Suzannesh

Dr. Aveces did not write a book that I am aware of, I think you have him confused with another doctor. Suzanne

Hi, I have NEVER said that they are not other Doctors out there who are not good. I am speaking from my experience only. I want you to check out your doctor and and find out all the things I brought up. I am NOT retracing anything I have said. As you can see people have found that Dr. Aceves is listed in the Newsweek Magazine April 2012 and they purchased it from Amazon.com. I can only speak from my experience. As one patient said she personally met, other doctors that Dr. Aceves was Proctoring--teaching them his style and how he does Sleeve Weight Loss Surgery. Johnson & Johnson-The Mexican Division of Johnson & Johnson is paying Dr. Aceves to do this for them. They respect his ability and feel that he has something to share with other doctors. It says a lot about him, that he is willing to teach other doctors how he does his surgery. Enough said, I know there are other doctors in Mexico, and I am happy for you that you are just as pleased with your doctor as I am. I just want people to watch out for the ones who are not so good and question where you are doing your recovery from. Take care, Suzanne

Hi Everyone, What is your ultimate wish or dream? For me it was to lose the weight and NEVER gain it back again. It was to become healthy and not have my poor body hurt every day. So, why are you still sitting on the fence about having weight lost surgery? The number one reason usually is will my insurance pay for it. And if not, how do I get that much money myself to pay for it. There are ways trust me, it can happen, if you want it bad enough! Here is another one I hear. “I should be able to do this myself—lose the weight and keep it off—maybe I should try one more time. Well, if that were true, YOU would have lost the weight by now—how is that working for you—I am guess it has not. So many of us ride the roller coaster of lose it regain it back. I know I did that. I learned I had a disease and it is called “OBESITY.” Now if you had any other disease and someone said “I have a surgery that I can give you to cure your disease you would jump at the chance to cure you disease. I want you to know that Weight Loss Surgery will and can cure your disease. It will REQUIRE YOU to work at it and eat healthy, and do some exercise. WLS is NOT a miracle cure, but it does work. I am living proof of that. I lost 105 pounds 4 years ago and have kept it off and I am 67 years old. So, I want you to know that you can have your wish or dream come true too. PLEASE stop sitting there waiting for that magic pill to fall out of the sky and poof; the weight will fall off you. That is NEVER going to happy. Each day you sit there being fat, fluffy, overweight, obese, and large, big boned, tubby, heavy, pudgy, stout, chubby, portly, and plump—I think I found most of the names that described what I was and you are too. I was giving days of my life away which is my biggest regret. I am here to help you, cheer you on, answer any and all your questions, but I want you to take back the control over your body and your life, and become, happy, healthy and be where you want to be when it comes to your weight. Come on you can do it and we are all here to help you. I had VGS aka “sleeve” done by Dr. Aceves, and I can only speak about my experience, but I feel he is one of the very best there are out there to do this surgery. He has done more Weight loss surgeries than most doctors. He is proctoring for the company “Johnson & Johnson” teaching other doctors how to do this surgery. The care you get from Dr. Aceves and Dr. Compos and their staff are wonderful, and they truly care about each one of their patients. Please love yourself ENOUGH to save YOUR own life. You are worth it. If you have any questions you can reach me here on this Web Site or send me a private E-mail: Suzannesh@aol.com Hugs, Suzanne

If you will look on his Web Page you will see that he Proctors for Johnson & Johnson teaching other surgeons how to do "Sleeve weight Loss Surgery." I found out that he was listed in Newsweek Magazine May 2012 in the top 25 WLS doctors. I like you asked many questions, about what kind of staples they used, what were the brand of staples he used. How did he do the surgery--I wanted details, which he gladly gave me, what did he do as far as testing for leaks before they send you home. He tested me 3 times before I was released and sent home. He spent about 2 hours answering all my questions the night before I had the surgery. I spoke with a surgical nurse who had gone to Dr. Aceves and respected her information along with a doctor who had gone to him for sleeve surgery. Yes, I talked with them on the phone more than one time. They were very patient with me and ALL my questions. I went to my own PCP, who spent a week educating herself about the procedure and checked out ALL of Dr. Aceves credentials and they ALL met her approval and she said "go for it" he is the top of the line in his business. This is his Web page: http://www.gastricsleevesurgeon.com/ I am so very happy that you had great success too and love your sleeve. I wish you nothing but great success. Hugs, Suzanne

