asnewme1

Very excited. Yes, of course I will come. I am comparitively local - Westchester is about an hour away from NYC - either local would be fine for me. I WOULD BE WILLING TO HELP OUT A BIT WITH THE CONFERENCE IF YOU NEED ANOTHER PAIR OF LOCAL HANDS LET ME KNOW. Also, I am a sleever - not a bander. Would you want a speaker to talk about the sleeve? My doctor does both sleeve and band but feels the results are better with a sleeve. Do you need any doctors to speak?

1. I am local to NYC and NJ. I will definitely come. 2. I am willing to help out if you would like. 3. I am a sleever- would you want someone to talk about the sleeve? 4. Would you want someone to contact local bariatrics doctors in NYC to see if they would like to attend. 5. You can email me directly at alteredinterior@optonline.net

MacMadame- When is your date?- Mine is September 8

Listen- what they had me do was an angiogram to make sure I was clear before the VSG. Then in the hospital I have 3 different doctors to monitor my fluids to make sure I don't go into congestive heart failure. Most important - think about doing it in the hospital that has treated you successfully for heart problems and make sure that if you need an ICD you get an ICD. Possibly the number one thing most of us heart patients can do to save our lives.

Brian - Go onto www.surgicallyslim.com Mount Sinai's bariatric weight loss group, NYC The VSG is recommended as an excellent surgery for patients that are in the danger zone- you can read about why there. I have massive heart damage and I am having a sleeve Sept. 8, so if you want tune back in and I will let you know what happened.

I am pretty sure that VBG is the old original style of sleeve before they knew to cut the stretchy part of the stomach out. What we are getting now is VSG - Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy. Not sure but I think VBG must have stood for Vertical Band Gastrectomy??? Easy to mix up the two but they are very different operations.

I could stress over it more, and I will bring it up the next time I see him. If he insists on using the 36 then I am still going to have him do it- I know this hospital, I know his reputation, and I need to be in a place that knows my heart history. I feel confident that it will still work. I agree with you over the 48-60 though- I wouldn't do that either.

If you have a problem pm me.

Sleeversforums.motionforum LavenderRose, Type in the above address or enter Australia sleeve motion forum in your search engine. The administrator, Hayley can be easily reached if you have trouble registering. About 100 active members only- all sleevers or about to be sleevers. Virtually no misinformation. Warm, kind and extremely informative. Remember that Australia is 12 hours off of us so if you leave Hayley a message she probably won't get back until the next day. Quite a few people who transitioned from the band due to problems. Expect to see you there asnewme1.

Dr. Kini, Mount Sinai, NYC told me that he was going to use a 36. I tried to get him to agree to the 32 or the 34 - in Australia they tend toward the 32, but he said they were too small. I am concerned but hopefully it will be all right. The one thing that does please me is that I don't have to do a revision surgery. When I went in for my conference I thought he was going to insist on doing a band which really, really concerned me. I felt all along that the sleeve was the best choice for me within a week of starting my research, so I was ecstatic when he came to that as his first recommendation. And interestingly, I owe it all to Alex of lapbandtalk who posted an obscure article about how Australian doctors are revising band patients to a sleeve. So I am pumped that I can get the sleeve in the first go round. 31 more days to count down, 4 to angiogram clearance - I hope. Will haunt this site fairly often- at least until I am sleeved. After I am sleeved I expect to be very busy organizing my wardrobe and shopping! Yes.

Absolutely amazing. Do you know what size bougie your surgeon used? I am supposed to get sleeved September 8th as long as my angiogram goes well on Tuesday.

I am glad this forum got started here too although I, like you, was lucky enough to find the Australian forum. If my last preop test goes well I am scheduled for September 8th. We could be twins.

Interestingly enough when I first began this journey I read wasabubblebutts description of the band. About a week later she went with the conversion to the sleeve so I learned about that which was very helpful. Even more helpful was her post that sent me to an Australian sleevers forum. Honestly I walked into the doctor's office assuming with my heart condition that I would be walking out with information on the band. I was quite surprised when I walked out with the information on the sleeve. Evidentally it is so dangerous to put me under anesthesia that he felt he could not risk the band and he definitely would not risk the rny surgery for me. So Bubblebutts journey was helpful since I knew enough about the sleeve walking in, that I was able to roll with the punches and not panic. So she did me a great service, and I do love the Australian forum even though I am out of NYC. Good luck with the band.

