More than this

Thank you, DJMohr. I do eat slowly & I do drink a lot of water. Mind you it's flavoured with crystal lite. My issues are grazing & meds. I graze on carbs...millennium mix from nut mans. I am on a lot of antidepressants, & hormones for menopause. These all add to my weight gain. On blood pressure meds too now. I would love to get off of these!! That's why I was thinking the sooner than later might be best for me & why I am even considering paying what is a fortune to me. Getting off these meds would help immensely. That & the grazing of course....

what a fantastic site, thanks Alex!!

THANK YOU shringpeach & James for taking the time to give me your answers. Thank you. It is excellent information. I had asked at the information session if we could still get the surgery if we were closer to the 35. The nurse said she would wait & NOT go on a diet yet. I had heard the same from my doc that if you lose the weight they would NOT do surgery, as it has happened to many of her patients. I don't think this is fair because I have lost the weight only to put it back on once I went off, with more added. Just like all the yo yo dieters do. So this is perplexing. I am so scared of going on a diet again without a good tool, which is how I look at the sleeve. I look at the sleeve as being able to resist the hunger in helping me lose weight both during & after I have lost the weight. I don't understand why they would disqualify you if you don't meet their qualifications at time of surgery but they will....so see the dilemma? I want to get going now but am afraid I will ruin my chances to be able to get the sleeve....but as I write this I am thinking maybe I am looking ,at this all wrong. One way or another it is up to me to stop the yo-yoing & having a sleeve is not what will help me....it's what I eat & my exercise. But on the other hand, having to eat very small portions for so long with the sleeve helping me so that I can't possibly eat larger portions may do the trick. May TEACH me to be able to eat smaller portions. Does any of his make sense or am I tricking myself & really a, not getting it? Guess I am going to have to think this one out....again, thank you both for your advice. It is truly appreciated & has given me more to think about..& as for having 20k lying around, I am not one of those people. It would be a few years over which I would be paying that back. Best of luck to you both on your day-to-day fight with this crazy thing, & stay healthy & happy

To clarify I went to Red Deer hospital info session this last week. I also contacted smart shape, but that was thru email, right after the Red Der session. As I said, I was very upset & disappointed in regards to the Red Deer wait.

Hi everyone. I'm from Calgary. Just wanted to ask Solea78 how you were able to get AB health to cover some of your costs from your Mexico surgery. I was looking at not going thru the long wait in qualifying for the Red Deer hospital & going thru smart shape. I just went to the info session there last week & they say 8-12 month wait.. The self pay operation would be in Toronto & is very expensive, but they can get you in pretty quick. The op itself, plane fare (more expensive than flying down to the States), hotel for a week, & a caregiver...well let's say I would be paying for this op for quite a long time..yikes!!

Hello everyone. I'm from Calgary. Just went to my information session in Red Deer this past week. It made me so very sad that I, as well as the others, are looking at an 8-12 month wait. I want to do this now. I called smart shape & I could get this done in TO pretty quickly but it will cost a fortune. I am so ripped up inside about this whole thing. My knees hurt, my legs, I am hot & sweaty all the time, etc etc...you all know what I am talking about. Not only would it be expensive but then I hear people talking about the honeymoon phase. How after they stop losing, they eat regular amounts & they gain. How can you eat regular amounts once your stomach is small? Do we all of a sudden get our appetites back? I just don't understand how all of a sudden, it doesn't work anymore. I just can't seem to comprehend this phase. I have read so much research including the big gastric sleeve book & somehow it's not sinking into this thick old skull. Can someone help me out? In your experience, going thru all of this, would you pay over 20k to get this done or would you wait a year? During that 1 year wait you would have to do certain things to qualify you for the surgery. I am very broken up about this. I want to feel better sooner than later but wonder if paying all that money will be worth it; if that honeymoon phase, when it's over will mean the weight crawls back on like some fad diet I have already done......

Thanks so much Bufflehead!! I will look into them, thanks!

I was looking at going to TO soon & Dr Orech (?) would be doing the op. Self-pay as waiting for AB health is 8-12 months. It's a killer. It's very expensive when you take into consideration all the other costs, like flight, hotel, & caregiver. I Too have been doing a lot of research. With all I read, it seems to work. Yes there are some posts that say otherwise but they are few & far between. I have to wonder though, is this real? Dare I say it.........seems too good to be true?

Hi! Newbie here from Calgary AB, Canada. I have been following this site since before Christmas. I purchased the big gastric sleeve book & the queen of crops's book. I finally decided on a sleeve due to all the positive results, but....it will take me a year to get it done in Red Deer, on Ab Health. Longer in Calgary. I checked for docs in Canada & found one thru smart shape but it's 18,000 not including taxes, airfare (cheaper to go to the U.S. Instead of Toronto), hotel & nurse (I need a caregiver for over 48 hours). That's a LOT of $. I don't want to go to Mexico because of allergies to certain meds, one being morphine. Since I have been reading that the nurses don't speak very good English, I would hate to flatline, as has happened to me previously on another operation. They operated using synthetic morphine but the nurses put it in my I.v. For pain. Duh.... So...help help help please. Are there any good surgeons someone can recommend, not too far from Canada & NOT from Mexico? I would really appreciate some help asap as I would like to get the sleeve. Thanks so much!!