BajanSleeve

I am 48 years old. I have been morbidly obese for about 7 years and obese for 20 years. My mother died in 2015 of diabetes and obesity related illnesses which culminated in her dying while I prayed for her in the ER at only 65 years old. My grandmother died in the same hospital of diabetic complications and an amputated foot at only 53 years old. I am a type II diabetic and was in total denial. Was not controlling my glucose levels, was not eating right, not exercising and was developing the SAME issues that my mother experienced. Both of my feet were swollen, discoloured, pressure blisters and red dots all over them from poor circulation and diabetic neuropathy. I had constant pain in my body from sore joints and uncontrolled sugar levels. High blood pressure. No energy and could not stand up more than 5 to 10 minutes max without needing to sit. I was going on job interview after job interview for the last 2 years, qualified and experienced in the positions I was applying for, but not getting the jobs. I started to sense it was my weight - employers whether they will say it or not are concerned that your weight will impede your ability to do work efficiently and if your weight will be a health concern that will result in numerous sick days.
I did not want to end up like my mother and grandmother but I was heading there FAST. I am at the age where my weight was so high, and my hormones so whacky in pre-menopause, that the idea of being able to loose 100 lbs on my own was completely overwhelming to me. I live in a small Caribbean Island and our dollar is lesser than other countries and really did not know how I could afford help. I have not been insured in 12 years because of the diabetes.
I foster dogs for a local animal shelter and I also have 7 recuse dogs. One day the shelter represented came to visit a couple puppies that I had adopted and she took a few photos of me and the dogs. When she sent me the attached photo I cried and cried and cried that night. I always knew I was big but it was like I lived in a strange kind of denial of HOW big I really was. Seeing that photo opened my eyes and I had an 'ah ha' moment and knew that I HAD to do something to change the trajectory of my life, otherwise I would end up in an early death just like the women in my family.
So from the next day I started to change my diet drastically. I began to cut out useless carbs, stop buying my Snacks, cutting down my portion sizes, stop allowing myself to eat the sugar treats whenever I wanted them. I started to see a change in my glucose levels from the next week and until the end of March I was more in control of my sugar levels but weight was not really coming off. In April I started to FEEL better because I had changed my eating habits but knew I needed an intervention to help me get off the kind of lbs I need to loose. So I found great reviews for a bariatric hospital in Mexicali and the cost was SO CHEAP compared to other countries. I started researching and corresponding and booked gastric sleeve surgery the end of May 2018. It was a long journey to get to Mexico from Barbados but I never looked back. I would not recommend the kind of flying I had to do after surgery because its hard on your system (and blood pressure) but I did what I had to do.
I think everyone comes to that 'ah ha' moment when you honestly are just sick and tired of being sick and tired and fed up of not being able to live a full life and being bound to medication. I view the VSG as an intervention and an opportunity to 'reset'. The year or so it will take to loose over 100 lbs will give me the time to learn new habits, get off of insulin, be mobile again to do exercise and LIVE LIFE again. The time for my body to heal from the inflammation, get my heart healthy again and to learn to eat to fuel living and not eat for the sake of comfort.
We have the choice to take control of our future with the KNOWN obstacles that morbid obesity brings. Sure a car could crash into me but that is a different thing to dying from diabetic complications, heart attack and amputations because of weight!
I was in a RUT!!! How my rut looks may be different to yours but the point is that WLS helps with the leverage you need to begin getting out of the rut.
I'm looking forward to my healthier future

