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Surgeon Testimonial

Aniceto Baltasar, M.D.


warm and caring person

he's a great surgeon as well

nursing staff very caring

the info for DS followup was more specific than
that for the Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy
he's everything good that people say about him and more. . . .

has everything written down to take with you

refers you to your local PCP

covers them clearly

he's a 10 out of 10!

both great
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wendyS's Blog
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It's my 4th re-birthday
on May 1, 2009 12:09 am
On April 30, 2005  Dr. Baltasar gave me my sleeve.  I had been  knowledgeable about the DS since my brother's surgery in 2003 but hadn't heard about the sleeve previously since there hadn't been that many sleeves performed.  

My brother, my husband, Jeff, and I were terribly skeptical about the sleeve as a stand-alone procedure being effective in the long-run and tried to convince Dr. Baltasar to do a full DS on me.  However he refused and would agree to only do a sleeve.

I knew I had to do something to deal with my extra pounds and my out of control appetite and thus agreed to have only the sleeve done.

Today my weight is stable and my BMI is 25.6, just what the doctor ordered.  I'm so happy I got my sleeve.

I my Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy

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It's been three years!
on May 1, 2008 6:19 am
Yesterday I celebrated the third birthday of my sleeve.  I thought of these years that have gone by and felt so lucky that I had chosen the sleeve.  Up to 3 years ago I had never experienced a stable weight.  Either I was dieting, with all the deprivations that entails, or I was eating without limits and sooner or later my weight returned and then some.  I'm under 5' in height so each pound makes a real difference.   There were times that I said to myself that perhaps I needed to accept that I would be a fat person.  But my weight never stabilized!

Almost five years ago my brother underwent a DS, lost 180 pounds, and felt that he had renewed his life.  Less than two years later my husband decided that he too was going to have a DS and I said to myself "I want it too."  Because the extra weight I was carrying was "only" about 55 pounds my surgeon in Spain suggested the Sleeve, something new both to me and to the general public. I worried that I would lose the weight and then regain it, or that I would be hungry all the time but I decided "Yes, I have to do something."

Today I am three years after my surgery and I am delighted with my decision.  My weight  stays between 121 and 125 (a BMI of 25-26).  When I feel  full, I am able to immediately stop eating, even in mid-bite!  I make sure to get in the necessary fluids and protein each day and I feel great.

My only regret is that this fantastic solution only exists 5 years and that I discovered it only 3 years ago.  Thanks so much, Dr. Baltasar.

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My Story

My husband's BMI pre-surgery was 45 while mine was 35.5.  Both of us had pre-morbidities,  Jeff's were hypertension, hyperlipidemia and severe sleep apnea while mine were hypertriglyceridemia, hyperlipidemia and hypertension.  My brother had previously undergone DS surgery  (LapDS Rabkin 7/03) and all of us were convinced that the DS was the best choice, not only did it provide restriction to enable one to lose weight but it provided malabsorption to maintain the weight loss.

Dr. Baltasar (who is one of the sleeve pioneers and has published on the subject) said that, taking into account my relatively low BMI and the fact that my pre-morbidities were controlled by medication, the only WLS surgery he would perform on me was the SG.  At that time, two years ago, I had not yet heard of the sleeve and it wasn't that well known.  I was concerned about my ability to maintain my weight-loss in the long-run but decided that it was better to do something than continue the way I was, so I said Yes to the Sleeve and am so glad that I did.  I must add that, with my husband's malabsorption problems and bowel issues, he sometimes is sorry he didn't chose the Sleeve as well since both of us at 20 months out have attained a BMI of 25.