Very Sad, Please Read

[Daughterinlaw 0]

I thank you all for understanding and not taking offense to my story. Downinsocial, the only reason I posted this story in multiple forums is because I didn't know the appropriate place to put it at first, so I put it in a few,....I have not been a regular visitor to this website before now, so I don't know the ins and outs.

My mother in law is doing much better in the hospital and is ready to go home except that she will not cooperate with keeping her nutrition up. She doesn't like the Ensure they are trying to give her and lets most of it sit there and go to waste,....hence the fact that she wasn't ready for the commitment this surgery needed. All they ask her to do is walk and get the nutrients up, and she complains like a child......she survived at least 4-5 abscesses, one leak, dehydration, and UTI........and she won't drink Ensure. This is beyond frustrating. I'm trying to be as supportive as I possible can, we call her often, my husband goes to watch football games with her, we never once have spoken negatively about her having the surgery,....as far as we are concerned, what's done is done, and now the next step is to fix it and get her healthy again. I just hope that she can make it back home before my baby is born.

[Daughterinlaw 0]

Thank You all for your understanding and advice, we have tried from the beginning to get educated on what the surgery was like and tried to make sure she understood these things,... but all we got in return was " I'll be fine, that won't to me,... those other people had bad doctors that's why they had complications ". Mountain_Lover I'm so glad you read my post and stayed strong through Thanksgiving, I know it must have been hard, but you sound like a very strong lady that is ready to tackle this. We are trying very hard right now to be as supportive as we can with her, but she makes it very difficult. It's almost getting to the point of why help you when you won't help yourself kind of thing,...she's being very lazy with her own recovery and without constant reminders and pushing/coaxing from the family she is not all that willing to do it. I'm trying....... this is a very difficult time.

[AKBarnes1 0]

Thanks for sharing. It is important for all potential sleevesters to hear all stories...good and bad. Luckily, my band to sleeve revision went very well and I'm nearly 3 weeks out. Help out your MIL and give her support so she can meet her grandchild. I know that it is an exciting time for you...I just had my first baby 4.5 months ago. I can't tell you how much joy your little one will bring. I wanted to be healthy in the long term for my little boy and that is why I decided to get the sleeve. Luckily my surgeon is wonderful here in the US and I've had great post op care. Good luck to you and your family.

[LAN2k 18]

I can only imagine that many Protein Drinks will be sickening to your mother in law even if she does not express this. Perhaps you can try some other drink blends that contain high Protein which will be more palatable to her taste. The ONLY drink I am able to drink since early on after surgery was a drink called Naked Protein Zone. It's a juice blend comes in a 15 oz. plastic bottle in the refrigerated section of some supermarkets, Walgreen's and 711's. One bottle has 30 grams protein and lots of nutrition...beats artificially flavored Ensure any day! It seems to me she will be needing alot of supervision and I think after all you've been through it would be well worth it to follow through. At some point when she is allowed mushy foods, I found a multi-grain cream of wheat which contains 7 grams protein per serving. I wish her total healing and hope she will continue to learn from this experience.

[Malaika 50]

While this is a good cautionary tale does it need to be in every area of the forum?

I thank you all for understanding and not taking offense to my story. Downinsocial, the only reason I posted this story in multiple forums is because I didn't know the appropriate place to put it at first, so I put it in a few,....I have not been a regular visitor to this website before now, so I don't know the ins and outs.

SoCal - I agree with you - one forum is adequate enough

Daughter-in-Law - hope you don't mind but I merged all your threads in various forums into one forum for ease of reference for everyone.

[mountain_lover 3]

I appreciate your comments. It is now almost 2:00 Sunday morning. I did make it so far, but I still have to go through another Thanksgiving dinner today at my sister's. She wanted to cook one for my family while we were here this weekend. It is hard being around all the food and leftovers, but I have not cheated at all on my diet. Right now at this time I am eating my frozen Protein Milkshake. I only had 2 milkshakes and 1 Protein Bar all day on saturday before midnight, so I had to fix me another one. I always try to get 4 in a 24 hour period. I am suppose to have 4-5, so I am doing alright. I never have liked those ensure or slim fast milkshake, so I thought that I would not like these, but I really like them alot. I can have fruit and nuts blending up in mine. I freeze mine whenever possible, because I loved ice cream before the pre-op diet and they seem almost the same this way. I really enjoy the strawberry flavored protein mix with pineapple and strawberry together or separate with or without pecans. In the chocolate mix I only like banana or strawberry in it.(just remember it has to be ate while frozen, do not thaw and eat later.) When she gets to feeling better and can have the whey protein milkshakes, if you would like you can click onto my profile and go to statistics and then click onto all my posts and read my comments on how I make my shakes. I think when she is able to tolerate them better, if she makes them in different varities and flavors, she will enjoy them and become healthier as time goes by. I wish her all the best.

