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I asked my surgeon abt the clear liquid rule the day I went in for surgery because I tried the clear Isopure ready made drinks and thought I was gonna die. He said as long as I'm mixing y protein with water it was absolutely fine. I trust my surgeon a tremendous amount. He is the director of the bariatric unit at the hospital and I have not had a single complication. I couldn't imagine not having him to turn to.

Sorry to hear you're having such "explosive" gas. Bandsters are prone to increased flatulence. My doctor told me that if I wait too long in between meals, that increases the amount of gas. Just a thought. Are you skipping Breakfast or waiting too long in between breakfast and lunch? Maybe you need a light snack in between these 2 meals. Also, Vinesqueen is ABSOLUTELY right. Holding it in is not good for your colon and can lead to diverticulitis. In fact, my grandmother died from complications associated with undiagnosed diverticulitis. So, if you feel the rumblings and feel the need to let loose......find a private place and let 'er rip. It's a human thing to do whether you are mortified by it or not...Everybody does it. You can try the simethicone. I suppose you could even try Beano, but bottom line you are gonna have some gas (bandster or not). I suggest finding out how to master the art of the "silent but deadly". :spy: Relax, and let it go. :guess

Be careful ladies. With VSG we will need to avoid NSAID's for life as these can cause issues with our new tummies. This should be in your VSG preop/post op instructions or in the complications section. Luckily as MsShauna said, Tylenol is not a NSAID. Saying that, Advil is a NSAID. You could have headaches due to: Lack of caffeine or not enough liquid, so try to up you intake of Water if you are not getting enough. Good luck and I hope you feel better soon!

Anxiety about having surgery and essentially changing your lifestyle is to be expected...even the most grounded individuals will have some reservations about making those types of sweeping changes. I know i did... Trust me when I write that life as you have known it will resume, with a few minor exceptions. I'm only 5 months post op, but now I'm able to attend parties, go to restaurants, travel, and go sailing. Pretty much all of the activities I enjoyed before getting my band. I just make different choices on the menu, and every meal I order gets stretched into 3 meals. For the initial month or 2, you are still adjusting to the many changes we need to make...and inherently, people do not do well with change. How we interpret the situation we are confronted with makes a huge difference in how we ultimately will adjust to our new lifestyle. It's important to understand that the more self determination we feel in life, the healthier we will be from an emotional standpoint. Having a band is very self empowering; you and only you will determine your level of success with your weight loss journey. For some, that can be a frightening thought, because many have a fear of failure. Day to day, remaining compliant with your diet can be very challenging, but overall, we do not need to be perfect, only make the best effort every day to do the best we can to follow the rules. People who do not need to loose weight do not have the surgery...and the reason many of us got to the point of choosing to have the band was because of our relationship with food. That has to change; food is not your friend. We must learn to eat to live, not the other way around. When you have to say goodbye to a friend, you can actually go through a grieving type process as you adjust to understanding that you can no longer seek solace from food to cope with stress or boredom. I was fortunate to have a chance encounter with a woman who had been banded 2 years ago...she helped me to place things in a better perspective. What is more important to you, having your health and mobility or knowing that you can eat whatever you want to in whatever quantity you want to? Put into those words, discussion over...just do it! Yes, it has been a major adjustment for me; and pre op and initial post op times are the most difficult. Gradually you do get your life back to some sense of normalcy. My interpretation of having my band is that it is an opportunity for me to restore some of the health that my weight was stealing from me. I still feel fortunate that I was able to have my surgery, even with the complications I have experienced. Because I know what the alternatives would be...so my thoughts remain positive and I do my best every day to remain compliant, and I also accept that I am not perfect. Get in touch with your reasons for choosing your band, and keep them at the forefront of your thoughts so you can review them when you have moments of anxiety or regret. Best wishes...

I am 12 days post op and told to be on full liquids for 3 weeks so I definatly feel your pain. Don't beat yourself up for the past, but prepare yourself for YOUR future. I have a friend who was banded 2 yrs ago but had to have it removed after 5 months because of complications because she did not follow the Doc's orders. She cried when they had to take it out because she was still loosing wieght. I have deceided come hell or high water I will follow Doc's orders because of this, but it is hard. It is your future and you owe it to yourself. Good luck.

