dandelion247

I just got my surgery date, and it's August 16th! Soooo relieved and happy this is going to happen. Scared too, but determined.

Thanks for the replies so far. Very useful info.

OK, thanks for sharing your situation... best of luck getting to where you need to be!

Did your surgeon or nutritionist give you a timetable for getting calories to certain levels?

This discussion has been a great find for me, as I've been concerned for a while now about how to maintain a decent metabolism after surgery. My nutritionist told me I'd only be eating 3 oz 3x a day, which added up to less than 1000 calories in my head. If that were so, how would I not eventually be in starvation mode, where my body just hoards its energy and fat? I'm pre-op now, aiming for surgery in August, so this is all still ahead of me. I'm relieved to hear others state that the goal is to get to a reasonable caloric load as soon as possible, but I'm curious -- does that become possible because you can eat more volume in one sitting, or do you increase the number of meals/snacks? I"m being told my sleeve will be rather small and all I'll be able to eat is about 3 oz at a time. What have others experienced?

I'd like to be able to set meal-level goals to track volume (in oz, kg, etc.) in addition to nutrition and calories, as I'll be curious to see what my stomach can and cannot hold as time progresses. It would also be great if we could customize our ideal diet as prescribed by our surgeon or dietician and then track to how well we're meeting it.

That's very inspiring! Thank you for sharing. It gives me hope!

Hi, I'm not sure if you're responding to me or someone further up in this post... if it was me, I am getting treated and the gastroenterologist is going to excise the area that has dyspasia (which is low-grade). He said the area was so small that he can do it as part of the biopsy during the next upper endoscopy. My fingers are crossed. I'm not *that* young... 47.

In case it's useful data for someone else, I'll relate the update on my Barrett's situation. I spoke with both the gastroenterologist who performed the endoscopy and the surgeon. The GE thinks my Barrett's is so tiny that with strong doses of omeprazole (40mg a day) it should relieve the inflammation enough that he can go in during another endoscopy in about 6 weeks to remove the small area noted to be Barrett's. He discussed with my surgeon and if this is successful, he's still willing to do the sleeve for me. I prefer the sleeve and asked the surgeon if he thinks it will exacerbate my mild GERD. He rightly pointed out that my GERD started when I gained tons of weight, and that losing the weight will be the biggest help to reducing the GERD in me. There's a mild hiatal hernia in there too, and he will fix that during surgery as well. So, I'm back to happily working toward the sleeve.

Hi all, I know this topic has been quiet for a few years, but I just got results from my pre-op endoscopy today and the biopsy shows Barrett's. I figured I'd come over here and see what people know about this complication. The doc himself doesn't think I have it based on my symptoms (very mild GERD at worst) and what he saw visually during the endoscopy. He's recommending I take omeprazole 40mg every day and come back for another biopsy in 6-8 weeks. Unfortunately, I got these results at the end of the day on Friday, so I have to stew on it all weekend before I can call his office and ask him for more details. What I'm wondering is: if this really IS Barrett's esophagus, then will 6-8 weeks of prescription-strength Prilosec really fix it? I also have to call the surgeon to find out if this is a hard no for getting the sleeve. From what I read above, some will do it anyway, some won't. I was told that if you have GERD pre-sleeve, the sleeve actually reduces GERD after the fact, and vice versa. Not sure how that works! This has been a hard week for a variety of reasons, and this hasn't made it easier. I have my heart set on the sleeve and I have no interest in the rny bypass due to watching multiple friends get it and slowly put all the weight back on over the years since... all while dealing with malabsorption issues. If anyone has any further insight on this topic, I'd be interested to read it.

There are a TON of things I'm looking forward to, but the one defining difference between fat-me and thin-me is dancing. I want to be able to go social dancing again -- swing, salsa, etc. My knees will work better when I'm 90 or so pounds lighter than now. I'm not even 50 yet -- life shouldn't be this sedentary!

I'm glad to hear this, as I'm in the midst of my own 3-month pre-op program (required by Cigna), and I've been nervous about how long the application could take to be approved, once submitted at the beginning of July. I'm really hoping I can have surgery and be on the road to recovery before my son begins school in late August, because that's such a busy time of year, and I need to be sharp and mobile! My surgeon's coordinator says they can schedule about 2-3 weeks out once approval comes in. I'll need to go on the liquid diet to shrink my liver at that time. Anyway, thanks for the information! It gives me hope.