spiritstalkergoddess

Here goes....
Karen here, I am a mother of 3 wonderful children two boys ages 11 and 3, and one little diva age 6. I have been working as an inventory coordinator for about 7 years now, before that I was a manager for Chuck E. cheese ha ha .... I have been married to my awesome husband Jeremy for 4 years now, and I am a total skinny girl trapped in a fat body. I love outdoors, I enjoy riding my dirt bike, camping, hiking, drag racing and mountain biking... A lot of these things are hard to do now with the weight but hoping to reclaim my life in March! I hate cooking so that is something I am going to have to LEARN to enjoy!

Here goes....
Karen here, I am a mother of 3 wonderful children two boys ages 11 and 3, and one little diva age 6. I have been working as an inventory coordinator for about 7 years now, before that I was a manager for Chuck E. cheese ha ha .... I have been married to my awesome husband Jeremy for 4 years now, and I am a total skinny girl trapped in a fat body. I love outdoors, I enjoy riding my dirt bike, camping, hiking, drag racing and mountain biking... A lot of these things are hard to do now with the weight but hoping to reclaim my life in March! I hate cooking so that is something I am going to have to LEARN to enjoy!

Here goes....
Karen here, I am a mother of 3 wonderful children two boys ages 11 and 3, and one little diva age 6. I have been working as an inventory coordinator for about 7 years now, before that I was a manager for Chuck E. cheese ha ha .... I have been married to my awesome husband Jeremy for 4 years now, and I am a total skinny girl trapped in a fat body. I love outdoors, I enjoy riding my dirt bike, camping, hiking, drag racing and mountain biking... A lot of these things are hard to do now with the weight but hoping to reclaim my life in March! I hate cooking so that is something I am going to have to LEARN to enjoy!

HA HA! I love that!!!

Here goes....
Karen here, I am a mother of 3 wonderful children two boys ages 11 and 3, and one little diva age 6. I have been working as an inventory coordinator for about 7 years now, before that I was a manager for Chuck E. cheese ha ha .... I have been married to my awesome husband Jeremy for 4 years now, and I am a total skinny girl trapped in a fat body. I love outdoors, I enjoy riding my dirt bike, camping, hiking, drag racing and mountain biking... A lot of these things are hard to do now with the weight but hoping to reclaim my life in March! I hate cooking so that is something I am going to have to LEARN to enjoy!

???!!!!!! WHAT, I have never heard this, I will wake up with a tube in my throat??!! Is that standard for every doctor???

Here goes....
Karen here, I am a mother of 3 wonderful children two boys ages 11 and 3, and one little diva age 6. I have been working as an inventory coordinator for about 7 years now, before that I was a manager for Chuck E. cheese ha ha .... I have been married to my awesome husband Jeremy for 4 years now, and I am a total skinny girl trapped in a fat body. I love outdoors, I enjoy riding my dirt bike, camping, hiking, drag racing and mountain biking... A lot of these things are hard to do now with the weight but hoping to reclaim my life in March! I hate cooking so that is something I am going to have to LEARN to enjoy!

100% Sleeved,
Oh if I wake up with a tube down my throat I will be bawling like a baby too! I am glad the rest of your recovery went smoothly...

I posted this in another thread about meat/protein and thought I would put it here too for others looking for a yummy easy recipe!!
I love bacon wrapped shrimp, it's so easy to do on the George Foreman Grill cuz the shrimp is already cooked, so it just takes a few mins on the grill to heat and cook the bacon, and I can cook just a few at a time. It doesn't take many to fill me up! I dip it in this creole mustard recipe I got out of a magazine. I modified it and use greek yogurt for the sour cream, and the splenda/brown sugar mix instead of just brown sugar. And onion powder for the minced onion. I cut the bacon into 3 pieces instead of just 2. Here is the original recipe then I made my own modifications:
Bacon-Wrapped Shrimp With Creole Mustard
Prep time; 20 mins. (it's way less time if you use the already peeled deveined and cooked shrimp in the bags)
Total time; 35 mins.
Servings; 8
1/2 c. whole grain Dijon mustard
1/4 c. sour cream
1 tpsp. minced red onion
1 tpsp. packed brown sugar
1/2 tsp.worcestershire sauce
1/4 tsp. tabasco
24 large shrimp,peeled & deveined(about 1 lb.)
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
12 slices bacon,halved crosswise
wooden toothpicks
CREOLE SAUCE.............
In small bowl, combine mustard, sour cream,onion, sugar, worcestershire sauce and tabasco sauce; cover and refrigerate. Sprinkle shrimp with thyme. Wrap 1 half slice bacon around each shrimp with thyme; secure with toothpick.
Heat large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add shrimp; cook tumbling once, until shrimp are cooked through and bacon is crisp, 5 to 6 minutes per side. Remove toothpicks; arrange on platter. Serve warm with sauce.

