CCinINdiana

I have wanted to post before and after pics for ages, but wouldn't take the time to read the instructions. Finally did it tonight and changed my profile pic! Someone please look LOL Thanks! Cathi

Hi There,

I am in Sellersburg about 10 minutes north of Louisville. Have you had your surgery yet? I had mine July 2011 and am at my goal weight. Love it, only wish I had been able to have it 20 years ago! The little pic is my before pic, not sure how to change it, but need to. I also have a friend that lives in Jeffersonville that had the sleeve 10 months ago. She is doing great too and is almost at goal. Cathi

Another happy Dr. Aceves patient here!! Reading your post made me miss them. It was a wonderful experience (for a surgery LOL) . I brought my partner with me, she brought her x-box and both Docs hung out in our room and played with her LOL They have this process down to a T. The only apprehension I had was after the 2 hour drive there. When I walked in and they handed me the cup to pee in I burst out in tears. Thinking what the hell am I doing in a 3rd world country, having surgery. Fortunately met with the anastesiologist right after that and he put me at total ease. He spent 2 hours talking to us, explaining every single thing. Then met with Dr. Aceves. Very very nice and then I knew 100% I was in not only good hands, but great hands! I am at goal, and haven't had any problems what so ever. I need to update my profile picture to show "my after". I am ready to make a second trip down there to get the girls fixed up. I had heard from someone on here that Dr. Aceves was working with a plastic surgeon? Any one have any information?

Hi There,

I used Dr. Aceves July 2011- while in the hospital I initially got IV pain medication, shots and then liguid tylenol. I was up walking 3 hours after surgery and really had minimal pain (compared to my c-section). I crushed all my pills the first couple of weeks in liquid..it was so gross, After that I swallowed them just fine. I think I could have earlier, but was afraid. I am at goal now having lost over 100lbs. I am truly a food addict, so for me the head hunger has been the hardest. Wanting to eat when I am bored, happy, sad whenever! Using the sleeve correctly really prevents you from over eating, however as I am sure you've read and heard about--if you get in the bad habit of eating slider food then I can see where me or anyone could easily gain the weight back. Good luck with your decision. It has been one of the very best decision of my life!! Cathi

I was just going back and reading some of my old posts....I did have some trouble telling if I was full and stuff and I lost 30 lbs the first 6 weeks. I was also complaining about those nexium mups lol miss you at work.

wow look at my profile pic this was taken the morning of my surgery, I can't believe how different I look now.

I told you, you were doing awesome!!!!!! So proud of you : )

Hi,

I haven't had a chance to update in awhile. I am doing great. Will hit my 3 month mark October 12, lost almost 50 lbs and feel awesome. I have spent the last week in the hospital with my partner who had a by-pass 2 years ago September. Last Wednesday she started throwing up blood, tons of it. Was put in ICU, they did a scope and said she had a marginal ulcer where her lower intestine connected to her pouch. Was in ICU until Monday, got 8 pints of blood and had a by-pass revision and ulcer removal on Tuesday. Now she has a blockage in her esophagus. Can't even swollow her spit. Doc thinks it is related to swelling. It has been a rough week. Makes me so grateful for my sleeve and no complications.

I was sleeved by Dr. Aceves July 12. The hotel we stayed at Crown Royal, OMG had the best rib eye tacos and quacamole!! Also there is a train resturant right across the street and down a little on the right that also has really good food. Nina or someone on Dr. Aceves' team will tell you exactly where it is safe to walk and where they have good food!

Who had even a little bit of a crush on Ernesto, Sergio, Dr. Aceves, or Dr. Campos?

Oh you forgot Sergio!!!!! He was a doll. I really liked him alot. When he wheeled me into the OR room he asked how much Spanosh do you know. I told him just what I learned from Dora and Diego..he said well I am Diego and this (a female nurse) is Dora. Next thing I knew I was waking up in recovery. So he was Diego the rest of the week. LOL I was thinking about our earlier post...wonder if we miss them cause it is like your in your own little world those 5 days on that unit. Even though I walked up and down the street in my hospital gowns!! Ooops I just re-rad your post...you didn't forget Sergio!!! Cathi

I emailed and said I was tolerating clears fine and could I have thin liquids on day 8. I got the okay and added Protein shakes, skim milk, Soups, and anything that was the consistency of Water but opaque.

