GACaldwell

Yes! I had mine done in Mexico by Dr Corvala on July 22nd. So far I have no complaints and I'm glad I did it.

TL; DR but my own experince was that it hasn't been bad at all. I understand I've been dang lucky....no issues with getting in my liquids & I'm drinking more than required at 3 weeks out (admittedly, I've always drank a lot!) The pain has been minimal. .mostly I'm sore but it's NOTHING like my hysterectomy was. I'm already starting on more solid foods and I seem to be tolerating anything as long as I eat small amounts and go slowly. I have anxiety too...and after surgery it's manifested as being nervous that this too won't work. I'm working on that mentally but it's just part of it for me. Sent from my SCH-I435 using the BariatricPal App

Opelika, Al here! Sent from my SCH-I435 using the BariatricPal App

I went to Dr. Lopez Corvala at Hospital Angeles for my surgery in Tijuana. I can't say enough great things about the experience EXCEPT the travel to and from....we got caught in the Southwest Airlines Meltdown on 7/21/16. My patient coordinator-Kim- Was excellent at rescheduling my surgery after TWO flight cancellations and us not being able to get out till the next day. We were met at the hospital door by the concierge and she whisked us through the process of blood work, xrays and getting to our room where a welcome bag of bottled water, slippers and things were waiting. By the time we got there the Dr & his team were there waiting on me (A nice change from waiting on drs here in the US!) I was in surgery within the first hour of arriving at the hospital and I LOVED that because I had waited long enough! The staff was excellent and everyone spoke enough english to understand me when I needed something. Another difference, when the nurses say they are going to ask the Dr. something they mean RIGHT THEN...there is no waiting around for answers! They go, make the call and come right back to take care of you. I saw my Dr every day I was there (even over the weekend) and saw his team multiple times a day. The hospital was incredibly clean and well maintained. The cleaning ladies came in twice a day every day and nothing was ever dirty. Also, They kept me an extra day at no charge because of the issues with getting our return flights rebooked (Stupid me didn't check and we traveled to San Diego the same weekend as Comicon! Sheesh!) The flights home were tough...I wish I had taken a few extra days to recover in a hotel room but with kids at home and work, it just wasn't possible for me. I traveled with a pillow though and that helped with the take offs & landings. Between bad weather and flight delays it took us over 11 hours to get home and I was WIPED. Also, for those of you traveling with someone..my partner found the local places (Ihop, mcdonalds etc) a lot of people didn't speak english and they had menus in spanish...but he was able to use Google translate and get (almost!) anything he wanted ordered. Another downside, I find that lacking after surgery care (i live in a small town where there are no bariatric drs) in person to be more difficult. You can call the Drs. team any time, but I'm learning to do more research here and online before calling them. I don't regret it at all though and without the difference in cost, I wouldn't have been able to do it!

Hi All! I'm almost 3 weeks post op (7/22/16) and so far I'm doing...ok. I say ok because I seem to be fighting my head more than anything. Since 1 week post op i havent had any issues drinking and I'm ahead of the curve on eating. Nothing seems to bother me as long as I take small bites and eat small amounts. I'm doing pretty good at that but I can't seem to wrap my head around it all mentally. Because I dont have any problems eating or drinking, my brain tells me this isn't working. I know I shouldnt but I find myself obsessing over the scale (I'm down 14lbs) and any little up-tick (even just a few ounces) just reinforces my feelings of dread that I'm going to fail at this. I'm eating Proteins first and hardly anything else but it freaks me out and I find myself feeling bad for what I eat and how often I eat even when its small amounts. I'm not at the point yet where I can eat veggies or fruits (which kills me since I actually do like them) and my brain says all the soft foods are whats killing me. I don't WANT my head to sabatoge me but I feel lost in this. I had my surgery in mexcio so talking to them is less than helpful. Any suggestions are most appreciated.

First off, thank you for the job that you do! It can't be an easy one. My partner worked nights at a local juvenile detention center and is a bypass patient. What helped him is we planned and packed a lot of high Protein Snacks for him so it kept him from snacking on bad things and they were single serve so he could grab them and go at his desk or between rounds. I know working nights can be tough on you and your family. Keep working towards a day shift if that's what you need to be healthy and happy. Good luck!

Thats Awesome!! Congratulations!!

Thanks everyone for the replies! I appreciate the insight and will keep plugging forward. Unfortunately, since I live in a small town there are no support groups here (hence why i joined the boards!) But my primary care dr is supportive and I'll be following up with him. I just have to be patient. (Not my best virtue! LOL)

Hi All! I'm new to the forum and newly sleeved (7/22/16!) I went the Mexico route too as mine was self pay. I'm happy to have found this group!

Hi All! I'm in the Opelika/Auburn area and had my sleeve done on 7/22 in Mexico (It was great!)..so almost one week post op. Everything is going well so far. I'm impressed with the weight loss Ive had thus far but I'm constantly nervous about this not working/gaining it all back from years of yo-yo dieting. Any advice on dealing with the emotional side of fear of this not working? I know it's somewhat irrational as long as I stick to my diet but i cant seem to get passed it.

I'm 5'1" and Surgery was last week. So far so good!