Search the Community

DeLarla, Bandster Hopeful is yet another alias of Sandy RN. She recruits patients for Kuri. Is also promoting a new hospital offered in TJ. Make no mistake. All experienced docs have had slippages and erosions. Kuri has had his share of these and other complications. She makes lots of claims. She’s now on another board claiming that Kuri was asked to proctor by Inamed, but declined. A bunch of bull! The only ones asked to proctor and are proctors are Rumbuat, Ortiz and Lopez. This info may or may not matter to some, but the truth is the truth. Why make up a story? Sandy has been kicked off all the yahoo boards except her own. She keeps coming back under different names. Kat :rolleyes

You would think. But I think that they give a "general" guide and then it is personalized with the followup visits. I see some people with no complications and no intolerances being advanced to the next stage early. On the flip side there are some who barely tolerate liquids and it seems they really struggle and spend more time recovering and moving through the stages. Then again I had my surgery in Mexico so I'm a little more on my own. Thankfully I've had no complications or food intolerances but I've been super careful and pay a lot of attention to my body and how I feel.

Interesting thanks for the info. No complications I hope! Yeah hospitals aren't generally the most fun places in general -- add staff that are carrying around their own personal issues and drama, and the stay can become even less enjoyable! I was kind of surprised this specialty clinic is based at Deaconess instead of Sacred Heart - my impression is that the latter is a newer and more carefully run facility. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Sorry you're feeling so awful. I felt terrible when I first woke up from surgery and had a lot of feelings of regret. I was lucky enough to be feeling much better by the next day, so I can only imagine how it would be to feel like that for 5 days. I'm not a doctor and I can't make any promises, but it is very, very unlikely you've messed up your body forever. You may take longer to heal than you hoped. You may have some complications that require additional treatment. But it is really rare to have serious complications, and even if you do, almost all complications can be fixed. I'm sure you picked a good surgeon who knows what he or she is doing. Have you contacted your surgeon's office? They want you to call if you're having problems. Maybe it will help to remember that you put a lot of thought into the decision to have this surgery. I'm sure you had good reasons for it. They say you shouldn't make decisions when you're in a heightened emotional state -- like being in a lot of pain, as you are now. Trust the decision you made when you were clear-headed and not clouded by pain. You'll get back to that point again and this awful time will just be a blip in your memory. I hope you feel better soon!

Because my surgeon is overly careful I guess. He said he wants there to be as less complications as possible and making sure that liver is smaller and healthier will help. I think it's to see if I can fallow a restrictive diet as well-but that's only an assumption :-)

Do the positives out way the negatives? That's what I keep asking myself. Stress can cause corresponding pains / aches. I'm nervous too, but to remain the same unable to run, and keep up with the little ones, in my case my nieces ( I suffer from infertility, from PCOS) and you could potentially get diabetes, suffer a heart art k or worse. The odds of death or complications are minimal. The odds of the other comorbidities are greater. Maybe you can also talk to your surgeon to help you decide. Do you have a date yet? Mine is September 14, next Monday. I'm nervous too. I thinks it's natural.

I went on January 16 for gastric bypass. I woke up about an hour after being put under to a nurse in the recovery area telling me they did not complete my surgery because of complications. I have multiple adhesions and my intestines are stuck together so much that my anatomy does not look like it should. My surgeon did not want to complete the surgery until I could be told. He has given me the option to have him do a sleeve or for him to refer me out to someone who still does open bypass surgery. I cannot explain the mind f**k this was and the anxiety I am feeling. This is terrible. I knew something was going to happen or be found. I knew that I was right. Something was going to be found that would explain the symptoms I had had for years at this point. These adhesions do not show up on scans of any sort unless you have an obstruction. I have only had one other surgery in my abdomen and it was a laparoscopic appendectomy 10 years ago. He thinks it stems from chronic inflammation and autoimmune **** that I have. Has anybody had an open procedure for bypass? What's your experience? Or has anyone been opened up and not finished? Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G891A using BariatricPal mobile app

I am posting again to explain that the writing in red was Chickies response to me.. I am not to familiar with this new posting stuff. Too high tech and complicated for me.. Well, that's all, gotta go back to work.. I've been goofing off alot today, can't concentrate, too much going on.

