JustGrace49

I was sleeved at Mexico Bariatric Center, Dr Christian Rodreguez Lopez in Tijuana. It was a near perfect experience. I also have heard that weight loss can be affected by the surgeon. If I remember right it was determined by how close to the sphincter they get and how well they shape the stomach. Only time will tell for me. I am almost 6 weeks post op and down 24 pounds. No complications. I went to Mexico because there was no insurance interference and of course in the USA I did not qualify due to not being obese enough or having other pre-existing conditions. Good luck in your decision.

I was looking into weight loss surgery a couple years ago and that is when I discovered that at 38-39 BMI I wasn’t fat enough and I didn’t have any co-morbidities. So they set me up on a diet program through my health insurance and told me I had to do that program for 6 months. I can’t remember the name of the program, but it was a diet similar to the food guide pyramid but eating a lot less. I was hungry all the time. Seriously, who do they think we are? We have a quart to gallon sized stomach and they want us to eat as if it is pint sized or even smaller. A set up for failure. I didn’t last but a couple months, barely lost any weight and was even more depressed. Ended up getting divorced and then looking into the surgery again. That’s when I saw an ad for a VGS in Mexico. I was like WHAT!?! I was shocked that people did this but it intrigued me. Then I started doing research, tons of it. YouTube, internet... Found some really good Youtubers who talked about their experience, one of them a nurse. Discovered what to look for in the hospital, what to look for in a doctor. Found out that Medical Tourism is a big thing and it’s not just for VGS. I got paranoid I would send them a $4,500 cashiers check and it would vanish. The whole thing was scary. But..... what an amazing experience. Everything went very smooth. No psychiatrist appointment, no 6 months of dieting, no pre-labs. Made the call and had an appointment a month later. The only requirement was based on BMI and I had to start a diet 1 week before surgery to reduce fat on my liver and then the typical 2 days of clear liquid diet. Flew in to San Diego, they picked me up and took me to the hospital, did some blood work. Next day surgery, stayed two nights and then they dropped me off at the airport. No problems. I did this all alone, no companion. I was very nervous.
My only hick up is finding a doctor here in the US who will do follow up. I scheduled an appointment with a internal medicine doctor and went to that and discovered their first appointment is a “get to know you” appointment. What is this? I have never heard of it. Seems like a way just to collect an extra appointments worth of money? So I walked out since no one told me in advance. Sorry, I work and don’t have time for doctors who require multiple appointments so they can collect as much money as possible. Nor do I want to pay a doctor $150 to get to know me. I feel like this was a scam. I’m simple, no health problems only surgery ever was my c-section and this VGS. Other than being Obese I am perfectly healthy. I need to get on this today. I have not done any follow up appointments but feel I am doing just fine.
Anyone know which kind of doctor I should do follow up care with? I feel like a bariatric doctor would be annoyed I went to Mexico. I was thinking of going to an internal medicine doctor since I have no complications and just need some labs to make sure things are good? Anyone else go to Mexico and then follow up in the state?

If you’re having no complications, you and your PCP may be able to monitor your journey. You can order your own labs through www.requestatest.com. I have used them past few years and very simple. Go to their website, order the labs you want, choose the lab nearest you to go for blood draw.
My WLS was 3/11/20, Covid took over right then, so my follow up appointments have just been brief and over the phone with surgeon/nurse. As long as I’m not having issues, all that matters to them are the labs. You can also seek out a nutritionist if you feel you need one.
So glad all is going well for you!

Congrats on your surgery !! I myself would just go to my PCP.

My x wife did and she had no complications but she put her OB and Primary and had the files sent to him
I did it here was only a few thousand more when you take into account the air and spending of two people

It’s normal to feel this way. I’m 27 days post op and 20 pounds down. Think of that.

I am 4 days post-op. For starters, I apparently had a large hiatal hernia that they repaired and it is causing dull middle chest pain sometimes when I swallow, that sometimes radiates to the center back. It is a weird feeling that stops me in my tracks. In my research the swelling of the esophageal-stomach junction area repaired can cause discomfort when swallowing for as long as 6-8 weeks after surgery. Has anyone experienced this?

Separately, my stomach seems to hate everything I try to put into it. I can really only COMFORTABLY ingest Water, Protein Water, Jello, and broth...even Protein Shakes are causing discomfort. By Day 4, I would’ve expected to tolerate more. Everything else causes my stomach to have 5 second episodes of flipping and flopping and cramping with each sip. I’m over it!!! The one thing I hoped for with this surgery was an uncomplicated and easy recovery. So far, it’s not happening.

