Nicci

Leaks are often associated with increased heart rate, fever etc (from what I have read) and also the stomach is on the left side of the body (anatomically speaking). It is possible for your pain to be radiating from the left side of your body to the right side, thats what I experienced with my gall bladder and it confused my doc at first because the gallbladder is on the left and I had no left sided pain.

4ALongerLife have you discussed the possibility of having your surgeon fix the leak with a stent? From what I have read this generally heals the leak (I am doing sooooo much research before I have my surgery that I am beginning to feel like a walking encyclopedia for WLS, lol!).

have you done anything that could have aggravated the site? Pulled a muscle, stood up funny, lifted something heavier than what you are suppose to?

Ok, just to put some perspective into this --

The death rate for giving birth in the U.S. (in 2007) was 8.7 percent.

The morbidity rate associated with tonsillectomy is 2% to 4%

The morbidity rate for a laparoscopic gallbladder surgery is 1.9%

The point is, I could go on and on about the chances of dying in surgery (or from complications) -- but the fact remains that VSG morbidity rates is .5% -- that's TINY compared to giving birth, having your tonsils out or having gallbladder surgery (one of the most common surgeries in the U.S.).

I know that having an elective surgery for obesity is scary. I think we can all admit that we were all a little bit scared. But please don't focus on one thing and make that the reason why you might not consider having a surgery that could ultimately save your life.

As for myself, I KNEW that if I didn't do this FOR ME, that I would die - it was only a matter of time -- I didn't want to not see my children get married or leave my wonderful husband alone. I also wanted a new lease on life - I had not been living my life - I had given up and had given up everything that I found enjoyable about life, except for food. What a waste! So I gave myself the very best present I could give myself - a way to take control of my obesity and live a normal life.

I really really hope you reconsider this -- please feel free to message me - I know how scary it is to consider the surgery - it took me a year to get up the guts to even see a doctor. But I if I had the chance to do it again, I would run to the doctor and beg to be operated on immediately.

Take care, I hope this helps. Julie

I find myself to ow be the one i the pre-op position, constantly debating and struggling internally with myself if this is something I should do (or not do). Given the 3 specific percentages quoted here I have done all 3 and survived...so I should be good for this too, or have I pressed my luck enough and if I choose to do this my number will be up?!?

One of my final straws was when someone said to me "when was the last time you saw a morbidly obese senior citizen?",

Actually there are quite a few morbidly obese senior citizens in Wisconsin, lol darn cheese! Trust me I know, I have had to lift my share of them in the hospital and for a brief period when I worked in a nursing home. Thank you though for the well wishes, being "average" size is something I want and the only way to get what you want is to go after it! Honestly the whole guy being able to pick me up and spin me around is one of the things I am looking forward to post-op. It seems so silly (and yeah I could probably find some huge body builder guy who could do that to me at my current weight) but that is my biggest off scale victory that I am looking forward to, next to being able to cross my legs :-)

My 6y/o daughter cried when someone told her she was just like her mom (they meant her personality) because she thought it was their way of calling her fat. She was constantly telling me I'm too big and she even excluded me from a picture she drew at school of her family because I was too big I wouldn't fit on the page with her dad, brother, sister and herself. (Yeah I cried when no one was looking). After having decided to go through with this surgery I feel better about the way she views me now because I know it wont be forever. The other night though, we were watching the actual procedure on youtube and she came in to the room and apparently started watching it as well because the next thing I know I'm hearing her say "That's NOT going to happen mom! There is no way I am letting someone hurt you like that and make you bleed. You're not having that surgery." LOL, well yes I am having this surgery and it will make all of our lives better! It just seemed so weird to see how her young opinion changed so quickly once she seen what it actually involved, she decided she would rather have a fat mom then to let her mom go through all that. She doesn't have a choice in the matter, but it was very sweet to know she was concerned for me.

is the coffee thing just because of how acidic it is? If thats the case I would imagine at some point your stomach will be able to handle it again, would you think so? I mean like once the wound is completely healed. IDK I'm no nutritionist, or is it the caffeine? If thats the case could you still drink it so long as it was Decaf? I don't think potato's will be out of my diet forever, I suspect I may have a bite or two of them at holiday meals (I mean c'mon who is going to eat a christmas salad instead of a christmas ham? lol) but it will definitely be in moderation!!!!

I am sorry you had a bad experience with your surgery. I just wanted to tell you that as a nurse for years, your nurse was very unprofessional and maybe inexperienced. An incident of tachycardia ( yes, heart racing ) is not a reason for a nurse panicking, especially in front of a patient. Many people wake up from surgery and it takes awhile for their vital signs to adjust!

