Disney

Ok just found out for sure a surgeon recently lost a patient in Mexico, but does anyone know who the surgeon is? I check it out and was surprised to learn there has been more deaths in the US than in Mexico. I'm still all for Mexico so I guess that's good to know but still so scary and sad. I guess the surgeon nicked an artery and the patient died on the table. Omg tragic !

Also remember there are probably ( I have no way of really knowing) many, many more surgeons in the US as compared to the big Mexico surgery hotspots and so of course there would be more deaths reported. I'm not saying one place or another is better ( I mean, I had my surgery in Mexico), I'm just saying it seems kinda lopsided against the States to say there are more deaths here when that may be due to the huge number of surgeries performed here.

Anyway, don't be scared. Deaths are truly very rare. Good luck

Thanks for always being so encouraging and helpful, Suzanne. I am only 4 months out and am realizing every day how true your words are.

Glad to hear you are feeling so well. Good luck to you with your recovery!!

Yes, you can get Prilosec over the counter. It is a PPI. Just like the ones a Dr. might prescribe, like Nexium. BTW, there are usually very good coupons in Sunday's papers for Prilosec. Like 2, 3, or 5 dollars off.

Good luck. It will get better

I think that is perfectly normal considering all you have been through and you didn't get to progress at the rate most people do. It will just get easier and easier with time. I have a very tight tummy and it is STILL hard for me on some foods. I will say this, I am SO bad about trying to eat as fast as I used to and that is a big 'ol mistake. I have to literally tell myself to slow down or it will make me feel so bad. So don't even worry about the time it takes you to eat. Your situation is so unique that you are gonna just have to take it at your own pace and see what works for you. Just try easing into every phase of the post op diet and if it's not working, go back down the previous phase. You will make it!!

Good luck with eating again!

Well, the first day post op I still had my IV, so I couldn't get a top on so I wore the hospital gown and some yoga pants on the bottom to keep from flashing the hospital staff during my walks!!

Good luck to you

I would love to try this. I will have to try with the Thick and Creamy yogurt like Tiff said, though, because I can't stand cottage cheese

Well I went through a TON of chicken broth. It went down so well since it was warm/hot. By the time you can move on to another phase of the post-op diet, you will be feeling like getting out and about and can get what you may need after that.

Good luck

How did I miss this post?!? Well, better late than never. I have to say Coops, those pics reminded me of that old movie, The Incredible Shrinking Woman. You are vanishing before our very eyes!!! You look so much happier, too. I think it is so great that one of the students commented. You know it is hard to get an adolescent to compliment anything, so that is really saying something!

Congrats on letting those blasted scales go and getting on with things. You deserve to enjoy all that you have accomplished so far and forget about the numbers on the scale.

Take care!

I asked my surgeon about lemonade when I was still on liquids only and he said it is a bit strong while your tummy is trying to heal but later on, it's fine.

Golden, can you update us on your ER visit? Hope everything is ok

That is exactly how I felt before my surgery. I joined in November before my March surgery, so I was on here multiple times a day researching, reading, panicking...lol you name it. I think it would be odd if you weren't thinking about something so drastic in your life. Good luck to you!!

I'm sure you have your new tummy by now, and hopefully are doing just fine in recovery. Hope you have an easy time of it!

Your new tiny tummy will absolutely let you know you are full when you start back on solids after surgery. In my case, as in rootman's, I have no desire to eat at all. That has helped me tremendously with sitting around watching people pigging out and such. I may WANT to pig out with them, just cause I miss it, but I can eat a bite or four of something yummy and I am completely satisfied and feel like I have just eaten Thanksgiving dinner. I love my sleeve

I'd be careful what I said, not because she doesn't deserve a good bashing, but because she is your boss. However, there is no shame in secretly gloating about it on a daily basis!!! It's only going to get better and better, too!!!

I agree about different pain tolerances. I will say that this was by far the easiest surgery I have ever had in terms of pain. And I have had several. Less painful than my c-section and 100 times less painful than my breast reduction. Those were my two worst ones and it was a breeze compared to them.

Good luck, I hope you have the least painful recovery possible!

DAAANG Girl....you look freakin' awesome. Congrats on all that hard work. It has paid off.

So very sorry to hear this

Ok, I'm still 6 pounds away -- sigh. And then I had plastics which made me swell and gain - double sigh. But that's ok -- it's still a journey.

