rhw94123

Sorry to barge in, but yes he is. Dr. Jaime Ramos Kelly.

Best wishes, ladies! Hope you stay comfortable this week! I reported the spam post above this one--- hopefully it'll soon be removed. Happy surgery week!

I will be in town to accompany someone to a 1/22 surgery at Florence hospital -- I will be down the road from you at Hotel Lucerne on 1/23 & 1/24. Feel free to correspond while we're in town & good luck !!

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Happy New Year everyone! I'm 8.5 weeks out from my 11/11 surgery and down 28-30 lbs from that day (177 this morning). My body fat percentage has decreased from 41% to 35%, which makes me content with my not-remarkably-fast weight loss. Huge news is that my cholesterol is down from 220 before surgery to 150! Last, a few people have started noticing my loss, which has been fun. it seems like I started getting a few comments when I hit 30 lbs down from pre-op (about 3-5 lbs ago). My morale is good and I have only 1-2 "hungry days" every 10 days or so.

I checked with my surgeon's FB group for you & 3 people came forward & said they didn't find a thing wrong with the weekend care at Florence. (2 were Fri surgeries & one was a Sat. Surgery). Best wishes as you get your plans finalized!

I drank a lot of fresca pre-op. I drink a couple ounces of 80% flat coke zero a few times a week now, but not obsessively & I'm officially probably not supposed to :/

I thought so- I met a nice Garcia patient when there. I checked in to Florence on a Sunday night at 9:30 & it was kind of quiet, but I can't speak to how it would be on a Saturday. The day-2 (Sunday) environment might be the most concerning (?). Hopefully someone will post details.

That must feel great! I imagine any Past worries that it might not be working, etc., are replaced with faith & knowledge that it IS working!!

What hospital? Would it be at Florence or ???

My husband and I own our own business and -- aside from 2 nights in a hotel in a Mexico after release from the hospital-- I really didn't take any time off. I had my gallbladder removed, too. The one adjustment I made was I laid down every day by about 5:30 pm and didn't do much in the evenings (usually I wouldn't get tired till 10pm or so, but right after the sleeve a weariness would hit me every day about 5pm and I could not buzz around my house and do laundry, sweep, etc.). My surgeon was really fast (completes most sleeve surgeries in about 30-35 minutes), so I wasn't under very long. I think this (and the fact that his practice doesn't employ narcotic painkillers outside of the recovery room) helped me feel alert and back-to-normal pretty quickly. SWELLING -- I think I'm still a little swollen, but there was a significant drop after 6 weeks. Best wishes!

I am going to Mexico with a loved one in a couple of weeks so she can have surgery with Dr. Illan, but I will keep an ear peeled for another person going around tax day . There is no lack of great reviews for Dr. Illan on here, but I thought I would also take this opportunity to endorse his work/practice. I am a very choosey consumer and did a lot of research on Mexican surgeons. I was ready to go with one of the super-established ones and pay nearly twice as much if I could not research and conclude myself that Dr. Illan was excellent. I called the public hospital where he is an ER surgeon, I talked to many of his patients (including Mexican ones who said he has an excellent reputation locally and regionally) and I got comfortable. He is younger than many of the surgeons with long resumes so it takes more effort to research him. (He is currently a "candidate" rather than a "Fellow" in the American College of Surgeons -- I would not be surprised if his prices went up when his status changes to "Fellow" fairly soon.) I would say the hospital he uses is fine/good (be prepared for it to feel like a small town US hospital with a dated decor in certain wings). Nurses/staff very attentive and conscientious. I felt gratified when I was walking the halls after surgery to hear some medical staff discussing in impressed voices how fast & precise he is in the E.R. and I felt like every member of his team that I met was thorough, organized, professional and kind. Last -- the personal/ tourist/ companion attention you get from his Mexico-based coordinator Omar is famous and (in my opinion) super valuable if you are looking at going alone. I had a companion and Omar fussed over me, and from what I saw he will take the role of stand-in family friend and camp counselor if you come alone. Best wishes -- 3 months seems like a great amount of time to get perfectly prepped!

I definitely think it's worth driving to get someplace that seems great based on your research (I flew to Mexico myself !). Best wishes as you prep for your surgery!

That sounds great, Alysa! I can't see tickers , etc. on my phone... Is that 29lbs since surgery day? It seems like you're having great success!

