SParkle

Heres a list I used, and have posted previously - this was compiled with the help of regulars on here and also a few of my own thrown in for good measure..It may seem like a lot of questions but it never hurts to know too much....
Questions to ask
Pre Op /The Op
If self pay - What does your fee involve?
Is there some follow up care thrown in there, like labs at 3,6,9 and 12 months?
Pre op diet – what to eat/drink and how long for?
Do I get a nutritionist/psychologist?
What size bougie is used? (This is the medical instrument which determines the size of your remaining pouch)
Do you oversew the staple line?
How many incisions do you make?
Do you go in thru previous scars?
How many nights in the hospital – is there facility for someone else to stay in my room as well?
Do they need to be with me 24/ during my hospital stay?
How many leak tests do you do?
How many sleeves have you performed?
Complication/leak stats? How many if any deaths?
Who do I contact if I think I have a problem (most places give out an emergency number)?
Is the hospital equipped an ICU and blood bank in case of complications?
If complications do happen to occur, are these complications/additional surgery/days in hospital covered by the original quoted price of the surgery?
Would you remove my gall bladder at the same time if needed?
Can you give me some patient testimonials or do you have any before/after pictures of your patients that I could read/look at?
Is it standard operation procedure, ie: no nail polish, no body jewellery?
Do I need to stop taking any particular medication pre op - including double check for birth control? (Take a list of what you take and dosage)

Post Op
How often are the post op check ups?
Where are they? – is price included?
What supplements/anti acid drug would I need to take and for how long?
Do I need labs done post op? – Are these checked with you or my local doctor?
Do I get a dvd of the operation?
Post op diet?
How much weight would I be expected loose?
What if I loose too much, how to maintain?
Do you use heparin? – Will I have to inject it myself?
How soon after the op can I……drive, swim, work out, lift my kids?
Hope this helps

The white tongue is also a symptom of ketosis - which might be the first thing to look at if you've not already.
I use a tongue scraper on mine..... which helps a lot.
For more info check out this link that Mini Me posted in another post.

Good topic Suzanne
I'm thankful -
- to my husband for giving me this chance to restart my life.
- To the internet for finding this site and all the support I got pre and post op, information etc
- To my surgeon and his team for the operation and support they have given me throughout
The list could be endless... but those are the main ones for me.

I have never met personally anyone who had the sleeve and gained it all back, I have heard of people who did and this goes for every procedure out there. I am excited for you, this is the greatest tool I have ever had in my life to help me control what goes into my mouth. People who gain or do not lose have probably not been addressing the psychological aspect between them and food, so why does this matter? Well, if you don't forgive yourself and except that you are a food addict, that food is or was your drug of choice and that you are vulnerable to it being used the wrong way any procedure that you do I don't care how "mal-absorbative" or "restrictive" will not help. The surgery does not erase your psychological cravings, your old habits can creep up even at only 3oz at a time. The important thing to do is to be aware of these so that post-op when they try creeping back you can say: "Stay back! You are no longer welcomed into my life". You have to develop a respect for food because that allows you to be conscious and knowing it has the power to nourish you or eventually kill you. Post-op a long way down the road you'll be able to eat the very same things that got you to the weight you are at now, people who gain back find ways to slide foods the example I see the most are with "milkshakes". Pre-op you have to begin changing your relationship with food, you have to become strong and develop healthier habits as soon as you can. For example if you hated exercising find something that you do love to do even if it's dusting your home, this surgery without a total lifestyle makeover can have a lesser affect. Some people have journals, blogs, videos, etc that allows them to find a therapeutic outlet that helps them and others as well, find what works for you. Once you have this surgery you will go out to a restaurant and look around you at how and how much people are eating and for the first time in your life you will have an epiphany as I did and realize that as a society something is very very wrong, people are literally stuffing their emotions with food. This will help make you stronger, and remember one thing, this is YOUR OWN personal project, post-op you might have help but you are the manager of this project and you alone determines your success. No matter how supportive other people are of your surgery they cannot fully understand unless they've been there so be ready to develop a thick skin, to make new choices, to take responsibility for what goes in. You will succeed and do great and achieve all of your goals-if you want it bad enough, if you need a visual of what's in my pantry I have pictures up and also some of the meals I eat now. Good luck to you and see you over the rainbow!

Well I've been wanting to do this for a while, I can't believe I finally DID IT! I'm SO TIRED, but SO HAPPY!!!! YAYYYYYYY!
Here are 2 pics of me at the top (Hollywood sign in the back as well as the city of L.A.), and finally back down at the front of the canyon. This was a huge victory for me...and it was a beautiful day here in Southern CA.

Yesterday I bumped into a friend who I haven't seen since before surgery when I was at my heaviest. WWhen she saw me she looked at me in disbelief and said "Where's the rest of you??!!" She said i look fantastic and I could tell that she was genuinely happy with me!!

