Norman

That is what I thought about the bougie. I do have to say my insurance paid for it but it was not free. I had a lot of stuff I needed to do, 6 month diet, including copays and coinsurance. You should shop around. Call up St. Alexius and DePaul and Branes. If you are paying out of pocket and want to stay in St. Louis there are choices out there. Negotiate. They want your business. Offer to pay less. What can they do say no. I would see who offers the best price. Honestly the money I have saved on food in the last eight months is amazing. So there are some upsides when it comes to money.

I understand being scared I was too. Yes I had the sleeve. At the time of my surgery Follwell had no deaths and no leaks and had done hundreds of sleeves. I got it done at St. Alexius but I am sure Des Peres is a much nicer hospital. However the staff at St. Alexius was so great I had to have it there. When I started I weighed 410. This morning I weighed 255. And I am still losing. That is 155 pounds in a little over 8 months. Pretty impressive. I only had to stay one night in the hospital. I had no pain. The scars are minimal. Just do what they say and you will be fine. I stuck to the preop diet and did not cheat once. Sitting at Olive Garden with your family downing pasta and bread sticks and I was drinking water. Eye on the prize. Exercise is the key after surgery. You have the tool that stops the food just exercise and the pounds will fly off. I started working out everyday. Lately work has been crazy so I take the steps and walk the dogs if I cant go to the gym. Good luck, VSG I can truly say has changed and saved my life. I only hope others get to experience the same. As for bougie size I do not know. In fact I am not sure if he uses one. Ask him and post it here I am curious. I know what I can eat and I can eat more today then I could 6 months ago.

Had surgery with Follwell in July and have lost 154 pounds. Everything exceeded my expectations.

A lot of medical professionals and insurances refer to the sleeve and band the same. I know my insurance pays the same for both and the paperwork said band on it. In fact everytime I go back to the surgeon they ask me how my band is. I have to remind them that I have the sleeve.

not bad at all just a little sore.

You can get Nectar at Sams Club too a bit cheaper. But I prefer Isopure which you can get at GNC. It has zero carbs and dissolves a lot better then Nectar. Just add a little Crystal Light to it.

I have lost 100 pounds since my surgery 7/19 and people I do not see are asking me to post pics on facebook or send them a pic on their cell phone. And I say no just wait I have more weight to lose. I still weigh 309 pounds and am still very fat. I still cant believe I let myself get that fat. Wow. I just walked my dog in the rain. dedication baby, I will get there.

patience is the key. at my one week post op doctors visit I was so ready to eat something I could scream. Before you know it you will be eating regular food.

Yes. I mix Isopure protein mix with Wal Mart Great Value Brand drinks. Their cherry and cherry limeade are pretty good. I drink at least two 32 ounce shakes a day.

You need to get your heart rate up. One mile three times a week is very mild exercise. If you want to lose weight go to the gym three days a week and do an hour on the elliptical. Do at least three miles in that hour. Keep your heart rate above 150. You will lose weight. I have lost 88 pounds in about 3 months. I also walk a little over an hour a day with the dog.

A lady at work lost 120 percent in first year. I have lost 86 pounds since my surgery date on 7/19. I have a long way to go.

Ever since I had the sleeve 14 weeks ago my wife says I have an attitude and act all high and mighty. She was supposed to be sleeved too but backed out at the last minute. Basically when she wants to goto the buffet and eat a ton of food, belive me I used to love that, and I say no that does not make since for me. Or when I tell her all I want is a McDouble from McDonalds without the bun she says get some fries and a soda. Oh well I guess I will continue to lose weight and she will not. Oh and by the way do not ask her why she did not have the surgery. That is another big thing.

I had Follwell too and I can tell you that he was there every time I had a question. I am very satisfied with the results. If you are worried about a leak or something some warning signs Follwell told me are not being able to keep anything down and a fever. But why not call him. You and or your insurance paid a lot for this surgery. If you are concerned call. When I first had my surgery I called about a dozen time the first month and went in for extra office visit. Everything was fine I just freaked out about every little thing.

I quit cold turkey six years ago. That is the only way I found to quit. I just put it in my head if I smoke one more cigarette I would smoke another one. Eventually you stop thinking about it.

That does not sound good. Call your doctors exchange or goto the er right away.

I started drinking beer at 11 weeks out. No problems. My surgeon said it is fine as long as I do not get too bloated and I have had no problem with this. I drink Bud Select to cut the carbs and cals. Or Scotch on the Rocks.

My doc does not use a bougie. He said he eye balls it.

weight loss surgery is NOT the easy way out. It is just a tool as you pointed out to help with your food intake. You still have to make good food decisions and exercise if you want to lose all those unwanted pounds. That is why the average person who gets VSG only loses 60 percent of their weight they had to lose. One of my coworkers had RNY three years ago and looks great. She told me she lost 120 % of the weight. I was like how did you do it? She said diet and exercise. I took that to heart and try to exercise every day and go to the gym 5 days a week. The thing is for me and her losing weight is kind of addictive. When you see the pounds start to fly off it makes you want to try harder. I told my surgeon he changed my life and he blushed. I used to feel bad all the time and now three months since surgery I am a changed man. BTW I tell everyone that I had surgery. I love telling strangers at the gym or in the grocery line. I am so proud I had surgery. I took a lot of guts to go through with it and I am proud of it. Everyone who thinks otherwise is just wrong and dont worry about what they say. Good luck, Norm BTW go CARDS in the World Series!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes that is the fault of the anesthesiolist. My mom has had many surgeries and she says that some anesthesiolist are better then others. Sometimes she has no sore throat. Other times it lasts for days. For me and my VSG it was one awful sore throat.

I lost 76 pounds in 12 weeks. however I work out 5 days a week and walk the dog every day for the last 5 weeks. I have found if I do this and watch what I eat I can lose about a pound a day. My doc said average at 3 months is 50 pounds. He says I am ahead of schedual. But I think that is because I work out so much.

that sucks. I am glad I got it done in the US. I went into the surgeon and two weeks for fear of a leak. It was great being able to drive 10 minutes and be at his office. He reassured me I was fine and now 12 weeks out have lost 75 pounds. Hope everything works out and you have a full recovery. http://www.discountdesignsolutions.com/i-sad-apple-t-shirt.html

Mermaid does the sleeve stretch? I know there are not many long term studies about sleeves since it is a new surgery. I know the pouch on an RNY patient stretches. That is one of the reasons I choose the sleeve.

Take a PPI and dont think about it. When I quit smoking it was the same all in my head after the first week when the nicotine left my body. If you do not think about food you will not be as hungry. This is what I have found. I just do something else and forget about eating. If I am busy all day I do not think at all about eating. As the weeks tick by since surgery it goes away faster. Like quitting smoking.

One of my family members is a bankruptcy attorney and I have talked to her about what I should do if the insurance does not change their mind. Good luck. Bankruptcy might be our only option.

It means you are losing weight. Be proud. I usually just bring it up. But I tell everyone I had surgery within minutes of meeting them.