shanda7182

Brad Snyder he is with UT Physicians. I hear his partner is really good ,as well,- Eric Wilson. This is who I was originally referred to by a very experienced OR nurse, but he was not available for an appointment. I went to Snyder instead and have been very satisfied with my results. You can find out more at www.utmist.com. I had my surgery on Jan 27th starting @ 234#. My current weight is 184 and I have never felt better.

Congratulations on your success so far!

I used Dr. Vadim Sherman in Baylor College of Medicine. He is absolutely wonderful. I had my surgery on 3/24/09 and have lost 40lbs. I am located in Conroe, Tx and would love to chat and meet up with others from this group.:thumbup1:

Do you mind telling me his rate for cash payers? Also, how was postoperative pain, etc?

I would love to get together with fellow sleevers and sleevers to be. Support systems def. help with weight loss.

I am looking for a sleeve buddy in my area. :wink1:

Hello fellow Texans,

Im in the Houston area. I have not have my sleeve yet. Just curious who did you all go to?

We should all get together one day.:thumbup1:

5DPT is a quick abberivation for the 5 day pouch test, where you basically eliminate carbs totally and start on liquid protiens x2days, then soft protien x2 day, then solid protien then you gradually add "good/healthy" carbs back into your diet.

Thanks Crystal. That is good information to know. I wonder if I could do this "pre-sleeve". I still have a pouch, its not very small but it seems as if it will help. LOL :thumbup1:

Welcome to the forum!

Have you considered the 5DPT? I use it when I need to get off carbs, it just gets me back on track. After the 5DPT I slowly add in good carbs but limit ALL white carbs to 20gms daily. (Protein shakes have 2gms carbs, etc.)

Do you know what your trigger carb is? Flour? Sugar? Potatoes? After the 5DPT just don't start on that food again.

For me if I start eating flour I can't stop. It's all or none for me.

Are you getting you Protein in? I once had a friend that was about 600#, he lost over 100# but amazingly, very few inches. He swears that when he bumped up his protein he started losing inches like crazy. Not quite sure how that worked but he swears by it.

This may sound like a dumb question but what is a 5DPT? And how do I do it?

I'm scheduled for Dr. Alanis' seminar for this Saturday! HA! I have also called Dr. Davis as well, they wont tell me what their cash price is over the phone but want me to come over for a seminar first. That's a turn off. I scheduled for a seminar July 1st but probably won't go. I've also spoke with Dr. Nowazardan as well. He sounds real nice, I am pretty much narrowing it down at this point but Alanis is in the top running at this point. Please PM who you've seen

!

Hello,

I sent you a PM, not sure if you got it. (Still trying to work this site out).

Anyway, Dr. Alanis' price is 11,5K and Dr. Davis is around 18K. Dr. Alanis goes to either University General or Surgical Specialty Hospital (I think that is the entire name) and that is a bariatric center of excellence. Both are but Univ. General is VERY expensive & will drive your cost up. Univ. General has private cooks, large suites and is very prestigious (Dr. Davis is part owner of this hospital).

My best advice to you is to keep that date! A sleeve is a fantastic thing, you get your life back, you get your sanity back, you get your self esteem back, you get it all!

This is the best thing you can do for yourself. Congrats! And welcome to our forum! We grow on you, honest. ;o)

Thanks for the encouragement.

Hi,I hope im doing this right, I spoke with lapband of houston (i dont know how is all on this team) but they were sooooo against the sleeve. I believe they have *special interest in the lapband!

Hi Shanda,

I had my sleeve on 24/03/2009 and it was the best thing I ever done. I always struggled with my weight even though my family are not over weight. I tried numerous diets and the weight kept coming back with a bit more..... If you have got any questions I'll be more than happy to answer them if i can.

Take care.

Rukhshandah

Thank You so much for responding. I guess I would like to know about postoperative pain, nausea, vomiting after the procedure. Any complications?

