EventHorizon

Ok so I had my Gastric sleeve yesterday morning with a couple complications... I had a hernia repair and a small spleen bleed. But all went well and other than some gas pain in my shoulder area early this morning I have been relatively pain free. Going home first thing in the morning, feeling very well and ready for what's to come. Anxious to get healthy and thanking God for the good outcome.
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Late September I decided I wanted to do the gastric sleeve. My brother had a buddy that just got one and I needed a change in my life from a weight standpoint. at my heaviest I was 409 probably and i was 385 at the time and not getting anywhwere fast. Essentially i decided I wasn't going to be able to do all of this on my own without some sort of stick driving me forward. MY company didn't cover me from an insurance standpoint and I couldn't afford 17k out of pocket.
My decision was a Tiajana Doctor named Ariel Ortiz. If you want to know why let me tell you
There is a doctor down there killing people from that news story they talked about board certification.
Ariel Ortiz was a Spokes Person on "The Doctors" and On Opra where he was featured for doing surgery on a 13 year old gir.
He was the ONLY Board certified surgeon i could find in Tiajuana. As well as having certs in US. But from that standpoint i felt safer than going with any of the others out there.
I drove to Tiajuana it was a nice hotel they put you up in the Marriot. My cousin went with we got in at midnight The communication up to this point was minimal How much do you weight great you have lose this much to get the surgery.
So at 6:15 am you hop in a van and from here its like a guided tour.
Meet the nutritionist
Fill out this paperwork
Meet the cardiologist
Fill out this paperwork
There were 6 of us at the start People are disapearing throughout the morning going for their surgeries. So at some point I was the last man standing. They take you to the room say put on this gown. They walk in Hook up my IV and say drink this silly juice. YOu start to relax and the doctor walks in your room. He is very personable and cracks some jokes with you then he runs off and i didn't see him again, although i did hear he stopped by and talked to my cousin.
Next they run you into the ER. You lay on this table that opens your arms and legs and they give you the good stuff and in 10 seconds your out. about 1 hour to 1.5 hours go by before you start to wake up. Man that was wierd. You wake up they shift you to another bed and wheel you to your room From here it was my job to walk thats how it was explained to me. If you want to get better faster walk. So all i did that day was Walk and sleep and walk and sleep. I would hear one persons IV squeeking around and I would jump up and walk and talk to them.
Surgery day was the hardest Only because of the gas pains My incisions didn't hurt one bit. Your chest hurts and your back and you just feel lost pretty much all day. The next day you feel a lot better That day there is a casino around the hotel so we walked to it. Up hill about .5 miles hung out there saw the greyhound races. Played some craps walked to the mall and back to the hotel to pass out. I slept a lot. Then back up put my feet in the Jacuzzi and back up to the room to pass out. The hill took it all out of me.
The Second day was better I was pretty good all day. Took a walk in downtown Tiajuana probably got in 3 miles. It has both areas of culture and areas of trash. But it was fun to walk and look and entertaining. We then went back to the room i took a nap and the rest of the day was dedicated to the dog races and the casino. The lack of food was hard in a city with such food culture but i could get chicken broth even at the casino.
The third day was the leak test I tell ya they had us in and out of there so fast my head spun. Basically you drink something while they xray you and pow they say you look good have a good life I still have contact with the nutritionist and i loved the experience. But this is a no hand holding zone.
Thanks for reading my story.

Awesome EventHorizon!! We have the same date
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I'm with Dr Garcia November 22!
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Hey all! Another Nov 22 here!
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I didn't tell anyone, nor am I going to. People at work are always gossiping behind everyone's back, never positive or supportive. I'm doing this all on my own.
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Really? Why exactly are you even considering doing this?
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More than a couple bites. Much less than 2 cups.
Honestly I don't think your priorities are a good fit with this surgery.

I've been on most of them over the years. Phen-Fen was my favorite - until I had to come off of them and was like a heroin addict having withdrawals. I tried the pill that you leak anal Fluid - that was a real joy! . There were a few more over the years. Last year I went to my PCP about Belviq and she said absolutely not - it causes too many dangerous side effects. All through my diet pill years I lost and then found all my weight back and someone else's too - to the point of getting over 300lbs. Although now that @@LipstickLady said she had the sex drive of a 19 year old boy - I may give some Phentermine to my boyfriend. .
In all seriousness, diet pills are not successful long term and have to many risks.

I loved phentermine. Phen-fen was a combo of phentermine and fenflueramine (sp?) and the second was the "bad for your heart" part.
Phentermine is basically legal speed. My energy was endless, I didn't eat or sleep for days, my sex drive was equivalent to that of a 19 year old boy. I darted from here to there cheerfully, couldn't sit down (unless it was on top of the hubby) and I wore EVERYONE out except my myself.

Lost 80 pounds in 3 months and was happier than I have ever been.

Then I got a brain tumor and phentermine can aggravate seizures so... Off I went. Weight regained.

Damn, I miss that stuff. So does my husband.

