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My surgeon did 3 leak tests.... 1) was done in surgery. The anesthesiologist filled my sleeve with air as the surgeon submerged my sleeve in saline, looking for bubbles. 2) was the drain I had for 3 days. Both internal Bleeding and leakage can be assessed by what the fluid coming out of the drain looks like. 3) was a barium swallow fluoroscopy 3 days postop (after pulling the drain) I had to swallow a radio opaque fluid while we watching on the display. It was very cool to watch it go down my esophagus, through my sleeve and into my intestines. This procedure also shows the shape and size of the sleeve as well as any leaks, strictures and GI transit time.

I weaned off caffeine prior to surgery. Switched to decaf coffee. Immediately postop, however I only drank decaf herbal tea. Coffee is very acidic (even decaf) so not a very hospitable thing to immerse your raw, healing incision in. After about a month I tried some decaf coffee but it was very irritating to my sleeve. It was several months before I could tolerate coffee and even a year out if I have more than 2 big cups/day, I can feel it. I've read about other people starting back on regular coffee like the day after surgery, so who knows. I guess you could give it a shot, keeping in mind that it could impeded healing. And as for a mega Starbucks drink, the calories and sugar alone should be avoided at this point. I used premier Protein vanilla and chocolate and Torani SF syrups to liven up my coffee.

Hey, you gotta start sometime. The more you lose preop the closer you are to goal! I was so excited I actually started my preop diet early and lost 10 pounds more than my surgeon wanted me to.

I had my first wine about 4 months postop. Started with just 1/2 glass in the "safety of my own home" since I didn't know how I'd react. Turns out no problem. I have since had many cocktails including whiskey, vodka, and various liquors. Normally I might have 1 or 2 drinks a month, but I had two glasses of wine with Thanksgiving dinner yesterday. And I haven't noticed alcohol affecting me any differently than preop....I can still out drink a football team. But if I have a drink or two a few days in a row (like when I was on vacation), I do develop a little gastritis and will take Prilosec and/or Rolaids until things settle down.

HW 238 SW 216 CW 138 TPL 100 TGP 88 Hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving!

Joatsaint, don't think you don't need to take vitamins. Granted, malabsorption isn't as big of a deal with VSG, but studies on gastrectomy patients show 70% of males and 90% of women develop deficiencies within 10 years. Iron, B12, Vitamin D, folate, and calcium were the biggest culprits. The best thing is to do (besides take your vitamins) is run annual bloodwork including CBC, chem, iron, vitamin and mineral panels in order to asses any issues before they become serious problems.

138 today Hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving.

my longest stall started about 6 weeks postop. in fact, I gained 3 pounds and then lost nothing for a month. but I dropped a whole pant size during that month. I don't own a scale, so the only way I even knew I wasn't losing weight was because I went to the doctor 4 times that month for non-surgery related medical problems. as usual, my biggest advice is to stay off the scale. you're going to lose whether you weigh or not. why put yourself through unnecessary stress over some stupid numbers?

No problem. Actually OCC is a surgical center, not a hospital. But it is a Center of Excellence with a fully equipped and staffed ICU, so kind of the best of both worlds. There is an incredibly long thread in the self pay and Mexico subforum on here with posts from dozens of OCC patients if you are interested. Hope you are feeling better soon and know it will all be worth it. Stay strong and Happy Thanksgiving.

I always felt better on the days I added fruit (banana, applesauce, pureed peaches, mangos) to my protein smoothies.

Dr. A Ortiz and Dr. Martinez performed my surgery at Obesity Control Center in TJ.

I'm eating a little bit of everything...shrimp appetizer, deviled eggs, turkey, stuffing, potatoes, cranberry jello, green bean casserole, wine and pumpkin pie with whipped cream. Even if it takes all day ????

