Sleevie WonderLand

So many people are saying they will be having a hernia repaired during their surgery or that they've had hernia surgery at one time or another...why is this hernia thing so common? Could I possibly have a hernia too an not realize it? *semi hypochondriac*

I cant thank you enough. I'm beyond happy for you, glad to hear you're coming along, even with the craziness of the liquid diet. I'll be sure to look up TIffykins, cant wait to hear/read what she has to say.

KB,

I was on morphine via IV on demand. After the second day, Thursday, my pain was much less

and really didn't need the morphine. They also give you anti-nausea medication via IV there are

three anti-nausea drugs. The most effective anti-nausea drug is compazine and they administer

that by injection.

After surgery while you are in the hospital they will also administer an injection of heprin to prevent

blood clots. While you are at NYU they will give you Clear Liquids - they kept bringing me sugar sweetened

Jello rather than diet. You get broth, tea, juice that I diluted with Water.

Now that I'm 12 days post surgery I can say this -- three weeks on thin liquids after two weeks on mostly thin

liquids is driving me crazy. I don't get mushy foods until June 22nd. By then I may need a straight jacket.

Tonight I stopped a Japanese restaurant in my neighborhood and picked up some miso Soup and a spicy

miso soup because I needed some taste other than SWEET. I am not sure why NYU has sleevers on thin

liquids for so long. Dr. Fielding said it is just to make sure the sleeve staples are holding and that your stomach

is very healed when you start introducing more solid food into that tender tiny tummy.

They sent me home with 3 different anti-nausea medications. I picked the one I felt worked the best with the least

amout of side effects. My nausea comes and goes but it is never very bad. You will also take a PPI=proton pump inhibitors

which just is fancy talk for drugs that reduce the amount of stomach acid you produce.

For someone who had most of her stomach removed less than two weeks ago I feel fantastic!

I suggest going to Tiffykins pages and check out all her information links. She has a great list of questions to

ask your surgeon and you and always add others. Tiff is two years into her sleeve and has lost 145 pounds.

Tiff is pregnant sleeve and all. I find her to be one of most knowledgeable members of VST.

I think you are making the right decision about procedure and hospital. Dr. Ren is a world class bariatric surgeon you will be in

great hands.

Best wishes....

EJ

The main question I asked myself when pursuing WLS is about sacrifice. Am I really ready to sacrifice just being able to put anything in any quantity in my body for the rest of my life? Am I ready to deal with just having a small portion of my favorite foods rather than overfeeding myself just to satisfy my bottomless stomach and hungry brain for the rest of my life? Hell to the YEAH! If it means I'll be improving mine and my family's quality of life, I'm so ready to do it. I know there are alot of physical and mental changes that will have to come with this surgery to make it work, and I'm committed to make them all.

Surgery is nothing to play with. It's definitely a decision that you should carefully make and know the "goods" and "bads" that come with it. In this case for me, the "bads" dont really seem that bad. If you're not ready, then dont do it. You wouldnt marry a person that you werent 100% sure that you wanted to spend the rest of your life with (thru good and bad times), so look at this surgery kinda in that way. Could you live with your sleeve till death do you part?

I wish you the best of luck either way!

Hey Jess! Im stickin with NYU. I think the surgeons there have enough experience with all the Bariatric surgeries, I'm confident that things will turn out fine. I've already kinda started my paperwork with them, I havent found a good enough reason to switch surgeons at this point.

I will definitely be asking Dr. Ren about the size of my tube, it's on my list of questions to ask her when we meet on the 22nd!

I just started a NY Group here on VST when you get a chance, please join. I'm hoping that eventually we'll have a large group of local Sleevers that we can share info with possibly in person, or just on the boards in general.

Hi Kayyybeee! Remember me?!? lolol. I'm JessieRae on OH. I actually changed my decision on getting RNY! I am now going to do the sleeve =) I am unsure whether I will be staying with NYU or not. I'm leaning towards a couple surgeons with much mmore experience with the sleeve. You have to make sure you ask the size of their Bougie(The tool they will be using to measure the stomach cut. Make sure that it is small(32-36..maybe even 40) because if it any bigger, you will be able to consume more and will loose less =)

New Yorkers are pretty proud people (everyone wants to be like us!) and this is the perfect place for us to get together and rep the Empire State. Please share your experiences (especially those specific to NY), your surgeon/hospital info, and anything else you think will be beneficial to the NY VSGers!

*I'm from Noo Yawk...concrete jungle where dreams are made of...*

I feel like such a dork for asking you all those questions in that "conversation" we've been having. You practically answered my questions days before I asked them. SMH

Dr. Fielding conducted the info session that I attended, and I too was impressed by his success with bariatric surgery both performing them and experiencing it himself. It is pretty cool that he can totally understand the fat person's brain. I chose to go with his wife, just because I kinda wanted a woman's touch during my surgery, AND because Dr. Fielding's calendar was super booked for this month. Figured his wife would be the next best thing.

I'm so happy your surgery was successful and that you're doing well. Cant wait to tell my tale. Although I did my research about the hospital, I still wanted to hear first hand from a patient how the hospital and it's staff were during recovery as that's pretty important to me. I am still curious though, how was the pain? I've survived 3 c-sections so I'm imagining that this is probably along the same lines, probably even less, but I'd still like to be prepared (yeah, I know, everyone reacts to things differently). If you were in pain, what did they give you - morphine? Liquid pain relievers? Just curious.

