JamieLogical

I have had surgery in Mexico twice. The first time was in August 2011, when I had a multiple cosmetic procedures all done at one time after having lost 90 pounds "on my own". I had an extended tummy tuck with muscle repair, breast lift (donut lift) with augmentation, body sculpting via lipo ALL over, and fat grafting to my upper buttocks. I was very active on a plastic surgery web site and forums back then, which is unfortunately no longer an active site. That is how I originally heard about the surgeon I ultimately chose. I had originally looked into pastics in Costa Rica with a Medical Tourism company, but ultimately chose to go to Tijuana. As I am sure you know, there are many experienced and qualified surgeons there. Multiple factors contributed to my decision of surgeon. I liked that she was a woman (I was very self-conscious about using a male surgeon back then). She didn't have a TON of name recognition in the US, but those who had used her had great reviews. Her before/after pics were excellent. I loved talking with her. She contacted me personally and we had many conversations via phone and email and I genuinely felt she had my best interests at heart. And I liked that the package I got was an all inclusive sort of deal where I stayed in the recovery house she is affiliated with, with 24-hour nursing staff, hospital beds, all my meals prepared, etc. She came to visit me EVERY single day I was there and I felt exceptionally well taken care of. I stayed for two full weeks. My second surgery in Tijuana was my gastric sleeve, which I had on Sept. 1, 2014. I had ZERO qualms about having surgery in Mexico again, since my first experience had been so positive. I received less personal attention this time around, only staying in the clinic one night and spending the rest of my time in a hotel, but this was a much more "minor" surgery, so I don't think I would have needed, nor wanted the intensive level of care I'd received after my plastics. As for the area where these surgical centers are located, most of them are in an area called Zona Rio, which is a more "upscale" part of town. I never felt unsafe at any time on either trip. In fact, I joked a lot that it was pretty much exactly like being in the US. All the same stores and restaurants I was used to seeing at home. I did see some street peddlers on my way into and out of Zona Rio, when traveling to/from the border. I also remember seeing someone selling puppies out of the bed of a truck on the side of the road one day on my first trip and the driver who was with me explained that that specific street/area was where people went to buy dogs. So, apparently that's pretty common practice for that spot? I didn't go out walking on my own on my first trip (mostly because walking more than about 12 steps after my tummy tuck wasn't happening), but towards the end of that trip, two of my nurses took me to the beach to walk around some. There was definitely a mix of classes on that trip. On the way out to the beach, we drove through some VERY ritzy shopping areas with fancy restaurants. But, at the beach itself, there were some run down little hole-in-the-wall restaurants/bars and I saw some pretty raggedy looking houses and apartment buildings. Still, nothing I felt unsafe around. There were lots of clearly less well-to-do families enjoying themselves at the beach. It was actually a great experience! On my second trip, I did more walking outside on my own, since we are supposed to walk, walk, walk immediately after VSG. I walked in the area of the Marriott (the hotel I stayed in), and felt perfectly safe and comfortable. There was a Walmart in a plaza up the hill from me. I think there was an Applebees in there... it was all very normal and a lot like any middle-class, suburban, US neighborhood. There are wonderful, skilled, experienced, and caring surgeons in Mexico. Just do your research the same way you would when making any large life decision. Don't go for the lowest price. Find the right balance for you that will make you and your husband comfortable and confident. "You get what you pay for" applies in any country, it's just that your dollar goes a little further in Mexico.

Search for "week 3 stall" on these forums and you can read the thousands of other posts saying the exact same thing. Nearly EVERYONE goes through this.

I don't think yo are doing any harm by drinking liquids quickly. Some people have trouble doing so post-op, but if it's not causing you any discomfort, then I think it's perfectly fine.

I took off two weeks and wish I could have taken a bit more. I wasn't in pain, but I was VERY tired all of the time until I was able to at least start on soft food/purees at 18 days post-op. Going back to work while still on just full liquids sucked pretty badly. I have a desk job too, but the fatigue was a real issue for me.

The day before my pre-op diet began was an annual picnic/cookout that all of my husband's friends from college have. I really wanted to not overdo it, but over the course of the day, I ended up eating quite a LOT and it was all junky cookout food. I just buckled down hard the next day and stuck to my pre-op diet and all was well in the end.

I had a lot of swelling in my stomach and esophagus post-op that made it very difficult to even drink for the first couple of weeks. No matter how small a sip I took, I would have this whole process of constriction, gurgling, and burping that was SO uncomfortable. The good news is, it got better and better as the swelling went down and I was able to drink much more easily a few weeks out.

