OasisTerry

Hey @@jesstea2, what you are feeling is completely normal, at least that's what I believe. You are experiencing a healthy mix of emotions, you are excited to start a new chapter in your life but sad about what's being left behind. I can only speak of my experience while preparing for surgery (VSG) and I can tell you that I felt what you are feeling. It was like a misplaced nostalgia of some sort, a feeling of loss that I couldn't really put my finger on. With any change come feelings of loss and they are healthy and completely normal. Don't fight it, maybe it's your own way of saying goodbye to a way of living that is now going to be different, but let me tell you, it is a good kind of different!

You will not "lose" part of your identity, you will only re-shape it.

Good luck to you on your journey.

Congrats @@Sleevin-in-secret!!!!!! The pre-op diet is only a pain for the first couple of days, tough it out and it will get easier. Feel free to ask any questions, I had my gastric sleeve in May of this year in Tijuana, Mexico through QMF. Best decision I've ever made.

I hope it gets easier for you, it sure is tough controlling oneself with food. What I can tell you for sure @@LMolina1987 is that all your efforts will be rewarded. If you are able to go through with this, you'll be able to do anything. Keep strong.

Hang in there @@LMolina1987! The first days of the pre-op diet are terrible, but little by little as the hours go by, your body seems to go into numb mode and hopefully then, it won't be so hard for you. You've gotten some great advice already, keep your head busy, video games, an old rubik's cube really did it for me. Also, if you can't tolerate chicken broth have you tried bean broth? Loaded with Iron and easy for the stomach to tolerate. Best of the best wishes and virtual hugs go out to you, keep strong and be well.

@@antpatte hope your surgery went very well!

Let us know how you did, cheers.

@@LittleNiki who is your doctor?

I believe it's normal to be nervous, as my surgery date approached I was a bundle of nerves. But don't feel lost, you have made a decision that will most definitely improve your health and your life. You are no longer a spectator, you are doing something to better yourself, not a lot of people take that step. Keep yourself busy, that's what helped me stay focused.

@@emilyphoenix74 we had the same doctor! I'm also a dr Camelo sleever. Were you at the florence Hospital? Veronica took care of us while we were down there. Great experience.

@@MissRobin I received a bag from my facilitator containing all the meds prescribed by my surgeon. Although I'm not 100% sure I believe it's common practice. I received antibiotics, pain medication, prilosec, liquid antacid, antiseptic spray, gauze and a whole lot of miscellaneous, non medical goodies.

Thank you both Henry and Dr. Altamirano! I appreciate your quick response and service.

Does anyone know if doctors in Tijuana offer post-op consultations and if so, what the cost is? I had my sleeve with Dr. Camelo and would like to set up a post-op check up since I'll be in the area. I'll be contacting his coordinator but want to hear from others that have done this?

@atcant@NikkiDoc..........don't judge until you know a persons situation. \I just came from hell, and am glad to be alive. Worst experience of my life, I researched hours and hours and hours and still made the wrong decision where to have this surgery in Tijuana. You sound very lucky to have had an educational, clean environment with good after and pre op help but a lot of people on this site didn't or don't have that luxury. I was with a nurse and her and her husband walked out the day after surgery....taking her life in her hands to get back to the US, There were tons of people coming in like cattle for such a scary surgery............lets be advocates for people to educate not punish, as believe e I am punishing myself enough.

@@lealor your experience sounds awful, I hope you are ok and recover quickly. Where did you have your surgery? Who was your doctor? I ask because I also had my surgery in Tijuana, fortunately I had a good experience but a lot of people turn to me for guidance. I love what you wrote about being advocates for those who are in the decision-making process. If there's a hospital or doctor that is not delivering what is promised we need to be very vocal about it and use this wonderful site to let everyone know. I wish you the best.

There is no problem bringing medications back across the border as long as you can show they are for your personal use. A prescription always helps. I believe Vitamins should be no problem at all.

For those of us that have had our gastric sleeve, what forum do you recommend for general guidelines on eating, daily challenges, what to expect and what not to expect. I like the Mexico forum but in my opinion it's focused for pre-op surgeon and hospital discussions. So tell me, what other forums do you visit or recommend in the Bariatric Pal universe? Thanks in advance.