Yes! I was sleeved at 1pm today and everything has been great! They keep an IV in you full of liquids and happy juice! :smile1:
I have a little bit of gassy feelings everyonce in a while but I get up and walk and it helps so much. Cant drink anything for the first 24 hrs but you can swish Water in your mouth and spit it out. I have found that chewing on a wet rag, although not very pretty, helps tremendously! the drain bag isnt as bad as i was thinking it would be. Whew!
So far so good! the care here is excellent so far! :smile1: will post more later!

Great news! I cannot wait to shake my type 2 diabetes!!! WTG!

Oh boy....like the rest of you I am in the same boat. when I started inquiring about a week and a half ago after many, many hours of research; I made the inquiry to Trish, filled out my health questionaire, and was settled on a date (April 23rd). the only thing left to do was send in a deposit. Well, then all this drama started! I have had email correspondence with Dr. Kelly ( prior to Trish leaving) and talked on the phone to Trish. she let me know that she was no longer booking for Dr. Kelly and did not bad mouth ( she said she didn't want to be unethical) but she felt is was a necessary move. Hmmmm.. She also has received rave reviews about her care and genuine concern for Dr. Kelly's patients. Now...what to do? I don't know except I have done a bit more research and dr. Ponce de leon also has good credentials and many satisfied patients. I have already booked my tickets for San Diego for April 22nd ( thank goodness it's through reward mileage...so I can get a refund of my miles back into my account) but I have to be just as certain with the decision to go with this Dr. as I was about Dr. Kelly. I have yet to decide if I will go directly through Dr. Kelly or go with a different surgeon. All I know is, just do your due diligence, research, ask questions, and follow your gut..( no pun intended!! That's my plan!

I went to the doc today and I have an update as to why the ng tube is being used. I was told that it decompresses the stomach to help extract the gas and acids and minimizes vomiting. I must admit I did not have vomiting except when I woke up and found the tube gagging me because I was trying to throw it up out of me lol.

@Spirits... yep, my hubby and I fought over this too. He is having a FIT.. he wasn't keen on me doing this in the first place.. you know.. the usual.. blah, blah, blah.. just get up and go to the gym with me.. stop eating late.. get up in the morning and go walk... whatever! Yes dear... sure thing.. yep, it's that easy! (insert rolling of the eyes and sarcasm here)
Once i convinced him that this "drastic" surgery (his words) was warranted, he seemed to be ok.. except when I mentioned Mexico.. then he really tripped! After many calls with Trish AND a call from Dr. Kelly (I mean what US surgeon does that???) he was okay...
Now this... I've taken 3 steps forward, and now 3 steps back... I NEED this.. I WANT this... but damn, what's a woman to do??? There are a lot of competent doctors in Mexico, but if you dig deep enough , don't they all have issues?? Hell, if this were covered by my insurance, I might not care as much because I'd have a patient advocate, and truth be told, a mighty good lawyer if something went askew.. but since it's not covered and I don't have legal resources.. if something happens.. I'm **** out of luck... (pardon my french)