Hi, I respect what you said. Some of us look at this a little different. I know for a fact the US Hospitals have a high risk of infection that Dr. Aceves Hospital has. I know that Dr. Aceves was listed as one of the top 25 Doctors in the WORLD for WLS. It is nice that we ALL have a choice to where we want to go. Many people's insurance will not pay for WLS, and I am happy that some of them are starting to pay for it. I feel very lucky because I received a lot of great care after the surgery. I was 63 and for me going home from Day Surgery was something I did not want. I am sure you received excellent care also. If someone asks me about my experience, I will recommend Dr. Aceves over any other doctor! Take care, Suzanne

Hi Everyone, I love this quote and it really is so very true. Just think about it and believe in it. "What you thought before has led to every choice you have made, and this adds up to you at this moment. If you want to change who you are physically, mentally, and spiritually, you will have to change what you think." Dr. Patrick Gentempo So, after reading about this, I will say what we have heard throughout our lives. You are what you eat!!! How did we become overweight, fat, plump, tubby, flabby, pudgy, large, big, fluffy, obese, and unhealthy? There are a lot of ways to describe what we are or what we were. I lived way too many years being fat, doomed and detrimental to my entire life. I had tried too many diets to even count. I was successful at Weight Watchers, only to eventually gain back the weight. I never made a LIFESTYLE change. I always went back to my old eating poor habits, for many reasons. The list is long for all the reason we over ate. I knew that I had to do something different, and I started to look into weight loss surgery. After many months, I knew I wanted to have “sleeve” surgery, and I knew without a doubt that I wanted Dr. Aceves to be the doctor who was going to do my surgery. I lost 105 pounds and I have kept it off now for 4 years. It required work and making a lifestyle change on my part. I never feel deprived to what I eat, I do eat healthy, and I do have some desert now and then, only small amounts of it. I also am the lady who did NOT like exercise. Now I walk at least 6 days a week—that is my form of exercise. While I was losing weight, is when I started to walking. I also thought what if I am the “one” person that this surgery will NOT work on. Boy was I wrong, it worked and I love it!!!! If you are thinking of all the reason why you should not have this surgery, STOP right now and think of all the reason why you want to live life as a thin and healthy person. Stop thinking about where you have been and START thinking about where you are going! Go for it, if you have questions, I am out here to help you and answer any and all your questions. This is a life changing event in my life. I am so very delighted that I have done this. You can have the very same results. Hugs, Suzanne Sleeved 10/21/2008 Lost 105 pounds.

Hi Everyone, For the first time in a long time, I want you to put yourself first. We all have taken care of everyone around us always putting ourselves at the end of the list year after year. It is time to STOP doing that. You are a wonderful, loving caring, beautiful, intelligent person. It is time you took control of your own life and that means getting serious about losing the weight forever. So, many of us have failed at diets and losing weight that we think that we will just give up and live the rest of our lives as an unhealthy fat person—YES I use the word fat because I was fat. I am here to tell you that I did that for many years, then one day I woke up and realized that I had earned the right to have a good and healthy and happy life. So I started my search as to how I was going to do this and be successful. After 6 months of asking 100’s of question from people, doing my research on what I wanted and where I was going; I got brave enough to have “Sleeve” surgery and my choice was Dr. Aceves. He is fabulous and I highly recommend him. This was the best things I have EVER done for myself. That was 4 years ago; I lost 105 pounds and have kept it off. YES, I did something that I have never done before and that is to lose the weight and KEEP IT OFF! It is an amazing way to live. I made a lot of lifestyle changes and I never consider myself on a diet. Yes, it requires work and effort on your part. It is NOT a miracle cure, but it does work. It will work for you too! So stop sitting on the fence and making excuses why you are giving days of your life away being unhealthy, unhappy. I was 63 when I did this and I am now 67. I walk between 3 and 4 miles 6 day a week. If I can do this you can too. If you have any questions please feel free to ask. I am here to help you and support you every step of the way. If you have recently had this done, I am also here to help you with any questions that you might have. Yeah for those of you who have had weight loss surgery and know how I feel!!! Hugs, Suzanne Sleeved 10/21/2008 Lost 105 pounds

