Today was my final appointment with my surgeon so we could submit to insurance.

I had a list of questions with me because I have heard some of the most outlandish things and just wanted real answers.

I hope this helps someone else as well.

He confirmed NO gum/straws/alcohol for one full year. GUM=some dingdong swallowed a glob and they had to do surgery to remove it as it had clogged her tube leading to her tummy. STRAWS=this gives too much air a chance to get in, causing painful gas and bloating. ALCOHOL=You will NOT react the same to alcohol as you did prior to surgery, beer has carbonation and other drinks have sugar. It's to be completely avoided.

At my Bariatric center they use a 36F Bougie, standard. These means your new stomach will be approximately the size of a pen. The bougie is NOT your new stomach, just a tool used to aid in sizing during surgery. Your surgeon may vary, but he said this is most common across the board. (Anything less than a 33 is known to cause exacerbated reflux issues.)

I am fortunate and neither catheters or drains are used unless there is a complication. He said that is more common practice than not these days to reduce the risk of infections.

--The permanent Titanium staples will not go off in an airport, cause x-ray or MRI issues. Scar tissue will grow over them-they are part of you for life.

Barring any unforeseen circumstances, you should have an all in hospital visit of 24 hours.

--Your new stomach will have a leak test performed on it before you are woken up, so no need to concern yourself with that.

Concerns over painful gas in your shoulder and arm: due to the gas they push in you during the surgery and gasEx will not help.. Walking it off and moving around works the quickest. Like when your baby was constipated and you pushed their knees to their belly to push out air. DO THAT, if you can find someone to help you.

Realistic weight loss: In the first 6 months, if you follow all directions and are without complications, you should lose 60% of your excess weight. (If you are 100lbs over according to charts/bmi-you can expect a 60lb weight loss)

This is only my personal experience with my surgeon. Obviously, check with your own bariatric team for specifics on how they do things.

I went for my preop yesterday and my doctor's assistant said that I would have a catheter for the first night so that varies by surgeon. Not excited about that.

Today was my final appointment with my surgeon so we could submit to insurance.

I had a list of questions with me because I have heard some of the most outlandish things and just wanted real answers.

I hope this helps someone else as well.

He confirmed NO gum/straws/alcohol for one full year. GUM=some dingdong swallowed a glob and they had to do surgery to remove it as it had clogged her tube leading to her tummy. STRAWS=this gives too much air a chance to get in, causing painful gas and bloating. ALCOHOL=You will NOT react the same to alcohol as you did prior to surgery, beer has carbonation and other drinks have sugar. It's to be completely avoided.

At my Bariatric center they use a 36F Bougie, standard. These means your new stomach will be approximately the size of a pen. The bougie is NOT your new stomach, just a tool used to aid in sizing during surgery. Your surgeon may vary, but he said this is most common across the board. (Anything less than a 33 is known to cause exacerbated reflux issues.)

I am fortunate and neither catheters or drains are used unless there is a complication. He said that is more common practice than not these days to reduce the risk of infections.

--The permanent Titanium staples will not go off in an airport, cause x-ray or MRI issues. Scar tissue will grow over them-they are part of you for life.

Barring any unforeseen circumstances, you should have an all in hospital visit of 24 hours.

--Your new stomach will have a leak test performed on it before you are woken up, so no need to concern yourself with that.

Concerns over painful gas in your shoulder and arm: due to the gas they push in you during the surgery and gasEx will not help.. Walking it off and moving around works the quickest. Like when your baby was constipated and you pushed their knees to their belly to push out air. DO THAT, if you can find someone to help you.

Realistic weight loss: In the first 6 months, if you follow all directions and are without complications, you should lose 60% of your excess weight. (If you are 100lbs over according to charts/bmi-you can expect a 60lb weight loss)

This is only my personal experience with my surgeon. Obviously, check with your own bariatric team for specifics on how they do things.

Yup. Your last line is ON POINT. Every surgeon is different. These are great general guidelines, but they are not "THE RULE".

I am allowed gum/straws/alcohol. Six months was the rule by my doctor, I was given clearance at three.

I had a catheter as does everyone else in our practice. No complications.

60% is the worldwide average MAYBE, but of all the sleeved people I know, ALL have exceeded 60% weight loss. I think that's an extremely low estimate. Everyone I know hit their goal, or are within 10 pounds of it.

I know you said it, and I agree with you. Everyone's surgeon is different. Follow your team. After all, you entrusted them with your life.

My surgeon used a 40 bogie. It appears that size is becoming more common and may become the new "norm". There is minimal difference in size between a 36 and 40.

I had a catheter. Getting back in bed after walking was interesting. The convenience of not having to get up to pee while I was groggy the first night: priceless.

My surgeon allows alcohol and carbonation after 6 month. Not sure about gum since I don't chew gum.

I have been using straws even though I am not supposed to but have not had any problems.

I was leak tested while still under but had a swallow test the next morning to make sure liquids would go down. I think they were more concerned with swelling closing things off.

I was lucky and never had the post op gas pains.

It is interesting how much varies from surgeon to surgeon.

OP- Good luck with your journey. Sounds like you have a surgeon that is willing to answer your questions. I consider that to be a good sign of a surgeon that wants to work with you.

I'm still about three months away from surgery. I have a question.... Why is it important to ask about the bougie size?

I aksed out of curiosity. I didn't even ask until I was in pre-op getting prepped for surgery. I don't think that it is important to ask about. It wasn't like I was going to change my surgeon's mind on what size to use and I wasn't going to change to a different surgeon that used a different size.

The bogie is a guide that helps prevent the stomach from being too small. However every surgeon is a little different on how close they staple to the bogie so that will make a difference in the end size. I guess if surgeon A uses a 36 but doesn't staple super close to the bogie and surgeon B uses a 40 but staples really close to the bogie then the stomach could wind up the same size.

I did like hearing my surgeon's explanation on why he chose the size he did.

I'm still about three months away from surgery. I have a question.... Why is it important to ask about the bougie size?

It's not.

I aksed out of curiosity. I didn't even ask until I was in pre-op getting prepped for surgery. I don't think that it is important to ask about. It wasn't like I was going to change my surgeon's mind on what size to use and I wasn't going to change to a different surgeon that used a different size.

The bogie is a guide that helps prevent the stomach from being too small. However every surgeon is a little different on how close they staple to the bogie so that will make a difference in the end size. I guess if surgeon A uses a 36 but doesn't staple super close to the bogie and surgeon B uses a 40 but staples really close to the bogie then the stomach could wind up the same size.

I did like hearing my surgeon's explanation on why he chose the size he did.

I liked how my surgeon's office described it. He does an 85%-90% sleeve (which is slightly smaller than the average, I hear). He feels the extra 5% offers a better long term success rate. Surgical technique can have as much to do with pouch size as the guide they use to make the pouch anyway. So far so good!