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by "second surgery", do you mean you have a second stricture that needs to be stretched? That's not unusual. I had to go in twice to get mine stretched - after that, I was fine - never had problems with them again. About 5% of bypass patients get strictures. The PA at my bariatric clinic said it's the most common complication - and it's an easy fix. They almost never happen once you reach the 3-month-post-op mark, so it's doubtful you'll have one again after you get this one stretched. you'll be able to eat more the further out you get from surgery. It's really just the first few months that you have certain food restrictions and can only eat a tiny amount of food. you should feel a lot better once they stretch out the stricture - and it's unlikely you'll have another one after this.

nope, it's not the easy way out. But it DOES work. And yes, there's always the chance that you will be among the 1% who has complications but heck, that's still pretty good odds. Have you tried diet & exercise to lose weight. That's a pretty stupid question, because I know you have. I dieted myself right up to 360, 3 knee replacements (1 went bad on me), a foot rebuild, high blood pressure, and right on the verge of diabetes. And all of that happened within the last 10 yrs (I'm 56). It's amazes me how quickly I started falling apart when I got past 45. Is that what your family wants you to suffer through ? I doubt it. I had the VSG in February and I am losing weight. I eventually will have to try the river tubing too -Sheila

Dr. Veninga is an excellent doctor with a fantastic reputation. I am pretty sure the surgery center he wants to use is the same one that TLCEdge uses, as he does surgeries for them as well. It is the newest facility in the DFW metroplex and is state-of-the-art with the hospital a very short ambulance ride away if there were complications needing something a surgery center can't offer. Are you aware it is less risky to use a surgery center than a hospital in terms of infection risk and quality of care? I can understand your fear and frustration, but I would seek to assure you that Dr. Veninga has a great reputation and if the surgery center is one I am thinking of, it does as well...it specializes in bariatric surgeries and is even better equiped for your surgery than the hospital would be.

questions, 1. How many band surgerys has the surgeon done. 2. Will he/ she do the actualy operation? as opposed to teaching someone else to do it. 3. What is his/her complication rate. 4. Is the office available 24/7 for post op problems? 5. What is the fee for fills? 6. Will a catheter be used during the operation.

Hi NJsharon I am from NJ as well, II chose Dr Ortiz at the obesity control center in Tijuana. His facility is ICE certified ( international circle of excellence), wich mean they meet the highest standards of care. He is also a full member of the American society for metabolic and bariatric surgery. He has also trained a lot of doctors here in the states. His credentials are great and from what I can find a very low to zero complication rate.

I'm Friday August 1st and very much the same...nervous and excited most likely for different reasons than most. I had complications and this is a revision that is supposed to let me heal and feel better so I'm very hopeful for that!

Interrupted sleep is probably the hardest part (for me) when I'm in the hospital. It definitely messes with my coping skills. Unfortunately, you can inly be assessed for complications when you get woken up for vitals, lab. I wouldn't say people seek out surgery to get pain meds. Like I said, pain during and after surgery is implied. It's usually always legit. Most drug seekers get admitted with chest, abdominal, back pain or headaches. Those are the usuals. That's not to say many patients who get admitted with one of those aren't legit.. But diagnostics have to show something to continue narcs. Usually it's a medical and not surgical complaint. The problems with surgical pain management become more challenging when the patient has been on long term pain pills at home before surgery. They can have over saturated pain receptors. They are HARD to keep comfortable and still keep alive and breathing. Those are usually back surgery or some type of ortho surgery. It's legit pain but sometime no amount of med is going to help. Again, the goal is to keep the patient breathing and without complications of over sedation. If you look at childbirth as an example..... There are women who go into labor completely against epidurals and some if them succeed without. There are some who tolerate a lot of pain but then just can't anymore, and then there are those who are freaked out at any pain and want to feel nothing. Everyone is different. Everyone tolerates pain differently. I wasn't pain free for several weeks after VSG but I only used the lortab for 4 days. The pain was tolerable, I know it's not that way for everyone. I would be concerned if I still felt a need for narcs 3-4 weeks out. I still am tender 8 weeks out but I can't imagine needing pain meds for this long. I'd be worried I was leaking or something if I had that kind of pain.

I had GS surgery done in MX in Feb 2017. I've lost 55 lbs and have plateaued/stalled for the last 4 months and I still have lots of fat inches left to lose. I have a lot of food allergies (confirmed by blood work) and the "nutritionist" the Dr connected me with has no idea how to help me and I've been going it alone. I read the posts here about what someone eats on a daily basis and I can't eat over 3/4 of it. Add to my allergies is the complication that the surgery didn't remove my hunger like 99.5 % of patients. I've been hungry since day one. In fact my stomach growls so loud that co-workers can hear it. I'd like someone to brainstorm with, to talk menu plans with, to talk portion sizes with, strategy with, etc. So who do you recommend that I can do an online, remote appointment with? Who are your rock star nutritionists?