Hey You, Be the very best you can for yourself and NO one else. So many of us have failed miserably at our attempts to lose weight in the past. Some of us have lost the weight to only gain it back again—that was me, and we just beat ourselves up over doing this. Here is what I want you to know. Having weight loss surgery was my ANSWER to that horrible cycle that I had been living for so many years. I was older than a lot of you when I made the choice to have the sleeve, I was 63 and I am now 67 and I know that what I did has added 20 years on to my life. My health is so much better than it has been in many years. I have all kinds of energy, and I walk between 3 to 4 miles every day. If you are sitting out there, reading everyone’s post taking in all this information, like I did I want you to know that this will work for you too. It does require work and effort on your part. You will have to be willing to make a lifestyle change when it comes to eating. I am not on a diet, but I sure have changed what I eat—small amounts of food and a lot of yummy things that are healthy. I have found out that you can have healthy food and it can be yummy food too. I had a top rate Doctor and that was Dr. Aceves and I received great support from him and his entire staff. I also received a lot of support from the people on this board. If you have any questions please feel free to ask me. By the way it took me 14 months to lose 105 pounds and I have kept it off! :wub: Suzanne Sleeved 10/21/2005

Hi out there, What are you waiting for? If you are someone who is sitting on this board and you are reading ALL the postings and not saying anything—this is quite normal. I did that for a few months too. I was trying to figure a few things out about weight loss surgery. Having WLS is one of the biggest decisions you will ever make. Right now you are slowly killing yourself with your fork! What I learned once I started asking questions there are an enormous amount of helpful people on this board that helped me along the way and answers my hundreds of questions I had. You can NEVER ask too many questions OK. Two of my mentors gave me an incredible amount of support from each of them and I am so blessed and thankful for their help, guidance and care and endless answers for all my questions. They supported me when I needed it, and just were amazing! Ok here is my challenge for you “newbies” Please don’t give another day of your life away being fat and unhealthy. Start asking questions start the process of educating yourself and maybe set a date to have WLS. I had sleeve weight loss surgery 4 years ago by Dr. Aceves and lost 105 pounds and have kept it off. I have extreme amount of experience and I am more than willing to answer any and all of your questions. So get off the fence and start asking things that you are curious about. Hugs, Suzanne

Hi Everyone, Just checking in to see how things are going with everyone. I am always out here reading the board and checking to see if anyone has any questions. Are you finding the foods that you like to eat? Have you tired any new recipes? I love trying new recipes or taking some of my old ones and making them a little more healthy. I have one that I want to share with you. Sometimes having something new just helps us make it through the day. Zucchini Bread Makes 2 Loaves 3 eggs 1 teaspoon Soda 1 cup Olive Oil ¼ teaspoon Baking Power 2 cups Splenda 1 teaspoon Salt 2 cups Grated Zucchini 3 teaspoons Cinnamon 3 teaspoons vanilla ½ cup Chopped Nuts of your choice 3 cups Almond Flour 1 -2 cups of Blueberries depending on your taste Beat eggs until light & fluffy. Add the next 3 ingredients to eggs that you have already beat—oil, Splenda, grated zucchini. Mix well. Next add almond flour, soda, baking powder, salt, and vanilla. Mix well. Add nuts & blueberries into the mixture. I found almond flour in the Health food Section of my local Grocery Store. Almond Flour is a Protein, and it really does taste GREAT. Pour mixture into greased loaf pans—you can use PAM spray if you want to grease the loaf pans with it. Bake at 325 for 1 hour or more depending on your oven. I hope this helps people. Please post how you are doing and if there is anything we can help you with or any questions that you may have. I know this is such a big step to take to have the VSG aka "Sleeve". I had Weight Loss Surgery almost 4 years ago and it was the very best thing I have ever done for myself. If you have any questions about the surgery or want to ask, plase feel free to ask me anything you want to know about it. I am always willing to take the time to help you. I do not have any regrets at all. Hugs, Suzanne

Hi, Your daughter needs some serious professional help. I hear your words and feel your pain, but the best thing you can do is get her the help ASAP. I know as a Mom this is difficult, but love her enough to understand that there is NOTHING you or your husband can do to help her. It is far beyond your hands. I have no idea what has set her off, but help and the right medication and professional help might make a world of difference. I feel your pain and how upset you are. You have done nothing wrong, but it is time to admit that this is beyond anything that you can do . Please make sure she gets the help she needs. Hugs, Suzanne

