tdboutwell

I underwent VSG at Blossom Bariatrics/Warm Springs Surgical Center on 1/24/19. My surgeon was Dr. Matt Apel. I have nothing but positive things to say. Their staff members were amazing, but more importantly, they were completely thorough in everything they did- from the pre-op work-up, to surgery, to the IV infusion the day after surgery. They even emailed me copies of the surgical report and pathology reports. Everything was spectacular. The hotel they put us in was nice, clean, and quiet. The presidential ground transportation they provided was also very convenient for out of towners like myself. I’m a registered nurse with a background in pre-op/post-op, so I tend to pay attention to things that most people don’t notice. I found absolutely nothing to critique. Every T was crossed, and every I was dotted. I honestly can’t think of a single thing to complain about. If your insurance won’t pay to have bariatric surgery done locally (and even if it does), then I 110% whole-heartedly recommend Blossom Bariatrics.

I’ve not run into this issue yet, but I’m also only 3 months out. If I get a bill, I’ll be blasting about it here, for sure lol. Already paid them $6299 with the understanding that regardless of how much or how little insurance pays, I won’t have to pay anything else.

I did just fine going back to the room after surgery. Gas pain was the worst of it. Up and walking every hour during the day and every 2 hours at night. You go back to the clinic the day after surgery for an IV infusion and meds. You will feel 100x better after this lol. You will stay at the hotel again the night after surgery. You won’t fly home until 2 days after surgery. My flight was much better than I anticipated. I was actually able to doze through most of it. Make sure you wear your TED hoses on your fight home.

Congrats and good luck on your procedure. Excited for you!!!!

I underwent VSG at Blossom Bariatrics/Warm Springs Surgical Center on 1/24/19. My surgeon was Dr. Matt Apel. I have nothing but positive things to say. Their staff members were amazing, but more importantly, they were completely thorough in everything they did- from the pre-op work-up, to surgery, to the IV infusion the day after surgery. They even emailed me copies of the surgical report and pathology reports. Everything was spectacular. The hotel they put us in was nice, clean, and quiet. The presidential ground transportation they provided was also very convenient for out of towners like myself. I’m a registered nurse with a background in pre-op/post-op, so I tend to pay attention to things that most people don’t notice. I found absolutely nothing to critique. Every T was crossed, and every I was dotted. I honestly can’t think of a single thing to complain about. If your insurance won’t pay to have bariatric surgery done locally (and even if it does), then I 110% whole-heartedly recommend Blossom Bariatrics.

I underwent VSG at Blossom Bariatrics/Warm Springs Surgical Center on 1/24/19. My surgeon was Dr. Matt Apel. I have nothing but positive things to say. Their staff members were amazing, but more importantly, they were completely thorough in everything they did- from the pre-op work-up, to surgery, to the IV infusion the day after surgery. They even emailed me copies of the surgical report and pathology reports. Everything was spectacular. The hotel they put us in was nice, clean, and quiet. The presidential ground transportation they provided was also very convenient for out of towners like myself. I’m a registered nurse with a background in pre-op/post-op, so I tend to pay attention to things that most people don’t notice. I found absolutely nothing to critique. Every T was crossed, and every I was dotted. I honestly can’t think of a single thing to complain about. If your insurance won’t pay to have bariatric surgery done locally (and even if it does), then I 110% whole-heartedly recommend Blossom Bariatrics.

I underwent VSG at Blossom Bariatrics/Warm Springs Surgical Center on 1/24/19. My surgeon was Dr. Matt Apel. I have nothing but positive things to say. Their staff members were amazing, but more importantly, they were completely thorough in everything they did- from the pre-op work-up, to surgery, to the IV infusion the day after surgery. They even emailed me copies of the surgical report and pathology reports. Everything was spectacular. The hotel they put us in was nice, clean, and quiet. The presidential ground transportation they provided was also very convenient for out of towners like myself. I’m a registered nurse with a background in pre-op/post-op, so I tend to pay attention to things that most people don’t notice. I found absolutely nothing to critique. Every T was crossed, and every I was dotted. I honestly can’t think of a single thing to complain about. If your insurance won’t pay to have bariatric surgery done locally (and even if it does), then I 110% whole-heartedly recommend Blossom Bariatrics.

I underwent VSG at Blossom Bariatrics/Warm Springs Surgical Center on 1/24/19. My surgeon was Dr. Matt Apel. I have nothing but positive things to say. Their staff members were amazing, but more importantly, they were completely thorough in everything they did- from the pre-op work-up, to surgery, to the IV infusion the day after surgery. They even emailed me copies of the surgical report and pathology reports. Everything was spectacular. The hotel they put us in was nice, clean, and quiet. The presidential ground transportation they provided was also very convenient for out of towners like myself. I’m a registered nurse with a background in pre-op/post-op, so I tend to pay attention to things that most people don’t notice. I found absolutely nothing to critique. Every T was crossed, and every I was dotted. I honestly can’t think of a single thing to complain about. If your insurance won’t pay to have bariatric surgery done locally (and even if it does), then I 110% whole-heartedly recommend Blossom Bariatrics.