Almost any calcium you take, whether chewable or not, requires taking 4+ pills per day. I'm supposed to take 3 of my multis per day too, but only take 2, because it's so hard for me to work my schedule to where I can be taking pills 5 times a day (can't take calcium and multi at the same time).

I was allowed pills of all sizes 7 days post-op. Just like with pre and post-op diets, every surgeon has their own guidelines.

I was trying to get about 800 ASAP. I don't think I was able to get over 1000 until I was fully recovered and back on solids.

@@LadyVSG Glad everything is going well so far. Liquids, liquids, liquids. I found that marching in place helped a lot once I was back at the hotel.

How long does it take you to eat that amount? The key for me is to actually eat rather quickly and then I feel the restriction and stop. If I just "nibble" over a long period of time, I can eat more, because as food moves through my stomach, I have room for more, obviously.

It's not so much about the quantity of food you are eating as it is about WHAT you are eating. If you are eating 6 oz. of chicken breast three times a day, that's a lot different than eating 6 oz. of say... Pasta and potato chips three times a day. I personally still can't eat 6 oz. of anything solid at one time. I can do 5 oz. of yogurt because it's so liquidy. But I can't do more than 4 oz. of meat at a time. Anyway, weight loss is still all about calories in versus calories out, even post WLS. If the foods you are eating are calorie-dense, then you can gain weight or stall even if you still aren't eating very much. Make sure you are putting Protein first. Strive more for the 80 gram end of your current range. My nutritionist has me on 100 grams a day, but I get more exercise than you.

I just got back from vacation as well and it was definitely a great feeling to keep up with everyone and to be able to go on all the rides! I lost weight too, but I think that was mostly due to the stomach bug I had while I was there. Either way, I'll take it and hope it stays off as I get back into my normal routine at home. Yay for a life full of many happy vacations ahead of us!

I think I was around 4 months the first time I tried it? What I noticed is that I get drunk very quickly on very little, but I also sober up very quickly.

The ramp up from week 3 to 4 is rough, but you can do it!

I go back on vacation in 4 weeks, so I definitely plan to do some swimming then!

