So I found a list of possible questions (from Tiffykins- THANK YOU!!) to ask the Dr. I'm looking to book my VSG with here overseas (turkey). So I asked the questions via email and he answered (all in turkish so I need to translate the ones I don't get)- The answers are in RED (that I translated) and I dont really now what is normal and what is not for the surgery so I'm hoping you guys can all tell me if his answers are good or bad? I actually put a bunch of questions but those were general and I understood the answers....these ones are a bit more technical and I don't know if things look good? Any help would be great (200cc stomach? 36f boughie? NO CLUE what this means!!)

What size boughie do you use (how big do you make the stomach)?

he uses a 36 F boughie---------------------IS THAT GOOD???

Sleeve Gastrectomy i?in 36 F buji kullanıyoruz.

Leak and complication statistics (how many leaks have you had in previous surgeries)?

He has never had a leak in his 200+ VSG surgeries

Sleeve Gastrektomi yapılan hastalarımızda (200+) sızıntı gelişen hastamız yoktur.

How many leak tests are performed and what type of contrast Fluid is used? (Barium is a no-no for leak tests.)

He said he does a one leak test once the surgery is completed (in the operating room) and uses Methylen blue....WHAT does this mean?? there aren't any post-op tests unless there is something seen during the first leak test

Ka?ak testi ameliyatın bitiminde intraoperatif olarak Methylen Blue ile yapılmaktadır.Başka postop test yapılmaz.

How many ounces can fit into the new stomach?

The stomach is formed into a tube shape (sleeve) and he leaves 200 cc. 's for the stomach to hold- I think his asst. wrote the wrong number here???? 200 cc doesn't look right?

Mide bir t?p şekline getiriliyor ve Yaklaşık Hacim 200 cc.civarında kalmaktadır

Edited January 28, 201016 yr by TDELYTE

36 is very good.

Great leak stats

Methylene blue is a dye

From Wikipedia on methylene blue dye:

Dye

Methylene blue is used in endoscopic polypectomy as an adjunct to saline or epinephrine, and is used for injection into the submucosa around the polyp to be removed. This allows the submucosal tissue plane to be identified after the polyp is removed, which is useful in determining if more tissue needs to be removed, or if there has been a high risk for perforation. Methylene blue is also used as a dye in chromoendoscopy, and is sprayed onto the mucosa of the gastrointestinal tract in order to identify dysplasia, or pre-cancerous lesions. Intravenously injected methylene blue is readily released into the urine and thus can be used to test the urinary tract for leaks or fistulas.

In surgeries such as sentinel lymph node dissections, methylene blue can be used to visually trace the lymphatic drainage of pertinent tissues. Similarly, methylene blue is added to bone cement in orthopedic operations to provide easy discrimination between native bone and cement. Additionally, methylene blue accelerates the hardening of bone cement, increasing the speed at which bone cement can be effectively applied.

It can also be used to stain lymph nodes

Some of the best surgeons don't do leak tests post-op.

As for the cc's, I'm clueless on how to convert cc's to ounces. In the beginning due to swelling, you'll more than like only be able to sip liquids very slowly. I had to sip slowly the first week with 2ounces of liquids every 15 minutes.

MWAHHHHH TIFFYKINS!! I had a feeling you would be the only one to help me out on these questions....lol

You're the BEST!!! THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!

After all the research I have done I think I'm ready to FINALLY put a deposit down...I'm SOOOOOOOOOOO SCARED!!! Lets see how many months that takes?? lol

I just converted 200 cc's and it worked out to 6.75 ounces? does that sound like alot or is it just me??

You're a math whiz, I look up the conversions, grab a calculator and just confused myself. I really suck with calculations.

You won't be able to hold that much for awhile. Like through the liquid stage, you'll get more in because liquids go right through the stomach. But once you move to mushies and even soft solids, you'll realize you can take a few tiny bites of anything with a consistency.

I'm 8 months out, and can eat about 8 ounces of mushy food if I don't eat anything dense like chicken or steak. I can't eat more than 4 ounces of dense meat then I eat a few bites of veggies or salad and I'm stuffed.

My Doctor said my stomach would hold about 3-5 oz after surgery and then around 9-12 months later it would possibly hold 8-10 oz. Also Dr. Husted did not perform any leak test. He did my sleeve laprascopically with only one 2 inch incision, I was his 2nd patient which he did it this way. Every thing went well with the surgery on Dec. 2, 2009. On Dec. 24 I experienced some bad chest pains and went to the ER and had to stay in the hospital for 2 days. I had a CT Scan to see if I had a blood clot in my lung, but it wasn't. They did find a hematoma (large bruise size of an orange) on my spleen. It was not infected and it had not burst, so they let me go home. It could have been bruised during surgery. I have been fine since. They said they usually are absorbed by the body and go away. I will probably have to have another CT Scan later to see if it did go away. I am really happy that I had the sleeve and I have NO regrets. I hope you find out all the information that will help you to make the right decision. I wish you all the best. I will keep you in my thoughts and prayers.

There are 30 cc's in one ounce. Those little plastic medicine cups that they give you medicine in are USUALLY one ounce cups.