Rootman

Proton Pump Inhibitor , like Nexium or Prolosec, taken for heartburn or gastric reflux. Instead of just neutralizing stomach acid PPI's actually try and make the stomach make less acid. If you have a problem with heartburn or gastric reflux then you may need to take one of these.

Wow NTVTXN I can believe a doctor for being cautious about surgery in MX but to actually accuse them of taking something else "out" is beyond wild! They'd be shut down in a minute if they ever did that! We Americans - especially "professionals" in America are such a greedy arrogant lot, we put down anything that isn't done in the good ol' USA as trash. I am sure that you can find disreputable places in MX to get things done but if you stick with the recommendations - of which you can find MANY on this board - you should be safe. I went to the Jerusalem Clinic in Tijuana MX and so has a LOT of folks on this board. As far as "certified" American clinics and so forth I've had a LOT of problems with doctors here in the US. Luckily the procedures have all gone OK but sometimes they've goofed in recovery - like feeding my wife crackers after hiatal hernia surgery when the doctor STRICTLY wrote orders in CAPS that she have NOTHING BY MOUTH FOR 24 HOURS and then the nurse swiping the cracker package from the trash to cover her tracks. We've gotten wrong pre-op and post-op instructions, had appointments screwed up. Not to mention the shady billing practices from SEVERAL "IN PLAN" doctors that were supposed to settle for what the insurance paid them and not bill me the rest. Double billing, billing for non-existent services.

I was a foodaholic, ballooned up to 375# and was miserable. Had my VSG on 12/6/10 and today at 5+ weeks I am 56 lbs down. I found that I still think about food and image how good things taste, being in my soft foods stage I am beginning to start to eat some of my old favorites - eggs, tasty Soups etc. I find the first bite exquisite and then after that I get really turned off rapidly and can barely finish most meals. By the time I am near the end of the portion I have to force myself to eat - this is like after 2 ozs of something. I feel really turned off and disgusted with food now. And NOTHING even sounds good after I've eaten a few ozs of anything. Anyone else feel this way? While this may help me reach my goal I am afraid I will be malnourished when I reach it and have to eat enough to maintain my weight when I get there. I hope it changes between now and then.

I am SOOO jealous! Can't wait till I see results like that.

Um, I guess I am confused. What is a spinal? Like spinal tap or spinal block for pain control? If so I am pretty sure that neither is used in these types of surgeries. I'f I'm not on the right track please tell us what you are meaning by "spinal".

I did it perhaps the WORST way possible. I rushed into the decision after a few health issues popped up, I made the decision in about a week and immediately committed to a date and bought tickets. I went ALONE - all by my little self - and sat in a hotel room for 2 days (the flight was $250 cheaper if I left Saturday instead of Sunday, so I saved about $150). All alone watching TV, not able to sleep without my CPAP (didn't want to carry it). I was a nervous wreck. On Monday I awoke out of fitful sleep at 4am and stayed up. Caught a ride to the airport to get picked up by the hospital transport. I was just about to throw up the whole morning. Got there, went through the blood test, check in and prelim exam. I laid shivering on the cot for about 20 minutes - it wasn't cold I was scared sh##less. They came and got me and in a few moments in MY reckoning I was out of surgery and being woken up and walked back to recovery. Now the SCARED REALLY set in. I made it OK despite some pretty sever nausea, made it back through the border and back home on my flights (flying is horrible let alone after surgery). I've said this to tell you that if I can make it without any support YOU can make it too. Stick with it, buck up and be brave. YOU CAN DO IT.

Actually I'd be concerned if you WEREN'T scared. This is a BIG life changing event, you have every right to be a little frightened. Having come this far you must be assured by now - at least down deep - that you've made the right choice. Stick with it, buck up and you'll get through it fine.

Regrets? One is that I didn't do it a few years ago, I'd be at my desired weight now and not still suffering the effects of obesity on my health.

Imagine the situation with NO upfront fee, I can see people getting chicken and canceling right and left or rescheduling ad-infinitum. Part of the reason I went through with mine after being scared and alone for 2 days in a hotel is the fact that I already had a sizable investment in the process.

So what are the symptoms of a leak? Last night I was eating about 3 ozs of roast beef and started on a small serving of squash when I started having pretty bad pain and the urge to throw up. It passed in about 10 minutes and I felt queasy for a while. Today my stomach hurts a bit, like a mild stomach ache. I managed to down a Boost! for Breakfast and 1/2 can Soup for lunch. I suspect I DON'T have a leak but it started me wondering, what would I feel if I DID have one?

I think that protein intake this early is not very important, wait till you are a few months out and lost some weight to start to address it. It's hard to get enough of ANYTHING this early in the game.

