Lee

I'm planning to go to Dr. Sauceda in Mexico in December. I'm having a lot of body work done, then three days later having my face done. Someone asked about how long you stay etc. I'll be in Mexico for 14 days. Probably 5-6 days in the clinic, then another week in a hotel. A nurse comes to the hotel daily to help with shower and bandage changes and I'm told that Dr. S also comes once a day. All of these costs are included in his surgery price, along with personal pickup and drop off at the airport. He has a price list and what it includes on his website medicaltourism. com. He has a group over on OH where you can get a lot of information from people who have been there, including pictures of the facilities etc. It certainly is more affordable than my local Kaiser or other surgeons in the are.

Has anyone had plastics recently? I'm looking into it and would love to hear good, bad and ugly stories about what you had done and where.

I'm so glad you've found a great guy. I hope that one day I can post the same thing.

Hi Carmen, I think that the truth is that regardless of which WLS we selected, it's still about what we eat. I had the Sleeve 18 months ago and I've been on a diet every day since then. I hope that you can get focused on dumping the sugar out of your plan. I know that for me, if I eat a little, I want a lot and basically just have to stay away from it. I see that you had Dr. Park for your surgery. We have meetings at Kaiser Richmond on hte 1st and 3rd Wednesday of every month. They are held on the 3rd floor in the conference room where the pre-op meetings are held. I hope you can figure out how to get there. There is a lot of great support to be found there. Lee

Hi JST, I'm part of Kaiser Richmond and we're seeing far more Sleeves than RNY these days. I think we have 1 band person come to group and that's only sporatically. I know that Kaiser Richmond doesn't do many of them these days. Obestityhelp.com has good forums on all of the surgeries. You might like to check them all out. I think a good question to ask is whether people are happy with their bands and if they might make another choice is it was available to them. Good luck to you on your journey!

Pam, just jump right into the conversation on Rich Bar facebook page. You're right, we haven't seen a new band person in a very long time. A few RNY and mostly Sleeves.

HI Reggie, I was wondering the same thing! I hope you're all doing well and enjoying the summer. I'm so happy that it's finally warming up! Take care everyone!

Doc, I think there may be some Kaiser support groups in SAC but I don't know when or where? Maybe someone else from up north can shed some light. There is a support group in Santa Rosa on the second Saturday of each month. I think that August is a Plastic Surgeon. I'm planning to go to that one. Take care!

Hi Doc, I had my surgery with Dr. Baggs on 2/17/2010. I was one of his first Sleeves. He's a great doctor and the long term aftercare is terrific. Do you come to the support group on Wednesday nights? If not, support is 1st and 3rd Wednesday from 6-7:30 on the 3rd floor. Same room as many of us had our 5 hour orientation meeting. Welcome to the group.

Congrats on being at your surgery weight goal. That is awesome. You're going to do great!! People really like Dr. Im.

Yeah, it's all about those slider foods (prunes). Dense protein really does the trick filling us up. When you get further out from surgery you'll appreciate the restriction. I'll be 17 months out next week and eating dense protein really helps in staying full longer. The further out I get, the faster my Sleevie empties, leaving me hungry again. Right now I'm eating a lot of fresh salads because I couldn't for a long time. The first year was really focused on getting in enough protein with only a touch of veggies. Now I can eat fruit without gaining so I'm enjoying some of that as well.

sugar free. Happy Sunday everyone!

Drinking a lot of fluids can cause electrolyte imbalance. All of the sodium is washed out of our body. When I'm drinking a lot and eating low carb I have to take a potassium capsule. Leg cramps in the night tell me when I'm out of wack. I threw up the entire second month. I had difficulty keeping things down. Then it got better. I barely remember it. Neil, I couldn't keep tuna down until around month 5 or 6. I found it to be tough on my Sleeve. Same with eggs.

Neil, you're lucky that eggs go down. I couldn't do things like eggs and tuna until I was around 5 months out. I remember getting chicken at costco and making baby chicken salad portions. The costco dark meat was pretty moist. For me it was keeping things very moist or else I couldn't keep them down. I tried to make my Protein have the biggest protein bang for the amount I could eat. Things like ground beef with sour cream on it were my friend. Trader Joe's used to have buffalo burgers (they might still) that were very high in protein. Shrimp was a go to food for me. I'd cook it in a little butter and add meyer lemon to make it very moist. I think I pretty much lived on shrimp the first few months. My friend Bonnie ate a lot of Sashimi but it wasn't friendly to my sleeve so I went for the shrimp. Baby, congrats on the 13 pounds!! That so rocks! Sorry about that cold you caught. Darlene, I've just re-discovered avocado which I'm putting on salads. Good for you for jumping right in! I'm glad you're doing so well. Tonight is the Kaiser Richmond meeting. 6pm on the 3rd floor if anyone is interested. I'll be there.

