Travelmego

Aha found my password again! Yay. Ok, look forward to hearing about your surgery.

I will be down there Aug. 8 with Dr. Illan. I will be traveling with my mother. You are more than welcome to hang out with us and she can look in on you, no problem. Swan I was really hoping to go on the 4th but it just couldn't be worked out for that time frame. I will probably be arriving just after you leave Bummer.

Sassy how are you doing?

@Teachamy @proudgrammy I do wonder if the 'cure' by the sleeve is really more about calorie/carb restriction than an actual change in the gut. if calories/carbs are reduced, then naturally the insulin you are able to produce would be enough. This could also account for why people are able to get off meds so quickly after surgery - even before massive weight loss. However, I have read that they think it might be an actual gut hormonal (or something) change. I'm kind hoping for a gut change which says more 'cure' to me than just merely sticking to your diet. What do you all think? How does it change insulin resistance? Proundgranny - 6.5 isn't too bad. A lot of people would be thrilled with that. I understand wanting to be in the 5's or less. My last a1c was 6.0 on victoza and I did cheat a bit. I also take 2000 metformin extended release 1 time a day. I can't stand taking medicine more than one time a day because I always end up forgetting and do terribly on that schedule.

Haha too funny. This will become a most viewed post with that title lol. PS - Sorry, I didn't realize this was the guys room. I clicked on the link on the sidebar.

Did you ever get tested for pcos?

Hi all, I am thrilled to be making the first post on this new forum! I take Victoza for diabetes 2 with one of the side effects being weight loss. It is a once daily subcutaneous shot in the stomach. You really can't feel it since the needles are sooo small. It comes in pens where you just dial out the dose. It is prescribed for diabetes mostly but I believe I have heard of doctors prescribing it for weight loss, but I am not sure on that. Yes, Victoza is someone effective for gradual weight loss and maintaining. It doesn't have the 'tension' that phentermine can give but phentermine is faster. The doctors gave me permission to combine the two but I haven't done it yet. The reason I haven't is that I have decided to get the sleeve surgery. It is my understanding that the sleeve will (hopefully and likely) put diabetes in remission. From my understanding, even if I were to lose all the weight without surgery, and somehow keep it off (unlikely), it would still not really be a 'cure' for diabetes like the sleeve is. This is supposedly due to the sleeve making some kind of hormonal changes that are not fully understood yet. So, while victoza has been great in managing my sugar numbers, and has been ok but slow in weight loss and maintenance, it isn't quite enough for a diabetic.

Did I win yet?

Aha, I see the debate lives on! @@zmdh39 Because in the USA doctors can easily get sued and that tends to encourage them to follow stringent criteria. This has widely been seen as a plus in improving sanitary conditions. The down side is it drives up costs. Mexico doesn't seem to have the same set up where doctors can be easily sued. I don't know how their licensing and revocation works. In the case of the USA, perhaps putting government controlled rules might make implementing new sterile procedures slow down to the minimum required by the government. The government would cover the hospitals and physicians tushes that way rather than the legal and insurance system do it. What does Mexico do? I am really not following your point about why do people comment? I am not going to wait till after I go to Mexico to have an opinion on Mexican sterile techniques. <3

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/03/04/AR2011030402628.html http://www.sandiegoreader.com/news/2014/may/25/stringers-want-bargain-bariatric-surgery/

Out of curiosity...how does the gas get OUT of you if it is not in your GI track?

How do the shakes taste?

I don't know how accurate this article is but it seems reasonable. It is about glycogen stores depletion and Water. When you are on the liquid diet, your glycogen stores in your liver and muscles are depleted. Each gram of glycogen needs like 2.7 grams of water to be stored. When you lose the glycogen, you lose the water weight. When you start to eat again and re-add glycogen to your body, your body then retains the needed water. Hence, the sometimes dramatic up and down water weight gains and losses. http://justinowings.com/understanding-bodyweight-and-glycogen-de/

LOL ok, I will still bring some. However, the argument for being able to know if the pain is from a complication is compelling. I certainly won 't be so easy to take them now. It will be only as a last resort if the pain is intolerable. Hopefully, I won't have pain at all!

Oh you should totally wean yourself off coffee. If you had to suddenly quit caffeine you would probably have a headache for a day or two. I have always avoided coffee except for the occasional cup because I didn't want to become 'hooked' on it. That is completely dumb because I didn't avoid caffeine in other stuff like cola or tea. *rolls eyes I am going to start off slow and change my habits for one meal at a time. I will make a google doc for us if you want!

Thank you for the clarification Kindle. My information on how many surgeries he (and Dr. Lopez which I mentioned elsewhere) is based on hearsay on the forums, and NOT from the horses mouth. So definitely go by what the place itself says. You reminded me about some information to add about Dr. Illan - he also has 2 other surgeons in the OR room. I am actually not sure about the cardio and post op. I will have to ask about that. I think the OCC does it all in house and I have heard that for the last leak test on the day of discharge from the hospital for Dr. Illan we go to the nearby large Angeles hospital. That's not quite as convenient but not an overly big deal.

