NY Lou

obviously a big fear regarding this surgery is getting a leak at the staple line. exactly when can someone post-op stop worrying about this? im guessing that a leak can only occur during the first few weeks until the stomach heals, but im not sure. or can a leak happen after this time period if someone doesnt eat properly? any replies would be appreciated. thank you.

thanks to everyone for their replies and input. my dr has not done any ds (which the first part is the sleeve). so his 6 sleeves done is all hes done. i definitely have had many conversations with him about the procedure and my concerns, and i am confident in his ability as a surgeon or i wouldnt of chosen him. of course i would of wished he had done more sleeves, but out of the insurance list i had to chose from (about 25 drs), only a handful had done sleeves at all. and as i stated, my dr had the most of anyone on that list with 6. i actually didnt chose him because of his 6 sleeves done, but i chose him because he seemed the most qualifed surgeon on the list out of the ones who had done sleeves with 100's of rny's and lapbands. and also he is working out of a well known ny hospital recognized for their excellence in bariatrics. the hospital, st lukes hospital in ny is also a major research center on bariatrics surgery too. i feel like im in good hands, and honestly, i couldnt afford to self pay right now, at least not in the states. so im kind of locked in to trying to find the best option that my insurance will cover. if i had to self pay, i would probably go to mexico to dr aceves as he seems to be very qualified as a surgeon and the price for going out of the u.s. makes a big difference. ill keep hoping for the best and hopefully it will all turn out ok. my first big step is meeting with my dr on june 30 (only 12 days away) and thats my final visit before he submits everything to the insurance. take care everyone and thanks again.

hi everyone. does anyone have any experience with this dr. or any dr at this hospital for a sleeve? thanks in advance for any comments.

whether good or bad, im curious if anyone has had any experience with trying to get the sleeve with fidelis. i know they approve rny and the lapband, but not the sleeve directly as they dont recognize the new 2010 code 43775. but they do have an open restrictive code 43843 that they have sometimes approved and im wondering if anyone has tried that with them for the sleeve. code 43843 specifically says "gastric restrictive procedure, without gastric bypass, other than vertical banded gastroplasty". they also approve code 43845 which is bioliopancratic bypass w/duodenal switch, which basically is the sleeve with a bypass. and im wondering if they approve that code can i only have the dr do the first half of that procedure (the sleeve) without the duodenal switch (the bypass). thanks in advance, its appreciated.

hi everyone. from the list of dr's that my fidelis insurance accepts, i chose the dr who had done the most sleeves, who also happened to be the dr with the most experience in bariatric surgery. that is dr. james mcginty and his number of sleeves is 6. the majority of drs on the list had done 0, and a few drs had done a few sleeves, with the dr i chose having done 6. hes done 100's of rny's and lapbands, but only 6 sleeves. hes had no problems or leaks with the 6 hes done. he also works out of a great well known hospital in ny, st. lukes hospital, with its bariatric team headed by another well known bariatric surgeon dr. julio teixeira. is this something i should be concerned about? obviously the more any dr does a procedure the better he will become at it and the more experiences he'll have with situations that may arise. but my choice comes down to choosing the best dr on my insurance's list or self-pay. obviously i would like my insurance to pay for it. this hospital also has a great pre-op and post-op team in place that really supports their patients well after the surgery. what do you guys think? thanks in advance as i sincerely appreciate all the good people who take the time to contribute here.

thanks to all who have replied. it definitely is comforting knowing there are so many people in these forums who are willing to speak openly about their own experiences. i definitely feel that it was fate for me to not get the bypass and end up discovering the sleeve. afterall, being in scrubs 3x and not getting the surgery done is probably unheard of. to goodlife: ive never heard of the restaurant peaches, but ill have to ask around and/or look it up and give it a try one day. thanks for the tip. have a great evening everyone!

thank you so much to all who have replied. it definitely makes me feel better hearing all your stories and gives me hope and makes me feel that everything will be ok. i sincerely appreciate every single reply and wish continued success to you all.

thanks KathyM for directing me to this thread. it has answered alot of my fears and thanks to everyone who has taken the time to post here too. best of luck to you all!

