Jay1234

Surgery date march 6th Starting 330 lbs Surgery date 306 lbs Current 250 lbs Total lost 80lbs.

I did progreso split pea soup (pureed) during my purée stage and I tolerated it very well. I also did ne clam chowder (minus the solids) and that went down well too.

I did a same day surgery and wrote a detailed post. Feel free to check it out. Good luck! http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/topic/71617-jay1234s-thread/

Well, I'm off! Alarm went off promptly at 3am, but i was pretty much up at 2. I got through security without the complementary anal cavity search. Yay! For those keeping track, I'm doing the same-day travel and surgery so I'll post as much about that part of the experience as possible. Part of having surgery same-day is that I have to wear compression socks on the way to Mexico to avoid clots. So, with a nod to Amytug, I share with you a little self-portrait of my own. Said in my best Austin powers villain voice... " I'm dead sexy!" Btw. Dr Fernando Garcia at mihospital.

ok... i lied... i just tried it. I had to go to a restaurant for lunch for someone's birthday. I sipped about 4 ounces of iced tea while waiting for the food to arrive. When my soup arrived (I got French Onion soup) I just ate the broth and a few onions. No pain at all. I stayed away from the cheese and the small pieces of beef in there.

I wish I found this earlier... this puts everything into perspective. http://www.obesityhelp.com/forums/vsg/4458217/The-Pyloric-Valve-How-it-works-with-the-VSG/ It talks about the pyloric valve and how it operates regarding food/drink. I'm no doctor, but it looks like drinking Water (not sure about thicker liquids) BEFORE a meal is not a total deal breaker. I'm too early out to experiment, but in a few weeks, I'll try to drink some set amounts of water 5-15 minutes prior to eating to see if it causes any discomfort. I suspect as long as you're sipping, it won't effect eating at all. Of course, this is BEFORE you start eating, after that valve closes, it's a completely different story according to that link.

I've been eating pureed Soups. Progresso Mushroom Soup goes down the easiest. I tried chicken and corn chowder the other day (pureed of course) and the sleeve didn't like that. I got about three small bites in and I was done. You guys have me in the mood for mashed potatoes, so I'm going to try some thinned out this week.

Sunshine, I think seeing the 2nd leak test gave an insight. When I sipped that liquid I could see it go into the stomach and empty into the intestines within a second or two. I assume it happens the same way with Water. I used to be a chugger. Now I just fill my mouth with water and split it into two gulps. I have a 22oz container and I can typically get about 1.5 in during work on top of the 6-8 oz of Protein shake in the morning.

I ate sitting down yesterday and it was awesome! HA! Dennis is feeling great. I was so jealous of him during the trip. He had his one day prior to ours and his recovery seemed to be going so much quicker than mine.

Jesser. Duh I never really answered your question. Absolutely I would still go with dr Garcia. His team was great. I would have possibly made a different choice in venue if it was an option.

Jesser... I'm a little happier every day. I'm still having a few sharp pains here and there, I have to eat standing up at the moment and I'm getting some unpleasant surprises the past few mornings at 5 am in the form of acid reflux. I didn't expect to feel perfect one week after surgery. I know it will take time. One real positive is that I've lost 10 lbs in the past week.

They had two different operating rooms, but they were right next to each other. The best way I could describe it is... you walk into the OR/Recovery area, make a left and right at the end of the short hallway are the two operating rooms... one to the right and one to the left. If your room is on the same floor, they make you walk to the OR. If you are staying on another floor, they bring you down in your bed. It is my understanding that a few doctors work out of this facility.

Thanks for the nice words Kristina. I just wanted to answer the questions that I had going into this so the next person would feel a little more prepared than I felt.

The Docs recommended isopure for your Protein post op. I wasn't aware of this pre-op, so I asked my wife to get it for me before I returned. Apparently there is a "flavor-free" version that you can mix in with everything to get your total protein requirements for each day. They only had chocolate at the store near our home, so I'm planning on trying chocolate chicken broth later tonight. (just kidding) As for the dressing changes, Dr. Luna recommended a spray antiseptic, so my wife got me some bactine and more steri-strips... after I got home and shaved my belly, they stuck a lot better than the ones placed by the Dr.

The thing I'll never understand about this process is the unlimited number of pre-op diet variations... Some doctors do 2 weeks, some do 3 days (I know this can be based on BMI). But some also put you on a two week pre-op diet then they give you one last pig-out dinner right before surgery. I'm sure every doctor goes with their diet because that's what has worked for them in the past, but it's strange how there can be such a vast difference in practices.

Good luck!