I only have Sunday-Monday-Tuesday on the pre-op diet then I will be having surgery on Wednesday. I am hoping that by staying on the pre-op diet the way I am suppose to, I will be able to have a faster recovery. I am glad I read your story, because it sure inspired me to not mess up on my trip to visit family for Thanksgiving. This is one Holiday that in the past years, I always look forward to chowing down on all that good food and great deserts. I saved me a plate and I am going to eat some of it after surgery when I can have them, pureed or soft. Thanks again and I hope and pray that all goes well for you and your family!!

[Oregon Rose 2]

Dear Daughter-in-Law:

I am so sorry to hear about your mother-in-law's troubles. I hope she will start doing better soon and will start complying with the dietary and liquid requirements. Those who have had VSG need a lifetime of vigilance with respect to Protein, Water, and Vitamins.

This is exactly the kind of post that everyone needs to read. There are real risks with any kind of surgery, VSG is no exception. Having surgery in a country with poor sanitation can increase the risks dramatically. I had surgery in the U.S. and was not given, nor did I need post surgery antibiotics.

Those who have surgery in the United States do have to have a psychological evaluation. (Not that psych evaluations are all that accurate. How can they be when the therapist has only met the patient once?)

I had my surgery out of state. My surgeon coordinated with my primary care physician for a physical, a chest x-ray, a cardiac stress test, and various blood tests. Before surgery, I had a pre-op appointment with the surgeon. After surgery, I was required to stay in San Francisco until my surgeon released me. I was released to return home after my post-op appointment. The other post-op appointments can be done by telephone or in person with the surgeon. But, my care is also being coordinated with my local primary care physician.

I think anyone who is planning surgery whether in-state, out of state, or out of the country needs regular follow-up care.

If you mother-in-law had proper follow-up care, the surgeon (or follow-up physician) would have asked her questions about compliance, how her wounds were healing, etc. The problems would have been discovered much earlier. Also, a leak usually appears with 1-2 days after surgery, so I wonder why the surgeon :laugh: didn't catch it?

Best wishes to your mother-in-law. She should be grateful for having such a caring daughter-in-law.

[Bob_350lbs 105]

If a surgeon is in it for the money, well, isn't that why we all work? What is most important to me, is that the surgeon is highly skilled. It's my body they are doing surgery on, so I am not looking for a social worker. You get what you pay for, if you ask me.

[Oregon Rose 2]

Yes, every surgeon is doing it for money. They deserve to get paid for their time and skill. However, there are two potential problems: lack of skill and lack of ethics.

Let's face it, some surgeons graduate at or near the bottom of their medical school class and for whatever reason are not particularly good. They may even have substance abuse problems. This is why it is extremely important to check out your surgeon before you hire him/her.

You can buy reports on U.S. surgeons online. They are not very expensive. The report will tell you about malpractice lawsuits, arbitrations, etc. The reports will also tell you patient satisfaction, where they went to medical school, where they did their surgical residency, etc.

Going to a top notch medical school and having a prestigious residence and a prestigious fellowship is a good sign that they are smart and competent. Only the best and brightest get these positions.

If they have any malpractice suits or arbitrations - run for the door! :tongue_smilie: If you hire a Mexican surgeon, I don't know how you can find out if they have bungled any operations. If someone else does, please advise the rest of us.

There is also the issue of lack of ethics. :001_tongue: Lying about how many sleeves they have done in order to get more business, taking shortcuts to save themselves money (such as using cheap staples) on the operation, taking on a patient that should not have (due to risk issues or psych issues) the operation, not telling the patient if they have severed an artery, damaged your liver or spleen, etc.

For the money I spent, I wanted experience, competency, and ethics.

I believe I got that with my surgeon. But then, I bought the report!

Best wishes,

[Bob_350lbs 105]

Well put, Rose. I see you went to LapSF, so did I. Dr. Cirangle was my surgeon and Dr. Jossart assisted him, how lucky could one get?

