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1) When was your surgery with Dr. Aceves? June 15, 2010 2) How much weight have you lost? 25 lbs 3) Tell me (briefly) about your stay in his facilities? (i.e., cleanliness, friendliness of staff, attentiveness of his nurses) outstanding on all counts 4) Did you have any complications, even if they were very minor? I ran a fever for a few hours in the hospital and had all the nurses and Doctors fussing over me. It went down quickly. Two days after returning home I developed a throat infection unrelated to surgery (I have allergies) and felt sick for 2 weeks. I had to take antibiotics. 5) If your child wanted to use this surgeon in the future, how would you feel? absolutely 6) How did you get to/from the facilities? I flew to San Diego. My cousin's wife lives in Dana Point, CA and is from Mexicali. She picked me up at the airport and we drove to Mexicali. I used Dr. Aceves driver for the trip back to the airport 7) How difficult was it to schedule your surgery? Not very. I did not get my first choice because Dr. Aceves was attending a conference that week. I scheduled 6 weeks prior to surgery 8) What kind of pre-operative requirements does his staff have? I had to submit a lengthy medical history. I was on a lo carb diet for 2 weeks pre-op. He only required 1 week. Fasting before pre-op blood work and the night before surgery 9) What do you regret about using Dr. Aceves? Nothing. 10) On a scale of 1 to 10, what would you rate your overall experience using Dr. Aceves? 10 __________________

maybe try something new?.. like a new style of food... i'm used to eating american food, italian and mexican.. it's boring and i hate them all... but put me in front of some korean food or indian food & i want to bathe in it, i like it so much. cause it's different! i dunno what you can eat being 6 weeks post op, but if you can eat regular food, then i would look up some recipes from other cultures that you're interested in.. maybe look at what's on sale at whole foods & see what recipes they have & go buy the ingredients to a meal that looks good to you. are you interested in russian culture, german culture, columbian culture, japanse culture?.. look up what kinda stuff they eat & see if anything's available in your area & go sample some of it. and the cool thing is that if you go to a restaurant, you will actually be able to walk out of wherever you go with a doggy bag! lol WOO HOO! but em.. yeah.. i have a similar problem.. i am bored to tears with food & don't like most of what i put in my face.. so i'm always looking for something new. maybe go to an asian grocery store & buy some unfamiliar greens & put 'em in a salad... or go to maangchi.com & cook yourself something korean.. one simple thing you could make would be miso Soup or doenjang chigae.. maangchi.com has a doenjang chigae recipe & there's lotsa stuff on youtube for miso pretty much potato, onion, tofu & meat (like seafood or chicken or something) if you want.. add miso after everything's done cooking & don't allow it to boil or it'll burn the miso.. then eat til your heart's content! miso is made out of soy Beans.. and if you have tofu in it, that's got Protein in it, too.. so that's why i suggested it. you can make alfredo with shirataki tofu noodles & some of those individual happy cow or whatever cheeses & a little parm cheese.. hungry girl did that on her show & it looked pretty good. um... hmm.. i dunno. lol that's all i can think of at the moment. what kinda stuff can you eat?

Agreed - you will be much happier when it is gone. The recovery takes time, but I am so happy not to have that band in me anymore! I already can eat and swallow better than I did 3 weeks ago with the band!!! I have to change the channel when I hear the lap-band commercials on the radio. It is shocking. Good luck! Lara

My program said they DO NOT do both at the same time and I'd have to do the gallbaldder first, then 6 weeks later I could have the sleeve. BUT when I talked with my actual surgeon, he said it would be no problem to do both at the same time and he'd like to do a single incision through the belly-button.

yeah- that is what I am worried about- the recovery time and if they can even do it- I am the main cargiver for my two kids and my parents- and I only have two weeks I can take off-

My thoughts and prayers are with everyone having surgery this week. Wishing each of you a speedy recovery. Keep us posted on your progress. July 18 MLD valentine InProgress Jensharley Tripletsmomma Tee23 July 19 readyforachange38 Hanir happygirl2011 Mercyanew July 20 2ahealthierme singand_dance LeahG jennifer6791 PollyPoo Dee Dee July 21 Bemabound

So Dr. O's diet restrictions lighten up at 3 weeks BUT I am too scared to eat. I know it sounds crazy but I take the smallest bites of mashed potato - which is the thickest thing I have had so far. I was living on broth, SF pop and thin cream soups. I moved onto mashed potatoes but that's it. My last visit with the NP I was told to start eating. Imagine that?!?! Me? Not eating and having to be told to eat?!?! There is some comfort in full liquids - they feel good going down. And warm soups feel very good!!! So yeah, there is a bit of fear about trying new foods and testing out my new tiny tummy. Any advice for this big chicken sleever?!?!

Awesome and YES!!! Beans will be a staple for me too in the coming weeks. Whoohooo!!! Only a bit over one day to go!!!

