UK Sleevers

[Jane_J 117]

Hi, I live in England and had the sleeve done on the 12th May 09. Although I am only a recent sleeve sister I am happy to help and try to answer questions from people in the UK. I did not uses the NHS though so I can't help with any questions on that.

[Bornagainbabe 4]

Hi Jane,

I'm having my sleeve surgery on July 13th. I am having revision surgery from a slipped band...Just a few questions which i haven't been able to find the answers to so far -

How long does the surgery take? I will probably be having open surgery as I only had an operation last year but I guess the operation duration will be similar to laparoscopic won't it?

What sort of pain can I expect (don't worry about telling me it all!) and will I be on my feet straight afterwards?

Were you tested for leakage in any way before you left hospital?

I could do with a step-by-step guide of everything to expect including my diet afterwards etc.!

Many thanks for you help and hope you are doing well.

Helenxxx

[WASaBubbleButt 41]

Hi Jane,

I'm having my sleeve surgery on July 13th. I am having revision surgery from a slipped band...Just a few questions which i haven't been able to find the answers to so far -

How long does the surgery take? I will probably be having open surgery as I only had an operation last year but I guess the operation duration will be similar to laparoscopic won't it?

What sort of pain can I expect (don't worry about telling me it all!) and will I be on my feet straight afterwards?

Were you tested for leakage in any way before you left hospital?

I could do with a step-by-step guide of everything to expect including my diet afterwards etc.!

Many thanks for you help and hope you are doing well.

Helenxxx

I can't really answer the recovery question because my surgeon does revisions via lap. Your recovery will be significantly longer if it is full open.

There really isn't any leak test to be done outside of the hospital, they shouldn't be discharging you until AFTER the leak tests as if you have a leak you'll need to stay longer.

[Jane_J 117]

Hello Helen, Nice to meet you. I think my surgery took around 1 hour 30 mins but it was a straight laproscopic procedure on a virgin (so to speak) stomach. So basically I don't really know what you should expect for a revision and open surgery I am afraid.

Regarding pain it was fine, please don't worry. I was dosed with morphine directly after surgery and my nausea from the anasthetic was treated very promptly via intravenous drugs.

I was walking around the day of the op, but I was done laproscopically so I don't know how you will be I am afraid.

I was leak tested the day after using liquid that I had to swallow in front of an xray machine. I don't know if they do it differently in the UK, this was in the Czech Republic.

I was on liquids for 2 weeks and mushies for the next 2 weeks and then normal after that. I think different surgeons have different regimes though.

Please keep me posted on how you get on. Do you still have the slipped lapband inside you? I can send you my diet plan if you like, PM me for it. But your own doctor will have their own plan I would hope. Where are you getting this done?

All the best,

Jane

[Bornagainbabe 4]

Thanks, that's all been really useful. I had open surgery last year and was out of bed the next day so I am guessing that this will be much the same. I know it's different for everyone but you have given me a rough idea of what to expect. When I had my band done it was privately and I can remember them giving me IV meds for the sickness afterwards but last year when I had a huge hernia operated on with the NHS I felt lousy from the anaesthetic and morphine with a splitting headache and nausea and had to keep asking for some anti-emetics as they weren't all that willing to part with them! At least I know I can request them though!

Yes, I still have the band and it's really giving me a lot of grief now. It has slipped significantly and recently I have been suffering from terrible indigestion which is making me sick. Can't wait to have it out. I am having the op done in Sheffield by Roger Ackroyd. He did my band and the hernia op so is well-familiar with my insides! I have a lot of faith in him as he has been really helpful all the way. Unfortunately for me the band just hasn't worked out the way it should have - but I did lose 7.5 stone with it so I have no regrets. I have gained 2 stones since and am looking forward to losing that and more now!

Thanks for all your help,

Helenx

[charliesunspray 0]

Hi - I had my op done on the NHS on the 9th of this month and am still off work recovering - I hope to be back at work full time from the start of July (I'm already interfering via the internet). Not had a band or anything before.

I started at 139.5 kg and have lost about 12.5 so far - I haven't weighed myself in years, it's all a bit of a shock.

I'm amazed at all the different advice out there so have decided to listen to my stomach at least as much as anything else, in terms of what it's ready for. I haven't thrown up since the second night (the nurse insisted I could swallow solid pills - boy, was she wrong).

[Jane_J 117]

Hi charliesunspray,

Congrats on your sleeve and I hope you enjoying your convalescence.:thumbup:

Re eating I think the rule is 'when in doubt, don't'. They reckon that by 6 weeks your stomach is healed so I would be very careful for that time. What was the op like on the NHS and how did you get them to do it for you?

Cheers,

Jane

[charliesunspray 0]

I had a BMI of 38, high blood pressure and when I had a heart scare last year I found I had real difficulty losing weight. My GP gave me a choice of two hospitals, I picked the one with published bariatric research and the least awful reputation for general surgery and I had one meeting with the consultant who agreed to operate. Possibly it helped that I am quite health-literate and so was able to outline all the ways I'd previously tried and why they didn't work. She seemed mainly keen to ensure I was psychologically stable and understood all the implications.

I actually went in for a band and she talked me into a sleeve, which I think was the right thing.

The consultant was brilliant. The general nursing in the hospital was very variable and the aftercare is negligible, but then the system's overloaded. I think I got in at just the right time, because with the cuts coming up in the NHS bariatric surgery's likely to get deprioritised again - preventive stuff always is.

I'm being good(ish) and not eating anything daft, but I had real trouble with all the milk (it was all so revoltingly sweet) so have improvised with yoghourt, Protein smoothies and some of the blander end of the mushy next stage. I've never drunk so much no-added-sugar Ribena in my life. I'll bear the advice about 6 weeks in mind and stick with this till then.