Thanks for the post, it was well thought out and intelligent.

Keep up the good work!

[thinoneday 445]

Before I begin, I want to say that in no way do I want to offend anyone here or create a negative energy, I just want to tell our family's story up to this point, and I have some information here that you may not hear anywhere else. As a Christian I speak only the truth, and have not made anything up to offend anyone who has positive things to say about this surgery, Here we go......

My mother in law had the Vertical Sleeve Surgery October 13, 2009 in Mexico with Dr Alvarez. I have to admit that when we found out the surgery was scheduled, our family was not supportive of it at all. We were very scared for her well being, safety, etc, because she is a very naive woman who has no common sense, God Bless her. She has been heavy her whole life, and it's due to a very poor diet of fast food,and pepsi. She did not correctly follow her pre op diet (surgeon did surgery anyway knowing this), so that was more cause for concern, as well as no pre-op care from a physician, or psychological counseling. She also had no post op care scheduled for when she returned, totally convinced that she would be perfectly fine and return to work a few days later, boom... lose a ton of weight, no problem. I only wish.......

Against our warnings and pleas she went ahead with the surgery. I have to admit, everything seemed ok, The surgery went well, she supposedly showed no signs of complications afterwards and was released, only having minor discomfort. She drove home on a Thursday and by Saturday was not feeling well with fever......by Monday she was miserable. She was sent to the hospital by her boss, and ended up staying there 2 weeks with an abscess near the stomach, dehydration, and a UTI. We didn't find out till much later, that she did not take her antibiotics that she was given by the Dr in Mexico, nor did she comply with her Fluid intake.

After being discharged after 2 weeks, she was sent home, and still was running fever and continued to not comply with medication or fluids. One week later she was back in the ER, (different hospital) where they had to transfer her to another hospital to better accommodate her. (** Another important note** Not all hospitals are staffed with a Bariatric team that can help you if you have complications, many many doctors are very hesitant to work on a patient that has had surgery in Mexico. We experienced this firsthand) There after a CAT scan and upper GI they found a Leak, along with several more abscesses. This is where we are now. She has been in the Hospital another 2 weeks now and we really aren't sure when she'll return home. She is depressed and looks horrible. She hasn't eaten a solid meal since the end of September, and still cannot handle liquids so she's being fed through IV,....I worry she'll never be the same again.

Her boss got in touch with me and said not only would the insurance not cover these expenses, they upped her premium after all this started and he didn't know if he could continue to keep her on the policy. I am currently 7.5 months pregnant with my first baby,...her first grandchild, and she missed my baby shower on Sunday. She is in major debt and will most likely have to file bankrupt because now she is so behind from missing work.

I am very well aware that she is a lot to blame for her complications because she did not comply with her instructions from Doctors, and this is the reason why I wrote this post. This surgery has real risks and should be taken very seriously!!!! The naive are led to believe it's so easy and so safe, and their lives will be forever changed......well that can also end up a very negative change. There should be MANDATORY evaluations, testing, and counseling for those who want this surgery to see who's ready and who's not. If my mother in law would have done this, they would have seen she was not a good candidate, and she could have avoided all this, which makes it even more frustrating. She went to Mexico because it was "cheaper",.....and now she's out the $9,000 she paid for it, on top of the tens of thousands of medical bills she's currently racking up. Like I said, she is very depressed now that she realized she did not take it serious enough, and says it's the biggest mistake of her life. Please,.....if you want to have this surgery, really consider if you have what it takes to make it through. It takes discipline, will power, patience and prayer of course. I don't ever want to see another person go through this nightmare that our family is currently going through.

To all of you who have had a positive experience with VS, I congratulate you and wish you a lifetime of health and happiness, which I know is what you wanted in the first place. I hope I didn't offend anyone, I just really wanted to share this story.

thank you so much for sharing your story. . . how sorry I feel for your mother in law. . . some people who have this surgery think this is a miracle cure to their obesity, they want to wake up and "poof" be thin and never have to think about it ever again. . . little do they know that even with this surgery, they have to work at it. . . they have to diet and exercise, the sleeve is drastic yes, but I totally agree with you, there should have been a psychological evaluation and a nutritional evaluation. . . i couldn't even think about the surgery without the following things. . . I HAD to go to a seminar with my husband, attend the psychological eval and the nutritional eval. . .then the doctor questioned me on my wanting the surgery and when he found out that i didn't want the surgery to miraculously become the next Miss America, but rather to improve my health and well being, it was then that he told me I would be a good candiate for the surgery. . . I researched this for over 1 year and then hubbie and I agreed on it. . . I wish your motherinlaw had done the same. . . it would be alot easier on her. . . and not to be mean or make you feel bad, but is she an attention seeker? Do you think all this may be for attention? It's not my place, but maybe a psychiatrist might be in order. . . I'll say a prayer for all of you and wish you all the best, it's hard, but God never gives us more than what we can bear. . . .

