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Only regret I have is not having done it sooner. I'm almost 4 months out, and I really love how I feel and look. I know I never could have achieved this without this amazing tool. Definately no regrets about having the surgery.

I personally used Dr. Alejandro Lopez in TJ I went through A Lighter Me and had a great experience. My cost was $4,750 which included 1 night hotel stay at Marriott before, and 2 night hotel stay after surgery, also covered all of surgery and pick up and drop off from the airport in SD. PM me if you want more info or want to hear about my experience and why I chose Dr. Lopez. There are a lot of great Docs out there, it's not easy to narrow them down.

The body lift will be 1 MILLION times more painful. My mother had breasts and a TT, they were done a few years apart, but her recovery from the TT has been long and painful for her. The Dr. was great, but it's a very hard surgery to recover from, she is a very young 54, and very active, she had the TT on the 5th of Dec and still gets exhausted easy, and has trouble getting around. I was fine after 3 days from having VSG, so knowing what all the 360 entails, and having experienced my mothers recovery just from a TT, I would say comparatively, about 1 million times more painful and longer recovery from a 360 than from VSG.

Here is a more comprehensive look with more than just 12 foods. Wow. http://www.wisegeek.com/what-does-200-calories-look-like.htm

This slide show really makes you think about what we put into our bodies. Look how much celery?! http://gma.yahoo.com/photos/what-does-200-calories-look-like-slideshow/what-does-200-calories-look-like-photo--202626454.html

I am glad you and your husband had a great experience. I used ALighterMe in Nov and also had very little to complain about. Congrats on your surgery, and welcome to the Losers Bench!!

This is a very normal part of losing weight. As you gain weight, your fat absorbs and hold hormones that are in your body. As you lose the weight these extra hormones are released. When you lose weight fast, these hormones are released much faster, and in some ways can flood your body. Many people have different hormones trapped, and react different ways. Some of us will go through patches of really acne filled skin (I've gone through a few break outs already myself) some women become particularly fertile, which is why many of us are advised to use at least 2 forms of birth control after the procedure for at least a year etc. Just know this too shall pass Good luck on your journey!

Kate, first things first, you're doing great!! You're a little over 2 months out, not 3 months, so don't beat yourself up. Personally, I cannot eat 8 ounces at a time, but we all are different, different bougie sizes etc. Have you talked to your NUT about it? I try to only eat to where I am mildly full. I know I eat too fast so if I eat until I am only slightly full, I know the FULL feeling will catch up with me! Another thing I have done recently is make myself drink at least one protein drink i the morning. It seems to help me not eat as much later in the day. I have read a lot about eating your biggest meals earlier, so to try to keep on track with that I drink a protein shake in the morning, try to have my biggest meal be lunch which I eat around 11:30-12:00, and then I try to have a decent size protein only snack around 3 before I eat dinner around 5. If I am still hungry later, I will have a protein snack (like chicken) around 7, and I try not to eat anything after that. I just had a 3 week stall myself, and finally managed to break through. I have really been ramping up my liquid intake and trying to be extra mindful to keep the protein up and carbs down. You're doing great, keep it up!!

Personally, I found the Chike, and Syntrax Nectars to be the most delicious. I also ended up ordering a tub of BSN Lean Dessert chocolate fudge pudding. I think everyone is a little different, but the Chike I like because they have the basic flavors and a really good mocha one, and the Syntrax Nectars are really like a juice but with protien, I think fuzzy navel is my favorite.

Good on you for knowing her tripe was bs! There are hundreds of really great alternatives! In fact, what I did was went on this forum, under protein shakes and nutrition, there is a list of sites that you can order 'samples' of the various shakes from. I did exactly that. I ordered almost 200 samples. Each sample is one shake. I then graphed each shake when I drank it. I graphed flavor, cost, calories, protein content etc. I loved doing it because if I had a gross one, I was thankful I didn't have a 5 lb tub of gross protein that was a waste of money but I also knew I wouldn't have to drink it again. It definately kept my taste buds from getting bored those dreaded first weeks/month after surgery. After I got through all the samples, I went through and pisked the ones I liked the best. I was lucky and able to avoid being stuck spending $60+ for tubs of stuff I didn't like. I am a little over 3 months post-op, and I don't have a shake everyday, because I don't feel like I have to, some people love the shakes and do them for life. Everyone is different, loses different etc, so keep in mind as you go through this process that you will be your own best bench mark! Congrats and good luck!