Well, I am a COMPLETE mess over this. I just got off the phone with Trish who told nme she had good news and bad news...I told her, I don't care in which order she gave it, just tell it to me straight! She didn't go into detail but said she is no longer working with him and when pushed she said she still loves him, he's an excellent surgeon but she couldn't recommend him. She's been wanting to do this for a long time. She's been working with Dr., Ponce and when I asked her why she didn't recommend Dr. Ponce when I first got started researching, she said she didn't want to sway my decision.
Now, not trying to be a "Mom" about this, but I told her that if she had Monetary or philisophical differences with Dr. Kelly that's one thing.. but if people are flying in from all across North America, she did have an obligation to let folks know if there was an issue about his ability as a surgeon...
I've done research like many of you.. but I've also relied on the testimony of those that have gone through this before me. At the end of the day, that's what people do, whether in the states or not... I was initially impressed with ALL of the doctors, and thought.. Dang, how can anybody choose??? I was actually thinking to myself that I had to get over going to "Mexico".. because good health care is not just exclusive to the United States...
Oh well, I digress... I'm pissed, upset, disappointed, etc.. with this new issue. I was already dealing with my insurance company that said NO bariatric surgery was covered. Then I had to figure out how to pay, what I had in savings, what I could take out from 401k, when I could have the surgery, etc... and now this...
This is not about money.. I think we all know that... yes, you can research until the cows come home, but at the end of the day, it has to be a gut decision based on feelings/ facts, etc...
Unfortunately... my gut is full of mashed potatoes and meatloaf!!!! I can't even think straight and don't know what to do.
I NEED this surgery... and damn if I don't feel like maybe this is a sign..Jenny Craig?? weight watchers??
Seannie

In the interest of protecting everyone from potential harm, I just wanted to let everyone know that andersonlj is back. His new handle is IowaAndy.
Irene, on other forums, when you ban someone, you can block their IP. Is that not possible here?
He responded to my inquiry with a nasty private message from this post. I guess he didn't like that I recognized him after his rant about what a terrible site VST was and how there were much better support sites out there. Yet, he is back.
http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/topic/30290-its-girl-scout-cookie-seasonaaarrrrgggghhh/page__p__261496#entry261496
Just be careful, y'all. I can handle his poison, but others may not.

Trish is not working for Dr. Kelly anymore because he is taking over his own bookings and his wife is in charge of it. Dr. Kelly will not be using co-ordinators anymore. It is not indication to not have surgery with Dr. Kelly.

I do not want to freak anyone out cause I am soooo tired of people doing that to me, everyone has to make their OWN decisions, do your research and if you feel comfortable go for it, if you have doubts then don't do it... I am at a place right now I just feel overwhelmed and need to clear my head.

Yeah, and I think everyone needs to talk to them directly and stop listening to everything that is being said on here. you can't please all of the people all the time. If you have aleady made your decision and you are comfortable with then go with it and stop listening to all the rubbish.

How would any of you feel if you found out that someone was deliberately trying to take food out of your family's mouth by spreading rumors about your career? A career that you have spent years and years training and educating yourself in? I dont think that would make any of you very happy and especially when everyone keeps asking you the same questions over and over and over again. ALM didnt even have the balls to tell Dr. Kelly to his face! They just started moving patients to Dr. Garcia and he had NO IDEA WHAT WAS GOING ON!! CLASSY!!! And I know this first hand because I spoke to Dr. Kelly personally when all this started back at the beginning of January.
I dont blame Dr. Kelly a bit for being offended and changing his attitude or even being rude. He has worked damn hard to become the surgeon that he is today, I researched the hell out of him before I made the decision to go with him.... His credentials and record speaks for itself and I am sure he is tired of hearing all the bullshit that A Lighter Me is spreading.... I easily found his license #2006280 and verified it at www.cedulaprofesional.sep.gob.mx/cedula/indexAvanzada.action so GottaGo, get a grip.
Isnt it funny how Linda and Sandy from ALighterMe didnt mind standing next to Dr. Kelly at his induction into FACS last year (www.prweb.com/releases/2011/10/prweb8910330.htm) Do all of you understand how elite that group of surgeons really is and for him to be recognized speaks volumes!! He was an awesome surgeon back then and ALM didnt mind putting that all over his credentials on their website at the time.... so what happened? I will tell you what happened, JEALOUSY.. ALM didnt like the fact that Dr. Kelly was still working with Trish (the other woman!! Oh, my!!!) and she was giving his patients what ALM couldnt, PERSONAL ATTENTION!!!
Gottago, you really need get off these boards. We all know that you are Sandy or Linda or one of their trolls and trying to drum up more business for Dr. Garcia. Why dont you GO DO YOUR JOB and really go out and market Dr. Garcia and build his business and reputation instead of trying to ruin an excellent surgeon's reputation and wasting all this time on these boards?
Give Dr. Garcia what he is paying you for.. representation of his skills! Not a smear campaign against another doctor!