Neil, How can we help with your transition. What's on your current stage, food wise? Maybe we can throw out ideas of what we were eating at that stage. I ask because SSF and Richmond have different binders.

Neil, are you taking blood pressure meds? It sounds like your BP is getting low? I know that low BP can cause fainting spells. Please call your PCP today to get it checked out.

Left overs are still a problem at 17 months out. I sometimes reheat things in the microwave and it just dries it out, even for just a few seconds. If I cook a steak or something, I try to leave part of it just semi cooked so that I can reheat in a little butter on the stovetop, just enough to take the chill off it. It's a beautiful thing now at 17 months to be able to eat a decent size green salad with a little protein on it. Fruit is also my friend now and I don't gain as quickly if I eat a piece of fruit per day. Heather, I'm glad you're feeling better! I get it about the egg visual. I have always weighed my food on the scale as I don't like squishing it into a measuring cup. I've always been able to eat more shrimp,salmon, tilapia etc than chicken/pork/red meat. I can now eat a really respectable serving of salmon with a few spears of asparagus or salad on the side. Life isn't always in 2 ounce servings once you get further out.

Congrats on the great day Neil! Heather, how are you feeling? Sunshine, you're on the best journey of your life. You're going to do great!

Wow on the leak test while still open. That's awesome! I had the drink test the next day but I was waiting anxiously for it. I wasn't allowed an ice chip until that test was over. I've never had a drier 24 hours in my life! My mouth felt like I'd been licking the sandy dessert. It's exciting to read how great everyone is doing!!

There is a homeopathic remedy that I got at the pharmacy that is called Carbo Vegetabilis. It was recommended by the homeopthic pharmacist when I asked for something to combat gas. I used it both for my gall bladder removal as well as my VSG and never suffered from gas. They're tiny homeopathic balls that you toss several under your tongue. The pharacist said that I could also throw some into my drinking water and it would help. I didn't actually try that as I never had any gas by just tossing a few under my tongue. I've seen it on Amazon and also at Whole Foods.

Congratulations Kim! You are doing terrific. Isn't it amazing what you can do so early out. I remember being on the treadmill on day 5, sipping 64 oz of water. How cool that you had the one incision procedure! I don't think they're doing them at Richmond yet. My surgeon Dr. Baggs came to speak at one of the Richmond support groups. He said that regardless of what you do, your hair will shed. It will stop when your rapid weight loss stage is over, so wear this as a badge of huge accomplishment. I remember mine stopping at around 10 months and now at 17 months it's very thick and you'd never know I lost any. Take good care of yourself and don't overdo it!

Hi everyone, just checking in to say hello. I've just returned from two great weeks in Spain. The food sux and was too expensive to eat out so we pretty much ate from the farmer's markets which is great after WLS anyways. I wore my pedometer daily and logged in 10-15 miles a day for 13 days. It felt so great to have the weight off and be able to be so excited about moving. I went to a Weight Watchers meeting in Sevilla, Spain and hit my Lifetime status. I'm using WW to be accountable to a weekly weigh in. I figure my leader will hit me upside the head if I start to slip. I need all the help I can get to make this Sleevie successful. Big congrats to Kim! Welcome to the Sleeve Loser's Bench. Heather, I'm so glad you didn't have your surgery while you were sick. You'll have such an easier recovery when you're feeling great to start with.

Sunshine, they set me up with a different doctor and I told the woman scheduling my first surgeon appointment that I would prefer to wait for Dr. Baggs. I had to wait a month but it didn't matter because I knew I'd have to shed the pre-op pounds anyways. I didn't have much to lose by the time I saw him. Your surgeon follows you forever so make sure you get someone that you really like.

Congratulations Sunshine. I had Dr. Baggs and I love him, and my Sleevie.

Anyone going to the Santa Rosa support group this morning? I'm going to be there as I want to hear the Plastic Surgeon speak. Please say hi if you're there!