I had very little pain from my surgery itself. It was the complications etc that caused my pain. And anytime I tried to put more fluid in at a time than my sleeve wanted, that can really hurt. I got dehydrated and that caused muscle pain in my legs and because I now have constant diarrhea, I have quite alot of pain in my inflamed bowels. But surgery itself was not too bad, only the drain dragging around caused actual pain. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

I've had Zero complications with the sleeve. I feel totally normal until I try to take an extra bite past full and I'm disciplined by my sleeve-even then when I put my fork down I feel OK pretty soon. I try very hard with the protein and the water and the vitamins but at the end of the day I don't get them all in but I'm pleased that whatever I did get in, got absorbed. I was scared about the surgery and recovery too but I just decided to "feel the fear and do it anyway" before I knew it-I was on the other side! Have you been tested for Celiac or just gone on a gluten-free diet for a few days to see if it helps your bowel troubles? I can't even tell you how many people I know diagnosed with IBS have been totally symptom free since giving up gluten/wheat. It's really very easy to avoid and has totally changed my life! PM me if you want to know more.

Oh, one more thing. About the rumor of tissue death resulting from any kind of plication - I have never found any studies or clinical evidence of that. I'm sure it's possible, but I suspect that it's rare. One thing to keep in mind is that gastric plication as a WLS procedure is relatively new. The first patient I personally know of to have it is a Canadian woman, about 2 years ago. With such a new procedure, there just isn't enough evidence of anything (negative or positive) for us to be able to confidently state a list of risks and complications (other than those related to laparascopic surgery in general).

Sue: My experience is as follows: I had surgery on April 6, 2004 at Rosarito, Mexico. The facility I went to is called Sanoviv Medical Institute. The facility is a health conscious resort spa atmosphere that also treats end stage disease patients. It also does extensive testing to see just how healthy you really are. There is a detoxification prior to any procedure if you elect to go that route. I did. I was there for a week but only because I elected to stay that long. I could have had the surgery and then left the next day to go home. Lots of blood work, ultrasound of the abdomen to give the surgeon a few of my insides in case of something out of the ordinary or to catch something that would prevent the surgery from happening, urinalysis, stool samples, EKG, Spirometry (lung capacity testing), etc. Day of surgery I was excited and ready to go. I was supposed to have it done at 1p but there was a delay and it was then started at 3p. No big deal just wanted it done. Surgery was a breeze. No complications and I was only on the table for about an hour. I was woke up in the OR and transferred to the bed and then wheeled to the recovery bed. I was in some pain but shots took care of that real quick. I rested that whole night in bed. I think that is what made the next day so rough for me. Someone should have gotten me up that night and let me set up. But no one did and I was too out of it to worry about it. I slept off and on that night. I was in minor pain that was quickly relieved with pain meds. I was not on a pump but had shots for the pain. By the way everyone spoke and understood English. The next day I was very sore but not IN PAIN. You know what I mean? I just took it easy and walked with a pillow bracing my abdomen. I still took some pain meds that day and into that night. The next day was much better and I even was able to shower while seated in a chair and washed my hair. That made me feel loads better. By the 4th day I was walking upright without a pillow. This facility has salt Water pools for therapy. I was able to put on a bathing suit and dip in the pools for about 30 min. IT was heaven. It gets progressively better as the days pass. My advice is to get a pillow for your abdomen, start your deep breathing as soon as you are lucid, walk as soon as you are clear headed, shower with a chair the first time, talk small baby steps walking, sit up in a chair as much as you can stand, get Protein in you as soon as they will allow it, and of course follow all your surgeons instructions. COngrats on your new life soon to start.

May I ask, if you have no comorbidities and may barely meet the one bmi requirement...then why do a drastic surgery? This is not easy. There are many restriction and possible complications The restrictions don't dissappear after weightloss nor does the risk complications. Good Luck

Hi: I think that having your mind in the LAP-BAND® mode is what makes people the most successful with their bands. You really have to be ready for the changes that will make your weight loss successful with the band. I didn't have any complications (except gallbladder removal after 9 months) with my band and I lost most of my weight in 15 months. People can make poor food choices and graze with the band. I was grazing for about nine months and gained 20 pounds back. Once I made up my mind to get back on track I lost ten pounds in a month. So, it's great to know that my band was there to help me to get back on track once my mind was made up. I only have one regret with the band. I regret that I didn't get it done alot sooner. Best wishes to you. I love my band and my new flat tummy! Sue