Hi,you are quite close to goal! 1.Are you working hard to get there (exercizing 5 times a week,eating on plan,tracking your food?) or 2. is it happening in its own time with a little less effort ( and did you think it would happen faster and is this why you are disappointed?) I am asking this because mainly I am the second option (except for little flair ups of effort) and now that the weight is coming off a lot slower I am struggling to not be disappointed that it didnt all come off effortlessly...LOL If you are no 1 you will get there and you must look very toned and shaped already...great going and keep at it,it will happen. If you are no 2 you will get there,be patient it will take longer this way.Maybe you can exercize a little more to help with the toning and shaping and maybe keeping a food track will help speed things up.... Ok,THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT TOLD MYSELF YESTERDAY! and I had to admit I want it to go faster now and will have to change! 15 pounds from your personal goal is great.Now you either push hard to lose this or you relax and lose it slowly. You have done great already!

I had my surgery 2/22/10 i have lost 42lbs as of today and i had only 1 fill and that was at time of surgery. I've seen my doctor 2 since then and he did not give me a fill. I see him again next month and im starting to feel hungry between meals. I may call him before then and let him know. I'm on a less than 1000 calorie "diet" I use sparkspeople.com to keep me on track. Im starting to lose 2 to 3 lbs a week which i heard was normal. :thumbup:

I lost 30 lbs in four weeks then five ponds in the last two weeks. I'm six weeks post surgery and I have hit a lag. I start exercises this weeks so I will see what happens. The main thing I don't like is the decrease of bowel movements. Advancing from full liquids to soft foods I expected better bowel activity. I think the body goes through a starvation period that holds onto all nutrition, which may feel like bloating. I'm still hanging in there with the diet plan but it gets hard with coworkers, family lunches and dinners. Hang in there guys. We can and will do this.

Quick question for all the veterans out there. I had a revision surgery from Lapband to VSG on December 15th. I have lost 12 pounds since my surgery date. I seem to stay the same weight for 3 or 4 days at a time and then drop a couple of pounds. I've been on liquids now for almost three weeks. I can start mushy foods in two days. I would think with the very limited calories I am consuming that the weight would be falling off. Any thoughts?

I had the exact same pain, mine went away after a couple of weeks. My friend who had her gallbladder removed had the same pain, it has something to do with the muscles there. It feels like you’ve done 1000 sit-ups

I'm experiencing the opposite cuz I have not eaten much at all prior or during it. And having it couple weeks after surgery is painful. I also slept a lot and had a lot of naseau.

At six weeks you can get some deli meat, get 2% sliced American cheese....make 'roll ups' No bread!! Add a little cheese, just a little, to your egg. For something different for breakfast, put a half a piece of the sliced cheese on a half an English muffin and toast it in the oven. Steam shrimp for lunch. Bake chicken, or cook it in a can of cream of mushroom 98% FF soup, dilute the soup with a can of water, it makes yummy gravy and makes eating chicken easier. Go out to eat, when my husband and I would go to eat pasta, I knew pasta wasn't a good choice, just a couple of bites, but he like spaghetti w/maranara and no meat. We'd order an order of meatballs and I'd eat a meatball and a couple of spaghetti noodles. Any meatballs left over I'd take home for lunch. Or.....add chicken or shrimp. Maybe not things you'd usually get with spaghetti, but you are just mainly going to eat the meat, not pasta!!!

I also had my revision from lapband to sleeve on October 9th . Band was put in place in April of 2012 and removed July 31, 2019. Sleeved on Oct 9, 2019. I love my sleeve. None of the procedures was particularly painful. I expected the sleeve to be more painful but it really wasn't. I think the worst of the three was having the lap band removed, at the incision site where the band came out.

Hi everyone. I was banded back on Feb 1,2006. My surgeon was fired shortly after my surgery and I have had no one following me since then. I lost 45 lbs on my own but have gained 10 back in the past year. I work for a great hospital (UT Southwestern Medical Center) and a doctor agreed to see me. He took half of my fill out on Friday and has put me on a liquid diet for a week. I can have Water and High Fiber Slim Fast and that's it. I was throwing up a lot and not losing weight, seems I couldn't eat anything. I had pretty much given up on the lap band working, but this dcotor has given me renewed hope. He said my stomach had stretched slightly above the band and that the liquid diet for a week should put everything back to normal. He is gonna treat me as if I had just gotten the lap band. They are gonna work with me on what foods to eat and which ones not to and so forth. So since I have had this for 2 and a half years I got on here cause I thought it would be nice to get some support and share what I know having been banded since 2006. Thanks everyone, Lisa

Congratulations Ashley! The time will pass faster than you think. In the meantime this is the best place ever to learn about the surgery and all the tricks and tips for living your life with it. I am having surgery next week and I am so much more informed than I ever would have been without the wonderful people who openly share their experiences here. Good luck and we will look forward to hearing how YOUR journey goes.