I’m sure I probably need to just be patient and let my body heal, but I’m becoming anxious.

I read a lot about the "3 week stall", but thought I was too early for that. Maybe not.
I also wanted to be sure I'm not doing something wrong or missing anything. Just shocked that a 300lb guy taking in 4-500 calories and exercising can maintain and not lose. I guess I need to be more patient.

Please stop working out ur body is not ready for running ur burning off the calories your intaking so your already not eating enough Protein to break down the fat then the lil protein you are eating when you run u burning them off stop walking a lil is ok but your stomach is still healing give it time to healing and the stall is normal

I had to cancel my surgery for unseen circumstances. Now I have a new date. June 6th leaving the 5th..going to mexico bariatric clinic...i believe things happen for a reason. So far they seem to be more thuro on their process which makes me feel more confident in my decision.

Yes mine is 6/5 I just completed day 5 of my two week all liquid diet. Good luck!

Everybody above has nailed it but i am going at you straight on
Two Choices you pick
1. Stay the way you are unhealthy and you will get a disease related to you being fat and Be miserable and you need to log on to Amazon and order a urn! You will be dead fast and miss out on family friends and life!
2. Get the tool that will save you life! Use this tool to kick you addiction to food and get healthy and rebound from the years of damage you have done! Enjoy more years and time and not be miserable!
So Pick ONE OR TWO

Started at BMI 43 now BMI 23

While you are at a lower BMI then most people who have the surgery you decided that it was the best choice for you in the beginning because you couldn't lose anymore weight on your own, right? It's normal to second guess your choice or even be scared of the surgery itself since you can't reverse it. So I get that. And, honestly, I don't know what you want me to say because this is YOUR life and YOU are going to have to live with whatever choice you make in the end. For me, I put off surgery for the longest time because I doubted that I'd be able to stick to such a strict diet plan, because I simply had no confidence in my own willpower. But... I decided to prepare myself before hand since I had to do six months of weigh ins just to get approved so I went on a pre-op diet that would essentially cut out all the things that I wouldn't be able to eat after surgery. I set a goal to lose 35 pounds in that six month period, and I highly doubted that I'd even succeed at that since usually it would take me six to eight months to even lose 20 pounds. But, somehow I had lost 64 pounds before my surgery and it had helped me gain the confidence that I needed to push forward with my surgery and gave me the confidence that I could actually succeed. Admittedly, hitting a two week stall recently was a huge mental hit for me, but I've been pushing on and I lost two pounds which FINALLY put me out of my stall. WLS isn't easy. I don't think anyone with common sense will tell you that it is and all the naysayers may not understand just how much work it actually takes to succeed. But, if this is something you want desperately you will work for it, and I have no doubt that you'll succeed with it. Doubt it hard to get over, but the surgery is something I don't regret. My only regret, is that I didn't do this years EARLIER. Perhaps when I weight a lot less than my max weight when I finally decided to do something about it. I wish you the best in whatever choice you make yourself!

Also, 2-3 lbs average loss a week is actually considered an normally accepted rate of loss with WLS (averaged out over weight loss phase)
Like I said above, I lost all my excess weight and my average rate of loss (not counting the first month) was under 3lbs per week. Pretty average.

@Ashliza ... Ultimately its up to you. While the surgery will definitely help you lose weight if you follow your plan, a lot of your success/failures and positive/negative experiences will depend on, and be affected by, your attitude and mindset.
Nobody can predict the future, so it is very possible that you will suffer complications, OR gain all of your weight back. But the odds are you won't. The majority of WLS patients have very uneventful recoveries. The majority of WLS patents lose 60-70% of their excess weight and keep it off. Some lose more, some lose less. You won't know where you fall on the spectrum until you get there.
I will say that I had a very similar pre-op experience as you. I kept changing my mind and second-guessing my decision about getting the sleeve done. I was approved way back in March 2016 and I started and stopped the process TWICE before I finally got into the right mindset of being confident with my decision...was sleeved in Oct 2018.
I had no complications and lost all off my excess weight. I've very happy with my decision, only regret was that I just didn't get it done in 2016....but I guess I just wasn't ready yet.
Good Luck!

I didn’t Join this forum to get a telling off. I was sharing something quite personal and I wasn’t expecting to be lectured.
I can’t imagine that anyone who has had this surgery doesn’t have issues with food, but maybe once you have it done you forget what it’s like to be pre surgery....?
Note to self - don’t be preachy after surgery.