I too have seen the Bandster haters on here. I really don't let their negative responses get to me. I am newly banded and still have alot to learn. Before i had my surgery I did a massive about of research. I was totally informed about what I could expect. i knew that it was not going to a miracle weight loss cure. I knew that I was going to be changing my life forever!!!! So, with that said I must also say I think that everyone is entitled to their opinion. I just think that if you have a negative opinion I want to hear exactly why it was a negative experience. I have not read why she is unhappy with it. Just that it didn't work for her. I know I have read other peoples negative experience with the band and can relate to why they had a bad experience. Example, surgery complications, slippages, and other complications. I think that it is good to hear the good and the bad in this forum. It helped me when I was in the decision stage when I was just a lurker. I must say that all to good out weighed the bad for sure and I think it will be one of the top three decisions of my life!!! I look forward to my 1 year anniversary December 16th of this year and seeing how for I have come.

I had my own room. 5 day stay due to complications- previously had a band. So glad I didnt have a roommate as I wouldn't have wanted to be judged for a rough recovery with catherers, vomiting for 2 days and constant bladder scans. My 2nd and 3rd stays- from complications I also had my own room.

I'm really hoping that your last statement of regretting your surgery is something you can look back on in a year and say "yes, at the time that was true, but no more"! Once all these crazy complications and hurdles are passed (!), I'm hopeful this will be a good decision for the rest of your life. You just have to find a way to make it through each challenging day right now, so you can get to that happy place.

Hello everyone, I was told I did great in surgery no complications. I did stay the night..thank goodness for that the inclining bed was a life saver. I was afraid of how much soreness I would have post-op but I have to admit it was manageable, I did ask for pain meds several times tho. Walking was good seem to help a lot I walked the halls each time I was disconnected to use the restroom. Now I'm home on the couch with everything I need within an arms reach. Everyone is so supportive on this site. Thanks to you all.

Hi Vera After my 1st fill (4mls) I didn't really feel much difference, but by that point I was ravenous so I don't suppose 4mls would have mad a huge difference. My 2nd fill is a bit complicated (it always is with me ) When he came to take out the saline to replace it with contrast soln 1ml was missing?! If it was just hiding somewhere in my band refusing to come out that means I have 5.5mls, if it had just 'dissapeared' which I beleive can happen I've got 4.5mls. I feel quite a bit more restricted than before, but its still not perfect, so my guess (and it is a guess!) would be 5.5mls. Going for another fill in Feb, can't wait!! How about you? I don't know much about the AMI band, tell me more Claire

So I was banded yesterday, now I'm going through the motions ("HOLY HELL WHAT DID I GET MYSELF INTO?!"). Either my gas pains haven't started yet, or they passed without much complication. My biggest problem is the deep muscle pain. This pain is ridiculous. My pain meds are helping, but only slightly. It's extremely hard to sleep, because I am a tummy sleeper and I just can't get comfortable on my back. Did any of you use a heating pad? I'm just not sure if it is better to use heat or ice.

Hi Christine, I just recently had VSG surgery by Dr Aceves in Mexicali, on September 23. I highly recommend him. My insurance does not cover the surgery so I was self pay, and heard about the more affordable options in Mexico, so I did a lot of research for several months on physicians and facilities there. His program was my choice for a lot of reasons. First, because of his extensive experience with this particular surgery, and the fact that he does other surgery as well. He has performed over 600 VSG's. There are very few surgeons who have done this many. The research that I read in professional journals states that once a surgeon has performed over 300 of a particular operations, they have seen everything there is to see and their complication rate goes way down. His complication rate is lower than national averages that are reported in the literature. I did not want to see a surgeon who was "learning" on me! Secondly, the number of years he has been operating in general was important to me. He has 0ver 18 years experience with laparoscopic surgery and 10 years with bariatric surgery. Third, the surgery takes place in a full-service hospital, not a "surgery clinic", which is the case with some of the Mexican surgeons. I am safety conscious, so in the event there is a complication, I wanted to be in a hospital that had an ICU, blood bank, full service radiology dept, etc. Fourth, Dr Aceves' program also provides an internal medicine evaluation, and he has an assistant surgeon who also sees you regularly. You are visitied MULTIPLE times each day by the physicians. I have never seen such attentive care by physicians in US hospitals, and I have worked in many of them since I am an RN for over 30 years. Dr Aceves and Dr Campos in particular were outstandingly kind and attentive. Fifth, Dr Aceves does 3 leak tests before you leave. These are tests to be sure there are no leaks in your new sleeve, which is one of the more serious complications that can have. Some physicians don't do this number of tests. Dr Aceves is conservative about this and I was glad to learn it. His post-op diet is also conservative compared to many, because a more conservative approach can help prevent post-operative leaks. Sixth, the program was so user-friendly. They assign you a coordinator at the beginning who answers all your questions via phone or email. Their driver picks you up at the airport in San Diego, transports you to the hospital where pre-op labs/xrays/ekg are done; they drive you tor a nice hotel room that first night, they transport you back to the hospital for surgery the next day, you stay in the hospital for 4 days and then are taken directly to the airport on that 4th day. All this is included in the fee, which is about 1/2 what you would pay in the US. You pay your own airfare. When I missed my connecting flight due to weather, I immediately called my coordinator and she re-arranged my pick-up time, transportation, hotel reservation, and lab schedule and took care of everything. It was so easy, I did not have to worry one bit. I found the hospital to be very beautiful, and cleaner than any hospital I have ever been in. It is a private hospital, and has decor more attractive than any I have been in here in the USA. The staff are very nice, most of them speak good English, and they are very kind and attentive to your needs. If you have any questions or concerns at all, Dr. Aceves is right there to answer them and he truly listens, as does his assistant, Dr. Campos. They are especially concerned about pain control after surgery, and I have to tell you, I had very minimal pain after the surgery. I've had 3 prior surgeries in the US and the kind of pain management in this program was the very best. I received spinal anesthesia as well as general, which is recommended in some of the research literature I had read prior to deciding. It truly was amazing for pain management. It is important that you do your own research until you are comfortable with your own choice, and you can read a lot about various physicians and facilities on this website and the obesity help website too. At OH you can research how many surgeries various physicians have done. Read, read, read before you decide, so you are really comfortable with it. Best of luck to you!

