Dragon64

Don't quit smoking for the surgery, quit smoking for life!

My wife, who is a God-send to me, is very much against VSG surgery, she lets me know in no uncertain terms. She believes in me, and knows that deep down, I have the will to overcome my 'morbidly obese' condition. I wish I had her belief, but after 20 plus years of failures to lose... well, here I am. Nevertheless, she will support me regardless of my decision. She accompanied me to the initial consult as my conscientious objector, and grabbed on to the notion that as long as my BMI stays above 35, insurance will approve surgery, fall below, and nadda... I told her, that my current BMI is 44.9! At 5'11" I would have to lose down to 250lbs in the next 6-months, which will put my BMI at 34.9. That is a whopping 72-pounds to lose in the next 6-months! Her response, "challenge accepted!" But I reminded her, that even if I could manage 72 lbs in the next 6-months, there is still the issue of gaining it all back... hence the reason I am seeking surgery in the first place. I would have to start the process all over again should latter come to pass...

One of the driving factors for me, is having a heart doctor tell me that i do not have type 2 diabetes now, but i will soon enough. I have seen what diabetes does to a person, and I want no part of it... I would rather every hair on my body fall out, then to let diabetes destroy me, one organ at a time. If you can remember to take your meds and monitor your diet to keep your diabetes manged, then you can have the surgery and maintain a healthier life too! Surg on my friend, and get healhty!

Fluffy Rams (?) I like that. My wife and I have been binge watching Doctor Weiner videos on YouTube. She was impressed enough to buy his book "A Pound of Cure". She said she'll read it for me... I said knock yourself out. It is nice to have a spouse who can give you the "Cliff Notes"

Thank you honeyedlife, I appreciate you. I see that you are just about 6-weeks post op, congrats! My next appoint is a stress test this Wednesday, and the the first of 6 PCP visits next week... 6-months looks so far away right now.

My hematologist recommended the lap band for me, and I did not get far asking for advice; my sister has the lap band, and has lost lots of weight... but she also said that last year her lap band rolled over on her stomach and closed it off, making her border-line anorexic. Doctors have manage to get the band working again, and are waiting for her to get her health back before they remove it completely. She told me in ho uncertain terms to not get the lap band. After meeting with my surgeon just last week, he has told me that he no longer performs the lap band surgery, and has moved exclusively to VSG or RNY surgeries only. His reasoning was the lack of performance and the multitude of issues that the lap bands can have.

Two goals are at work here; getting healhty & living a longer and healthier life. At 53 years old, I have come to terms with the fact that surgery is my remaining option, but I will not rule out the "flipping of the switch" and managing on my own. Either way, in 6-months I will more than likely have VSG surgery.

Agreed, my short term goal is to lose 35 - 50 lbs before I hit the liquid pre-op.

I will definitely lose all the weight I can over the next 6-months, but I want to do it healthy, so as not to starve myself like I did on so many other diets. My wife and I have talked, and we both agreed, that getting my head right will be the key to longevity surgery or no surgery. So I am working diligently now to curb my food addiction(s).

Not her change, her challenge... as stated, she is supportive regardless of my decision.

Insomnia on Phentermine is real, and lack of sleep (good restful sleep), is bad for weight loss. Change your diet or your exercise routine, and just say NO to drugs.

Toney, Alabama

I had my initial consult today with Dr. Todd Foreman at the Alabama Surgical Associates today. My wife, the conscientious objector was there by my side. I was nervous, my blood pressure hitting a high of 140/80 (Normal for me is 121/71). I had 28 questions ready for Dr Foreman, many of which he answered in his initial introduction. I'm nervous, yes I am. But excited and anxious too. The doctor was really easy going, and did not come off like a time-share salesman. He examined me, sked me as many questions as I asked hime, and he completely put me at ease. I was given a lot of information to digest this weekend, otherwise I am on my way. My colonoscopy was done in the last five years, so I am good there; I am scheduled for a stress test next week; H-Pylori test along with a butt-ton of blood work was done today; and I am scheduled for a visit with my dietician in April. After that, all I have to do is manage 6-monthly visits in the next 180 days (beginning Monday), and then I will probably get a surgery date for sometime in September. I initially thought August, but it is all dependent on the doctor visits. So yea, I'm excited to begin down this road, hopefully the wife will come around (she is not to hip on weight loss surgery).

I am seriously considering VSG, yet I have a history of GERD. Am I wasting my time? I have not suffered from GERD for the last 3-years due to small changes in diet, and going on the CPAP, but knowing what I know about GERD, I do not wish to return to that nightmare. I'm afraid that when I have my consult tomorrow, my doctor is going to push the more invasive by-pass surgery. If that is the case, then I will have to do some more in-depth soul searching...

I had my initial consult with the doctor today, and based on my history with GERD management, he recommends that I stay with the sleeve, as the best tool to use on my weight loss journey!

Thanks for that, kind of gives me hope. I talked with two people who have been sleeved, and both said they have little to no issues with reflux. But neither had issues with reflux prior to surgery either. Uggh! A good heart-2-heart with my doc will definitely be helpful. I had an upper GI camera procedure done some years ago, and was checked for a hiatal hernia. Luckily, I did not have one. To my benefit, I have not had issues with reflux for a few years now.

Congrats!

Best of luck to you Ms. Morris, we are looking forward to reading more about your progress! You Got This!

If the doc and I can come to an understanding of what I can expect after surgery, Prilosec would not be too bad of a trade off... unless my new stomach rejected it.

My reflux was also controlled, 1st by prescription omeprazole, then I just saved my money and bought the Great Value brand from Wally-World. Eventually I weened myself off the drug, about the time I started the CPAP therapy. I would get reflux so bad, that the next day I was litterally sick with flu-like symptoms (w/ a low grade fever). I guess I need to start re-searching by-pass surgery... we'll see what the doctor has to say.

Gotcha, makes perfect sense now, thank you for that!

For us acronym deficient patients, what does NSV stand for? Congrats on the down size, and I hope you get to feeling better soon!

I hated the sleep study, but managed to get the results they needed. Diagnosis: Sever Sleep Apnea! I have my machine now for nearly 2-years. Like some have said, I will not sleep without it, litterally. Since going on the machine, my severe acid reflux went away, and I started dreaming again (they could make movies of my dreams now, as they are quite vivid). However, I know I am on the machine, because I am overweight and living an unhealthy life style. Since acid reflux is an issue with a VSG procedure, I may have to keep using my machine post op.

Sorry about that; to clarify my statement on invasive, I was referring to the re-arrangement of the digestive track in a by-pass procedure. My mother had by-pass and has done well, but later told me that had the sleeve come along when she was going through the process, she would have had the sleeve instead. In all honesty, both are scary procedures to me.

Wow, this discussion has put me back on the fence; I have had a history of severe acid reflux, that went completely away once I was put on the CPAP machine (severe sleep apnea). I really want the sleeve, but not the reflux issue. The by-pass, to me, is too invasive for me to consider... I have my initial consult this Friday, so this will be a hot topic for me and my doctor to discuss.