I was a cash payment for all and you know what!

BEST DAMM MONEY I EVERY SPENT! PRICELESS

I'm scheduled for VGS 5/19/2020. Anyone start to panic approaching their date? What did you do to calm it? Did you back out? Or did you go through with it and regret? Or were you happy you did it?
I'm between just ignoring it and calling off my surgery. Every night I get closer, my sleep gets worse. Only thing stopping me from canceling is I've put this off for 2.5 years and I'm out of the 3 year approval window. I've literally rescheduled 3 times already since 2018. Only reason I can do it is COVID messed up the surgery date I had in April. If I back out now, I have to start all over again and I barley qualified the first time around. But I'm seriously wondering if this is the stupidest idea I've ever had and I should just let it go. It's not like I can't drop it. I just pile it back on. Maybe that's OK?
I'm thinking, I'll keep the date and if I just can't, I can't. Better to march forward than to back out. I have 10 days. Anyone else freak out like this?

I think it's pretty normal to freak out before a surgery. I've had three, and I was freaked out before all three of them.
and no - I have no regrets at all. This surgery probably saved my life and made my life about 100% better. I'd do it again in a heartbeat!

OMG, my thoughts mirror yours, I’m a nurse too. I knew of the surgeries and for 3 years now have been wanting to have it done but just haven’t been fat enough to have my insurance cover it. I even found out that if I gained more to the weight I don’t have to have the co-morbidities like diabetes or high blood pressure, I have to be that way for a year. Recently I became frustrated with this and that’s when I discovered the Mexico pathway. So after some research and thought decided to schedule it. Mine is May 27th. It’s costing me $4,500, a lot less than here in the USA.
As for telling anyone, I told my dad, my older daughter and then told my ex because if anything went wrong, he would get the kids. Well he had some doubts and didn’t want me to do it but when I shared all of the information with him he demanded to go with me. So at least I have a support person now. I did tell one co-worker who got excited and said she wanted to do it too. That’s all I told. I didn’t want to hear any lectures from anyone, I’ve thought about it a long time and now is the time.
There are so many things that make it right. Emotionally feeling better, my feet won’t hurt, I won’t get those co-morbidities and yes, the discrimination. It does exist. People look over you when you’re fat. I’ve been slender before, so I know. I did Atkins in 2004 and lost 60 lbs and kept it off for 2 years until I got pregnant 2 times in a row and then went through menopause.
You are not alone, we all have those thoughts, that’s why you are here to get moral support among those like you. Thanks for posting! Good luck on your surgery!

OMG, my thoughts mirror yours, I’m a nurse too. I knew of the surgeries and for 3 years now have been wanting to have it done but just haven’t been fat enough to have my insurance cover it. I even found out that if I gained more to the weight I don’t have to have the co-morbidities like diabetes or high blood pressure, I have to be that way for a year. Recently I became frustrated with this and that’s when I discovered the Mexico pathway. So after some research and thought decided to schedule it. Mine is May 27th. It’s costing me $4,500, a lot less than here in the USA.
As for telling anyone, I told my dad, my older daughter and then told my ex because if anything went wrong, he would get the kids. Well he had some doubts and didn’t want me to do it but when I shared all of the information with him he demanded to go with me. So at least I have a support person now. I did tell one co-worker who got excited and said she wanted to do it too. That’s all I told. I didn’t want to hear any lectures from anyone, I’ve thought about it a long time and now is the time.
There are so many things that make it right. Emotionally feeling better, my feet won’t hurt, I won’t get those co-morbidities and yes, the discrimination. It does exist. People look over you when you’re fat. I’ve been slender before, so I know. I did Atkins in 2004 and lost 60 lbs and kept it off for 2 years until I got pregnant 2 times in a row and then went through menopause.
You are not alone, we all have those thoughts, that’s why you are here to get moral support among those like you. Thanks for posting! Good luck on your surgery!