Hi, I am always out here if you have any questions or just need to talk. It can become frustrating jumping through all their hoops, but NEVER give up OK. Hugs, Suzanne

Hi, I am always here if you need anything or any kind of support. The sleeve is honeslty the best way to go. I think you will love your choice. I wish you great success in your weight loss journey. You can always find me here on this board if you get scared--it is very normal to have a bag full of emotions and feelings just before you have surgery. I did and I know all the things you must be thinking and feeling. You can alway reach me at my personal E-mail too. This is my E-mail address: Suzannesh@aol.com Hugs, Suzanne

Hi, I hear what you are saying, and I am also here to tell you Dr. Aceves has done so many revisions. Please call Nina his patient coordinator, she is fabulous to talk to, and will not pressure you in any way. She will give you all the advise and information you are looking for. This is how you can contact her. Her phone number is 1-888 344 3916. It is really normal to have all the feeling you are feeling. This is a big step and change. I didn't have a lapband, but I can tell you that the sleeve is the very best thing I have ever done for myself. I love it, and how I have lost the weight and it has been easy to maintain the weight loss. I am always here if you have any questions. Hugs, Suzanne My private E-mail is Suzannesh@aol.com if you want to send me an E-mail too.

Hi Everyone, I want to know why you are still trying to make up your mind about having Weight Loss Surgery (WLS)? I know what took me 6 months to make up my mind. I was doing a LOT of research checking out everything I could think of. I must have asked at least 1,000 questions to the people on 3 different WLS boards. So, if you are in those stages you are doing all the right things. Keep asking questions until you feel comfortable with where you are heading. If you aren't sure if it will work for you—I thought the very same things you are thinking. I want you to know is DOES WORK. I had WLS almost 4 years ago, and I lost 105 pounds and have kept it off. So stop using that as a justification for not going ahead and having WLS. Next; if you think it is the easy way out—that is such a WRONG way of thinking. WLS is NOT a miracle remedy; it is ONLY a tool to allow you to get to the goal you set for yourself. Every day you continue to do what you are doing ring now; you are slowly killing yourself every time you put that fork in your mouth. Please stop and think about what I just said, you know I am right. I got fat the very same way you did. This just didn't happen to me overnight, it took me time to become fat. So, I want you to care about yourself enough to move forward and GO for WLS. I had the “Sleeve” and I believe it is the very best kind of WLS for me. I do understand if you are a self-pay patient and it is about the money. Here is what I want you to do check out the doctors and their hospitals. There is some OK doctors, some good doctors and some great doctors. What do you want for yourself? I wanted the “great” doctor and I chose Dr. Aceves, and for me he was the very best I could find, after all my research his name just kept coming up as the GREAT doctor I was looking for. There are different ways to finance having WLS too. I know for Dr. Aceves, Nina his Patient Coordinator is a great source of information. Call her and discuss thing with her. I want you to make a promise that you will move forward and have WLS, if this is what you really want for yourself. It requires work on your part and you need to have you head in the right place and want this more than you have ever wanted anything else in your life--it will work for you!! It is YOUR chance to change your entire life and health for the better. I failed at ever kind of diet I ever tried. I could lose it, but only to regain it back in a few months. Then I felt like a failure. What I learned is that I am NOT on a diet after having WLS. I have made a lifestyle change and it is something that I can live with for the rest of my life. I never feel deprived, I eat healthy and I like what I eat. Yes I have some desert now and then, just not all the time. I have learned to bake some really yummy and healthy deserts too. I want the very same things for you too. Exercise is also very helpful once you start to lose the weight. Start out slowly with the exercise. If you have any question or want to talk about any of the things about WLS or just have questions, I am always right here for you. I always promised myself that I would be here for others. I had two wonderful ladies who were there for me every step of the way. They also answered my endless questions as I asked them. We can talk about the good, the bad and the not so nice things. It is always important to have someone who has been there ahead of you. Hugs, Suzanne

