ChihuahuaMom

I was one of the so called lightweights that the people around me would ask why i was having the surgery. I had yo-yo for so many years that half the time, I did not even realize how much I weighed. I live in Saudi Arabia but chose to go to Cancun to have my surgery done my the wonderful Dr Sergio verboonen. I went to him because he came highly recommended by sleevers here in this country. I could have gone to Lebanon or the Philipines but I had send the results from this doc. While I chose to go to Cancun, which was a bit more expensive, he also performs the procedure in Tijuana as well. One thing I liked about this doc is that he had had the surgery himself.
As has been mentioned, we will lose the weight a bit slower that those that are heavier but at the same time, I feel that I looked healthy the entire time and I did not have a lot of excess skin, etc. I am now three years out and at the two year point, I became smaller than I wanted for my age. My face started to look kind of saggy and old. That said, I kept up my Protein and also gained a bit of weigh back. I actually gained more than I wanted so am now back on a downward journey.
And it is a journey. The sleeve is a tool, not a fix all.
Franda

I had my sleeve November 5 at Hospital MI Doctor, surgeon was Dr. alejandro lopez.. I am down 15 pounds, I seem to lose a pound a day most days but today the scale went down 3.
I still am not able to eat pureed foods according to the diet plan I was given. I get a bit hungry at night. I have bought many types of Soups and deli Soups & try to strain out most of the solids in it. Miso has been a godsend. It has Protein in it and is soothing to my stomach, and also I've had it all my life.
I haven't even tried to figure out how many calories I am getting, just sticking to trying to get the liquids & Protein I am supposed to have. I don't really like anything in the powders?utm_source=BariatricPal&utm_medium=Affiliate&utm_campaign=CommentLink" target="_ad" data-id="1" >unjury sample box so I don't think I'll be buying more.
My cholesterol was 266, and have GERD so I do have some co-morbidities.
My back pain is less! I still have quite a bit of pain late at night and when I first get up is especially bad, but it's already better. 15 pounds and my feet hurt less too. Nobody I told thought I should have this surgery. Yet I know this is one of the best decisions I've ever made. Even if I weren't able to take off a lot of weight, if it keeps me from gaining 10 or 20 pounds a year - it will be worth it. That's just who I am, I open my eyes to the writing on the wall and I take action. I got a security system before my house got broken into - have had one for 20 years. I am told that is unusual - usually people do the security system as a result of a break in. Anyway I am so relieved that I have a better shot now at getting back to my ideal weight and staying there. I feel like I've been given another shot at life.

There are other payouts though possible, more than just complication. If I had a horrific cosmetic result as a result of the surgery (and I did have an infection requiring packing of one of the incisions for months ) it would be covered for $30,000 worth of corrective surgery - if you have some horrific consequence & need your home adapted afterwards - there is a benefit for that, etc etc. A lot more than just medical complication coverage.
But yeah, if I could have chosen I would have just had the whole benefit be for complication.

hey ChihuahuaMOm
thank you so much for reporting your infection and what it was. i saw ladies when i was waiting on my surgery with Dr Ortiz that were going to Mi hospital and i wanted to tell them that a lot of ppl are reporting infections from Mi Doctors but i didn't say anything i didn't want to scare anyone or be like the voice of doom and gloom.
i wonder if there is a reporting agency that you could officially report to?
regardless i'm SO SO glad you are OK!!
thank god you are a nurse and knew right away something was not right.
I'm praying for your speedy FULL recovery

Sorry this happened to you as well.
I've been an RN for over 30 years, I know what an infected incision looks like. The surgeon told me it could not be infected in less than a week, also that the antibiotics he prescribed would prevent an infection from developing. Both not true, incisions can start to show signs of infection far earlier than a week out & antibiotics only work if they are the right one to cover the bacteria involved.
It was a deep infection - not from a surface issue of contaminating the incision from the outside. I believe it would have had to originated in the OR. The infectious disease doctor I saw agreed with this. Pseudomonas is a Water loving organism, so he thought likely it was due to some contamination, possibly from a contaminated irrigation solution. 2 other incisions looked red and inflamed but only 1 had pus pouring out of it. I am just thankful it was not inside my peritoneal cavity. I am not going to ever know exactly how or why this infection occurred. I don't think there is any way to track the complication rate of a hospital or surgeon outside the US, I don't know that they are required to track or report post op complication like in the US.
I'm not faulting the surgeon, but obviously something went wrong & I'm not the only who has come forward reporting a post op infection from this facility.

