my sclerotherapy experience

My Sclerotherapy experience:

 

I had sclerotherapy on 5/25 in Grand Rapids, MI .  Because I traveled from out of state, I had my appointments condensed, but still went through the whole process.  I arrived at for my 9:00 appointment to meet the behaviorist.  We talked about what was going on in my life, and the triggers that caused me to eat and gain weight, or make poor food choices.  He reinforced what I already knew.  It’s basically up to me on whether this sclerotherapy will work or not.  I have to take control of my decisions.  At 10:00 I met with the dietician.  She was laid back and realistic.  She promotes that it is OK to treat yourself, but be aware that it all adds up over time.  All things in moderation.  It’s not bad to have a treat, but it’s bad to have treats ever day.  We discussed “protein first”, and proper supplementation.  We talked about a food diary, too.  I actually left the dietician’s office feeling hopeful that I could do everything that we talked about.  For those of you that are wondering about the post-sclerotherapy diet, it is recommended that you go easy the first day or two with liquids and soft foods.  I ate applesauce and cottage cheese and yogurt, keeping my quantities around ½ cup.  I’m not sure if I felt hunger, gas pressure, or post procedure pain—it was a confused stomach feeling.  I don’t know yet if I have “restriction”, and I think it will be some time before I know what I’m feeling food wise.  After the first few days, it’s eat food as tolerated.  Honestly, I was hoping for stricter limitations.  But, you are encouraged to follow the pouch rules.  At 11:00 I met the exercise physiologist.  This was the appointment I was dreading.  I love to exercise as long as it’s a team sport.  I play on several teams, and I’m a very active person.  I was just certain he would tell me that I had to start a weight lifting program, and I HATE lifting weights.  It bores me to tears, and I have no motivation to lift weights.  He came up with a program without weights that used my own body as resistance.  I will be using an exercise ball, and it actually looks like fun.  I know it will be a challenge for me, but I can see the benefits, and I know I’ll feel stronger.  I was very pleased with all three meetings that morning, and felt the education was very good.

 

I then went to check in for the procedure at 12:00 (procedure was at 1:30).  They called me back, had me strip from the waist up and wear a gown, and took me back and asked a few medical questions.  They started an IV, and then I walked back to the procedure room.  At 1:27 Dr. Baker came in and said we’d start in a few minutes.  I was absolutely floored that a Doctor was running ON TIME!  He ducked out, and then came back in with his team, and began the procedure.  They had me lie on my left side, gave me some “happy drugs”, and sprayed some cherry flavored stuff on my throat to numb it.  Now, every surgery that I’ve had, I wake up with a sore throat from whatever tube they put down there.  It is one of the things that I dread about surgery.  I had NO throat pain after this procedure until the next morning, and it was very mild.  Why don’t all surgeons use this stuff?  OK, so now I’m out, they go in and do their stuff.  It turns out that my stoma is 18mm, and it is supposed to be 12-16 mm post WLS.  So, we were right, and I felt this sense that I didn’t fail, and it wasn’t my fault.  I don’t blame my original surgeon either—it’s just the way it was, and now (hopefully) it’s fixed.  It’s possible that I may have to have a second treatment, but time will tell.  When I “came to”, I felt groggy and shakey—normal for me post anesthesia.  I had a 2 ½ hour drive ahead of me, so I slept off and on for the ride home.  I felt discomfort, but my pain medicine handled it.  Honestly, I didn’t expect it to hurt as much as it did.  When I had my RNY, I would call my pain on a scale from 1-10 a 3.  The only “proof” I had that they did something to me was the nausea and the little laproscopic holes left behind.  For my sclerotherapy, I didn’t need any “proof” that something was done—I felt it.  Maybe I’d call my pain a 5, and I don’t consider myself whimpy, but I was feeling it.  But, with pain meds, I was fine.  I was functional the evening of the procedure and able to feed and take care of my son (16 month old).  I lifted him repeatedly over the next day or two, which could explain why I felt sore, too.  I think the nausea post sclerotherapy was the worst part, and they can’t give me anything for it.  Three days later, I still feel a little nauseated, but again, I’m functional so no complaints here.  I feel a little discomfort when I take a deep breath, but that’s it.

 

So, time will tell now if I’m feeling restriction.  I’m too scared to pu**** or test it, and I don’t know that I would feel what I’m supposed to feel yet.  I’m certainly eating less, and thinking a lot more before I eat or drink.  It’s hard to remember to stop drinking 15 minutes before I eat, and not drink for 30-45 minutes after I eat.  It’s also a challenge to not “graze”, or randomly snack.  My head still thinks I need to eat.  Just like WLS, the surgery is on your stomach, not on your head.  I just need to get my stomach and head to communicate together to get through this.

