inch to the penis. Unfortunately, this rate of "growth" slows as you lose weight. Technically, you're not actually making it grow but, rather, losing the pelvic fat that's currently covering it. As you gain weight, the fat engulfs your penis and crowds out the light and you may begin to feel that it's "out of sight... See More Answers ?

I am so sorry to hear about your complications. My hubby had a sleeve on the 14th and he too had some complications, (leak) bloodloss, etc. All I can tell you is to hang in there, I will keep you in my thoughts and prayers.

Hey Jamaica! Glad to hear you're doing good! Your post was good! I loved the "another couple" part. Talk to you soon.

At the risk of being beaten silly by both sides, (I told you so *VS* I don't believe that happened) I will post our experience. I am making every effort to post this without drama, exaggeration or too much emotion.....bear with me. Hubby's surgery was Friday, May 14th at 4. He was the 3rd and final sleeve of the day. The sleeve at 2 pm was our friend Julie. Both Julie and Robert opted (wisely IMO) to have their gall bladder out for an additional fee as both myself and sister had alot of issues and had to have ours removed anyway 6 months later. Dr Almanza had no problem doing his sleeve, but his gall bladder was unusual because it was atrophied, attached itself to his liver and was difficult to remove, so surgery took a bit longer. Initially recovery seemed to be fine, but within an hour or so his gown was soaked with blood, and his JP drain full, and there was blood coming out of his penrose port. The nurse came in and changed his bandages, got him another gown and emptied his drain. Within 2 hours, we went through the same issue, and this continued throughout the evening. In the morning I insisted on speaking with Dr Almanza, who is not normally available on the weekend. (he was doing a sleeve Sat. morning on one of the floor nurses) He and Betencort both came in to see Robert, and said not to worry about this as it was dark blood, meaning old blood from the stomach. By noon, he was getting worse and it was clear it was NOT old blood, but bright red. It was soaked through the kotex type pads they had started using and through his gown and onto his sheets and dripping onto the floor. He was in alot of pain and very weak. Since Dr Almanza was still there, I asked for him again. We discussed what might be the issue and ordered a CBC, EKG and possibly an ultrasound. Although Robert was reluctant to go for the ultrasound because he was so weak, they stated if the CBC came back fine, it would not be necessary. EKG was normal, CBC was at 13.6 (normal range) so it was a wait and see deal. At ALL times his vitals were stable. (I took a BP cuff and thermal scan thermometer with me) *added* * It was also discussed what would happen if he were to need blood, and it was verified that there is a Red Cross Blood Bank 2 blocks away that is able to get it there within 20 minutes, that was reassuring.* Saturday evening, he was bleeding much worse, and by Sunday at 5 AM I called Melissa and said "I don't feel like this is being taken seriously" She immediately called Betencort, who has to call Dr Almanza......I called her again at 7:30am and was told Dr Almanza would be there within the hour and if not by 9 am to call her back. I called her back at 9, and she said she would keep trying. We were then taken to the Radiologist Office for the final leak test. Although it was not a terribly long wait, Robert became so weak he could not sit in the chairs well, and I took him out to the van. Dr Almanza arrived, retrieved his X Ray, and came over to talk to us. He took one look at Robert and his bandages, and immediately said "we have to go back to the hospital." He told us it was a surface bleed in the surface of the stomach wall and he would take him into the Recovery room and cauterize it, no problem, about 30 minutes. It's about a 15 minute drive back to Jerusalem, and Dr. Almanza beat us there by at least 5 minutes. When we got there, they had him put on a gown, but then came in to wrap his legs, which we thought was odd. Then they brought him a surgical hat....hmmmmm.....with 1-2 minutes they had him walk into the OR, and he was gone. I was quickly on the phone calling Melissa because neither Robert or I had any idea what was happening. I believe at this point Dr. Almanza simply mis spoke when he said recovery room, and meant OR. Melissa confirmed to me that he was going into the OR and that he was in fact only going to be 30 minutes, and a minor deal of cauterizing with twilight sedation. Within 15 minutes of hubby and I