I developed an infection with a drug resistant organism - knew I had an infection before I even left Mexico. It looked so bad after it broke open my doctor in the US wanted to hospitalize me that night. I knew I wasn't showing signs of being terribly ill, & she consulted with a surgeon who told her I likely just had an infected seroma. It did look ghastly at first, and the tract was over 4 inches deep.
I met a person who had surgery the day before me at Hospital MI Doctor, who had the same thing happen - an incision breaking open & draining a huge amount of liquid. This person emailed me that their infection cultured out to be the same as mine - drug resistant pseudomonas. I had to have an infectious disease consult. I am glad so many get through their surgery just fine at this hospital, but I have had 2 PMs on another bariatric forum who tell me they developed an infection with a superbug after their sleeve at Mi Doctor. I never saw anything in my searches to help me decide if this was where I wanted to have my surgery. Just putting it out there for others considering their options that this was an issue for me.
The incision is finally close to being closed, my surgery was back on November 5. I am still glad I got my sleeve but could have done without this infection.

I developed an infection with a drug resistant organism - knew I had an infection before I even left Mexico. It looked so bad after it broke open my doctor in the US wanted to hospitalize me that night. I knew I wasn't showing signs of being terribly ill, & she consulted with a surgeon who told her I likely just had an infected seroma. It did look ghastly at first, and the tract was over 4 inches deep.
I met a person who had surgery the day before me at Hospital MI Doctor, who had the same thing happen - an incision breaking open & draining a huge amount of liquid. This person emailed me that their infection cultured out to be the same as mine - drug resistant pseudomonas. I had to have an infectious disease consult. I am glad so many get through their surgery just fine at this hospital, but I have had 2 PMs on another bariatric forum who tell me they developed an infection with a superbug after their sleeve at Mi Doctor. I never saw anything in my searches to help me decide if this was where I wanted to have my surgery. Just putting it out there for others considering their options that this was an issue for me.
The incision is finally close to being closed, my surgery was back on November 5. I am still glad I got my sleeve but could have done without this infection.

My mom was shocked and to her it came out of nowhere. She is a nurse, so her first question is always credentials. Mine was covered by insurance and she calmed down a bit when I told her I was at a bariatric center of excellence.
But everyone in my family has at some point struggled with weight, so after the initial shock wore off, she was curious about it, particularly for my older brother who is over 300 pounds and has diabetes. I've sent her a lot of information; the biggest problem is that he would need to change his lifestyle and based on his current choices unless he was ready to do this he would probably just "eat around the sleeve or band." I feel like a jerk for even saying that, but what I really mean is that I feel like this surgery has a much greater chance of being successful if *you* are the one who wants it. Not if your mom tells you to get it. LOL
The other piece of this is that I didn't tell her until I was approved, and once I was approved my surgery date was scheduled for the next week. So she had NO time to get used to the idea and then it was a done deal.
I don't know if others have this issue, but my mom is also the slightest bit competitive. I don't know that she would even recognize it, but for example when I got my master's degree at 38, she told me she had gotten hers at 36 or 37. (Really??)
She lost a whole lot of weight doing a liquid/protein diet, watching intake very carefully and taking appetite suppressants. This was a few years ago. Since then she's probably put back on about 20-30 pounds, but she is still much healthier than she was. So one of the things I said to her is, "I admire what you've done, but I don't want to be doing that in my 60s. I feel like if I can stop this in its tracks now I will be much happier overall." And she said that yes, she wished she had been able to accomplish it in her 40s or earlier.
Moms.