I am 48 years old. I have been morbidly obese for about 7 years and obese for 20 years. My mother died in 2015 of diabetes and obesity related illnesses which culminated in her dying while I prayed for her in the ER at only 65 years old. My grandmother died in the same hospital of diabetic complications and an amputated foot at only 53 years old. I am a type II diabetic and was in total denial. Was not controlling my glucose levels, was not eating right, not exercising and was developing the SAME issues that my mother experienced. Both of my feet were swollen, discoloured, pressure blisters and red dots all over them from poor circulation and diabetic neuropathy. I had constant pain in my body from sore joints and uncontrolled sugar levels. High blood pressure. No energy and could not stand up more than 5 to 10 minutes max without needing to sit. I was going on job interview after job interview for the last 2 years, qualified and experienced in the positions I was applying for, but not getting the jobs. I started to sense it was my weight - employers whether they will say it or not are concerned that your weight will impede your ability to do work efficiently and if your weight will be a health concern that will result in numerous sick days.
I did not want to end up like my mother and grandmother but I was heading there FAST. I am at the age where my weight was so high, and my hormones so whacky in pre-menopause, that the idea of being able to loose 100 lbs on my own was completely overwhelming to me. I live in a small Caribbean Island and our dollar is lesser than other countries and really did not know how I could afford help. I have not been insured in 12 years because of the diabetes.
I foster dogs for a local animal shelter and I also have 7 recuse dogs. One day the shelter represented came to visit a couple puppies that I had adopted and she took a few photos of me and the dogs. When she sent me the attached photo I cried and cried and cried that night. I always knew I was big but it was like I lived in a strange kind of denial of HOW big I really was. Seeing that photo opened my eyes and I had an 'ah ha' moment and knew that I HAD to do something to change the trajectory of my life, otherwise I would end up in an early death just like the women in my family.
So from the next day I started to change my diet drastically. I began to cut out useless carbs, stop buying my Snacks, cutting down my portion sizes, stop allowing myself to eat the sugar treats whenever I wanted them. I started to see a change in my glucose levels from the next week and until the end of March I was more in control of my sugar levels but weight was not really coming off. In April I started to FEEL better because I had changed my eating habits but knew I needed an intervention to help me get off the kind of lbs I need to loose. So I found great reviews for a bariatric hospital in Mexicali and the cost was SO CHEAP compared to other countries. I started researching and corresponding and booked gastric sleeve surgery the end of May 2018. It was a long journey to get to Mexico from Barbados but I never looked back. I would not recommend the kind of flying I had to do after surgery because its hard on your system (and blood pressure) but I did what I had to do.
I think everyone comes to that 'ah ha' moment when you honestly are just sick and tired of being sick and tired and fed up of not being able to live a full life and being bound to medication. I view the VSG as an intervention and an opportunity to 'reset'. The year or so it will take to loose over 100 lbs will give me the time to learn new habits, get off of insulin, be mobile again to do exercise and LIVE LIFE again. The time for my body to heal from the inflammation, get my heart healthy again and to learn to eat to fuel living and not eat for the sake of comfort.
We have the choice to take control of our future with the KNOWN obstacles that morbid obesity brings. Sure a car could crash into me but that is a different thing to dying from diabetic complications, heart attack and amputations because of weight!
I was in a RUT!!! How my rut looks may be different to yours but the point is that WLS helps with the leverage you need to begin getting out of the rut.
I'm looking forward to my healthier future

I am 48 years old. I have been morbidly obese for about 7 years and obese for 20 years. My mother died in 2015 of diabetes and obesity related illnesses which culminated in her dying while I prayed for her in the ER at only 65 years old. My grandmother died in the same hospital of diabetic complications and an amputated foot at only 53 years old. I am a type II diabetic and was in total denial. Was not controlling my glucose levels, was not eating right, not exercising and was developing the SAME issues that my mother experienced. Both of my feet were swollen, discoloured, pressure blisters and red dots all over them from poor circulation and diabetic neuropathy. I had constant pain in my body from sore joints and uncontrolled sugar levels. High blood pressure. No energy and could not stand up more than 5 to 10 minutes max without needing to sit. I was going on job interview after job interview for the last 2 years, qualified and experienced in the positions I was applying for, but not getting the jobs. I started to sense it was my weight - employers whether they will say it or not are concerned that your weight will impede your ability to do work efficiently and if your weight will be a health concern that will result in numerous sick days.
I did not want to end up like my mother and grandmother but I was heading there FAST. I am at the age where my weight was so high, and my hormones so whacky in pre-menopause, that the idea of being able to loose 100 lbs on my own was completely overwhelming to me. I live in a small Caribbean Island and our dollar is lesser than other countries and really did not know how I could afford help. I have not been insured in 12 years because of the diabetes.
I foster dogs for a local animal shelter and I also have 7 recuse dogs. One day the shelter represented came to visit a couple puppies that I had adopted and she took a few photos of me and the dogs. When she sent me the attached photo I cried and cried and cried that night. I always knew I was big but it was like I lived in a strange kind of denial of HOW big I really was. Seeing that photo opened my eyes and I had an 'ah ha' moment and knew that I HAD to do something to change the trajectory of my life, otherwise I would end up in an early death just like the women in my family.
So from the next day I started to change my diet drastically. I began to cut out useless carbs, stop buying my Snacks, cutting down my portion sizes, stop allowing myself to eat the sugar treats whenever I wanted them. I started to see a change in my glucose levels from the next week and until the end of March I was more in control of my sugar levels but weight was not really coming off. In April I started to FEEL better because I had changed my eating habits but knew I needed an intervention to help me get off the kind of lbs I need to loose. So I found great reviews for a bariatric hospital in Mexicali and the cost was SO CHEAP compared to other countries. I started researching and corresponding and booked gastric sleeve surgery the end of May 2018. It was a long journey to get to Mexico from Barbados but I never looked back. I would not recommend the kind of flying I had to do after surgery because its hard on your system (and blood pressure) but I did what I had to do.
I think everyone comes to that 'ah ha' moment when you honestly are just sick and tired of being sick and tired and fed up of not being able to live a full life and being bound to medication. I view the VSG as an intervention and an opportunity to 'reset'. The year or so it will take to loose over 100 lbs will give me the time to learn new habits, get off of insulin, be mobile again to do exercise and LIVE LIFE again. The time for my body to heal from the inflammation, get my heart healthy again and to learn to eat to fuel living and not eat for the sake of comfort.
We have the choice to take control of our future with the KNOWN obstacles that morbid obesity brings. Sure a car could crash into me but that is a different thing to dying from diabetic complications, heart attack and amputations because of weight!
I was in a RUT!!! How my rut looks may be different to yours but the point is that WLS helps with the leverage you need to begin getting out of the rut.
I'm looking forward to my healthier future

