HoosierGirl

I blogged with as much detail about my surgery experience with Dr. Ortiz as I could! You are welcome to check it out....www.hoosierfatty.wordpress.com - I have lost 57 lbs since surgery in February and I feel fantastic. Only 35 to go and I know I am going to make it. Good luck to you!

Surgery was 2/4/13...down 57 lbs and so happy. You are welcome to check out my blog for all the details. Www.hoosierfatty.wordpress.com It was everything I expected. Very pleased with my care and result.

My BMI was 36/37 and I have lost 57 lbs to date (surgery was February 24, 2013). I have been walking since surgery and am now doing high intensity workouts. Make sure I get my protein each day too. I am not soft or saggy. I think my weight loss has been a little slower because I am gaining muscle. Hope to lose the last 35 lbs by October. You will be fine!

Good morning everyone! This morning I weighed 180!!!! When I started my pre-op diet in January, I was 237....surgery date was 2/4/13. Total loss is 57 SO EXCITING!!! Now get to enjoy losing the last 35lbs.

The OCC doesn't have support people stay, there was only an extra chair there. Support person stays at the Marriott. It was nice for me, felt I could really rest without feeling bad my support person was miserable.

Dr. Ortiz did my surgery in February....you can read all about it on my blog...www.hoosierfatty.wordpress.com Knowing all I know today, I would go back in a heart beat. Although, I was only one night at his facility, I felt great and had zero complications. Good luck!

Surgery date 2/4/13....have lost 54 lbs including the pre-op diet. Average weight lost per week 2.45. Some weeks I lose nothing or even gain. Some weeks I lose 4lbs. Go figure. All I know is that I am doing the diet really well, tracking all I eat/drink, and getting plenty of exercise. What I haven't lost in weight, I certainly am gaining in muscle tone. Overall, I don't really care how it comes off, how quickly it comes off.....only that it KEEPS COMING OFF!!! LOL! Don't beat yourself up if it feels slow, just keep doing what you are doing because you are heading in the right direction!

Starting week 5 of this challenge on Monday...feel amazing and cannot wait to see the results at the end of 12 weeks. I have the "before" picture ready to compare to the "after" picture! One of the biggest things has been dietary - if it doesn't have a mother or didn't grow from the ground, I am NOT eating it! Lol

You are welcome to read my blog all about selecting a surgeon in Mexico, travel, and surgery experience, etc. Hope it helps! Tried to include a lot of detail in hopes of helping others. I would gladly go back for surgery in Mexico. A very good experience. Blog www.hoosierfatty.wordpress.com

I was alone after surgery and felt safe. Now, I didn't go out running around by myself, but the hotel and ride to the doc was safe. No problem getting across the border with meds. You ladies will be just fine. You are welcome to read my bog about the whole travel experience. Www.hoosierfatty.com Your hubby can call the Marriott toll free to check on you. Good luck!

I have been FAT for the past 20 years. Funny, I never felt fat. My confidence never went down, but my frustration/disappointment in myself was HUGE. It has been entertaining to watch people checking me out since I have lost 50 lbs. At 237lbs, people ignored me. Although I look smaller now, I am still the same person. Does our outward appearance REALLY matter THAT much?! I NEVER want to forget how it felt to be ignored. I will NEVER ignore someone who is different than me. I will NEVER judge someone because of their size. I've been judged that way for the past 20 years. It is not something I would wish on anyone. Fiddleman - you are smokin' hot today and I am sure you were before surgery too. Now your outside simply matches your inside.

Fiddle - I don't know my body fat percentage....suggestions for measuring? I don't have a scale that will measure it.

Hoosier_Fatty

Hey this is the start of my 4th week of this challenge! Wow! I am very impressed with myself that I have not quit by now! Ha! Never never have stayed with an exercise program - this long...especially something as difficult as this Jillian Michaels Body Revolution program is! (I am starting to sweat just typing the name!) My diet has been very clean and I feel fantastic. It might be my imagination, but I appear have toned and defined arms! (As always, the butt is lagging behind...pun intended!) Have only lost 4.6 lbs over these weeks, but I feel more toned and I think I look smaller. Frankly, if the scale never moved again, but I could wear smaller clothes, that would be fine with me. (Desperately trying to focus on how great I feel vs. the little weight I am losing for how hard I am working out!) Also trying to slowly increase my calories and increase protein. This whole thing is a fun mental game.