That's the last thing in the world I would use. I am very careful about what I say on face book. I like Facebook, but I don' t want everyone who I am friends with on there knowing everything about me. I can't separate the people who are my very close friends and my relatives who I tell as little as possible to. Therefore, I am very generic about what I say on facebook.

Facebook and VST are about as far apart as me and the man on the moon.

Can I ask what this actually means..... I use FB every day, but I don't want people knowing I have had the sleeve op....if the connection between this site and FB means that I'll get things posted on my FB wall about the sleeve then I'll pass on this.

Not face, yet, but neck area. I'm getting a wattle.

So I figured I'd post a (hopefully) short note on what my life is like about 5 months after my lap sleeve, for any prospective sleevers.
First, the bad news -- this is forever, and it's not a decision to be made lightly. This WILL affect the food choices you make for the rest of your life. It's probably the safest WLS surgery around (when you total up operative and perioperative risks, long-term success rates, M&M stats, and so on), but that doesn't mean it's risk- or hassle-free.
Now, let me soften the blow: it's really, really easy. Every day, I take some Multivitamins -- and I was taking Vitamins before the surgery, so this is no biggy. Every day, I drink a Protein Shake for Breakfast -- not because I have to, but because they're tasty and it's quick (I'm usually in a rush in the mornings) and that way I know I'm not getting Protein deficient. I have changed my eating habits dramatically -- I've slowed down my eating and drinking, and I don't eat breads any more for the most part, because I find that bread gets "stuck." It seemed like an imposition at first, but now I don't notice because I've sort of been trained. I don't even WANT bready stuff any more, and that's a HUGE change from my pre-op mentality (I was a HUGE fan of doughy, bready stuff).
I exercise, but I haven't been to a gym since my surgery, and I'm not sure I'm going to be. What I've discovered is that my activity level (or lack thereof) has NOTHING to do with my weight loss. Now, don't get me wrong -- I still do a fair amount of exercise, but that's because 1) it helps in so many OTHER ways -- I sleep better, I think better, my sex drive is better, and my occasional spells of anxiety or mild blues are pretty much gone when I'm exercising, and 2) now that I'm 70+ pounds lighter, exercise seems so EASY. I can easily run up three flights of stairs without getting winded! At 330 lbs, that would have (possibly literally) killed me! So, when exercise makes me feel so good and doesn't HURT like it used to -- why WOULDN'T I exercise? But again, my exercise "routine" consists of some push ups in the morning to keep my chest and shoulders from getting flabby, some arm curls while I'm sitting reading the news in the morning to keep my arms strong, and a 30-45 minute fitness walk at lunch every day. Honestly, it doesn't feel like I'm having to "work out" at all -- it's all so EASY -- and yet my stamina keeps going up, my arms and chest are getting very muscular. It almost feels like I'm "cheating" since there's so little work involved, but I wanted to show you that this is not like you're used to! You don't have to sweat for hours and hours in a stinky gym just to "maintain" -- post sleeve, you just have to do enough to be healthy, and honestly your body WILL reward you.
I still eat sweets -- just not very much. I still drink an occasional bottle of beer or (more likely) a mixed drink or two -- just not very much (volume or frequency). I still have days or whole weekends where I just lie around on the couch and do NOTHING at all -- no fitness walk, nothing -- and mostly munch on snack-y foods. It's not like I'm some slave to my sleeve.
And the net result of my hard, hard life? I've lost over 70 pounds with little to no effort. My weight loss shows no signs of slowing. My doctor is amazed how healthy I am at 40 -- my last blood test showed that ALL of my numbers were "within range." My sex drive -- which vanished in my 20's-30's when I was so fat -- has returned with a vengeance. My face looks much more lean and angular. My bones and muscles now show where fat used to bulge and roll out. I can easily walk over 5 miles without getting winded or sore, and could probably walk 10 miles or more -- in the right clothes and shoes, I think I could walk for days. I don't get tired. I'm already out of the "morbidly obese" category; I'm looking to be out of the "obese" category near the beginning of next year, and by the middle to end of next year -- if my weight loss progress holds steady at about 1-2 pounds per week on average -- I should be near or under 200 pounds. I started this at 330, and I haven't been under 250 in my adult life.
And all of this without any real deprivation, any really hard work (aside from meticulously following the doctor's orders), and any real cost aside from the up-front cost for the surgery.
So, I don't want to make you think this surgery is completely cost and risk free. Like everything in life -- especially everything worth having -- it has trade-offs and consequences. But as someone who has literally struggled with his weight his entire life -- 30 years, probably, and I'm only 40! -- I can tell you that this is the best medical decision I've ever made. I would do it again in a heartbeat. In fact, my only real regret is that I didn't get a chance to do this when I was, say, 20, instead of 40. But still, I'm so very glad I made this choice.
Hopefully that will help some folks who are on the fence realize just how "normal" life after sleeve is.