I am a newbie myself living in the Houston area! Everyone here has inspired me to have the sleeve as well. I just turned 27 3 weeks ago:) I am going to be in a wedding in September and of course I am FREAKED out about looking like a cow in a nice dress!

Sound's like we've got a lot in common! :thumbup1:

Who are you going through for your procedure?

My other post is directed to you, I am still figuring out how to work this thing. Thanks:thumbup1:

I am a newbie myself living in the Houston area! Everyone here has inspired me to have the sleeve as well. I just turned 27 3 weeks ago:) I am going to be in a wedding in September and of course I am FREAKED out about looking like a cow in a nice dress!

Sound's like we've got a lot in common! :thumbup1:

Who are you going through for your procedure

Hey, its so cool to have a fellow Houstonian on here. I have met with Dr. Garth Davis from the TV show BIG Medicine and I have met with Dr. Alanis. I really LOVE both of them. Dr. Davis is VERY famous and he seems to be very down to earth. The only downfall is that when I went to his office, his staff was very short with me. My appt was at 3 pm--I wasn't seen until 6pm. That was a major turn off but that is not his fault. He was very nice but his staff was very "stand off ish". Anyway, Dr. Alanis spent 45 minutes talking to me about the sleeve vs the band. He told me what to expect, reasons if any that he would not perform the surgery, etc. I also met some of his patients while I was waiting. Several of the patients had the sleeve and they WERE so happy with their decision and his professionalism and his skill level. He does a few sleeves a week.

I went ahead and booked with Dr. Alanis---September 15, 2009. I have prayed about this. I visited the facility that I will be having the surgery and its at a bariatric center of excellence.:wink1: So with me being a nurse,I know that not just any old place can get that title. I also met with a few others, which will remain nameless (if you want the names I can email it to you) but they were so PRO band and CON sleeve, I was turned off. Instead of them telling me the difference, they were like "We dont do many sleeves and why dont you want the band?" I was starting to think they had stock with the LAP band. LOL...I was thinking what happened to that PATIENT IS ALWAYS RIGHT mentality!

Which doctors have you met with?

Maybe we can help each other along in this journey! It would be cool. Since we are neighbors.

Hello All.

Im a newbie here but I have been reading you all's post for about 3 weeks. Basically, each of you have inspired me to have the sleeve.

TO tell you a little about me--im 26 year old female in the houston area

and a full time nurse. I have battled with my weight ALL of my life.

I remember being in the 5th grade being weighed in front of my classmates

feeling soo embarrassed when the scaled tipped at 150 lbs. My highest weight was 320 lbs, in which I then became fed up and decided to "do" something about it. A friend of mine asked me to be in her wedding and I thought, there is NO way im walking down this aisle like this. Well a year and half later I became under 200 lbs. :001_tt2: I felt great and for once my confidence returned. I have maintained "fairly" but have gained 15-18 lbs back and I am just absolutely CRUSHED. I am over 200 lbs again and I just cannot believe it. Ive had a personal trainer and for the most part, I follow a relatively "fair" diet. But with working as a full time nurse, im currently in graduate school and I am planning a wedding. I think things have just caught up with me once again.

However, I REFUSE to continue this vicious cycle. I have the healthy eating pattern down but my body doesnt want to loose anymore. My lab work is okay, no thyroid problems but I have a VERY obese family--(most women in my family are greater than 300lbs). When I spoke with the psychologist for insurance purposes (when I was considering the band) she told me that genetics play a MAJOR factor with weight.

SO I met this very skilled physician in Houston that was very patient and has good stats and reviews. He told me all about the sleeve and I became curious. I begin reading on this site and I knew this is what I need to do.

To make a LONG story short, I set my sleeve date for Sept. 15, 2009.

Its so far away because....I am a nurse with a very, erradic work schedule so I had to wait until I could take 2 weeks off.

Thanks for reading my story, you all have been so encouraging.

Any advice I am interested in finding out.