Rocky1

Please forgive me, but why would you still proceed to book your surgery with him after you have read many negative things? Please reconsider.

You should try educating your husband about Mexico as an option. There are many AMAZING surgeons in Mexico. As they say, you get what you pay for. If you go with the cheapest in the US, you aren't going to be getting a world class surgeon. If you are willing to spend about the same amount in Mexico, you WILL be getting a world class surgeon.

Ditto. I felt just fine, but my sister reported that our FaceTime conversation about 4 hours postop was pretty entertaining!

Great Idea.

I wouldn't self diagnose yourself. I had another sleep study done in January. The sleep specialist told me my OSA is gone and to stop using it. Haven't worn it since. Just because you've lost weight doesn't mean you don't have sleep apnea. It's a serious condition and I would never had changed anything without the advice of the guy who actually went to medical school. Good luck.

I have been on the lowest possible setting for 12 months now. On occasion I will fall lasses on the couch or bed for a couple hours and not put it on. My husband tells me (very excitedly I might add) that I no longer snore even without the machine. I was wondering how one simply stops using it, I slept with it religiously since the day I got it. I am tempted to simply stop using it and see what happens. I too hate sleep studies and in fact have never actually slept in one. I simply dose once in a while.

I forgot to take my machine with me on a trip so had a forced trial without for four nights. Really want to ditch this thing but not sure if I will still need it even as a thin person. My plan is to lose the next 20-30 and request sleep study at that time. Unfortunately my sleep issues preceded being overweight. Sometimes I attempt a short nap without the machine just as an experiment or retraining. Oh, I tried a jaw strap thing to keep my mouth closed one night and my teeth wouldn't meet the next day. So that's not going to work. Good luck every one with the zzzzsss!

This was my list when I went in September:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/11I51ulCBco9cimQj882eV1KfMWodyiIO6X4gNaLpDDc/edit?usp=sharing

(Re-printed from my Surgeon's website)
1. Your co-worker heard a strange noise and doesn’t bat an eye…knowing it was your stomach.
Patients often ask me why their new pouch makes odd gurgling noises. It could be too big of bites or eating too quickly. It could also just be your stomach moving around and making noises for all to hear
2. You have a space heater under your desk in the middle of July.
It may be in part to losing some “insulation” but many postop wls patients are colder than they’ve ever been using more blankets at night and space heaters to keep warm.
3. Your alarm just went off for the third time today to remember your next Vitamin.< /b>
While bariatric Vitamins have become much more simpler in recent years, it still takes reminders to get in your vitamins. Your family might even hear the alarm and hand you your calcium!
4. Protein is always first on your mind at your meals – it might as well be plastered inside your forehead.
Protein…protein..where’s the protein? Protein is what fills you up and keeps you full! You get the most out of your surgery when you focus on lean and solid protein sources.
5. Your waitress keeps asking if the food is okay. And if you’re sure you don’t want a drink.
When you can only eat an ounce or so, the wait staff may think something is wrong with the food. And what do you mean you don’t want anything to drink??
6. Your pants are barely holding on but you’re still holding off to go shopping.
Just make sure you don’t carry a heavy object and walk up a flight of stairs. At least not around anyone
7. Speaking of shopping, you still go to the plus sized section first out of habit.
It’s hard to wrap your mind around your new body. Leave plenty of time and stay patient with yourself as you find out what size your body is. Take a good friend to be your “runner” and someone to talk it out with.
8. You get overjoyed at the release of a new Protein Bar flavor…or a sale on your favorite Protein Bars.< /strong>
Quest® has a new flavor?!?!??! Ahhhhh!!!!!!
9. You rejoice at the small things like crossing your legs or getting a pair of boots that zip up your calves.
Some things you’ll never take for granted again. It may seem like nothing to others, but to you it’s something big.
10. You use lingo like “wls”…”bariatric friendly”…”pouch”…”vsg”…
You gotta know the lingo to be in the club!
11. You smile as you think of how far you’ve come and get excited to think of where you’ll be soon.
Patients wonder why they didn’t have their surgery sooner.

Yeah, the pain meds were fine in the hospital. Could have done without I think as my pain never got above a 7/10 but the one time I asked for it my pain reduced to 2/10. Once home I took the ketorolac for a day but walked 2.5 miles today and have not taken any. YMMV! BTW ketorolac is often used in labor and delivery departments. Never had a baby but I hear it hurts.

The word for gloves is guantes. I memorized it after talking with you last night.
The word for sterile is esteril.
I'm prepared thanks to you.

@Rocky1. I am not saying it's right or wrong...just saying that is how it was for me. And sometimes when you speak little spanish and nurse speaks no english and things happen quickly....it can be hard to make your desires known in a timely fashion. Oh well...next time I will learn the word for gloves before I go to a foreign country for surgery

Have seen this on TV many times as was looking for my son. He decided against it in the end as taking the hair front he back of your head leaves a scar and when some of the hair takes and some doesn't (common thing to happen) He decided he would rather be bald than to look like a hedgehog with Patches here and there.
In the end he grew his facial stubble and has the rest at a No4 on the clippers and it is a great look - Women like men who can accept that their hormones did it and they say the more testosterone you have or something is why you get Male pattern baldness.
Bald men look nice to be honest..... Better than those men who have a comb-over (In my opinion) I love that No2 on the clippers look - Very sexy :-)
The problems I feel are there when you read web sites is they pick and choose which reviews they put on the internet - And the bad ones don't really get to see the light of day - It is best to be able to talk to REAL people.
I did see a guy on TV who had the patch missing filled in by tattoo. It looked great, though I don't know how it would look a decade or two later....
Good luck

Don't be scared. Mine has been elevated before also and then normal. Depending on how elevated or not, it might not even be mentioned by your doctor. Before losing sleep over worry, ask your doctor. Have they gone over the results w you? Unless any of us on these posts know your entire medical history or exactly what level your at and why and are qualified to diagnose, I wouldn't come to any conclusions until talking to your doc. Just call them right away and have some one go over your results with you.