My Dr. (Dr. Illan in Mexico) does a significant volume of sleeve surgeries and completes most of his procedures within 25-45 mins. (When I was there my procedure was 30 mins & he completed a high BMI acquaintance of mine in 45 mins the next day.) This is a 'plus' to me because it represents so little time under anesthesia and no catheter . Best wishes- I have had one in the past and it was weird but not painful.

I started with a Force about 1 month ago. I wanted to get my son one for Xmas, but they were sold out, so I got him a Flex. Then we traded since he has no smart phone and I do (he's 12:)!). The display is great for him & wasn't necessary for me. With Flex you get 2 wristbands in 2 sizes . Flex wristbands seem to stay on WAY better. Our Force (& 2 friends' forces) come off a lot. (We may send it back).

Now that I am so (blessedly) detached from food, I find myself stopping to do things right (and right away) all the time. I've made a game of dealing with things on the spot rather than procrastinating. If I see an erroneous charge on my credit card statement, I dial the 800 number, jump on my treadmill & get it taken care of right then. If I go to the dryer to find a pair of socks, I stop & sort the whole load & deliver stuff to the proper room, etc, etc. I seem to have lots of room for somewhat healthy obsessions now that the whole unhealthy/depressing obsession with food has been largely neutralized. I think it's TOTALLY reasonable to be envisioning a more organized/ centered future!

I will definitely be accompanying my loved one for surgery w Dr. Illan on 1/22/14.

Also meant to say: Glad that you're doing so well and best wishes for more smooth times now that you're sleeved !

When I was researching surgeons 2-3 months ago dr Kelly's office offered me surgery at Hospital Nova OR Hospital Angeles for $2K more. I had read about the surprise charges at Hospital Nova (which I believe is the MOST modest hospital in the TJ bariatric scene, whereas Hospital Angeles is probably the most new/polished one). I also found Dr. Kelly & his team very nice, but they forgot to follow through on a couple of things when they were marketing to me and I wasn't able to feel secure that I would have a smooth time with them.

Great post . Best wishes in 2014!!

I am 80% sure that I am accompanying a loved one to have surgery w Dr. Illan on 1/22.

I had surgery on 11/11/13 and I've lost 28-30 pounds since starting my pre-op diet on 11/2/13. I am 50 so I was not expecting super fast results. I eat 600-800 cals each day with an occasional day of 1000 cals. I walk 12,000 steps (5.5 miles) most days (with 2.5-3 of it being a concerted effort on the treadmill and the rest just being "life."). My body fat composition has dropped from 40% to 37% which is what I am highly focused on (rather than rapid weight loss). Best wishes to all!

Hi, Pamela-- Welcome & I'm sure you'll get lots of detailed answers:). I know that carbs & sugars are commonly held to ignite our appetites. My experience is that eating a sweet starts the craving, out-of-control cycle for me. Once I've given in to it (even for a day) it takes me 3 days to "de-tox" from the sugar/carb. BUT --after that uncomfortable 3 days is over, I am not hungry or sweets-interested AT ALL. I then get back on a roll of just eating high protein/low carb and usually soon lose 3-5 lbs quickly, which reinforces the positive cycle I'm on. Again, I'm sure you'll get lots of advice-- congrats on reducing your set- weight to 165, though-- that sounds pretty healthy & fun to me !!

Garvey, to answer your question about getting complications from bariatric surgery covered in 2014. My husband and I own a small business and we buy individual health insurance policies for ourselves. To be compliant with Obamacare, our individual policy can no longer fail to cover pre-existing conditions starting next month (Jan 14). Before getting sleeved last month, I wanted to research the Obama-compliant policy I would be getting January 2014 and make sure that it couldn't/wouldn't disallow taking care of me if my ailment was a result of voluntary/elective/bariatric/cosmetic surgery. I persisted until I found the fine print and what my 2014 policies reads is something like "bariatric weight loss surgery of any kind is not covered, but revisions to and care of complications from such surgeries are covered to the extent necessary to remove the patient from peril." (or something jargon-y and long like that). I knew that 2014 policies couldn't "not" take care of you because of a pre-existing condition and--though jargon-y-- I was satisfied by the language that I read that they would now bail you out if you had a problem after self-pay bariatric surgery. SORRY SO LONG -- I was trying to be detailed and I probably just confused you more, lol ! (An analagous situation that I read in my new policy was that if you had breast implants that ruptured, they would not help you out for cosmetic reasons... but if the rupture was causing an ailment they would care for you/remove/revise just enough to get you out of peril [which I took to mean they would take the old ones out surgically, but not cover to add new ones in the vacant spot ].)