2bsmallagain

I am 3 months out and can eat about 4 to 5 bites at a time without pushing it. It also depends on the food. I try not to eat until it hurts. I just put a certain amount of food on my plate and thats all I eat. I do Portion Control. It always satifies me. I also eat 4-6 small meals a day. I also believe just because you can doesn't mean you should. I will always keep my portions small and make sure my carbs are low. Protein, veggies, and some fruit is all I eat.

I am 3 months out and can eat about 4 to 5 bites at a time without pushing it. It also depends on the food. I try not to eat until it hurts. I just put a certain amount of food on my plate and thats all I eat. I do Portion Control. It always satifies me. I also eat 4-6 small meals a day. I also believe just because you can doesn't mean you should. I will always keep my portions small and make sure my carbs are low. Protein, veggies, and some fruit is all I eat.

The point is all the doctors you listed are very good. You will get excellent care from all of them. I personally chose Dr. Garcia and my surgery is scheduled on Monday. I am so excited. You have to choose a doctor that makes you ready to have surgery. All of them are excellent and have great reviews, you cannot go wrong no matter who you choose. With that said it has to be your decision and no one elses do not let anyone sway you. Just look at the facts about each one and go with who your heart and gut tells you too and you will not go wrong. Good luck I am sure you will make a great decision.

The reason I went to Mexico was financial reasons. Insurance would not cover anything. I had a great experience and have had 2 friends go to my doctor since I went. They also had the same great experience. I only paid $5000 for my surgery. I am doing great and do not regret my decision at all. I have lost 82 pounds in less than 6 months. I only have 27 more to go. Life is great.
I also live in the Tulsa area.

The reason I went to Mexico was financial reasons. Insurance would not cover anything. I had a great experience and have had 2 friends go to my doctor since I went. They also had the same great experience. I only paid $5000 for my surgery. I am doing great and do not regret my decision at all. I have lost 82 pounds in less than 6 months. I only have 27 more to go. Life is great.
I also live in the Tulsa area.

Mexico is perfectly safe to go alone. The thing is you won't be alone. You will have people to tell you where to go and a driver to take you where you need to go. Ask your hotel to get you a trustworthy cab before you go anywhere and find out what it will cost before you go. You will have plenty of help. If you could lose the weight and keep it off you wouldn't be considering surgery. Do not let anyone make you feel bad about your decision. It's your life and your body. You are the only one that knows what is good for you. I am also short and had 110lbs to lose. I currently have lost 86lbs only 24 more to go. You can do this I promise.

Mexico is perfectly safe to go alone. The thing is you won't be alone. You will have people to tell you where to go and a driver to take you where you need to go. Ask your hotel to get you a trustworthy cab before you go anywhere and find out what it will cost before you go. You will have plenty of help. If you could lose the weight and keep it off you wouldn't be considering surgery. Do not let anyone make you feel bad about your decision. It's your life and your body. You are the only one that knows what is good for you. I am also short and had 110lbs to lose. I currently have lost 86lbs only 24 more to go. You can do this I promise.

Bubba: Anyway, like I was sayin', shrimp is the fruit of the sea. You can barbecue it, boil it, broil it, bake it, saute it. There's uh, shrimp-kabobs, shrimp creole, shrimp gumbo. Pan fried, deep fried, stir-fried. There's pineapple shrimp, lemon shrimp, coconut shrimp, pepper shrimp, shrimp Soup, shrimp stew, shrimp salad, shrimp and potatoes, shrimp burger, shrimp sandwich, and bariatric shrimp. That- that's about it.

I had my surgery in May and had the same GREAT experience. I am so happy for you. Congratulations on changing your life for the better.

I went to Dr. Garcia and had 2 friends go to him. We all had a great experience and I am so pleased with my decision. Plus I have lost 72lbs in 4 months. Greatest gift I have ever given myself!

I had my surgery in May and had the same GREAT experience. I am so happy for you. Congratulations on changing your life for the better.

I went to Dr. Garcia and had 2 friends go to him. We all had a great experience and I am so pleased with my decision. Plus I have lost 72lbs in 4 months. Greatest gift I have ever given myself!