Thanks for those kind words. I really appreciate them

I'm new here but wanted to welcome you to this forum where from what I can see you will be encouraged. Good for you for making the bold step to get surgery! You and I started around a similar weight. I was a few lbs more. I understand what you said so well - just wearing the same thing - feeling so frustrated that is difficult to make the effort. But you know what? You did make the effort and you have begun the steps to a new life! All of us here 'get it', we understand the obesity struggle
I hope that you are able to get some therapy and counselling assistance. Sounds like you have some things you have been through that surely you have looked to food to comfort you through it. I have not had such terrible experiences as you, but I have had trauma. Those things are root reasons to why we use food as a crutch. Working through the emotional issues is equally important as WLS so that we do not return to old habits rooted in our emotions. Are you able to access therapy?
Praying a safe surgery and looking forward to celebrating your progress with you. Hugs.

We have to be able to live life realistically, right? Its not every day that you are going to be able to bring your packed lunch. I don't think that half a veggie burger was a difficult splurge. Good on you!
I have been a food addict for 20 years. I worry that if I went to a fast food place that I would not be able to control myself from going back again and again. Like putting a crack addict in a crack house.

I am 11 days post op from a sleeve. Don't break the liquid diet guys. Your sleeve needs to heal and seal. I started pureed Soup which was home made that I strained twice at 7 days post op. That really helped satiate me because I was hungry from 3 days post op! Home made soup - with spinach, sweet potato, boiled skinless chicken in it and took it out after and carrots and garlic and onion. Pureed the heck out of it, strained it twice and it felt very nourishing. Technically not really supposed to have until after 10 days but it was very thin but FULL of savory flavour, which I craved. Hang in there and have lots of popsicles and Jello and try the home made soup and strain it.

Get the unflavoured Protein Powder and put it in your regular drinks and Soups, you can put it in anything you eat, yogurt, tea, whatever. Has NO taste but the Protein is there. Have you tried that?

I just had Gastric Sleeve surgery 10 days ago at Mexicali Bariatric Centre (MBC) at the Hospital Almater in Mexico. Dr. Rodolfo Wilhelmy and Dr. Edgar Campos were the main surgeons. I can't sing their praises enough! Their team has dedicated pre-surgery contacts who answer every single question imaginable and walk you through what you need to get to Mexicali every step of the way. They pick you up either from the San Diego airport or a near by hotel and take you to the hospital in Mexicali which is about a 2 hour drive plus border crossing time which is longer leaving Mexicali. You are also taken back to the San Diego airport after your surgery (all included in your package)
The Almater Hospital is on par or even better than some hospitals in the West. Its modern, has a lovely atmosphere about it, the nursing staff is very professional, very kind and sweet. There is an English speaking liaison assigned to the Hospital who takes you through each process. Some of the nurses speak a bit of English but I had no issues because I used an English/Spanish translation ap. All of their equipment is top line, modern, extremely clean and I thought it was decorated very nicely (lovely art pieces ). The doctors were attentive, engaging and they checked on you regularly and they spoke English.
You get a private room with ensuite bathroom which is very nice. There is a 3 seater couch and lounge chair in your room which your travel companion can sleep on and stay in your room. You also have the option of renting a near by hotel room for your travel companion which mine did and she took a taxi to see me daily. If you stay at the hospital, bring bedding for the sofa (blanket, sheet). I brought my own blanket for a mattress pad and my own blanket as well as a body pillow. To me, comfort is necessary when in pain. I would recommend you bring a clip on light to clip to the side of your bed as well as a small extension cord so that you do not have to get up and down to switch on lights when you are in pain, especially for when your travel companion is asleep.
I never had any doubts about MBC whatsoever. They have great reviews and I felt safe and comfortable in the hospital and I had confidence in their skills and facilities.
Their cost was SO MUCH cheaper than the USA and Canada, even including all the airfares I had to pay. To me, it was worth the effort to get all the way to Mexico from Barbados.
If you have any questions, feel free to give me a shout.