Just as different people have different heart problems and need different types of heart surgeries- so too do different people have different circumstances and need different types of weight loss surgeries. It is not that "your surgery choice" might not be the best surgery out there, but rather, is it the best surgery for you. A really top notch, crackerjack surgeon can, and does, perform all four types of weight loss surgeries. RNY, duodenal switch, lap band, and vertical sleeve. When I saw my surgeon at Mount Sinai in NYC I was in an informational group of 5 women. The women I shared the group meeting with probably varied from a BMI of 60 plus to 37, in age from 55 plus to early twenties, had vastly different insurance policies and types of jobs, etc... you get the picture. The surgeon clearly and carefully used a chart to explain the four types of surgeries, the risks, the benefits, and the types of patients he would recommend for each surgery. We were then separated and went in to see him individually. I am sure you have all caught onto the punchline here. He recommended the gastric bypass for the woman who was in her 30s with a BMI of around 50, the gastric sleeve for the woman who was 55 who had a horrific heart condition, the lap band for the two women who had fairly low BMIs and a sleeve with a 1 in 10 chance of needing a duodenal switch followup for the woman with a BMI of 60. The point is guys that insurance, BMI ratios, whether you live in an area accessible to a fill doctor, age, past medical history,... all of that figures into the equation.... one size (as we know better than most) does not fit all. Unfortunately, not all of us are seeing crackerjack surgeons at bariatric centers of excellence. And therein lies the rub. In my case, I knew that the surgeons at Mount Sinai were perfectly capable of performing all 4 surgeries and that they were carefully evaluating my needs. Not all of us are so fortunate- which is why a forum devoted to weight loss surgery should educate us as to all of the available options. Once we know which options exist, then and only then can we go out and do additional research. Will we come back to the band? Will we realize that the sleeve is for us? Will we need the duodenal switch? Do your homework, and then, without preconceived notions, make the best choice for YOU. The beauty of the internet is that an informed decision can be made after as little as 10 days or so of research and one really good doctor's visit. Good luck, and good choosing to all.

Good night and be well. Please let me know how you are doing. I will be thinking about you.

Oops- missed the part about why I chose the gastric sleeve. I had a choice of sleeve versus band. The initial weight loss with the sleeve is quicker although i think you end up in the same place no matter which surgery you pick. I have a bad heart so the sooner I shed these pounds the better it will be for me. Also I work pretty hard and I don't have a lot of time to go for fills, etc. With the sleeve there are just 3 visits in the first 12 months. And the concept that they are removing the part of the stomach that sends out the grehlin hormone that makes you feel hungry was also a big draw. Still have not got the sleeve so all of this is just from research and hearsay but by September maybe I will have first hand info for you.

Girlmoose- does your name mean you are in Canada? or maybe Michigan? I don't know very much about moose.

Cripes- whaaaat a mess. Let us take it one question at a time. Research I would definitely suggest you do your research on the sleeve, and sooner rather than later. You can learn about it in obesity help, or go to www.surgicallyslim.com and look up the vertical sleeve operation. I don't know where you are located but the doctors I am using are on the surgically slim website- I am using Dr. Kini. Or put in vertical gastric sleeve on your browser and see where it takes you. One place it may take you is to an Australian forum so if you are in the US be aware of where you end up. Also there is a site called obesity help that is OK, not great, but OK. No way would I suggest you get that band back in- quite a few people go from the band to the sleeve- you can read about some of them on the lapbandtalk site, also on the Australian forum. The only insurance company that will pay for the sleeve in the metro NY region is Oxford and there are not a huge number of surgeon's familiar with the procedure. It is designed to be almost as safe as your initial band surgery and I think (after a lot of rapid research) it is a better choice for most, however it has not been around for that long which is why most insurance companies don't cover it. Seems to me that you have a really good case for your surgeon absorbing the cost of the sleeve since it looks like he made a few booboos on your band. And that you should be able to get either the bypass or the sleeve out of the insurance company as well (although I think they are more likely to go for the bypass unless it is Oxford). Meantime I would get that band out of me pronto, and get well, and tell them they owe you a working bariatric surgery. Please stay in touch and let me know how you are doing.

Karen- did you get your procedure? Are you happy with it? Good luck

Sorry- I see now when you got the lap band and I am excited that you have had it for more than 2 years. Please let me know how you are doing now. Thanks

Me too- am hoping for a late August or September sleeve- How much did you lose altogether? When did you have the VSG procedure? How are you feeling? Any info would be helpful. So far I can't find anyone more than 6 months out...were you able to keep the weight off? Thanks

Linda7- Good luck- came back and tell us all about it. Hoping to get mine done in September in NYC

Thanks so much for replying- I have been going on an Australian forum which is devoted to sleevers some of whom are former banders. But I first learned about the band here so I hope anyone out there who has not chosen the band definitively gets to at least review the sleeve. Unfortunately most insurance companies consider the sleeve to be experimental - there aren't too many old sleevers out there for long term results - but short term results are amazzzzzzzzzzzzing. Dreaming about a September sleeve.

OMG- That is absolutely outrageous. Update that ticker!!! is only shows up as 20 pounds off- 73 OMG. Congratulations

Acedeuce- I am hoping to get sleeved in September. I think it is great that you posted here. We all want to lose weight, we all want to feel better, and we all want to figure out what is the best way to reach our goals. Lap band works great for some people. Sometimes it doesn't. Thank goodness there are options out there like the sleeve or bypass. If there wasn't - and if the band did not work - then you are really in a bind- no pun intended. I was fortunate. I spent about a week living on this forum and researching, researching, researching- up to 3 or 5 hours a night. So when my surgeon suggested the sleeve out of the blue- (I had gone in for the band), I knew what he was talking about, I knew the benefits and drawbacks of each kind of surgery, and I was able to reach out and embrace the plan he thought was best for me. Keep on posting, and let me know how you are doing.