getting to Jerusalem, Dr Almanza had his surgical team in place, scrubbed and gowned.....very impressive. Again, this was not an emergency situation and his vitals were all NORMAL. Dr Almanza stated again that this was not serious, but it was more blood loss than he was comfortable with. At the one hour mark, I knew nothing, at the 1 1/2 hour mark, I was getting really concerned. I was able to look into the OR and see them working, so I went back into his room and sat down. At 1 hour 45 minutes he was finished. Both Dr Almanza and Dr Lopez came out to tell me he had a leak on the staple line at the very tip. It was very very small, but they used a small gall bladder size staple and then cauterized. They were unable to use twilight sedation because he had drank his blue juice and contrast, and it was safer to intubate him. It was NOT a gastric leak, but none the less a leak on the staple line. They said he would be fine, albeit weak for a few days. I was relieved. I was also impressed they told me about the leak and such, because they were honest. They could have just said it was that surface bleed in the stomach wall, but they didn't. It was now 2:30, and everyone left but one "nurse." This is where it gets ugly. The building is empty except for Robert and I in the Recovery room and "Israel" his nurse. Robert is on oxygen and a Pulse Ox on his finger. As he is coming around, he is in alot of pain. He has now had 3 surgeries in 48 hours...to be expected. Within the first 30 minutes, his bandages are again soaked with blood as is his gown and sheet and blood is dripping on the floor. Where is the nurse? No idea.....we press the call button only to later find out it doesn't work, I yell for him.....nothing...... without going into all the details....this is how it went all night and into the next morning. Most, but not all, of the evening his vitals were stable. Israel does not speak or understand ONE SINGLE word of English. We were left alone with him for 16 hours. I had to continually call Melissa, who had to call Betencort, who had to call Israel in order to get ANYTHING! He went through about 10 gowns, which I had to bug him to go and get, 5-6 sheets which I had to insist he change......etc. Much of the time I could not find him at all. I do know that he cleaned up the OR at some point, but I don't remember what time that was. Robert finally settled down at 2 am. At first I was not concerned because both Melissa and I believed Sevarro was coming on at pm. He speaks perfect English and is truly a top notch nurse. When I was informed that we were stuck with Israel, it was quite upsetting, and I believe dangerous. I spent the entire night changing his gown and bedding and wiping up the floor and continually trying to find his nurse for toileting, etc It was not a good situation. At one point over the course of about 3-4 of those hours his blood pressure was very low, he had lost alot of blood and it was becoming alarming. *added* Hubby just reminded me I should add this part. He had a terrible reaction coming out of anethesia also. Not dangerous really, but not the norm. He was agitated, beligerant and rude (to me) and didn't make any sense. At one point , he took his own IV pole and walked across the hall to another room. I told this to Betencort the next day, and he stated that this is not all that unusual, it just happens. It was so out of his character, he is terribly embarassed, and remembers nothing. By 6:30 am Monday, Betencort was in, and although Robert was weak, he was feeling pretty good. I asked him to call Dr. Almanza to see if he was medically safe to fly, and he said he was. Once surgery was over at 2:15 pm Sunday, we never saw him again. He never came on Sunday evening or Monday morning to check on him, no one did til Betencort arrived the next day. His vitals were normal, and although they did offer to have us stay another day or two, since he was stable and in all the normal ranges, we decided to go ahead and head home. He definitely needed the wheelchair on both ends of the airport as he was just too weak to walk that far. We had someone pick us up as I was also too tired to drive having been up many days with nearly no sleep. We are home now, he is weak, but seems fine. All in all there were some really good things, some not so good, and some really dangerous (in my opinion) Really good... Speed with which the surgical team was in place once Dr Almanza saw Robert on Sunday. He must have made calls very quickly on his cell between the X Ray clinic and Jerusalem Melissa - although she has NO DIRECT ACCESS to Dr Almanza, she made absolutely every effort to do