LinSmargiassi

I am a surgical candidate, still trying to decide on a surgeon and a hospital/program in the NY Metro area.I have Rheumatoid Arthritis and Fibro. I am on heavy duty medication which will need to be stopped before my surgery. I am hoping to have a successful vsg!!!Any experienced people with input would be so welcome. Let's share information and support each other since we have special challenges with our conditions.Best wishes to all!

Hi everyone! I'm sorry it's been so long since I've been on. I had so much surgical prep appointments, work, home, husband. You know the drill... I am now 5 days post op and it is 10 days until Christmas. I am feeling great overall - today I had my first experience with the foamies, but it wasn't that bad. It didn't last long and it didn't spill out of my mouth. It was just sort of a regurgitation in the back of my mouth. But you know - don't let that scare you if you're pre op. It's not a big deal. But it's a learning curve for sure! My RA was quite active going into surgery, because I had to come off of everything in order to get surgery, no NSAIDs, DMARDs, Biologics, NADA!!! So I took a lot of tramadol until the day before surgery. I was kind of lethargic and a waste of space in general because pain was driving my inability to move or accomplish much. I stopped all biologics 2 full months before surgery, NSAIDs 1 full week prior, DMARDs 1 full week prior. My surgery went without a single hitch and I sang part of 'O mio babbino caro' to the OR staff whilst my ass was hanging out and I was hopping up onto the surgical table! of course, when I awoke I felt like SHITE, but that passed quickly, and I started on the pain meds ASAP. I recommend you do the same. And just take the damn things and don't worry about it, ok? Just take them and they make you feel better and after about 3 or 4 days you can stop taking pain meds. I hardly took any of the liquid Rx I filled. I never felt pain from any of the port incisions, and I had very little nausea. Look, you're having stomach surgery, doesn't it stand to reason that a little nausea might happen? just deal and breathe and concentrate on healing and drinking sips of water and crystal light and isopure and you'll be fine. In two days I start on puree. I'm totally ready for that and ready to move more! Snow storm kept me from walking outside yet, but I plan to try tomorrow. Be well! Be strong! You can DO THIS!!!

PB2 is a peanut butter derived powder that you can add to stuff for peanut butter flavor. it is AMAZING!!!!!! I bought mine through Amazon!

I've not had surgery yet, but have they advised you how they want to treat it? Have they further advised you how it occurred? Wishing you lots of luck....!

Like you, I struggle with whether or not I will obsess over food post surgery. I have disordered eating - I will eat nothing and then I'll be famished and over eat. I need to get committed to eating consistently to combat that. I have been on diets like all of us, cutting out carbs, eating low fat, going on a soup diet, you name it. I've tried it. But nothing could ever stick for long because I would feel that depriving myself of things I want isn't natural and I didn't want to make food groups evil. I want to be able to choose without struggling over my decision. That doesn't mean I want to have chocolate cake for breakfast lunch and dinner, either. I really like fruit - not having fruit for ever isn't an option for me. Not ever having bread again isn't an option either. My Nutritionist told me that eventually I will enjoy many of the foods I won't eat for a while, but that I shouldn't worry about that because the goal is to be able to eat a piece of fruit and be full from it. Or to have a NORMAL portion of food and it will be enough. I just keep thinking about those things, and if it means that I have to think about food a lot to get my weight to a reasonable place - then I win!!!! Good luck to you, too!!

I didn't suggest that to check on the bougie size - rather just to make sure the surgeon's actually using one. Some don't (SCARY) and they are bad bariatric surgeons! It's just a way to ask without asking directly... I found two surgeon's I interviewed to be quite offended that I asked. Surprising but true. I also didn't hire them to be my Doctor!

Get a personal trainer who is willing to kick your ass to make you do right. I'm saying this in my most compassionate voice - I'm not trying to be rude or mean. If you want to get the weight off you need to make the right choices and put in the work. Of course, I can say that because I'm pre-op. I may face the same struggle. Just do the right thing for yourself!!!!! The REAL right thing!!!

YAY! Good for you! Congrats!!!

What is his complication rate? How does his team handle complications? Has he ever lost a patient? How can he reach you if you have an emergency or questions to help determine an emergency? Does he over-sew the staples? What size bougie does he use? If there's a hiatal hernia can he repair while he's in there for the sleeve procedure? That's all I can think of this moment...

Are you tall as well? Your weight doesn't sound over the top, but starting where you did would also lead me to believe, "the smaller they are the less they fall" a little.... how about exercise? How much do you do? Is it enough or is it too much, and is that why you're body thinks you're starving? Personally, my most sincere suggestion is that you reach out to Cirangle's team. He's the surgeon, he may or may not have an intervention through surgery, but he has a crackerjack team assembled. The other thing you could do is think about reaching out to a geneticist. There may be a something at a cellular level that is being overlooked or not considered by the other members of your medical team. I really hope you find an answer, or that I had more advice to share. Good luck to you!!!!! xo!!!

