BDutchess

You're just 2 days before me Mike, so we might see each another at the hospital/hotel.

I'm scheduled for 8/12 with Dr. Illan and paid the $500 down through my Wells Fargo account. I'll do the same with the remainder the week before surgery.
My wife was initially worried about going to Mexico for surgery, but knows now these are highly skilled people and this is what they do day in and day out.
Good luck!

I'm scheduled for 8/12 with Dr. Illan and paid the $500 down through my Wells Fargo account. I'll do the same with the remainder the week before surgery.
My wife was initially worried about going to Mexico for surgery, but knows now these are highly skilled people and this is what they do day in and day out.
Good luck!

I forgot to say I mix all mine with unsweetened almond milk. I also bought a popsicle making kit and I'm making a bunch of those from the Protein Shakes I like.

I've tested several different vegan Protein powders:
PlantFusion vanilla & chocolate: both very good. I bought a big 2lbs tub for each of these.
VegaOne mixed berry, coconut almond, French vanilla, chocolate: all good. These are 'protein & greens' so the shake turns greenish. It has a bit more grainy texture than the PlantFusion brand.
NaturePlus Spiru-tein chocolate: good
Growing Naturals rice protein vanilla: good
Garden of Life sport, vanilla: really gross
Sprouts vegan protein vanilla & chocolate: did not like this one at all

I hope this helps!

I'm August 12 with Dr Illan so we'll just miss each other dayoneyearone!

Anyone else going to Mexico in August for surgery?

5 hours ago, Sugar42 said:

Congrats on getting a date, no I do not have a date yet. I just completed my requirements for the insurance. So the app can give you reminders?

Yes, OMG it's the best and it's free. You can log what you eat/drink and it breaks down the Protein, carbs and fats so you know what your intake was. The reminders can be set however you want and it pops up as a subtle tone when it goes off on my phone.

I had my last dietitian visit on yesterday... whew! I have an office job.. so I am mostly sitting, but I have my fitbit to remind me to get up every hour! so that helps. I am not a snacking person, but sometimes I just forget to eat because I can get so busy at work and not think about. So I know from researching, that it is a MUST to get liquids, Proteins in daily. When I had my four visits with the dietitian, she was telling me I have to get in the habit of eating more... THE RIGHT things so that I can get my daily intake. I know a plan has to be in place, I do very well with a plan! I can not just jump in and hope it works out... it always turn out to be chaotic
I am now in the "waiting phase" the surgeon's team is making sure I have all that is required for my insurance so they can submit the paperwork for approval. I am super nervous and kinda excited....I am still on the fence a little because not everyone is on my team to take this path.

I'm scheduled for August 12.

I'm scheduled for August 12.

Just make sure it's actually covered in your insurance plan. This year I switched to a more expensive plan with a lower deductible and lower out of pocket thinking that WLS was covered. Come to find out it's specifically excluded from our company plan.....

I've been overweight most of my adult life, my partner of 14 years never was, but gained a lot of weight because of the medication she has to take. I know she would benefit from surgery, but I also know she would not be able to stick with the program and make the sacrifices needed. She would be miserable. It's such a personal decision and you have to be ready for it.
One of our problems was lack of planning, we both work long days so lunch and dinner were after thoughts about every day. We started planning better and come up with a healthy menu during the weekend to plan out the week and buy the groceries on Saturday or Sunday. She's dropped her Coke habit from a 20oz bottle every morning to one of those mini cans instead. We also bought a Water rower so we can exercise at home. She knows we have to do something because we ain't getting any younger. She's supportive of my journey and is going with me when I have my surgery in Mexico in August. I'm hopeful that me taking the lead in making better choices, planning the meals and preparing most of them will help her drop weight too.
Perhaps your partner will want to go through surgery after she sees it being successful for you, but I think she needs to make that decision on her own.
Good luck!

I also posted this reply on an older post. I'm on a Quest to find the Protein Shakes I'll like best during my pre and post op so I went to Sprouts and bought 15 different single packs to try. Most of them are plant based, some are whey based. This is what I found so far (I mix all of them with unsweetened almond milk):
Sprouts whey Protein strawberry: great flavor but it does have very small strawberry pieces.
Tera'sWhey bourbon vanilla: this one tasted just like vanilla ice cream so next time I'm making it into popsicles.
Garden of Life Sport plant based vanilla: YUK
Plant fusion vanilla: good flavor
Plant Fusion chocolate: ok, I like the texture of his brand as it's very smooth.
VegaOne: I tried the mixed berry, chocolate and coconut almond. The first two are 'protein and greens' so the shake is greenish in color and they have good taste, but I didn't really care for the slightly grainy feel it left in my throat. I did like their coconut almond one a lot, this one didn't have a small pack to try so I bought the big container at Target.

