Ask Dr. Curry!

hi.  I had my surgery on Dec 4th and i was wondering what does drinking juices with sugars in them do to my body?  My surgeon told me to dilute all juice that has sugar in it.  I did not do that when i drank about 3 oz. of apple juice and i had diareahha all night last night.  Maybe my body cant tolerate apple juice anymore or i am thinking it is related to the sugars or  is there another problem i should talk to my surgeon about?
Thnaks,
Charlene

The main reason we do this is simply to dilute the calories.  It could be that, since your body hasn't had a dose of concentrated carbs in a while, that it was a little too much at once.

I was banded on 10/23/08 and have lost 30 lbs. Sometimes when I drink it seems like it doesn't go down very easy and eating just hurts most of the time. Is this restriction?  Is this normal?  My doctor said that I probably wouldn't need my first fill until 2 to 3 months after surgery and that many of his paitents didn't need one for a year.

Pain when you drink is definitely not the definition of restriction.  Make sure you are sipping slowly and not overloading your pouch.  I've done 2000 bands and have had maybe one or two that haven't needed a fill, and probably fewer than 20 that have not needed a fill for 3 months.

  Was wondering what excerise would be good, besides walking? At the monement I walk an average of 30 mins a day. This on a treadmill, avg 2 miles, at 4.0 incline, 2.5 mph. Or at lest that it read on the treadmill. Have been lifing weight nothin heavy! Will be starting water aerobics, this coming week 3 times a week..
  Most of my problem is my stomach area?

Thanks
 

I would recommend picking up a heart rate monitor, go to google and search "target heart rate".  Figure out what yours is for aerobic exercise and make sure you are staying in that range while on the treadmill.

Water aerobics is great as well, easy on your joints.

We have some great equipment at our Fast Track facility (you can see it at www.FastTrack.md) - if you have an Inches-a-Weigh around you they have some of the same stuff.  Easy on your joints as well.

Dr C,

I see that you have posted on the new Realize C band.  I was just banded on Dec 9th.  Would I have received this new band or are there two versions out there right now for the surgeon to choose from?  Of course, I will definitely ask my surgeon about this on my next visit, but was wondering whether there was just one updated version in the general market now.

Thanks.

Unless your surgeon is a proctor for Ethicon it is unlikely that you got a C band, but I would check with him to see for sure.  General release won't be until February.

so i had my pre-op blood work done and my liver test came back really high.  my alt and ast levels were between 6x and 7x the normal level.  my primary care dr said that it was related to a condition called NASH or fatty liver.  which is basically a concentration of fat cells in the liver.  I know the liver size is crucial to a successful surgery and that is why it is important to lose weight before surgery.

my worry comes down to my surgeon's nurse calling me and telling me that my surgeon needs yet another pre-op appt with me. it is because of my liver tests and i am wondering if there is anything or anyone who knows if liver function tests complicate band surgery or disqualify me from one type or another.  really right now, i am kind of nervous for that appointment, and my surgeon is so busy that i have to wait a month to see him. 
thanks.

Usually with NASH we see liver enzymes 1.5-2x normal.  6-7x normal is a little high for NASH so maybe he is investigating it more.  It probably is just NASH, but it's better to be safe than sorry.