As for the horror stories - you should hear the ones I hear following emergency department visits out and about town. I will hear stories about visits that I was personally present for, and their versions are dramatically different from what I witnessed. That is not to say that in "their" perception they are describing it is not true but often when the outcome is not as they expected for example; waiting longer than they wany; not getting the medication they want; expecting chronic conditions to be "fixed" in an ER visit; or having the physician tell them that they cannot do anything form them.

Someones visit may go as follows: they come in with their child with a cough and fever and have to wait 20 minutes for the current triage; after triaged they have to wait 20 minutes to come back; after coming back they have to wait 20 minutes for the doctor to see them because we have 2 motor vehicle crash victims; a chest pain; a baby being transferred and a pshych patient taking up a bed; we draw blood; it takes 2 attempts; the chest x-ray takes 30 minutes because the MVC victims are being done; Respiratory Therapy does a breathing treatment; we give medication for the fever (generally we have to wait an hour for it to kick in). During all of this time, the child is fussy and crying but VS are stable except the fever. Baby is fussy, and it takes 2 nurses to give the antibiotics; Finally, the fever comes down; the labs are good and the doctor prescribes some more antibiotics and they have to wait for 20 minutes for the discharge paperwork. Baby is still fussy because they are sick, but we cannot make that go away!

After all of this, here is the point of the story, in our perception - this was a totally stable patient and a 3-4 hour ER visit is the norm with everything going on.

The patients story which I heard the next day in the store was: Baby was really sick and it took hours in the ER to even be seen - they did not care that she was crying and hot. When we got in the back the nurses did not even know what they were doing and stuck her twice to get her blood. Even though she was screaming they made us wait forever and then they did not even admit her - they just sent her home with p prescription and told us to give her tylenol, We are never going back to that place!

I know this is a long story, but while I do not want to minimize the risks, on all of the horror stories, how many of them were done by physicians that were not researched; in facilities that were not the greatest; did not comply with pre op and/or post op instructions; had pre existing conditions that they do not disclose on thier stories such as smoking; alcohol or drug usage?? I agree with the others that have posted, the risk of obesity and its health related problems are looming out there and shaking thier fist at us on a daily basis!! We are going into this with great expectations and not without thought and prayer, you can do it.

And, if you ever have a nurse do this again, ask her calmly to take her own pulse before panicking!!!!

I know that the er horror stories are often exaggerated, lol, my mom was an er nurse for many years, now shes an educator. I think she is only against the idea of me having this surgery because they use to teach their er nurses that when a WLS patient comes in with a sense of impending doom chances are the patient will expire. But you're right, soooo much has change in WLS in just the last 10 years alone! I will try to remember what you said if my recovery nurse panics, lol, I was way to groggy to be sarcastic (and her fear poured over in to me. I was hoping she would tell me not to worry about it, that it was another patient but no she admitted it was I whom had the elevated HR, btw thats how out of it I was at that point I couldn't even feel my heart taking off and I'm a sensitive one, my anxiety keeps me in pretty good tune with the rest of my body).

I believe at this point I have decided to move forward and stay on the surgical path. I deserve to have a full and long life, and to enjoy the life I lead without trying to avoid photos and hiding behind someone else on the rare occasion I allow someone to take my picture. I deserve to love what I see in the mirror. I am worthy of all of this, even if I am terrified. I feel like this is a "leap of faith" for me and I just have to trust in my doctors and listen closely to my body so that I get medical intervention if necessary (even if it means finding a different bariatric surgeon post-op because the surgeon who did the procedure isn't listening to me, as Miss Iggychic did! And good for her for continuing to push, she listened to her body and did everything she could to get the help she needed.). 321 lbs isn't ok for my relatively small frame to carry around for long!

Just make sure if you go ahead with the sleeve that you are comfortable and able to have a second operation, a DS or Bypass. The reason is due to the Ghrelin hormone being removed by the sleeve procedure which causes u tool have no sense of hunger, however our bodie adapt and the Grehlin comes back which means you will feel hunger again. For me it was the 2 year mark, started to feel so hungry and sure enough my Grehlin levels when tested were back in the normal range. Now, I'm looking at another procedure

Wow I wasn't aware that the hormones for hunger would/could potentially come back! Huh....I know I don't want multiple procedures (I hate the idea of going under for any reason, but I can buck up when I have to).

In fact, I'm following another sleever on the site named Iggy. She's had a horrible time. Her posts helped me in chickening out.

I have been following that very same post! Thats the one that made me "re-think" what I was getting myself in to as well.