whatever she possibly could to help Robert and I. The staples and gauze, etc are all perfectly fine, despite the crazy rumors. Sevarro is a really good nurse, perfect English, but after 5 am on Saturday he was gone. Honesty in telling me what really happened in the OR. Dr Lopez is top notch, speaks perfect English, and most of all genuine and reassuring. Not so good- Being continually told by the other 3 nurses when we asked about all the blood....."it's normal" even when it was OBVIOUS it was not. 3 of the 5 nurses speak NO english at all........and I personally am uncomfortable with Claudia administering anything through an IV or starting one, etc. She is a "nursing assistant" and only 16 years old. When I was there in Jan, I only saw her doing bandage changes, etc, but not this time. The dangerous - (in my opinion) Being left completely alone, for all practical purposes with no way to communicate to anyone other than Melissa who was in Las Vegas at her home. When his blood pressure dropped alarmingly low again, Israel was no where around. If it had continued, I am not sure he could have done a thing, IF I could have found him. The OR was left exactly as it was when they finished. Looked like a tornado hit it. I am sure this is how it looks everywhere after surgery, however, had he needed to go back in, it would have taken a fair amount of time to clean and restock. Although they felt certain they had found the leak causing all the bleeding, he continued to bleed rather uncontrollably for quite some time. For 16 hours I changed his sheets, re gowned him, and wiped up the blood on the floor. Israel did almost nothing. Is it fair to punish the whole place for the fact that not only was he a crappy nurse but lazy? Absolutely not. However, the buck stops somewhere. This is their staff, and it was woefully inadequate and in *my* opinion dangerous. While this was not life or death, it was serious, and COULD have been more so over night. We were left with an incompetent/lazy person who cannot speak or understand any English. I personally question whether he OR Alejandro are nurses, but that's another debate. Had Hubby coded or started bleeding again, I fear this might not have ended the way it did. What could they have done differently? Betencort, or Dr Brenda or anyone bilingual should have been left with us to make sure he was safe. It's just that simple. After what had just happened, at the very least, that should have been the norm, and it wasn't. My deepest fear is that some day their luck is going to run out, and somebody is going to die. It won't be because of something in the OR, but because the staff is simply not as qualified or attentive as they should be. I hope and pray that I am wrong. I am happy to answer any questions by PM or email or phone, info at bottom. Please refrain from bashing, as we have been through enough. One last thing to make clear: WE IN NO WAY HOLD ANY ILL WILL TOWARDS DR ALMANZA. We still feel he is a competent qualified surgeon and the leak was not his fault, rather a complication or possibility of surgery. He was in that 1-2 % group....bummer. However, Robert was his ONLY patient at this point, as the 2 others had been sent to the recovery house, AND he had just had a second surgery. One would THINK that he would have come to check on him at some point Sunday evening or Monday before we left at 8:30 am. He did not. We also hold him absolutely accountable/responsible for what we feel was a frightening and dangerous situation being left at the clinic basically on our own. The buck stops with him, it is his clinic and his staff, such as it is. Since this was my 3rd trip, I feel I have a fair view of the process here. I have now spent 13 days on 3 seperate trips here. You can read any of my other posts from my other two trips and conclude that this was NOT an easy post to write. I am as surprised and disappointed and upset as anyone. I can only post our experience. I believe I was fair. Our friend Julie who had a sleeve on the same day is great, and other than the language barrier has no real complaints. I personally would conclude that the people in that 98% with no complications at all will do great. My concern is those people in the 1-2 %. *added* I had talked to Dr. Almanza before the FIRST surgery about the masks over the nose and he assured me that they would do so. I don't know about the first surgery, but I do know about the second one, because I saw it with my own eyes, and they DID NOT have masks over the nose, not any of them. I have posted as honestly and accurately as possible, thanks for reading. jeangreggs@hotmail.com 920-434-8053

