READ***For Pre-Ops & Newbies-Frisco Observations

 I just wanted to chime in as a lurker *****ads alot if not all of your posts (Jimbo, Elina and Frisco) that I hope you will not stop posting! I think this board really needs you! I understand what you are saying and I have surgery next week with Jossart who pretty much recommends, I think, the exact track of Dr. C. All three of you have taught me so much and really have helped me prepare. I have bookmarked so many of your posts!

I am sure it is hard to be at goal and to read some of this. I try to take the good and leave the what I consider the bad but I just wanted to thank you all for being the good! You are the bright light that is showing us newbies the way through this tunnel! This board needs you!!!

Thank you for always paying it forward!

Jenni

Worthy observations Frisco. I too have been somewhat appalled at the apparant fact that some vsg patients have been sent home with virtially no instructions. Or perhaps they have received them but are seeking validation to stray from those instructions. Such patients can only be referred to the university developed or lapsf guides which are available on line and which have been cited countless times on this forum. We all know of horror stories where people ate meat at a few days out and ended up in big trouble. I do wonder why people go through with this surgery without some willingness to accept the signicicant eating limitations they must live with  for life.

so when I can I answer these questions and refer people to published info as I am no doctor but anyone even thinking about that chicken wing at 5 days needs counseling to help accept new limitations if they can't accept them on their own.

As to the actigal, it was 6 months for me and I can't imagine any good surgeon not prescribing this. I understand there are a few people that have a little trouble with the drug but not many. And I was told not to start it until 3 weeks out so I could take the pills easily enough. My brother is getting sleeved soon in another part of the country and I am making sure he asks for actigal and such and knows all the right questions to ask.

This surgery is gaining in popularity and really is the wave of the future in wls. But I researched it up the wazoo as everybody should and I hate to think of people doing it without being fully educated. I guess thats part of what the psych consult is for but it sure doesn't take much to pass one of those.

Anyway, I still answer the questions such as "can i eat a hershy kiss at 5 days out" but I am getting blunter and blunter in my answers. I still hope us old timers can save newbies some pain and injury by ansering these questions with some "tough love".    Diane

Having been one who ate brisket and grilled chicken(less than an ounce total) at 10 days, I can attest to how insanely stupid it was....it isn't and wasn't worth the risk...

"I swear doctor...it jumped in my mouth and I had to chew...." said the man with the feathers hanging out his mouth....


and a 6 month actigall scrip for me...

I am new on this forum.  My paperwork goes to the insurance this morning in fact.  I for one would ask you veterans please don't quit posting!  The new people really need you.  I have been researching since October 2010.  I have gone thru the tests, jumped thru the hoops and learned as much as I can from my Nut.  I have also payed extra to see the phycologist  a few times.  I really want to get this right.  This is for life.  It is for my future and the future of my family.  I take it seriously.  Obviously, you  did as well.  I want to be where you are in a year or so.  So please keep giving us the information that helped you all to be so sucessful. thanks, Donna

There's a reason I lurked here before posting, and why I still lurk on the maint board.. Thankfully my Dr & his team are pretty good with info, answering questions and the plan is basically the same as Dr. C's. Even if it wasn't I'd still follow LASF's plan, years of dieting and tons of reading (books, studies) have given me a lot of good information and it seems to be set up for success!

There are a lot of sleeve 'em & leave 'ems around, and I kind of count my Dr as one of them. Yes, I can reach out and contact the nutritionist, Dr, assistant etc at any time (and I have, and have gotten very prompt replies). But, it's not face to face. However, that's what I wanted. I don't do "group" anything. I don't like or want or need support meetings, and I tend to be a very solitary and driven person. That's just me. 


With that said, nothing beats the good experience of those who came before, but people have to be proactive and educate themselves and not hand that over to someone else. I think sometimes when you are a do-it-alone type, you take more time to really dig deep into things rather than have someone hold your hand. I've seen some very bad information come out of "professionals" that it blows my mind. It's as if some are stuck in the 50's education wise. Not sure why. It's like some nutritionists swallow the FDA guidelines and just regurgitate them to patients!