Darn it ZMDH you just ruined my plan to take liquid narcotic with me. Someone had mentioned in private to me that her only beef was being in pain and not getting pain meds for her surgery in Mexico. I am going to forward this link to her so she can understand why. I told her I would bring liquid narcotics for my surgery just in case lol. Now you have gone and ruined that plan for me with a logical explanation. (I still might bring a bit just in case but obviously I would never take it without the doctor being completely aware and ok with it).

Hi blues I just picked a surgeon a few days ago after researching a lot. I picked Dr. Illan. I didn't really research Dr. Ortiz at the OCC that much because he is out of my budget (6,500 vs 4,600). I was hoping to find someone in the 4,500 range and if needed then go up. I think both surgeons are excellent. The OCC is a 'center of excellence' which is a good designation. Also, he has appeared on shows like Oprah and the cover of Newsweek (off the top of my head but I need to double check these). The only complaints I have seen about him are doing a lot of surgeries in a day, and hard to reach for follow up questions. There is nothing bad about his skill that I have seen. Dr. Illan is also an excellent surgeon (in my opinion). He is the chief of ER/trauma surgery at a large regional hospital. He only does 3 or 4 surgeries a day (and does not go into the ER on those days). He graduated in the top of his class with honors from the top university in the spanish speaking world. He has a thriving facebook community to ask questions pre and post op. He uses Johnson and Johnson and covidian (i think is the name) staples. He closes with the 3 staples on each side line (as does everyone I think) plus sews a line behind the staple line, and then coats with glue. His coordinator is supposed to be amazing and takes you for a bit of sightseeing and shopping post surgery (I guess day 4). You spend 1 night pre op at the hospital, 2 nights in the hospital and 2 nights hotel lucerna. The hospital is fully equipped and has an ICU. I am putting so many details about Dr. Illan because I know these details off the top of my head. In my opinion, both are excellent surgeons and in this case it comes down to price for me.

Hi Michigan chick. Thank you for your input. I just want to point out that they are all wearing masks. It is the nose covering issue that is the problem. Did you mean nose in your above post or just mask in general? For me - not having the nose covered is pretty much the same as not wearing a mask though. Thank you for explaining about the standards. I added a question on my google comparison chart I made asking if they follow ASMBS guidelines. I will add the other standards you mention. Interestingly, I did see one or two studies that showed wearing a mask (at all) could lead to a slightly higher but not significantly higher infection rate because the mask edges would scrape off bacteria laden facial skin cells which would float down into the incision. The overwhelming advice I have found in various protocols, however, is that tying the mask correctly is a must and that means over nose and mouth. You are welcome to chime in as much as you want.

Hey congratulations and thanks for the excellent feedback on how it went. It is very helpful for those of us not yet sleeved to hear this kind of information.

Oh right - I forgot her name. Thank for for your good wishes.

Forget Ponce de leon - too many confusing and dodgy stories about him around. Lopez - I have seen posts where people talk about him doing 9 and 10 surgeries in a day. He is supposed to be good though. I don't know Dr. Ostsuna. I picked Dr. Illan. The picture of him available has everyone with their nose covered. I couldn't find any videos. I asked the coordinator and he said they did. I talked to a recent patient of his who was still down there and she is a surgical scrub nurse in the USA. She said his sterile technique was perfect. I am going to ask Dr. Illan directly when I speak with him on the phone just to hear it from the horses mouth. However, he is the one I booked with.

What are we supposed to be doing with the sipping thing anyway? Are we supposed to be taking little sips almost continuously (for the first week or two)? Are we trying to limit how much we put in our stomachs at one time, or how large the swallow itself is, or both? I am going to try to get on more of an eating schedule too. I am supposed to be on one to better control my sugars but haven't been following it very closely the last 2 months. I think it is a psychological thing where I am like, 'Oh screw it, I am getting surgery so I don't have to deal with sugars anymore!" This is completely the wrong mindset of course. So, back to the schedule I go. I need to keep my A1C down anyway. Breakfast 9 am, noon snack, 2 pm lunch, 5 pm snack, 7 pm dinner, bedtime snack

I have decided to go with Dr. Illan- on August 8, 2014.

Ok, I am with you. I am ready to start getting ready. I think i will focus on: - practicing the Water not before and after thing. - sipping water all day - chewing and slowly eating - figuring out which Protein shakes I like (or other sources) and what needs to be done regarding that - get more walking in - creating a schedule with a sample meal plan for every day from pre-op fast on to solids I will probably order the unjury sample pack to try out. I have a big huge protein thing now from another make but it is only so-so on flavor.