Ok, so I started out thinking that lap band was fo me, but with diligent research decided to go with the sleeve. Thanks to everybody who posts on these sites, as it is INVALUABLE to us newbies to devour everything we can find. I am now at a crossroad trying to decide on the doctor. While it seems clear that Dr Aceves is an outstanding "sleever" I am having a bit of dificulty handling the logistics of using him in Mexicali. I know there are other doctors out there, but like anything they all seem to come with a mixed bag of reviews from glowing to frightening. While cost is definitely a factor (let's be honest here) I can honestly say it is not my main concern. With that said, would/could anyone tell me their opinions about the other sleeve doctors out there...........Ceron, Almanza, verboonen, Joya, etc If I cannot make it work to go with Aceves, I would love to have a great second choice that is balanced, informed, and researched. Also, if anyone has any great insight into financing I would also like to hear that as well. Thanks so much to each of you for your painstaking details and opinions. I value each one I read, even those I really disagree with give me insight into what I want and do not want to do. While I feel comfortable with my decision of the particular precedure, I am not quite settled on the local or physician, and really want to get that firmed up so I can proceed. Thank you all!

Please.................for all us newbies.........can we resume and agree to disagree? I have read these boards for weeks prior to making a decision and value each of your opinions. I have great respect for each of you because I truly believe that everyone of us has something to offer by not only our experience, but by our questions. It feels at times a bit like going home for Christmas. You kinda know you aren't gonna agree with Mom, or Grandma, or that creepy guy your sister married about George Bush OR Barack Obama, so you do your very best to avoid those topics of known contention. However it can still be possible to speak freely one on one with any of them just fine without it escalating into personal attacks and a brawl. I am grateful to have all opinions and the constant thread of DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH, which should be the mandate given to each of us. I would imagaine that we each had to come to the realization we were too over weight to get it handled alone, then to decide we were going to Mexico against the wishes of family and friends. Now to decide on the type of surgery we are having, and finally on the surgeon himself. I think it behooves each of us to make those decisions with the best information we can get. Once that decision is made........all of us are in desperate need of hand holding, support, coaching and acceptance. We really gotta do better to treat each other with all the dignity and respect we all desire. Please, let's try to refrain from any more personal attacks, name calling and anything that might detract what we hope to accomplish from this site. There is an incredible amount of valuable information on here and it would be sad to have people driven away by the fighting. Kinda like when your Mom and Sister are having a feud and both want you to take their side....haven't we all been there??? While I may agree or disagree with each or any one of you, I do appreciate your point of view, but I beg everyone.... Please let's get back to truly supporting each other whatever that decision might be. Thank you to everyone and please keep posting. (No throwing sand.)

I have read and researched for quite some time, and I would truly love to use Dr Aceves, however I was looking for a second choice as I might not be able to afford him and there are other doctors out there for less. Again, I am not driven by the lowest price, but $2000+ difference in many of these doctors is alot to consider. Specifically I am wondering about Dr. Ceron, Dr. Ortega and Dr. Almanza. If anyone has an opinion, good or bad, I would really be interested. My PCP really wants me to have this surgery and get the weight off, although I am only a 35.2 BMI, as it would be healthier for my heart after a recent mild heart attack. The extra $$2000+ for Dr Aceves may put my surgery off another year, so I was looking for anther option. I am working hard at coming up with the financing, so if I get lucky and can do the full amount for Dr Aceves, I will go ahead, but if not, I am not sure it's in my best intersest to wait another entire year, IF there is another good quality VSG doctor out there. Any input welcome. Thanks sleevers.

Hey Sleevers...... Am new here too, and in the process of getting in with Dr Aceves.......VegasAngel...you have been soooooo helpful to me in reading your posts. They are recent and help me to look forward to getting things going. I am still working on logistics, so am cautiously optimistic I will be sleeved in the next few weeks. Thanks for the info about the heating pad, I would never have thought about that. And the Puffs? You mean like any kind of tissues, right? Any info is so helpful. Thanks