Rootman

Congrats! Every NSV is GREAT and means a lot! Yeah, I always had a nervous chuckle when I read the warning on most ladder, typically 250 to 275 pounds max load and I tipped the scale at 375. A few groaned and creaked and scared the hell out of me too.

As the pre-screening I was asked to consult a BMI chart and select a target weight. I perused a few of them online, some had a preference as to "bone structure", the selections were typically something like "average" and "heavy boned". I'd always considered the "heavy boned" choice as kind of bogus and an excuse for some over weight people to pack on a few pounds and still be "within" the BMI charts recommendations. I am 6 foot tall and the BMI charts say I should weigh between 160 and 190. I haven't weighed 190 since high school and I looked thin as a reed and was picked on for being skinny. Despite this I choose a "target" weight of 180, slightly less than the top of 190 but 20 pounds heavier than the bottom of the BMI chart. I have lost about 135 pounds so far and weigh in close to 230, I am already just about to squeeze into size 36 pants and a size large top is already baggy. I cannot picture losing another 50 pounds to get down to 190. Maybe another 20 or 30 pounds down but 50 seems pretty wild. My tummy is pretty flat and actually caves in when I lie down. people already comment on how thin I am - even new people I meet, so there isn't any bias from them by knowing how huge I USED to weigh (375 pounds). I am beginning to think the target weight and the sacred BMI charts are just a crock. Maybe the "heavy boned" thing is real after all. I am now aiming for 200 to 210 for a target weight. Any less and I will probably look skeletal. It would be nice to NOT be officially "over weight" for once in my adult life but I just don't see it happening without looking like a scarecrow. So take any recommendations with a grain of salt, shoot at something according to the charts but adjust it to your looks and how you feel.

Hey I resemble that remark!

Well, I for one say YES it CAN cause a change in body odor, either LESS or MORE. Each person is different and the effects of ketosis can be different. To use an analogy most people understand think of a car that suddenly starts burning oil, it produces clouds of smoke, has reduced performance and may smell a little. In ketosis the body starts burning fat, which does not burn as cleanly as food energy, so you may be getting the film in the mouth, bad breath and perhaps a little stink because of it. It is normal and lessens with time. A tongue scraper, available at any drug or department store really helps get the coating and taste out of the mouth, as does a rinse after scraping and brushing helps with the taste. We wish you well, you're knocking the pounds down like crazy pre-op, it will just be that much easier post-op for you.

Yep what Disney said: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lower_body_lift

As the others mentioned, anesthesia, trauma and the fact you're not indulging in food and getting the endorphin "high" all play a part. It works that way for the boys too, I have been super grumpy lately and pissed at the world. WARNING! May be TMI: I had previously diagnosed with low testosterone and had my levels under control till I had surgery, then they shot right through the roof. I halved the dosage and was OK for a few more months and then had my levels rechecked and they were through the roof again. So the doc prescribed a half strength version for me - which I cut the dosage in half AGAIN, so now I am taking 1/8th of what I originally used to take. I have to wait a few weeks to get rechecked but I can feel they're too high yet. I have to take SOMETHING as my level bottoms out way below male normal between dosages, then I want to cry all the time. The reason is simple, there is less of ME to spread the hormones around in so they in effect get stronger. This can also happen wihtout taking replacement therapy as your own natural hormones will become more "concentrate" too. Now you're just starting out so this effect may not be kicking in yet.

I just swallow all 3 at one time, I used to take a bunch more vitamins and fiber pills and used to gag the whole lot down in one fell swoop - got it from my Mom, she used to do the same thing.

Please define "seniors", over 50? Over 60? Over 65? I'm 50. I experienced very little pain, took the pain pills as directed for the first couple of days then only took them at night to help me sleep - I have NEVER liked the feeling that pain pills gave me, the feeling of being out of control and groggy. I experienced only minor pain and just disregarded it. The incisions are very small and for me at least just stung without any real pain.

I told NO ONE except my wife, after I got back and all was OK I told everyone and after I started losing a lot of weight I told anyone who asked.

Yes, it IS common but not universal. The operation cuts out most of the tissue that has the proton pumps that produce acid, this means your stomach produces LESS acid but the resulting sleeve space may be too small to hold it, so it may come up as acid stomach. It seems to lessen with time. I am on Omeprozol, which is a prescription generic equivalent for prescription Prilosec, it's cheaper with my RX insurance and twice the dosage of the OTC version - hence the reason a lot of sleevers take the OTC version twice a day. I also munch on a few saltine crackers once or twice a day to lessen the acid. Provides quick cheap relief without medication and will not cause anyone to ruin their diet unless you gobble down a whole lot every day.

