vikingbeast

I did exactly this and now I have a wattle under my neck like a turkey. (Just kidding.)

You'll be fine. I'm two months out and drink normally now.

I'm with @catwoman7 - Joe Schmo gets told I'm protein-first and calorie-restricted (believable, and these days my calorie count is 1000-1400 a day, which is strict but not "omg you're gonna starve"). But other obese people get the truth. And the one person who found out and then confronted me for lying got, "Given how you just reacted to the idea of the surgery, are you surprised I didn't want to tell you?"

I did exactly this and now I have a wattle under my neck like a turkey. (Just kidding.)

You'll be fine. I'm two months out and drink normally now.

This is my review of mexico bariatric center
Cliff notes: I would absolutely recommend them.
Dr. Lousinana Valenzualla A++++
MBC hospital facility B+ not the fanciest but clean.
MBC nursing staff A++++ very nice and attentive

This review is long and detailed.
I am a late 40's male about 5'11and over the course of the last year my weight balloned to 255. Enough to the point where life just wasnt as fullfulling as it used to be. My weight was definately limiting me.
I had a friend have the gastric sleeve surgery at MBC about 5 years ago and she had zero complications and lost around 140lbs. She reached her goal weight. She highly recommended MBC.

3 years ago i actually scheduled the surgery with MBC but then i made the big mistake of getting on the internet and only looked for horror stories about what could go wrong. 2 weeks later i was so scared i chickened out and cancelled my surgery. Giant mistake on my part.

So in april of this year i decided to go through with surgery. One of the hardest parts of making this decision is bringing up the subject with your spouse. I eventually got the nerve to talk to her about it and she was wonderfully supportive. That should not have suprised me. So i made the decision and sceduled the surgery for June 11th and bought my airfare. But i made one other important decision and that was to get off the internet and stop reading about complication and stop playing the "what if this goes wrong game".
My bmi was around 34 so i only had to do a 1 week preop diet. In those 7 days of all liquids i lost no joke 20lbs. I went to my surgery on June 11th at 235lbs. Was it hard to be on an all liquid diet for 7 days, not as hard as living with the shame of obesity i have felt all my life.
Mexico bariateic center had there driver call me the night before my flight and confirm the flight info and my pickup time. When i arrived in San Diego i called the driver and he showed up promply in an unmarked white chevy van. The van was just a passenger van nothing fancy at all but it was clean and the driver drove responsibly. He took me straight to my hotel.
The hotel in my opinion was 5 stars. Very very nice. Probably one of the nicest hotels i have ever stayed in. Rooms were huge. The place had a lounge in the lobby that served all kinds of broths. A+ place. I was told that i would be picked up at 730 the next morning to go to the hospital.
The next morning i went down to the lobby at 715. There was a very nice unmarked van waiting for me and 1 other patient. The driver was well dressed, friendly, helpful and pretty funny. He took us straight to the hospital where he escorted us into the building and brought our bags in for us. We checked in and waited in the lobby for about an hour for a nurse to come get us. Apperently some of the patients that were checking out were slow and that was the cause of the delay.
Eventually a nurse came down and escorted both of us up to our rooms. On a 1-10 scale i would give me room a 7. It was clean but no frills. Small tv, older style medical bed. Just dont expect any fancy room when you go. This isnt a vacation. My room was located right infront on the nurses station. That i thought was a good thing.
So they told me to put on a gown and compression socks and then promptly did a 12 lead ekg on me that came back normal. I asked what time my surgery would be and she said within an hour. Here we go I thought.
Before the surgery happened and after the ekg i met with 2 doctors the first one came in and asked me all the screening questions i had already filled out. He was thorough. He spoke good english, he was polite and was able to answer any of my questions. The second doctor to come in was my surgeon Dr. Lousiana Valenzuella. She was very kind and professional. I told her that i had gallstones and that i wanted her to take my gallbladder out to if it looked like it wouldnt be too complicated. She in own words told me it wouldnt be a problem. She answered all of my questions and then left to prep for my surgery.
20 minutes later a nurse arrived with a wheelchair and i was off to the OR which is on the 4th floor i think. I was wheeled into to the OR which was clean and a buzz from all the people ready and prepping for my surgery. I laid down on the table and the anathesioligist quickly introduced himself and said he was giving me something to relax and that is all i remember of that. Out like a light.
I woke up in my room a few hours later and my thoat was just a little sore and my stomach had a touch of discomfort but really overall i felt way better then expected. The nurse promptly came into me room and gave me some pain meds and anti nausea meds. I went back to sleep. When i woke up the second time i felt pretty good. It was time to do some walking. When i got up to walk i felt great. Really no gas pains. My stomach was a little sore from the incisions and drain but not bad at all.
I spent 2 nights in the hospital. The nurses came onschedule to change my iv bag, give me meds, and change me dressing. The nurses were great and very attentive to my needs. Long story short the recovery was way easier then i thought it was gonna be. Your result may be different but those were mine. Before i was discharged on day 3 i met again with Dr. Valenzuala. She tild me the sugery went perfect, that my liver had shrunk frim my preop diet as intended and that she removed my gallbladder without complication. She also told me she used a 34 fr bougie on me and that i would be skinny very soon. I kinda giggled when she said that. I would definately 100% recommend Dr. Valenzoula based on how good i felt after the surgery.
On the day i was discharged they took all the patient being discharged and brought them to the lobby. Karla went over all the discharge instructions thourghly. She gave us helpful tips on what medications to get at the pharmacy. Karla was great. I would describe her as the mama bear who does her best at herding cats. She looks out for everyone at the same time trying to keep everyone moving in the right direction on time.
From there we all went to the pharmacy together to fill our perscriptions. I think i spent 135 us at the pharmacy. Then the driver took me to the hotel and got me a room for just a few hours were i could rest till my flight.
When i got home i was 142 lbs. I had actually gained 7 lbs after surgery. Easily explained though. They gave me a ton of iv fluids well i was there to keep me hydrated. Those extra 7 lbs came off in like a day and a half. By the end of Clear Liquids week i was down to 229lbs. Clear liquids week was tough, i felt pretty weak. I took lots of naps. I was very carefull to keep my incisions clean and bandaged up. I had very little pain or nausea. That was a win.