5 weeks post op, 50 YO male. I was scheduled for an brain MRI later this week. I had a dizzy spell back before my surgery and saw a balance specialist, she thought it was critical that I see a neurologist and get an MRI because I had a previous bad dizzy spell about 23 YEARS ago and have had a few whiplash injuries over the decades. I told her to ask my regular doc about it and surprisingly he agreed. I went and the neurologist wanted an MRI and ultrasound of my carotid arteries Well I look at the pre-test sheet the nurse misspelled carotid and highlighted a bunch of weird instructions. Seems I was to drink 32 ozs of Water 1 hour before the ultrasound and NOT pee. Now wait a minute! Fill my bladder for a test on my neck? I called and indeed she had screwed up and I didn't need to do that (whew!). However I mentioned about my VGS sleeve and the lady flipped out, I MUST wait a minimum of 12 weeks to get the MRI after surgery. This didn't make any sense at all. I explained the staples were titanium (I have an email from my doctor stating so, even mentioning the brand) and therefore non-ferrous. They were adamant and insisted I wait 12 weeks. 3 calls both ways after she consulted with her colleagues and YES indeed I had to wait another 7 weeks. Well I didn't really want either test and was really pissed over all the carelessness exhibited by the Dr's nurse and the MRI places attitude - I just canceled the whole deal. Has ANYONE ever heard of having to wait 12 weeks after surgery to have an MRI? I searched Google this afternoon and while I see nothing relating to a VGS I see plenty of references of using an MRI IMMEDIATLY FOLLOWING AFTER SURGERY to confirm placement of several surgical implants or to check on several types of procedures. I also called up the Dr's office and canceled the follow up since I was not having the procedures. Was I wrong? I just find it hard to place any trust in either office when so many screw ups and miscommunication have been made. I probably can't go back to this neuro doc again!

Mine was and still is 5 weeks out! Gold Bond anti itch lotion with vitamin E and aloe works well. My entire belly peeled! perhaps from the iodine? I'm not sure. My shirt would irritate my belly so badly I had to hike my shirt when I got off work and let it hang out. I'm sure I looked like a slob but it was itching so badly!

Um, not single here either but one suggestion - if you DO order a meal don't order the most expensive thing on the menu and then only take 3 bites. Guys DO notice that - and feel abused. That is at least if you're doing the old fashioned date with the guy paying that is.

I posted this elsewhere but maybe it bears repeating. I sued the Jerusalem Clinic in Tijuana MX. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Like most things the truth lies somewhere in the middle. You basically get what you pay for, a cut rate procedure. The procedure is fine and you get what you pay for and not much else. If you come through it fine with no complications then you really save a lot of money. As others have pointed out the facility is VERY VERY small. It is a store front in a strip mall. The rooms are tiny but adequate. Most of the staff speak SOME english, a very few speak good english. Contrary to popular opinion Tijuana is a relatively safe town. Just like any metropolitan are it has its rough sides, but you will not be near any of them unless you go out of your way to go to them. They will pick you up at the San Diego airport at the end of the front terminal, it happens to be the Jet Blue terminal. They pick you up and take you to Tijuana, there they stop at a small medical clinic that appears to be in a rough part of town, they take a blood sample for "tests". What tests they run is a mystery as you never hear about it again. When you finally arrive at Jerusalem they check you in and take your remainder of payment. They usher you to a staging / recovery room - they are supposed to weigh you in too but often forget to. In the waiting room you strip and get ready for the operation. An elderly doctor who is a cardiologist comes in with a very tiny portable ECG machine and takes a quick ECG test, he asks some questions about your heart health. A nurse comes in and puts in an IV and wraps your feet and calves with light bandages - to help prevent DVTs. Afterwards you WALK - there is no room to wheel you on a gurney - to the operation room. You are quickly put under and the operation is done. I was rather roughly wakened by being shaken very hard and asked loudly to WAKE UP, WAKE UP, WAKE UP!. Then you again WALK back to the recovery room. After a while you are walked to a double room that is barely big enough for 2 beds to join another patient who may be recovering from a different procedure - they do many other things thee like cosmetic surgery. They keep you hydrated with an IV and administer pain and anti nausea drugs to you. I was having a LOT of nausea, they seemed to give me enough to keep it at bay. You spend one night in this room and about half a day more and then will leave for the guest house. The guest house is maybe 15 minutes away in a gated community it is smallish and basic. The workmanship is very very poor by US standards but it is an OK place. The place is packed with as many patients and patients helpers as possible and there is always someone to talk to but not a lot of privacy. The third day you are asked to drink a flavorless blue dye, this is actually the second leak test done on your new stomach, if none of the dye is in the drain bulb - a small bulb attached to a tube going into your abdomen then you have no leaks. The first was done in the operating room where they suffused your stomach and check it.. You are later taken to a radiological clinic and made to drink barium which is incredibly foul, because of the VGS you are forced to sip rather than slam it and get it over with. A quick x-ray is taken to check for leaks. After the x-ray and if you have no leaks it's back to the hospital to pull your drain bulb and change your dressings. I felt a LOT better after the bulb was pulled. After this it is back to the guest house for one more night. The trip back to the US takes a few hours as you must go through customs to re-enter the USA. You sit in traffic for hours waiting to get through. I actually elected to go back to the states a day early after the x-ray because I was traveling back by air on the 4th day and did not want to do the customs thing and THEN the airport security thing both in one day. The one thing I would recommend is to NOT make your trip as tight as I did, I was forced to by lack of vacation days. Give yourself at least 5 days or more, take the time to mess around San Diego, The air travel is brutal enough without having to be upset by recovering from surgery. Make you return flights as short as possible and spring for first class if you can afford it. I got exactly what I paid for, nothing more nothing less. I would do it again if I needed something like this again. I was really suffering from my massive weight, blood pressure and sugar all over the place, bad edema in my legs and terrible aches and pains in my hips, knees and ankles from my size. I was 375# at my heaviest. As a contrast - my wife has had a few laproscopic procedure including a hiatal hernia repair done locally here in the states, none of which are as serious as the VGS but still more than minor, in both cases she was treated as an outpatient and spent only a few hours in the hospital. In the case of the hernia repair she was actually fed crackers when she was to have NOTHING my mouth for 8 hours afterward. When I confronted the nurse she ran out and checked, when she came back in she actually fished the cracker package out of the trash and pocketed it, she later denied giving her anything. I mention this just to point out that you can get crappy service and dreadful mistakes ANYWHERE and the cost of service does NOT reflect the quality of care received. If you are being strung out by insurance or simply have no insurance and are in fairly good health it is well worth the risk. There most definitely IS risk and you may end up in serious condition. You will have to study and pray about it and seek counsel from friends and your doctor and ultimately make you own decision.

