HeatherS.

Because there are some very good and experienced surgeons down there who perform the same surgery for a fraction of the price. Not everyone in the US has medical insurance, and many insurance companies eliminate coverage for bariatric procedures because they can get away with it. Medical tourism, just like domestic medical, involves doing your homework about the organization and surgeon and making sure you're scrupulous about aftercare. And just like domestic surgery, there will be some great businesses, some who give the bare minimum, and some who need to be shut down. There's really no reason to come on the SURGERY IN MEXICO forum just to say you, personally, don't believe in medical tourism at all. Why would anyone completely change their plan because one random person on the internet has the opinion that an entire country's population is substandard?

It's a pretty great community, I agree. I came here planning to suggest you enlist a friend or different family member to be your support person through this, but everyone beat me to it. Your husband sounds a lot like my dad was up until mom's health deteriorated to the point where she needed round the clock care, and for what it's worth, he's admitted that his previous approach was self-protective because he wasn't ready to address his fears. I'm glad you're taking care of yourself in spite of his struggle. My mom didn't, and I can tell you the result is not even remotely a happy ending. In conclusion: go you for reaching out and reaching for what you know you need to get healthy!

@ShelbyMoore You're welcome. I set out to write the kind of blog entry I wished I could find pre-op! All types of exercise are acceptable. One Options advisor insisted on 60 min/day but the other said any and all exercise is good and recommended half an hour a day. They all say that swimming is an excellent choice. (I love swimming but I've developed an unfortunate sensitivity to chlorine ) In the end, the exercise I did (mostly walking) was plenty and my surgeon was happy with my weight loss (25lb from HW a year prior). That's another thing to take with a grain of salt with Options. I probably had more issues with my first person because she's a nutritionist who believes in "one size fits all" for pretty much everything and she didn't like all my questions. If I'd kept my mouth shut I would have sailed through. Feel free to hit me up with any specific questions you have and good luck getting Dr. Zane. He's the head of the Bariatrics program and absolutely incredible as a surgeon. Just ignore him when he tells you you have to walk home from the hospital.

One last thing: surgeons who are more picky and require effort on the part of the patient do so BECAUSE THEY WANT THEIR PATIENTS TO SURVIVE. Taking all comers regardless of their likelihood of survival is outright unethical when a doctor could, instead, refuse until they comply in a way that improves their chances. I personally don't care whether you verify or not that the death happened. Your hostility, opinion of surgeons who care that their patients have the best opportunity to survive, and your rudeness have already spoken volumes about you and your business.

The only flip flopping and bs has been from Sandy. We're just trying to get her to answer the question, and instead we get sock puppets and word salad but no answer.

He didn't say no complications. He said no deaths. May we have a reputable published source for your claim that ALM is the #1 "Bariatric Surgeon" in North America? #1 by what criteria? And we tried to get ALM's direct answer by ASKING YOU. But you won't answer.

You joined March 13. And your IP address does not indicate you're from Wisconsin. You ONLY emerged to post your first and only posts to this thread, as if you were waiting for it. You refused to contact the person who could, and as she says, would willingly, answer the question if you contacted her privately. And, strangely, when questioned, you suddenly stopped posting for a while and Sandy appeared. I find coincidences rather difficult to believe in.

By dodging the question repeatedly, you make yourself and your company look bad. You said you were transparent, but you're not being transparent. You're obfuscating in a semi-hostile way. We KNOW there is a risk of death with surgery. What raises big red flags is when a medical professional repeatedly dodges the question of whether or not a specific death occurred when questioned. You have told us you do not like the owner of this site, but it is we, the many patients who USE this site (most of whom have no connection with any of your competition) who are asking you to verify whether a woman died during surgery with ALM in March. Ive never seen a reputable medical professional dodge and obfuscate so defensively right out of the gate as you have been doing here in spite of those of use who have given you repeated chances to simply answer the question. THAT is what harms your reputation. Your behavior in this thread makes you, personally, someone I would not want to deal with when it comes to major surgery. If you had handled this professionally and directly, I would have come away with a positive impression of both you and ALM.

Make sure you're getting enough water and exercise. Waste products created as the body metabolizes its tissues are hydrophilic, which means you tend to retain more water as your body is working to eliminate the waste products. The second thing is to make sure you're eating quality food and not too little of it. Lots of people find increasing calories by 200 breaks their stall. Likely because your body is producing fewer metabolic waste products when you up your fuel intake. It lets you get caught up and then the water weight goes away.

I hope I'm allowed to start late. I have my weights for all three days. April 7: 254.2 April 14: 251.4 April 21: 247 Goal weight for June: 225 (the weight I was in June the last time I set my mind to losing the old fashioned way. I remember how AWESOME I felt, and I want to feel that again. )

I'm in LA, and LA County Kaiser is part of Kaiser So. Cal just like OC. (In fact, I had my breast reduction scheduled in Irvine initially). You will need to complete Options, the pre-approval class and demonstrate consistent weight loss during that time. Don't take everything your Options guide says as gospel, though, since it's ultimately up to your surgeon, and mine changed some pretty significant elements (biggest being the timeline of foods and what's allowed at each stage. After Options approval, you set up an appt with the surgeon. If the surgeon agrees you're a fit candidate, he or she schedules your surgery date and pre-op. Pre-op gives you the details for surgical prep (mine was 48 hrs of clear liquids only before surgery and a scrupulously clean belly button. ) Then surgery and (standard) one night in the hospital, making sure you're consuming liquids, walking, and peeing. (Bring your own pajamas, robe, and pillow!) Follow up around 10 days later. If you want more details, I wrote a much more detailed version on my BariatricPal blog. First entry. I I recommend asking if you can have the surgery in South Bay with Dr. Zane. He's one of the developers of Kaiser's Bariatric program and incredibly experienced and skilled. I didn't even have bruising around the bigger incision and next to no gas pain thanks to his methods. Congratulations for making this step!

