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Kaiser Richmond/kaiser South San Francisco Gastric Sleeve Brothers And Sisters!



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I'm super excited. I went to see Dr. Le today in South San Fran for my pre op appt and to sign consent forms. I actually lost another 1/2 lb. He told me it wasn't necessary for me to go on a liquid fast for 2 weeks. If I want to replace a meal with a Protein shake, then that's fine.

I go in on the 28th and meet with Dr. Rainville, the anesthesiologist. And then go to the pre op class. Last night I went to a support group discussion at Kaiser in Santa Rosa. There was a girl there that just had the sleeve done in Mexico 5 days ago and another 5 months ago in SSF with Dr. Le. I was so glad I went to that group last night. So glad to have talked to Dr. Le today too. He put my mind at ease and even told me a funny story to keep in mind. I told him I'm afraid of waking up freaking out. Like super anxious. He told me they'd take good care of me.

So I'm happy and content with my decision. We were at the mall tonight and I think I'm gonna get a Build A Bear surgery bear. She's pink and very cute.

I'm glad to get the support here from you guys.

Amber, good job getting through it so far. No leaks?

Stacey how have you been?

So far so good. My boyfriend drove me to the hair salon today so I could get a wash and blowdry...it takes a lot of energy to wash and dry my hair...its super long. Raising my arms up for awhile hurts my tummy as well. Its amazing how clean hair makes you feel! I have no issues showering but I get pretty tired right after. I have to remind myself not to over do it. I don't want to have any leaks or complications so I am trying to baby myself. Today was my first day on stage 2, full liquids. No problems so far. It is hard to get in all of the Water though. I got in about 40 ounces today. Though I did nap a lot so that limits my time to sip! Does anyone know how long it takes for the staple line to heal? I have my month follow up on Jan 14th and thought that the staple line healed in about 30 days....or maybe the chance of a leak decreases after 30 days. hmm...so many things to worry about! I have lost all of the weight and then some from the surgery.

That is super cute about the build a bear! I loved having a small x-mas pillow to cuddle on...a bear would have been much better though! I thought that I was going to freak out before the surgery but suprisingly I was quite calm. When I woke up I needed lots of drugs for the nasuea and some for the pain. I kind of had my freak out moment the night that I got home. I was in a lot of pain and wondering why I did this. But each day gets better and better.Having a great doc who makes you at ease helps as well. I love dr Baggs. He made me so comfortable even while in the operating room. All of that helps.

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Glad you are doing good Amber. Keep up the good work. Sounds great getting someone to help with your hair.< /p>

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Congratulations on your surgery, that's awesome! I have a question for you about stomach acid. Have you had a lot of issues with it or any at all? I've heard some people are really struggling with it and are on some heavy duty prescription antacids.

So far so good. My boyfriend drove me to the hair salon today so I could get a wash and blowdry...it takes a lot of energy to wash and dry my hair...its super long. Raising my arms up for awhile hurts my tummy as well. Its amazing how clean hair makes you feel! I have no issues showering but I get pretty tired right after. I have to remind myself not to over do it. I don't want to have any leaks or complications so I am trying to baby myself. Today was my first day on stage 2, full liquids. No problems so far. It is hard to get in all of the Water though. I got in about 40 ounces today. Though I did nap a lot so that limits my time to sip! Does anyone know how long it takes for the staple line to heal? I have my month follow up on Jan 14th and thought that the staple line healed in about 30 days....or maybe the chance of a leak decreases after 30 days. hmm...so many things to worry about! I have lost all of the weight and then some from the surgery.

That is super cute about the build a bear! I loved having a small x-mas pillow to cuddle on...a bear would have been much better though! I thought that I was going to freak out before the surgery but suprisingly I was quite calm. When I woke up I needed lots of drugs for the nasuea and some for the pain. I kind of had my freak out moment the night that I got home. I was in a lot of pain and wondering why I did this. But each day gets better and better.Having a great doc who makes you at ease helps as well. I love dr Baggs. He made me so comfortable even while in the operating room. All of that helps.

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Congratulations on your surgery, that's awesome! I have a question for you about stomach acid. Have you had a lot of issues with it or any at all? I've heard some people are really struggling with it and are on some heavy duty prescription antacids.

I have not had any issues with stomach acid yet. I am taking the Doctor prescribed prilosec twice a day in pill form. Before I started this process I used to get heartburn quite frequently, but with losing weight pre-op and changing my diet that has all but went away. I am still on full liquids so once I am able to eat actual food, that may change. I will let you know!

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I had mine October 4th. I also went to Richmond (Dr. Fisher) and live in Sacramento. Hello fellow sleever!

How are you doing so far? Any issues?

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How is everyone doing with the holidays?

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I have been good. Though I am still early out. My main problems so far is getting in enough Water. I am getting leg cramps and am so exhausted! I know it will get better though. My mom is having the bypass surgery on jan 3rd. I'm nervous for her! Otherwise all is good. Kind of sad not to be going out for new years but it will still be fun, hopefully!

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I am doing good. Went to Boston for Christmas and did all kinds of walking around and didn't have any problems. I was able to eat as long as I made sure it was really soft with no trouble.

I have been stalled for 3 weeks now, so that is kind of frustrating. But I have lost 16 lbs in the first month, so I can't complain (much). I know it will start back up and I see changes in my body, like I am in a 16 now and can wear most large tops. Some XL, but it's because of the cut and I would have either had to have an XXXL or just not gotten it before.