Sorry for your gas pain. That is definitely the worst part of the process for me. Congrats though... no pain, no.... um... loss!

I kept the passport, wallet and electronics in the safe. They reset the safe in front of you and turn their backs as you enter your own combination. The safe needs 4 numbers and 1 letter, i.e. 1234A I also bought 2 suitcase combination locks at target that I kept on my bag at all times.

I did the pre-op diet for 2 weeks. I lost 16 lbs prior to surgery. I was told that I did well because Dr Garcia did not have to do a 5th incision higher up on the stomach during the procedure. You get out of it what you put into it. I drank a ton of crystal light during the last 3 "fluid only days." I asked the Dr and they said it was also ok to do Gatorade during that last 3 days which definitely helped with the hunger pains. I thought I would be starved the day of the surgery but surprisingly I wasn't hungry at all. In fact, I was sleeved 6 days ago and I haven't been hungry for a second of it. As far as the aftercare packet. They give it to you as you are being discharged from the hospital. It contained some wound care items, all of the contact info for all of the doctors in the practice and some gatorade and water. Dr Velazco will give you the diet on the first day so you have time to read it and ask her questions. She is so nice. As for your payment question... I chose to pay with a credit card. There is a small additional processing fee for this, but I felt more safe doing this than carrying a cashiers check over the border... plus... I get points on the card.

Marriott room Mi doctor room Local weather.

The driver (Samuel's Dad) picked us up a little after 9am. They like to leave 4-5 hours before your flight because sometime the line is longer than other times at the border. We crossed the border at about 10:30am. It was great to be back in the USA! From that time on, it's just boring trip stuff, so I'll spare you. I also have some random thoughts: - Items to buy before you leave: Isopure, steristrips and bactine for would care after return home. - Don't take too much to the hospital... you wont need it: comfy clothes, lip balm, gas ex strips (although I'm sure it's just mental) - Mi Doctor has wifi - the password is on the door in your room. set it up early so you can FaceTime or Viber - As others said, I only had one girl that used gloves when doing anything on me. - The room I was in definitely needed a little work. It stormed one morning and there was Water leaking in under the sill. But if you go into this knowing that you're not having the operation done at the Ritz, then you know what you're getting. - The gas is killing me. I walked about 2 miles today trying to get rid of it, but it's still sticking around. It still feels like someone is trying to pry my heart and collarbone out with a tire Iron. - The other kind of gas was killing me until earlier today. I had a 10 pound fart climbing it's way back and forth in my intestines since the surgery. It would literally wake my wife and I up in the middle of the night. The fart lords have shined upon me earlier today and called their minions back to hell. (We're all friends here, I can tell you that, right?) ;p~ - Someone mentioned in a previous post that Dr Garcia is "above" Mi Doctor. I hate to say this because that one nurse was so awesome to me, but, I agree. Security at the Marriott was awesome. I won't go into details, in case the bad guys look at this kind of stuff, but it is probably the safest place in Tijuana. I'm sure I've forgotten something... I'll post more if I think of it.

March 8th, Woke up feeling a little better. Gas pain is still kicking my ass. I was peeing blue today (and for the next 2 days) from the 2nd leak test. They make you drink a blue dye to see if it comes out of your drain. I was surprised by my favorite nurse this morning. She pushed the last of the IV meds and told me she was taking out the IV. After that, she told me to shower. After the shower, they applied to bandage dressings and pulled the drain. It did not hurt at all. I guess this is typically done the following day at the hotel, but I'm glad it happened now so I wouldn't have to wear that thing at the hotel. They pulled the drain around 1pm and I was checked into the hotel at 2:15 pm. I met my friend there and he bought me a popsicle while I was waiting to check in. That thing was excellent! The room was awesome. I'll post a photo later. I had an abbreviated stay (one less day at the hotel). So I hung out in the lobby drinking the gatorade that was provided by Dr Garcia's staff. Dr. Luna came to the hotel with Rosie to take out the staples. I had never had staples before, and I was very surprised that there was no pain at all in their removal. Dr. Luna is a pro at that. I was told that Samuel, the driver would call at around 9pm to tell me my pickup time. He called about 8pm-ish and gave me the pickup time for the following morning. (I'm looking at iMessage and it looks like it changed some of the times due to the 3 hour time zone difference. So for those of you graphing out my trip, you may have to shift the times over three hours.

March 7th The nurses did a good job managing pain. They were in every few hours pushing meds. My favorite nurse, and I feel awful because she introduced herself while I was in a daze and I've forgotten her name, was the morning nurse. Her english was great and she had a great bedside manner. She really made being there alone much more bearable. The next morning I received a very nice apology for the oversight about not calling my wife. I showered and the nurse changed the bandages. Again.... FELLAS....SHAVE!!!!! Approx 1pm they came up one at a time and took us downstairs to do the leak test. We had to drink that lovely cocktail in front of the x-ray machine. You could see the Fluid go into your stomach and then out the other end. It's at this point that you really get to see how big it is. This will put into perspective everything that you put in your mouth from here on out. (I'm reading the texts that my wife sent back and forth to write this... she asked me how it went and I replied... "No leaks, but I think I saw someone's watch in there.") j/k I got a lot more sleep today. I was supposed to get ice chips after the radiologist read the report, but many hours later I was given some juice. Btw... I think it was mentioned here before, bring your own washcloths because they only had towels for your shower.

I met Dr. Garcia briefly, he asked if I had any questions... I didn't after spending months lurking on the forums. I also met Dr. Velazco at this time. She is a real sweetie. I was there alone and she could tell I was a little nervous I think, so she spent some time with me talking about what was going to happen. She takes care of the nutrition part of the procedure. 3:55pm I was notified that I my operation was approximately an hour away. I was told that it would take about 45 minutes for the operation and another 45 minutes in recovery. Here comes the only negative thing that I can say about Dr. Garcia's team. I asked them to call my wife when they finished the procedure, giving the phone number to 2 different people. She never received the call. 5:17pm I sent a text to my wife telling her that they were taking me in. My room was on the same floor as the OR, so they had me walk to the OR. As I mentioned before, no naked people, but I did see doctors operating on another patient. All I could see was the stomach and tubes coming out of it. I laid on the operating table and looked into the light overhead and a minute or two later, I was out. I woke up in recovery. It didn't seem like I was in there very long. They wheeled me into my room and had me crawl over to my bed. I kept remembering what everyone said about getting up and walking as soon as possible, so I mustered up some strength and got out of bed. I got my phone out of the safe and texted my wife at 7:51pm that I was awake. She was freaking out because I told her that we should be looking at 1.5 to 2 hours and it was almost 3 when I texted her. She said she had the phone in her hand to call the coordinator when I texted her. For the rest of the night, I was up about every hour walking the floor.

I'm going to go into as much detail as possible. Skip to another thread now if you don't want to know everything! I'll break it into a few different posts so it will be manageable. March 6 12:51pm (PST) I landed in San Diego. Side note - I flew Delta for the first time and had a great experience. If you're using them, download their app before you leave. You can track your flight while enroute (I had a four hour flight so this helped to kill the time) plus it send you notifications on your arrival and departure gates in case they change so you don't have to rush to your next leg. I called Samuel as soon as I arrived at the gate as instructed. He was already on the property at another terminal picking up Stephanie and her mom. The second I hit the sidewalk outside of baggage claim he pulled up! He was really great. He gave us a little tour on the way to the boarder. He also gave us some good cellphone info to consider. As we were approaching the border, he told us when to turn the data off on our phones so we didn't get any outrageous data charges. I signed up for international roaming a few days before the trip, but he said the data fees would still be steep. Crossing the border into Mexico was nothing, a few speed bumps and we were in. We arrived at Mi Doctor a few minuted later. A few minutes after arriving we met Melissa. She was great. She took us right to get our blood tests. I would say within the first 30-45 minutes, I had filled out the admissions paperwork, given blood, was assigned a room and was in my hospital gown. Here's my first pet peeve about MiDoctor. At least half of the medical forms were in Spanish. And I'm sure someone will have a problem with the dumb American saying this but, if you have a business that caters to customers from countries other than yours, I would expect it would be pretty easy to translate the medical forms to a variety of different languages. I still have no idea what I signed. The admissions person (who was extremely nice as well) explained them to me, but I would have felt better if I actually could read what I was signing. After getting to my room, the nurses showed me the safe. I secured my wallet in the safe and locked my suitcase with luggage combo locks. I bought these after reading a post on the forum... thank you to whomever said to do that. I'm glad I took this extra step because someone on our floor had some money missing. That story is not mine to tell, so I'll let that OP tell it. During check-in someone from the staff (I don't recall who) told us that they have a person who's job was to collect our bags and watch over them while we were in surgery, but that never happened. It seems they are aware that they have an internal issue that needs to be addressed. They gave me an IV (first time) and did an EKG. If I can recommend something to the men that will follow me... if you have any chest or stomach hair... SHAVE IT OFF! They had a hard time getting the sensors to stay on and none of the bandages or steri-strips applied later stayed on for more than a few hours.