Gastricsleeve4me

Hi there! I'm scheduled to be sleeved by Dr. Aceves in about two weeks. Question for those who have gone before I travel frequently for work, mostly internationally on one to two-week trips. I'm quite worried about sticking to my diet during these times, and making sure that I'm not sabotaging my progress with work/business trips. I have some control over my schedule and could put a stop to travel for a period of time - but I also want to be realistic that this is a challenge I'll need to face at SOME point. So, two questions...thoughts on how long I should wait until I'm back to traveling? And thoughts on how to manage once I do travel? I'm pretty sure I'll fail if I take ALL the trips that are on the books for my team this summer (see below), but wondering which ones might be doable. Any advice for those in similar situations? Here's some details on the trips I need to consider (quickly so I can tell my boss): 5.5 weeks after surgery: Mexico for four days (I've pretty much taken this one off the table) 7.5 weeks after surgery: Italy for four days 10 weeks after surgery: Korea, Taiwan, and South Africa over 15 days 14 weeks after surgery: Brazil for four days 16 weeks after surgery: Australia, India, and Denmark over 15 days On a broader note, this is part of how I stay fat in the first place (and pack on 10 lbs a year). I treat these trips like I'm on vacation with little/no food and alcohol monitoring. Which would be fine if they were once or twice a year. I don't envision changing jobs in the near-term, but if success with the sleeve means avoiding all these trips for a year until I'm down in my weight and then figuring out how to manage the travel, I'll do it. Advice?!

I'dd add you now I'm gastricsleeve4me. You can also check me out on my blog or YouTube channel (links in my signature below). Look forward to having support as well! Jo

You can check out the pre-op diet I was given by Dr. Aceves if curious. It's on my blog at http://gastricsleeve4me.blogspot.com/2012/05/pre-op-diet.html

Dr. Aceves gave me a pre-op diet to do one week before surgery. You can read the post on my blog if you're curious what it is specifically. Pretty much a low-carb diet. http://gastricsleeve4me.blogspot.com/2012/05/pre-op-diet.html

I actually have this situation - insurance coverage and I'm still going to Mexico. I originally was told insurance wouldn't cover me. So I did a TON of research on VSG in Mexico and settled on Dr. Aceves. Three weeks before my surgery date I found out that my insurance WILL cover VSG through the bariatric surgery center in my town. This meant I could save the $8500 it was going to cost me in Mexico (though US surgery would probably cost me about $2000). After much thought, I decided to proceed with self-paying and going to Mexico. Why? Three primary reasons: 1) I don't want to wait the six months my insurance requires (six visits to a dietician) 2) The local surgeon had WAY less experience that Dr. Aceves. Now, I could have continued to research US doctors that had more experience - but that would take more time (see point one 3) The surgeons in my area seem to be more inclined to use a larger bougie size due to some literature that indicates lower complication rates (when using a bougie over 40-Fr) - but I believe the weight loss is more with the smaller size, even if the complication rate is higher (though it's still at under 3% according to several studies). That's not to say that I couldn't find a surgeon near me that uses a smaller size - but that goes back to time Perhaps it's merely impatience - but I'm so excited about my choice of Dr. Aceves that even the chance of saving $6500 by waiting six months wasn't enough to sway me!

LOL!! People are so funny. Sounds like my grandmother. I travel internationally a lot for work and whenever I travel she always shares the wackiest things she's heard. I'm always like "really, grandma...where did you hear that?!".

Thanks! I'm sort of an information hoarder I found the YouTube channel wasn't enough for me to share what I was learning, so I've expanded to a companion blog! www.gastricsleeve4me.blogspot.com. Any other May sleevers, welcome your thoughts, comments, or lessons learned. Trying to assimilate all I'm readying into one place.

May 21 with aceves! So excited...also a bit nervous. I've been video blogging on my prep if anyone's interested. www.youtube.com/user/gastricsleeve4me

Mkardh...who is your doctor? Is it Aceves by any chance? If so, I'm also scheduled with him on May 21! I know there's someone else coming in at the same time, and I'd told Nina to give them my email address. If it's you, let me know! Either way, since we're tracking on the same date, if you're interested I've started some video posts on YouTube under the name gastricsleeve4me. www.youtube.com/user/gastricsleeve4me. I just started posting, but have been discussing my journey and concerns if that sounds interesting. Regardless, best of luck...it's going to be great!