I'm new here and have my band revision surgery scheduled for June 20th. I of course can't wait to get this thing out of me and get some relief from the reflux and the sinus drainage that backs up my throat at night. I do have a few questions I haven't found answered here so far and hope you kind people might weigh in (pun intended) on some possible answers. !. Are any of you still plagued by mucus drainage backing up at night from your stomach up and out? Either when you have a cold or it's sinus season (which for me has been quite long each fall and spring)? My surgeon says this may still be an issue for me but hopefully not as bad as with the band. 2. My nutritionist thinks since my allergies seem heightened right now that I may be slightly allergic to whey, which is making my mucous thicker aggravating the issue. She said to stay off milk products for 2 week to see. Since my band is giving me issues I have been drinking milk for Protein and drinking RTD Meal Replacements with whey. I have stopped the milk /whey products and it does seem to help. My question is since soy is not a good protein for post op diet but whey seems to aggravate the mucus issue what can I substitute for the whey protein during the clear and liquid stages? I hope that with the band out the mucus won't be as big an issue and I can do the whey but if the sleeve is swollen from the revision surgery I may still have this issue. Any other allergy sufferers out there that are band to sleevers? 3. After reading about the hopefully less hunger sensations I'm hoping to be one of the the no hunger folks. But head hunger is an issue with most of us who ate ourselves into needing WLS for a solution. I've passed my second psych evaluation (first was with lap band), I lost 85 pounds with the band in 2 1/2 years but in the last 6 - 8 months I've gained back 18. Some of this is band issues, fills, unfills, etc. but I have to admit there is a part that is from depression over the band issues, constant reflux, esophagitis, and slidder foods as comfort foods. I'm so afraid the head hunger will still be an issue. Have any of you had to deal with the head demon just as bad as before the sleeve? If so how have you dealt with it? This being my second WLS, I want it to be my last, the band failed me and has probably caused some damage to my esophagus and then there is the scar tissue. But I want the sleeve to be my long term answer. 4. Last question: Who still replies on Protein drinks for nutrition after the post op surgery recovery? And how far out are you? I appreciate your answers and think this forum is great, such a kind group of folks. Thank you all for having this out here for us all. Gloria

Hi everyone! I just wanted to post a quick hello! I'm not sure if I'm posting in the right place - still figuring this board out. I joined Nor Cal at the suggestion of LilMissDiva. I'm very happy to find this group! I am scheduled for my surgery for June 6 and I'm feeling quite anxious; not as bad as last week! Thanks to all the support and guidance from this board! I hope I could return the favor some day. In the meantime, I'm still learning the ropes here and getting ready for my big date!!!!! I look forward to getting to know everyone better. I saw there was a meeting this past weekend. I'm not sure I would have been able to go that far on short notice since I'm in San Jose. But I will definitely make an effort in the future if others are scheduled. My best to everyone!!!!! MNB

I had my band for 14 months 123 lbs down with only 3 ccs.... last 2 weeks horrible thought was stuck turns out band slipped going for surgery Thursday to reposition ....

If you are having leg cramps you are probably not drinking enough Water. And it's natural to be fatigued at this stage. My first 2 weeks I needed a nap after taking a shower.

So I live in a remote community in the Yukon Territory and I am one week away from starting my travel down south to get my surgery! Next Saturday we will drive 400km to Whitehorse to hop on the plane and head to Edmonton. Thankfully my wonderful parents have offered to take our young boys (aged 2 and 4) for a couple of weeks and will drive from Northern BC to Edmonton to pick them up. Then my husband and I hop back on the plane to head down to Seattle for my surgery. I am a bundle of nerves!! Surgery on the 19th of this month.... the time seems to have gone by so quickly since I started the process this summer. No second thoughts, but a lot of curiosity about my life after the sleeve. I am also looking forward to nearly two weeks in a hotel without my boys! This mama needs a break. Nothing to do but watch movies and read books... ahhhh sounds good to me! Does anyone out there have a goal weight? I was 319 when I started my presurgery diet and am now at 311. In my head I am thinking that 170 would be so lovely! The last time I was 170lbs I was around 14. I cannot even imagine what I will look like! Kara

I started at 305 got down to 236 for the surgery and now 198. Originally I want to get to 170 but at 198 I am changing to 180. My shoulder blades and ribs are near skin level and talked with my primary care doctor and she thinks 180 to 190 range is where I should stay. Original doctor said 150 which was fine at age 18 but after putting on weight and then taking it off the body has changed. So advice, keep it flexible. Set your goal weight and modify as you go. Remember the surgery will not get you to goal weight, it is designed to help you lose 50 to 60% of excess weight. Diet and exercise will be necessary to get the rest off. Have a safe journey for the operation, a speedy recovery and enjoy your two week vacation from the kids!

Glad to hear all is well! I am so close to 200 also, hoping to be under it in 2 weeks or so.