Jane_J

Hey hey!! 198lbs! I am so happy, since I started tracking my weight and dieting for this op and after I have now lost 53lbs, currently losing 2lb average a week and not feeling hungry. I can walk without pain, exercise and I feel that my life is coming back to me. The VSG is a fantasic procedure. :thumbup:

Hi Helen, I would take WASAs advice as she has hadf a revision and knows the operation and care surrounding it like the back of her hand. Trust the advice from her and ignore uninformed nurses. I hope you feel better soon. Hugs, Jane

I started off with a carton of Soup each day, then upped it to meaty soup. Now I take some Protein in the form of left over chicken tikka or prawns from the family meal the evening before. Tomorrow I will have chicken fajita mix without the fajita! And plenty of tea and squash throughout the day. Maybe a yoghurt as well, or an apple. I find I am hungriest in the morning even if I have 2 x eggs scrambled for Breakfast. I had a low carb Protein Drink at 11 today and it made me feel really ill, some things can set me off now. I did indulge at the w/e with some red wine, it was lovely but I don't want to drink like I used to, which is good. Oatibix may be too light on protein, I am trying to get 60grams at least every day. This is my minimum requirement to stop muscle wasting and allow good healing. I also take multivits with Iron each day. Its really early days for you so I would stick to the soup and yoghurts for next couple of days, I only went onto really mushy food like scambled eggs after 14 days. Then only sft mushies for the next 2 weeks. Did the doctor give you a post op diet? If not I can send you mine. All the best, Jane

Sounds like you had a really good consultant. I have had trouble with milk and whey protein, but it really isn't that long till you can have proper food. I still get through loads of Tescos Apple & Blackcurrent No Added Sugar squash. It's a life saver. When you can have mushies I recommend cooking up some turkey mince in a not too spicy chilli con carne. It was sooooo good after all the bland stuff. Cheers, Jane

Hi charliesunspray, Congrats on your sleeve and I hope you enjoying your convalescence.:thumbup: Re eating I think the rule is 'when in doubt, don't'. They reckon that by 6 weeks your stomach is healed so I would be very careful for that time. What was the op like on the NHS and how did you get them to do it for you? Cheers, Jane

Hello Helen, Nice to meet you. I think my surgery took around 1 hour 30 mins but it was a straight laproscopic procedure on a virgin (so to speak) stomach. So basically I don't really know what you should expect for a revision and open surgery I am afraid. Regarding pain it was fine, please don't worry. I was dosed with morphine directly after surgery and my nausea from the anasthetic was treated very promptly via intravenous drugs. I was walking around the day of the op, but I was done laproscopically so I don't know how you will be I am afraid. I was leak tested the day after using liquid that I had to swallow in front of an xray machine. I don't know if they do it differently in the UK, this was in the Czech Republic. I was on liquids for 2 weeks and mushies for the next 2 weeks and then normal after that. I think different surgeons have different regimes though. Please keep me posted on how you get on. Do you still have the slipped lapband inside you? I can send you my diet plan if you like, PM me for it. But your own doctor will have their own plan I would hope. Where are you getting this done? All the best, Jane

Whoo hoo, well done! I packed loose stuff, didn't want anything chafing. :confused1:

WASaBubbleButt is 100% right. At least you have this forum and you can share with others who recognise what you are feeling. I am acutely aware that all our social events revolve around eating. I never really noticed before. Think I will get a season ticket to the cinema or theatre and persuade everone to not make eating part of the night out. I like the gummy Vitamins that are designed for ages 3+. A little life treat they are! Take care.

Hi, I had my sleeve done in the Czech Republic by Dr Cierny on the 12th of May.

Hi, I live in England and had the sleeve done on the 12th May 09. Although I am only a recent sleeve sister I am happy to help and try to answer questions from people in the UK. I did not uses the NHS though so I can't help with any questions on that.

Hi Lainerz, Sounds like maybe you should scale back the plans as you are not well enough at the moment. There is no point forcing yourself through this and making yourself worse. Play the 'I've recently had surgery' card and dip out early and only attend the very necessary parts. People will understand. Don't say you are dpressed though, say your hip hurts or something physical like that. Many people do not understand depression and think it means feeling a bit miserable! I wish! I wish you all the best and I am sure you will get through this and one day look back on it in a much happier frame of mind. Hugs, Jane

Dear Lainerz, I am so sorry you are feeling so low. Have you been to the doctors to check if you are suffering from clinical depression. I ask this because I have had this on and off and maybe the change plus the surgery has tipped you into it. It would be worth checking out as life is too short to spend feeling so bad. Hugs, Jane

Yes I did. I orginally thought about the band but then did loads of reesearch on forums like this and decided on the sleeve. To my mind it is safer than the sleeve as there is no foreign object strangulating your insides!

I had it done a just over a month ago and I don't regret it. I am excited that I am getting my life back. Already I can walk much better and my snoring has stopped. I am hopeful that I may live the enjoy grandchildren even. Keep your chin up :thumbup1:

I have dark strip marks on my right arm that I think were caused by the tales that were holding the shunts etc in place for the 3 days after surgery. They look a bit like bruises but are just pigmentation. I hope they will go away eventually as they are quite unsightly. I suppose if I covered my entire body with the things for a few days it would give me a magnificent suntan.

