leslie1958

Thanks Sherry !!

Hello everyone ! It's been awhile since I've been on here, but I wanted to tell you about my wonderful experience with Dr Illan.

February 11th, 2014, I flew alone to San Diego. Dr Illans coordinator (the amazing Omar) called me as soon as I landed and directed me to where I met up with my driver who took me across the border to TJ. Omar was waiting for me and took me directly to Florence Hospital. I had blood work, urine test, chest X-Ray and EKG. ALL my different doctors and surgeons came in to talk with me. The nurses were amazing and I realized then why everyone raves about Dr Illan and his team, you have simply never had such total and competent care taken of you. I was whisked away to surgery and woke hours later feeling sleepy but great !! - During my two nights in the hospital I was under constant care and observation. Then I was discharged and taken to my hotel which was like the most comfortable oasis of quiet. Omar even surprised me with a facial on the second night - it was marvelous !! - I spent the next two days being chauffered all over TJ and out of town to a fantastic beach resort for dinner on Valentines night !! Honestly I felt so great (no painkillers needed EVER !!) I had to keep reminding myself that I just had surgery, I felt more like I was on vacation !

I could go on and on, but you get the idea. I chose the most perfect team.

I got home on the night of Feb 15th, I drove myself home, next morning I cooked Breakfast for my husband, did some laundry, walked the dogs, I felt phenomenal. This past Tuesday was 4 weeks since the start of pre op diet and 3 weeks since surgery and I am down 20.4 pounds so I am thrilled.

Dr Illan and his team are young, skilled and progressive. They operate more by word of mouth and by that alone they are busy. The hospital was clean and sunny and comfortable. I cannot come up with a single negative thing to say. If you have any questions at all, please contact me, i'm delighted to help in anyway !!

Cheers !

Sissy - SO HAPPY for you !! I'm on BP meds too and planning surgery in February. My GP said it is highly likely I will come off BP and Cholesterol meds after surgery. Honestly, this alone makes it worthwhile for me. Congratulations to you.

Hi everyone

Hoping you might provide some nutritional help.

My friends son was involved in very bad ATV accident and is in a long recovery from facial reconstruction. He can have "lumpy liquids" if that makes any sense.

He is desperate for cheeseburgers or pizzas - and I know some of you have been processing fast foods down.

Please post any ideas you have on this - he is getting tired of Soups !!

Thanks so much !!

Kay

Ooh you lucky lucky girl - is he as cute in person ??

Several months ago I let everyone know about a great TV series I had found on Youtube called "Fat Doctor" about bariatric surgeon Shaw Somers. The show follows one or two new patients undergoing wls. It's a bit graphic but real and interesting.

There is at least another entire new season now on youtube and a show called "Fat Surgeons"

and for those of you who watched the earlier seasons you'll be happy to know that they follow up on earlier patients so you can get a real feel of how much weight they have lost.

I won't give anything away but there is one patient they follow up on and I literally had no idea who he was until they showed his before photos. The transformation was utterly breathtaking.

Anyway enjoy !!

You could be talking about me, I was feeling EXACTLY how you are now.

I have not had my surgery yet but I have been struggling more with this decision than anything else I've ever done. I thought maybe I could just get serious and really lose weight on my own this time, then I was worried about having an irreversible surgery and the list just went on and on. And to make matters worse, a lot of folks who had been sleeved seemed a hundred times more confident about their decision than I could ever be. I would literally wake in the night with cold sweats and panic about having this done. I'm not someone who prays (not wanting to offend anyone at all, but I'm just not) but lets just say I sent a request out into thin air and asked if I could just make a decision one way or another as this was driving me mad.

Well I got my answer, yesterday I ended up at my GP's office with insanely high BP (my doctor said I was in "stroke territory") and had to be kept there for two hours until it came down to a safe level. They also did a lot of blood work including checking me for pre-diabetes etc. I am only 55 years old.

I tell you something, you can do an awful lot of soul searching in two hours while you sit in a cold doctors office. I was plain angry at myself. I wasn't in there for a sore throat, or a sprained wrist, I was in there because I could not stop over eating, plain and simple, I COULD NOT stop over eating and yesterday this might have made me stroke or die.

I left there with a 100% certainty that I WAS having this surgery, I was not scared, I did not question it, I WAS having this surgery.

I truly and honestly wish you the same certainty no matter what your decision is !! All the best to you !!

Sounds really interesting thanks for the heads up will DEFINITELY be watching it.

Great reading your posts Sherry. I should find out Wednesday whether I can make it there for Jan 18th (or near that) surgery. hope I can, would love to finally meet you.

I've noticed a "shift" in my thinking lately - it wasn't a conscious thing but I seem to have lost a lot of my fear and apprehension. I had really been hoping that something would change and I think it finally has.

I am also planning on Dr Illan after much discussion and research. His coordinator Omar called me over Christmas just to chat and wish me all the best (and I haven't even been there yet) he wasn't selling anything he was just being Omar !! - lovely man.

I have been lucky to be in touch with several wonderful women who told me all about their experiences with Dr Illan and they have all echoed that they were given the most attentive and professional care. Good luck to you in your decision !!

