trizzy35

I went alone too. My husband had a boy scout trip, and my friends couldn't afford to go...so I went alone. Not bad at all!!! I met up with another gal going to Dr. Aceves, and we had dinner the night before surgery! I think if someone else would have gone, they would have been terribly bored, and not worth the extra money to be bored!! I was bored too, but I did watch a lot of TV, played on my computer, and just wiled away the hours until I went home! It was kind of nice to have a few days to myself!! Good luck and God Bless!!

I had my band removed about 2 years prior to going to Dr. Aceves to have the sleeve. He charged me the normal sleeve rate, although he did have to spend more time in surgery because of scarring. I do not know about other docs, but he didn't charge my any more just because I had had the band removed! Good luck to you!!

You sound exactly like me a week before my surgery!! I can tell you that it is NOT as bad as you think! Dr. Aceves is great, and the hospital and staff were great....They had my IV in for 2 days (day of surgery and 1 day after), the drain coming out wasn't bad AT ALL!!! It felt more like a ripple going through the belly, up and out. I DID cry like a baby when I went into the surgery room!!! I felt really stupid, but I swear they laid me out on the table, and quickly put me to sleep...no counting backwards, no "Okay here it goes!" , which I think was best for me!! The only pain I ever felt was from the gas, and it was in my shoulder....the nurses come in like clockwork giving you more pain meds in your IV, and honestly you hardly feel any pain at all from the surgery. I was super scared, terrified even, and I went to Dr. A alone, but I knew I had to do this to take back my life....you are going to be fine, you are going to hate the first week after surgery, but then everything will slowly get better.....this is the start of a new life for you!!! Good luck to you and God Bless!!

You're looking sooooo good!!! Congrats!!!

I went through medloanfinance.com and after paying them $265, all they did was give me a credit card. I get those credit card offers in the mail ALL the time, and in hindsight I would have just replied back to one of them. Also, when I charged my surgery on my credit card, the CC company charged me a "foreign transaction fee" of about $200+ so that SUCKED!!!! So, I would either try to borrow money from friends, family, banks here, or something instead of trying to pay with a credit card or going through one of the loan companies...I ended up paying almost $500 more out-of-pocket expense because I didn't ask the right questions and wasn't well informed. I hope you will be better informed now! Good luck to you!!!

Congrats to both of you!!! You picked a great doc, and it will be so wonderful to have someone there going through the same thing!!! Will be lifting you up in prayer on the 15th; the day that will change your life for the better!! Good luck and God Bless!!

Good luck to you!!! You are gonna do great and be lovin' life (in about a week) and I'll be praying for a quick and painless recovery!!

HI! I went to Dr. Aceves and went through medloanfinance.com......I was NOT happy with the finance place...I thought I was applying for a loan, but it just turned out to be a credit card...which would have been fine, except I get those offers in the mail all the time, and instead of paying the finance company $265 to get me a credit card, I would have just sent one of the offers back with a "yes". That was my only gripe with the finance company, and with Dr. Aceves and his staff...I have no gripes! Good luck to you!

So glad you're home and doing well!!! I NEVER take naps, but for about a week after my surgery I took two a day! Take care of yourself!

Congrats!!! All the little milestones are great, but when we can actually SEE the weight loss on the scale, it makes a huge difference!! Keep up the good work!

HAHAHAHA!!! Thanks for all the laughs from everyone---I SOOOO needed this today!!!! :pound:

I, too, went to Dr. Aceves in Mexicali alone. I felt very safe and secure.....I don't know anything about Dr. Kelly, but it is their business to get people down there, keep them safe, and do the surgery, so those people will tell others, and they will tell others, and so on.... I am sure you will be safe, and the only problem I had was that I was BORED!!!! I also had a really creaky throat when I got back and started talking with my hubby and kids 'cause I hardly talked with anyone down there! Good luck to you and I hope everything turns out well!!

I am doing pretty well on the weight loss front--but sucking on getting in enough protein. I LOVE being able to eat cream of potato soup (strain out potatoes) and have been living on that, cream of chicken soup, jell-o, and popsicles. I have not been keeping track of calories, but the liquids are really going down well and can't wait to start on mushies soon!!!

Best wishes to you all!!!! You're gonna do great and have a whole, new, wonderful life to look forward to! God bless!!!

You will be in good hands!!! God speed your recovery and make it quick and painless!!! Keep us posted on how you are doing! (Although I posted the day after surgery and my thoughts/typing were not normal-- I have gone back and read them now and can tell I was still a bit fuzzy from the pain meds! )

Congratulations!!! Tomorrow will be a great day! Wishing you a quick recovery and God bless!!!

WOW!! You are da man--I mean WOman!!! You must be one of those super organized people--will bode well for your sleeve future!!! You will be in good hands with Dr. A--he did mine 1 week and 1 day ago....Good luck to you and may God bless you with a speedy recovery!

Ha--YES!! I weigh myself in the morning and at night, and I am loving to see the weight drop! I got a digital scale, so at least it might be a little more accurate! My kids are loving it too--"oh, I'm 80 pounds, I'm 139.."etc... It is crazy though that I need to "lose" about 1 kid to be down to my goal weight!

I had the band done in Mexico, obviously self-pay, and returned home loving my band! I PB'd one time, and NEVER again after that--eewww--but after about a year I started feeling REALLY restricted and started throwing up. A few months go by, had to get total un-fill, worked for awhile, and then it SLIPPED!!! I had lost 100 pounds before it slipped, then lost 30 more while I was trying to figure out why I could only eat Pringles and sip milk (besides having the WORST acid reflux of my life and sleeping sitting up in bed for a month), yes, I am not only a slow learner, I am a denier as well! I had it taken out 2 years ago, and then gained ALL my weight back plus 15 more. I just had the sleeve done exactly 1 week ago today, and while I think everything is going well, I will find out for sure in the following months. The band worked for me until it slipped, and I think I was more pissed off that I basically threw away $9,000 for nothing!!!

You are gonna do GREAT!!

DITTO!!!!!

Mim--when I read your post it sounded so much like my experience I actually had to stop and make sure I didn't post it! I had great success with the band, lost 100 lbs, it slipped, lost 30 more pounds, then had to have it out...got it out in the states then gained ALL the weight back plus 15 more!!!! After 3 years of being fat again, had finally had enough, called Dr. Aceves' office for a sleeve. So far it is working out great! I just got back on Monday, but so far so good!! I had people telling me to just "calorie count and exercise"... they just really don't understand how it is for us....You do what is right for you and tell the other nay-sayers to just "bugger-off" !!! Good luck to you and best wishes!!

Haven't had a scale in the house for about 2 years....now that surgery is over and I am home safe and sound, I am actually looking forward to going out and buying a scale today!!! It will still be depressing to see that astronomical figure, but oh how satisfying it will be to (hopefully) watch it go down...downnn....downnnnnnn...

Good luck and best wishes to all of you this week!!! Will be praying for safe, successful surgeries, and painless, quick recoveries!!! You're gonna do GREAT!!!!!

I think I had both? The old one told me he was gonna do the spine thing, but the young checked up on me later....I gues the spine thing is for a nerve blocker that lasts 20-30ish hours after surgery--helps keep pain down....It worked..the only REAL pain I had was the gas pain in my shoulder, which got REALLY bad..was crying...but has since gone away....now feeling like I ate too much at Thanksgiving-even though just sipping apple juice-so trying to walk and keep standing up. Hopefully all will be well tomorrow!