nurseforlapband

Walking was my salvation. Try walking long distance and see. I also used the New whey liquid Protein . It comes in a vail of 112m and contains 43g of pure isolate Protein. 112m will give you more than half your daily need
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Isn't medical science amazing?
When we have a blocked artery, we can have the artery opened up with a stent or balloon with heart surgery.
When a woman laboring is having problems delivering, putting her and her baby's life in danger, she can have a c-cection.
When we get cancer, we can have helpful but toxic drugs pumped through our bodies to fight it and hopefully put it in remission.
When we've tried every diet under the sun and completely screwed our metabolisms up, or we have physical issues that make it almost impossible to lose or keep weight off, we can have bariatric surgery.
No, medical intervention isn't always the way it's "meant" to be, but sometimes it's necessary.

No experience yet to share. Just submitted my medical info to them a couple days ago. I was debating between him and Illan and ultimately chose him because I found good reviews on several sites. Seems Illan is only talked about on this site. Ive yet to find anything bad. Shooting for 2nd week of october
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Holy OMG, I think I would have freaked out completely from day 1. I am so glad that I did not decide to go through them instead I am going through Bariatric Pal. I have a friend who is going soon and I can wait to here her experience with them. She is having her surgery with Dr. Illan. For me so far everything has been perfect which is hard for me to believe. If I call my coordinator Bill he answers every time and always has an answer for me if not he gets right back with me and he has a answer. I am still up in the air as to who I want as my doctor. I am still doing my research.

Hubby said I was real quiet for the first several days after surgery, just really got "back to myself" yesterday. So, so far, no crying jags or super-B fests at him or kiddo. Figured maybe I'm just lucky enough to have a smooth ride through this mess.
Nope.
I have a sister who's 19 years older than me, and granted in many ways she's more of a mother to me than our mother. However, I get tired of her telling me things like she's the end-all-be-all of information for me. Especially when she gets it wrong half the time, and just tells me I don't know yet when I point out that she's wrong. For Pete's sake, I'm a freakin' NURSE and she'll lecture me about a medication or a condition and she's misunderstood something, but by gosh, it's absolute fact because she says it.
So she had the sleeve several years ago and has been harping on me to get it ever since. Telling me I can't possibly lose the weight without the surgery, it's the only option for me, etc. If there's one single reason it's taken me this long to get to it, it's because of my knee-jerk reaction to try and prove her wrong. Well, she's right about the surgery, but ever since I decided to get it, she's been lecturing me on what I HAVE to do, and how I HAVE to do it. I've tried to shrug her off saying I'm already on support boards and have plenty of research materials at my disposal (I'm in grad school so I have online access to several medical libraries) and am fine. Well, it's not the *right* support group unless it's *her* support group (not this one, obviously). Her guru on that board is the end-all-be-all of sleeve surgery success advice, I just HAVE to ask her about whatever thing it is sis is lecturing me about this week. The Protein shakes I ended up with aren't the good ones. I need to be taught how to make shakes taste better. I have to "change the pH of my water" in order to drink enough, whatever the frak that means. By the way, I'm pretty sure the lemon Mio flavoring doesn't do jack about the pH of the Water no matter how much she tells me it does.
Now I post on my FB that I'm still struggling to get in my Water and Protein goals, and she's lecturing me that the fluids are more important than the protein. No, duh. But I'm not going to abandon all protein because I haven't gotten my fluids in, especially since my Proteins are in the form of fluids, for pete's sake. One is not exclusive of the other. ARGH.
I love my sis, I really do. Most of my life I've just shrugged off her overbearing lectures.
Today, I'm ranting here in order to keep from biting her head off, because I know she means well, and I know this is just hormone dump from the weight loss (down over 13 lbs since surgery).
But OMG she's on my last freakin' nerve!!

I had my sleeve done by Dr. Illan and love him! I received excellent care from him and his team. I've posted several reviews about my experience and thoughts. Feel free to ask if you're looking for specific information!
As for results, I'm 13 weeks post-op and have lost a little over 50 lbs. I'm averaging almost 4 lbs a week. I stopped my high blood pressure meds within a couple of weeks of surgery. I've lost approx 10 inches in my waist and 8 in my hips and 3 pant sizes. I'm down 54% of my total excess body weight.
~Kat

I just converted my sleeve to the SADI-S in Mexico on 8/11/16. And yes, it cost a lot less and I was scared shirtless because of that. But thankfully all went really well, I got great care, and now 8 days later I'm home and down 12lbs- which I'm still in shock from. Because like u, before the revision I tried my damn seat to lose my regain naturally and like u I had the nerve to gain weight on a 800 calorie/day diet! I was sooo pissed and honestly concerned that meant this revision would not work. Who knows what tomorrow holds, I'm still terrified of regain and/or not losing. I don't think I'll really believe it's working until I'm back down to my old goal weight.
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Do you have a retirement account? My retirement account allows me to take out loans against my retirement up to 45% of the total invested. Then I am basically paying myself back with interest (TIAA-Cref takes a small percentage). It's how I was able to get the money for my self-pay in Mexico.

We have a Registered Dietitian that's going to start offering support to all BariatricPal TeamMX patients starting this week! We will announce details Monday.

We are extremely proud and super excited to announce our exclusive strategic alliance with Oasis Hospital! It was created specifically to only serve international Medical Tourism patients and is the first private hospital of its kind in Tijuana. They are fully ready to provide our American, Canadian and International patients with a comfortable and welcoming environment. The facilities are comparable to or even beyond the standards of most US hospitals.