I moved on to thick liquid week which included Protein Shakes. I felt way stronger. My incisions were healing nicely. Thick liquid weeks wasnt that bad and at the end of that week i was down to 223.

I am currently on puree week. I still feel good. I walk 3 miles every morning. I dont lift anything heavy. My incisions a nearly fully healed. I can tell my stomach is small because when i try to eat anything i can on take about 3 bites before i start to feel full. Past 5 bites it can cause some discomfort. That is the tool you will use going forward is my thought.

Tips for anyone considering using MBC
1. Just do it, dont get on the internet and look for reasons not to. You will end up scaring yourself and backing out. Sure there is a very low complication risk leaks, blood clots, gerd. Accept it and move on.
2. Follow the preop diet and doctor instructions to a T.
3. Walk and stay hydrated

Thats all i got folks. Good luck. I will answer question. Save any negative comments cause i just dont care.

My second time posting. I can’t believe I was there and now here. My mind is blown! I am about a year and a half post op and down over 150lbs!

8 weeks out and I am mentally stable so far. Not sure I'm thrilled about having done the surgery, since it's now really unpleasant to eat and I'm hungry all the time. But the weight loss is very good - down 25lbs since surgery.
I had sleeve, none of my meds are extended release, but I take a lot of meds because I have bipolar and anxiety. The only med I've changed is that I'm stopping the topamax which I took for Migraines because I haven't had any migraines since surgery.
I would highly recommend working with a psychopharmacologist if you take a lot of psych meds and are thinking about WLS. There's a lot to consider.

Although I've been sewing since I was in 8th grade, I signed up for a class at a local sewing shop. We are all making the same top. We are using a "multi-size" pattern. It was interesting hearing others discuss what size they needed to cut their pattern even if it was a large size because I know 3 years ago I never would of told anyone what size I was! This time I was the smallest person in the room and had no problem discussing my size! That was definitely a NSV for me!