Like a few others here I went with a VGS using a self pay facility. I went to the Jerusalem hospital in Tijuana MX. http://www.medicaltourismco.com/mexico-hospitals/hospital-jerusalem-tijuana-mx.php The cost was $5000 out of pocket, perhaps the revision with the removal of the lap band might be more. I understand that some are not comfortable going this route, but it has worked out well for me and many others.

So sorry to hear of your difficulties. Like anything everyone responds differently and unfortunately you had a pretty bad response. I wish you well my friend and hope this new year brings you healing and normalcy in your trek to become a slimmer healthier you.

I got really bad hiccups for about 2 weeks and found standing up and walking around was the only relief that worked.

I was supposed to be on the liquid diet for 7 days pre-op but elected to go 10 days as it Friday after after Thanksgiving and I thought it would be a good day to start. I cheated that day and had a piece of pumpkin pie While sitting in my hotel the day before surgery I saw repeated commercials for a 2 bacon 5 cheese pizza from a popular chain, man oh man it was all I could do not to pick up the phone, but I persevered.

I was not diabetic but fairly hypoglycemic. I'd come home after work starving and then pig out on carbs - chips or cake or something. I took a chromium supplement that helped but my sugar would be in the 40's or 50's some days. Every time I've checked it since then it's been from 90 to 120 - just about perfect.

Good reason to NEVER visit THAT restaurant again! I feel a little bad about not spending as much at our favorite restaurant so I leave a little more tip. I did tell the waitress what I had done and she was glad for me, they accommodate me and blend up anything I want. Spend your money where you get decent service.

My sister had such a card issued to her after her gastric bypass, she found (as stated above) that the kids meal selection was pretty bad as far as good Protein rich selections and other smaller restaurants that served smaller child's portions were happy to sell it to her with or without a card. So all in all the card was of little use. One idea I've heard is to order a smaller entrée and ask the wait staff to bring a to go box when the meal is served. Immediately cut the entrée in half and box it so it is out of sight and unavailable. If the meal is very large then cut in 1/3rds or 1/4s box all but one portion. A couple I met that both have lap bands order ONE full size entrée and then cut it in half, box that half and then cut the remaining half in half and that's what we eat. That's how much excess we server here in the USA, 4 times as much as we need.

I can't help but to wonder - and please don't hate me for asking this - but is this psych eval actually for the patient or for the doctors liability? I mean if it was found that the surgery was performed on a mentally ill person the doctor may be on the hook for any problems they might encounter. Is anyone actually turned down because of the results? Are there ever any follow sessions for patients who ARE found with "issues" I went the self pay route in Mexico and there was not psych eval. I knew what I wanted to achieve and knew I could not do it on my own - I just loved food too much. Did I really miss something that I should of gotten?

I get violent nasty hiccups, feels like my stomach is coming up my throat. I find that standing up ad walking right away helps. It is definitely a FULL signal for me, I sometimes get them when I am sipping on water too.

It may become very difficult to overcome this as quite often a persons self image has LITTLE connection to what they actually look like - anorexia sufferers are a prime example. You may want to see about a doctor, psychologists are VERY familiar with this issue. I have an opposite view, despite being obese for over 25 of my 50 years I always viewed myself as being thin - I was even thin in my dreams. I was always SHOCKED when I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror, it took me a moment to register who that fat guy was. I don't know if EITHER mindset is better as I was always struggling with avoiding mirrors, pictures or even window reflections to keep from seeing myself and being disgusted by what I saw. If this is really an issue you for you then PLEASE try and consult a mental health provider and see if you may be helped in getting a more accurate view of your self.