SN..............Starting Wt........Current.......Goal.......Lbs to Goal

Juliarh............187................171.4..............165..........6.4

Wow Julie! You look fantastic! Your tummy is so nice and flat! Congrats on that and being so close to goal

Hindsight is 20/20. We all at one time or another probably never dreamed our weight would climb as high as it did. I know that's true for me. I ABSOLUTELY wish I would have had this done long ago. Of course, I didn't even know about it years ago. I say go for it. You might could lose some weight, but who is to say you won't gain more in the future? You have a chance many of us never did, you can stop it before it gets out of hand. And before your skin gets stretched into oblivion. Maintenance is hard after you lose. A tool like this will help. Good luck to you

Some doctors will put you on antibiotics before surgery anyway. Just give your dr a quick call. Good luck!

Like I said, ask your surgeon how many SLEEVES he has done and then do the math. Dr. Almanza has done many more sleeves than Dr. Aceves and he will tell you that. These surgeries take about one hour to complete and he works 6 days a week, not 5. If you do not believe he does 145 a month, I ask all the people on the forum that has had surgery there to post how many people had their surgery the same day as them. The math is not that hard. I hate to break this to you but Dr. Aceves was not doing sleeves in 1986. I talked to your surgeon along with several others and yes, experience is important to me. I would not call it an assembly line, I would call it being efficient and making money.

As far as how I know about the coordinators, it was simple, I asked. I talked to 3 coordinators from different surgeons and was told the same thing. There are people on this forum that will tell you the same thing. The competition for these surgeries has been tough and they get paid by the number of surgeries they book. Like I have said in all of my posts, I do not bash any surgeons because we do not know all the facts.

First, I never said Dr. Aceves has been doing sleeves since 1986. The "sleeve" wasn't even being done then. If you will READ what I said, that is when he started his surgical career. Probably about the time almanza was in grade school. What I DID say was he has been doing the sleeve for many years. He has overall more surgical experience than almanza by about 20 years. So, you don't have to "break" anything to me. I am fully aware of the vast experience and impeccable reputation of my own surgeon, thanks. And if you will also read, I never argued almazna does 145 sleeves a month. Probably does more than that.That proves my point. He is an assembly line surgeon. And as stated above, he would STILL be doing 6 a day. "The math is not that hard" ? CORRECT. Clearly, it's not safe to do that many. Have you heard horror stories about Dr. Aceves? Nah, I didn't think so. Not even from these phantom coordinators you keep talking about. There is no way a coordinator told you that they themselves came here and bad mouthed another surgeon and if they told you another coordinator did it, then that is nothing but heresay.

Lastly, you keep talking about not 'bashing' another surgeon, but the very first post you made here said that your surgeon was more experienced than ANY other surgeon. When you say that, you ARE bashing all the other surgeons. Anyway, there is no possible way for you to know that, so that is why several people jumped on your post. You can't just make blanket statements like that just because you 'think' it and as you already stated, you don't really know that.

Now, I'm done. Thanks for listening and take care

Yes, you will definitely know when you are full once you start regular food. Lots of us found out the hard way and it didn't stay down!!

As for being hungry, I am 4 months out and still do not ever feel hungry and that is OK with me.

I did my research. Dr. Almanza does an average of 145 of the sleeves a month. When I asked all other surgeons that I was considering, not a one of them was close to that number. I believe there is no substitute for experience. I am not sure if there are surgeons that have performed more, I just could not find one. The actual Surgeon that taught him the procedure and did his personal sleeve is a great surgeon but he has not done near the number as Dr. Almanza.

Ok, well there is a big difference in saying "I know you will not find one with more experience" and saying " I am not sure and I just could not find one".

You are correct, there is no substitute for experience, that is why I chose Dr. Aceves over some of these surgeons in the States. Yes, he was only a couple thousand less than them, but why would I pay MORE for a surgeon with less experience? The sleeve is relatively new in the States. Dr. Aceves has been doing it for many years and teaches other surgeons how to do it. The two surgeons in my area that I considered had only done a couple hundred between them. As for other Mexican surgeons, there is no way I am having major surgery anywhere other than a hospital. And as for Almanza's experience, he just started his surgical career in December of 2006. So, that's 4 1/2 years. Dr. Aceves, for example has been a surgeon since 1986. There is no way Almanza has more experience in that amount of time. And as for him doing 145 a month, if he worked 5 days a week, he would be doing 7 VSG's a day. No way would I let a surgeon operate on me with 6 patients behind him. Or even 5 or 4. I don't want to be on an assembly line. The day I had surgery, there was one other patient having their surgery that day. The next day, there were 3 having surgery. So yes, experience is important, just not all crammed into a few years. That is how mistakes, complications, and even deaths happen.

<div><br></div><div>Just curious again how you have this information that there are Dr's coordinators coming here posting horror stories? How could you possibly know this? </div>

Thanks for posting this. I was just trying to find something myself that was not full of sweeteners (artificial or otherwise) and have had a HARD time. I found some rice Protein powder that I am thinking about getting so that I can mix it with different foods/drinks to get my Protein in, too.

I am going to look up the one you listed also.