Hello,
My name is Kelsey and I am a 26 yr old type 1 diabetic nurse. I am not married and I do not have children. I recently packed up my belongings and sold my house in PA, in hopes to finding a brighter, happier future in North Carolina. Ive been here for about 2 months now.
One morning, while getting ready for a long 13 hr night shift, I looked in the mirror and was stopped dead in my tracks when I saw what was looking back at me. Who was that? What did I let happen?
There I was. 220 lbs looking back at me. Rolls, stretch marks, fat....staring back at me. I wish I could say the mirror lies, but it didn't. That was the solid truth. That was the reflection of someone who dreaded getting dressed in the morning because of how I looked in all my clothing. The reflection of someone who hated getting a bath because she'd have to see herself naked and notice how the bath Water doesn't even reach above her stomach when she lies down in it. She cant even submerge her thighs in the water. The reflection of a girl who's eyes welled up with fresh salty tears cause every night when she lies down for sleep, she tells herself she wont do this tomorrow. She wont overeat, comfort eat, boredom eat, and emotional eat the next day... and when the first daylight hours comes realizes she already failed the promises she made to herself the mere hours before.
It's painful and frustrating to hate everything you are in terms of appearance. Its hard to want to go out and meet people and make friends in a new area when you know all you're going to be focused on is pulling your shirt out away from your stomach when you sit down, hoping it, for once, wont cling to you.
On April 14th, 2020, I googled possible options to help me battle this overwhelming addiction to food and overeating and discovered this thing called Endoscopic Sleeve Gastroplasty (ESG). Even as a surgical nurse, I never knew this existed. I was intrigued to say the least.
On April 15th, 2020 I was emailed back by a near gastroenterology clinic after my inquires on the procedure. In just the few following hours, and one phone call interview from the surgeon... I WAS APPROVED and medically cleared for the procedure. Then the assistant mentioned the finances and bills. Because I wasn't quite obese "enough", the procedure wouldn't be considered medically necessary, therefore wouldn't be covered by insurance. The price tag? $10,000 out of pocket. That night I laid in bed excited that maybe I found a crutch that could help me move forward and not loathe myself so much, but also distraught over realizing how much money i'd have to dedicate to something that relied so much on my own dedication to it. Oh well, its time right?
April 16th, 2020 I told my parents about my decision to proceed with the procedure. I was apprehensive about mentioning it for a few reasons. 1. I didn't want the lecture about "maybe theres more important things you could use that money for". After all, some decisions I have made in the past haven't been the most thought out or haven't been what my family would have chosen for me. So was I disappointing my family? maybe. And I am so exhausted and tired of disappointing my family. I know I don't look the way they want me too. I've had several family members make heartbreaking comments about my weight and my body and "if would just lose 20 lbs, the opportunities [I'd] have. I've heard things like that for years. Eventually you start believing it. Your weight stops doors from opening, stops you from being loved and wanted, prevents you from being respected and admired. I do blame a lot of my anxiety and overthinking tendencies on my weight. it makes sense in my mind. Im physically disappointing. Why would anyone want me?
2. "Why don't you just exercise and eat fewer calories like a normal person?" It's like they never tried to lose weight and think its just that easy. Of course, sometimes I was just lazy and lacked the motivation to exercise like I could have. and yes, I indulged way too much and too often in foods that weren't necessarily good for me. But I also have type 1 diabetes, which makes balancing exercise and food consumption difficult. Let's say I am on one of my "get healthy" kicks and I go to the gym, hop on the treadmill, and not 8 minutes into it my insulin pump reads my sugars as 139...122...97...71...and before you know it im in the critical 40s and slurring my words and shaking uncontrollably. I need a sugary, carbloaded snack just to maintain a safe sugar level. Counterproductive... Frusturating.
May 6th, 2020. Covid-19 restrictions are finally being ever so gently lifted. Elective surgeries are starting to resume. On this day, I got an email from the office assistant asking about a tentative operative date. May 21st at 1:30. Be there at 12:30. . . you know I will be early. Finally, I have a countdown to start and a new beginning to look forward to.
I read the preop paperwork sent to me about all the guidelines for the few days before surgery and the lifetime of recommendations for after surgery. 2 tablespoons of substance for the first several weeks after surgery? That's a bit drastic. Especially considering I would eat 3 plates of food at a buffet before. Oh well. Its about time, right?
Today is May 9th... about 3 am. I'm at work and just cant stop thinking about the road ahead. Less than 2 weeks.... 12 days. That's it. Wow..

We have ALL...no matter how confident...had those same feelings in some way. Just KNOW that you are exactly where you are supposed to be. Right now. This moment. Take comfort in that. It is YOUR time. I am scheduled for 5/15...I only discussed MY DECISION with my husband...4 days ago.

I decided that whether he agreed with me or not...this is something that I NEED to do. He was supportive but I couldn't be sure. But I knew what I havw decided will make me the best version of ME. I need this reset.

I'm happy for you...if no one else is.

Love & Light

It's MY time!