Thank you to everyone for their support.

I took a 6 hour flight to CA on 3/31 and arrived in San Diego at 11:30 "their time". The driver, Ernesto, was waiting for me at the baggage area and put my luggage in the van and drove me, and another passenger, to Mexacali. This drive was about 2 hours long.

I was taken directly to the hospital where they were waiting for me and had blood work, urinalysis, EKG, chest x-ray, and then an esophagram to evaluate and completely unfil my band. The last stop was meeting with the coordinator to get pre and post-op instructions and to pay the balance for the surgery.

I was told I could have anything I wanted to eat (was on a 30 gram/day carb diet for the week prior to surgery) and driven to the Lucerna Resort which is beautiful. As I worked the night before, I elected to have the sandwich and protein bar I brought with me, showered, and fell asleep. I took the antibiotic they gave me before I went to sleep but did not take the ativan.

At 7 AM on 4/1, I was picked up and taken to my room in the hospital. I was seen by a medical internist who reviewed my tests (all good), an assistant surgeon (who was sleeved the day after me), an anesthesiologist, and finally, by the surgeon, Dr. Aceves. All questions were answered and I was the second sleeve of the day.

I got dramamine and versed to take 30 minutes prior to the OR and that knocked me out. LOL. My IV was inserted in the OR and I had spinal and general anesthesia. The spinal dramatically decreases the amount of general needed. Since I don't do well with general (severe nausea), I elected for the spinal too and had NO problems in the recovery room.

All I remember about the recovery room was being asked if I had pain... nope, and being told I was going back to my room. I got some IV pain medication at @ 4 AM and then had sublingual (under the tongue) toradol @ 1 PM. For me, this surgery was a lot less painful than the band.

At noon, I had to drink small sips of water. An hour after that I drank apple juice with a blue dye in it. This is the second test (first done in OR) for leaks. I have a drain near where the port was and the hope is that no blue color comes through to the bag. I passed. After that, I was brought hot tea, tang OJ, and apple juice. My IV was taken out this evening.

Tomorrow morning, I go for the last leak test and will have to drink a radiograffin substance. If I pass that test (and I have no doubt I will), the drain gets removed at noon. I will leave the hospital at 5:45 AM on Saturday to make my flight in San Diego for home. I have nothing but positive things to say about this experience. As a registered nurse I was very watchful and am impressed with the care, cleanliness, and professionalism I observed.

I will be getting my sleeve next week- 4-29. I leave for San Diego tomorrow and will spend the night there. I will be picked up tuesday morning for testing and having surgery Wed. I'm so afraid that Dr. Aceves will find something wrong in there and tell me I can't have the sleeve.

I am a natural worrier though . I don't have any reason to believe that there is anything wrong in there, and I sure hope I don't!

Nice to meet you Violet!

look at what you've done already. have faith, i'm sure everything will go smoothly. please keep us informed if your taking your laptop/ipod, or you feel the need to chat. will be thinking of you. rest well. enjoy your flight:)

godspeed Daisey.

Hey there, can someone send me or point me to a link that has the post op diet instructions for Dr. A? Elizabeth, thanks for posting your experience. I have the band and will be getting the sleeve next month!

Congratulations on your upcoming revision. I know WASA sent you the pre-op diet but I think it only applies if your BMI is greater than 40. If you're having specific problems with the band (like Susan did) you might be placed on a liquid diet instead of the 30g carb/day diet.

I could have advanced to a regular diet, but have stayed with the soft foods longer, just getting used to the feeling of fullness. I still do a Protein Shake in the am, and have been eating a lot of tuna fish. I plan to advance to regular tommorrow. I think I'm ready. I had some chocolate which I was craving during my cycle, so I bought a hersheys with almonds which I used to love. The first bite was good, the second left a weird taste in my mouth, so I threw it away. Haven't really craved anything sweet since. For the first time in my life, I can go food shopping and not be hypnotized by the bakery or the candy section.

I, too, am craving healthy foods. :laugh:

I think transitioning to solids will take quite some time for me. Most of the people who had the band achieved restriction so they were experienced with restriction. That was never the case for me so this is a real learning curve. NOT cleaning the plate has become the norm for me... and it's a small plate. LOL. Not craving sweets and junk food is sweet (pun intended). LOL.

Hello All,

I was invited here by MacMadame, (thx again) i have a band placed in mx 3 yrs ago on my dime bc my ins would not approve band but would rny. recently diagnosed w/esophagitis, and gastritis i am living on ice cream to put out the fire while drinking iced maalox all day. when i was still eating real food i would wake up choking on burning undigested food hours after the meal. the band is coming out. i have to make a decision on what's next. the dr who did my endoscopy recommended the sleeve. many of you seem to really like your sleeve. ALSO, since my initial surgery took place in mx i'm not sure my ins - anthem bcbs of Louisville will cover a revision. does anyone have this ins or same situation? i've read pages of posts and haven't seen anyone sharing about this ins w/mx band and us dr doing the revision. thx for any and all comments/suggestions.