Ironic I found this thread today. I saw many neurologist yesterday. I was diagnosed with PN a few years ago...not very serious at that time. I am 2 years post gastric sleeve and my PN has gotten worse. I have it mainly in my hands and feet. Also a normal bone density test 2 yrs ago. I recently dx with osteoporosis in my hands and hips. Not saying my wls was the cause at all. I mentioned this to my neuro and was told a big percentage of his patients that has PN has also had wls. I also have been dx woth fibromalgia. My rheumy tells me thst most of my pain in my body is due to the PN. I am having a MRI with contrast on monday of my lower back to see if the issue of straining to void is due to my lower spine or autonomic neuropathy.

Thank you so much for posting all this information - I didn't go into detail with my post but I have hypothyroidism and sciatica - both possible causes so I am planning on seeing my GP next week and get his take on it. Good luck with everything and again - huge thanks !!

A couple of weeks ago I started experiencing tingling in hands and fingers (peripheral neuropathy) - I have had this to much lesser degree before

I have read many causes of this - Diabetes, nerve damage etc.

I really feel this is due to my weight gain and I'm interested to hear anyone else's experiences with this

Have you applied for a personal loan ? Banks are lending and that would be my first choice. After that look to your 401k or sell something. Care credit is well known and offers interest free for awhile but is only accepted in the US right now. Or a credit card offering any interest free promotions.

Washington is ridiculous. That's why I'm going to Denver. I saved 7000.00 by doing that when I had my band done. I will be going to Dr. Weaver for my revision if things work out. He charges a fraction of what you've listed here.

I just looked up Dr Weaver and sent them an email to find out the cost of surgery for me there. Thanks for the information and good to luck to you on your journey.

I'm traveling to Edmond, OK. It will be 10k for self pay cash ( or credit card). If you finance thru care credit, I believe it's an extra 1k. I live near Chicago so I'll be staying a week in a hotel room out there as well and that is 400. airline Tickets I used reward points so it was only 10 for my mom and I

That's one of the lowest I have seen. Kansas City is around $11k and there's a couple of doctors in Texas around $9k - I would dearly love to stay local but even with Kansas City being quite low compared to everywhere else - it is still 3 times the cost of Mexico and that's where I'm having issues. If it were 2 or maybe 3k more I would stay local.

I am having very hard time working myself up to having the sleeve. One day I'm good, then several days of abject terror. I have had loads of encouragement through emails from all you wonderful people on this forum but I really do need to meet someone in person (or a group of people) that have already been through surgery so I can get a real life feel for what lies ahead. So, if there is anyone in KC or Northern Missouri that has been through the sleeve and doesn't mind answering my questions or sharing their experience, I would appreciate it SO MUCH !!

OMG !! where did your bum go ?? and look at your little face too !! I cannot even imagine how great it must be for you to look at those two photos !! huge congrats to you hoosiergirl !!

Was anyone self-pay ? any idea of cost ?

4 days on my diet and I've lost 7 pounds and it took me a year and a half to get to this point I am mind over matter and it feels so good

Well that's impressive - but you're on the wrong forum, you should post on the "Mind Over Matter Weight Loss" website ....... (personally, I'll stick with the sleeve thanks - jeeesh)

"recycled versions of the same pipe dream"

Very well put !!

And it's a multi billion dollar industry - enticing people like us who have tried everything and just want to believe that something actually works. Shudder to think how much money I dropped over the years

Oh boy I totally agree with feedyoureye - you know I used to watch shows on TV about weight loss surgery and I (very smugly) would say "you would have to be DESPERATE to do something like that" well - look who is now desperate enough to do it. I always believed the next new diet would be the answer and all i needed was a little willpower. And I also agree with Jane - I do know this is a tool. Basically I've been trying to knock a nail in the wall without the hammer - so, I'm headed to Mexico to get my "hammer" - yes I know REALLY bad analogy but you catch my drift I hope.

Okay I haven't booked yet but I'm thinking January is going to be my month for Dr Illan. Just wanted to see who else is also going to be there in January ? let me know as I'm going alone and would dearly love some buddies (and support !! I'm a chicken)

I went onto Nutrisystem and lost 60 pounds over a year. I felt marvelous and very proud of myself and honestly thought I would NEVER be overweight again. I maintained the weight loss for a number of years but here I sit even bigger than I was when I started Nutrisystem. Here is what I have learned - losing the weight just gets you to the starting gate, the real challenge is keeping it off. I do wish you all the luck and I do hope you are one of the few that can lose and maintain. BUT I would be remiss if I didn't tell you that the odds are stacked against you. It took my Nutrisystem experience and gaining it all back to finally make me wake up and realize that if I am ever to be a healthy weight It will take surgery.

Thank you so much for posting this. I have peripheral neuropathy in my hands and feet. It started a few months ago and I have always been convinced it is weight related. This gives me hope !! - good luck to you

I am self-pay (my insurance excludes wls) I had decided on Dr Illan in Mexico, he has a great reputation and reasonable costs. BUT even though he is a good choice I can't help feel I should at least research costs of sleeve in the U.S.

Please if you are self-pay and had your sleeve surgery in the U.S can you tell me costs etc ?

Thank you !!