Spiritus

My surgery date is April 6th! Perfect timing as my school break starts that Friday after! Any other Kaiser Harbor City patients? I'm on a low cal/carb diet to lose at least 15lbs before my surgery (doctor's orders)....hopefully will lose more than that in 3 months! The only issue is that I want a larger sleeve, right now he is offering me a 36FR. I know the difference between the other sizes are minimal, but this is for my peace of mind. I am hoping for no smaller than a 40FR.

Thanks Suzanne! I am officially 9 days out from surgery and am just starting to get tired of clear liquids. The only way I can get down my Isopure is mixing it 50/50 with water. I have my post op appt with my surgeon next Monday and then I will move to full liquids. I can't wait!! I am still so NOT hungry and I can only hope that I can swallow the full protein shakes with grace. Thank you for posting your regimen...it does give hope that one day, we will be behind all the fear of eating because of our recent surgeries.

Is it too late to add me?? I had my surgery on August 10th!

I was sleeved on August 10th and Thank God, I feel so much better! The first several days were so-so, but after day 5...everything is easier! I am only getting in 40grs of protein and almost 60 oz of water but it does get better everyday! I have not weighed myself coming home, I will rely (for now) on the surgeon's scale. My first post op appointment is next Monday .... yea...No More Staples!

36 Ewald tube..

My band was installed in Oct 2007 and removed in February 2011. My sleeve was placed August 10, 2011. My surgeon said he could've performed a direct revision but I had chickened out at the very last second. I waited 6 months but I believe it was for a good reason. The scar tissue is softer if you wait between, easier to manuever/peel around and the 6 months allowed me to see exactly what I was up against, as far as weight gain, if I decided NOT to have sleeve surgery.

My band was placed in Oct of 2007. From the beginning, I was having issues with getting stuck, pb'ing and finally a slip. Several fills and unfills later I finally admitted that I needed permanent help that would allow me to EAT NORMALLY without fear of vomiting. My band was very touchy, if I had a bad day or upset in anyway....it always tightened up..it had it's own emotional mind. There were blocks of several days in a row that I would have to revert back to a liquid diet because medical staff thought I was gourging or not chewing well enough. As you all know who have had the band, we all become excellent chewers and learned how to swallow in tiny segments. I switched insurances and was immediately referred to their Bariatric department. I could not have been happier to find a BD that didn't like the band and told me of my options....the main one being VSG. So, I had my band removed in February of 2011 and just about 5 days ago had my sleeve surgery. I was given the promise that with the VSG, you will finally feel full....will not PB unless you overstuff yourself ( but this time with a VSG you will actually be able to feel fullness) and will not have to deal with a lot of malabsorbtion as with other surgeries. ] In a nutshell, VSG is suppose to be exactly what LapBand said it would be and if you look at it, the surgery itself, it makes sense....the remaining stomach will feel full when it is full....no double stomach! So, while right now I am wiped out and worried about getting a leak.....I am taking this slowly and hoping for the best. What I do know is, that if this will be my last surgery. The anxiety that I had before surgery was too much for me to handle alone. Thank God my surgeon prescribed me lorazapam the 10 days before surgery. I would've cancelled on him again if he hadn't done that. I had this VSG surgery so I can get control of my weight. I am getting older now and I feel every pound and white hair on my body. Yet, I want to be able to eat normally, know when I am full and not have to deal with a foreign object inside my body, which would eventually have to be replaced/removed anyway. I remember going to a WLS seminar in Camarillo, the doctors talking about VSG to themselves....they scoffed at it, didn't believe a "banana" shaped stomach would help the brain accept fullness like the band. If I would've know that VSG was just starting to become available in limited offices, I might have gone out to those seminars instead of wasting.time at band seminiars.

I am scared and afraid I'm going to have complications! My band was removed in February and six months later here I am getting my sleeve. I'm at Kaiser Harbor City.....I just had my lorazapam and getting ready to go to bed for early check in Please pray for me!!

Thanks - will do!!

Congratulations! My surgery is on April 6th in Harbor City Kaiser - we'll be April Sleeve Sisters!

I am having my revision surgery on April 6th with Dr Edward Mun. Does anybody have information regarding VSG with him? My surgery will be at Kaiser Harbor City.

I am lost too, that is where all my posts were since I just barely registered for surgery in April!

I have my surgery date set for April 6th with Dr Mun at Kaiser Harbor City. Does anybody know any information regarding his VSG experience?

Hey There! I have the new Kaiser surgeon, Dr Mun. I really wanted Dr Zane but was assigned to Dr Mun because his schedule is really open right now. I had my individual consultation last week but still have to attend a group consultation. That threw me off because I was really looking forward to listening to each of the surgeons and then taking my pick. I understand Dr Zane's schedule is not open for consultation until early March and then his surgery schedule is booked to Labor Day already. I am familiar with Dr Mun, since he was with South Bay Surgeons in Torrance and my mother had her lapband installed by them. How was Dr Zane with the range of sleeve he was willing to accept? Is he strict with 32FR only or open to larger sizes?

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1. My track ends tomorrow, November 2, 2010 Carson location : Kaiser Harbor City 2. Labs were ordered on week 4 and all tests were expected to have been taken by week 8 by everyone. 3. We are not allowed to go outisde Kaiser South Bay - Pacific Bariatrics is backed up with Kaiser patients and South Bay is not referring out anymore because of the recent addition of a bariatric surgeon.

Hello There!! I am in the Los Angeles area and am with Kaiser Harbor City. My OPTIONS track ends on November 2nd and then I'm on the waiting list for surgery. So glad to see a California specific thread and hope to meet everyone here some day!

I feel for you. I am finishing my OPTIONS class on November 2nd and was told by the nurses that to expect a consultation date in 3 -4 months, then at least 2 months wait time afterwards for surgery date. I enquired about PB and was told that they are very backed up with Kaiser patients and to simply wait for Kaiser South Bay for surgery. South Bay is expecting a new surgeon, Dr Mun by mid December this year, so the surgeries are suppose to speed up considerably. I would keep calling PB, every few days ... in the early AM and late in the PM for cancellations. Call the surgeon's office and MAKE SURE they know that they know you've been waiting over a month for his signature. At this point, I don't know if it would be worth it to go back to Kaiser South Bay.

sorry, I was so excited to hear about somebody who actually may have received a future date at South Bay....

Congrats Sleeve4Me! South Bay is a good hospital and of course, Dr Zane works out of that location! Have you been given a date yet?

I just spoke to Harbor City Bariatric offices and found out some interesting information. The new bariatric surgeon is Dr. Mun and is due to arrive in late December. All referrals to the South Bay surgeon group from outside Kaiser facilites have been stopped in order to clear up the Harbor City members' surgeries first. As of today, if your OPTIONS class ends in early November (as mine does on November 2nd) there is a four month wait for actual surgery BUT with the new surgeon on board in December, it should move up at least by one month. If you do not want to wait that amount of time, you can go to Pacific Bariatrics in San Diego, but all 6 month follow ups must take place there in San Diego. The other is Crown in Riverside but they only perform the RNY and again, all follow ups will have to take place there. So, if you want to remain with Harbor City, there will be plenty of time to get extra weight off and get very healthy for the surgery.

I am in the middle of the OPTIONS classes in Carson and was told that a new surgeon is coming onboard by the end of this month to help with the backlog at Harbor City. I heard at Harbor City, the backlog is between 3 to 4 months.