Thanks for the tip re the cheese and the rest. I was wondering if it was the lactose in the skimmed milk that did it. Previously it was caused by chinese flovoured spare rib which was probably too fatty and coated with sucrose. It's really strange getting used to a new digestive system. I must admit I underestimated this part of the process. However I am still very glad I got this op done as I could not have carried on the way I was. I wonder if I could take a camp bed to the office

I certainly have been moody, last Tuesday I wanted to kill some of my work colleagues! But I have been much more laid back with my family so it could just be that work is extremely annoying. Re breakthough bleeding when I went into the peri menopause stage I just stopped having periods for months at a time. Because I was so young I thought it was stress that was causing it and the depression. Eventually it was diagnosed and I was put on HRT. I figured that 51 was a fair age to stop the artificial hormones. Next time I am coming back as a man though! Hope you get to the bottom of your issues, it just takes a fairly simple blood test as I recall.

I am having to learn these lessons the hard way too. Even a glass of milk reduced me my bed this morning. But I don't have problems with yoghurt?

Hi Mac, I am post menopausal and have been on HRT since I was 38, now am 51. I have stopped all my meds except my asthma stuff and I have had no hot flushes. Do you think this is because I am releasing estrogen from my fat loss? I assumed that the worst of it was over. Cheers, Jane

I don't know if anyone else experiences this but I find if I eat too much or something that disagrees with me like my protein shake I have to take to my bed and sleep it off. Its really strange but after 1-2 hours sleep I am OK again. I have never had this happen to me before VSG. :001_rolleyes:

Mac you have a good point. I am hoping I may have cheekbones by the end of the year

I could see too much bleeding, a botched and corrected end to the staple line and an ungloved finger stuck into the abdominal cavity. Compared to this, supplier by WASA Vanderbilt University Medical Center? it was shoddy. Anything else I missed Mac?

As a Brit this 'Cadillac surgeon in a Cadillac country' confused me, thought it was some kind of county name at 1st. then I realised the poster actually meant to say 'Rolls Royce' hehehe! :thumbup:

Was that un-gloved finger??! Seemed quite shoddy to me.

Hi, I can thoroughly recommend Dr Cierny and his team. I can also recommend the UK company that arranges the whole operation as a package, Cosmtic Bliss. They sent me all the info I needed and handled all the bookings that needed to be done, sent me the liver reduction diet details and a whole load of other info. It was very professional with a human face. The whole package cost just over ?5,000 plus an optional ?300 extra insurance which I opted for as I am a major pessamist! This included everything, flights, hotel, clinic etc. In the UK I was told a lap band would cost around ?11,000 privately, so the economics were astounding. I was originally supposed to have the op in April, flying out on the 19th. The Wednesday before I developed a cold and consulted the comprehensive documentation I had received and saw that this would be a problem do I rang Cosmetic Bliss and was told to reschedule which I did. I finally flew to Brno from the UK on the Sunday 10th May. I was accompanied by the couple who arrange the UK side of the package for therse surgeries, Deborah and Michael. Michael has had the operation himself so both of them know what's what and were very informative and fun on the journey. I spent the 1st night in a good hotel and then was taken to the clinic on the Monday by Deborah and Michael. The clinic was spotless and modern, the room had two beds and a big ensuite with a massive and glorious shower. I was alone in it though as the other patient due to be there had caught a cold so had to reschedule. Apparently the hospital infection rates are extremely low there which I can attribute the very high standard of hygiene that was kept by *all* staff. Spent the day there having tests including psychological ones (so I know I am sane now!), endoscopy under sedation, blood tests, x-ray, breathing tests and ultrasound. The next day I was judged fit enough for the Op despite a small inflamation marker elevation in my blood test as that was coming down and was probably attributable to some dental hygentist work I had done a few days previously. So the op was done on Tuesday and came round with no pain and a couple of drains attached on either side. I then started feeling sick and the lovely nurse administered drugs very quickly to get rid of it. At no time was I ever left to suffer any problem, when I rang the bell the nurses actually ran down the corridor to me, you won't get that in the UK on the NHS! They encourage you to get up and walk about as soon as possible as this stops blood clots and aids healing. I had a rubber glove taped to a straw that I had to inflate 5 times every few hours as that was good for stopping pneumonias developing apparently! All the staff were kind and spoke good to basic English. I had a leak test in radiography and passed. Two doctors including Dr Cierny himself did this test. Very thorough. Dr Cierny and his team came round to see me after the op and several time in the next couple of days and they were genuinely friendly and kind as well as being extremely skilled and competant at their jobs. Deborah came to see me every day to check I was OK and happy, she and I had lots of good chats. I had the drains removed on the Thursday afternoon and by Friday afternoon was well enough to get dressed and fly home to the UK. The journey was a bit of a strain but not too bad. I am being followed up in the UK by Cassandra who will moitor my weight loss and advice of diet. All in all a good experience. :thumbup: