Cherbear

My daily food intake: I start my day with a shake, takes me about an hour to finish it. I bought a can of the Enspira shake mix and add a 1/2 a banana and sometimes a teaspoon of Natural Almond butter.
I eat maybe 3 or 4 other small meals throughout the day. At 4 weeks, that consists of 1/4 cup of lowfat chili, tuna chicken or egg salad, 1/2 a small sweet potato, 1 scambled egg, the other night I had some salmon...... stuff like that.
I start with a trainer on Tuesday next week. He is well aware of my surgery and knows I need to take it easy on my core to begin with. He recommeded a product called Muscle Fuel to drink before the workout and asked that I show the back of the packet to my doc before taking it. Its like an energy boost and you add it to bottled Water. Its oonly 20 cals, low in carbs and sugar and doc said it would be fine to take. I'm not worried about post workout food so much at this point but I do get these bariatric protien bars from my docs office from Healthwise (can be ordered online) that are pretty good and I'll probably throw some in by gym bag in case I'm hungry after my WO.
Being scared is normal. When they came to get me to go in for my surgery, I got tears in my eyes and thought to myself, my God am I doing the right thing. Worrying about waking up during surgery was one of my fears too!! 5 minutes later I was asleep and what felt like just a few minutes later I was waking up. Hubs right by my side holding my hand. Other than feeling groggy, it didnt even feel like anything was even done.
I hope i didnt scare you about the drain, it really isnt that bad, it was more of an annoyance. Its only in for 2 or 3 days and thats a a small price to pay. You'll do great and these boards are a great support group.

Hey there - I was sleeved by Dr. Ortiz on August 2nd. I had a great experience and am down 35 lbs from my pre-surgery weight. When I was researching doctors in MX I was very scared and tried one last ditch effort to get my insurance to pay here in Calif. When they refused, I asked my doctor to look at my top 3 choices for MX surgeons and he said without even looking at the list, Dr. Ariel Ortiz. My doc has been to conferences he has spoken at and even trained under him many years ago for a lapband proceedure. When my surgeon made the recommendation all fear and worries went out the window until about 30 minutes before I was to go under, I think that aprehension is normal.
 
The office is clean and up to date. The staff is very nice and the Marriott is like being on a mini vacation.
 
Be strong, fear of the unknown is normal. If you follow the rules for the pre and post diet you will do fantastic. It has been life changeing for me. I have a long way to go, but the daily struggle is gone for me. I love my sleeve and I know you will too if that is the option you choose.
 
Reach out anytime, I'm happy to answer an questions and have a list of suggestions of things to bring after a few other people reached out.

Hi Everyone! I just made it back from tonight from San Diego after having surgery in Tijuana, Mexico on Monday, August 19th! My experience was wonderful!! Thank you Lord!! My sister (support) and I arrived in San Diego on Sunday, 8/19 and was immediately picked up at the airport by Raoul with A Lighter Me. He took us to our hotel in Tijuana after a brief stop at Mi Doctor Hospital to pick up a patient that had been released that day. She looked great and said she was feeling fine. We got to the hotel, Marriott Tijuana and it is beautiful!!The rooms are big, clean and had a bathroom scale. Everyone went over and beyond, the staff was so friendly. As a part of my package with A Lighter Me, the hotel provides 3 cups of broth a day and 2 waters per day (free) to the patient and a 15% discount to their companion at the restaurant. Since we got there on Sunday, there was a Sunday Brunch going on and it was fantastic!! My sister loved loved loved the food, and I loved loved loved smelling, looking and watching her eat and describe the taste to me. LOL!! It did not tempt me at all. I stuck to my 3 week preop and was not hungry. By the way, I lost 23 lbs during preop! Okay, so we get the hospital on Monday and got all of my preop test taken care of and was the first patient to have the surgery. There were several, but the others scheduled were coming in the same day. Everyone that was going to be assisting in my care came into my room to introduce themselves to me (my room nurse, the surgery nurse, the anesthesiologist, my surgeons Dr. Ortiz and Dr. Sanchez at some point before my surgery. Oh, my room had two beds, one for me and the other for my sister! Dr. Lopez also assisted in the surgery, but I met him after I left recovery. My surgery went well, I did have to my hernia repaired, which I suspected my happen because i was taking Nsaids up to 3 weeks before and on an empty stomach. Something you should never do! Anyway, I had NO PAIN, NO NASEAU, NO PROBLEM DRINKING OR ANYTHING!!! Of course, that did not stop me from taking whatever medication they offered, but I didn't think I needed it. The coordinator from A Lighter Me, Janese was there and boy did I see a lot of her and the drivers, Abraham and Eduardo for A Lighter ME! They were constantly in the hospital checking on everyone that was there and making sure we had all we needed. Not once did I have to look for them or contact them for anything because they were always around, even late into the night! So, I'm feeling good. I did not walk for a few hours after surgery because I was just to sleepy. The hospital is small, so don't expect any long hallways to walk in! Tijuana was nice and the weather perfect! I left the hospital and went back to the Marriott Hotel on Wednesday and within an hour my sister, I and another patient we met, went walking to buy a few souvenirs. We walked about a 1/2 mile from the hotel and came back and did not feel in any danger. There were lots of traffic and people walking, especially school kids. There are a lot of food trucks about and my sister purchased some tacos! She says that everything she purchased was absolutely delicious and she travels A LOT all over! Oh, I forgot, even the food in the hospital at the diner on the first was the best for her! On Thursday, our coordinators took us shopping near the border. Now, the storekeepers will converge on you like crazy!!! But we did manage to get some items. There is a Walmart near the Hotel within walking distance. The rest of my stay was uneventful, I felt fine the entire time, I walked and managed to eat some broth and drink Water and gatorade. I've not be hungry at all, but try to get in as I could while there. We check out on Friday and was taken back to San Deigo and our driver, Raoul took my sister and I to the car rental agency because we stayed an extra day in San Deigo. We went shopping and was out and I felt fine the entire time, no problems. My plane ride home was long, I had to switch flights, but flew a total of 6.5 hours home. I held a pillow to my belly most of the way, but otherwise, I was good. I'm home now, having a Isopure (it is so delicious) and I just wanted you all to know that all is well and you should feel safe to go to Tijuana. Now I just pray that my healing journey continues to be blessed. Thanks for reading this long post!!

I requested my records 2 weeks post op and it took a good week before I received them via-email. Instead of sending your request to Concierge try sending to Gloria Miranda <gloria@obesitycontrolcenter.com>; she works in the records office. I also cc'd lucia on my request (nutritionist@obestitycontrolcenter.com). That might have expedited it a little bit Also be sure to give them your patient ID#.
 
Another thought is your can also email Dr. Ortiz as well and let him know your having some pain and need your records urgently so your local doc can see you. I think his email may be on one of the documents in the folder they give you.

Hi - I'm 2 weeks out tomorrow (friday) having my sleeve surgery with Dr. Ortiz. I reasearched and researched and had it narrowed to Aceves, Kelly and Ortiz. I spoke with my bariatric surgeon here at home and he was aware that if I couldnt get insurance to pay for it here, that I was planning to go to MX to get it done. When they did refuse, before I could even show him my list, he said go to Dr. Ariel Ortiz.
 
My Experience with OCC has been really great. My patient coordinator was Carolyn and she was on top of everything, responded right away to all my questions and was very supportive. Not once did I feel like anything was a sales pitch as I had with another doctors coordinator who tried to make it sound like other doctors always had issues but hers never did.
 
Getting to the hospital was well coordinated. The driver called me when we landed in San Diego and told me where to meet him. The hospital was clean and well staffed. Lucia the nutritionist was nice and has answered several questons since i've been home. Dr. Jimenez the cardiologist answered all my husbands questions and was also very nice. Dr. Martinez who assisted Ortiz with the surgery has an amazing bedside manner. He checked on me and made sure I wasn't having any pain.
 
The post op stay at the Marriott was great. The hotel was really nice, updated and they are ready for the sleeve patients offering 3 bowls of broth each day along with bottled Water and popcicles.
 
I personally have had very little pain and recovery has been a breeze. Worst part for me was the drain that you go to the hotel with; the stich was tight, and was little uncomfortable, but it comes out the day your going home. I've kept in contact with a few of the other patients who were sleeved on the same day and it seems we have all had a pretty easy recovery.
 
Happy to answer any questions, just reach out :-)

I was sleeved by Dr. Ariel Ortiz August 2nd. 7 days post op and I feel great. No regrets.

I just scheduled my date for June 27th with Dr. Aceves. I've researched and read and consulted many forums. For the last week I've been feeling very nervous about going to MX but today I woke up and the nervousness is gone. I'm excited, releaved and embracing my future new life!!
Let the countdown begin!!