Like Boston states above...people generally comment/post about negative issues and problems. Kind of like giving reviews at a restaurant etc. the regret/fear may be normal, heck, I haven’t had my rny yet (due to in 3.5 weeks) but sometimes I think, “what am I doing?!” But I have read where people have complications but fight through them and end up doing well and they don’t regret their decisions still. Continue doing great! You got this.

I just had mine on June 5th. It was kind of in 2 parts where the first part was asking about my history, childhood, etc. The second part was more about the band, what my expectations were, screening questions to see if I was an emotional eater, what had I already done that the doctor had asked me, if I was familiar with the lifestyle changes and possible complications, etc.

Hey just checking if you have found anything out as yet....I had surgery in May 2013 and I have not had any complications but I started having some leg burning about 2 weeks ago I was told it could be because of kickboxing that I had just started also my red blood levels were low which could be another cause.

I hadn't heard a thing before surgery about when to drink fluids until I joined this board. So when I had my first consult after surgery I asked. My NUT said there are no rules on drinking as far as they were concerned. I drink during meals and have had no problems. I had my surgery May 21st and I'm down almost 50 pounds with no complications.

Hi Pictou, I am so glad to hear everything went well with your surgery. It's good to hear your surgery was outpatient and you didn't have any problems or complications. I wish you the best on your new journey

I think calling folks whiners isn't particularly fair. Often folks post on here with things they struggle with, so you'll see more of that than posts saying "everything is great". You can see the rate of complications is very small looking at the statistics (a few percent or less for most things). The challenges are individual and real though, some people feel hunger, many don't, some people struggle with losing, others don't. I personally had a terrible first 2 weeks (I was one of the lucky couple of percent with a major - though luckily temporary complication), but even with that I wouldn't change a thing!

Quick recap- I had the sleeve on 2/5/2014 and had tons of complications. I was in the hospital a lot, I had a PICC line and then a feeding tube. It was a rough 6 months. My stomach basically didn’t tolerate food or drink, so there was a lot of puking. Fast forward to needing a revision to bypass on 6/26/2018 due to severe reflux and damage. The surgery went great, I healed well, no nausea. I was rocking it. I am doing great on full liquids but am failing miserably on soft foods. I don’t know if it’s psychological or what. I can do one cheese stick a day if I chew very well. I am okay with yogurt, just small amounts. I get sick on refried beans, cottage cheese, eggs, etc. I just keep going back to full liquids. Anyone else? Any advice?

a lot of women experience screwed up cycles the first few weeks or months after surgery because of extra estrogen (or so they say...). Estrogen is stored in fat cells, so it's released during rapid weight loss. For most people, it'll eventually stabilize. However, with your medical history and various meds, your situation may be more complicated than that.

Even at 290 pounds, I have never had an issue with my sex drive. My main concern is how long I have to weight after surgery to have sex. And is there certain things that can't be done do to having the band. I don't want any complications due to hanky panky:unsure:

My Dr. also uses a 40fr Bougie and I was worried also. However, after researching it, there is minimal difference between a 32 and a 40. My doctor explained that the smaller the bougie, the more chance of complications such as strictures so that is why he uses what he does. I spoke to many of his patients and they have no problems with weightloss at all! That made me feel much better. I searched here also and basically came up with the same info. Size is minimal! I am only 1 week out from surgery so I'll keep you updated on my personal weightloss with the 40 fr bougie.

I'm 61 yrs old, I am on disability the past 2 years due to my weight and complications from diabetes,but I was sleeved in Feb. 2014, I dropped weight quickly the first 2 months, thought "this is too easy" weight loss has slowed now but still loosing. I take a Water aerobics class 3 times a week and can now walk a little farther and move alot better..I'm trying to keep up with my grandchildren and I think if I keep at this I will be good to go lots more places that require walking next summer.

Mike, the two people I know asked me not to post their problems, so I deleted what I wrote in respect of their wishes. Having a LapBand is just as dangerous as any other surgery. Hundreds of things can go wrong, from problems with anesthesia and drugs to band erosions. I've asked why Inamed claims Dr. Lopez has the lowest level of complications. Why do we hear every Lopez problem but we don't hear about other surgeons' complications? If Lopez has the lowest, that means all other surgeons are having a fair share of problems. So far all I am is frustrated with the lack of honesty because I don't know who to trust. Trust in a surgeon is very important to me, and when surgeons aren't reporting complications to Inamed, which they are required to do regardless of how menial they believe the complication to be, that's a huge breach in trust that should make people think twice. Even if the surgeon does everything immaculately, things can and do go wrong. It's not a reflection on the surgeon but the nature of practicing medicine. I would rather have a surgeon tell me he's had 10 complications than a surgeon that claims he's had zero because there's no such number as zero when it comes to practicing medicine.