I lost about 16 lbs. The caffeine withdrawal headaches the first 3 days kicked my butt. After that it was smooth sailing !

I feel your pain BigHarleyGuy, caffeine withdrawal headaches are the worst! I'm three months out and I already incorporated just a couple of sips of my morning coffee in my diet. Thank you Prilosec.

I lost 18 lbs on the pre-op diet. It was tough at first but as the days went on it was like being on auto-pilot and not really feeling hungry. I'm a diabetic so my pre-op diet was probably not the same as most.

Thank you David, you've answered my question. I've already had my surgery, what I wanted to know is if you had a way of making sure that the person referring someone else was an actual patient, but since it only applies to patients who have used BP then you do have a way to verify this.

I'm not interested in getting the referral fee, I'm concerned about the fact that money is being offered for a recommendation. I would like to believe that when somebody is recommending or referring me to your group is because they really did have a good experience and not because they will get money out of it.

For example, when my friends joined, they received private messages from several users saying wonders about their doctors, is it because they were looking for the fee? How do you know if those people were actual patients? My answer to them was that they should only believe a recommendation if it comes from someone they know, after all, as a patient it is our responsibility to research thoroughly before making a decision.

I had a great experience with my doctor and his coordinating team but even so, I am hesitant to refer anyone I know because they might have a different experience or a complication and I would feel partly responsible for it. I write about my experience and if it helps others, I'm happy but I would not ever expect a payment for referring someone to a doctor.

I read a post by one of the doctors here in Bariatric Pal offering a $100 referral fee per patient, is this an actual deal? How does this work? What are the requirements for the person that makes the referral? How does a potential patient know that this is a real patient that has actually used the doctor?

I recommended this site to friends so that they could get a feel of what it would be going to Mexico for their surgery and they were mostly confused by the information they received (they were addressed by BP team members and offered deals and Skype consultations) I have been staying in Mexico for a while and feel very confident on the level of medical and dental care but, and this is a big "but", the bariatric pal Mexico forum is a bit overwhelming on the sense that it is sales driven and you get hit on by offers and advertisements. This is very off-putting. It's like being at a car dealership.

I was told not to post this because it would be removed and I would end up being banned by the site or would be accused of being a sales person myself. Does this site have that kind of censorship? We'll have to see.

Hello Tijuana Sleevers, for those of you that went to the pharmacy after you were discharged, what pharmacy did you go to? Did anyone buy B12 shots? A friend is going for dental work and i want her to get some meds and Vitamins for me, wish I had the energy to go after surgery but i just didn't.

Hi Wendy, I had my sleeve on May 7, lost almost 60 lbs (yay me!) and have not had my belly button hernia repaired. I have not had any pain, I thought that as I lost the weight, the bulge would become more prominent but I honestly can't see it anymore, I do have a bit of excess skin so that's definitely a factor. I'm scheduled for an ultrasound in a couple of weeks and my PCP thinks it was a good decision from my Mexico doctor not to touch it. I'll have to wait and see.

Since every case is unique, I hope you find the doctor, group or facilitator that fits your needs. Seems like most of the folks on this site are very happy with the service and the support. I'm 50+ and was initially traveling to Tijuana alone so I looked for a facilitator that would cater to that. I did not want a mini-vacation or shopping trips, I wanted to focus on my surgery and recovery. In the end my daughter came with me which was great, but my facilitator was golden. Let me know if you have any questions about the process and I'll be happy to share what I know.

Wow, 29 lbs, good job!

I don't believe you are doing anything wrong, we all have our own pace, everyone is different. I had my sleeve in May 7 (Tiajuana, florence hospital) and have lost 52 lbs. I went scale-crazy the first couple of weeks post-op but I'm trying to focus on sizes now. To break my oh-so-frequent stalls, I do one more high Protein meal a day. It might work for you too. Does your doctor have a staff nutritionist you can contact? I email mine every week!

This is just horrible. I watched the latest news report where the three patients go back to Tiajuana to file a complaint, they are so brave for going back to do this. I hope they can stop him.

My doctor also recommended that I wait until I had lost weight after my sleeve to have my umbilical hernia repaired.