grruss

Surgery in GR? Who is your surgeon?

I am 4 days post op. I am virtually pain free, for which I am extremely grateful. It's been an interesting few days. I've had a few hours of reflux type symptoms, but the worst thing so far is that my gut sounds like there's a helluva party going on in there. It's just constantly growling and grumbling. Not painful, just noisy. Anyone else experience this?

Mine went, in my surgeon's words, "Perfectly". They sent me home with some fantastic pain meds. It seems a shame to let it go to waste. My surgeon has me on a full liquid diet until my appointment on 9/11. I'm getting sick of protein shakes. That, the gurgling stomach, and the minor diarrhea are the only negatives so far. On the positive side, I'm down almost 30# since my all time high.

The surgery was two days ago, and so far, so good. Schram is a good guy, and the staff here at Blodgett has been great. Going home today. We'll see how that goes.

My surgery is scheduled! 9/1/15 in Grand Rapids, MI... I can't wait!

I am beside myself with excitement and anticipation. My VSG is scheduled for 9/1 with Dr Schram at Blodgett Hospital. I had my "Final Decision" appointment today, and he had an opening for the 1st so I took it! Met with the NUT and got on the pre op diet on the spot. Pre op appointment is Monday. I am so excited for the next step on the journey!

Haha... Haven't claimed sanity in years! That was exactly my point! I love seeing how everyone's journey unfolds!

This is such an interesting thread for me to read. It's clear that everyone has a way that works... From Allen Carr, to patched, gum, lozenges, Chantix, an app, and vaping (the way that finally worked for me) to just powering through. It's clear that there are as many ways as there are people, really. Whatever works! Let's get this done!

It's a sort of confirmation of the nicotine test. I think they even use the same urine.

You may not even have surgery if they do a drug test preop for nicotine. My doctor will not do surgery if you have nicotine in your body. And yes they can do that. I highly suggest you never have another cig before surgery. I am not being mean but honest. Hopefully if you can quit prior to surgery, you can quit for good. I know it is hard, been there done that. Good luck! HUGSI don't plan on having anymore, I can't afford to fail a test if they do one, I need thus surgery. Since it was only a few after having it out of my system I figure it will probably be gone by today actually, hopefully. My doc won't operate with a positive nicotine test. I have been vaping at zero nicotine, and passed with flying colors. So much of the trouble with quitting smoking is about "ritual"... Hand to mouth, breathe in/breathe out. I think that's why vaping worked for me, and I slowly weaned myself off the nicotine.

Quitting smoking is very hard! Here is a blog post I wrote on the subject... "We aren’t a smoking cessation program. We can’t claim it, and we don’t. We do know that lots of folks use vaping as an alternative to smoking, and eventually replace smoking with vaping. We have many customers who thank us for “helping them quit smoking.” People tell us every day that they have tried Patches, gums, lozenges, and pharmaceuticals in an attempt to quit, all to no avail. Or, they tell us, they don’t like the idea of the side effects of the pharmaceuticals. We hear countless stories of people who have smoked for five, ten, twenty, even fifty plus years, and no longer smoke because they now use personal vaporizers instead. We wonder why it works. This is just conjecture on our part. There is no science here, only common sense. What is missing from all of the aforementioned smoking cessation products and programs? Ritual.Have you ever heard a smoker say how satisfying it is to have a cup of coffee and a patch after a meal? Or how they love to roll out of bed in the morning and grab a lozenge? All of the approved smoking cessation programs deliver nicotine. If we were nothing more than a walking, talking pile of nicotine receptors, they would work. There’s more to it than that. As a former smoker, I can tell you that there is something relaxing about sitting and and inhaling, there is something about the hand to mouth motion, and there is something about the nicotine. With vaping I still get all of that, without the tar. So, that’s a choice I’ve made. Care to join me for coffee and a vape?"

It is a nicotine delivery method, if you choose to use nicotine. Leading up to my VSG, I have gone to zero nicotine. It is NOT smoking. No leaves are being burned, hence no tar, arsenic, benzene, etc. etc. Many think I'm splitting hairs here because of what vaping looks like, but make no mistake. It is NOT smoking. Allow me to be frank right along with you. Nicotine is NOT a carcinogen. It is a mild stimulant, much like caffeine. There is evidence that it could slow the post-surgical healing process, which is why most docs want zero nicotine tests before doing surgery, but it's many other chemicals in cigs that cause cancer, not nicotine. The thing is, unless you have a vested interest, you would never do your homework. Most people just take the information fed to them by main stream media as fact. The facts are much different, and I can support everything I say. I'm with you! Most don't do their due diligence because it's so much easier to criticize something that looks like smoking. It's not like they care or anything.

http://blog.aspirecig.com/17-untrue-e-cigarette-myths-busted-complete-w-origins/

I'm having the sleeve done at Spectrum Health- Blodgett here in Grand Rapids. My surgeon is Jon Schram. ok cool good luck on your journey. Do u have any fears or worries? Nah... I just wish it were tomorrow.

I'm having the sleeve done at Spectrum Health- Blodgett here in Grand Rapids. My surgeon is Jon Schram.

I'm in Grand Rapids, looking forward to getting sleeved. Moving through the process now. Met with the surgeon, dietician & psychologist tomorrow.

I'm Russ and I'm from Michigan. My story is probably similar to many here, but it's mine. I have struggled with obesity for 30ish years. I've done Body for Life (40# lost), Weight Watchers (50# lost), Atkins (40# lost), Weight Watchers again (55# lost). I commonly joke that I'm really good at losing weight and that I've probably lost 1000# in my life. The problem is that I have gained 1370... In May of 2014, I was working as a manager in a retail shop. Working in retail requires movement. I wasn't doing any intentional exercise, but I was active. I had gone out to dinner with my kids, and when I got home, I was experiencing chest pain. Long story short, a week later I came home from the hospital with a brand new shiny quad coronary bypass surgery. My employer was great. He was very patient, and when I returned to work, he had created a new position for me, Social Media Coordinator. It was great work and I'm still doing it and loving it. It's a desk job. I went from fairly active to pretty much sedentary. I promptly added about 40#. That's what had me sitting in my PCP's office during my annual physical exam asking about bariatric surgery. I've already had an initial appointment with my surgeon. My insurance company was fine with it, given the BMI of 51 with sleep apnea, coronary artery disease, and high cholesterol as co-morbidities. I have appointments with dietician and psychologist tomorrow. My surgery isn't scheduled yet, but I'm looking forward to my VSG and getting on with the rest of my life!