I'm sure you all missed me desperately all last week while I was away on vacation. I know I missed you! I have so much to talk about, so I thought I'd put it all in one big post and you can read it or not. I just want to make sure I get it all out. So for those of you who don't know, my parents, sister's family, aunt, husband, and I all went on vacation in Tennessee last week. In all there were eleven of us (7 adults and 4 kids) for the whole week. In addition, my sister's childhood friend and her whole family (husband and 3 kids) came for part of the week. We were staying in a 5 bedroom, 5 bathroom cabin in the Smokey Mountains. The Drive The drive down ended up being much more challenging than I anticipated. My husband and I drove about halfway down after work on Friday and there was a LOT of snow and ice to contend with. I live in Rochester, NY and I am no stranger to driving on snow, but the black ice was something I was less familiar with. It seemed like every single bridge or overpass was just a skating rink and my car fishtailed the second it hit each and every one, no matter how much caution I used. I think it may have had to do with how heavily loaded down the back-end was with all our stuff for the trip. We stopped at Wendy's for dinner where I had some chili and then I had a Protein bar in the hotel before bed. Saturday morning I had eggs and sausage from the free Breakfast at the hotel, then it was back on the road. Taco Bell for lunch wasn't great... I ended up just eating the meat, cheese, and sauce out of a taco. We got to the rental office to check-in by 4, but the rest of the family didn't get to the cabin until around 6:30. Then still had to go grocery shopping. Everyone decided on hot dogs and potato salad for dinner once we were finally back to the cabin for the night. I wasn't about to have that, so I just settled for a turkey, ham, and cheese roll-up. The Plague Overnight on Saturday, one of my nephews threw up all over the floor in their bedroom. Thus began the PLAGUE. Saturday we were up bright and early to get to Dollywood for the day. My sister had some diarrhea, but Brady was feeling better, so we all headed out to the park. It was chilly, but nice in the sun, so not too bad. As the day went on, my sister continued with her diarrhea, and their youngest boy kept asking to go to the bathroom. Then the oldest boy started throwing up (he threw up three times in the park). So we finally called it quits and headed back to the cabin. In the car, both the oldest and youngest boys threw up. The PLAGUE was spreading! Monday my dad started getting sick. He stayed home while the rest of us went back to Dollywood. My sister and all three of her boys were feeling fine at this point. She called her friend, who was supposed to be coming up that night, and they decided to delay by a day and not come until Tuesday. Tuesday we were all feeling good, except my sister's diarrhea was back. She toughed it out and we went walking around Gatlinburg, went into all the little shops, tried some free samples of moonshine, had lunch, and walked around some more. Sometime in the afternoon, my sister's situation took a turn for the worse, so we went home again. My sister's friend's family arrived and we visited and joked around and had some dinner. I went out to the grocery store with the dad from that family so we could get them their own groceries. I decided to get some ice cream. When we got home, I ate some of the ice cream (a TINY amount) and then my ordeal began. At first I thought I was just having some dumping-like symptoms from eating too much ice cream. But no. It was my turn at the PLAGUE. I was up ALL night with dry heaving and diarrhea. It was soooooooooo bad. I haven't thrown up and pooped at the same time since I was a little kid. Sitting there one the toilet with the trash can in my lap..... OMG. It was awful. I never actually threw up, because my stomach was empty. So I can at least still cling to my perfect record of not having thrown up once since my sleeve. And, on the bright side, Wednesday was my seven month surgeversary weigh-in and I was down like 2.6 pounds from my Monday weekly weigh-in from all the Fluid loss! That night was also my aunt, mom, and brother-in-law's turn at the PLAGUE, plus my sister's diarrhea continued. Thank God we had 5 bathrooms! Wednesday I stayed home all day, as did my mom and aunt. My dad took the older boys back to Dollywood. Later in the day, my sister and brother-in-law did the same with the two younger kids. My husband made two trips down into town to the store for me. The first to get me some red G2. And the second to get me some Gaviscon, because once my dry-heaving and diarrhea were over, I had TERRIBLE heartburn. SO BAD! I had taken my normal daily doses of omeprazole, plus TWO Zantac 150, and it still wasn't letting up. The Gaviscon saved me and I was able to finally get some sleep. Thursday, we were all feeling better. My poor aunt and I had terrible soreness in our ribs from the dry-heaving/vomiting, so were were trying hard not to laugh, but everyone kept making us laugh! There were a few relapses of diarrhea, but we survived. My sister's friends family seemed like they were going to make it without getting sick, but before they left on Friday morning, the youngest boy complained he didn't feel well and skipped breakfast. From what I understand, he we throwing up and having diarrhea the whole way home, poor thing. I don't know if any of the others got sick after that. I had one bout of diarrhea Saturday morning before we left, but felt fine for the whole drive home (we did the whole drive in one day). But then I had two more bouts yesterday morning. So I don't know if I'm done now or not. I also woke up yesterday with a head cold. Sore throat, sore ears, stuffy nose. Fun Stuff Despite the plague, we did manage to have a lot of fun on the trip. That first Saturday was mine and my brother-in-law's birthdays, so we got cake at the grocery store and everyone sang Happy Birthday to us. Then it was my oldest nephew's birhday on Friday, so my sister's friend baked him a cake and we sang for him as well. We spent a lot of time at Dollywood, which is always a lot of fun. I think everyone made it there at least three days and some made it four. I was a little disappointed to not get to do do everything I wanted to there, but I'm going back in four weeks, so I can do everything I missed then. Thursday were went to the Smokey Mountains visitor's center where they have a lot of nicely taxedermied animals, plants, and bugs on display and they have a couple small hiking trails. So everyone got to do that stuff. Plus, Thursday night we went to see a great vaudeville-style show with the two oldest boys and all had a lot of fun with that. So everyone was able to thoroughly enjoy themselves when they weren't sick and aside from my sister, no one was really sick for more than 24 hours. Exercise I'd had grand plans to keep up with my strength training (brought my free weights) and try to get in some cardio while I was down there. It didn't happen. I walked a LOT all of the days I was there that I wasn't sick, but I didn't do any formal exercise at all. I didn't even get to do any yesterday, once I was back home, because now I'm fighting off this stupid head cold. It's a little better today, so I'll see if I think I can handle starting Week 6 of my Couch to 5k tonight after work. food My eating was nowhere near as structured as it usually is, but it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. We didn't eat out as much as I expected, so that helped. The only really "bad" things I ate at all were that ice cream, some fudge, and some sips of my husband's sweet tea. I did a good job of putting protein first with all of my meals and Snacks, except that one day I was so sick, I ate half of a toasted whole wheat english muffin with some Peanut Butter on it. Even at Dollywood, I found a place that sold little turkey meat sticks (like a beef stick, but with turkey) for some snacks. I also had a little packet of peanuts as a snack. And the two times I ate lunch there I had chicken tenders with most of the breading scraped off the first day and then the filling out of a chicken fajita (minus the tortilla, lettuce, and most of the salsa) the second day. Thoughts on my Weight Obviously, the subject of my surgery and weight loss came up a lot on the trip. I hadn't seen my aunt or my sister's friend since before the surgery. I hadn't seen my parents since around Christmas. And I've had some recent major milestones with my weight as well. I am now no longer "obese" and merely "overweight". Plus I am almost down to the weight I was at when I had my plastic surgery 3.5 years ago. So we talked a lot about that stuff. Also, the last time I was at Dollywood with my parents (last April), I couldn't fit on most of the roller coasters. So much ado was made of the fact that I can now ride all of the rides. All of this, plus just my general body image now and how I felt about being seen and scrutinized by people who hadn't seen me in a while had me thinking a LOT about my weight and how I look and feel. 3.5 years ago, I was at this weight when I decided to go ahead and have plastic surgery to remove my excess skin after having lost 90 pounds. I had an extended tummy tuck w/ muscle repair, breast lift w/ augmentation, and all over lipo. I felt GREAT about myself back then. This time around, I'm not feeling quite as great. Part of it is that I was in better shape back then. I had been exercising regularly for almost a year then, whereas this time around, I really only started exercising intensely a couple of months ago. Plus the weight re-gain and re-loss has taken its toll. My legs are a complete disaster. They look SOOOOO bad and I am very aware of it. I still have 16 pounds to lose to reach my surgeon's goal of 165 and 26 pounds to reach my personal goal 155, which would put me right at the top of the healthy BMI range. On the one hand, it still seems so far away. At my current rate of about 6 pounds per month, it will take me another 5 months to reach my goal. On the other hand, I thought I was "done" with my weight loss at THIS weight a few years ago when I had my plastics. I didn't want to go any lower back then. And I'm wondering if I'll achieve that kind of contentment this time around and lose motivation to make it to my goal. And would that be such a bad thing?