I have not seen him personally because I have an equally qualified surgeon in NYC. However, I have done extensive research on surgeons in the United States, and since you're on the west coast, Cirangle makes a more logical choice. Can you give an idea of your current weight and how much you have either gained or lost? Mostly I'm just curious to know.

honestly it sounds like you need an expert. Dr Cirangle with San Francisco Laproscopic Surgeons out in San Francisco is the top whiz on this surgery. He has done more than about 7000 of these surgeries at this point. I think you should pursue getting an evaluation with him using your medical records and an extensive food log. You will have to write down every single thing you put in your mouth to track the way you should. Good luck to you! I hope you find an answer!

ANGER. I was talking to a woman the other day online that expressed that every time she gets through one test, another one is ordered as she tries to get to surgery. She is disgusted after being in the process for over 7 months. I really felt bad for her, so I reached out to her in a private message, because I had the same thing happen to me. I remember that I had spoken with a friend of mine who was telling me how really easy-a-time he had going in to get the surgery and that you just have to do the testing bulls**t and get it over with, but to stay focused on the goal of getting the surgery done. So, I was trying to do that. Then I had an insurance change, and my surgeon wasn't covered. Then I had to have another set of tests because the new surgeon had specific people she wanted to get her information through. All this back and forth in time and gas leaves a patient feeling less than dazzled over the image we have over the end product - ME, in my case. So this made me think about it harder - why am I getting mad over something that has to be done? If a surgeon is requesting certain tests, it isn't for fun or anything - it's because they need those answers. Then it hit me - the reason I got angry was because every time I had to take MORE time to get ANOTHER test done my "DREAM" was farther away. And THAT, ladies and gentlemen, is PRECISELY the point I am coming to. Instead of living in my head (which I admit I do in a lot of areas of my life) I needed to get to the *REALITY* (Oh, how I HATE, LOATHE and DESPISE that word) of what I am about to put my body through. TIME - it took time to get this fat and it will take time to get everything lined up to help me get this weight off. That's life. Too bad. Move forward. And so, with this realization, and a little bit of patience, and total focus on ME - I move forward at a pace over which I have little to no control, and with gratitude of having this opportunity at all to begin with, and with HOPE that when the time finally arrives and I'm about to get an IV placed for surgery, I will finally be ACTUALLY ready in every way that I could before such a huge change with so many personally experienced unknowns. And I encourage everyone to do the same in their own journey. Till next time... (and with less huffing and puffing or frustration) Ciao!

I think you should take time to recognize that not everything goes according to plan. But if you don't go through this process you will never get to the place you want to be. Change is hard for more than one reason - it's all the crap around it that MAKES it so hard!! Preparing yourself for surgery also means facing the things that are the most discouraging and beating them by not allowing those issues to make you quit! You can DO this - do it for showing yourself how committed you truly are!!!! Believe me I felt the SAME way and it has taken me more than a year to get where I am and I will be having my surgery very soon. I had moments EXACTLY like what you are describing so I KNOW!! BE REALLY GOOD to yourself by NOT giving up!!!!

I've heard of this happening, but I haven't experienced it myself. In general though, if water is all you can keep down drink it. Have you tried Gatorade or frozen pops for dehydration? Pediasure pops... something like that. At least they give you some salt to support your electrolytes. Stay away from food for now. Think more about the importance of keeping liquids down until the inflammation passes or gets better. If you are unable to keep down any liquids than you need to be hospitalized until they can figure out what is happening. You may need to be very insistent, so get a family member or friend to go to bat for you. Good luck. Hoping this passes quickly for you!!! Whatever you do, take extremely small sips as you are drinking.

CHANGE I've been asking myself - why is change so scary? What is it about change that makes us worry about it, and even avoid it? Especially if that change could be the best thing that ever happened to us? What I've come to realize, is that it isn't the change itself that is frightening. It's that we aren't sure if we'll like what we get through change. I've been reading a lot of and watching a lot of you tube videos by people who have had various bariatric surgeries. I've been trying to see the perspective of this choice through others eyes. But I've also come to realize that it's impossible for me to gauge their experience, because I don't live their lives. And they aren't me. Some people have never even had surgery of any kind - and then they end up having to get this surgery for their long term health. I have to say goodbye to my incessant need to eat everything on my plate, my need to bake as a form of recreating my childhood before my mom died, my need to depend on my weight to make me feel safe, and my need to control change through food. Instead I need to let change happen and separate it from food and from control. Let's face it: the only choice we really have is to make a choice in the first place.

You're right. I have to be selfish right now. The funny part is that I'm not usually the type of personality who cares about what anyone else thinks or says. I definitely march to my own drummer....! I'm not sure why the negative opinions of my husbands family has bothered me. I guess I care about them even though they piss me off to no end. I told my husband I need some healthy boundaries where they are concerned. So I have put an emotional block up where they are concerned for the time being. I also told him I need to get a psychologist in place for long-term help in dealing with my anger toward them. Actually, I think I'm kind of a hot-head. I am not sure why... I've never felt like I was this way before. Maybe it's the stress from all the realization that change is necessary. Maybe it's that I resent people trying to control me. Actually, that definitely pisses me off. I don't like when someone tries to manipulate me through guilt or whatever. Anyway - thanks for your message!!!