I woke up perplexed regarding Mexican surgeons and Inamed. Last weekend another Lopez patient lost her Band, so Penni contacted Inamed for answers, and she received this e-mail from Inamed. “As well as I have complete confidence in Dr Lopez and his team with myself and family members. All people of all occupations have events that are not perfect. I am sure you have had them as well. His results are at the highest levels in the world and his complication rates at the lowest. I am sorry your own and a few others you have spoke with have not been what you want. Please keep in mind there are Thousands of successful surgical patients of Dr Lopez out there.” Larry Kuri, Ortiz and Rumbault, etc. have more complications that Lopez? I’ve seen complaints about the Moulding Clinic and Garza, and I’ve only heard 2 complications with Ortiz. I’ve heard a few minor problems with Kuri, and I’ve never heard a negative note about Rumbault. Yet all these complications have been resolved and everyone still has healthy Bands with not one case of erosion (that I’ve heard of.) Yet I know at least 12 serious problems with Lopez in the past few months alone - with 6 recent Band removals. If Lopez is the surgeon with the lowest complication rate, then I certainly owe him an apology. It’s the nature of medicine that things go wrong randomly, even when the surgeon is immaculate and does everything to perfection. But if other surgeons have more complications, I want to know about them. If it’s true that all other surgeons have higher complications, then information is obviously being swept under the table. Is the Band as safe as we are lead to believe or is important statistical information being held back from us? Help me here.

I am just shocked once again about the recent string of Lopez' patients that are popping up with complications. Port infections = Someone contacted me this morning who had this problem. Port revisions = Myself, Donali, and others out there I am sure. Band erosions = I think the last count I remember there were 7 from last year. Incisions infections = Too many to count including myself. Life-threatening issues = One that I know of most recently. These are just a few of the complications I am aware of. Not to mention erroneous information being distributed by Lopez and his staff. Sigh!! IT just goes to show you to be extremely careful with regards to going to Mexico or any doctor for that matter but to be extremely scrutinizing of Mexico doctors because there is NO recourse if you are facing more surgeries or out more money for health care. SIGH!!

there are slightly more potential complications with the bypass, but complications on either surgery aren't common, and most are minor and easily "fixable". Many of us have never had any complications at all. It was the gold standard for a long time, and there's a ton of long-term research on it. Surgical techniques have improved greatly over the years, so problems they used to have years ago rarely occur anymore. As long as you're diligent about your vitamins (even moreso than with the sleeve), you'll likely be fine. A lot of people are afraid of it because they move your small intestine - but cutting out 80% of your stomach and throwing it in the trash is pretty radical, too. Since you have acid reflux, I would definitely go for it. Uncontrolled, severe reflux can be VERY dangerous. You're likely dealing with a more dangerous complication now than you would by getting a bypass.

Conscience, schmonscience! I think you're doing great. I say the bigger, the better. You could even add these: 1. They discovered I have a tapeworm, and it's so big they have to operate to get it all out. 2. Now, they've discovered that the big tapeworm has had baby tapeworms, and they have to do even more complicated surgery to remove the baby tapeworms. It's becoming very dangerous! 3. Turns out it's not tapeworms, after all. It's Amazonian leeches that have attached themselves to the inside of my intestinal walls. We have NO idea how they got in there. It's possible they crawled into my mouth while I was asleep on a Caribbean beach last fall when hubby and I were on that cruise. But it's bad! 4. I just had a pre-op endoscopy, and now it seems that I've also swallowed some car keys--three of them, the electronic kind. And none of them are a match to our cars. My husband thinks this could also have happened on that cruise. One night I didn't get back to our cabin until 5:00 am and don't remember a damn thing after the baked Alaska. Hubby won't stop teasing me about it. I'm pretty pissed. 5. Hubby bought me a beautiful new ring for my birthday and also as an apology for teasing me so much about the car keys in my stomach. Trouble is that he hid it in a piece of birthday cake, and I swallowed the ring! And it hasn't come out the other end yet! The doctors are worried that it's been swallowed by one of the Amazonian leeches. So we're adding that to the list of things they're going to remove during gastrointestinal surgery. See ... you could get much more creative about all this. Have fun!

