Follow up for Sleeve w/ Dr. Aceves

My lap band was removed 4 months ago because of scar tissue build up (along w/ my gallbladder).  I am planning on having a sleeve w/ Dr. Aceves in 2 months.  In reading the patient information guide I noticed that 'sleevers' need routine blood tests and was wondering how this managed?  Do you have your primary care physician do this, or do you have your primary care physician order them then send the results to Dr. Aceves?  Does anyone know what is it that they are looking for?

Thank You

Chris  

 

 

Know two things: 1. Aceves is a great cutter, and 2. you are on your own.

He makes a great sleeve, works out of a very, very clean hospital.. and if you use your sleeve well, and eat well and healthy, you should be able to gain some great health. I've been at or under goal since a year out of surgery, started at 280ish, and maintain under 155.. normally in the mid-high 140's.. my restriction has been constant from about a year out.. I am VERY happy with my results.. a good portion is the sleeve, but a greater portion is me and the lifestyle change I made with the assistance of the sleeve.

I got my PCP on board ahead of time, he was fine with doing my labs and such, as I was fairly pro-active with my health care anyway. I bring in the list of labs, his office codes them and draws, I get the results, track and adjust my supplements as needed. If something is a little off-kilter (ferritin went high/B12 too from supplementing too much) I also order my own labs through directlabs.com occasionally and track as needed. Going to MX requires you to be on your game, outspoken with medical professionals, and willing (and able) to be your own self-advocate. Many are fine with this, but many are also on the side of 'Doc knows best' which IMO is NOT true. It's your body, your health, YOU are ultimately in control.

Below are the labs I had drawn every 6mo for the first year and a half.. once they were in a steady pattern, I dropped back to the standard CBC, B12, D and PTH draw.. I occasionally add in a comprehensive thyroid panel, or vite panel. I am willing to pay out of pocket (I have a HDHP anyway, so it's essentially all OOP anyway) to get the information I need to track my own health. 

You can google-fu to learn about where the results should be, and what is good/bad.. you will need to have these skills if you are doing the medical tourism route anyway. I have to say, I had the BEST hospital experience with Aceves, and wouldn't hesitate to do medical tourism to get plastics, or dental, elective surgery in the future.. but again, I have always been the type to do things my own way. It's worked very well for me, if you are smart, outspoken and have a good understanding of anatomy, health, medical and nutrition information (not fad stuff that is everywhere these days..) you should be fine.

Labs:

CBC

Comprehensive Met panel

Pro time, PT/INR

Iron

TIBC

ferritin

transferrin

Copper

Zinc

Total protein

albumin

pre-albumin

Folate

Vitamin A (DO NOT EXPOSE TO LIGHT)

vitamin B 1 (Don't expose to light)

vitamin B6 (also do not expose to light)

vitamin B12

vitamin D (Dhydroxy 25, 0,25 – NOT 1,25)

PTH (for use with calcium and vitamin D levels, where is calcium coming from)

 

before going to any Mexican surgeon you need to talk with your pcp to see if he/she will take care of you , many doctors do not want you as a patient if you have surgery in Mexico

It is best if your pcp knows how to treat wls patients  not all doctors do , I switched to a internist  as my pcp when I started my journey, he knows my surgeon and is related to my nut and is pro wls , many doctors are not 

he takes most of my labs , my surgeon ordered a few at 6 months , he treats my diabetes which is almost gone 

Dr. Aceves has a great reputation but you will need to figure out your aftercare before you have surgery  

I had Aceves as well - there's only so much support they can do from MX obviously - although you can go back and have followup visits if that's convenient.  

I'm mostly self-pay anyway (High-Deductible Health Plan) and had no problem with my PCP ordering labs and reviewing them.  We've made a few adjustments (B12 was high, calcium low) and that's been about it for nearly 2 years.  I sent my 3,6 and 12 months labs to Aceves, but there really wasn't anything for them to comment on.  I dropped them a note every month for the first year (as they requested) and always got encouragement back.  I have had literally no problems to ask about since surgery...

They did provide me with an x-ray of the sleeved stomach and a writeup on the procedure, my pre-surgery Labs and ECG to give to my PCP.  

They give you a diet guide, a bit of counseling pre-surgery with Dr. Campos (who has had the surgery himself).  The diet guide is pretty much what you'll read from many successful people here on the VSG forum... so no surprises.

Tom