 

So, that’s my story.  I’ll post more on success or failure in the future.  Let’s all hope that my outcome is positive, and I achieve my original goal of fitting into a size 14.

Thanks so much for your experience. I had just left a post to ask the members to please post their experience with the schlerotherapy or the reduce stoma with surturing procedure.  I have one question. Did insurance cover you procedure or did you self pay? If you self-paid, how much did it cost?

I haven't gotten the bill yet, but I was told it would be $700-$800.00 out of pocket.  I have a WLS exclusion in my insurance, so no insurance coverage. I'll follow up on this when I get my bill. Deeno

Thanks deeno, I was told by Dr. Bessler's office that insurance will cover 1st procedure, but its not guaranteed for the 2nd and 3rd.  I am kind of leaning towards doing the sclerotherapy or the suturing before I do the lap band revision and having to pay $7,000 in Mexico.   I can't wait to hear about more of your experience with your "repaired" pouch!  There are so many of us that have regained weight, but not enough for insurance to cover revision. Ugh, such a gruesome cycle.

Hi, I am looking into the sclerotherapy or suturing of the pouch myself. I see the dietician at my surgeon's office tomorrow and  have already approached her by phone into checking this out for me. I hope she has info for me tomorrow.  I am also thinking that I may possibly want the DS procedure this next time around (assuming I don't do the sclerotherapy).  My surgeon suggested to me to have the lapband for the 2nd go-round, but the DS seems to be more what I want. Any ways, all in all, i will just wait and see what t he dietician says. Not sure what my insurance will cover and I have no extra monies to pay out of pocket.

Karen

I hear you Karen...I really don't want to pay anything extra.  After reading about the Lap Band over Bypass, I see why your doctor prefers this method rather than the DS. The Lap Band will not take away any more absorption than you already have, whereas the DS takes even more absorption than what you have.And the DS is a more complicated procedure.  I too was feeling that the DS is what I want more because it seems to be the most permanent, whereas the Lap Band is the most safest. Let me know what your surgeon and dietician says.  I feel like Im swaying back and forth as to what to do.  Cheryl

Hi Cheryl, So I saw and spoke to the dietician who is also my surgeon's PA and she said that she believes I am a candidate for some sort of revision, be it a lapband, more of the RNY by going distal (cutting down more of the intestines), or even the DS. She says she thinks that my surgeon would perform it on me (the DS) if I spoke to him directly and discussed it with him.  She really seemed to think that just cutting down more intestines to go to a distal RNY rather than the proximal that I had would be the best choice. I told her it is the DS I want. If i understand it correctly, you can eat more of things of whatever you want and it goes right through you (sounds like that is more my style).  I have a question though that I plan to propose to others who have had the DS, knowing that it is more malabsorptive even if one always took their vitamins, any problems with malabsorption that wrecked havoc with their health.

Karen

Okay now I see why you need to be within 5 mins of a toilet with the DS. Your body isnt holding on to the food.  I wonder what the quality of life is after the DS.  Im going to check out the DS forum.  I like the idea, but it seems kind of scary too.  I finally got my mom open to the idea of having a revision herself. I think she was feeling like a failure and trying to diet on her own via Jenny Craig.  The problem we have is that even though we gained weight, we didnt gain enough to have a BMI of 40. I am still thinking about doing the Lap Band, but its going to cost $13,000 out of pocket. Ugh!  Let me know how it goes when you speak with your surgeon.  Good luck!

Hi Dazzling Eyes, So I saw the PA yesterday and she thinks I am a good candidate for the revision, but she thinks just going more distal on my RNY would be the best choice.  She thinks my original surgeon might be willing to do a DS on me if I spoke directly to him so I plan to see him a month or so.  First I have to bring back to Diane, the PA, aka dietician, a menu of what I eat so she can check out the foods I imbibe in.  She says I am a good candidate cuz my diabetes has returned, i have gained 30 pounds, my bmi is about 40 or so, I am 70 pounds from my original goal,  i have peripheral arterial disease in my legs (narrowing of arteries) and I have peripheral neuropathy from the diabetes.  I am a candidate for a heart attack so I do need to get this weight off. She thinks insurance will approve with all those problems and also my sleep apnea is still severe.  I will keep you updated. Also, let me know which way you are going.

Karen

Karen thanks so much for sharing your experience with me.  You helped me to see who is a candidate for revision and who isn't.  I misread the insurance guidelines.  My problem is that my pouch stretched and gained weight. That's definitely not enough reason alone to get insurance to cover the revision. I'm faced with $13K out of pocket to get a revision. Life is never a dull moment , is it? And people think WLS is a cop-out, or the easy way out.  Good luck Karen with everything, I mean it.