I'm "auditioning" Protein Shakes during my self-imposed pre-op diet.
So far I really like OWYN ("Only What You Need"), except the chocolate flavor is disgusting. And it's 35g plant Protein in 355 ml (12 oz), and it is still palatable at room temperature, given that I'm going to be sip-sip-sipping on it for an hour or two.
Premier Protein is... just okay. (I hear the cafe latte flavor is good but it's also caffeinated which makes it a no-go).
What else should I audition?
I'm not planning to buy a ton of any one thing, knowing (from y'all!) that my tastes are likely to change post-op.

Since I am now halfway between my heavy weight and my goal weight, I thought I'd show myself. I lost 26 lbs. on my own, then 9 lbs. on the pre-op diet, and 41 lbs. so far since surgery (five weeks ago). I only "see" the changes when I look at before-and-after pictures. I'm starting to see what I'll look like further along and I ain't mad about it.

76 lbs. down, 76 to go.

I'm being encouraged by my NUT to eat a more diverse array of foods, and she wants me to have carbs in there too if there's room. So I eat really tiny normal meals. Today for lunch I had 3 oz. of ground turkey cooked with a little Korean barbecue sauce; about a quarter cup of basmati rice; and five asparagus spears.

It is possible to eat "normally", just not as much, and not right away. And I'm still losing weight hand over fist.

I've had doctors say people's feet don't shrink, but I know from personal experience they do. Doctors can be so clueless sometimes.

Hoo boy. Ya. Look into getting some Isopure. You can get it in packets to mix with Water or in bottles. It’s not all sweet, it’s quite tangy.

I'm not going crazy, but I absolutely have to have work boots that fit, I am just in them too long to deal with heel grips (which don't work on cowboy boots which is what I wear). Some shoes I replace regularly—my Vans get dirty past the point where I can successfully clean them, and they're cheap, so I just replace them. I was 11.5 US (AU 44) in high school, and I wasn't fat then, so 12 US (AU 45) doesn't seem like there's TOO much room for me to shrink any more.

When I started losing weight on my own, my shoe size went down (from a 16W to a 14W). It was actually great, because my feet didn't hurt anymore. And so I dutifully bought all new shoes.
When I consulted with my surgeon, I asked if it was likely that my shoe size would change again, and he said no, I had arches now and it's not like arches just randomly re-establish themselves to where they were. Don't worry about it, he said.
Last week I was exercising and noticed I had a blister on each foot. I went to a shoe store and measured my feet—size 12, and no longer wide.
I love the way I feel but my poor wallet! I had to buy new work boots, too, (11.5—those always run big) and those are NOT cheap.
I still have 70 lbs. to lose... am I gonna end up doing this all again in six months or a year? I guess we'll find out.

I'm being encouraged by my NUT to eat a more diverse array of foods, and she wants me to have carbs in there too if there's room. So I eat really tiny normal meals. Today for lunch I had 3 oz. of ground turkey cooked with a little Korean barbecue sauce; about a quarter cup of basmati rice; and five asparagus spears.

It is possible to eat "normally", just not as much, and not right away. And I'm still losing weight hand over fist.

As I shrink, I'm getting skin tags in my armpits and they're incredibly painful. Did anyone else have this? How did you get rid of them? The dermatologists are all backed up for months and it is driving me BATTY.