Right, smKeller HAS cut down every MX surgeon, except for the one he went to, who has also had a death in his past. And if ALM has cut their ties with Dr Kelly, why is he still on all their websites? That's because they WANT people to think he's affiliated with these other surgeons who weren't even bariatric surgeons a yr ago. They are using Dr Kelly on their websites to get interest and draw people to them and then getting patients on the phone to schedule their surgeries, and then pulling the old switcheroo. We can't in good conscious book you with Dr Kelly because he had a questionable death a half a yr ago, but we've been booking for him with good conscious all these months, but we suddenly have a conscious. They are stealing Dr Kelly's patients and giving them to other inexperienced surgeons by using lies and scare tactics, because they know people will trust them over the surgeons, because they're patient coordinators/advocates. It's pathetic, unprofessional, and unethical.
Here's the website I just went to a few sec's ago. There's Dr Kelly right under Dr Garcia!
http://www.alighterme.com/doctors.html
And here's an article in May of 2011 where ALM is adding 3 new new surgeons. The article is dated May 2011 and Dr Garcia was still studying to be a bariatric surgeon!!! This is from that article.......
Mexico.html" rel="external nofollow">http://www.prlog.org/11475485-alighterme-add-three-new-bariatric-surgeons-and-operates-in-guadalajara-mexico.html
Dr. Fernando Garcia started his academic career earning a physicians degree in 1999. In 2003 he progressed to medical school, after completing a one-year postgraduate internship (1999-2000) and a one-year social service clinical (2000-2001). In 2007 Dr. Garcia graduated as a general surgeon. Dr. Garcia is committed to his field with continual education in numerous bariatric surgery courses.
Here's Dr Kelly standing beside Sandy and Linda when he was initiated and recently became a member of the prestigious American College of Surgeons, this was just a few months ago:
http://www.prweb.com/releases/2011/10/prweb8910330.htm
Do you're research people, all I did was take 5 mins on google and found the above info. Now that I posted this, I expect Dr Kelly to be removed from the site, but as of today, he's there.
As a surgeon, how would you feel if you found out that your patient coordinators were stabbing you in the back, telling potential patients they weren't booking for you any more and using your good reputation and giving your potential patients away?

I am going with Kelly, and don't have any doubts. I was scheduled with Garcia but changed my mind after looking more into his credentials.
I don't really care about bedside manner or how "Christian" my doctor is. I look for a good record, one death is not a big deal, and experience.
Some of the best doctors in the world are rude and liars but when they cut someone open they know what to do.
Just what I look for in a surgeon....

???!!!!!! WHAT, I have never heard this, I will wake up with a tube in my throat??!! Is that standard for every doctor???

Hi everyone,
I was sleeved yesterday morning and came home from the hospital today. Just wanted to share my story
First, I have to admit it's not nearly as rough as I expected. Of course it's still early but I hope things keep running this smoothly. I expected more pain and nausea to be honest. Nausea controlled well with dissovable Zofran. I do have lots of gurgles though and was so happy when I was able to burp LOL. I've had the hiccups twice. Not fun. Pain controlled well. Was on a morphine drip in the hospital since dilaudid gives me itchies, but apparently morphine does too. I've clawed marks all over my body. When I passed my leak test this morning, they brought me crystal light and chicken broth. After 2 tablespoons I felt like I was going to burst! So full. Switched to liquid vicodin for pain, drain removed, and home I went.
So far I've drank 1/4 of a Protein shake, which I find tastes funny and makes my mouth slimy, a few sips of Water, and right now I'm drinking some broth. Been home for about 4 hours and I've slept for 2.
So hopefully this will help my fellow 2/6ers and those still pre-op. Also gives me a reason to sit up for a while at the computer
Thanks for all of the support! Together, we can do this!!!

Thanks to everyone of you...... I have been pretty doped up today.... All is well. I am sore but not overwelmingly. I had three procedures rolled into one though. I had the sleeve done as well as having my gall bladder removed. The doc also fixed a hiatal hernia while he was in there. They said I will be sore from all three different procedures in different areas. Even so it's no that bad. What is worse than the pain is that I can't have anything to drink until in the morning. Thats almost 36 hrs. without a drink. I am a Water drinking fool and I could really use some. For those of you that are still waiting you can rest assured that you can do it.......
Thanks again,
Mater