Weight gain with increased exercise intensity is pretty common. You will initially retain more water as your sore, tied muscles need it to repair. And, overall you may see a slow down in your rate of loss. My weight loss definitely slowed when I started running, but my body composition began to change pretty drastically. My body fat percentage is declining very steadily now that I am exercising more.

I just got back from the vacation I bought my swimsuit for and I ended up not using it at all. We had a bad stomach bug circulating through our group (16 of us in all) and so no one ended up using the hot tub past the first night we were there. I didn't use it that first night because I was too tired after the long drive and just wanted to go to bed.

I had trouble in the first few weeks, because I had issues with swallowing due to the swelling. Once that was better, I didn't have trouble getting water in, though I did discover it was MUCH easier for me to drink really ice-cold water. I've heard others have an easier time with hot beverages. I do fine with hot beverages myself... it's just like room-temperature water that my sleeve still doesn't like very much.

I was told to aim for 1 ounce every 15 minutes. When I broke it up that way, it was a bit easier. But I had a lot of issues swallowing in the first two weeks post op that eventually improved and made it a lot easier.

I couldn't live WITHOUT implants now that I've had them. My boobs before were.... sooooooo tiny and sad. Even with the malpositioning and the sagging as I've re-lost the weight, my new boobs are still a MILLION times better than my old ones. I'm confident that once I'm at goal and maintaining, the revision will be very successful, since I don't forsee punishing my body with another 90+ pound weight gain and re-loss post-sleeve!

That's what I did as well. Got the instructions in advance so I could make some plans for what do do while I was traveling and once I got home. Lucia, the nutritionist I worked with, sat me down and gave me a little more info and answered all my questions the morning of my surgery as well. And to answer your original question, yes I just stopped vitamins until Day 7 post-op. The Vitaleph multivitamin can be broken open and mixed into shakes and yogurt, but doing so was SO GROSS, I only did it a couple of times.

My plastics were definitely one of the best decisions I ever made. Even with my weight re-gain and re-loss. Definitely wish I had been sleeved first, and never re-gained, but hindsight is 20/20. I'm so glad my tummy tuck held up so well. It makes me feel amazing to have my tight, flat stomach now. Give me motivation to do all my core strength training so I can get more defined abs. It's awesome. The boobs didn't hold up as well through the weight re-gain and re-loss. They were fine on the way up, but on the way back down the left implant has become malpositioned and I both are looking a little sad and saggy. I'm in talks with my surgeon to have a revision done sometime this summer, hopefully.

I've had leg cramps my whole life. Mine are due to potassium deficiency and dehydration. Make sure you are getting your Water and some electrolytes.