1. Could you feel your stomach? No, not really. I felt the incisions, but honestly there was so much gas that I didn't feel anything. I worried about this too, especially as I started to drink my liquids, but it was fine. I did feel my stomach about three weeks post-op as the nerves re-grew, but it truly wasn't even pain, just sort of "what on earth is that sensation..." Now I'm fine and doing sit-ups and tuck-ups and kip swings off a bar and bracing for heavy weight lifting no problem. I never took any of the serious pain drugs, and only needed 4-5 doses of Tylenol the first week.
2. Did you have a drain? No. There was a tiny bit of discharge from the largest incision (where they withdraw the stomach), but only for one day.
3. How long on clear fluids? Not at all. I was started on full liquids literally in the hospital. I had to have one day of clear fluids pre-op in order to clear my system so they could see what was going on.
4. Cold, tepid, or warm fluids? At first, tepid or warm fluids felt better. Cold ones were a shock. Now I can drink whatever (8 weeks out).
5. Sipping? I took trepidatious little sips in the hospital. By the time I got home later that day (I didn't even stay overnight), I was taking small but normal sips, at least 3/4 ounce. By three weeks out I was able to take nice little gulps. Now, 8 weeks out, if I want to (if I've been running, f.ex.) I can take 3-4 real gulps in a row.
6. Can't drink for the first 24 hours? Absolute b*llocks. I literally was handed a tray with broth, unsweetened cranberry juice, and cream of rice as soon as I was transferred from the recovery room to my hospital room. That said, I did have dry mouth even drinking. Get you a thing of Biotene at any drugstore and spray it in your mouth. It's the weirdest sensation but it helps immensely.
7. sleeping? I spent the first night on my back because I would have to wriggle a bit to get on my side. I went back to side sleeping on Night Two. Oddly, as I've shrunk (down 51 lbs from surgery weight) I feel more comfortable sleeping on my back despite having been a side sleeper for decades.

Agree with @vikingbeast. You need to take a big step back. You’re stressed & emotional which only enhances those cravings. You crave the foods which offered you comfort in the past & you crave the familiar of being able to eat what you want, when you want it. And the more you worry the more anxious you become. You may find a therapist who specialises in supporting bariatric patients very helpful. Ask your surgeon for a recommendation.
Constipation is part of the journey. I tried to keep on top of mine by taking Benefibre at least every second day, keeping my Fluid intake up & taking a stool softener if I got to day 3 or 4 without movement. I also ate very mild instant rolled oats from purée stage. Took me days to eat a full serve but it was good fibre. You may need an enema since it’s been 15 days or a visit to the hospital for assistance. Being constipated does make it seem you’ve stopped losing or have gained. Get rid of it & your weight will be lower very quickly & you’ll feel much better.
Stalls are very common. They can last 1 - 3 weeks, sometimes more. And you can experience a number of them as you’re losing. The first usually occurs around week 3 give or take. You just have to ride them out. They’re just your body taking a time out to come to terms with your weight loss.
Changes to your sense of smell & taste are also common. They usually are temporary but how long it lasts is individual. Are there specific foods that upset you more you can avoid?
The strong body odour is from your body being in ketosis - fat burning. It’s like every bodily secretion reeks. It passes too. I took deodorant, toothbrush, tooth paste & mouth wash & body wipes to work for refreshes during the day.
I was someone who frequently skipped meals in an effort to lose weight (did that for 40+years) & tried all those very low calorie diets including one I did several times that was only 500 calories a day. I still lost all my weight & more.
Stick as close to your plan as you can. It may take you a little longer to reach a stage recommendation for calories, portion size &/or foods you can eat but that’s ok. You’ll get there.

Okay. Deep breath. Exhale. 'Nother deep breath. Exhale. One more. Exhale.
If you search these forums, you will find almost 20,000 posts on the infamous "three-week stall". That is exactly where you are, and sometimes it lasts a few weeks. Stay on your plan, stay OFF the friggin' scale except ONCE a week, and just be patient.
The Constipation is almost certainly part of the issue, though you're not eating enough to really be backing stuff up. But you can go and get an enema at any drugstore; sometimes it just "packs" and you have to break the pack. (Gross, sorry, I know, but facts.) You're also almost certainly not getting much if any Fiber.
It does get better. One thing you might want to try (though who knows if it'll work for you) is INCREASING your food a little bit. I know it sucks, but anything helps. Soup. Tomato Soup. Cream soup. Whatever. Just increase calories to about 500-600, in concert with your nutritionist's guidance, and see if that moves things along.