I had buyers remorse for the first week, maybe? I don’t think it was so much related to the sleeve, though. I had a large hiatal hernia that was repaired at the same time and my diaphragm and esophagus were really irritated from that. Was really uncomfortable to sip Water or even breathe, honestly.

I’m 10 weeks out now and 40 lbs lighter. I should also add that I feel like a million bucks. Those few days of buyers remorse was more than worth it in my opinion. I have absolutely no regrets now.

I have no regrets, although I would warn you that in the course of this surgical journey you MUST change your relationship with food. Early on in my recovery (maybe the first 3-6 months), I went through a bit of a "mourning" period where I realized that I could no longer use food for comfort, celebration, or any number of ways that food became like that little green mucous dude in the Mucinex commercials. He's there talking to you, trying to share life with you, and gets upset when you finally kick him to the curb.
In terms of "complications", I have a little bit of nighttime reflux. It's nothing that can't be dealt with and certainly nothing like what "notmyname" above describes.
Would I do it again? Absolutely and had I known then what I know now, I probably would have done it much sooner. I lived obese and a slave to my relationship with food for too long. There's a saying..."nothing tastes as good as thin feels". I'm by no means "thin" (yet), but I'm thinner than I was and I feel REALLY great!

So glad you’re feeling better! I could have been the author of this post when I was 2 weeks out. I was an emotional mess, too. And just felt miserable. I’m about ten weeks out now, and I feel absolutely great. The first couple of weeks were no joke for me, though.

So glad you’re feeling better! I could have been the author of this post when I was 2 weeks out. I was an emotional mess, too. And just felt miserable. I’m about ten weeks out now, and I feel absolutely great. The first couple of weeks were no joke for me, though.

not me - but it wouldn't have worked for me. I had lost 50-60 lbs countless times, and the weight always eventually came back. I had over 200 lbs to lose, and I finally came to the realization that it wasn't gonna happen without intervention. I'm almost 60 years old and have been overweight/obese my whole life. WLS is the only thing that "worked".

My hubs is 6’ 6”, 290 lbs, so definitely a big dude lol. My family doesn’t really come from “thin stock.” Most everyone in my family were thin as children and teenagers, but wound up overweight or obese as adults. My dad was always pretty thin, but has gained some weight in his older years. Mom has always struggled with weight. I have 2 sisters. One has yo-yo’d 50+ lbs multiple times over the last decade, but is currently thin and physically active. The other sister struggles with bulimia off and on, but is currently in remission (and hopefully stays that way). As a southern family, food is a big part of our lives. I was sleeved on 1/24/19 and it has been a huge learning curve trying to learn that everything doesn’t have to revolve around food.

I hope both of you recover well from your gb surgeries! I had mine out years ago and the recoveries from both it and wls seemed very similar but I sure wouldn’t want to go through it back to back!!

I just had my 1 month post op visit with my surgeon and nut! I was dreading it because I thought I should’ve lost more but it was such a mood booster! My surgeon did a swallow test so that was awesome to see my new stomach! I was convinced he had left too big of a pouch because I don’t have the restrictions a lot of people complain about. But nope, little sliver of a banana! As I was walking out of the room he said I’m no longer in the morbidly obese range!!!! Woo hoo!!
Also had a nice long chat with my nutritionist. I told her I’ve been sticking to 500-700 calories. She felt my body may be in starvation mode at that level so to up it to 800-1000. I’m scared to do that but I’ll try it for a week and see what happens but will most likely keep it closer to 800. Or rotate higher calories some days and lower the next. Who knows, right? We all have to figure out what works best for us.

Anyone else’s gallbladder going to crap already? Sleeved 1/24/19. Surgeon inspected GB during surgery to make sure it looked fine and didn’t need to come out. No issues. Never had any problems related to my GB in the past. Fast forward 2 weeks and I woke up with super sharp pain in the middle of my abdomen and back, just under my ribs. Solid 10/10, panic inducing pain (and I have NEVER, ever rated my pain as a 10 before). Just as I decided to call someone to take me to the ER, the pain started to subside almost as quickly as it started. The attack lasted roughly 10 minutes. Last night, I had ANOTHER attack... exactly 2 weeks after the first. This time, it lasted much longer. Couldn’t talk, couldn’t sit still, couldn’t stand up straight. All I could do was writhe and moan. I sweated through my clothes, it was so dang intense. My husband was home this time, and able to take me to the ER. CT scan and labs were the picture of perfect health. They sent me home feeling like an over-dramatic idiot. I saw my PCP this morning and she sent me for a GB ultrasound. Sure enough, the dang thing is packed full of sludge already and I have to get with a surgeon to schedule its removal (good riddance). Anyone else experience anything similar? I knew bariatric surgery could cause gallbladder issues, but I definitely didn’t expect it to rear it’s ugly head within a month of surgery.