Nicci I did too! I read iggychic thread and I chickened out:( I just pushed my date back til January

Sent from my SCH-R530U using VST

Yup, that's the one that ALMOST did me in. I am slowly finding some confidence in going through with this, I have even spoken with "Iggy" via private messages and she said even knowing what she does now she would still encourage me to do it simply because of where I'm at (321...although today at the doc it was 320, lol hey 1lb counts man!), and that she was much smaller than I when she initiated this process.

I am glad to hear it went well And thanks for the info I had no idea about the swedish studies.

Just keep with it girl and when the time comes you'll know what you need to do for you. I say keep researching , asking questions so that you are prepared should you go through with it.

Thank you soooo much for your support and encouragement. It truly means a lot to me, I have a lot of negative people in my life which I am assuming will change when/if I do go through with the surgery, I have heard of many people whose friends turned out not to truly be their friends but in fact their frenemies, or significant others whom just couldn't handle the new and improved partner. It's a breath of fresh air to come on here and actually be supported and encouraged no matter what decision I make!

Chili dog minus the bun is still one I love and have at least once a month. I add cheese and onions to mine. chocolate is something I thought I would have a hard time with but I really don't crave it like I used to. And one little piece is more than enough and it's weeks before I even think about it.

That is soooo wonderful to hear!!! I find it comforting to know that the two foods I will miss the most can still be eaten as an occasional treat, and ya know I never thought about going without the bun....perhaps I will start to do that even pre-op :-)

Are you prone to clotting? Is your varicose vein due to weight? My mom has had varicose veins since high school. She wasn't fat. She had me at 24. I don't see why a varicose vein would be a problem though. Do you realize how many people have varicose veins and have surgery.

No, I (knock on wood) have never thrown a clot before, but there is a first time for everything and given my current weight (which is the largest it has ever been) I'm sure my chances are increased. As far a Varicose veins go I have never really seen them in someones foot before, mainly just their calfs, hands and arms....so I wasn't sure if a foot one, which constantly has pressure placed on it while standing/walking, would bare any increased risk.

Not following your logic here... If you are in excellent health why are you considering the surgery?

I did mention that I have PCOS, which honestly other than cosmetically, hasn't impacted my life (oh and I had to use fertility medication to get the child that died an hour and 10min after his birth, as well as my twins). It's more preventative measures in my mind, not that I have to explain my reasoning for even having an interest in this surgery to you or anyone else. I think it would be great to FINALLY know what it's like to be average to slender in size, and at 30 I still have plenty of life to live and cute clothes to wear (well not at my current weight, clothing options are limited and tend to age a person or just be down right gaudy!). So yes, I would like to look good. I would like to know what it feels like, just once in my life, to have a man literally sweep me off my feet, I would like to go to theme parks and be able to ride the rides without fear of embarrassment of not fitting in the seat or possibly breaking the cart off of its hinges, to be confident and comfortable in my own skin and not feel as if I am being judged based on my appearance but to know any judgement being cast is based on my character! I would like to go white Water rafting or mountain climbing with the girls. I would love to be more actively involved in play with my children and possibly even coach one of my daughters softball teams instead of sitting on the sideline and trying not to draw attention to myself. I would like for my 6y/o not to cry when people tell her she's just like her momma because she thinks that is their way of calling her fat (which shes not). I am entertaining the thought of possibly having this surgery simply because I can!

Hi Nicci,

How did it go today?

Thanks for asking It went pretty well and the surgeon agreed that this is probably in my best interest, given all the attempts I have made in the past (she laughed when I went as far back as Richard Simmons Deal-A-Meal plan and his sweatin' to the oldies routine). She gave me a book entitled "Weight Loss Surgery For Dummies" and she said it's informative yet entertaining I am optimistic at this point. She wants me to continue to jump through the hoops, and she continued to remind me that I am not obligated to commit to this and even once the surgery is scheduled I can cancel it at any time, even the day before the surgery if my feet get too cold Apparently Sweden has done studies on people whom are 20+ years out and they have a significantly decreased death rate from cardiac related deaths and incidence of cancer. I would love to read some of these studies as so many people in my every day life tell me that this is so new, blah blah blah, we don't know what it will do to you 10 or 20 years down the road. I'd enjoy battling them with the Swedish statistics and show them that yes we do know and this is why.

Well I may have to retract that last statement I made....I believe I just found a varicose vein in my foot that I had surgery on in April....I felt a burning sensation as I was walking down stairs so I sat on my bed and removed my sock and I have a HUGE vein running across the instep of my foot. I guess that's something I will have to address tomorrow with the surgeon. Can, in fact, people with varicose veins safely have surgery? Clots terrify me (no I have never had one but I truly do know how deadly they can be, I have taken care of many patients whom were stepping down from the ICU once their clot(s) resolved. For those of you that don't know, I'm a CNA whom is ever so slowly making my way through my BSN.).

