SunnyCox

I had surgery almost 7 months ago, and even though Omar doesn't work with Dr. Kelly anymore, Omar still checks on me. He is such a great man.

Dr. Kelly quit using outside coordinators about April last year. He started having his wife & an in house coordinator. However I suspected when he started that as a practice that it wouldn't be a permanent arrangement. A good coordinator is very hands on & worth their weight in gold. So it wouldn't surprise me if he were employing coordinators again.

I know his in house coordinator (Omar) left to work for his assistant surgeon (Dr. Illan Fraijo at Baja Bariatrics). While I had a great experience with Dr. Kelly and Omar, they weren't incredibly organized, so it doesn't surprise me either. I know that I started getting phone calls from a lady recently to check and see how I was doing, so I am not sure if Omar was replaced or if Dr. Kelly started using coordinators.

I decided to go with Dr. Kelly due to his experience and the excellent reviews I had read from others. I was not disappointed. I had not complications with the surgery, and I have had great success. What made my experience in Mexico go so smoothly was having Omar as his in house coordinator. I feel a little lucky to be able to have my surgery at a time when Dr. Kelly wasn't using outside coordinators, so I didn't have to worry about all the confusion that come with coordinators.

Around 3 months, I stalled for 4 weeks. My weight fluctuated about 3lbs throughout those 4 weeks before I finally dropped. I lost a pound a day for the next 10 days after the stall broke.

Thank you so much for sharing your pics. I love the flat tummy. I can't wait for mine. I also had my VSG in Mexico, and I had planned to go there for plastics as well. Now, I will get a few consultations in the US before I make that decision!

Almost everyone stalls around their third week. I promise the weight will start falling off again. Many people lose inches when they are in stalls.

Hi Sunny! I haven't seen you in a while. Thanks for taking the time to write.... I think you're right. It's seems like the majority of people lose huge amounts the first month, but maybe it's just that the slow losers aren't posting and whining much! I'm probably getting a distorted perception of reality...

Hugs!

~Dana

I haven't been able to get on here often because my work schedule has been so crazy. Call on the weekends and a high patient load during the week due to the early flu season

When I was first sleeved, I would often read the posts about success stories. I think you need that in the beginning. You need hope and encouragement. You read a few threads about stalls and slow losers, but I skipped over most of them.

Now that I am several months out, I noticed that there are a lot of threads about stalls and slow loss. I feel like these threads are where I can contribute.

I posted this for someone else this morning...

There are hundreds of posts here from people who feel like failures in the first month. I bet there isn't a one of them who did not go on to lose a significant amount of weight. I think many people (myself included) expect huge loses and miracles in the first month or two because we read one post or watched a video about the person who lost 50lbs and ignore the twenty other posts that complain about slow weight loss.

My first month post op, I lost 15lbs. Usually when I do my count, I include the weight I lost on my pre op diet to help me feel better. I am 6.5 months out and am currently 203 starting from 279 before my preop diet = 76lbs. When I include my pre-op diet, that is 7 months and 76lbs averages 10.9lbs per month. That isn't super fast. It isn't the big numbers that the minority write about. It is average, and IT IS WONDERFUL!!! In the first couple of months, it was hard because I couldn't see my weight loss. The scale moved a little each month, but my body didn't look much different.

Included in this six months were at least 3 stalls that lasted two weeks. I had one stall that lasted a month where I would fluctuate the same 3lbs. While I averaged 10.9lbs per month, there was a month I didn't lose anything another that I lost 20lbs.

The great part about the sleeve is that I can't really give up. Even though my weight loss is slow to average, that weight is gone forever. I won't be able to go back to my old eating habits when I don't like the way my diet is going. I can't Celebrate a weight loss or a failure with a big dinner (always because I deserved food when I did well or poorly). Remember the last time you lost 49lbs? Now remember when you gained them back. Not going to happen this time.

After 6 months, I am completely not worried about stalls or slow loss. I am content and enjoying my new body, healthy life style, compliments and stares from strangers.

I don't think there is anything anyone can tell you that makes the first few months better. It is simply a process. Just remember that this is a journey, and you are just beginning. Believe in yourself. Don't be too hard on yourself.

Lots of people here go to the group at Baylor in Plano. I haven't been personally as I live in Fort Worth, but the people I know say it is an incredible group. There is a also a group of us who meet in the north Dallas area the first Saturday of each month for lunch. If you do a search, you will find several DFW / Dallas / Fort Worth threads.

There are hundreds of posts here from people who feel like failures in the first month. I bet there isn't a one of them who did not go on to lose a significant amount of weight. I think many people (myself included) expect huge loses and miracles in the first month because we read one post about the person who lost 50lbs and ignore the twenty other posts that complain about slow weight loss.