A few people who have replied echo reasons that were also in my decision process. 1) less invasive than re-routing intestines 2) cost was a big factor 3) the statistics showed pretty much similar weight loss achievement 4) I am a diabetic and that was one of the main reasons I did WLS and both procedures showed reversal of type II Diabetes .
I have always understood from the start that any kind of WLS was an intervention and a re-set. Just to give me the time I need to change bad habits, retrain my system to be satisfied with less food and then once the bulk weight is gone enable me to start exercise again. None of these are quick fixes without the discipline following so that you wont regain.
I recommend that we all get counselling to understand the root reasons why we use food as an emotional crutch. I am hoping that loosing so much weight will give me the incentive to work hard to keep it off since I will finally be able to do things of life like normal people do and no more diabetes! My mother died at 65 of obesity illness and my grandmother at 53 of the same thing. We have to take responsibility for our own future.
Thank God for WLS!

I just had my surgery 9 days ago. These were my essentials that I was SO glad I had with me right after surgery:
Biotine dry mouth gel! You can't do surgery without this one. Your mouth is SO DRY its unbelievable. This really helped and you can get a small tube.
Chapstick - for the dry lips 2 days after surgery.
GasX strips. Used them day 2 and 3 and helped alleviate the gas pain. The nurses did not like that I used them and wanted me to get gas up only by walking but I was not about to be a gas martyr.
An electric heating pad for the pain 1-3 days post surgery. Boy am I glad I brought one. It was particularly helpful 24 hours after surgery. That heat gave me a lot of comfort from the pain.
Elastic Abdominal binder / Postpartum & Post Operative Belly Wrap - Beige, 3X-Large, - This was so helpful when I had to take 3 plane rides back home. Any kind of motion, even in the wheel chair, really hurts. The binder makes you feel held together and minimizes pain when moving around right after surgery
Nuun Active Hydrating Drink Tablets, juice Box Mix, 4 count - Since you are not drinking your quota right after surgery, these are good to put in your Water and also supports your blood pressure
MQ® Motion Sickness patch - I had the doctor put one on me immediately after surgery and I wore it for 4 days after. I had NO issues with nausea
I am one of those people that must have a comfy bed in order for me to sleep. I brought a cushy blanket as a mattress pad as well as my Sherpa blanket to cover with. I also brought a body pillow. it seems like much but when you are in pain and trying to sleep, for me these were essential
One thing I wish I had but did not was a plug in night light. The hospital I was at in Mexico only had lights via the switch at the door. When you are in pain post op its ridiculous to have to get up and down and up and down to turn on a light. I would have loved a small plug in lamp, the kind that you can clip on, that I could have turned on and off without having to twist my body to reach the switch or get up off the bed

Thanks for the advice. The hospital emailed me today and said to take electrolytes to improve BP. I bought a few tubes so will start on one today . Day 10 is tomorrow so looking forward to some watered down yogurt with protein!

Get the unflavoured Protein Powder and put it in your regular drinks and Soups, you can put it in anything you eat, yogurt, tea, whatever. Has NO taste but the Protein is there. Have you tried that?

Get the unflavoured Protein Powder and put it in your regular drinks and Soups, you can put it in anything you eat, yogurt, tea, whatever. Has NO taste but the Protein is there. Have you tried that?

I am following your thread because I am 8 days post op and STARVING! I was starting to feel something was wrong with me. I feel that feeling that you feel when you have not eaten all day long. I was like seriously? So what's up with everyone saying you don't feel hunger? I was not prepared for feeling hungry and its really throwing me off.
I wrote my clinic and they are telling me that it happens and is part of the journey to adjusting to totally different eating habits. Sigh...…..
So I guess we just buckle up with this ride until our bodies adjust to eating much less?

I had my surgery 8 days ago. The first 48 hours were very painful. There is no way around that. Prepare yourself for that. However, my experience was that the pain really lifted by the 3rd day. I refused pain meds after day 3 as I was really ok. I was really surprised about that since the day of surgery and after was so painful. I don't think I experienced real pain after 48 hours - just soreness and discomfort from the gas they pump your stomach with in order to see in between the organs. You will notice some pain across your shoulders and a very distended belly. That is from the surgery gas and you will have soreness from the stretching of your tummy and across your chest.
I brought natural nausea Patches which they put on me right after surgery that worked like a dream. I also brought gasX strips with me and used one the day after surgery but yes, walk walk walk is what works to get that gas up.
Hang in there - you only JUST had your surgery. It wont stay this painful my dear.

I am following your thread because I am 8 days post op and STARVING! I was starting to feel something was wrong with me. I feel that feeling that you feel when you have not eaten all day long. I was like seriously? So what's up with everyone saying you don't feel hunger? I was not prepared for feeling hungry and its really throwing me off.
I wrote my clinic and they are telling me that it happens and is part of the journey to adjusting to totally different eating habits. Sigh...…..
So I guess we just buckle up with this ride until our bodies adjust to eating much less?