For me, I had a ruptured colon back in 2006 (due to diverticulitis). They had to do emergency surgery to stop the sepsis, and ended up removing about 15 inches of my large intestine. Because things escalated so rapidly, I woke up with a colostomy bag (and a huge incision). About three months later I had another surgery to reverse the colostomy. Both those surgeries really complicated the WLS. My surgeon said I was his only patient on the day of surgery, he expected an 8 hour procedure, half of which was to remove internal scar tissue that had developed as a result of the prior surgeries. The surgeon actually could not be sure WHICH WLS he would be able to do, until he opened me up. So I didn't know whether I had a sleeve or a Roux-en-Y until I woke up. He wanted to see with his eyes how much large intestine was left. If there wasn't enough, then I was not a candidate for Roux-en-Y. There wasn't enough, so now I have a sleeve. Oh yes it was an extra fee. Heck, there was an extra SURGEON. One guy was the WLS surgeon, but I had a plastic surgeon do the abdominal wall reconstruction. That was his specialty. The WLS guy said it wasn't his kind of work, and that I should have a specialist. The two of them worked together to clear the scar tissue.

I am a registered nurse with background in ICU, home health and now oncology in Oklahoma City. As you can tell by my username, I am ?nurse_ally?s mom.? What a fortunate person I am. :biggrin0: I have fought the weight battle my whole life, literally. I cannot remember a time when weight and food did not control my life. My lowest weight as an adult was 128 (I was underweight for 2 days!!!!) and my highest was 303 (sometime within the last year and a half). I have a cousin who had RNY several years ago, and he is still overweight...I don't know why because we have never really discussed it. Being a nurse I have taken care of several patients with complications from RNY and banding, and I knew that would never be a option for me. I am miserable and just supposed that is the way the rest of my life would be with hypertension, knee pain, diabetes (newly diagnosed), c-pap, etc, etc, etc. And Allison was heading that same direction. Here we go...I guess Allison must have been researching this for some time, but one day she told me she was getting sleeved. I had already heard of this from a coworker who was thrilled with the results, but that is as far as it went. I questioned her about the procedure, talked about the expense and that is when she told me she was going to Mexico to have it done. My response...HAVE YOU LOST YOUR MIND?!?!?!?!?!?!!!!! We spent many hours discussing her research and I went through the process with her of deciding which surgeon, location and so forth. With the feeling that she had done her research well, I jumped on board for her to go ahead. She was sleeved by Dr. Aceves on 7-1-10, is back home and doing well at this point, and I am scheduled to be sleeved by Dr. Aceves on 8-12-10. So there you go!!! For her my thoughts are that I don't want her to live the life I have lived if there is any possible way to avoid it. My weight has controlled everything I have ever done, and I have missed out on a lot of fun times because I was too big to participate or just flat didn't feel like it. She is a remarkable young woman with the responsibility of two awesome children, and she needs to be released from Fat Prison. For me my thoughts are if there is even a chance that I may get rid of the extra person I have been carrying around on my back for the last 20 years, I'm there!!! That's my story in a nutshell. I could go on and on, but those of us in this boat don't need all the details...you have already lived it. Thanks for starting this thread, Kathy. It is good to have others who relate to us in more ways that just getting sleeved. My parting thought for now?LET'S GET THIS SHOW ON THE ROAD!! :thumbup: Kathe

What exactly are you trying to say? You've posted something under complications which is a bit disparate - but not what i'd consider a 'vent' and now you're posting something here saying you're tired of it? Tired of what, exactly? People on the Sleeve forum? The Sleeve? The surgery comparison debate? If someone is being negative towards you or your choices, you have the option to ignore and report. If you're wanting to state your dissatisfaction with how people debate these issues - you're entitled. However, this is not original thought and you'll be joining a long queue!

My personal advice is for you to weigh yourself morning and night. See what foods cause you to gain weight. Weight gain or stagnation isn't always caused by increasing body fat. Some foods heavy in sodium or carbs can cause you to retain fluids but your scale can't tell the diff between Fluid gains and body fat increases. For me, knowing what affects my body is important, so tracking daily is important. For others, it's too complicated or too emotional to track.

Consider the possibility that you are a sugar/food addict and need to cut out things like sugar, flour, white potatoes, rice, and processed foods. I've been pretty successful at losing (despite frequent stalls) by following this. Due to complications my RNY>RNY revision was not successful so I have no volume restriction. I HAVE to record everything I eat. My clinic wants me to restrict myself to 800 kcal a day, but I struggle with cravings even though my body is getting sufficient sustenance. Cutting out the trigger foods (above), helps with the craving but I'm usually consuming around 1000-1200 kcal a day--and still slowly losing. Here are some books I recommend.