I used Dr Garcia in May 2016. Best surgeon and facilities. You made the correct choice. I am 1/2 way to goal today. Try not to be so nervous you are in great hands with Dr Garcia and his staff.

@@gustavio I have read all of the posts you have made and it seems you have been very anxious after surgery. Losing 30 lbs a month is no realistic and it is time to get rid of expectations. We are all on a new life journey, not a diet that will be over when we lose the weight we want to.
You have done well with weightloss so far and it will keep happening if you keep following your plan and living your life. And, if you are like me and many others, the weightloss will happen in waves. Yes, it can get frustrating, but it is much easier to let those frustrations go and continue on.
This isn't about the money or a broken sleeve, it is finding your footing and continuing to move forward focusing on the big picture, including nsvs, feeling better, looking better, losing inches, etc and most of all, being healthier. You can do this.

OMG calm down!!!!!! You are doing great by the way. By the time I hit 6 weeks I had only lost 25 lbs. My goal was to get to 30lbs by 6 weeks but I didn't---- SO WHAT!!!!!! My goal was to get to Onederland by 10/1 and I didn't--- SO WHAT!!!!!! Those are just personal goals that I set to push myself. As long as you're losing not gaining. There are some weeks where I only lose 0.8 lbs, some weeks I lose nothing. Then I have a good week. Your body needs time to adjust and calibrate. Do you measure yourself? It's not all in the scales. At some point I was honest with myself and knew I wasn't as active as I should be so I stepped up my activity level. From 2 days a week to 4-5 days a week. Weight loss picked up--I saw better results. Keep doing what you are supposed to and it will happen over time. Think BIGGER PICTURE. Long term. Not day to day. Try weighing at the same time preferably mornings and try to limit your weigh ins to once a week. Log your weights and observe your trends. You will find you are doing much better than you think you are. Hang in there and try not to be so hard on yourself. You're doing great.

@@gustavio You can't compare yourself to others. We are all different. Men lose faster than woman usually. Often those losing a significant amount of weight that early on have a lot more to lose than you do. This isn't a race - you have done well and should be ecstatic! Without surgery, it would have taken me a year to lose 20 lbs and about 3 minutes to gain it all back. Stop weighing so often - you're going to sabotage yourself!
And increase your fluids!!!

@@gustavio Your expectations were far too high! You're only 6 weeks out or so and have lost 27 lbs - that's not a slow loss. I'm not sure why you would have expected to lose 45 lbs already - that's not realistic at all. You need to concentrate on getting enough Protein and fluids and stay off the scale. Your surgery is not broken. I'm sure you've seen the posts about stalling - and that's what you've been doing the last 2 weeks. Lower your expectations or you will only be disappointed.

L'shanah tovah tikatev v'taihatem!
Blessings upon you and yours.
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Don't be nervous I'm going Nov 22. I live in SoCal and a lot of people here go to Mexico for all sorts of surgery. Who's your doc?
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Sorry to be defensive, but I'm fresh from surgery and from defending myself against my friends and family naysayers. A little tired of hearing it. Everyone's entitled to their own opinion, but I think the bodily risk, extensive research, financial investment, lifetime commitment and exhaustive formerly failed diet methods that anyone puts into this surgery should really absolve them of negativity from others, MOST ESPECIALLY those who have had the surgery.
And to those defending other people's opinions on this, I say to you, these aren't opinions, they're judgements. Isn't everyone here sick of being judged for being too big? Or years post op, too small? How about we support each other instead of judge. That being said, when someone 3 weeks post-op wants to know if cheeze-its are a good idea, duhhhhh OF COURSE they AREN'T!!! But that's not judging or opinion, that's simply fact and good advice.
:::drops mike:::
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I used Dr Fernando Garcia and would use him again. The facility was perfect, everything went so smooth. No time to be nervous. Its done before you know it. I used OCC the first time around and Dr Ariel Ortiz was first class. I just couldn't afford to use him for my revision to sleeve. I would highly recommend both doctors.

I'm following .... I'm also looking into Fernando Garcia.
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This is an excellent article. I happen to be a person who moved states following bariartric surgery and because I am post op, my new PCP handles everything.
She is great and I really like her for general things but I feel like I am teaching her. I come prepared with the list of labs they did at my one year post op in Minnesota and tell her exactly what needs to be pulled.
The scary part is, most PCPs simply are not trained on what to look for and as a patient I don't know what I don't know.
I happen to be one of those people who does a ton of reasearch and I pay close attention to my body mostly because I have always had a lot of medical issues.
I wish general physicians were better trained if they have a post Bariatric patient. I am constantly teaching or questioning other non Bariatric specialists as well.
I for one, would love that link.

Since my surgery can no longer be covered by hh repair I have been looking up doctors in Tijuana, Mexico. My family is so against going to Mexico for surgery ( My mom watches Botched). I really want this surgery I just don't know how to win my family over.. Help! How did yall explain to yall's family?
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I used OCC for my band in 2011. They were quite a bit more expensive for the revision than Dr Fernando Garcia. So I used him in May 2016 for VSG. I had a great experience, they took great care of me and the Hospital CER was new and state of the art.