cajun

I'd see that pcp before you go to Mexicali, just so you establish yourself as a patient. Tell him about your coming surgery and that you will need some basic labs done 3 months post op. He will be glad to order them for you. Dr Aceves may also recommend an upper GI done three months after surgery. Ask him before you leave Mexicali to give you a list of what should be done. These tests are very important in the event you have a serious nutritional deficiency post op...the diet change is severe in the beginning and although rare, there are potentially serious complications that should be looked for so they can be treated before causing permanent problems. My pcp ordered all these tests for me. My labs were excellent, just a few deficiencies that can be fixed with certain Vitamin pills. But my upper GI showed that I have developed an esophageal diverticulum which was not there prior to the surgery. I saw a gastroenterologist who did an EGD (looked inside with a light). It is an extremely rare condition, but luckily mine is small and I have no symptoms. Larger ones, or symptomatic ones need surgical repair or they can cause serious, even lethal consequences. I would never have known about it if I had not had the upper GI as recommended by Dr Aceves.

I had an EGD (where they look inside your stomache with a camera) this week. I asked the doc to take a picture of my healed suture line, because I've always been curious as to what it looks like. It is neatly healed up, running along the bottom of the photo...a pale line in the sleeve.

Awesome NSV!

My super walmart carries the okios greek yogurt. If yours does not carry it, just ask for the manager of the dairy department and request that they stock it. I have had luck with this method many times when I can't find what I want there. Since it is in many of their stores it is easy for them to get it.

I went to a family birthday party recently and after the party everyone gathered for a family photo. For the first time in my life, I stood in the FRONT ROW and was so proud to be there. I noticed that the overweight people did what I always used to do...push toward the back so they would not show up. I felt so sad for them, and so very happy for me!

I live in "cajun country", southwest Louisiana. GO SAINTS!!!

That sounds like minimal experience...I would not have been comfortable with him as my surgeon, nothing personal. I just wanted someone who had done at least 300 with a low complication rate. Am glad I did.

Yes, thanks for asking. It is small and I have no symptoms so the consensus thus far is to just do another upper GI xray in 4 months, to be sure it is not getting bigger. From the research I have read, over 80% of this type never changes and causes no problem. So I am feeling so much better about it. I sent all the pictures to Dr Aceves and he is going to look at them too. I am looking forward to hearing his opinion too. It's a very rare type of diverticulum, and the literature says even expert thoracic surgeons in major research hospitals don't see more than 20 in their entire lifetime. Thanks so much for your concern.

Friends, PLEASE be very careful choosing a surgeon, paying special attention to their experience so you have less chance of a costly complication. This was recently posted by Alex on this forum: How can I select a surgeon for this relatively new procedure? The best results are usually going to correlate with surgeon experience. Any surgeon who has done more than 500 procedures for over 5 years in one location has probably optimized all elements of the operation and aftercare to obtain the best possible results. In addition, since the VSG stomach is the same as the Duodenal Switch stomach, any surgeon who has been doing duodenal switches laparoscopically is probably quite experienced with the VSG! http://verticalsleevetalk.com/ask-dr-gregg-jossart/2356-vertical-sleeve-gastrectomy-information-dr-gregg-jossart.html Be careful, be safe!

Could you post it here so we can see what it looks like when it is new?

It is the paler orange line that extends diagonally along the bottom of the sleeve, starting at the lower left hand of the picture, going up toward the upper right hand of the picture.

This sounds yummy. Could use ground venison, or buffalo, or any meat...mmmm.

I'd appreciate hearing tips from those of you who have successfully tapered off nexium or prilosec. It usually causes a rebound increase in acid production by the stomach, so I'm trying to get all the info I can to see how to prevent problems when I start tapering off. Please share what worked for you to keep from having worse GERD or stomach pain during this process. Thanks a bunch!

Thanks for all the feedback, y'all.

Margo, I highly recommend that you get a primary care physician. There are many reasons this makes your life easier and especially after surgery, you may need one for various reasons. Are you having surgery in the US or elsewhere?

Surgeons differ in their procedures. I recommend always following your surgeon's advice on medications, diet, etc. You can always contact your surgeon's office and ask what he/she recommends if you are not sure.

This is a great resource, Alex. Thanks for putting it together.

I spent a couple of months on line doing research to find a surgeon that I trusted, then after I contacted his office, I was sleeved within about a month. My insurance does not cover VSG, and I was glad in a way because I did not want to jump through all the hoops that insurance requires. The long wait time would have driven me bananas. And I was physically really getting impaired by all that extra weight. I needed to get it off so I could get on with my life. Am so glad it worked out the way it did.

I could eat 1/2 rack of ribs before my VSG. Now I can eat 2 ribs...had some yesterday and plan to have some more during the Saints game today. Yep. Still like 'em. But I love my weight loss more...the best of both worlds!

Sobe life water has a lot of vitamins in it. No sugar. It helped me make it through and is still my main fluid intake. Target puts it on sale frequently, two 20 oz bottles for 1 buck. Lots of flavors. I love it.

I only told one family member and my two best friends who were very supportive. I did not want to have to deal with "naysayers". Since I have lost almost 80 lbs and it shows, now people are starting to ask, and if they ask I tell them. You can't argue with results! And I don't care if they don't agree with what I did anyway at this point...I can see it works and they can too.

Chancie, When you stopped it, did you taper off or just stop"cold turkey"? Did you have increased acid reflux the first few days or week? If so, how did you manage it?

Marci, Welcome home! We are glad to have you on the loser's bench! The first week is the hardest, just keep sipping and burping and walking, and you will make it through. Then the fun starts as the pounds melt away! Let us know if you need support . We are cheering for you!

It is difficult to describe. It is not the same as being "full" pre surgery. Before the meal I have a sensation that my sleeve is just a teensy bit "churning", some might call it a teensy nausea sensation. Then after 4-5 bites of food, it settles and it just feels calm. That is my signal. So it is more like a lack of churning that I feel. It may be different from others. I have always been able to stop eating at that signal, and have never once had sliming or vomiting after a meal. The one thing I have had is pain in my back between my shoulder blades after eating certain solids, such as chicken breast. Softer foods, even dark meat chicken, do not cause this. It goes away after about an hour. I try to avoid foods that cause it. Once or twice it was so bad I had to take a tylenol. Usually it is not that bad.

Every medicine has possible side effects, so although they are necessary sometimes, I just want to get off anything that I don't need to be taking as soon as I possibly can. In the research lab when these drugs were being developed, they caused cancer sometimes in the mice or rats (not sure which) they were tested on, after HUGE dosages. That does NOT mean that they will cause it in humans. We are not rats and we don't take the kind of huge doses they were given. But I am not a person to take chances. I want the normal stomach processes to work normally. PPI's are essential right after the VSG. Once things are healed up, the process of stopping them is not easy because the cells that were prevented from secreting acid go wild, and start producing huge amounts because they are "turned back on". This period of time is hard to get through because of the symptoms it causes, but lots of people do make it through successfully. I'm hoping to get tips from people who have done it.