I still have 8 other ones to try and a friend just sent me a big package full of samples from AdvoCare that I'm going to check out.

I know his is an older post but I thought I'd reply anyway and hope it helps others. I'm on a Quest to find the Protein Shakes I'll like best during my pre and post op so I went to Sprouts and bought 15 different single packs to try. Most of them are plant based, some are whey based. This is what I found so far (I mix all of them with unsweetened almond milk):
Sprouts whey Protein strawberry: great flavor but it does have very small strawberry pieces.
Tera'sWhey bourbon vanilla: this one tasted just like vanilla ice cream so next time I'm making it into popsicles.
Garden of Life Sport plant based vanilla: YUK
Plant fusion vanilla: good flavor
Plant Fusion chocolate: ok, I like the texture of his brand as it's very smooth.
VegaOne: I tried the mixed berry, chocolate and coconut almond. The first two are 'protein and greens' so the shake is greenish in color and they have good taste, but I didn't really care for the slightly grainy feel it left in my throat. I did like their coconut almond one a lot.

I still have 8 other ones to try and a friend just sent me a big package full of samples from AdvoCare that I'm going to check out.

What kind of blender are you using? My current blender is so loud, it will wake up everyone in the house when it's turned on (not to mention scared the crap out of our cats) so I'm looking for a new one. Is anyone using the Nutri Bullet and how easy is it to take those cups to work with you? In addition to drinking my Protein Drink at home, I also want to be able to make it and take it with me to work rather than buy the pre-mixed Protein Shakes.

Thanks! I downloaded it and it looks great.

What is everyone using to track/calculate their food intake? myFitnessPall used to have the nutritional chart for free but now you have to upgrade to the premium to get that I believe. Does anyone have tips on good free apps for this?

I'm in Houston also. My insurance has WLS excluded so I'm self pay and going to Mexico in August.

For those who had surgery in Mexico, did you arrive a day prior to surgery or the day of surgery, how many days were you in the hospital, how many days in a hotel and on what day did you fly back home? Did anyone stay extra days in San Diego before flying back?

Thanks!

I'm in the same boat, bariatric surgery is excluded from our company insurance policy. HR and the insurance broker are encouraging me to appeal it but honestly what would that do right? Even if I would get the insurance to pay (which is not likely), the process would take months, they would require another 6 months of psych/nutritional counseling and I would still be out of pocket about the same amount as the surgery in Mexico costs. So that's how I ended up here. There is a lot of good information out here, my best suggestion is to read through all the posts in this forum and decide which surgeon is the best fit for you. Many of these clinics seem to have staff and nutritionists that assist you throughout the process pre and post op.
Good luck!

Thanks Berry78, let me send you a PM so I can elaborate a bit more : ))

Hi Bill, I tried filling out the patient questionnaire on the website, but it keeps giving me an 'error' message in the top left after I click on Submit.

Ugh. Accidentally hit send. They suggested 3 to 5 days before going back to work.

Sent from my XT1254 using BariatricPal mobile app

I'm looking into having sleeve surgery done in Mexico (since WLS specifically is excluded from my company policy, the only option I have is to pay cash for it). Patients who went through the same, what was the approximate time line from contacting the clinic, to scheduling the surgery and eventually going back to work? Thank goodness I do have sick days I can use for this!

I have a 10-day vacation booked starting October 1 and as long as I'm able to be in the 'pureed foods stage', I know I'll be ok. My partner thinks I should wait till after the vacation, but honestly, now that I made the decision that I need help, I want to get this process started sooner rather than later. Let me know your thoughts on this, should I wait till early November and work on a pre-op diet first? Time off from work is no issue, I can take it when I need to go. I'm at a point now that the weight is literally weighing heavy on me with every step I take, every time I have to get up, every thing I do in/around our house (we have a lot of animals so there always is a lot of work). So the thought to have to wait another 5 months (even though I'm 43 and have been overweight since my twenties so this has been going on for a while) really is not appealing. Am I going too fast? How did y'all handle this?