Sorry for how long this is- I know that I always appreciate reading detailed posts about the process, so I’m hoping other will find it helpful. I’m just starting the process of getting a VSG. I’ve thought about WLS for a long time, but have always been scared off because of the possible complications. I’m not sure what exactly changed, but, about three weeks ago, I was driving to work and the thought of getting the surgery popped into my head and suddenly I knew it was what I needed to do. Looking at the hard road ahead, I wish I had started this journey earlier in life (I’m 37), but I know I wasn’t ready for it until now. I’m in the DC area, and there are lots of hospitals and surgeons to choose from. I finally settled on Inova Fair Oaks, which is a Bariatric Center of Excellence, has great stats, and has an up-to-date website which let me register for the seminar online. (GWU never contacted me after I filled out their form. Other hospitals had outdated calendars on their websites, or no way to register online, or the websites themselves were unfinished, which I felt didn’t bode well for their programs.) I went to a seminar about two weeks ago, which was mostly basic stuff that I already knew. I had my first visit with the surgeon a few days after the seminar. The surgeon, Rajev Nain, was the same surgeon who did the seminar. He seemed a bit stiff at first, but after a while he seemed to get more comfortable and I felt like we had a good connection. He definitely didn’t come across as the a**hole surgeon stereotype you hear so much about. We first talked about my basic health history, medications, that sort of thing. I don’t have many co-morbidities yet- just hypertension and edema in my left leg. We talked about the various surgeries, and he was fine with me getting the VSG, he didn’t push for the RNY. I’m 5’1” and 355lbs. He said that he could get me to around 205 lbs with the sleeve. He was clearly just basing that on the average amount of excess weight lost with the sleeve, not anything specific to me. I would be overjoyed with 205, even though that would still leave me 100 lbs over my ideal weight. However, I also know that each individual is different, and I feel like I have it in me to go lower. I may not make it to 105, but I think I am determined enough to get myself in the mid-100s. I asked him about his experience- he’s done several hundred VSGs, and even more RNYs. He also has lots of experience with other GI surgeries. While I would have liked him to have done thousands instead of hundreds of VSGs, it is still enough that I feel safe with him. I asked about major complications, and he said that <1% of his VSG patients had had major complications. He has had no mortalities with the VSG, and one mortality with the RNY (the patient died of a pulmonary embolism the day after surgery, even though she was on blood thinners and had had her legs compressed during surgery.) Having lurked on this board for a while, the variance in different surgeons’ pre-op and post-op diet instructions has been a bit puzzling to me, and the materials from the presentation I attended were very authoritative. I will happily follow rules if I understand the reasoning behind them, but I tend to do my own research and come up with my own rules for myself if I feel like the rules I am given aren’t well supported. I was nervous to do it (because of that whole surgeon stereotype), but I told this to my surgeon, noted that his post-op diet (2 weeks Clear liquids, 2 weeks full liquids, 2 weeks purees, 2 weeks mushed-up real food, then finally real food 8 weeks after surgery) was one of the more conservative ones that I had seen, and I asked him what research had gone into making it. He laughed at that, and said that the priority for him and the other surgeons in the group was to have consistent instructions that everyone involved in the practice could refer to, so they just flipped a coin when making them. He said that the part he cared about was that he didn’t want patients going to full liquids until after he examined them at the first post-op appointment. Other than that, I could work with the NUT to come up with a post-op diet plan that worked for me. I then asked him about the 2-week pre-op liquid diet. The pre-op diet that he requires is 900 calories of Protein shakes a day. I told him that I totally understood the reason for the diet (to shrink the liver to make surgery safer), but that I didn’t understand why it had to be all liquid. Why not just 900 calories of low-carb food per day? Again, he laughed and said that there was nothing magical about the liquid part of it, it was just easier for people to stick to the diet when they didn’t have a choice about what to eat. He said that he was fine with me subbing low-carb, high-protein food into the pre-op diet, as long as the NUT approved my substitutions. He seemed to get a kick out of me and my questions. He said he could tell that I took this very seriously and had done my research. I thanked him for not treating me like an idiot, and not having a “do what I say because I am the surgeon” attitude. I have to do 6 months of “nutrition classes” to satisfy my insurance requirements, so surgery won’t be until next spring some time. I’m disappointed to have to wait so long, but I am trying to make the best of the time by really making sure I am ready for this change, and by trying to lose as much weight as I can before the surgery. I started myself on a low-carb diet of my own design, and am doing great on it so far. I’ve done low-carb diets before, and it has always been a struggle with craving carbs while on them, but I haven’t had a carb-craving yet on this one. I’ve cut out all grazing and it has helped immensely. I’m eating 1300-1500 calories a day and not feeling hungry. I know it will get harder, but right now, I’m feeling pretty good about myself.