Nicolanz - hope you are doing better! Had my gall bladder out several years ago and life without it has been a GOOD thing! Hope it is for you too!

Stepped up a level on Body Revolution today - OMG....super sore but LOVING the calorie burn from this workout! AND hit the 50lbs lost mark this morning! The sore is offset by this feeling of VICTORY!

I had a refrigerator. But I cannot recall about a microwave. They bring you bottled water and I didn't drink the water from the tap "just in case"! Haha!

Heather, I don't know you, but I know that you are worth WAY more than a few thousand dollars!!! Get this surgery. Lose the weight and feel healthy. THEN tackle all the other stuff that you would like to fix.

I went through all the insurance requirements at my local Bariatric center last summer. So I had all the nutrition classes, group appointments, psych eval, EGD, etc. Anyway, my insurance denied me because all my co-morbidities were managed with medication. Before I went to Mexico, I felt like I had a good understanding of my pre-surgery health. However, none of the pre-surgery tests are needed in the US prior to surgery in Mexico as the OCC staff will do an EKG, nutritional consult, and blood work before surgery. The OCC gives you the results of all tests after your procedure. I took those to my PCP at home and she helped me get off all my meds as my weight went down. They OCC website lists all needed post-op blood work. My PCP helped me with the needed blood tests. You should not have anything to do in the States before surgery in Mexico.

I did a whole blog about selecting a surgeon in Mexico and my experience with Dr. Ortiz. www.hoosierfatty.wordpress.com I had a friend with me the day of surgery, but then recovered alone and traveled home alone. It can be done and I didn't think it was a big deal. The blog has all that info. Good luck!

Very excited for you! Hope you have a positive and uneventful experience too! Good luck!

SaraLou - glad the blog helped! Before surgery, I was really needing to find out all I could and vowed I would blog to help others. This surgery been simply amazing for me! Hope it will be for you too! OK - to answer your questions...Dr. Ortiz asks his patients not to disclose price. But what I found is he is about middle of the road. Less than Dr. Alvarez or Dr. Aceves, but more than Dr. Ponce de Leon and others. He is the same price as Dr. Pompa who also practices at a Center of Excellence. Call his office and they will give you the rate and they don't pester you like the coordinating companies do. I felt it was a good value. Next - I got over the fear by getting very logical with myself. My physical appearance sucked. I felt tired all the time. I was on two blood pressure medications. The only thing being heavy was getting me misery and less life span. Plus, people a lot sicker than me have surgery, recover and thrive. Why not me? Why not set my mind to doing ALL the doctors said and kicking-butt during this surgery? For me, it was totally a mental attitude. The pre-surgery diet was a breeze because I kept telling myself, "I can stand this because it's only two weeks...my solution is only two weeks away!!!" Although I was nervous before surgery, I kept telling myself, "You've got this. You can do anything you set your mind to. You have chosen experts in their field. An anesthesiologist and cardiac specialist are right here during surgery in case anything happens. I am a very short flight to San Diego. etc. etc." And I TOLD their staff I was nervous and they helped me through it. Never did I feel like I was just a number and never did I feel like they couldn't "help" me. The pre-surgery phase is crazy with wild dreams, irrational fears, and the biggest nagging feeling ever. If you can get through the pre-surgery mind-games, the surgery and recovery are a SNAP! Ha ha!

Never have vomited since surgery (knocking on wood as I type). But I did make myself really really sick eating a few French fries about 8 weeks post-op. Terrible horrible unbelievable nausea. Have tried fries only once after that in a smaller amount and got the same sick feeling. So, I am officially "done" with fries! Yuck! Thank you VSG!

Love you my friend. Glad you are doing better.