I'm so sorry you're scared. I would love to say that you are unique in your pre-op fear but you are absolutely not. I posted on here the night before my surgery because I was totally freaking out. I had all the fears you have now. I hate to speak for others, but I would assume 90% of us on hear had those same fears. Regarding the unhappy and miserable people, as you say, understand that this is a support forum. Many of us have nowhere to go but here when we are scared, frustrated or confused. But just because there are complications, doesn't mean we are unhappy. I have only been banded a week and one walking, sleeping, breathing complication. Notice I didn't add "eating" because I'm not doing that. I'm having a lot of swelling and have spent more time in the hospital than out since I was banded last week. Am I scared? Heck yeah, a little. Would I do it again? In a second. Why? Because what I'm scared of is that they will have to take it out. I've losed 23 lbs and I like that. Do I longingly look at what my family eats? Sure but that's only because I can't eat anything at all. If I could have some salad or some fish, I wouldn't need anything else. I do like the feeling of restriction because it takes away my obsession with food. I'm not planning my next meal or snack because I'm not hungry. I admit, I am currently obsessed with getting Fluid in but that will pass as the swelling goes down (I pray!). Also, admit it, aren't you drawn to the threads where it seems like there are issues? I am. If there are two posts and one says "Happy Day!" and the other says "Please help me", which are you going to first? We all say we'd do it again because we WOULD do it again. For every person that is "miserable and tremendously unhappy", there are 20 that are thrilled. These feelings are normal but don't let them take over. You'll get through this, I promise.

RIP Lap Band 8/14/09 - 10/31/14 I miss my friend and constant reminder that I have cured my high blood pressure, sleep apnea and I was an insulin taking diabetic who was in control of my diabetes with diet alone. I am a nurse who got hurt at work. When I found out that my injury ended my nursing career, I had a nervous break down I vomited projectile for days and fainted from 3 panic attacks a day. The vomiting made my band eat into my cardia and it was like being knifed . Hospital stay of 10 days and almost lost my life for bleeding. I was left with an open wound and two JP drains the opening never closed I was left like tat for 3 months then in Dec I had another emergency surgery to remove what was left in. A piece of mesh the my first doctor put over the port that was not detected. I had asked the place that put in my lap band to give me their surgery noted and they never sent them. If they had I would not have had the surgery for the infected port area. I was left with 2 open wounds that had to be closed from the inside out it took 2 months and I look like I have been mutilated. What a horrible experience!!! I had no complications up to this point. As far as immune disorders i don't have any. I just want everyone out there to get their surgery notes and keep them in case of an emergency. I wouldn't want anyone to go through what I did!!! The place that put my band in was in Beverly Hills and I thought they had the most experience. Boy was I wrong!!! They were a Lap Band Mill!!! Now I can never have another!!! I am looking into the sleeve I have gained over half my weight back, on a Low gluten, Paleo diet. It's like I never had my wonderful bandie. I have tried everything!!! I keep packing on the weight and I'm not over eating!!! Want to get the sleeve soon cause my diabetes is back and so is my high blood pressure. I am a nurse metabolically my body just can lose it got used to eating with my band small amounts more frequently. Even though I do that now I still am putting on the pounds. I don't really understand why??? Is anyone else having this problem, after getting de banded???

@@transmformme To be honest, I have found the office staff to be very hit or miss. The surgeons are great. Dr. Roshek did my EGD, Dr. Nick my sleeve, and Dr. Carlton checked in on my during a follow up. All were very positive, helpful, and high energy. I have found some of the office staff difficult to get follow-through. My first group of post-op labs, for example, took about 3 weeks to get results and those were delivered to me over the phone. Some staff have not been great about returning calls. Others, are amazingly responsive. I emailed one of the nurses with a post-op diet question. I got a long, very thorough response within 30 minutes. It is really a mixed bag. Because I have a great family physician, I have decided to navigate some of these issues with the office staff with my doctor's help. Before my follow-up appointments, I have Nicholson Clinic send me a lab order via email. I then do the labs through my family doctor a week or so before my follow-up appointment with the Nicholson Clinic. I then send my results to them. This gets me my results much more quickly, much more cheaply, and, since my dr. delivers lab results online, I can easily look them over myself and coordinate things with my family doctor. I am pretty happy with how that has worked so far and I have not had any resistance from the Nicholson Clinic in doing things this way. The only place where I was genuinely disappointed was with the post-op phone nutritionist consult. I know a lot of others have had a very good experience doing it this way, but I was pretty underwhelmed. The nutritionist that I spoke with was not too helpful and, frankly, did not seem very knowledgeable about bariatric patients. Between reading on my own, talking to the nurse educator and Nicholson, and talking to my family physician, I seem to be doing fine developing a plan that is working for me. I consistently hit my Water and Protein targets without a problem, get lots of exercise, and am seeing the weight come off at a solid pace. Were I to do it again, I would still do my surgery with Dr. Nicholson. Since I am enough of a control freak that I want to directly manage my own care and ask my own questions, the hiccups with the office staff does not bother me that much. In the end, my priority was the skill of the surgeon. There, I feel like I made a good choice. My recovery went very well, I had no complications, and my incision scars are even pretty small.