August 31, 2012, Hi Fellow Sleeve’s, I have been sitting out on these boards now for over 4 years. Believe me, I have seen every kind of post there are out there, and I have been challenged many times for some things I have said. And this is perfectly fine. I recently read a post on one of the boards (OH) that made me stop and think and also upset me too. This woman had posted that she was going to the ER because she was sure she had a Blood Clot in her lungs (she diagnosed it herself and she has NO medical background-not good at ALL). She was sure it was Dr. Aceves’s fault because she had, had Sleeve surgery—that wasn’t fair to blame him and in the end she did not have a blood clot at all. After reading what this woman had said and reading everyone else’s posts, I truly think she is having panic attacks and DID NOT prepare herself mentally of physical for this surgery. Another point I would like to make is that she had NOT spoken to her PCP about any after care or tells him/her what she was doing about going to Mexico for Sleeve surgery. If she feared her PCP would not be supportive, then she should have found a PCP who would have been there for her for after care. I have always said that you need to do all these things before you go for the surgery. You really need to have your head in the right place before you go for WLS. I have a feeling that maybe she is not taking her medication, and she would like to blame “ANYONE” she can for her issues and problems—it is NOT Dr. Aceves’s fault and she is unreasonable to make these kind of statements about him. She has also since deactivated her membership on OH and left this negative posting. Many of you saw right though what she was saying and posting. Thanks for being this alert when we encounter someone like her. I have a suggestion, for the future and need your help PLEASE. I think it would be wise if we encounter anyone like this in the future it would be so helpful to Nina—Dr. Aceves’s Patient Coordinator to be notified or give Nina a heads-up that this person having issues or problems. Nina has the ability to work with them and see what is real, and what is just unadulterated false. :wub: Regrettably if someone has NOT been to Dr. Aceves yet and reads that posting; they might think what she posted is real—and not a panic attack or other metal issues she may have going on. Those of us who have had surgery with Dr. Aceves know for a fact that we received excellent care and also know that he goes to every effort to make sure that we leave him in remarkably great health. :wub: So in the future if you suspect that someone is way off base with their posting, I am sure Nina would love to have a heads up on this. Take care, Suzanne

Hi, I have a little experience, and I just wanted to say something. I understand about looking for a good price if you are self-pay. I was a self pay myself, but I also want you to consider what kind of care you are getting and the rate of infection that their facility has, and if there are any negetive things being said about them. I did research for 6 months before I picked Dr. Aceves. I wanted the very best there is when I was going to have sleeve surgery. I wanted the surgery done in a top of the line Hospital--NOT A CLINIC, I wanted my recovery to be in a hospital, not a hotel room or recovery house where there are NO medical people. So when you are looking for a doctor please ask all kinds of questions and do a lot of research and read a LOT of posts. I wish you great success. Suzanne

Hi, I can tell you that I highly recommend Dr. Aceves. In 2008 I had sleeve surgery and lost 105 pounds and have kept it off for 4 years now. Dr. Aceves is the very best doctor you could ever go to. If I lived closer to Mexicali, I would be going to him for my PCP. He truly cares about each and everyone of his patients. He takes the time to explain everything to you and will answer ALL your questions. His standards are very high. He does 3 leak tests before he will ever let you go home. You do your recovery in a top of the line hospital that is so very incrediably clean. Some doctors send you back to a Hotel room or a so called recovery house--most reconvery house DO NOT have any medical staffing. That is one of the reasons they charge so much less for many of them. If you want the very best there is; then I suggest you have Dr. Aceves do your surgery. I did about 6 months worth of research when I picked Dr. Aceves. He was in Newsweek Magazine May 2012 for all of his skills and what a great doctor he is. You will love him and his entire staff. They speak excellent English. Make a list of concerns and questions that you might have and send them to me. I will be happy to answer any and all of your questions. This was the best thing I have EVER done for myself. Take Care, Suzanne

Hi Everyone, You have all leaned that it is NEVER too late to have WLS. I am so thrilled to see that we are doing great. Your hair will grow back, and in the mean time buy a cute wig, that is what I did. You will always struggle with head hunger. We have spent a lot of years eating and doing just what we wanted and then we got fat. I have talks with myself--do I NEED THE food OR DO I JUST WANT THE FOOD. Most of the time it is a "want". So take the time to ask yourself if it is a need--how long has it been since you ate or is it a WANT thing? It was almost 4 years ago when I lost 105 pounds and have kept it off. I am always out here if you ever have any question or problems or just need to talk. Life really is great, and I feel so much healthier. I am off 95 % of my medication that I used to take, I walk all the time for exercise, and I love buy clothes now! Hugs, Suzanne