Not only OK but quite normal for a majority of sleevers, I know I had a hell of a time getting anything down. Since you have plenty of fat stores to use up just concentrate on getting liquids down your gullet. You can have a LOT of problems in a very short time by not having enough liquids - kidney stones, thickened blood to name two. You will be OK for weeks if not months not getting enough protein, and while it may not feel like it now, it WILL get better.

Mine did NOT cover the sleeve despite being the first part of a DS bypass - which they will not cover either unless medically indicated for some reason. They stick almost exclusively with the RNY type bypass. I didn't even pursue insurance although I have excellent coverage. I wanted the procedure *I* wanted and not a bypass. I also did not want to wait 4 to 6 months for approval and their tight schedule. I was fortunate and had some cash left from my mothers estate. I went to Tijuana MX and self paid, it was fast, about a month from initial contact to the surgery. I had no problems besides the uncomfortable flight home and the typical nausea and malaise from surgery - which I would have regardless of where I went. I would do it again if I had to.

Thanks! :embaressed_smile:

I went to Tijuana and had concerns, they all proved to be groundless. Everything went fine and we did not have even a hint of any problems. Besides having to take a long flight back home post-op the whole thing went without any issues, the flight was just real uncomfortable, then again flying when you are as big as a house always WAS anyway, being "sick" from post-op and alone just made it worse. Weigh the pros and cons and make your own decision. It worked out excellent for me and hundreds (thousands?) of others.

I simply did not want my digestive tract rerouted, the malabsorbtion and dumping that TJP mentions above were the chief reasons besides just the fear of having my esophagus and small bowel completely severed and reattached elsewhere. It also bothered me that the stomach is no longer accessible via a scope down the esophagus and you would have to use a specialist and have the scope passed down into the bowels and back up into the stomach - you'd have to consult a chart to see the new routing of the tract to visualize this. I've had stomach problems in the past, an ulcer and have a family history of stomach cancer. My sister had a bypass and was just in the hospital last week for anemia and was finally scoped the long was around after they had a specialist come in to do it they found that she had a severe bleeding ulcer. This was not diagnosed for days because it could not be easily examined With a sleeve the stomach is still there and the digestive tract is all intact. EDIT: Sorry, I didn't notice that you specified a DS bypass rather than the more common RNY. With the DS the stomach is left in line and reduced in size like the sleeve (although seemingly not as restricted). Please take the above mentions about stomach being not in line with the fact that this is an RNY procedure. The sleeve is super simple, fast and effective and as TJP mentions above can be revised to a full bypass if it doesn't have the results you need. I weighed 375 pounds last December, had the sleeve and now weigh 237 by the next June, in 6 months I've lost more than 60+ percent of my excess weight. I went from a TIGHT 52" waist to a comfortable 38" (close to fitting in a 36"), a 3X top that was bugging in the arm pits to a size LARGE top that fits nicely. It can and DOES work for most. Go with what you want and feel safe with, no one can make the decision for you.

Depends on what you mean by "adverse" effects. Nearly everyone feels pretty crappy after the surgery with some pain and lethargy. Part of this can be chalked up to having surgery in general as it is pretty traumatic on the body. The rest can be because of the effects of the sleeve. You can get temperature sensitivity, nausea, bad taste in the mouth, and bad breath along with a host of other minor complains, most pass within a few weeks to a few months.

Had it done at Jerusalem Hospital in TJ MX last December. It went fine. The place was small and didn't do the blood work or imaging on site so we had to go out to other places to have them done. Jerusalem Clinic is in a strip mall and pretty cramped and has no outside windows to speak of in any of the rooms, it was very clean but a bit noisy most of the time. The staff is courteous and professional and I experience NO problems at all. They don't put on a lot of the "dog and pony show" that you might be used to with USA medical sites, it is what it is, a simple medical clinic designed and staffed to do bariatric surgeries and cosmetic procedures onle. Also, you would have to put your trust in the extended Mexican medical community if any complications arise during your stay. One issue that may crop up is would your medical insurance (if you have any) would cover any complications that may arise later once you return home. You would also have little to NO recourse in regards to malpractice if something should arise as the MX laws are nowhere near as patient oriented as the US laws are. I would hazard a guess that 1/3 to 1/2 of what you pay in the US goes towards malpractice insurance coverage. The staff is also paid considerably less too, so that lowers cost, they still make a good living because the cost of living is so much lower in MX than the US. I have insurance but did not want to get a bypass - which is what my insurance pushes you to get. I also did not want to wait 4-6 months to get the surgery, I was having dreadful health issues and feeling pretty crappy because of them. I also feared I would get discouraged or pissed off jumping through all the hoops that my insurance makes you go through. I wanted to do something NOW. I came across the Jerusalem clinic doing online research. I looked at a few US sites that had prices as low as $15,000 and a few MX sites with a low of the Jerusalem clinic for $5000. I had cash left to me when my mother passed away a few years ago so I used it. I contacted them mid November and had the surgery Dec 6th 2010. It is relatively safe, although ANYONE and EVERY site has it's issues and there are people that have problems and I would image there has been some horror stories. Go with your gut and what you feel you can trust. We all wish you well.

