Suzanne I am thinking about you and wishing you all the best. I hope they can quickly get this sorted out for you. That sounds awful. You are in my thoughts and prayers.
Cheers 

Just thought I'd provide an update in case anyone else has to have a gastric emptying test. 

It was very easy.  The nurse prepared a scrambled egg with a bit of radioactive material in it and gave it to me with a piece of bread and a small bit of water.  I had 10 minutes to eat it and then I had to lay down and get a picture of my stomach every 12 minutes for 2 hours.

The nurse said everything looked OK but the Doctor would have to interpret the results.

And unfortunately, I had to cancel all my appointments this week because I got the absolute worst case of the stomach flu I've ever had.  It started on Friday night and my fever didn't brea****il yesterday.  So...I'm sure if there was something really wrong I would have got a phone call, but I'll be calling Dr Sampath's office tomorrow to reschedule since I'm finally functioning again.

I hope everyone else is doing well :)

Hi Sal- I'll reprint a portion of a reply to another post on a similar topic a couple of weeks ago:

I am in Surrey and just had my surgery (band-to-sleeve revision) by Dr. Ponce de Leon in Tijuana on June 17th.  I wouldn't count on getting good information from your doctor about exactly what brands to buy, because they don't know what we can get in Canada.  Asking here is really your best bet.

I take Swiss (then "Natural Sources" in small letters - not sure if that's part of the name) Adult Chewable Multi-Vitamin and Mineral from Save-On.  I've been taking this vitamin for three years since I got my band.  I like them!  Now I am taking 2 a day instead of one, because of not eating anything nutritious for a while post-surgery.  I read where everyone should take their multi-vits in divided doses to absorb more, so I used to take approximately half a tab (I just bit off half-ish; they are quite big) at breakfast and fini**** at dinner.  Now I do that four times a day, with my protein shakes or mushy food. 

I also add MagiCalcium Power (also by Swiss, bought atSave-on) to one or two protein drinks per day.  It also has magnesium.  I was also taking one or two Tums for calcium when I was on liquids only.  I'm eating a lot of yogurt and drinking milk now, so I don't take the Tums any more.

I was told by Dr. Ponce to drink chamomile tea in the morning, then three hours later have clear broth, then three hours later have jello, then three hours later have apple juice, etc., and sip water in between, for FIFTEEN DAYS!  When I got home four days after surgery, I looked up how much protein was in jello and broth, and it's not much!  I don't know why I was not advised to drink some clear protein drinks.  I read a number of post-surgical diets (there are a number to choose from, from reputable medical sources, here on the site - just use the search box) and they ALL stressed the importance of getting 65-70g of protein every day.  If you don't get enough,
you will likely have hair loss several months later.  Plus, I was really, really weak, and with so much to do to take care of my family (my son has multiple special needs and I also have a little girl), it just wasn't going to work with no protein.

So I decided not to follow my doctor's orders, and I got a protein drink called Whey-Kool from GNC.  In the U.S. they have another one that's completely clear, but I was told I couldn't get it in BC.  Whey-Kool comes in Lemonade (which I bought) and Peach-Mango flavours.  One scoop mixed with water provides 21g of protein.  It is not completely clear; it is kind of cloudy, but definitely not like other protein shakes I've seen which look like chocolate milk or something.  I figured it was close enough.  Wal-mart may carry something clear as well - I think it is called something like Shot or Bullet or something.  It is pre-made, you just open it and drink.  I was told it doesn't taste very good.  Whey-Kool is VERY mildly and quite pleasantly flavoured, which is good when you are drinking it three times a day.

On the tenth day of liquids (12 days post-op)  I added half a container of Premier Protein shake (from Costco).  This shake was recommended on this site.  One small tetra-pak has 30g of protein!  After a few days I was up to two of those a day, in addition to the whey-kool.  They taste pretty darn good, and it's much easier than mixing it yourself from a powder, especially if you're out and about.  At Costco it is sold in cartons of 18 tetra-paks, in the supplements section.

I would also recommend getting a good pro-biotic and taking it for a couple of weeks before you go, and as soon as you are able after your surgery.  They really blitz you with the antibiotics in your I.V..  I got a really bad yeast infection shortly after I came home.  I haven't had one in about ten years, and I've taken antibiotics a number of times during that period!

Good luck with everything!

Hi everyone:

The meeting was supposed to be set-up for the 3rd Tuesday of every month at Garratt (6:30pm) for Dr. Sampath and Nguyen patients. I believe though that the facilitators are planning on contacting people to let them know.

And yes, the first one was very helpful.

Marina

Awesome news!!!!  Congrats!!!