Hi, When you eat a lot of Protein, that does cause constipation. I use Miralx. It is NOT habit forming. I buy costco brand because it cost less. It has NO taste, so you can mix it with any liquid. Use a cap full EVERYDAY, and this will solve your problem. I had sleeve surgery almost 4 years ago and I take Miralx everyday. I hope this helps you, Hugs, Suzanne

Hi Everyone, I know that when you are fat (yes I say FAT, because that is what I was) it is hard to love yourself. This is where I want you to start first. Love yourself on the inside first. Then as you start to lose the weight you can start to love the outside of your body. We really do blame ourselves for our failures of being fat and not being able to lose the weight. What I want you to know and understand is that I believe we have a disease that is called obesity. If diet and exercise alone worked for everyone, we would have already lost this weight. We all know we have tried MANY times over the years to lose the weight through diet and exercise, only to fail and keeping it off. For me the only way I could cure my disease was having Weight Loss Surgery. It was truly my answer. It is hard to look at our outside body and say “Gee I am beautiful and wonderful.” And the whole world unfortunately does judge us by what we look like on the outside, not who we really are on the inside. So I am asking you to start to love who you are on the inside FIRST. You have so much to offer and you are beautiful, funny, attractive, intelligent, successful, gorgeous, loving, good-looking, inspiring, poignant, stunning, impressive, expressive, spectacular, magnificent, delightful, and caring, sensitive, complex and many more things. You have great value and it is overlooked. I want you to start thinking of yourself in these ways. I know it isn’t easy, but each day. PLEASE say ONE nice thing about yourself. I BELIEVE in you and I want you to believe in yourself too!!!!!! I had WLS 4 years ago and lost 105 pounds and have kept it off. I love myself, I didn’t in the past, but now I know I can meet any challenge that life gives me and be successful at it. I am also 67 years old now and life just keeps getting better. I work at keeping the weight off because I have made a lifestyle change. I am NOT on a diet, but I made a lifestyle change. I eat healthy and I get up and walk about 3 to 4 miles 6 days a week. I love walking and it works for me. You find what works for you and do it. Dr. Aceves and Dr. Compos were my doctors who did my “sleeve” weight loss surgery. I highly recommend them. For me they are the very best there are out there.-I did a lot of research to find them. If you have any questions our just want to talk about having Weight Loss Surgery, please send me an E-mail, I would love to talk with you and see if I can answer any and all of your questions. Hugs Suzanne E-mail: Suzannesh@aol.com Sleeved 10/21/2008 Lost 105 pounds

Hi, I jsut sent you a reply. Hope you find it helpful. Hugs, Suzanne

Hi, Gee thanks, I just want people to know that they can be where I am. It was my answer to a weight loss that I can maintain forever. I wish you nothing but success. I am always here if you have any questions. Hugs, Suzanne

Hi, Gee thanks, you are on the road to success. You are going to be just as successful as I am. Keep doing all the things you are doing right now. Hugs, Suzanne