7 Reasons to Choose Oasis Hospital:
Brand New Bariatric wing. Rooms that are fully equipped like you would expect in a hospital but furnished like a quality hotel (with Roku and Netflix on your own TV). New Operating rooms and new recovery rooms with state of the art equipment. Full-service hospital (ICU unit, Pharmacy, Radiology Department) Bilingual nurses on staff 24/7 Bilingual Medical Doctors on staff 24/7. Peaceful and tranquil setting. Oasis Hospital located in Playas of Tijuana, Mexico which is just twenty-five minutes south of the San Diego airport in California.

Special Gastric Sleeve Package at the BRAND NEW Oasis Hospital with Dr. Jalil Illan

All-Inclusive price $4400

(844) WLS-DEAL
(844) 957-3325
TeamMX@BariatricPal.com
http://TeamMX.BariatricPal.com/

I'm not sure why you think it would have been better going with Baja instead of Bariatric Pal. You would still be in the same hospital, and unfortunately if they do not have room in the newer wing, some patients end up in the other wing. I don't think it's up to Bariatric Pal or Baja Bariatrics to decide. I was fortunate to be in the newer wing and did not have trouble communicating with my nurses. I had a great experience with Bariatric Pal Team MX, but I can understand why not being able to communicate with your nurses would change things.

Nothing felt underhanded to me, and I'm not sure why it matters if the nutritionist also handles some of the transportation. The office manager helps with it as well.

I'm sorry that you had a bad experience, but I don't think that Bariatric Pal is to blame. Dr. Illan is not the only bariatric surgeon who works there, and if they don't have enough room in the newer wing, some of the patients will inevitably end up elsewhere. Just like the hospital handles the OR schedule, I think they are also the ones to decide where the patients end up.


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I live in Orlando. I already had the sleeve and was having problems. I used BariatricPal and Dr. Illan performed a mini gastric bypass on July 28. I spent 3 nights in the hospital and received very good care. After leaving the hospital you stay in a recovery condo or nice hotel room with a doctor checking on you and a valet always close by or by phone call. I will go just to visit, I had such a positive experience.

It's my layman's understanding that RNY allows for a 2-3 oz. stomach pouch (restrictive), and bypasses 3-4 ft. small intestines (malabsorptive). The MBG allows for a 4-6 oz. stomach pouch (restrictive), and bypasses up to 7 ft. of small intestines (malabsorptive). Both surgeries remove the ghrelin producing portion of the stomach. With RNY there's chance of intestinal blockage, and with MBG there chance of bile backwash into the stomach pouch. Both have potential for dumping syndrome.

You don't need any comorbidities with a BMI over 35, you'll be fine just have faith.

@@FloraBama Girl
Unfortunately, anyone can call themselves a nutritionist (even in the US). There are no education or training requirements for someone to call herself a nutritionist.
This morning, I had an appointment with a Registered Dietician who works exclusively with Bariatric patients. I brought her the post-op diet packet that I was given. She was not impressed and told me to throw it away. We went over a more comprehensive and specific post-op diet. I feel more informed and confident now.

You valet is usually sitting close to the nurses desk. They speak pretty good English. The do check on you frequently. I had prepared for no English speaking nurses by figuring out pain and nauseated in Spanish. When I pushed the call button the longest time I would say was 2 minutes. Much better responses than my care in the US. I guess you could send Bill a request for the main wing (the higher number rooms). It depends on the number of patients. There are other surgeons patients having surgery in the hospital. I made friends with a lady with Dr. Z, not with BP group

Dr. Illan was great.

once received by aetna, it took them about a week, but that's because they were missing some information and had to request it.1 week from approval to get surgery date. My date is Sept 3rd.

Today marks 3 months since my revision surgery (4/30/15).
-> I am down 46lbs.
-> I hit the dreaded 3 week stall and it lasted two weeks.
-> I now seem to be losing around 10 lbs a month. I can live with that.
-> I do exercise and see a personal trainer twice a week. I am feeling so much stronger.
-> My extreme lethargy went away around week 5 or 6.
-> I do get hungry now, but only occasionally and it is amazing how a few cashews can make it go away.
-> I do start my day with a Premier Protein shake to help boost my Protein intake. I then eat every 3 to 4 hours, protein first then veggies if I can fit them.
-> food does not taste the same. It is no longer exciting, which is a good thing. I can look at a menu and choose the healthy option, rather than what sounds yummy.
-> I easily feel full and have no issue pushing my plate away.
-> I don't care that I am wasting food. I was wasting it before too by stock piling it on my waist!
-> I went on vacation for a week and came back 2lbs lighter! That has never happened before, even with the band.
-> For me the sleeve is WAY better than the band. My only regret is that I did not get the sleeve sooner.
I hope this helps people who are earlier in the process. I would love to hear from others who are around the same point in their journey.

Yeah!! Congrats to the new comers and way to go to all who have started the journey. Sleeved on July 21st--23 lbs down, but at a stall--hope it moves on next week! I'm okay with it tho, because I'm more excited about my break up with food:). I'm mentally ready to see food as substance to live, and not something to over indulge in. Best wishes!

Haven't posted on this thread in a while but I wanted to congratulate all the new sleevers and tell the ones who are about to be sleeved good luck! This is one of the best decisions you could have ever made for yourselves. I was sleeved on April Fools Day this year and am 7 lbs. from goal: 59 lbs. lost since I started my journey this year. I am healthier (no more sleep apnea, GERD, high cholesterol), more energetic, and certainly happier.

Congratulations! My surgery date is September 3.

Congratulations! My surgery date is September 3.

Congratulations! My surgery date is September 3.

Finally got my approval today and my
Surgery date (August 19th)!!!! WooHoo!!!!