JamieLogical

Good luck and let us know if you still have any lingering questions when you get through the whole thread. It really does cover almost EVERYTHING in one way or another, but I'm happy to answer specific questions as well.

I traveled from Western NY to San Diego, with a layover in Chicago. I was picked up at the airport by one of the nurses from the recovery house I stayed in. She brought me across the border to the recovery house, where I met with my surgeon. My surgeon marked me all up with a marker and explained everything she was going to be doing. I slept in the recover house that night and then was taken to the surgical center early the next morning. Had my surgery. Stayed that night in the surgical center. Then went back to the recovery house the day after surgery and stayed there for two weeks. Then I was taken back across the border and flew home with a layover in Chicago again. My surgeon was Dra. Laura Carmina Cardenas and I stayed in the Beauty Care Recovery House, which provided me with 24/7 nursing care and all my food and everything. They even gave me slippers and robes to wear all the time, so I didn't have to bring my own clothes (except underwear).

I think you already know my story from other threads, but I'll recap here. I had plastics almost 4 years ago. I was 32 years old. I had extended tummy tuck with muscle repair, breast lift with implants, all-over lipo, and fat grafting to my butt. I spent two full weeks in Mexico and then I was scheduled for 2 more weeks off work once I got home. However, I had a complication with serious swelling of the soft tissue in my lower back that prevented me from sitting up in a chair (I have a desk job) for more than a couple of hours at a time. So, I ended up working half days for a couple of months. I had my surgery at the beginning of August 2011 and I would say I wasn't really comfortable sitting at a desk for a full day until January 2012. However, like I said, I had an unanticipated complication. Had it not been for that, I probably could have handled going back to work full time at 4 weeks post-op as planned. I would probably have rather had 6 weeks though....

Yeah. I had to stop caffeine with my 2 week pre-op diet and couldn't have it again until 30 days post-op. WORST TIME OF MY LIFE!

If you are on the desktop version of the website, there are a couple of areas you can go to, depending on what you are trying to do. Click on your name at the upper-right of the screen and choose "My Surgery" from the drop-down list. Click on "My Progress" on the left-hand navigation bar. Enter your goal weight, current weight, etc. Click on your name in the upper-right of the screen and choose "My Tickers" from the drop-down list. Click the "Edit Ticker" button, then step through each screen and make any edits you want to make to your ticker's appearance and which stats you want it to show.

@@Chrissyg Are you on a PPI? Waking up with nausea after eating late could be caused by some acid issues.

So sorry you had such an ordeal, but happy they were able to accommodate you and schedule your surgery for today! Tonight you will be on the losers' bench!

I didn't. I had a gown and little booties they gave me in the clinic. But I put on my yoga pants and regular socks as soon as I could do it myself. Walked the halls of the clinic like that.... gown, yoga pants, and regular white crew socks.

Even without protein shakes, you should be well over 20 grams a day of protein. I try to get 20 grams from lunch and dinner each day, which would put me at 40 with nothing else! What are you eating now?

It doesn't feel like you are "sucking in" all the time. It doesn't hurt or anything. It just feels normal and awesome! I will say that even almost 4 years out, I still have some areas of numbness or reduced sensitivity. For the first full year or more you will get phantom itching, which will drive you INSANE. Just like an amputee who has lost a limb. That is much reduced now that all the nerves have repaired and rerouted themselves.

@@Gaelsmom This whole 200+ page thread is full of everyone's personal experiences from having surgery at OCC. I highly recommend you go through and try to read the whole thread. I know there is a LOT to get through, but I definitely found reading the full thread to be very helpful in my decision making process.

@@heynowkc Huge congrats! That is amazing! Sounds like you are in a groove and know exactly what you need to be doing to lose steadily.

There's a BIG difference between a container of yogurt (usually around 5 oz.) and canned chicken. Yogurt is pretty much a liquid. I was allowed it during my full liquids phase. Solid Proteins on the other hand are FAR more taxing for the stomach to process and pass. So you could potentially be putting a lot of undue stress on your healing stomach by eating too much solid Protein at once.

That seems like a LOT for 16 days post-op. I wasn't even allowed soft foods until 18 days post-op and when I was, it was a challenge for me to get in one ounce of tuna. Some people don't get a "full" feeling shortly after surgery due to nerve trauma. Perhaps that is your issue? You should definitely talk to your nutritionist or surgical team and ask them how much you should be eating at once. I was told to only eat 2 oz. at a time that soon out of surgery, so I weighed and measured everything so I wouldn't eat too much at once.

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

The restriction is pretty serious in those first several weeks as the swelling goes down. It's perfectly normal to not be able to get much in at one sitting. I remember my first time trying to eat tuna when I was allowed soft foods. I was supposed to be allowed 2 oz. of food at a time, but I couldn't even manage one ounce of tuna.

My advice is to exercise extreme amounts of patience. Patience is what will get you through. You'll need patience as you are waiting for your surgery date to arrive. You will need patience post-op to just make it through day by day. Things DO get easier each day post-op, but it will feel like eternity. You WILL for "normal" again eventually. Just be patient. You'll also need patience with the scale. There will be times when it doesn't budge, even though you are doing everything "right". Again, be patient.

Welcome and congratulations on your decision to change your life!

That last question is the most significant one as far as I'm concerned. There are a million ways to lose weight and most of the people who resort to WLS or Biggest Loser-style extreme dieting have lost weight before. They've probably even lost *significant* amounts of weight before. I know I've seen MANY Biggest Loser contestants mention they had lost 100+ pounds in the past and regained it. So for me, the true test here is whether Biggest Loser contestants keep off more weight long term than WLS patients. That is the ONLY number that matters. How much weight you lose and how fast you lose it is completely irrelevant if it's only temporary. If a patient/contestant weighs 400 pounds now and will weigh 400 pounds again two years from now, how does it matter at all what happened in between? They are no better off than where they started. Potentially they are worse off, because it's clear that repeated weight loss and regain is more taxing on the body than just staying a consistent weight. Plus, if they did a Biggest Loser-style plan, they potentially would have bad knees or other orthopedic injuries.

You definitely need to work on your protein! Twenty grams isn't nearly enough to sustain you and you will have more problems than just slow loss if you stay that low. Insufficient Protein intake can lead to serious health issues. What are you eating now and what is preventing you from getting enough protein in?

This thread has made me so grateful that my surgeon and nutritionist didn't set any deadlines for my weigh loss and set a pretty realistic ultimate weight goal (with no target date). My nutritionist is much more focused on body fat percentage than weight as well, which is nice because I have been doing a lot of strength training and, while the inches keep dropping, the scale is going sooooo slow now.

Hope everything works out and you are able to make it to TJ today! Flying is so stressful!

There are definitely some "food police" on this forum, but I think that most of the harsh responses on this particular thread were out of genuine concern for the original poster's health. Does everyone slip up and eat off plan at some point in their journey? Probably. But eating solid foods immediately post-op can have real and serious consequences that put a patient's health at risk. The tone was probably harsher than it needed to be, but my gut reaction when I read this post was just to freak out that this poor person might be doing herself bodily injury. I wasn't being judgey. I was in a true panic for her well-being.

I have had surgery twice in TJ. I had cosmetic surgery almost 4 years ago and I had my VSG in September. My surgeon for VSG was Dr. Ariel Ortiz of Obesity Control Center. I had great experiences both times and I highly recommend surgery in Mexico so long as you do all your research and pick a reputable surgeon and facility. The quality of care I received for both of my surgeries was on par or better than what I would have expected to receive here in the US and was MUCH more affordable.

@@Lady VS Congrats on the new grandbaby!