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So Monday is the big day! I don't have to check in until 11, so I get to have the whole morning to freak out, lol. I'm getting a bit nervous. moreso about the surgery itself. Can't wait to just have it all over with.

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So Monday is the big day! I don't have to check in until 11, so I get to have the whole morning to freak out, lol. I'm getting a bit nervous. moreso about the surgery itself. Can't wait to just have it all over with.

Good luck! My mom has to be there at 1 for her rny surgery. Though I am sure we will be there earlier! Maybe I will see you there. Good luck!

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hi guys!

how's everyone doing? I love reading this post and hearing everyone's stories. It's really comforting to know that people have gone through SSF and are doing really well!!

My date is approaching pretty quick..and I'm still not sure what I'm going to tell my supervisor (I definitely do not feel comfortable telling him the truth..) and how long I'm going to take off.

I was wondering if anyone had Dr. Li from SSF? He is doing my surgery...and just wanted to see if anyone else had him and what their experience was like...

happy new year!

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So Monday is the big day! I don't have to check in until 11, so I get to have the whole morning to freak out, lol. I'm getting a bit nervous. moreso about the surgery itself. Can't wait to just have it all over with.

Did they move your surgery up? My mom just got a call to be there at 6:30 for surgery at 8:30am!

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Did they move your surgery up? My mom just got a call to be there at 6:30 for surgery at 8:30am!

No!, LOL that would have been nice. Who's your mom's surgeon? Maybe he had a cancellation or something?

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No!, LOL that would have been nice. Who's your mom's surgeon? Maybe he had a cancellation or something?

She has dr. Baggs. I was suprised as well. Though when I had my surgery I got there early around 10am, I was suposed to be there at 11:20, well they had a last min cancellation so they prepped me right away and my surgery was at 11 instead of 1pm. It was crazy! Good luck tomorrow!

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    • Aunty Mamo

      Iʻm roughly 6 weeks post-op this morning and have begun to feel like a normal human, with a normal human body again. I started introducing solid foods and pill forms of medications/supplements a couple of weeks ago and it's really amazing to eat meals with my family again, despite the fact that my portions are so much smaller than theirs. 
      I live on the island of Oʻahu and spend a lot of time in the water- for exercise, for play,  and for spiritual & mental health. The day I had my month out appointment with my surgeon, I packed all my gear in my truck, anticipating his permission to get back in the ocean. The minute I walked out of that hospital I drove straight to the shore and got in that water. Hallelujah! My appointment was at 10 am. I didn't get home until after 5 pm. 
      I'm down 31 pounds since the day of surgery and 47 since my pre-op diet began, with that typical week long stall occurring at three weeks. I'm really starting to see some changes lately- some of my clothing is too big, some fits again. The most drastic changes I notice however are in my face. I've also noticed my endurance and flexibility increasing. I was really starting to be held up physically, and I'm so grateful that I'm seeing that turn around in such short order. 
      My general disposition lately is hopeful and motivated. The only thing that bugs me on a daily basis still is the way those supplements make my house smell. So stink! But I just bought a smell proof bag online that other people use to put their pot in. My house doesn't stink anymore. 
       
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    • BeanitoDiego

      Oh yeah, something I wanted to rant about, a billing dispute that cropped up 3 months ago.
      Surgery was in August of 2023. A bill shows up for over $7,000 in January. WTF? I asks myself. I know that I jumped through all of the insurance hoops and verified this and triple checked that, as did the surgeon's office. All was set, and I paid all of the known costs before surgery.
      A looong story short, is that an assistant surgeon that was in the process of accepting money from my insurance company touched me while I was under anesthesia. That is what the bill was for. But hey, guess what? Some federal legislation was enacted last year to help patients out when they cannot consent to being touched by someone out of their insurance network. These types of bills fall under something called, "surprise billing," and you don't have to put up with it.
      https://www.cms.gov/nosurprises
      I had to make a lot of phone calls to both the surgeon's office and the insurance company and explain my rights and what the maximum out of pocket costs were that I could be liable for. Also had to remind them that it isn't my place to be taking care of all of this and that I was going to escalate things if they could not play nice with one another.
      Quick ending is that I don't have to pay that $7,000+. Advocate, advocate, advocate for yourself no matter how long it takes and learn more about this law if you are ever hit with a surprise bill.
      · 0 replies
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    • BeanitoDiego

      Some days I feel like an infiltrator... I'm participating in society as a "thin" person. They have no idea that I haven't always been one of them! 🤣
      · 0 replies
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    • ChunkCat

      Thank you everyone for your well wishes! I totally forgot I wrote an update here... I'm one week post op today. I gained 15 lbs in water weight overnight because they had to give me tons of fluids to bring my BP up after surgery! I stayed one night in the hospital. Everything has been fine except I seem to have picked up a bug while I was there and I've been running a low grade fever, coughing, and a sore throat. So I've been hydrating well and sleeping a ton. So far the Covid tests are negative.
      I haven't been able to advance my diet past purees. Everything I eat other than tofu makes me choke and feels like trying to swallow rocks. They warned me it would get worse before it gets better, so lets hope this is all normal. I have my follow up on Monday so we'll see. Living on shakes and soup again is not fun. I had enough of them the first time!! LOL 
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    • BeanitoDiego

      Still purging all of the larger clothing. This morning, a shirt that I ADORED wearing ended up on top. Hard to let it go, but it was also hard to let go of those habits that also no longer serve my highest good. Onward and upward!
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