[thinoneday 445]

I appreciate your comments. It is now almost 2:00 Sunday morning. I did make it so far, but I still have to go through another Thanksgiving dinner today at my sister's. She wanted to cook one for my family while we were here this weekend. It is hard being around all the food and leftovers, but I have not cheated at all on my diet. Right now at this time I am eating my frozen Protein Milkshake. I only had 2 milkshakes and 1 Protein Bar all day on saturday before midnight, so I had to fix me another one. I always try to get 4 in a 24 hour period. I am suppose to have 4-5, so I am doing alright. I never have liked those ensure or slim fast milkshake, so I thought that I would not like these, but I really like them alot. I can have fruit and nuts blending up in mine. I freeze mine whenever possible, because I loved ice cream before the pre-op diet and they seem almost the same this way. I really enjoy the strawberry flavored protein mix with pineapple and strawberry together or separate with or without pecans. In the chocolate mix I only like banana or strawberry in it.(just remember it has to be ate while frozen, do not thaw and eat later.) When she gets to feeling better and can have the whey protein milkshakes, if you would like you can click onto my profile and go to statistics and then click onto all my posts and read my comments on how I make my shakes. I think when she is able to tolerate them better, if she makes them in different varities and flavors, she will enjoy them and become healthier as time goes by. I wish her all the best.

I only have Sunday-Monday-Tuesday on the pre-op diet then I will be having surgery on Wednesday. I am hoping that by staying on the pre-op diet the way I am suppose to, I will be able to have a faster recovery. I am glad I read your story, because it sure inspired me to not mess up on my trip to visit family for Thanksgiving. This is one Holiday that in the past years, I always look forward to chowing down on all that good food and great deserts. I saved me a plate and I am going to eat some of it after surgery when I can have them, pureed or soft. Thanks again and I hope and pray that all goes well for you and your family!!

Wow ML, your an inspiration to me. . . I finally got my surgery date for Dec. 29th. . .I really happy. . . the doctor told me my BMI wasn't high enough to be put onto a pre-op diet (41) but I told him I would like to go on it. . . he looked at me as if I had let the cheese slide off the cracker. . . he said ok, it would make his job easier anyhow. . . so I'll do it, I start on the 15th. . . just reading your post makes me think, wow your doing so good! I should be able to do it!!! You'll do well with your surgery, I just know it! . . . good luck and best to you!:thumbup:

[thinoneday 445]

Yes, every surgeon is doing it for money. They deserve to get paid for their time and skill. However, there are two potential problems: lack of skill and lack of ethics.

Let's face it, some surgeons graduate at or near the bottom of their medical school class and for whatever reason are not particularly good. They may even have substance abuse problems. This is why it is extremely important to check out your surgeon before you hire him/her.

You can buy reports on U.S. surgeons online. They are not very expensive. The report will tell you about malpractice lawsuits, arbitrations, etc. The reports will also tell you patient satisfaction, where they went to medical school, where they did their surgical residency, etc.

Going to a top notch medical school and having a prestigious residence and a prestigious fellowship is a good sign that they are smart and competent. Only the best and brightest get these positions.

If they have any malpractice suits or arbitrations - run for the door! :scared0: If you hire a Mexican surgeon, I don't know how you can find out if they have bungled any operations. If someone else does, please advise the rest of us.

There is also the issue of lack of ethics. :thumbup: Lying about how many sleeves they have done in order to get more business, taking shortcuts to save themselves money (such as using cheap staples) on the operation, taking on a patient that should not have (due to risk issues or psych issues) the operation, not telling the patient if they have severed an artery, damaged your liver or spleen, etc.

For the money I spent, I wanted experience, competency, and ethics.

I believe I got that with my surgeon. But then, I bought the report!