Not trying to be mean, but what about the horror stories of people who died from their obesity? Were those not scary enough to chicken you out of being morbidly obese for the rest of your life?

Honestly no, I have been big my whole life and don't have diabetes or high cholesterol or high bp or anything life threatening like that, Aside from my weight I'm in excellent health.

Thanks guys...I am listening to ALL of you At 4:45pm I called my doc's office back and admitted to them I am scared and my fear was the reason I canceled. IDK if this is a "sign" of any kind BUT the receptionist totally understood and said that my appointment time was still available if I wanted to re-book it.....so I did. Tomorrow at 9am I will be going in to talk with the surgeon about all of this and letting her know all of my fears. The last surgery I had was just this past April, I had to have my ankle re-fused because it didn't heal right the first time. When I woke up in recovery my heart started to race on me and my nurse kinda scared me with the panic I could hear in her voice (she was yelling to the others "This one is going tachy! Mine is going tachy on me!" I kept asking her who was going tachy, if it was me? Finally she told me "Yes, you." so I bared down and took a deep breath, holding it for a few seconds and released it and my heart rate came back down to normal before she ever had the chance to get me any sort of meds. Not sure if that was just like that I came back to normal on my own or what but it freaked me out pretty good. Later I asked the doc about it and he said no one had mentioned it to him but that maybe I was just having a slight reaction to one of the anesthesia drugs? He wasn't completely sure what could have caused it....but this was orthopedics not GI).

I think I grew feathers and a beak because I just called and canceled my appointment with the doctor for tomorrow I read a couple horror stories and everything is just so life or death that I can't calm my anxieties enough to go to my appointment. I'm afraid I may be stuck in this fat suit forever

If you do believe in God, praying for the right choice would work. Best of luck. For what it's worth, the trauma of the surgery, the whole ordeal, only lasts a few days. So far my tastes haven't changed with surgery. I look at is like this: I'll get through this day and worry about the rest of the days later. I feel more peaceful like that.

I have been praying about this daily and I don't feel like I have found the right answer, would you pray with me?

I'm a vertically challenged person, standing at a whopping 5'3", but I make up for it horizontally (lord do I ever!) tipping the scales at 321 lbs!!! but I did want to comment on these 180 lbs people having the surgery. First of all I don't think they even need it at that weight! I mean seriously what are they thinking?! Secondly I wonder if they all are private pay because they dont, or shouldnt anyways, meet insurance requirements. And lastly do you suppose that these 180 lbs people are the ones that have more complications with their sleeve, simply because it was an un-necessary surgery in the first place? I honestly wonder about that but never have the gull to ask them.

Me too, scared that is (even though I want it so badly!!!). For the last few days I have been following a thread that has me teetering 50/50 on if I should follow through with this or not. You should read it....or then again maybe you shouldn't read it given that you will be going under soon. Its called something like "My story, the one you don;t want to hear about but should" or something to that effect and it is by Iggychic

What made you decide to go to Mexico for your surgery, did insurance deny you? If so what was your starting weight when dealing with the insurance company?

I am still in the pre-op phase and today at nap time with my 3y/o daughter I had a horrible dream. I was going in for my psych eval and three "professionals" met me in this office. I use quotes around the word because they acted anything but professional, eating and drinking and interrupting me, it was ludicrous! Any ways I had to get two out of the three of them to sign off on my eval and I only managed to get one to sign off because, as she said, I was pretty and she liked beautiful people. The second one wouldn't sign off and she refused to tell me why. The third one refused to sign off because she asked me what my worse fear concerning the surgery was and I said "Death". She then interjected and was like "I didn't ask for your ultimate fear I asked what a bad fear of yours is!" So I then began to explain to her that a fear lesser than death would be a leak along my staple line.

Lol IDK why I am sharing the horrible dream I had with all of you, other than to possibly see if any of you experienced the same thing pre-op? I have been having mixed thoughts concerning the surgery after I read a thread about a woman whom is still fighting for her life 2 months post op. If the dream I had has any indication of truth to it I need not worry because the psych team wont let me have it done :-/

Good luck hun, keep us posted....I am excited and nervous for you!

Good luck hun! Please update us as soon as possible :-) Hugs and prayers to you this day!

Were you scared of the surgery at all? PLEASE keep us posted, I am pre-op and need to hear all the truth about this surgery that i can. Would you mind if I added you as a friend?