@@MickeyMax95 I'm doing really well. I had no complications and I feel great, though I still get tired very easily. I am not losing as fast/much as I hoped to but I'm getting in 100g of protein and 64 oz of water, as well as all my vitamins, every day. So I know I need to stop being so impatient and just focus and making myself healthy, and the weight loss will come.

I admit that I am not diligent enough with the massive Vitamin regimen that is required with a malabsorptive procedure. I had to choose what I could live with vs. what I knew I would fail miserably at. Losing weight is one thing, believe me, I get that. Living with vitamin counts of 20-30 pills a day is absurd in my little world, and there is no way I would do it for the rest of my life. Those same DS'ers told me I would fail miserably with a VSG only revision from my band. I had a BMI of right at 50 starting my VSG journey, and after 10 months, 138lbs lost, a BMI of 22, I'd like to say that I am by all means a success with VSG as a stand alone procedure. Plus, I wanted to have another child. Dealing with deficiencies or too high vitamin levels (which occurs with DS'ers as well) was something that I refused to deal with in pregnancy. I refused to have RNY also. The long term complications and regain stats with RNY were not in my best interest. I'm 2 years out, maintained my loss for a year before pregnancy weight started creeping in, and today myself and the baby are thriving. I do not have to take in any additional Vitamins or supplements, and have zero issues eating enough calories to support my body and another developing human. Best wishes in your research. It is very difficult to decide. I had to look at what I was willing to live with 10, 15, 20 years and beyond, not just what could get the weight off the quickest.

We went to dr. Alvarez in Mexico who is extremely experienced and has a. Very low complication rate. We paid $8,900 each and could not be happier. I've posted a review here as well as on my blog.