Anyway, I just wanted to say- yes you do care, or else it wouldn't get under your skin.. but the saying goes "you can't save them all" and it's true!

Peace,
Jo

I think many people jump into surgery (WLS) thinking it will be the answer and the end all to thier eating issues.  The problem is they have not changed their heads.  Most of us went into this with the idea that with our new smaller stomachs we have a chance to re-do our lives.  We can lose weight and live like we wanted to all along with our new tools.  I truely believe that some people have the surgery but do not want to have to WORK at it.  They will give into every little food craving at the least bit of urging.  It is WORK! It is denying yourself the things you want to eat.  It is cleaning out your life of all the crap you used to eat and still want to eat.  I don't care that my grandson who lives with us, wants chips and cookies and other not good for you crap.  I don't keep it in the house, I don't need temptation at this point in my life.  If your allergic to bees you don't become a bee keeper!  If you are considering WLS but don't want to work at it then wait till you are ready to fully commit, it means not cheating on the pre op, not cheating on the liquid diet, not cheating on the mushies stage etc etc.  It means making wise decisions about what you put in your mouth for the rest of your life.  Otherwise you may gain your weight back again, it has happened to many.

What Frisco said!- the only quibble I might have is regarding the Actigall. There are some reasoned differences of opinion among well-informed doctors regarding its use. My doc wrote the scrip for me but asked me to do a bit more research before filling it (he knows that I do read and have access through my university to medical journal articles, so this was a reasonable request, given our style of working together).

About 30% of WLS patients do develop gall bladder disease. This is not an insignificant complication as it is very painful and generally requires surgery to correct. This is why I initially requested the Rx.

The rate of gall bladder disease drops to about 2% among WLS patients who use Actigall during the period of greatest weight loss (usually 6 months to 1 year). This is a very significant reduction in risk.

A small percentage of people who take Actigall develop liver disease (less than 5%).

My doctor was concerned about its hepatoxicity during a period of high protein diet / rapid fat loss which also present a challenge to the liver and kidneys - and after doing some reading I ultimately decided that I would rather take the higher risk of gall bladder disease than the much lower risk of liver disease. That was just my decision, based on my perception of relative risk, taken in conjunction with my doctor. (Basically I decided I'd rather risk the gall bladder than the liver - even though the relative risks were unequal - that is the decision that was right for me, but others would arrive at a different conclusion.)

I would agree that many of the surgeons doing WLS do not prepare their patients adequately, in terms of post-op diet guidelines, or accurate information about supplementation needs, or regarding the risks and benefits of Actigall.

 
Excellent info Margo!

Thanks,

frisco

the sky is falling!! lmao

Many surgeons don't wanna see their pts on the bottom of the liver donor list
Determine the risk far outweighs the benefit
Don't have a crystal ball into the future......i.e. why didn't my surgeon but me on Actigall 2 years post op...or with other people who have been on actigall and have GB removal at 3 or 4 years post op....why didn't their surgeons keep em on it? its TOXIC that's why!! the MINIMUM is 6 months on that **** is that why yer surgeon only has you on it 6 months? ....havin yer GB out after that first year... is more common than you think!

oh forgot...on Hepatic shots...THIS ISN'T a ONCE SIZE FITS ALL SURGERY...this ain't no assembly line! why would I need shots after d/c? I was ambulatory. PT ASSESSMENT!! INDIVIDUALIZED...I guess they don't do that up in SF! pity

And chicken wings? just post oppers eating chicken wings? Oh wait...yer a Dr. Criangle pt...
nevermind...stay turned to the next..... As The VSG Turns....

I've been on Urso since May of '09, I take 1500 mgs a day.  Without it I would be on the transplant list right now.  I had to fight them in the hospital to get the amount I need, they wanted to lower it to a 250mg a day.  Urso is prescribed by weight, there is an amount you take depending on the amount you weigh.