Thanks for taking the time to give me the great "closing argument" (trying to use attorney talk , hee hee) as it helped me greatly. I live in Westchester, but have no qualms about meeting fellow sleevesters to sip and talk about our experiences. Hopefully I'll get to meet you at a support group meeting at NYU in the near future? In the meantime, STAY IN TOUCH!

Can you believe I'm just seeing this? I gotta get the hang of this VST site!

Can you believe I'm just seeing this? I gotta get the hang of this VST site!

Hi KB! Sorry this is such a long post but a) I am an attorney and don't know how to be "short winded! I have so much to say since its my 1 week surgiversary!

I was beginning to think I was the only one who was getting sleeved at NYU! I am 6 days post surgery and feeling very good. I was sleeved by Dr. Ren's charming Aussie husband, Dr. George Fielding.

NYU Medical Center is an excellent hospital. They have the best statistics for surgery of any type (low rates of complications, infections, survival rates are good) and I wasn't disappointed at all last Wednesday. I received top notch care from everyone -- doctors, nurses, aids, even the gentlemen who wheeled me to that crazy esophagram (a test where the morning after surgery you have to swallow some vile liquid while standing against machine that shows the vile liquid travelling

down your esophagus to make sure you aren't leaking) after you pass that test, the results are sent to your surgeon and after 10 or more hours (sort of kidding) your doctor will sign an order that will get to a nurse and you will finally be permitted to have ice chips and drink Water, broth and other clear liquids!) But the gentleman who wheeled me there lying down not in a chair you aren't ready for a chair the morning after surgery, was a very nice, friendly and calming man. Which makes me think the employees at NYU Medical Center happy and treated well by their employer and they just pay it forward!

At 6 days out I am drinking my 64oz of fluids which includes my Protein shakes without a lot of difficulty. I was only on clear liquid at the hospital. I started adding the Protein shakes and protein Soups very slowly. I haven't hit my 70 gram numbers but I am getting there. I am drinking higher protein products so that two shakes get me to 40 grams before the afternoon. I don't have much of an appetite and find it hard to drink five shakes daily at this stage. I also still have gas from surgery so I feel bloated and the shakes are filled with air -- when I feel like that I have the soups. I also have the soups because the sweet taste is driving me insane!

NYU Langone surgical weight loss program is stricter than lots of other hospital weight loss programs. At Langone they want you to do 3 weeks of thin liquids followed by 3 weeks of purees. Combined with the two weeks of pre-surgery liquid diet I won't have solid food for 8 weeks! It hasn't been too bad so far but tomorrow will be 3 weeks on liquids. sugar free ice pops, and sugar free Jello are the closest to solid food I've had...oh, my calicium citrate chew is solid and so are my Gummy Vitamins.

Dr. Christine Ren-Fielding is an excellent bariatric surgeon. I chose Dr. George Fielding to be my surgeon because he has performed nearly 6,000 weight loss surgeries and because he himself was very fat and has a lap band! He started out as a thoracic surgeon in Australia. He is a very tall man who was large -- a fat, large kid, who grew up to be a fat, large man. He started performing bariatric surgery in Australia and after performing over 600 operations himself he decided it was time for him to deal with his increasing obesity. By then he weighed 290 pounds so he had a colleague perform lap band surgery on his belly! It has been more than 10 years and he hasn't regained weight.

When I went for my initial surgical consult with Dr. Fielding I wanted the lap band. He told me that his lap band works because he keeps it very tight and eats very slowly. Dr. Fielding also told me his relationship with food has changed -- he enjoys eating when he does eat (mostly a protein shake for Breakfast, maybe Soup or a salad for lunch and then a reasonable dinner meal but a very small portion) but he sometimes forgets to eat, isn't interested in eating. Plus food is no longer orgasmic for him. For me having a surgeon who understood obesity from the patient's point of view was very important to me. Dr. Fielding understands the struggles and doesn't sugar coat the realities of WLS as a tool to maintain a healthy weight. It was Dr. Fielding who told me more about VSG and then asked if I wanted to do some research before making a decision on which surgery to have.

And here I am about to Celebrate my 1 week surgiversary! No regrets whatsoever! I feel good and I see Dr. Fielding on Thursday to get this damn drain removed. Do you live in New York City? I live in Brooklyn. It is a bit of a drag getting to NYUMC because it is so far east but it is well worth it!

If there is anything I can do to assist you with you decision or if you have questions please feel free to ask me. Welcome to VST, KB and thanks for friending me!

EJ

This group thing is a great idea!

I'm new to VST and having a hard time finding the information I'm looking for. I'm also a member on Obesityhelp.com, that site is a little easier to manage, but I'm gonna stick it out.

I'm in the NY area, so if anyone is interested in staying in touch and possibly meeting for group dinners, holla at your girl!

I've done an info session at NYU Langone and so far am intrigued by the surgeons there and hope to have Dr. Ren do my VSG. I'm very anxious to know if anyone has had surgery done by any of the NYU Langone staff and what the experience was like from day one to surgery. I'm also really concerned about the hospital stay - how long did you stay, and did the staff seem attentive (that's a big deal to me). I'm scheduled to meet with Dr. Ren, and the nutritionist on 6/22.