Hi, Thanks so much. I just want people to know that they can be successful too! Here is something I wrote and I am sending it to you. If you want more information after reading this, just send me an E-mail: Suzannesh@aol.com Hi Everyone, I decided that I would make a list of things for new people who are thinking about having WLS that might be helpful to them. This is long so please PRINT THIS OUT TO READ if you don’t want to read it all at one time. First thing is to start asking people on the board you are on all kinds of questions—make of list of things you want to ask and keep coming back and ask more questions as time goes on. The more questions that ask the more you educate yourself about WLS and the process and what doctor they liked. Don’t rely on just one source of information. It is really normal to have all kind of feeling and emotions when trying to decide if you want to have Weight Loss Surgery. I must have talked myself in and out of doing this at least 50 times during my 6 months of research. My only regret is that I didn’t do it sooner. This is a big step. But if diet and exercise worked for us then we still wouldn’t be fat and would have lost the weight a long time ago and never regained it. It takes a lot of courage to have Weight Loss Surgery. I am very proud of you for looking into this. Don’t give any more days of your life being overweight, and your body hurting along with being unhealthy. WLS really is your answer. How do you select your surgeon? First of all this is NOT a time to price shop for the cheapest doctor to do your WLS—that is just the wrong way to go at this. There are a lot of doctors who advertise on the Internet doing sleeve surgery for a lot less than some other doctors. I found one posting from a person who had the following concerns after having surgery in Tijuana, Mexico. (a) They put NO name band on her to be able to ID her when giving medications or anything else. ( NO one asked if she had any allergies to foods or medications—thank goodness this person didn’t have any. ( The lab did NOT label tubes of blood with the person’s name on it—very dangerous. © Day after surgery they gave this person ice chips, tea and apple juice. The next day (day 2) they gave this person NOTHING so this person asked why and the nurse said this person wasn’t allowed to eat anything. Well, this person then said I had Clear liquids the day before and they wanted to know WHO gave it to this person?? (d) This person was told that they would get a copy of the operative report on their discharge to take home with them—This person has not received it yet and that was about 2 weeks ago. So make sure have positive feedback about the Surgeon and Staff and Hospital that you choose. My choice after 6 months of research was Dr. Aceves in Mexicali, Mexico. What I can tell you in my opinion is that he is the very best you will ever find to do your surgery. I can only speak about my experience and my research that I did before I made him my choice for a surgeon. Pack lightly for your WLS. So many of us have gone to Mexico, so you want a small suitcase with wheels, a laptop & a cell phone. The clothing that you wear to Mexico are the same ones you can wear home—slip on shoes work great too. Make sure that the clothing is loose fitting. Something just comfortable for your ride home. While in Mexico—that is if you go to Mexico for WLS make sure you take GAS-X. They have nothing in Mexico that they give your for gas, and the use gas in your abdominal area during surgery. It is painful after the surgery, so GAS-X STRIPS are easy to use by just placing them on your tongue. Take a couple of boxes with you—you will be glad you did. If you are going to use a credit card make sure you tell your credit card company and your Bank if you use your debit card or credit card. Sometimes if you DO NOT let these companies know you are outside of the US they block your charges. Use a credit card or debit card vs cash it is much easier to use. Take small amounts of cash for tips—I took $45.00 in 1’s for tip money for various things. If you go to any hospital anywhere leave ALL jewelry at home –just a watch and no rings or other jewelry. I never had any problems at all leaving my purse and computer& cell phone in my room while I was in surgery, but they recommend that you leave all jewelry at home. If you are a lady please remove all nail polish—they need it removed to see your nail beds during surgery. The first month you do after surgery is the HARDEST month you will ever have to do. You do 10 days of nothing but clear liquids to start with—that means you have to be able to see through the liquid. Do not panic if you can not get the Protein they want you to have the 1st 10 days—I couldn’t find anything I liked that was clear during the 1st 10 days. They want you to try to drink 64 oz each day, and I don’t think I could ever get that much Water drank—just do the best you can. Your new stomach has just had major surgery and it is swollen and will only hold something about the size of your thumb. The next 10 days gets much better—you are now on creamy liquids for these 10 days. You can now have some creamy Soups, yogurt, and pudding—sugar free and find a protein drink that you like. For me it is Premier Protein Drink and I get mine at costco. When looking for a protein drink, make sure they are low in calories, high in Protein—Premier has 30 grams of protein in each drink box and make sure you have low carbs too. I know there are a lot of other Protein drinks out there that people like. When it comes to carbs I tried to keep mine at no more than 20 carbs per day. Ask others what kind of Protein drinks they liked and where they get them. The last 10 days are mushy foods. So this is a bit of a challenge. How many foods can I make mushy? I even considered using some baby foods. Start thinking about what will work as mushy foods for you. Starting the 2nd month is quite an adventure. You can eat regular food. Here is where the relearning process takes place. You now will take tiny BABY BITES of food and chew each bit about 30 times or until it is like a liquid. From here