Best wishes,

I did the same Rose, and found my doctor to be very competent, smart, and honest. . . he did say that he hasn't done more then 300 sleeves and that he has done lapbands more, he did answer my questions regarding boughies and oversewings. . . he did talk very intelligently and he is the medical director of surgery. . . his reviews were very good, he has never had any malpractice suits against him and he seems caring and have a genuine interest in the patients. . . but of course money does a lot of the talking too. . . where doesn't it do the talking?

[cajun 46]

Before I begin, I want to say that in no way do I want to offend anyone here or create a negative energy, I just want to tell our family's story up to this point, and I have some information here that you may not hear anywhere else. As a Christian I speak only the truth, and have not made anything up to offend anyone who has positive things to say about this surgery, Here we go......

My mother in law had the Vertical Sleeve Surgery October 13, 2009 in Mexico with Dr Alvarez. I have to admit that when we found out the surgery was scheduled, our family was not supportive of it at all. We were very scared for her well being, safety, etc, because she is a very naive woman who has no common sense, God Bless her. She has been heavy her whole life, and it's due to a very poor diet of fast food,and pepsi. She did not correctly follow her pre op diet (surgeon did surgery anyway knowing this), so that was more cause for concern, as well as no pre-op care from a physician, or psychological counseling. She also had no post op care scheduled for when she returned, totally convinced that she would be perfectly fine and return to work a few days later, boom... lose a ton of weight, no problem. I only wish.......

Against our warnings and pleas she went ahead with the surgery. I have to admit, everything seemed ok, The surgery went well, she supposedly showed no signs of complications afterwards and was released, only having minor discomfort. She drove home on a Thursday and by Saturday was not feeling well with fever......by Monday she was miserable. She was sent to the hospital by her boss, and ended up staying there 2 weeks with an abscess near the stomach, dehydration, and a UTI. We didn't find out till much later, that she did not take her antibiotics that she was given by the Dr in Mexico, nor did she comply with her Fluid intake.

After being discharged after 2 weeks, she was sent home, and still was running fever and continued to not comply with medication or fluids. One week later she was back in the ER, (different hospital) where they had to transfer her to another hospital to better accommodate her. (** Another important note** Not all hospitals are staffed with a Bariatric team that can help you if you have complications, many many doctors are very hesitant to work on a patient that has had surgery in Mexico. We experienced this firsthand) There after a CAT scan and upper GI they found a Leak, along with several more abscesses. This is where we are now. She has been in the Hospital another 2 weeks now and we really aren't sure when she'll return home. She is depressed and looks horrible. She hasn't eaten a solid meal since the end of September, and still cannot handle liquids so she's being fed through IV,....I worry she'll never be the same again.

Her boss got in touch with me and said not only would the insurance not cover these expenses, they upped her premium after all this started and he didn't know if he could continue to keep her on the policy. I am currently 7.5 months pregnant with my first baby,...her first grandchild, and she missed my baby shower on Sunday. She is in major debt and will most likely have to file bankrupt because now she is so behind from missing work.

I am very well aware that she is a lot to blame for her complications because she did not comply with her instructions from Doctors, and this is the reason why I wrote this post. This surgery has real risks and should be taken very seriously!!!! The naive are led to believe it's so easy and so safe, and their lives will be forever changed......well that can also end up a very negative change. There should be MANDATORY evaluations, testing, and counseling for those who want this surgery to see who's ready and who's not. If my mother in law would have done this, they would have seen she was not a good candidate, and she could have avoided all this, which makes it even more frustrating. She went to Mexico because it was "cheaper",.....and now she's out the $9,000 she paid for it, on top of the tens of thousands of medical bills she's currently racking up. Like I said, she is very depressed now that she realized she did not take it serious enough, and says it's the biggest mistake of her life. Please,.....if you want to have this surgery, really consider if you have what it takes to make it through. It takes discipline, will power, patience and prayer of course. I don't ever want to see another person go through this nightmare that our family is currently going through.

To all of you who have had a positive experience with VS, I congratulate you and wish you a lifetime of health and happiness, which I know is what you wanted in the first place. I hope I didn't offend anyone, I just really wanted to share this story.

Just touching base to ask how your mother in law is doing...?

[LAN2k 18]

Lord God in the name of Jesus come to the aid of this woman and her family. Please provide for her physical healing, emotional healing and finances. Thank you Father...Amen.