gibson_girl

3 days post op with Dr Kelly and super happy! I was always wanting pictures so here are some. I'll get some of incisions etc later. I want to keep updated with my changing shape too. I love Dr Kelly and Florence/Oasis! God has blessed me! http://i1277.photobu...zpse2e5925a.jpg http://i1277.photobu...zps0a473602.jpg http://i1277.photobu...zps68bbc03c.jpg http://i1277.photobu...zps4b476e83.jpg http://i1277.photobu...zpsa84d8e37.jpg http://i1277.photobu...zps4777e3d3.jpg

And Dr Mueller is only like 5200 hospital, anesthesia and all. Overnight stay.

James, he has since switched hospitals but to a much better one. I've seen pictures. Oh the tummy tuck. Dr Mueller is the king of TTs. I'm a nurse (midwife) and I worked with him back in the day so I was in great hands. The results can't be beat. The drains are a real PIA. I had mine in for over 2 weeks. Very sore, much worse than the sleeve but not as bad as I imagined. I got called out and delivered a baby 1 week post op. Going back to work that early was painful but not too bad. I LOVE the results.

Thank you! The best part about it is I'm relieved from the mental anguish, health issues, etc. It's like being set free from 150 lb chains!

Dumb phone! I didn't mean to post the same pic 3 times but here is my 150 lb loss picture. I did have a tummy tuck with Dr Mueller in Wheeling WV but no other lifts have been needed. I'd have the sleeve 100 times over. People I have known for years don't even recognize me.

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I'm 4 months out and lately have been hungry 24/7 and Water or other cold Fluid would make me nauseated. I experienced this for about a week before realizing I likely had silent reflux. 2 days on Prilosec and I'm back to reminding myself I need to eat and loving my water bottles. You don't have to feel burning, taste acid ect. I'm glad I caught it quick!

Too much can be a tiny fork full. That is why you should eat very slow......but this isn't reflux. It's not stuffing yourself

How far are you out? If I eat just a little too I get hiccups, burping, pain, sneezing, eyes watering ect. Know your limits, it takes time to fine tune.

I felt grumbling in my stomach that made me "feel" like I should eat something almost all the time and wasn't able to drink anything without nausea or discomfort. I feel good as new, symptoms have 90% gone away and I feel sleeved again!

I'm going to make an educated guess that every surgeon in TJ has had more than one death. The largest part of the population being sleeved will never sign onto a forum. There is a 1 in 400 death rate for Bariatric surgery. Dr Garcia had 5-8 surgeries per day while I was in florence with Dr Kelly. At that rate, especially being a newer surgeon I bet more than a few have not came back. It's a cold reality that we should not ignore. I knew that going in, and so should you. I knew I wanted to find a very experienced surgeon, and my research told me to look for someone with not only a lot of VSGs but RNY experience also and to pretty much disregard band experience. Even though he had a very public (on the boards) death on the boards a few years ago, I still chose Dr Kelly for his record and expertise. Not to mention the warmness and caring you just can't fake. All these surgeons are working with some of the highest risk patients you can get. Don't bury your head in the sand, educate yourself......not because you haven't heard any bad on the forum, because the forum is just a small percentage. How long have they been doing this particular surgery? What other surgical training does he have? Does he belong to the American FACS who does keep data on its surgeons? Ect God bless you all. I was excited for the 399 out of 400 chance I'd be just fine, but was prepared to be that 1 in 400. God willing I'm 4 months post op and down 90lbs.

And obviously, if you get an infection afterwards and your surgeon doesn't seem to care run for San Diego! Honestly, that just makes me sad. She must have been so scared to be so sick in a strange country. Dear God please be with her family.

Realistically, you should be wearing them on the trip out also. I forgot mine both ways. They do give you blood thinners up until a few days before you go home, and I just made sure to shake my legs and get up and go to the bathroom every 30 minutes. It is just as good. If you plan to sleep for 6 hours straight that is a different story. In the hospital I didn't get stockings, the nurses wrapped my legs very tight before surgery and then that was removed and redone each day for showering until I was able to walk a lot. I was a slow walker but a very fast healer after I started walking. To those concerned about the trip home, it's not bad at all! I was terrified that I was only going to be in the hospital 2 days and only there 4 days before coming home. If they would have kept me in the hospital one extra day or in TJ one extra day I would have been crazy lol! It is the perfect amount of time..........they know what they are doing!

I chose a surgeon (Dr Kelly) who had been drug through the mud on the boards regarding a patient death. It did not change my opinion of him because that type of complication could happen to anyone and 1 in 400 Bariatric surgeries end up very badly it's just a fact. Now, if she was septic and died of an infection that is just downright malicious. Why didn't someone take her to an American hospital? Oh God bless her and her family. How sad

Dr Kelly is amazing. I'm also a nurse Katie, and you should know how important experience is. MBC does nothing but try to bait unsuspecting patients away from more experienced surgeons and to push them onto the tables of cheaper, less experienced Drs.

I had surgery with Dr Kelly in April 2013, my best friend had surgery in May and I have kept in touch with many patients of his I've met along the way. No one has ever mentioned being charged additional fees. I wasn't even charged the extra 500 for my BMI. All of Florence's paperwork is in Spanish, Nova's is in English.

The urgencias 24 hours sign threw me off. It sure looks like an emergency room lol!

Agreed west coast lady! Why wouldn't you book with the surgeon?

It has an emergency room? Wow, it's much more like a real hospital than Florence than I thought.

Oh geez, I used to travel 140+ days per year for work and stayed in some of the nicest hotels in the US. It is a Gorgeous hotel! 4 1/2 stars at least, Westin quality beds, flat screens and in a GREAT area so you can explore on foot. Lovely!

Actually, the trick to finding a good Bariatric surgeon to preform the sleeve is to find one who is very skilled in RNY and DS. It's the difference between riding a bike and riding a bike on a tight wire.

Not true if most of them are RNY. Dr Aceves and Dr Kelly both have done many duodenal switch and RNY surgeries which are much more complicated than the sleeve and absolutely count in the number of surgeries making them safer statistically.

I wouldn't use a coordinator when you can book directly with the surgeon, especially a surgeon as experienced and kind as Dr Kelly. When you use a coordinator you take things out of his hands. MBC had an irate client when I was at florence. It's not just with the hospital switch. It's a shame they lie and say that site is his official site. They mostly use it to switch to cheaper Drs.

One of my friends who was sleeved at Florence just recently went with a family member to Nova and they said Nova all the way. They said its more like an American hospital. Good luck to your son! I'll keep him in my thoughts and prayers. That's a big step for someone so young, but I don't know why I waited til 35! Well I guess at 18 the opportunity just wasn't there. Good for him

Thank you so much! I'm really loving this! I'm hoping to lose at least another 60 by Christmas.