Hi Everyone,
For the people who are having their surgery outside of the US please have an upper GI or endoscopy before they sleeve you. They will catch any problems before the surgery. Dr Almanza did not do this and I had esophogeal cancer which was not diagnosed. The cancer is in the esophogeal junction and there is NO WAY he would have not seen it. I have been to many doctors and they all concour that he had to have seen it. I am now not a candidate to have the tumor surgically removed because they have to reattach the stomach to the esophogus and there is no room because the stomach has been surgically removed leaving only a small amount to work with. So I am now scheduled to go thru chemo and raditation to try to shrink the tumor so the surgeon will have a better chance of figuring away around all this.

Laurie
PS any suggestions (old medic) will be appreciated

I am facing a feeding tube and my doctors are not sure what to do because they have no clue about the sleeve. I had an endoscopy which was fine. It showed esophugus cancer. I have an endoscopic sonagram scheduled for tuesday and a pet scan. None of this has anything to do with the sleeve, but, I am getting the same reaction as your friend when they discover I had this done in Mexico. If I had the surgery in the states they would say nothing even though the sleeve is not the issue. They need to catch up with their medical knowledge about working around feeding issues and cancer.

Yes please give me his number. Thanks

Thanks Terry

Unfortunately I was not tested for upper gastro or pylori before the surgery. The nodule is medium sized and in a hard place for a surgeon to remove. The gastro says he only sees one to two cases a year, and never with a gastric sleeve. He ordered a ct scan and an edoscopic ultra sound. If it has not spread he wants me to have radiation for six weeks every day. Being concerned about me not being able to swallow from the pain from radiation he wants to put in a feeding tube before he starts treatment. He is not familar with how to do this with a gastric sleeve.  I may also need chemo afterwards.  If the tumor has shrunk he will approach a surgeon who is familar with gastric sleeve to see if it is operable. I feel maybe cleveland clinic would be a better choice because they do the sleeve and may have seen this before. He is one of these doctors that thinks I should have gone to a doctor that ran appropriate weight loss surgery test before hand. He is very opiniated. My sleeve is in perfect condition and is not the cause of this problem. I will definately get another opinion.

I went to the doctor and my b12 is low. He suggested I give myself injections. The thought of it gives me the heebee jeebies. It will be alot cheaper doing it myself. Any feedback will be greatly appreciated.

I am only taking a multiple vitamin without iron and thats it. He ordered some more tests for comp metabolic panel, lipid, hemoglobin, and vitamin d. I don;t see anything on thyroid and I have hypothryoidism. He has not changed my medication for synthroid in years. I am worried now about the ferrtin which he did not order again. I am going to write my concerns and make sure i am getting the right tests and he is paying attention to my thyroid and iron. Thanks for your input. I am in a panic at the moment

I just got my lab work back and my Iron level is 551. Normal is 13-150. My doctor does not seem concerned about this. He said as long as I was not low I was okay. I also had very low potassium 2.5 normal is 3.5 to 5.2. He took me off the diaretic and has me on a huge potassium supplement pill.
Does anyone know if having such high levels of iron is normal because of the protein we consume.

This study was on the local news with positive results... Anyone know anything about it?

http://www.drshapiroshairinstitute.com/clinical-study/shapiro_study_final_2010

Should I stop the vitamins before a full blood work up?

I took off on FMLA in December 23 because my depression was getting the best of me. My pcp increased the anti depression pills and for two month I just ate and ate getting even more depressed because I could no longer fit into any clothes. I went on short term disabllity and in february a light bulb went off that I can either eat myself to death, or find help to lose weight.
I was going to get the lap band for 10000 and be home the same day locally. Then I saw the mexico advert and flipped over to the sleeve on March 3. I am off all my anti depressants and ready to go back to work. It has been 5 months., I start Wednesday with a better outlook on life and down 50 pounds.It is a high pressure sales position so I hope it does not stress me out like it was before the surgery. I have to make sure I take the right food to eat and not skip any meals. I will tell my coworkers that I went to Mexico because they are very supportive. I have worked there since 1995.
Wish me luck fellow sleevers.
Laurie

You look like the poster child for VSG......What a inspiration to us all!  Have fun being the bell of the ball

We have a local pizza place with coal fired pizza. It is thin, and well done (crispy). I used to eat a whole pie by myself. I would settle for a slice, but if it will not agree with me, I will eat the topping (with extra cheese of course). I find myself getting bored with the high protein meals with dense protein. Maybe I will order a small pizza and just east the topping tomorrow to get rid of that craving.  It is never as good as we imagine it to be.