I had mine on 2/21. I did push out my departure by a day and left Sunday instead of Saturday. All of us that were there had successful procedures, one lady was admitted to hospital for inpatient surgery after her endoscopy revealed it would need to be an open, not laparoscopic procedure, so they are prepared with hospital care if needed. I also had a hiatal hernia repair so I had a little sub sternal pain (also, I’m allergic to Toradol so I had slightly less pain meds than everyone else but it was manageable)
Drs and nurses were great. The pre op testing is super thorough. I liked the hotel and the transportation as a nice touch. Not having to rent a car reduced the stress and there is a Walmart a walkable distance from the hotel to grab supplies if needed. We ubered to the strip once or twice to check things out before surgery and it was affordable. Good luck !!

Anyone else’s gallbladder going to crap already? Sleeved 1/24/19. Surgeon inspected GB during surgery to make sure it looked fine and didn’t need to come out. No issues. Never had any problems related to my GB in the past. Fast forward 2 weeks and I woke up with super sharp pain in the middle of my abdomen and back, just under my ribs. Solid 10/10, panic inducing pain (and I have NEVER, ever rated my pain as a 10 before). Just as I decided to call someone to take me to the ER, the pain started to subside almost as quickly as it started. The attack lasted roughly 10 minutes. Last night, I had ANOTHER attack... exactly 2 weeks after the first. This time, it lasted much longer. Couldn’t talk, couldn’t sit still, couldn’t stand up straight. All I could do was writhe and moan. I sweated through my clothes, it was so dang intense. My husband was home this time, and able to take me to the ER. CT scan and labs were the picture of perfect health. They sent me home feeling like an over-dramatic idiot. I saw my PCP this morning and she sent me for a GB ultrasound. Sure enough, the dang thing is packed full of sludge already and I have to get with a surgeon to schedule its removal (good riddance). Anyone else experience anything similar? I knew bariatric surgery could cause gallbladder issues, but I definitely didn’t expect it to rear it’s ugly head within a month of surgery.

Sleeved on 1/15/19 and had my gallbladder removed 2/7/19 cuz I was throwing up for 2 weeks straight. I felt so much better once it was out and I’m currently recovering from it still.

Whether or not you intent to cause someone to stop using their medication your caution in taking it along with possibly negative side affects could in fact be enough for some to stop their medication. You are apparently not aware of the negative consequences of your opinions and I encourage you to keep them to yourself until you understand.
I say opinions because you are not a medical professional or you would know of what I am referring and instead just offer your own experience. If the medication caused you side affects then share that alone. Otherwise you could be scaring people unnecessarily.

Hopefully bringing back this thread because I enjoyed reading through it so much! At almost 10 months out, I've lost 100 pounds and have another 20 to go! My latest non-scale victories:
-Had to get my license photo retaken at the DMV because airport security at DFW airport would not let me through as they did not believe I was the same woman on my license!
-Bought size 2 jeans
-My skin has been significantly clearer
-Can now share clothes with my 11-year-old sister 😂

Hope to read about all the amazing things you guys are doing!
Best wishes to all

Y’all. In my desperation to find something other than a shake to supplement Protein, I ordered this. Tried it today with 8 oz of Fairlife milk and IT IS AWESOME. The packet has 15g of protein. The Fairlife milk has 12g. 27g total in an 8oz mug of yummy hot cocoa just cannot be beat. Just wanted to share for those if you who are sick to death of the monotony of Protein Shakes.

Y’all. In my desperation to find something other than a shake to supplement Protein, I ordered this. Tried it today with 8 oz of Fairlife milk and IT IS AWESOME. The packet has 15g of protein. The Fairlife milk has 12g. 27g total in an 8oz mug of yummy hot cocoa just cannot be beat. Just wanted to share for those if you who are sick to death of the monotony of Protein Shakes.

THANK YOU!!!

These are the best value I've found. They're 40 grams of Protein and you can cut them 50% with Water and still get 20 grams a pop. I buy them from Amazon.

There is a lot of clear liquid Proteins hitting the market. costco has a 12 pack of melon and its $8 off a case right now and averages $1.41 a bottle. I just got them today and haven't tried them yet, but Isopure has great reviews.