It was weird I had no hunger the first 10 days, had to remind myself to constantly sip sip sip LOL I ate a zillion sugar free popscyles that seemed to help I could bite them. Cathi

I'm curious -- why do you choose Instant Breakfast, which has high sugar & low Protein, instead of some of the other powdered Protein Shake supplements that are out there (that are the other way around)?

Hi Purple Lady,

I drink the sugar free instant breakfast. I just can't stand the taste of the real Protein Drinks. I am trying to get most of my protein from food. They have 12 grams of protein plus the milk. I have never been a breakfast eater so thought this would be better then nothing. Cathi

Hi,

Congratulations on your decision, you won't regret it. Dr. Aceves sleeved me July 12th! It was a wonderful experience. If you read under the Mexico forum, I was just sure all these people on here were paid off to say nice things about Mexico doctors. But they weren't. Everything I read was true. You will be in great hands. I felt very safe the entire time. So far I have lost 31 pounds and feel great. I was a diet coke junky, couldn't imagine life without it. But i figured if I was going to spend over 9000.00 to get healthy I would follow all doctor's orders. I gave up the diet coke 3 weeks before surgery. I drank tons of crystal light those three weeks. The first was the hardest. I was irritable and had headaches. Second week was much better. Now since surgery I can't stand the taste of ANY crustal light flavor and live on Chick-fil-a diet lemonade. You can do it! Just make up your mind. Keep us posted. Cathi

Hi Hdub,

I've been following you on the Mexico board. How are you doing? Isn't Dr. A awesome? Its weird but I miss them all LOL I was so nervous during his talk all I remember is his saying you can make good food choices or bad food choices and to cut things in what I thought were dime sizes, but maybe it was finger nail!!! I wrote him today to get some specifics about how long a "meal" should last. Cathi

Hi Foxbins,

I usually have one of those carnation instant sf breakfast for breakfast. Not sure why I had the pudding, may have been out of milk! So if my amounts are ok I am wondering if I am eating to fast. How long should it take me to eat the ounce or so of whatever I am eating? I am trying to chew 30 times. I remember Dr. Aceves saying cut things into dime size bites, but don't remember how long a meal should take to finish. Thanks for your feedback. Cathi

I couldn't gag them down disolved in water- I would crush mine and mix them with a spoon full of broth. After a month I just couldn't do it anymore. Wrote Dr. Aceves and he said i could change to Prisolec which I can swallow whole thank god. Cathi

I am almost 6 weeks out and have been careful to under eat my sleeve, although I frequently have tummy aches after i eat. I have read lots of posts from people on measuring stuff. How much should I be measuring. An example for today Breakfast I ate 2 oz sugar free pudding, lunch i had 4 slices of very very thin deli ham with cream cheese in the middle. Couldn't eat it all. dinner I had 2 oz of salmon patty, very dense and couldn't eat it all. Tummy hurt. Am I eating to much? My weight loss has been good. 30 lbs in 5 weeks. How much are others eating at this point? Thanks for your help. Cathi