Welcome! I can totally relate to the esophagitis and the night time choking. I was on double doses of Nexium and sucked down tagamet and tums like it was candy.

I hope your insurance will pay for a revision and look forward to hearing more from you.

I hope to see you there, I will be arriving Thursday morning, I will look for you

Congratulations and best of luck on your surgery.

one can really get lost on this website....very nice to meet everyone, looking forward to sharing. have dr's appt again tomorrow. have not located policy but hoping to speak w/a rep from anthem regarding coverage. i really have to do something and soon i simply cannot function. missing work, unable to sleep, barf everything but liquid. i did lose 53 lbs but gained most of it back and i am just so sick of everything that you ladies are all very familiar with. i am not sure the band is good for anyone. i got it thinking it was going to be a lifetime friend. expensive joke it was!!

For me, the band was evil. With the VSG, I think I found my friend!

I will be getting my sleeve next week- 4-29. I leave for San Diego tomorrow and will spend the night there. I will be picked up tuesday morning for testing and having surgery Wed. I'm so afraid that Dr. Aceves will find something wrong in there and tell me I can't have the sleeve.

I am a natural worrier though . I don't have any reason to believe that there is anything wrong in there, and I sure hope I don't!

Nice to meet you Violet!

I'm sure everything will be fine and your surgery will go off as planned. Best of luck to you!

Thank you Elizabeth. I am really excited and ready to get this journey started

Wow, welcome to all the new folks, great to see you here!

I can't imagine eating even a small bag of french fries. I go to a regular diet on May 2 but am still working on getting soft foods down. Tuna (2.5 oz) mixed with 2 teaspoons of mayo is becoming a favorite. I get in some decent protein and can nurse the portion slowly until I get to the end. I know that candy and chocolate and icecream go down real easy so I have not brought any of that stuff into the house. I seem to crave healthy foods... a trend I hope never ends. LOL.

Elisabeth, I am finding that food holds absolutely no appeal to me. I have to remind myself to eat, and nothing really interests me too much. I have been eating a lot of tuna with mayo as well though, for the protein. I have not once been hungry, which is so strange. And, when I do eat, four or five small bites and I am absolutely stuffed. This is just amazing to me.

Wow, welcome to all the new folks, great to see you here!

Elisabeth, I am finding that food holds absolutely no appeal to me. I have to remind myself to eat, and nothing really interests me too much. I have been eating a lot of tuna with mayo as well though, for the protein. I have not once been hungry, which is so strange. And, when I do eat, four or five small bites and I am absolutely stuffed. This is just amazing to me.

And..... say it with me...

NO BARFING AND NO ACID!

;o)))))

It's not going to change a great deal in your future either. Just a few bites and you are full. Isn't it true that he makes very small, very tight sleeves? He does a good job.

I can't wait to fill full again! You all are making me very excited to get my revision surgery done and over with!

You are going to love it!

Wow, welcome to all the new folks, great to see you here!

Elisabeth, I am finding that food holds absolutely no appeal to me. I have to remind myself to eat, and nothing really interests me too much. I have been eating a lot of tuna with mayo as well though, for the protein. I have not once been hungry, which is so strange. And, when I do eat, four or five small bites and I am absolutely stuffed. This is just amazing to me.

I hear you! After coffee and pills/vitamins in the AM, I'm too full to eat breakfast. Yesterday, I took a small sweet potato, slit an "x" in the top, and tossed it in the oven (convection at 450 degrees for 45 min). The skin came right off and I mashed up the super soft filling, added a little salt, and had that for lunch... took me 30 min to eat it and tasted great. I worked through dinner and "forgot" that I only had the potato. I had some soup at 3 AM. LOL.

Like you, I have not experienced hunger since having surgery and I want it to stay that way forever.

And..... say it with me...

NO BARFING AND NO ACID!

;o)))))

It's not going to change a great deal in your future either. Just a few bites and you are full. Isn't it true that he makes very small, very tight sleeves? He does a good job.

You forgot to add... no more sleeping in a chair! With the heart burn and acid reflux ALL GONE, I sleep flat on my back on one thin pillow... ahhhhhhhhhhhh, heaven!

Yes, Dr. Aceves is the best and I have no regrets. Well, actually I do have a regret and that's that I didn't get rid of the band and do the VSG sooner.