[Malaika 50]

. . . I'm being good(ish) and not eating anything daft, but I had real trouble with all the milk (it was all so revoltingly sweet) so have improvised with yoghourt, Protein smoothies and some of the blander end of the mushy next stage. I've never drunk so much no-added-sugar Ribena in my life. I'll bear the advice about 6 weeks in mind and stick with this till then.

Curious -- what is no-added-sugar Ribena?

[charliesunspray 0]

It's the low sugar version of a very popular British blackcurrant cordial, full of Vitamin C and usually drunk by children. Helps get the daily Water down without too much added calories.

[Malaika 50]

It's the low sugar version of a very popular British blackcurrant cordial, full of Vitamin C and usually drunk by children. Helps get the daily Water down without too much added calories.

Sounds pretty good, actually. Thanks for clarifying.

[Jane_J 117]

I had a BMI of 38, high blood pressure and when I had a heart scare last year I found I had real difficulty losing weight. My GP gave me a choice of two hospitals, I picked the one with published bariatric research and the least awful reputation for general surgery and I had one meeting with the consultant who agreed to operate. Possibly it helped that I am quite health-literate and so was able to outline all the ways I'd previously tried and why they didn't work. She seemed mainly keen to ensure I was psychologically stable and understood all the implications.

I actually went in for a band and she talked me into a sleeve, which I think was the right thing.

The consultant was brilliant. The general nursing in the hospital was very variable and the aftercare is negligible, but then the system's overloaded. I think I got in at just the right time, because with the cuts coming up in the NHS bariatric surgery's likely to get deprioritised again - preventive stuff always is.

I'm being good(ish) and not eating anything daft, but I had real trouble with all the milk (it was all so revoltingly sweet) so have improvised with yoghourt, Protein smoothies and some of the blander end of the mushy next stage. I've never drunk so much no-added-sugar Ribena in my life. I'll bear the advice about 6 weeks in mind and stick with this till then.

Sounds like you had a really good consultant. I have had trouble with milk and whey Protein, but it really isn't that long till you can have proper food. I still get through loads of Tescos Apple & Blackcurrent No Added Sugar squash. It's a life saver. When you can have mushies I recommend cooking up some turkey mince in a not too spicy chilli con carne. It was sooooo good after all the bland stuff.

Cheers,

Jane

[charliesunspray 0]

I love real Mexican food, I think I'll miss that the most. Well, I love food, that's how I got here, forty plus years of steady eating whatever I fancied!

That Tesco squash is good too. How do you manage for lunches? I'm going back to work shortly and I'm going to need to take stuff in; no more large lasagna and salad. I can't stand Slimfast but I'm thinking maybe keeping a box of Oatibix at work?

[Jane_J 117]

I started off with a carton of Soup each day, then upped it to meaty Soup. Now I take some Protein in the form of left over chicken tikka or prawns from the family meal the evening before. Tomorrow I will have chicken fajita mix without the fajita! And plenty of tea and squash throughout the day. Maybe a yoghurt as well, or an apple. I find I am hungriest in the morning even if I have 2 x eggs scrambled for Breakfast.

I had a low carb Protein Drink at 11 today and it made me feel really ill, some things can set me off now.

I did indulge at the w/e with some red wine, it was lovely but I don't want to drink like I used to, which is good.

Oatibix may be too light on Protein, I am trying to get 60grams at least every day. This is my minimum requirement to stop muscle wasting and allow good healing. I also take multivits with Iron each day.

Its really early days for you so I would stick to the soup and yoghurts for next couple of days, I only went onto really mushy food like scambled eggs after 14 days. Then only sft mushies for the next 2 weeks. Did the doctor give you a post op diet? If not I can send you mine.

All the best,

Jane

[Bornagainbabe 4]

Hi everyone,

I have just been reading through the recent posts and found it all really interesting.

I have just got home after having emergency surgery on Monday night on a strangulated hernia and am even more convinced than I was last year, when I had the original hernia surgery (it's all a really long story), that they are absolutely useless when it comes to proper dietary advice.

I am still having my sleeve op on July 13th, thankfully, and cannot wait to get my slipped band out. I just don't think that the surgeon or the nurses really appreciate the problems I have had with this slipped band. I was retching and vomiting so much last week and over the weekend on an empty stomach (the indigestion would come from nowhere regardless of whether or not I had eaten or drank) that I ruptured myself and ended up with this strangulated hernia. Directly after the op they were wanting to administer me various tablets despite me repeatedly telling them that taking anything could cause me to start retching again. So they brought me a bowl to be sick in!!! That was what ruptured my stomach so eh??? I ended up getting quite panicky and then they toook notice and did administer my medication intravenously in the end.

Have been discharged though, despite not really being able to eat (although tbh I have tried some Soup today and am ok and not had any indigestion or reflux) and told to follow the milk and yoghurt diet prior to my sleeve surgery. When I told the sister that the m and y diet had really constipated me 2 years ago and that I had been told I could introduce a bit of dry toast, soup etc she told me that was rubbish and that I was to follow it exactly! I told her that I was not going to risk getting Constipation so soon after hernia surgery and that I wold take the surgeon's advice on that! Am going to do the same as I was advised two years ago though as that was good enough advice then.

They have all really annoyed me as they just don't seem to have a clue. I was discharged from hospital yesterday without them giving me any advice on my recovery nor them even inspecting my stitches, so it's just a good job that I am sensible and know that I need to take it easy and keep an eye on wound and keep it clean.

Anyway, I shall be having my band revision two weeks on Monday and will no doubt be back here asking for your advice again as I'm not relying on the hospital to be particularly helpful diet-wise!!!

All the best to everyone

Love Helenxxx