Dr. Aceves sleeved me July 13th. I had switched from Dr. Kelly. There was just something in my gut telling me to switch. I am so glad I did, The ride from the airport to the hospital was a whirlwind. You drive through these mountainy roads with HUGE boulders. You get to the hospital and start peeing in a cup and having blood drawn. That part freaked me out a bit, i still hadn't caught my breath from the ride LOL After that you meet the anethesiologist- he was absolutely wonderful. Spent about an hour explaining his role. He was so professional and soothing, I knew I was in the right place. Dr. Aceves is wonderful. He is very professional and kind. He immedidately made me feel safe and relaxed. The hospital is small but spotless. People are not joking when they say the clean non-stop. Those ladies must be exausted at the end of the night. All of us bariatric patients are in one wing. The nurses were awesome, if i asked for anything they were very responsive. Only had one language blip..I was trying to explain I wanted the air conditioner turned down, I was hot. My control was behind their nurses station. Finally I said caliente and fanned myself and she got it. Sergio wheeled me into surgery and asked how much Spanish I knew and I said only what I knew from Dora and Diego. He said well I am Diego and this is Dora (another lady nurse) and I was out. Next thing I was in my room. I don't even remember being in recovery LOL I was up walking an hour after I was in my room. I read on here sip sip sip walk walk walk and I did. I was up and down those halls. By the first night I was doing laps LOL I was determined to get that gas moving..and I actually only had 2 pains with it. After surgery Dr. Aceves and DR. Campos came by several times a day to check in on us. My partner had brought her x-box and they even sat and played with her. Dr. Aceves also allowed her to come into the surgery. She is a nurse and told me later that she was very impressed by his work and how sterile everything was. I felt very safe and cared for while i was there. He is wonderful and you will be in great hands. Cathi

I cried when I left my two kids too. Its scary to go to another country for surgery!! Dr,Aceves sleeved me July 13th. Everyone there is so nice. Good luck ans keep us posted! Cathi

Dr. Aceves gave me a big bottle of the liguid tylenol. The toradol gave me a headache. Cathi

Hi,

You have been so helpful on these boards, is it okay if I ask you a couple of specific questions? I graduated to mushies this week and I seem to be having difficulty tolerating it. Creamy Soups seem ok. In addition I have tried a little chicken all mushed up with a little gravy. I've been measuring it and eating 2 ounces. I have also tried scrambled eggs twice with a little cheese. Thats what I had tonight and I feel like I've eaten an entire chicken. It feels like it is all the way up in my throat. I didn't measure the egg, assuming 1 egg couldn't have been more then 2 ounces, maybe I was wrong. I've been eating 2 ounces of Soup or chicken at lunch and then 2 ounces of Soup, egg or chicken for dinner. Usually for Breakfast I will eat 2 ounces of sf pudding, but i have to thin it out some. I worry I'm not eating enough, but I am never really hungry. I have read and re-read Dr. Aceves post op instructionsm maybe I should just go back to the Soups.< /p>

My second question is about those god awlful nexium mumps. I've been disolving them in soup and gagging them down. My friend is a pharmacist and said i need to disolve them under my tongue. Swallowing them makes them disolve in the stomach and not the lower intestine. There is just no way I can do the under the tongue. Do you think I should switch to something that can be swallowed whole or cut in half?

Thank you in advance for any help or advice!! Cathi

Because they are sublingual I understand you are suppose to dissolve them under your tongue, I can't stand the flavor, and have been disolving them in Soup or something and taking them that way. My friend a pharmacist said if I do that then is disolving in my stomach and not getting to my small intestine where it is suppose to be. So am I not getting the right effect from them? I'd like to just swallow them whole. I still have 2 months worth and hate to waste them, but thining if I am not getting the benefit from them the way I am taking them maybe I should switch to something diffrent. Cathi

I just started mushies this week and am not sure if I am doing it right. I have been measuring 2oz. besides creamy Soups, I've mushed up some chicken with a little gravy, and had a scrambled egg on two different occassions with a few strands of cheese mixed in. Every time I eat I feel stuffed. Tonight i had the scrambled egg and i feel like it is all the way up my throat. Could I be eating to fast? By the time you chew a scrambled egg up there is almost nothing to it. Soup seems to do okay, but the other stuff not so much. Cathi

Yes, he gives you post op instructions, incision care, Vitamin imformation, diet etc. i will try and email it. Cathi

I also had Dr. Aceves- 8750.00 surgery, 60.00 passport, tipped Ernesto about 20.00 total, Nexxium was almost 200.00 for 3 months supply, awesome last night dinner for 2 at the hotel was 15.00!! My flight was 370.00 from Louisville. We spent the first night in San Diego went to a hotel Dr. Aceves' program uses (holiday inn) and it was 99.00. Peace of mind 100,000,00.00!!! Cathi