Making a list and an implementation timeline is a fantastic idea! If I were the betting type, my money would be on you to succeed.

@Ms. Brightside Thank you for the recommendation. I'll look for it at my library. The many studies on LPHC and the growing understanding of the long term risks of HPLC are very convincing when you read the actual studies and their findings.

The one thing you haven't denied or confirmed is whether the patient death in question happened or not. I'm just an interested bystander, but when you started bringing up irrelevant things and ignoring that question, you became suspect. I'm only asking again to give you the chance to respond with the clarity you claim to operate under. After all, as you point out, patients do sometimes die on the table, especially very high BMI patients with multiple comorbidities. But even knowing this, you've continued to ignore the question. Respectfully, doing that makes you come across as shady, which I assume you don't want.

@Sandy Johnson I hate to ask, but is it true that there was a death during surgery at ALM or with the mentioned doctor around a month ago? This thread has many people talking at each other, and is very confusing. Thank you in advance for your reply.

So, is it a coincidence your account was created around when this woman died and this is the ONLY thread you've ever posted on? You ignored that part. And I dunno. A source is a source. If he gave you another name, you'd have to call them to verify it too or he might be lying.

Like Scamp, I had a breast reduction. It was done four years ago, and I still have notable pain in my left breast and intermittent pain in the right. I also have intense itching in the anchor scar. There's no guarantee you'll end up without long term pain after, for whatever reason. Mine is due to fat necrosis, a very common risk when removing that much tissue and no fault of mine or my surgeon. It can happen in any surgery that disrupts an area's blood supply. I recovered from the necrosis fully, but the area where it was is still painful, and that's not likely to resolve.

Why would it matter if he is or isn't?

He gave you a source at the clinic to confirm with. I hope it's only coincidence that you joined around the time that woman died and have only surfaced to post on this exact thread calling for a source.

@fruitandveggies I stopped drinking them years ago and my health has been so much better. And then my pre-surgery class insisted on them as part of the prep, and UGH. I decided I wasn't going to keep forcing them on myself two weeks out, and it's been much better since. On another note, my mom drank Diet Coke every day from 1980 or so until she had to live in assisted living a couple of years ago, and part of her problem is some kind of non-specified dementia that comes and goes. You really can't help but wonder.

@fruitandveggies Thanks for the study link and run-down. That is pretty concerning, especially as there are proven treatments to preserve bone mass that don't involve calcium. As a person with adequate dietary calcium intake who had VSG in part to lower my cardiovascular risk, I'll be keeping an eye on this line of study, too. Did you see the recent report on the high correlation between man-made sweeteners and dementia (early onset or otherwise)? That just reinforced my determination to do this without protein drinks.

I tend to feel my best with a lower fat, lower protein diet, too, with lots of complex carbs and fruits & veggies. That's why I'm so fascinated with all of these studies. (But I also know people who thrive on all protein - in their 80s!) I hadn't heard about the calcium supplement issue. What's going on with that?

Whateveryone said. if you're like me and don't swallow air when drinking through a straw, you can probably use it without worry. It also helps if you have no problems releasing air at will (belching). If you tend towards trapped air, I'd avoid the straw.

Your doctor is the first I've heard who's acted on those studies! How do you feel on the regimen?

While shuffling down a longevity rabbit hole on PubMed, I found a fascinating recent study in the area of calorie restriction and longevity. What I wasn't expecting was its findings on low protein, high carbohydrate diets. The study found, amongst other things, that low protein, high carbohydrate (20% fat) was associated with the greatest longevity and best overall metabolic health in spite of a tendency to weight gain as fat. The improvement was equal to caloric restriction alone, and combining the two had no additional metabolic benefits (LPHC also tended to expend the most energy) The version of the experiment where LPHC was combined with CR had the same longevity, but also avoided the increase in body mass from the high carbohydrate Intake. They also had the best immune systems The low carbohydrate, high protein group were found to have reduced longevity and poorer cardiovascular and metabolic health, though again, LCHP group with CR fared better than those allowed to eat freely. The area where LCHP created an advantage was in reproduction. Not in fertility, but in the actual process of reproduction, which makes complete sense. You can read the whole report here: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4472496/ It should be mentioned this study is still one part of decades of research on Calorie Restriction and dietary composition. From the strong evidence in favor of dietary restriction, we should all be seeing increased life spans (depending on age of intervention, some will be more modest than others). But I wonder how the evidence building up for HCLP can be applied to us. HCLP emphasizes low glycemic index carb sources and 5-15% protein intake, but at our level of consumption 600-1000 calories a day in maintenance depending on your needs), that would only be 12.5-37.5g protein which seems like it would result in a deficiency. The famous Okinawan Ratio is on the low end of that, though people studied consumed about twice the calories (if I remember right, and I might not) which is still only 25g protein/day. And yet, I'm not seeing any of these deficiencies in the literature. No deficiencies in the Okinawans either. Curiouser and curiouser. What do you think? What did this study make you wonder?