I wanted to share my experience as well , I am recently new here! (Sorry this is long)
I just came back home from my surgery with Dr.Garcia in Tijuana, I was also in between those 2 companies , but finally decided to go with Ready 4 a Change because of Alma, she is one of the coordinators for that company. I felt safe talking about the process of going into Tijuana for surgery, everything that she explained to me and my expectations were 100% meet.
First day that I arrive to the airport- I received a phone call from Samuel when i was barely getting out of the airplane, He told me that once i was out side he was going to be there in a white van waiting for me, and he did. Immediately after I got in the van I felt safe, all of my worries just went away since he seemed as a very trust able person. ( And he was) He took me to the marriott in tijuana, and went with me to check me into the hotel , and he told me that Rosie(Patient coordinator) was coming to meet me in my room . FYI the marriott was absolutely comfortable! Rosie was there on time and she answered all of my questions and told me at what time i needed to be ready for my surgery next morning. At this time I was surprise by the customer service I was getting . not even back home, so all of my worries went away. I new i had made the right decision for me.
Day of surgery.- I was taken to Mi Doctor Hospital in the morning by the hotel Shuttle, very professional and clean! I was escorted to the 3rd floor by Melissa ( Patient coordinator) and explained the different paperwork that I needed to fill up to enter the hospital floor. After that she explained what was happening during that day , all of the doctors that were going to be in my room to check on me before surgery and that ease my mind. she stood with me until I had no more questions and i was more relax. I meet with a lot of doctors like melissa told me, dr.velasco, dr.garfia, dr.cabrera and dr.garccia sorry if i mis spelled your names! they were all just great! even the nurses, they all took really good care of me, since I was coming by my self. I meet other patients that were also getting sleeved by Dr.Garcia.
After surgery- I was still nauseated but feeling a lot better that the night before, and like one of the coordinators told me , it only gets better, and it was true. I followed my instructions of walking ALOT and it help with the pain and the nausea. Dr's were there to check me through my stay. and of course i did a lot of sleeping that day.lol
Discharge- Dr.velasco came in the morning to check on me, and discharged me out of the hospital, she went over the diet with me, explained how to take my medicine, and gave me a goody bags as they call it , with my medicine , gatorades and Water along with a copy of all of my medical records. Melissa then took my to the 1st floor to wait for our shuttle (me and other patients) and explained to us that anything that we needed to call her or Rosie, and she put her business cards in the bag as well as a phone list of all of the doctors. That ease my mind once again because I felt that I could get in touch with any of them if I needed them. she took a picture of us. and we were taken back to the Marriott.
Marriott- I check in with out any trouble, order my chicken broth ( on the house) and stayed at my room , Rosie called me to check on me and told me she was going to visit me at my room , she got there and we just talked for about an hour about my experience, and how amazed I was with the customer service I was receiving from the company. She left, and Melissa called me later that day to check on me. At no point I felt like they left me all by myself I even needed some medicine for one of my family members back home and they were kind enough to take me to buy it.
Next day- yeiii, Samuel pick me up at the marriott to take me to the airport. I arrived home feeling like I didnt have any surgery.
Overall - I can recommend enough READY 4A CHANGE company to anyone getting it done in Tijuana, it was a fantastic experience! from Alma, to the dr's and coordinators , to Samuel (Transportation). You feel like you are in a family environment.
So sorry if this is too long! but It would probably help those who are nervous like I was.

I don't think you can go wrong with Dr. Garcia or Dr. Ponce. The major surgeons discussed on this forum are all excellent. Here are some things that may help you make a decision outside of surgeon experience & complication rate:
Where will you recover? Who will take care of you after surgery? Is it a friendly/private environment (especially if you are bringing someone to stay with you)?
If you are going alone, is anyone else from the forum going to have surgery near the dates you want that you can become friends with before and after surgery?

Garcia because of his experience, he's done over 2,000 WLS and it's 2 nights in a hospital not a recovery house. We thought Dr. Garcia, the facility, the staff and the whole experience was fantastic and we'd choose him again. Also our coordinator Alma at Ready 4 a Change was really great. We love her.

I went to Tijuana Mexico with Dr. Lopez. He rotates out with Dr. Garcia at the Hospital and was a great trip...Just get to San Deigo and they do the rest for you...The price was $4500 and took care of everthing...3 nights at the Marriott in Tijuana and 2 nights in the Hospital...Driver was great and everyone was very nice....

It does take some adjusting.... ok a lot of adjusting. I am one who always drank a lot with my meals but I also ate a lot more at one time. I have forgotten and reached for my glass and taken a drink and it is not a pleasant experience. You will not want to do it after once or twice messing up. You are eating so little in one meal that you will not need to wash your food down. It just takes some practice and the best thing to do is not even have a drink near you while your eating. You will get used to it and now I stop drinking when I get hungry and wait for about 30-45 minutes then eat. After you eat you feel full so you know you cannot fit anything else in. At first it seemed like an eternity before I could drink but now its second nature. The whole thing is a process and a learning experience.

I think she needs to make up her mind if your meeting your calorie requirement and doing it with small frequent meals and losing who,to,say she right if your comfortable and doc is ok I think your doing great

It is definitely cheaper to park at the border vs the airport. It was $7 a day for 24 hours.

Congratulations!! I was also with Dr. Garcia but it was in May. I feel great too! You look great!!

7 weeks out from surgery with Dr Garcia. I feel GREAT and have my energy back ten-fold!

I am 3 months out and can eat about 4 to 5 bites at a time without pushing it. It also depends on the food. I try not to eat until it hurts. I just put a certain amount of food on my plate and thats all I eat. I do Portion Control. It always satifies me. I also eat 4-6 small meals a day. I also believe just because you can doesn't mean you should. I will always keep my portions small and make sure my carbs are low. Protein, veggies, and some fruit is all I eat.

To stretch your sleeve you would have to regularly eat to the point of pain. Even doing that it would STILL be tough to stretch this very un-stretchy part of the stomach, because you're more likely to simply toss up those extra bites than keep them uncomfortably sitting in your smaller tummy long enough to do lasting damage.
That said, it's important to learn your new full signals and stop before you get to that point. We all take a little time to do this and it's normal to overdo it a few times before learning exactly when to stop. Certain foods swell in the stomach and cause issues. I have a real problem with Pasta and tortillas. Some people have an issue with scrambled eggs or bread.< /p>
My full signals are a runny nose, the hiccups or a feeling of tightness in my chest. If I go beyond that, I'll toss it back up or suffer discomfort.
~Cheri

Joy definely undereat your sleeve. Measure out 2-3 oz of food and don't go over that per meal. I think 4-6 oz at a meal seems to much for how far out you are.

I have been thinking about how I can blow it and put back on the debilitating fat layer that was so close to me for so long.
From my research the only way is to eat constantly, as soon as the sleeve has room put some more down there. Not stretching, just constant feeding, somewhat like the queen ant who is fed 24/7 by the workers and also lays eggs 24/7. She becomes quite large and helpless and must be depressed and in need of a Psychologist/Entomologist
Then again, maybe I will just eat intelligently and continue to be the energetic stud-muffin that I have become.