Proud2BMe

My flight leaves early tomorrow morning. My nerves are just now kicking in. I was never scared of dying during surgery before but now I'm getting paranoid and am writing lists of directions to friends and family just in case I don't make it. I know it's crazy, but still, I want to be prepared. I guess in a way a part of me is dying, the old me, the obese me. I still can't believe I've lost 22lbs on the pre-op diet. I technically have one more day to go and it wouldn't surprise me if I lost another pound by then. And I never slipped up and ate any sweets. I did slip up and have some steak, but that was during the phase where I could eat some lean meat and lettuce for dinner. Thanks to all the good people here who have given great advice. I'm about to make the transition to the other side and become officially sleeved. Wish me luck!

@@RellaBelle One hour layovers may be your friend. I'm leaving early tomorrow morning for my surgery and my layover is 36 minutes and I'm so scared I'm going to miss my connecting flight. Plus, more time allows you to eat like Soup or what not and get some exercise in because there is still threat of blood clots and you need to be up and walking to help lesson the chance of them forming.

So sorry to hear of your situation. Why does it say "banned" under your picture?

@@VSGAnn2014 I know. I thought it as implied that this would be like broth or some other liquid.

I'm not sure what to bring.

Update: I've finally hit 20lbs lost on my pre-op diet. I'm so happy! And I have a couple more days to surgery so I'm sure I can lose a couple more pounds on top of that. Again, for those just starting out on your pre-op or about to start on your pre-op, the first 2-3 days are horrible and I do mean horrible. However, it gets a lot better after that. Once you are used to the diet it's really easy to follow.

@@ogleland I would listen to what the doctor recommended. However, I do think you are on the right track with RNY. Stay away from the lap band. It's not effective for people who need to lose hundreds of pounds and it has high complications further down the line. I think you are probably not a good candidate for gastric sleeve right now. However, if you want to diet and get your weight down to at least 200lbs in order to have gastric sleeve you can. That is an option for you. If you go on the pre-op diet you will lose weight fast. I'm not even finished with my 2 week pre-op diet and I've already lost 20lbs. So keep that in mind.

Okay, I was embarrassed to ask this question but I became so paranoid over it that I just have to know. How was the plane ride back from your surgery? Were you embarrassed by passing gas or did you have gas on the plane (gas from the surgery)? Did you have a bowel movement on the plane?

May 12, Dr. Verboonen in Tijuana

@@CanyonBaby Thanks!

Update: So this is an interesting turn, the day before yesterday I ended up not losing any weight on my pre-op diet. I didn't gain any weight either. I was exactly the same as I was at the day before. So I was trying to rack my brain to decide if it was because of something I did. The only thing I could think of is that maybe my Protein shakes have too many carbs. So I thought about halving the Protein Shakes. However, later that night the family had steak for dinner. Now, I'm not a steak person. But I was hungry and they smelled so good that I could not resist. I ate one hot, juicy steak with some salt-n-pepper with no other condiments. Later on I was curious to see how much calories it had. So I looked it up on Google and was shocked to learn that one steak has over 800 calories. So I started to freak out and just assumed that I had ruined my diet. I was dreading weighing in next morning. To my surprise I ended up losing a pound! I've come to realize that both God and the pre-op diet works in mysterious ways because I have yet been able to figure them out!

@@Alex Brecher Thank You!

@@CanyonBaby What would you recommend to season regular broth? I've tried black pepper, red pepper, and garlic but it's still really bland.

@@Zachnchrissy After surgery there is a tendency to retain Water. However, if your pro-op diet was mostly protein and then you switch back to a mostly carb diet you will automatically begin to gain weight back as your body can more easily process the carbs into sugars and fats and store them in your live or fat cells. Once you heal from surgery and can eat regular food again try to go back to a more Protein based diet. Or talk to your doctor and see if you can do it now. That means you will need to cut out all sugars, no fruit juice or other sources of sugar either.

OMG! I just discovered these! I hate regular broth and was dreading having to eat broth for weeks. However, now I'm happy. I tried the Mexican tortilla variety and to me it tastes just like Spanish rice. However, there is a downsize. You will definitely need to freshen your breath after eating it! I love it. Can't wait to try out the other varieties. I could totally be fine with this. Oh, and just so you know, all the spices actually gives you the illusion that you have actually eaten a meal and not just broth. It's great. http://swanson.campbellskitchen.com/SBOurProducts/Products

@@mrmrshandie Pre-op, most likely but check with your doctor. Post-op, it will probably hurt. Your life post-op will be completely different. You may never be able to tolerate spicy foods again and/or you may lose your cravings for it. Swanson's also has new flavored broths out that are awesome.

@@Soonerjoseph Who's Rocky?

I'm just going to go ahead and say this. For some reason there has been a slight influx of people who either are not getting weight loss surgery or who have had it in the U.S. who come on to the Mexican sub-forum and try to either pass shade on the thought of going to Mexico or try to spread fear by implying it's not safe. This really needs to stop. Everybody freaks out over a death. This is understandable. However, what people fail to realize is that people can and do die during the most seemingly simple of surgeries. Death is always a risk in any surgery. It's a low risk but it is a risk. If you feel you can't have the surgery even though the risk is low then there's no need for you to come on this board and speak about your fears or misconstrue the risks based on your fear of having the surgery or fear of where the surgery took place.

@@Cleo's Mom You can still die in a hospital. Also, you may not realize this but patients in the U.S. are routinely transferred to other hospitals based upon the situation. So you may be in an emergency and the closest hospital is say 5 minutes away. However, if that hospital decides it is not the right location for you or that another location is better you will be taken there instead, even though it may be 10, 15+ minutes away. Also happens if by chance the hospital is full.

@@Edavidson Please keep in mind that other people don't share your concern. Many people have been helped by having their surgery in Mexico. For those who have to pay out of pocket for the surgery it's a godsend. Many people already have a physician lined up just in case they have complications back home in the U.S. However, many people do not and have zero problems. The complication risk is actually low for this surgery. It's not zero and no surgery is. But this risk of complications for gastric sleeve is far lower than with gastric bypass. Another thing you need to realize is that many doctors in Mexico have more experience with gastric sleeves and perform more surgeries. So they have more experience than many doctors in the U.S. That's a plus.

@@Edavidson Same with me. I worked with a gal who got the gastric bypass. A couple weeks later she died of an infection. So I knew I didn't want that procedure. However, I foolishly dismissed all weight loss surgery because of that. Now I'm a bit more educated and realize that other surgeries, such as gastric sleeve, are different and have less risk.

@@Edavidson The reason why you weren't able to get that much information on gastric sleeve is because it's relatively new. Gastric bypass has been around since the early 80s. Gastric sleeve is just about 10 years old.

Update: I only lost one pound since yesterday. So this is proof that your weight loss will slow down on your pre-op diet as your body becomes accustomed to the diet. The days that I felt like crap, the first two days, were the days I lost the most weight. I am going to try to get some more exercise in. Monday I will go on a full liquid diet and hopefully that will shock my system so that I can lose more weight before surgery.

@@SuninVirgo The risk of heart attack is highest upon given anesthesia as it can raise the blood pressure significantly. Again, it depends on the health of the person before surgery. Many obese people are literally dangling off of a cliff health-wise and may simply not realize such. However, knowing that one simply can not hold natural deaths like a heart attack against a doctor this news would not cause me to change my mind. What would change my mind is the experience level. I want a doctor who has performed thousands of gastric sleeve surgeries, not someone who is just starting out.

@@Helena101 Yes. Or go to the emergency room. The emergency room will not turn you away and if you need emergency surgery they will perform it. You will get an outrageous bill though.