Wheetsin

I'm eating about 530 a day, rarely more than 600. I'm about 8 weeks out and that's mostly a capacity limitation. I eat frequenly, just not much. I'm currently trying to break a stall and upping calories is one of the strategies. I was told to aim for anywhere between 700 - 900 since I'm fairly active, tall, and have a higher BMR.

Ahhh... seeing people differentiate between surgical gas and digestive gas is like music to my ears. <- one of my "support" pet peeves When you aren't walking, try a heating pad. The heat often helps. So can just standing (walking or not). You can also try laying on your left side with your right knee & thigh pulled as close to your chest as you can comfortably get it. Other than that, it's just time. Most of the pain should be gone in a few days. You may get pangs of it for a while, but it should not be persistent.

To be scared is normal, but if you are doubting your decision or going in with serious reservations, perhaps you can call and postpone your surgery, just so you can have some more time to consider & prepare. This is not something to be impetuous about, it is a forever decision. You'll want to be in a really good, solid place mentally before because if you aren't, it's only going to be that much harder after.

You should be given some instructions closer to surgery, usually when you do the pre check-in (forgetting the real name of it). Sometimes they give you special soap - one time I got the same liquid soap that surgeons use to scrub their hands pre-op. The same soap that says clearly on the bottle "not to be used as a pre-op body wash for surgical patients." For all other surgeries I was told to wash with an antibacterial soap. Not like softsoap, like safeguard. The pre-op instructions (hygiene) specify to wash with whatever soap you're told the night before and the morning of. No deodorant, perfrume, hair products, etc.

Nissen fundoplication. Here are some topics that might help. The layman consensus seems to be RNY after Nissen: http://en.allexperts.com/q/Bariatric-Surgery-3492/2008/9/VSG-Fundonissen.htm http://www.gastricsleeve.com/forum/tell-us-about-your-journey-getting-a-gastric-sleeve/1821-sleeve-after-nissen-fundo-anyone.html http://www.obesityhelp.com/forums/vsg/4436744/Any-one-havethe-Nissen-fundoplication-prior-to-VSG/ http://www.obesityhelp.com/forums/amos/4489380/Anyone-had-a-sleeve-after-having-a-lap-nissen-How-did-you/ http://www.obesityhelp.com/forums/amos/4152366/Gastric-sleeve-and-nissen-fundoplication/ http://www.obesityhelp.com/forums/amos/3577114/Anyone-have-a-Nissan-Fundoplication-then-later-WLS/ http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/topic/5798-vsg-as-alternative-to-niessens/

Go to www.lapbandtalk.com and look at the complications forum...

Ok so when I saw your title I thought you were revising from RVY to VSG and had all sorts of wtf questions I wanted to know about the procedure. But since you hooked me, here are my two cents... HTH, and best of luck.

I've seen people naming their bands, too. Always struck me as odd, but I'm not judging. Just out of curiosity, do you guys have names for your other organs, or just your stomach? Do you refer to it by name, like in 3rd person? E.g. "No thanks, I'm not hungry, Sleevie Wonder ate at 2..."?

Pshaw, they make tongs for that. How do I know? A RNYer at a support group years ago brought hers and put them on the table next to my drink (that I promptly threw away) to show us.

Honestly if I were where you are at health-wise, and was limited to RNY or lap, I'd go RNY as your surgeon has already suggested. Since it can't really be seen as a permanent solution, AGB is not a good way of combating the severe and persistent health issues you're having. But it sounds like you're already steering away from it, so I won't keep going on. Just so that you know (whether this opens any more doors or not) self-pay for VSG is rarely in the range you quoted, even domestic. Those are more like the "retail" rates that surgeons bill insurance companies (and much higher than they typically pay out). My surgeon's self-pay rate is $11,999 which covers everything during the first year (which is going to be just about anything). Those who go to MX pay in the range of $3000 - $5000, I believe. If that amount is unatainable then it's a moot point, but $5000 is only 1/8 of the cost you seem to have in mind.

Mine lasted about 3 weeks. Probably 4 weeks until I was completely "me." My stamina is still not what it was pre-op, but I only really notice it on stairs.

Yes, it can. Are you taking a multi Vitamin? Or have you had any labs done that show a deficiency? (Most people have some degree of Vitamin D deficiency). My NUT reviewed my fitnesspal logs and told me to eat more calories (which was not a surprise) and more carbs (which was - especially since she was suggesting some simple carbs). I've tried this morning by replacing my standard heavy Protein Breakfast with some fruit, grains, and Greek yogurt. I'e done this stuff for a long time and lost a lot of weight doing it, and low carb was a lot of my success, so I was surprised to hear things like "crackers" being suggested as defecits in my diet. She also told me my protein intake is good as a rule, but for my height I need more. I've never heard of it being height-based before. Are you getting your protein in, and are you maybe on the tall side? How much B12 are you taking?

