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After safely driving all over Mexico for a month last year and experiencing excellent healthcare and a warm and friendly culture for myself, I would feel very comfortable going there for surgery and saving loads of money. Fortunately my RNY in 2003 was covered nearly 100% by my insurance company and I did not have to go through the red tape of supervised 6-mos diets, psychiatric evaluations, and nutrition counseling. But I have a close family member whose insurance does not cover WLS. We are considering the gastric sleeve and if and when he decides to go through with it then we will travel to MX for surgery. The gastric sleeve is in fact a fairly straightforward surgery and the cost in MX can be as little as 10% of the cost in the USA. According to the ASMBS it has less early complications than the DS or RNY. I don't see any data on long term complications but I am sure it does not carry the risk of nutritional deficiencies as the DS and RNY. I would love to hear the real life experience of people who have had the gastric sleeve in MX. Thank you.

Hello, I haven’t posted an update in awhile. I’m down 100lbs and have basically been able to maintain since my lower body lift in August! RYN - Oct 2016 - 292 LBL - Aug 2017 - 197 Today 191lbs Everything has come pretty easily to me and no complications! I don’t exercise very much, just keep busy with my son and try to walk on treadmill 1-2 times a week, some ab work and push-ups here and there. I want to maintain at 185, so I’m back to logging food and watching things a little closer. But can’t believe how far I’ve come. Planning another round of plastic surgery probably for April - revision to upper tummy with breast lift as well as a small arm and thigh lift. Would also like some fat transfer to butt! Have my consult in two weeks.

Nine days until plastics in Mexico! About me: 53 year old female, VSG in August, 2015, highest recorded weight 289.5, weight at time of VSG 256, currrent weight 166 (BMI 27.5). I certainly feel like I've done my research on plastic surgeons! I did a ton of research online (BariatricPal, ObesityHelp, RealSelf among other sites) and consulted with two plastic surgeons in the US and two in Mexico. I have decided to get plastics with Dr. Francisco Sauceda in Monterrey, MX. I met with him in person in November. He spent two hours with me talking about his approach, the process, what he felt was realistic for me and what was not. I stayed in the hotel where his patients stay once discharged from the clinic so I could get a feel of what it will be like to recover there. I was fortunate enough to meet three of his American patients who were each about one week post plastics. They all raved about him, the quality of care, the already visible cosmetic improvement. I marveled at how ambulatory they were just one week out. The approach that Dr. Sauceda uses is in many ways quite different from that of other surgeons. They don't use general anesthesia and instead use epidural nerve blocks, Versed type medication for sedation - I think it's called twilight sedation - and this allows them to perform longer surgeries. He and his partner work on the patient simultaneously so they can complete more procedures in less time. So where other plastic surgeons had said I'd need multiple surgeries spaced out over a few months, with this technique most of the procedures can be done at once. I'll have brachioplasty (arm lift), breast lift (haven't decided on implants yet; don't want big boobs anymore but want perky ones), lower body lift including abdominoplasty (not sure if regular or fleur de lys), pubic lift and inner thigh lift all in one day, and then 3-4 days later will have a neck lift and lower face lift. It's going to be BRUTAL but I'd rather get this over and done with and move on with my life! They keep you in the clinic for as long as you're on narcotic pain meds, typically 3-4 days, and then get transferred to the Hampton Inn for continued recovery where for another 10-14 days you get daily visits from the nurse who will help with bathing, cleaning incisions, helping take off/put on the compression garments. Dr. Sauceda apparently comes by and visits very frequently too, not sure if it's daily. Many of you will ask about the price for this. All inclusive, I was quoted $21,500. This includes all the procedures, the stay in the clinic, the stay in the hotel, surgeon and hospital fees, nursing care, compression garment, meds and bandages. A driver will meet me at the airport and bring me to the hotel, and up to $600 of my airfare will be reimbursed. I didn't bother going through insurance and will pay out of pocket. I am really fortunate: I do speak Spanish although you can apparently get by fine if you dont. Also, my work is computer based so I can work from anywhere. I've decided that I'll stay in Mexico a full six weeks (if I can stand the boredom). The reason I chose six weeks is that in my consultation with Dr. Sauceda, he said that I could resume normal activities and exercise after six weeks. He said the danger for his patients is between weeks 3 and 6 when they start to feel better and have more energy and then overdo it. His fear is that at this point, the resorbable sutures are at 50% of their strength and the incisions are still healing so the risk of complications when overdoing it is very high and incisions can open up. I also think that if the drains come out and I somehow develop a seroma, I'd rather still be under the care of my original PS team. So I'll be in Mexico til the end of March. I'll post some before pictures soon. I hope these posts will be helpful to all of you. I'll do my best to answer any of your questions! Lastly, one of the wonderful patients I met in Monterrey vlogged about her experience there: She also interviewed Dr. Sauceda:

I had my surgery on the 18th of January..I've lost 40#'s. I had some complications after the surgery that prevented me to walk much but now I'm moving along. I noticed today that I didn't get winded walking around a grocery store or had to lean on something. I'm on stage 3 and I'm eating refried beans with scrambled eggs in the Am, chicken salad for lunch with 3 crackers, and for dinner it's 3 crackers with humus. I can't stand the protein shakes so I habe to figure out another way to get my protein.