I can't speak from experience but rather some serious thought and self analysis as to this growing concern that eventually this restriction will be less than it currently is and the root of what the real problem is. First my thoughts are that we did this for the basic tenet to feel better...we did a physical act to feel better eventually look better too. With that said it's just like a new car, new blouse the newness wears off and the norm becomes the realization that we needed to work on our emotional journey as well. It's very easy to have done the emotional change at first bc we had the physical manifestation occur...we just did not address or work on the emotional which trust me if it could be fixed with a few sutures and a trip to Mexico we would all be living there perminantly. We certainly did not get to where we are because there is not an underlying problem....that problem is emotions. We have an emotional problem with food and once that is addressed and sutured in our own way then we can succeed long term. To have done this extreme and eat chips, bread, heavy carbs is not acceptable. My plan of attack for now is simple....I want the body of an athlete therefore I need the mentality ofmone too I will fill up fast with heavy Proteins no carbs so that temptation doesn't have time to catch up because I'll be too full. Secondly I'm excited to be exercising this coming week...and I don't mean elliptical I mean climbing flights of stairs and eventually kicking ass in cross fit. Treating my body as if it's still obese...mediocrity is not an option. I also dream a lot which helps my emotional state...I day dream every moment I see a cupcake...long detailed daydreams and then end it with "nothing tastes as good as skinny feels".... sorry for my rant but I just want everyone to be happy with this plication I worry about the lack of restriction too.I can't believe I did this and think there is an opportunity to fail....but that failure is up to me and I've never failed at anything I've passionately wanted....and anytime I've fallen off the wagon i pick myself up dust myself off and get back on the saddle...it's a forever journey and I'm going to make sure this horse I'm riding is mentally prepared for the long haul.... Good luck everyone....also I had read this on dr. Talebpours site before selecting plication google his site it's really interesting as the pioneer of this surgery. CONTRAINDICATION OF TVGP Morbid obese cases without any cooperation or any acceptance of limitation of intake are bad candidates for restrictive operations like plication. If I use plication in these cases a moderate rate of weight loss may occurs at first, but due to high intake of foods after that time, regain appears again. The selected technique for moderate cooperating patients is gastric bypass (cut of stomach, making malabsorption by using long limb gastrojejunostomy anasthomosis) with higher risk of complication. Aggressive technique advise for low cooperating patient. In patients without any cooperating, any acceptance of food restriction (enjoy of eating), if would like to have normal weight, just malabsorptive methods like duodenal switching or modified ileojejunal bypass is advised.

I don't do any lifting on my job and my doctor still kept me out of work for five weeks for a full recovery, though I had zero complications of any kind. It's local norms somewhat, but I do think when possible, people should really take as much time as they need to be REALLY ready to get back to work. Good luck!!

Hello, My name is Ana and I had sleeve done on December 15th. I previously had lap band done in December of 2009 managed to loose 70 lbs, but was stuck for 8 mos and had port complications the whole time. I am glad I did the sleeve so far, my recovery has totally gone way better than my prior 3 surgeries this past couple of years. I hope to finally reach my goal of 130 lbs. I am 5'1 and 34 yrs old. I am happily Married and have a 15 yr old daughter and a 9 yr old son. I hope that we can be a support to each other in this forum!

Thank goodness that your visiting nurse caught it! The fluids drain through the lymph system and eventually out through the urine. Along with my drain less TT, lymphatic massages are scheduled starting 1 day post op. There is also the use of an abdominal binder then a compression garment. I had it performed in Miami, FL. The binder massages & compression garments seem to be industry standard there & in Latin America whether the TT is drain less or traditional. Glad you can enjoy the end product despite the complications

Wow Kathy - I have not heard of anyone with a nicked Spleen. This I can tell you - generally when you are up and moving it helps tremendously. Walking and sipping, though clechet sounding,really do help with that trapped gas (if it is the gas). By three weeks, I had a second surgery for a complication and I did not have the type of pain you describe. You need to get your lungs going, definately. And honestly, because of the spleen maybe that is adding to your shoulder. If it gets too bad, I would call doc again. Take care.

Hello everyone! I had my surgery on tuesday, June 2nd in CA. 24 hr stay in the hospital with lots of walking and no complications. I nursed my belly and walked a lot over the course of that week. Started having mild right upper abdominal pain. Returned to work monday. Monday night the pain was a sharp, tearing feeling when changing positions. Did any one else have these pains? Now its saturday, pain is dulling and only ever in the right upper abd. Stopped narcotics back in monday except sometimes to aid sleep. I've been getting 50-64 oz of liquids and 90-110 g Protein daily. Sticking to liquids for 2 weeks and dreaming of cottage cheese! Down 12lbs since returning home from hospital. I cant wait to see us all transform into healthier versions! Oh i wanted to add the secret to my protein intake is syntax nectar unflavored whey. I love it! I add 2 scoops to everything and it doesn't alter the flavors. High recommend!

Hey June Sleevers, I'm just checking in post surgery. My procedure was on the 3rd, no complications although the doc did discover a hiatal hernia that we didn't know about. He fixed that during surgery. The first couple of days weren't too bad, the post op pain and gas were similar to what I had with my hysterectomy a few years ago so I knew how best to deal with it: walk, walk, walk, then walk some more. The worst part was the bulb drain that I had attached to my belly for 8 days. It left that incision swollen and sore and was really ready to come out. Drain removal was a turning point and allowed me to feel SOOO much better! Now I am 11 days out and feeling great! Started pureed foods (with Dr permission) on day 9 and never knew cottage cheese could taste so good. I hope all the other Junies are feeling good, either on the road to recovery or ready to take the plunge! Cheers!