New to the board with a few questions?

Hi, I'm new to the board and currently on my way to hopefully VSG in April. I have already completed most of my pre-op testing and have 1 visit left with my NP, mental health counselor (2nd visit) and Nutritionist next month. I have spent months lurking here and reading everyone's post and it really helped me make my decision to go with VSG vs RNY. I do have some questions and would love to get some insight.

Pre-op testing- do different doctor's require different things or is it pretty much dependent on the pt and their health history? I have read many post about people having scopes, cardiac stress tests, sleep studies, etc and I'm wondering if maybe my doctor isn't being as thorough as some others? I was not required to have any of that done- I did see a cardiologist for an EKG, pulmonary function testing, barium swallow and labs, but since all of that was normal, I didn't need any further testing. Is that standard?

All the posts on sleeve sizes, oversewn, etc- is this something I should talk to my surgeon about?

I have had a hard time finding any reviews of the surgeon on line and want to know more specific information about her statistics, what questions do you think are most important?

How many surgeries do you feel is a large enough number to be confident with?

Thanks

Welcome! Congrats on making the decision to have the VSG! I'm having mine on Thursday and I am so excited!

As far as pre op testing goes, you are correct, it does depend on the patient and the doctor's preferences. I had an EKG at my pre op visit but that was normal so I didn't need cardio clearance, and after that I just had to have a psych consult, visit the NUT, and have an EDG. Pretty easy! So it really does depend. I wouldn't worry that your doc is not as thorough. You could always ask why she doesn't require you to have certain tests if you are concerned.

I haven't asked my surgeon about the specific sleeve size, but that would be a good question if you want to know. Different docs have different preferences.

You can search for your surgeon on OH using the magnifying glass, or you can go to 'find a bariatric surgeon' in the top right corner and you can find reviews. You can even google them. 

Good luck!

Great questions- 

Yes, preop testing varies by surgeon.  You have a pretty tyical run of it there.  Didn't notice if you had a sleep study done, but that is a common one too.  I had a stress test, psych eval, mammogram, Nut meetings, and some of my cancer screenings counted- but now I am a little cloudy on which ones.  

Sleeve size is hotly debated around these parts.  Do a search on the topic and you will see what I mean :)  One thing for sure is that everyone agrees that you do not want to cajole your surgeon into doing a sleeve size smaller than what they are comfortable and experienced in.  A common sleeve size is a 32 bougie.  You will hear phrases like "oversewn" or "tightly sewn" or "loosely sewn" which also impacts the final size.  If you go much bigger than 40-44 you would be considered very large.  Personally, I am in the low 40's, loosely sewn, and had no problems making it to goal.  There are folks on here though that swear that size sleeve does not result in making it to goal or maintaining it.  I personally feel that person can eat around any size sleeve.  I know I can :)

Many would suggest 300 plus surgeries for an experience level.  My guy wasn't quite that high for the sleeve, but he was very high for Rny.  I "think" he did around 150 or so before me, but again a little fuzzy on that now.

Questions to ask:  sleeve size, how it is formed (look for a banana type shape compared to an hour glass- avoid the hour glass version!!), tightly or loosely sewn, what the overall stats are for his/her patients as far as percent of EWL lost, are labs and follow-up appointments included, cost if you are a self-pay including what to expect from the hosptial (most expensive part) and anesthesiologist, are there support groups, access to the NUT, when are labs pulled and how frequently, complication rate (mortality and leak rate specifically, but also find out the general), will hernias be fixed if found during surgery (you want this, trust me), is it laproscopic, and that is all I can think of off hand... 

Good luck!