I did a lot of research when I made my choice. I looked up my surgeon on ever bariatric website I could find, I confirmed his cridentials, I contacted people that had posted good and bad about my surgeon, I asked for references (of course they were only good references from the coordinators) but in the end, I felt I had made a good choice. I think WLS and VSG in particular is a very cut throat business in MX, and I would not doubt that some companies have created fake profiles just to drum up business, that's why I think we all owe it to ourselves to do our do diligence and independently research and verify everything about our surgeons. All of that being said, my surgeon was THE BEST, and all of you thinking about weight loss should only consider him...j/k ;P Seriously though, take in the good and the bad, and if you read about someone having a bad experience, or contact one of their patients that tells you negative things, talk it out with the coordinator, get their take on it. I read 2 really bad reviews about bad experiences at the hospital I was going to about a week before I went, I discussed it with my coordinator and got the other side of the story. In the end, only you can calm your own nerves, so ask all the questions, don't be afraid, and don't ever think you have to just be quiet and go along with any experience or information that makes you uncomfortable! Good luck and best wishes on the decisions you make, I love the sleeve!

Betterplace2013, I went to Dr. Lopez at Mi hospital in Tijuana. He and his wife, Dr. Osuana sometimes operate together, they have 3 different locations. I have nothing but excellent things to say about my entire experience. I used A Lighter Me as my coordinator. Feel free to message me with any questions or concerns you might have. I am more than happy to share my experience with you. Good luck!!

I wondered the same thing, and when I first got the sleeve, i thought, I'll drink when I eat, that's dumb! I tried it, and every now and then out of habit I will grab a drink by accident. For me, it HURTS! I feel like i'm going to choke or vomit when I do. It fills every last crevice in your stomach and it takes a good 30-45 minutes for the pressure to go away. Sometimes I can manage to burp and feel some relief, but it's loud and sounds and feels gross. I do find that I can drink about an hour after a meal without any pain or pressure, but everyone is different. It would be nice to drink during a meal, but for me, anything more than to wet my mouth is unpleasant.

I had a similar little hole from where my drain was. It didn't close for about 3 weeks. I didn't worry about it, I just let water run over it when I showered, and left it uncovered also. It healed on it's own.

Inability of the stomach to completely empty. Cause is unknown. I had to google it http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001342/

Dee, if you are concerned about the money aspect of self pay, have you thought about a revision in Mexico? I know my self pay surgeon in Mexico does revisions. The cost is only $500 more than the normal cost for surgery (which is $4,750). I know when I was looking at self pay here in the states, I was looking at $16k, and that didn't even include hospital stay. I know going to Mexico isn't for everyone, but just a thought. Good luck to you, and don't feel bad or selfish! This surgery is to help you live longer as well as to be thin, and I don't think anyone in your family will complain to have a ehaltheir you!!

I am interested to watch your journey, and those of you who are over 500, my MIL is over 500, and I have inspired ehr to look into the sleeve. She is afraid she is too big for WLS, I think she just needs to find the right surgeon.

Perfectly normal. You really don't have anything in you, so in one end, out the other. It will solidify as you move on to puree and soft foods, then you will have quite the opposite problem once you go to solid proteins. The way I got my liquids in is I always carried something with me and just made myself sip it every 5 minutes. Also, I found warm or hot liquids much easier to stomach at that stage than cold. Good luck!

Have any of you tried the clear protein drinks? I had Isopure for the first two weeks. It's a clear protein drink, tastes a bit like kool-aide and skim milk. It has 40 grams of protein per bottle from whey isolate. It was not the most delicious tasting, but it did get me through my first two weeks on clear liquids. I also found hot herbal and fruit teas with either splenda or honey and lemon were good. It was easier for me to drink warm liquids during that time than cold ones. Good luck!

For you ladies that are from India...I know I shouldn't be asking this...but can you tell me the secret/recipe for making naan?!? Everytime I make it, it turns out too puffy and chewy! I can't get it it flat enough! Also, I would LOVE a good masala and tandorri marinade recipe. I have tried to make my own Garam also, as all the garam pre mixes here taste horrible, but I'm just not getting it right

Tango was the app I used. I think Viber only works to make calls to other people that have Viber. One of my firneds has Skype, and she used that. There are many apps out there.

