DDFinn

You will do great and it will be nice to have that extra day of recovery. You will have more energy to see the sights on your last day in TJ!

Can you ask for an earlier surgery time. Just my own opinion but I would not want to be last in line if my surgeon had done 10 procedures before me. If you are going to Dr Ponce, talk to Trish. My friend went to him and he had 10 or 12 surgeries scheduled for the same day. She requested to be first and went in at 7:30 am while everyone was still fresh!

My surgery w/ Dr Kelly was $5200, airline tickets were $310, I brought money to tip the driver (to and from airport) $15 each way, singles to tip the hotel staff (housekeeping, baggage carrier, room service) I checked my carry on for the return trip ($25 well spent) Dr Kelly paid for all of the perscriptions, both Dr Kelly and Trish brought us drinks (tea,gatorade,water). We had a pedicure compliments of Trish but tipped the woman $10 each. Uuummm, I did spend a lot of money on jewlry while shopping but I put it on cc. Broth in the cafe is $7. Ask for a complimentary popscicle on your way out:)

Good luck on Thursday! I think you will be pleasantly suprised at how nice TJ is. INT and the Lucerna are in a very nice part of town. You will have a beautiful little balcony off your hotel room, either overlooking the fountain out front or the gorgeous pool area. Its a very nice place to recover. Trish will pray with you, make you laugh and just put you totally at ease

So happy for you! I am only at the begining of my journey (7wks post op) so I loooove the happily ever afters

My sister and I were the last 2 patients that Trish co-ordinated for Dr Kelly. It was pretty stressful because they were NOT getting along! If I had had to choose, I would have stuck with Dr Kelly. I thought about switching to Dr Ponce, but when I was planning my surgery in Jan (surgery 3/9) there was practically NO information on him. I searched obesityhelp, gastric sleeve talk and this forum. I couldn't find more than a handful of his patients. I think Trish is doing a good job getting his name out there recently! My sister and I both swear by Dr Kelly. There are lots of great Dr's in MX. My advice would be to talk to POST op patients. That's really the only relevant info:)

Slow losers unite!lol It may take us longer than some of the others, but we WILL get there. I set small goals for myself so it doesn't seem so overwhelming. This week I reached onderland! My next goal is to lose 2 lbs which will make my total loss -30. I agree, it can be a little depressing to compare yourself to others who are losing so much faster. I just try to remember, this is MY journey,and I am thankful for every minute of it!

I am not going to weigh myself "officially" until tomorrow morning but it looks like I most likely lost only 6 lbs for the entire month. I was sleeved on 3/9. On the positive side, I am finally in onederland (and I ain't leavin'). My total weight loss is 28 lbs. Very happy for the fast losers....but....green with envy!lol

I didn't have a drain with my vsg surgery but I had a breast reduction previously and had one on each side! It want painful per say but I did almost pass out when they were removed. Had I not been laying down, I would have hit the floor! Is the drain really nessesary? Not all Dr's use them so maybe you can request that they don't put one in you!

Our driver was checking in all the time with other drivers in line to see how long the wait was. My flight was leaving SD at 12:15 and we left the hotel around 9:40. We got there in plenty of time. We were in the border crossing line for about 30 minutes, then its about another 20 minutes to the airport.

I went to Dr Kelly and was very happy. Very personal service, he comes to the hotel everyday to check on you and I really liked the hospital. My friend went to Dr Ponce on the same day and she is happy with her results. I know she was in horrible pain the day of surgery and I was pain free. She also had a drain, Dr Kelly doesn't use drains. Everyone has different pain tolerances so that might be it. I also know he doesn't speak much english or come to the hotel at all. My friends name is Seannie and she is on this board. I'm sure if you PM her you can get her first hand account. BTW, I <3 Trish. I wanted to bring her home w/me!

Enjoy the hotel! The beds are super comfy! The tortilla broth and popscicles in the cafe are good too:)

I felt really good after surgery but I'm not sure I could have kept up with a pack of 6th graders. My advice would be to stay hydrated, try to rest during those waits in line, take Advil with you in case your incisions start bothering you, don't overdo it and have fun!

I just happened to catch it last night on Discovery Fitness & Health. It followed 2 wls patients, who had lost huge amounts of weight, thru the process of getting total body lifts. It was really interesting (a little gory as they show the procedures) but worth a look!

You really just need your birth cert. and drivers lic! Another sleeve patient in our van hadn't gotten her passport back in time, at the border we handed over our passports, she handed over her bc and lic and we were on our way in 2 minutes. No problem.

When everything in your closet fits and is comfortable or too big! All those too tight things that were shoved in the back are finally seeing the light of day!

I think its usually 5 nights and 6 days. I arrived on a Thursday late afternoon, stayed at the hospital that night, surgery the next morning (Friday) hospital Fri/Sat night. Lucerna Sun/'on night. Back home on Tues. I'm glad to have had the extra day because I had a looooooong flight and it pretty much sucked,lol.

I think it would be the same no matter what you weight is. I have seen it vary length depending on weight. Some people have to start their pre-op diet a month before surgery, and others only 3 days. On my pre-op diet there was no limit on sugar free beverages. Good Luck!

You look like you lost 20 years along with all the weight!!!

The great thing is, you won't want those things. I can't even tolerate the smell of fried food, I am too afraid to stretch my sleeve to even take a sip of soda and by the time I eat my protein, I rarely can or want to eat any carbs. I just don't want you to feel like you are going to be deprived at all. You are going to be so thrilled!

I was so tempted to do that! Instead I started my pre-op diet early! The thing is, you are NOT giving up all your favorite foods forever. I am 6 wks out and can eat anything. My sister and I had the sleeve together and last weekend we went on a double date w/our hubbies. We went to a great chinese place, ordered what we wanted, ate until we were full and got to enjoy the leftovers for a few more meals. We ordered pizza the other day and I had a few bites of crust then ate the toppings. You will still be able to eat what you are craving but you will have a few bites, be satisfied and full, then go on with your life. That ,my dear, is the magic of the sleeve!

Just an FYI, I got a receipt from Florence Hosp and turned it in for reimbursment. I got a check for $1800 today. If I had planned a little better I could have used the Flex acct to pay for the whole surgery.

I have looked in my local stores for the powdered by so far have only found the ready to drink. So good tho and no protein smell!

I love the slimfast low carb. 20 g protein, 4 g carb, 2 g sugar. You can get them at Sams Club. They are 180 cals. I have a hard time getting in my calories so I drink one of these for breakfast everyday.

When I started my search last year, there was just not a lot of info about Dr Garcia. I still considered him because I like to save money and he was $700 cheaper. In the end I choose Dr Kelly and haven't had one minute of regret.