on out you will need to take small bites of food and chew and chew and chew. I found out that chicken and fish were a lot easier to chew up. I don’t eat much red meat—your tastes will change and things you didn’t like a lot might taste good and something that you used to love don’t taste that great anymore. Keep track of what you are eating and keep your calories at about 800 calories per day and no more than 20 carbs per day—whole grain carbs are the best to have—NO white or refined carbs. I highly suggest that you keep track by writing them down or using some of the Internet sites that offers you this. I suggest this site it works great there are other sites to use this is just a suggestion. http://www.livestrong.com/thedailyplate/ It really is good to write down and track everything you put in your mouth to start with—that is how you know that you have not had more than 800 calories per day. I want you to understand weight loss surgery is just a tool. The fat does not just melt off of you—they is NO miracle cure. Now you have to put a lot of effort into eating healthy and starting to exercise. Everyone has some kind of exercise that works for them. I love walking and try to walk about 5 days a week. For many of us we started to lose some of our hair 3 or 4 months after having WLS. I would find a lot of hair in the shower after washing my hair. That is pretty normal for a lot of us—this does not happen to everyone. There is no magical cure for hair loss—some people use different shampoo’s or take Biotin. It happens and you live with it. YES, it will grow back. For me I had pencil straight hair and mine grew back natural curly and I love it now. I already had thin hair so for me, I got some cute wigs and wore them for about 9 months until my hair looked a lot better. It was worth the hair loss to lose 105 pounds. Because we eat a lot of protein we suffer from constipation. You need to have at least 70 grams of protein EACH day. So I mix my protein drink each morning with MIRALAX. It is NOT habit forming and is tasteless and it is just a good way to start off the day. I put the protein and a cap full of Miralax in the blender with about 5 small ice cubes and that is my breakfast. 3 years later I still have this for breakfast and nothing else, it just works for me. You may have periods where you have what we call STALLS. You may be doing everything right and eating and exercising and you have NO weight loss for a week or more. This is normal—mine lasted 9 days. Don’t panic the weight loss will start up again, just keep doing what you are doing. Our heads play games with us sometimes it is ugly what our brain tried to convince us of—We call these “Head Games” and they really are tough times to work though, but you can do it. Your head is still thinking with your old brain and way of thinking that you have been doing for most of your life. You now are eating VERY small amount of food, but your head is used to you eating LARGE amounts of food and that is what your brain wants—so it tries to tell you the you should be eating more—NOT true at all. So you need to have a talk with yourself. Do I just WAN T to eat or do I really NEED to eat? You are not on a diet, but you are making a LIFESTYLE change and that is good because you can do this for the rest of your life. You will NEVER be able to eat like you used to. That is good because that is how we got fat. You will morn the loss of food—you will look around and see others inhaling all this food and you think to yourself—I used to eat like that. You will notice how fast people eat and inhale their food and talk and hardly chew what they are eating. That is pretty normal feeling to have—because you are now eating such small amounts of food and chewing and chewing. You will never be able to guzzle a bottle of water again—that is OK too. These are all good things. In time you will look at all the food people are eating and thinking to yourself oh my gosh I could never eat that much again—it is way too much food. When you have issues or problems come back to the board and ask others who have already done this. We are here to help and support you. Give or exchange all your fat clothes away. You will never need them again after they become too big for you. This weight loss is something you will be able to maintain for the rest of your life. You have earned the right to have new clothes. Make sure you have the VERY best doctor that has had a lot of experience with sleeve surgery and check his success rates out. Check the doctor for HIGH patient reviews from the people who have gone to him or her. I can NOT STRESSS this enough. Make sure that your surgery is being done in a hospital NOT a Clinic. One clue that it is a clinic is if they send you to a hotel room to recover—that is why they cost less, this is also dangerous too. YOU are worth the extra money that it cost to have this WLS in a Hospital and by the best Doctor you can have. You want to have a happy and GREAT life and having the RIGHT Doctor and Hospital are the key to this. Sorry if this is long, but it is intended to have as a reference and answer a lot of your questions that you might have. For some of you, you are very lucky because your health insurance is now starting to pay for Weight Loss Surgery. For many of this, we did not have your luck, so we are self pay patients. There are companies that loan money for this surgery—be aware that their interest rate is high. Once you pick your doctor ask them about these companies that give loans for surgery if you are a self pay patient. You know we never think twice about making car payments. If you have to borrow the money for this surgery just look at this as “body payment.” It will be the best money you have ever borrowed. Please PRINT this out to read later. If you have any questions for me please feel free to contact me. I had surgery almost 4 years ago, so I do have quite a bit of experience. I really am here to help you along your journey. It took me 14 months to lose this weight and I was 63 when I had the surgery, so it is NEVER too late in life to do this. Hugs, and I wish you great success Suzanne