Have you had a consult with a surgeon? VSG can be contraindicated if you already have GERD, because it can actually make it worse. GERD is one of the potential side effects of VSG and severe cases actually get converted to bypass. Many doctors will only do RNY on patients that already have GERD. Definitely look into this, and I'd imagine, with your history a scope will be mandatory to assess your stomach and esophagus before any WLS.

yes, cross addiction is very common. In many cases, we are "addicted" to food....we use it when we are stressed, sad, happy, depressed, etc. We use it to Celebrate and to soothe us in bad times. A big part of successful WLS is learning how to not use food this way. We have to find another way to deal with our emotions. And yes, in many cases, food is simply replaced with another addiction.... shopping, gambling, drugs, alcohol, sex, exercise, etc. This is where the psych eval, counseling and therapy comes in. You have to find a constructive way to deal with the mental and emotional aspects of your relationship with food. Alcoholism and drug addiction are definitely seen in post WLS patients.

I had surgery at 3 pm. discharged 9am. shopping by 10am. no problems.

I stayed 1 night (discharged about 15 hours after surgery) at a surgical center. I specifically didn't want to be in a general hospital due to germs and the fact that the surgical center staff was bariatric specialized. I got one on one attention while I was there and had no problems going home that day. And yes, I nearly had a nervous breakdown 2 days before surgery, but was surprisingly calm and confident the day of.

Bottom line... the only thing this surgery will do is reduce the amount of food that your stomach can hold at one time. that's the only guarantee. EVERYTHING else is up to you. Sure, you will have a honeymoon period where you may not have certain cravings, things will taste different and you may not even be hungry at all. All of these happened to me. But as time goes on, your normal hunger and cravings may very well return. 3 months postop is different from 6 months which is different from a year which is different than 5 years. The hunger hormone is produced in other parts of the body as well as the part of the stomach they removed, so don't think you won't feel hungry. And surgery does nothing to fix your head. Check out the veteran's forum for people years out. In the end, it still comes down to YOU making the right choices. I'm not saying these things to talk you out of having VSG, I'm just trying to be realistic. I wouldn't trade my surgery for anything. The sleeve gave me the opportunity to lose the weight I could never have lost on my own. And those first 6 months helped me establish new, healthy eating habits that I can only hope stay with me. I've lost over 100% of my excess weight and have maintained for about 3 months. but I still consider myself a newbie at this...I've learned that so much can change in a short time. Spend some time on these forums, especially the posts from the veterans. I think what they have to share is more important than anything. The surgical part lasts a few months...the mental and emotional part lasts a lifetime. good luck.

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5'10" 295 = 42 BMI

Concentrate on Protein (at least 60g) Water (at least 64oz) and Vitamins (as directed by your surgeon and bloodwork). Avoid white carbs (sugar, bread, Pasta, rice). Check out the food and nutrition sub forum on here for meal ideas for all food stages.

I only wish BP had a love button instead of just a like button for your post. Thank you for sharing. You are both amazingly wonderful people.

I had my surgery in Mexico and my OR report specifically stated that they removed all of the CO2 out of my abdomen before closing my incisions. I had no idea that everyone didn't do this. no wonder I had no pain. There are just so many variables that effect pain....surgical technique, perioperative pain and anti inflammatory meds, individual tolerances, etc. As for incisional pain, my surgeon used local anesthetic blocks for all of them, so again, no pain there, either. BTW, I am one of those "liars" that was shopping the day after surgery. But ELI.p.m. I'm so sorry you are having such a hard time. I hope you feel better soon.

I had a horrible turkey neck and saggy jowls at first. It was definitely striking. But things have firmed up over the last 6 months and is not that noticeable anymore except from certain angles/positions. I definitely have more wrinkles on my face than before, but that was an expected trade off for losing my chubby cheeks and double chin.

I used Solaray Calcium citrate capsules. opened them and sprinkled in my Greek yogurt. They were obviously effective because my 6 month bloodwork showed high calcium so I stopped taking them. I'm getting my 1 year bloodwork done next month, so I will see how my levels are without the supplementation.

100% whey isolate is the most readily absorbed. Personally, I prefer to mix things up. Besides regular food, I use Protein powders containing whey isolate, whey concentrate, milk concentrate, casein, pea protein, sprouted seed protein, hemp protein and soy protein. you never know what little micronutrients might be available from one vs the other. my nephew lives in Wisconsin and is a body builder and he goes straight to the source for his protein.... from a local cheese factory. They simply dehydrate the whey that settles out when making cheese and sell it in bulk powder form. no processing, no sweeteners and cheap.