I had my band removed in 2011 and soon I'll have surgery for the gastric sleeve. I had my pre-op appointment with my surgeon on Friday and he mentioned something I didn't know or realize - that my surgery will take more time because I've had a band, due to scar tissue. And because of that, I have a higher risk of developing a leak near the top of my stomach where the staple line will start. He said that when band surgery is performed, they sew part of the stomach over the band (pars flaccida technique?) but when it's removed, it's not 'undone'. And that area has scar tissue? Or maybe it's the band itself that causes the scar tissue but he also has to undo that area stitched over? I knew my original surgeon did that but I had assumed the on-call surgeon undid it to remove the band. He was a HUGE jerk who treated me like an idiot and talked over me when I asked informed questions (anything that seemed to question his authority, it seemed). I just stopped asking questions. My current surgeon seems to think since it's been so long since the band was removed (and I haven't had any issues) that the scar tissue will have softened quite a bit. (I know he mentioned it to drive home the sipping of water as opposed to gulps but I'm surprised it didn't come up in our original consultation). ANYWAY, have any of you gone years after lap band removal and then had gastric sleeve surgery? If so, what was your experience? This bit of info threw me and I didn't think of follow up questions right then and there. I'm just over a week out from my surgery. I'm getting nervous about this and the added risk of complications. I'm a worst-case-scenario kind of person, so... =/

I understand about keeping the secret about your sleeve because I am hoping to go to Mexico in the next couple of weeks and have mine and I will be telling no one. I had a lap band for three years, that my husband begged me not to get, and my husband was only person who knew I had it. After it didn't work for me and I went through a lot of problems with the complications and the removal, I wouldn't dare tell him I was getting the sleeve. He is just scared for me, like I'm sure your husband is, but in the end it is my body and my choice. Even though I will have to beg/borrow/steal for the money I will make a way, because I am so unhappy without the help that I need to get my health and life back. Do what is right for you and keep him informed and in the end he will be by your side and support you when you need it.

I am new to this forum. I am 11 days post-op and I had my surgery at a Christian health center. I could tell how huge of a difference it made in giving me the support I desired in starting this journey. I hope to become even more grounded in my faith as I move forward. I am grateful for groups like this!!!Hello, welcome! How are you healing. I too am on a spiritual journey. Strengthening my faith ultimate goal. I created this thread awhile ago when I first started my journey. I love my sleeve it has been my headache and my joy!!! God placed me right where he needed me to be. Are you still on liquids? What's state are you in? Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App I am healing fine. I am just started back working this week, so that has been an adjustment. I am also trying to incorporate more exercise. I feel good physically about every other day, then on the opposite days I'm tired. I am in Indiana and I'm currently on the 8 week Puree phase ( I didn't have a liquid phase like others do). How about you? How far post-op are you? What's been the biggest hurdle for you thus far? Welcome!! Good to hear that you are complication free. Yes, that's happen to me to I was up and down, one minute I was energetic the next I was so tired. That won't change for awhile. I'm doing good, I'm 7 months out. And the biggest hurdle for me avoiding grazing. I've managed to do it on most days but some days I feel like I don't get enough Protein. I'm at a set number and trying to maintain sometimes I'm at the number then I might go under its a bounce between a few pounds. I didn't have a purée diet just the liquid. Also exercise is easier now I just have to eat more calories something I never thought I would say!! Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

@Alex forgive me if I missed it, but the care for complications that arise after I return home must be treated in MX? Hence the flights and reimbursement mentioned above. Sent from my SM-G920V using the BariatricPal App

Congrats on .. You success.. No complications are always a blessing. How are you tolerated food etc? Keep in touch let us know how you are. We are here for everyone .. Blessings to you. wonderful.. I am able to keep food down its just chewing slow I think I to excited though so it causes discomfort but other than that I'm fine. I'm so happy to hear you are doing okay .. We are blessed .. And highly favored.. I will keep you in my prayers for continued success..

Have you thought about the complications if you don't have it done. There is a far bigger risk to your helath from being obese than there is from having a band. Maybe you should research how many people die from obesity related conditions and then check out how many die from band complications. I think the results will be quite an eye opener.