My first month post op, I lost 15lbs. Usually when I do my count, I include the weight I lost on my pre op diet to help me feel better. I am 6.5 months out and am currently 203 starting from 279 = 76lbs. When I include my pre-op diet, that averages 10.8lbs per month. That isn't super fast. It isn't the big numbers that the minority write about. It is average, and IT IS WONDERFUL!!! In the first couple of months, it was hard because I couldn't see my weight loss. The scale moved a little each month, but my body didn't look much different. After 6 months, I am completely not worried about stalls or slow loss. I am content and enjoying my new body, healthy life style, compliments and stares from strangers.

I don't think there is anything anyone can tell you that makes the first few months better. It is simply a process. Just remember that this is a journey, and you are just beginning

If there were a cream that truly worked, you wouldn't see so many people with stretch marks. My opinion is to save your money.

In Nov 2011, I went to a consultation for WLS. I was at the point that I really felt I could still lose weight on my own. I told myself that I would give it one last effort over the next year. I knew I could do it. I even asked a bariatric specialist primary care doctor to help me. He told me that when someone has a BMI as high as mine (50ish) that only 1 out of 100 are success in losing weight and keeping it off. I was absolutely determined to be that 1%. I was also doing my research about VSG surgery, and I found this forum. By June 2012, I had gained about 10lbs. People who had surgery when I had my consult were down 70+lbs. At that point, I decided I was not going to wait a moment longer. I didn't want to gain another 10lbs by the end of the year nor did I want to put in my best effort and have a minimal loss. I had surgery at the end of June 2012, and I am currently 75lbs lighter. I don't regret it. I don't feel bad about not making it all year.

I think you are proving something to yourself. You will either rock your diet and will make adjustments to carry you through the rest of your life, or you won't. Give it your best effort. Then, be honest with yourself. Good luck!

Would love the lunch group info, I did not see that info on the other thread, and I do follow that thread also...Thank you!

If you will send me a PM with your email address, I will pass it along to the lady who organizes the lunches.

Try to picture yourself six months out after having lost 75lbs. When I look back at my journey, the stalls seem insignificant. They are part of the trip.

I am really close to Hulen & 30. I live in the Cultural District.

The lady who puts together the Dallas luncheon bases the lunch off of the zip codes of the people who RSVP each month. If you will PM me your email address, I will start a list and maybe we can meet up in February. I really enjoy the conversation and watching everyone change while making new friends.

I am live and work near downtown FW. I am six months out and down 75lbs. I am already a part of a group in Dallas that gets together in the north Dallas area to have lunch once a month. Anyone interested in having a monthly lunch in FW?

There are a lot of people here who go to that support group. I have heard that it is fantastic, but it is a little too far for me to drive from Fort Worth. I do think they want you to register online before you go, but I don't think you will be turned away.

If you haven't seen this thread already - it is for Dallas area sleevers: http://www.verticals...texas-sleevers/

We even have a lunch group that meets the first Saturday of each month.

I don't think it has to do with being shorter. Probably more to do with having less to lose. The higher your BMI, the faster you seem to lose. The closer you are to your goal weight, the slower the weight seems to come off.

$5500 - Dr. Kelly for a BMI up to 50.

$6000 - Dr. Kelly for a BMI over 50.

$4000 - Dr. Illan at Baja Bariatrics. (I *believe that Dr. Illan was the second surgeon in the room when I had my surgery with Dr. Kelly. I think he still works with Dr. Kelly and is building a practice of his own. Omar, my coordinator with Dr. Kelly, is a coordinator for Dr. Illan.)

Six months out, and I treat myself to half a can on occasion. Makes me burp more often, and it fills me up quickly.

People do treat you better when you are closer to a normal weight. It is one of the unfair facts of life.

Don't forget, that you will change with your surgery too. You may find some extra confidence and be more outgoing with your coworkers. I am much more likely to go out to eat with everyone know that I don't feel so bad about myself or feel like I am being judged for being the fat girl.

The day of my surgery, I weight 279lbs. My husband looked at the two other women having surgery the same day as me, and each of them weighed around 200lbs. He had to remind himself that he did not know their story. At 180lbs, so many are still 50-60lbs overweight. Carrying around an extra 60lbs puts people at a great risk for diabetes and heart disease as well as knee and back pain. Those that weigh 180 are still struggling and are probably getting their weight under control before they ever reach 279lbs.

Pre-op, I would have less than 12 drinks all year, so I am not a big drinker either.

Post-op, I had a drink about 3 months out even though my surgeon also recommended that I wait a year. I asked for the bartender to make it with a little less alcohol than usual. It hit me a bit faster than it did pre-op. I didn't really think it was worth it, but it didn't hurt either.

I think the worst thing about artificial sweeteners is that they can make you crave other sweet things. I use sweet n low, and I don't think I will be able to kick it. I don't find that it makes me crave things I shouldn't have. I have never counted the carbs associated with how much I use, and my weight loss is still progressing.

I gained shoe sizes as I gained weight. So happy to have lost a size and half. I am back in my 6.5!