Tikki masala. It's basically yougurt spices and chicken. Also Tandorri chicken. You should be able to eat practiacally any of the yourgurt based dips also. Just be careful with eating the rice and naan, they are carb fillers and will fill you up far too fast. I love Indian food also and have had it since the sleeve

Bree, I also am a HUGE caffine a-holic. My biggest sin is cold black tea. All day long. My mother fed me iced tea in my baby bottle...so I kinda blame her...The other reason they say get away from coffee is because for some, it can be a hunger stimulant. Personally, I find quite the opposite to be true. Give me a tripple shot mocha and I'm good without food for at least 8 hours. There are many of us that have turned back to the sins of caffine. I have not gotten back into my mocha a day habit because like you, I feel the calories from those made me fat to begin with, but I am back to drinking black tea like it's going out of style. Some people like crystal light, others do mio...I do Lipton Brisk Tea. Another big thing about the coffees and teas for some people is the milk and sweeteners they add. personally I've never been a sweet tea person so I am thankful for that. Another reason he may be trying to get you away from the coffee is the acidity can upset the incision while you are healing. I didn't really believe the acidity hype until I had a fresh squeezed limeade and my stomach burned and curtled when I was a little more than 4 weeks out. I am still very cautious with citrus. So the real answer is that no, you will not be caffine free forever probably, and you don't really have to be, but just be aware of the effects caffine has on you, and what else you are consuming with it, and you should be fine

John, I feel your pain. I also went through all of the hoops and hassle, incurred many out of pocket expenses trying to work with a bariatric surgeon. My husbands insurance changed over to a Cigna plan in the middle of my process, and I, like you, found out the hard way at the end that Cigna does not cover bariatric surgery in any form. I was undeterred though. I ended up going to Mexico. I did self pay, my cost was $4,750. If I would have self paid here in the states, it would have been $16,000. That would not have covered any hospital stay either. I know self pay in Mexico isn't always an option for everyone, but I want to say good for you for writing this letter, and where there's a will, there's a way!! Don't get discouraged! You will find a way!! Good luck!

My scale is a professional liar. It should play poker instead of trying to tell me how I 'rate'. I was frustrated with my dial scale, when I was around 2 months I was in a long stall for about 2 weeks. My dial scale would say I was 222 one day and 214 the next. I realized that (like me) it was crabby when it was cold outside, so it would tell me I weighed more on cold days and less on warmer days. So after 2 weeks of knowing I weighed something between 214 and 222, I went on a quest for a NEW scale! I decided I was going to get a digital one! I took my husband with me and we looked at an entire aisle and a half of scales at Target. My husband was less thrilled than I was by this adventure. I couldn't decide on a glass one with sleek metal feet, on 'The Biggest Loser' scale, on a weight watchers one...I finally narrowed my choice to the scales that not ONLY measure your weight, but also tell you your percentage of fat, water, muscle and bone mass. This way I thought I could figure out if I was dehydrates, and also be able to better gauge my fat content besides fretting over BMI. I excitedly chose one for 49.95. It was more than wanted to spend on a scale, BUT it was going to tell me all KINDS of information, measure my weight in .2 increments, AND I could even save up to 8 'profiles' on my scale so other people could use it!! I was so excited! I got home, popped in the batteries, read the instruction manual (I never had a scale with an instruction manual before!!) I carefully entered in my height, my age, and gender. I saved my profile and could HARDLY SLEEP knowing that the next morning when I weighed, I would have a WEALTH of information to better guage my weight by. The next morning, I woke up, peed (you know you all pee before weighing!), took off my socks and stepped on my brand new scale!!..!!..I waited...216.4 it read. Then, it started with my percentage of fat 53% (53%?!?! Is that even possible?!!?) water 47% (so I'm all fat and water..!?) muscle 8% (What The?!!?) and bone mass 3% (3%?! I AM NOT A WALKING JELLO BLOB!!!) I was mad! I am mad! According to my scale, as the months have gone on, I have gained .2% of bone, and lost 1% of fat...the point is, these scales, these measuring devices, even BMI uses a set measurement made by some crazy scientist by which to make people compare themselves to others. If you don't fit exactly into their little ratios, you are given a label 'fat' 'obese' 'slim' 'underweight'. We need to STOP labelling ourselves, and worry about how we feel. Do you feel good? Do you feel like you've lost weight? Are your pants looser? I am still a slave every morning to the dumb thing that tells me I am growing bone...albiet .2 percent at a time...but I also guage my clothes, the compliments I get in a day, the way I look compared to old pictures, and you know what? I know this surgery was worth it, and I know I will prevail, even if I am just fat and water...