This is a real issue and I'm sorry if it offends anyone. This is about the only site I regularly visit that is related to health so I thought I'd bring it up and see if anyone had any ideas. When the wife and I made whoopie last week ago I noticed my seminal discharge had a slight yellow color to it. I thought it was odd but was not concerned. Last night we did it again and I noticed this time it was BROWN. Nasty looking and kind of scary too. This morning we tried again for no other reason then to check it's color and it was brown again. I've searched online and a few suggestions are blood in the semen, perhaps due to a broken blood vessel, perhaps because of an injury to the testes.. Well I don't remember doing and injury to the "boys" but I have been exercising a lot lately. I swim Monday and Wednesday's for 1/12 hours for about 2 miles total each day. I swim an hour on Fridays for about 1 1/3 miles. I ride a stationary bike Tuesdays and Thursdays for 1/2 hour each day and then do about 1/2 hour resistance training too. Could I be "traumatizing" my testes with all of this? I feel no pain and have no stinging when I urinate, just dark semen. Anyone ever experience this? Could it be due to diet? I don't eat anything unusual or anything in excess. I'm going on 7 months post-op for my sleeve and am still losing between 2 and 4 pounds a week.

Mine was mostly nausea and a general feeling of malaise, not much pain though. I was constipated and my stomach made a lot of weird noises nearly all the time. I was fatigued and could barely choke down a thing and could not drink much at all. I nearly threw up just once or twice be thankfully never did. Parts of it could be blamed on the anesthesia, the other on the surgery itself as the body directs most of it's energies to healing the recent "wound", you also might start to get into what is called ketosis ( read more here ). This leaves a funny taste in your mouth and perhaps an odd smell. You will probably feel like crap and wish you hadn't done it. It passes in a few weeks or a month and you get to feel better.

Well I'm going to come out and say it's OK. There is no way a kernel will get caught in a "seam" after a few weeks this seam is just as closed as the incisions are on your belly. If you're on solid foods then it's OK in moderation, be careful to not over do it though as you can eat a whole lot of popcorn, it really slides on through without much resistance. If it doesn't agree for some reason then wait a week or two and start again.

I did the same thing, but I used Pedialyte for no more reason than Gatorade always tasted nasty to me. I used to NOT be even be able to lie on my left side because by stomach would make all sorts of non stop blurping and growling noises, it was comical at first then got to be annoying. It let up eventually.

Boy this seems to be overkill IMHO. It seems you should be relatively clean of most bulk by now with the liquid diet. I was told to take a couple of laxatives the day before. The issue with surgery is that a LOT of things have a tendency to shut down for a while after anesthesia, that and with sitting around pretty much motionless for days afterwards tends to clog the pipes. It's painful to be constipated, being constipated after surgery just adds insult to injury. I'd go ahead and do it at the later time the doc suggested and be ready to feel pretty miserable (I almost said crappy but that was too much of a pun). When this stuff works you get explosive diarrhea and it feels like your insides are going to turn inside out and exit your bung hole. Don't forget to sip a LOT of Water after surgery too, you need to keep hydrated and need to flush the remnants of the anesthetic out with the urine.

I have had NO restriction on spicy foods, I love them too. In fact my tastes have changed pretty radically and most things taste super bland to me and I often choose spicier alternatives just to get SOME taste. Of course YMMV

I feel for ya' Brian, I'm having the same "troubles" Reminds me of an old Larry the Cable Guy bit, he buys his clothes at WalMart, because there he is a medium, every where else he is a XXXL.

Boy the arm rests don't cut into my sides either!