Okay. Deep breath. Exhale. 'Nother deep breath. Exhale. One more. Exhale.
If you search these forums, you will find almost 20,000 posts on the infamous "three-week stall". That is exactly where you are, and sometimes it lasts a few weeks. Stay on your plan, stay OFF the friggin' scale except ONCE a week, and just be patient.
The Constipation is almost certainly part of the issue, though you're not eating enough to really be backing stuff up. But you can go and get an enema at any drugstore; sometimes it just "packs" and you have to break the pack. (Gross, sorry, I know, but facts.) You're also almost certainly not getting much if any Fiber.
It does get better. One thing you might want to try (though who knows if it'll work for you) is INCREASING your food a little bit. I know it sucks, but anything helps. Soup. Tomato Soup. Cream soup. Whatever. Just increase calories to about 500-600, in concert with your nutritionist's guidance, and see if that moves things along.

Okay. Deep breath. Exhale. 'Nother deep breath. Exhale. One more. Exhale.
If you search these forums, you will find almost 20,000 posts on the infamous "three-week stall". That is exactly where you are, and sometimes it lasts a few weeks. Stay on your plan, stay OFF the friggin' scale except ONCE a week, and just be patient.
The Constipation is almost certainly part of the issue, though you're not eating enough to really be backing stuff up. But you can go and get an enema at any drugstore; sometimes it just "packs" and you have to break the pack. (Gross, sorry, I know, but facts.) You're also almost certainly not getting much if any Fiber.
It does get better. One thing you might want to try (though who knows if it'll work for you) is INCREASING your food a little bit. I know it sucks, but anything helps. Soup. Tomato Soup. Cream soup. Whatever. Just increase calories to about 500-600, in concert with your nutritionist's guidance, and see if that moves things along.

Applesauce and yoghurt/skyr were both allowed on my full-liquid diet.

These pictures are amazing! Everyone has done such a super job!

i did a comparison picture today. 4 stone down. 15 weeks post op. Weight is still shifting 2-3lbs per week without much effort!

I cried…. I don’t recognise myself in the photo before.. why did I pretend that i was happy with my weight for so long before I was honest and said something needs to change. I cried because I feel sad for the lady on the left…

I’m sure you all know what I mean xx

I had exactly the same thoughts... if I can drop this weight like this during the pre-op diet, why can't I just... continue?
But I couldn't have, and I talked to my surgeon's staff about it.
The pre-op diet (not that I had one necessarily, I put myself on it so I didn't go from nought to sixty in one day) is meant to be a crash diet. It is meant to shrink things and get a little visceral fat off you so that it's safer to do laparoscopic surgery. It is not sustainable long-term without surgery, and it is not meant to be.
The other thing is—all or nearly all of us have binge-eaten in our past. Whether we have a healthy or unhealthy relationship with food, we've all overindulged. Well, after surgery, you literally CAN'T binge... and, bizarrely enough, most people don't WANT to. The first time you take ONE BITE too much, you will really feel that restriction and the resulting sensations (for me, it's massive chest pressure, and terrible gas that causes me to spit up) will make sure you learn what "full" feels like.
I was a pizza eater. I could demolish an entire pizza myself in one sitting, because once I started I couldn't stop. Yesterday (just over 7 weeks post-op) I delivered pizza to my daughter's dress rehearsal, opened up the box, took a slice, had one bite, shrugged, and threw the rest of the slice away. It's like my body's been given this tool and it is forcing my brain to reckon with how I eat/ate.
I wish I had found this site and gone for this surgery ten or more years ago. When I was nervous about the surgery—I had exactly the same thoughts as you—my family reminded me that I had tried REALLY hard, and never gotten below 330, then gained it all back until I was two cheeseburgers shy of 400 lbs.
I went below that 330 mark 13 days after surgery. I'm now closing in on TWOsday, and I honestly feel like a different (and happier) person.
Ultimately, only you can make the decision, but I think you'll find the ratio of yeasayers to naysayers here at BariatricPal to be massively tilted in the "yes do it" direction.

Secret: Not being the biggest person in the group anymore.
And a big one -I've ALWAYS been able to lift my partner. I long for the day he can not only pick me up, but I don't panic and beg him to put me down before he hurts himself!
Not secret: No longer checking the weight restrictions on things. Climbing a ladder without fear! Sitting on any chair without worrying if I'm going to break it.
Really and truly being the little spoon.