I've got down to a healthy BMI 10 years ago with diet and exercise. I've obviously put most of that back on again.
Once I started losing weight with VSG my Dad said "Don't stuff it up again this time". I said "Don't for get to say 'I told you so' If I do".
Old people eh?
Somebody shoot me if I end up like that .......

I am going to Dr. Lopez Corvala at Angeles Hospital in TJ.

It IS butterflies for me - feels like they are in my new wee stomach at times. Thats a better description than outright nausea. Anyway - i've list 30lbs including pre-op and now 2 weeks post surgery. To those who are worried: it's well worth it and the post op pain is minor. Go well everyone.

I had my sleeve November 5 at Hospital MI Doctor, surgeon was Dr. alejandro lopez.. I am down 15 pounds, I seem to lose a pound a day most days but today the scale went down 3.
I still am not able to eat pureed foods according to the diet plan I was given. I get a bit hungry at night. I have bought many types of Soups and deli Soups & try to strain out most of the solids in it. Miso has been a godsend. It has Protein in it and is soothing to my stomach, and also I've had it all my life.
I haven't even tried to figure out how many calories I am getting, just sticking to trying to get the liquids & Protein I am supposed to have. I don't really like anything in the powders?utm_source=BariatricPal&utm_medium=Affiliate&utm_campaign=CommentLink" target="_ad" data-id="1" >unjury sample box so I don't think I'll be buying more.
My cholesterol was 266, and have GERD so I do have some co-morbidities.
My back pain is less! I still have quite a bit of pain late at night and when I first get up is especially bad, but it's already better. 15 pounds and my feet hurt less too. Nobody I told thought I should have this surgery. Yet I know this is one of the best decisions I've ever made. Even if I weren't able to take off a lot of weight, if it keeps me from gaining 10 or 20 pounds a year - it will be worth it. That's just who I am, I open my eyes to the writing on the wall and I take action. I got a security system before my house got broken into - have had one for 20 years. I am told that is unusual - usually people do the security system as a result of a break in. Anyway I am so relieved that I have a better shot now at getting back to my ideal weight and staying there. I feel like I've been given another shot at life.

I was just sleeved yesterday. My bmi is 31. I also have people telling me that I don't "need" the surgery. Of course I can't wait to look and feel great, but most importantly I am doing this as a preventative measure. My family is obese, we have high blood pressure and heart disease as well. I prefer to not get to the point where I can't move and am miserable. My mom supports me 100% because she had the lap band and and a Tummy Tuck in her 50's. She said she wishes she would have done it way sooner. My goal is to lose 50 pounds and every pound will be worth the money and the lifestyle change. My outlook on food has been changing ever since I started researching the sleeve. I'm proud of my decision. Those who sit in judgement have not walked in my shoes so their opinions don't affect me. I did this for me

Hello, I'm a low BMI-er too - BMI is 33. My surgery is scheduled for November 1st in Mexico. I understand where the higher BMI people are coming from, but you can't convince me that when they lose weight and get to the BMI 30-35 range, that they'd want the sleeve to be gone so they can just "try it on their own". You also can't convince me that it's no worse to lose and regain the same 50 lbs over and over and over again over the course of 20 years is any more unhealthy than being 100lbs overweight. The hardest part, IMO of being someone who based on appearance doesn't "need" surgery is that you start to feel defeated. Yeah, so we "only" have half the weight to lose as other people who do qualify for surgery. Does that make being overweight any less hard? Absolutely not. At the end of the day (as others have said) - this is a decision made based on what I want for myself. And I'm tired of being fat, just like everyone else.
Anyway, I'll get off my soapbox now. Good luck to you!!!