Not sure if you are aware but there is a thing called a Passport Card which works for Mexico and Canada only. It's a lot less expensive than a real passport if you are not planning to go outside of north america any time soon. You get it through the same process as a normal passport.

I have a little Ninja that has individual cups. I bought extra blades, so I can just throw them in the dishwasher instead of hand-washing between uses. Since I have three cups and three blades and I run the dishwasher every 2-3 days, I never have to hand wash. It's very convenient. I don't think they make my specific model anymore, but a lot of them come with those cups and you can buy extra cups and blades from the Ninja web site.
The one I have is pretty similar to this:
http://www.amazon.com/Ninja-Kitchen-System-Pulse-BL201/dp/B007SBBL4S/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1426259000&sr=8-1&keywords=Ninja+Pulse
It doesn't have buttons or variable speeds. You just push down on the cup and it blends. When you ease up on the cup, it stops.

I really cannot offer an educated opinion on him. He appears to be a bit lighter on experience than some and doesn't appear to have the prestigous international credentials but that by no means indicates that he is a bad surgeon.

Hello. I cant say anything about the Dr.'s you mentioned, I had surgery in Ohio.
My surgeon had me on liquids for the first 4 weeks. He felt it was better safe than sorry since it takes 4 to 6 weeks to fully heal.
Soft foods will taste like heaven to you when you get there so even if you are on soft foods on vacation you will be fine with it. I ate a lot of cottage cheese, greek yogurt, creamed Soups, tuna salad, pureed chili was my favorite and of course Protein shakes, but I thickened them with greek yogurt and fruit.< /span>
At 4 weeks I was still really tired, no energy at all. But no pain at all since the day I got home. You may not have the energy to be very active on your vacation. Just a heads up. But you could also be just fine. Keep in mind that everyone has a different experience.
hair loss....I was told your body stores Protein. I understood that if you hit the high levels of protein for a while before surgery you actually store it and it helps get you through surgery. Protein is important for healing. They aren't completely sure if its protein issues or anesthesia issues that cause Hair loss in patients. I would recommend B12 and Biotin before surgery and use a sulfer free Shampoo and conditioner. It cant hurt. I did it for about 3 months before surgery and still do today. I lost a little hair about 5 mths out. I can notice....but its my head. My hair dresser noticed only because she was aware of how thick it was before surgery. She assures me that no one can see a difference unless they were looking for it. But no one else can tell....and I only ask friends who will be brutally honest!
Loose skin....I'm 47 and short....its gonna be an issue for me. But I will deal with it when I have too. So far its not really bad and I'm down 74lbs.
My opinion.....I would vacation first and then schedule surgery. ONLY because everyone has different experience. You could have it super easy....or you could have it super rough. You just never know.

I got tired of getting turned down so I applied for several credit cards lol I ended up getting one that has zero arp for 18 months

Kelly, rodriguez, a. Ortiz, and Corvala are typically in the group of top Tijuana surgeons. As david from bariatric pal will remind us there are several other good surgeons in mexico but you need to be very careful in your research. Also the facility where you have the surgery done also matters.

I take it twice a day. My surgeon lets me swallow the capsule with warm Water and take with a little dairy such as cottage cheese or yogurt. The warm Water softens the capsule and the dairy keeps in the stomach longer and buffers stomach. I only eat about 2 bites of the cottage cheese.< /p>

I agree. There are too many factors at play to give a blanket yes or no answer. However I would say a healthy 20 year old who weighs in the 200lbs range might want to try other lifestyle changes before going the surgical route. Try a basic clean eating routine of eating good healthy foods. No fad diets, limit fast foods and take out to once a week. Eat a nutritious Breakfast every day. Just eat balanced meals at least 85% of the time, drink more Water than soda or juice and exercise at least 3 times a week.

My doc had me on 75% Protein, 25% carbs (from vegetables, no processed carbs like pasta). I was on an 800 - 1000 calorie diet. So between 200 to 250 calories a day were from low glycemic carbs. I got most of my carbs from Beans and lentils.

At this point, I'm sure I don't want to go the route of the MGB, I was just looking into it since Dr. Rodriguez is a fan of this however per his coordinator he may decide resleeving is the route for me as typically he is dealing with patients with a greater BMI than 30. I'm waiting to hear back from him. So far Dr. Wilhelmy and Dr. Ungson have impressed me most with their information and history of resleeving but wow, you were right Rocky1, they are by far the most expensive I've talked to so far ! I'm still waiting to talk with Dr. R Kelly before making my final decision but right now I'm set on resleeving and it's between Dr. Corvala/Wihelmy/Kelly. (And Rodriguez if he will do it instead of the MGB) Thank you both !

@@eileenisbeingsleeved, I went with Dr. alejandro lopez. I had a fantastic experience with Dr. Lopez and his team at VIDA Hospital. It was the red-carpet treatment all the way!!!! So sorry you felt you had to choose a different doctor, not sure why, but his work is spectacular. I can barely see any of the incisions made, able to take in liquids with no vomiting, and no pain. Walking a lot helps too. I wish you all the best with the doctor you chose to go with.