This is tough. I had a lapband for 6 years. I think it's a great tool IF you look at it as a short term fix - say like a gastric balloon, only with more invasive (but quick & easy) installation. At the same time, I'd have to be on death's door before I would consider RNY, or have it be the only option left. I'd easily have done DS over it, though DS is far from my first choice. I assume self pay for the procedure you want (even out of country) is not an option? Perhaps with financing? While I think Medicare is right not to cover the sleeve (not trying to be controversial, that's just MHO), I also understand that it can be frustrating not to get the coverage you want. I'd ask about a private plan that would cover it, but really - self paying the procedure would be the cheaper option. Are you currently pursuing your pre-op requirements in hopes that it will be covered? Or are you just getting the generic stuff out of the way, so that when the time comes you can have a(ny) procedure?

I'm running out of ideas. What is it we can do to help? Or do you just need to vent? (In which case we can listen)

I'm not a TV crier. I'm not really a TV watcher. I cried when they electrocuted the guy in The Green Mile, tho. Just throwing a guess out - when you cried, did you get the whole runny nose thing? If so, you were swallowing mucus and may have overfilled your sleeve - especially since you'd just eaten and as such were already somewhat full.

I've been noticing that I have an intermittent soft stop what feels kind of like my throat is closing, which I could also describe as something like an air bubble blocking my throat. I also have what seems to be between a soft stop and hard stop where I get a mild pain at the base of my throat. But it sounds like yours is there all the time...? "Stops" are generally only while eating, though they can last until everything clears up.

Here's the bright side - at least you're seeing some progress between weeks. Maybe post a few days' worth of average menu for someone to review?

Sounds pretty typical. Large weight fuctuations are almost always fluid.

I've been stalled from wk 3 - now, so about 5 weeks solid. I just keep trying to recite the mantra, "It's temporary." I just posted on the difference between what my logical brain knows, and what my emotional brain feels. They are so out of sync.

I was weighed yesterday at my NUT's office and I'm still stalled. That's at least 5 weeks, out of the (not quite) 8 I've been sleeved. My logical brain gets it, and is telling me all the things I would tell someone else. My emotional brain is getting really fed up, confused, and quite disgusted. My NUT wants me to up carbs, calories and protein - in that order. As of yesterday. So I'm trying to switch things up a bit and still meet all intake goals - with no additional sleeve capacity. That is proving a bit tough (as I sit here gurgling on a strawberry slice). Logical brain knows this is temporary, but emotional brain feels like maybe this wasn't the right decision (even though logical brains knows it was). Luckily. logical brain is still the boss.

What tends to work best for scars (IME) is keeping them moist for about 2 weeks after the procedure. I don't mean Water moist, I mean Neosporin moist -- not letting them "air dry" at all. I don't give a dang about my WLS scars so I never bothered with them, but I've had some things removed by the dermatologist in very visible areas (umm... like my face) and wanted to keep scarring to a minimum. I asked two dermatlogists (unaffiliated) and a plastic surgeon, and all three advised just keeping something like a triple antibiotic cream on them continuously for a few weeks. Only 1 (of about 9) incisions/shaves/etc, that I've treated this way are visible now, and that one is on the very top of my foot. Others from my face, one from my ear, one from my back, etc. are virtually invisible. If $ creams like Mederma work, I'm guessing it has something to do with keeping the scars "moist." Best guess, I don't really know. You can generic triple antibiotic cream for about a buck.

I've bee stalled at least 5 weeks. I've been banded about 8. That's not easy to swallow. I know how frustrating it can be. As much as it sucks, I try not to let it bother me. I know it can't last. Numbers always win in the end. And I don't own a scale, so I can't really obsess over whether or not my weight has changed. (This is a prime example of why I don't own one.) I spoke with my NUT today and she actually advised "more calories in the form of carbs." That wasn't what I expected to hear, and it will be hard, but we'll see. Stall breakers like fat fasts often work to break stalls. Have you tried anything like that? You're also going to be adding muscle mass at the gym. Muscle weighs more than fat, so you can be losing fat while gaining weight. Are you tracking your measurements at all? It seems like inches come off the quickest while weight is stalled. It's a weird sort of yin & yang thing, I guess.

Pureed/thick foods still don't go down very easily. I have yet to get sick, but things "sit heavy". I can do solids, yet still can't really handle thick things. Oddly enough I was kind of the same when I had the lapband. "Problem" foods like chicken and bread were fine for me. It was the slimy/thick things like Peanut Butter and marinated mushrooms that would get me every time.

My immediate family knows, aunts/uncles/cousins do not. A few friends know, coincidentally none of them live in the same state as me. Work knows I have (had) a lap-band, and that I've had surgery, and a few co-workers know that my surgery was related to my lap-band. They can draw whatever conclusions they want. When I had my band I told anyone who asked. I didn't advertise it, nor did I hide it. This time around I just didn't want to deal with having to explain what happened, why, what was being done to fix it, etc.