I am going through Mexico Bariatric Center, with Dr. alejandro lopez. The package includes the surgery, all work up costs like labwork, EKG, anesthesia, 2 nights in the hosptal (Hospital MI Doctor) and 3 nights total at the TJ Marriott. One night at the hotel is before the surgery when you fly in (they pick you up from San Diego airport, I think all the TJ package deals do it this way) and 2 nights at the Marriott after you are discharged from the hospital. I got the deal at $4750, it includes everything but airfare. He is an experienced bariatric surgeon with 3,000 sleeves, zero deaths, zero leaks. He teaches some of the other bariatric surgeons now, despite being young.
You need to ask for the special, otherwise the package price is a little more. Still worth it though. Christy is my coordinator and she has been amazing. I have asked her hundreds of questions I think and she always gets back to me quickly, is accessible by cell phone. And I spoke to Dr. Lopez on the phone too already. Dr. Lopez used to be with A Lighter Me but now is at MBC.

I'm so nervous. I just had my endo done and I was so nervous for that! It was not a big deal at all. Hope the surgery's like that!

Just submitted to insurance, and got a tentative date 20 November 2013. I am so excited!

Hi, everyone. I'm brand new to the forum and am so glad to have found it! I just scheduled my surgery today for November 19th in Des Moines, IA.

Good luck to all who are having surgery tomorrow! I wish you all the best of luck! Keep us updated!!!!

Well, here's my 2 cents worth...
I am not in that category, BUT.... I had this surgery because of the yo-yo'ing that I've been doing for years. I can do the due diligence and lose the weight, but as soon as the "diet" is over, re-gain seems to take control. I wanted a tool to help me remain steadfast in the amounts I consume forever! I would have done this if I only had 40 to lose. That's a fact you can take to the bank. For me.... this has been a miracle. I have felt fabulous from literally 6-7 hours into day one. Only the anesthesia gave me trouble because I was so far under I think. My surgeon was the best in the business IMHO. There has been true follow up from the start. The coordinator is wonderful and a patient herself so she knows what to tell you to expect. I was blessed to be able to afford to do this as a self pay, but I am trying to figure out a way to pay it forward (or backwards) lobbying to force insurance in the US to cover it due to the health benefits. My blood pressure is normal....blood sugar normal....my health gets better and better every day! I know there are complications as there are with any surgery...but the pros outweigh the cons on this one. I highly recommend the sleeve. I think in the very near future, it will be the gold standard in weight loss surgery.

Im not sure why people say you dont need it for 50 or 60 pounds... I have done everything BUT surgery to lose weight... weight watchers, Jenny Craig, nutri system, personal trainer, visalus shakes. I am only 5'5 and have no co-morbites, but every woman in my family is obese to morbidly obese, and for me this is more of a preventative measure. I have no problem eating healthy, but my genetics really suck, and I'm not going to risk going down the road of all the other women in my family. Its not pretty!

We are sleeve sisters...ha ha
I'm having mine done on the 5th in Newport News, Va.

November 5th!!!

With any surgery there are risks, especially with general anesthesia. You couple that with patients who already have obesity & comorbidities, there will be complications & deaths sometimes.
When I was first considering different surgeons, I got accepted by 3. I got the constant call backs from coordinators I had given preliminary info to. I made the mistake of telling one the surgeon I was considering - she made up this horror story of how dangerous he was & made up a lie about how he had been her surgeon. I had her name & checked with the coordinator I ended up contracting with - none of it was true. It's a small world for Mexico bariatric tourism, and believe me they know the other reps working that business. I lost all respect for the one who made up a tale in order to try to get my business. I did not end up hiring that surgeon, but not because of a scare story. My coordinator knows & has worked with many surgeons, she told me that the surgeon the other coordinator had maligned was highly skilled & completely safe - and would never have done what this person had accused him of. She had good to say about even a surgeon she no longer worked with - who if I contracted with she would get no profit out of. To me, that was reason to trust her. I ended up contracting with her, MBC and Dr. Lopez. It's just disgusting that a coordinator would lie & smear a surgeons reputation to try to get another contract.