hi everyone. ive been reading this forum for a few months and just registered. if you want to know my story, click the link below as i posted it in the "tell your story" forum. http://verticalsleevetalk.com/tell-your-story/6537-i-operating-room-scrubs-3x-gastric-bypass-im-new-here-hi-everyone.html i have only 1 huge fear about the sleeve, or wls surgery in general. its missing out on being able to socially eat a full meal. ALL my family, friends and co-workers Celebrate everything by eating out. whether its a birthday, holiday, job promotion or just the weekend, it is always going out to eat. i know thats probably why im overweight, but my fear is missing out on this. its all i know and the only way everyone i know celebrates or goes out. without the ability to eat with them, i fear ill be a sort of outcast now, not wanting to be in that situation. how hard will it be to still go out, but really not eat and partake the way they all will? its sad to say everything revolves around food, but it honestly does. i fear pulling back and away from these events since i wont be able to eat like before, and unfortunately, these events are my family, friends and what makes up my life. has anyone gone through this and how have you coped with it? and as crazy as it sounds, my favorite food is seafood, specfically crablegs and shrimp. i almost feel like ill be missing them like im missing someone who died. is this crazy?? thanks in advance for any replies. have a great day!

hi everyone! i have read so much in this forum and want to say thankyou to every single poster! ive learned so much and sincerely appreciate verticalsleevetalk.com. im a 47 year old male living in brooklyn, new york. i currently weigh 305 lbs and have been overweight all my life. ive been hovering around the 300-315 mark for about 10 years. before that i hoovered around 280-300 for the prior 10 years. my high weight was 323, which was in 2004. the most ive lost dieting and exercising was about 40lbs on a few occasions, but i always put it back on. in 2004 i decided to have wls and was going to have gastric bypass done. after being approved by my insurance, i went to the hospital and was put in scrubs for the operation. then i was told by the nurse that the doctor had a family emergency and had to leave the hospital immediately. so my surgery was rescheduled for 4 weeks later. during these 4 weeks i ate plenty and went on a "goodbye to food" tour! this tour took me to all my favorite buffets and i ate like it was my last meal, even though i knew i shouldnt be doing that. then i again went to the hosptial and was put in scrubs and before my surgery the doctor said he couldnt operate because my sugar level was unexpectedly through the roof. i begged him to go through with it, but he said he couldnt and i needed to lose some weight and not do what i did by gaining weight and eating everything before surgery. so it was again cancelled. now i was determined to lose weight before i went back in 6 weeks for the eventual operation. in those 6 weeks i ate perfectly and lost 30 lbs. the day came and i went in a 3rd time to the hospital. again i was put in scrubs and this time all the tests, including my sugar were normal. but the doctor was surprised that i was able to lose 30lbs in 6 weeks. he sat me down and said the operation was a serious one and if i was able to lose 30lbs in 6 weeks, maybe i should give losing weight on my own another try. he convinced me to not have the operation. so i actually went on to lose a total of 89lbs in 7 months and got my weight down to 234 and felt great. i was actually running on a treadmill for a few miles non-stop and was in the best shape of my life. a year later i was again at 310lbs. i never considered wls surgery again because i honestly in my heart didnt want the bypass portion done. and im thankful that even though i was in the operating room 3 different times, i never had the bypass done. later in life i researched the lapband as it became popular, but again i didnt want the band either due to all the complications of it. only a few months ago i discovered the option of the sleeve, and it seemed like exactly what ive been waiting for. a tool to limit my intake, with no bypass and nothing permanently inside of me that needed followup adjustments. so im now in the process of going through everything i need to do before my dr. submits for approval to my insurance. the only thing left is the psych evaluation, which im in the process of completing and ill have it done shortly. then i meet with my dr. again on june 30th for the final time and he will submit everything to hopefully get approved. so thats my story. its seems that bypass just wasnt for me. and ironically back in 2004 i was all for it. now today, i wouldnt do a bypass ever. im thankful it never got done and i believe it wasnt meant to be. especially being in the operatiing room in scrubs 3x! i do have one fear/question that ill post in a separate thread in the post op forum as i believe that is where it should go. again, thank you to everyone who has ever posted in this forum. you do not know how much it helps, even the people like me who only read and never posted before. best of luck to everyone on their journey.