Thank you very much it helps a-lot to know that someone else was almost in the same situation as i am and you succeeded thanks to the lord. I was about to give up and to forget everything about the surgery and just don’t keep showing up to my next visit but you know what im not giving up until I’ve donde what i have to do. I will leave this in hands of my lord because he knows that i deserve a second chance in life because being obese and having complications for the obesity is not life.

Wow, it looks like you've had a tougher journey than most. I hope all of the complications are behind you. Keep up the good work!

You are an amazing source of strength. I’m hoping my experience will be as smooth as yours. I met with my doctor on Thursday to make sure I knew what to take in terms of meds for the day of procedure and after. He wants me to take the generic Emend for nausea the morning of and then one more the day after in addition to the nausea patch they will give me at the hospital. This should cover any nausea for the first two days. I will also be on Librax for cramping also the morning of the procedure and every four hours for the first two days. After those initial two days it is as needed. The final med is for acid reflux which I’m to take the next day and then for two weeks after. He really reassured me about this procedure as I went in there scared and nervous. He told me I’d be fine and that he’s done at least 50 ESGs at this point and hasn’t seen any complications. What’s interesting is that he tells me that he has been steadily doing 2 per week now! I think Mel was right in saying this procedure is catching on. In all honesty I’m struggling with the preop liquid diet. I’ve tried for three days to stick to it and by the late afternoon I cave and eat something. Do you guys think this is a real problem? Will this affect my procedure? I will try to stick to it for the remaining three days. I guess that is why I needed this procedure in the first place. I’m also worried that. If I can’t stick to it preop does that mean I won’t be able to succeed postop. Any thoughts? Please keep me in your thoughts on February 6. I have grown to view you all as family and I truly hope our paths cross one day. I never would have had the courage to do this without you all cheering me on! All my love.

Great job! How did you fair overall with the surgery? Any complications because of size? Any words of advice? Keep up the great work! Sent from my SM-N950U using BariatricPal mobile app

I had my surgery on October 9th after having complications and 2 more surgeries I can say I am doing very well I have lost 65lbs and lots of inches I feel great can do things that I haven't been able to do in a long time I wish all of you the best, this site is great and keeps me going thank you all.

2 Years after my surgery I started having problems. I'm hoping someone out there can tell me if they went through this or give me advice. 5 months ago (2 years after my surgery) I started vomiting. I would have SERIOUS pain in by my left shoulder blade. The vomiting was/is mostly very foamy. First I thought is was the type of foods I was eating. It started out with a biscuit, pizza, pancakes. I thought I might have been allergic to gluten. Then I would start throwing up vegetables, cheese, anything, etc. Even though the vomiting concerned me, I was more interested in what caused the pain in my left shoulder blade. The only was to ease that pain was to stick my finger down my throat until I almost threw up a lung. Getting EVERYTHING out!!! Like I said, the foam is weird. I went to a gastro. dr. and he thought it might be my gall bladder. They did a ultrasound and didn't find anything. He gave me an RX for the nausea. The RX is supposed to be strong, he said cancer patients take it to control their nausea after chemo. Well, that didn help. He said if it continued to have an endoscopy done. I've been putting it off. Does anyone have this problem or do you have any idea what is happening to me?

That is insane! Do you mind sharing tips on how you lost so much? Did you have complications or are you a fast loser? I want to fire up my weight loss. I will be 6 months post op on the 14th of feb. I started at 297...day of surgery I was 286.4... first month I lost 27 pounds. I am currently 232...so overall weightloss 62 lbs, 54 since surgery. Sent from my SM-N910C using BariatricPal mobile app

I converted to bypass from sleeve 2016.Have done well.It is a little slower in recovery.Also more time to take care for sure chewing really well and eating slowly.I have lost another 62 lbs.I'm happy I did it. They also redid hiatal hernia.No reflux,no complications.

No, you're right. I had been doing so well - people were eating "regular food" all around me and regardless of how good it smelled/looked, I would just eat my little container of chicken salad or sip my broth. I couldn't believe I was able to do it, but the fear of eating something that could damage my sleeve or cause other complications was an excellent deterrent. I think adding foods back in is actually making things a little harder. With more choices comes more responsibility - and accountability, LOL. I just need to slow down and keep things simple for as long as possible I guess. Thanks!

Jeez, y'all. This thread won't die! Can we all just agree that increased dependence on alcohol is a risk after surgery due to various factors, that encouraging others to go against their surgeon's guidelines is unwise, and that some people will still go their own way, with or without complications, and it's not possible to argue them out of it?

According to the internet: Nausea and vomiting are the most common complaints after bariatric surgery, and they are typically associated with inappropriate diet and noncompliance with a gastroplasty diet (ie, eat undisturbed, chew meticulously, never drink with meals, and wait 2 hours before drinking after solid food is consumed). If these symptoms are associated with epigastric pain, significant dehydration, or not explained by dietary indiscretions, an alternative diagnosis must be explored. One of the most common complications causing nausea and vomiting in gastric bypass patients is anastomotic ulcers, with and without stomal stenosis. Ulceration or stenosis at the gastrojejunostomy of the gastric bypass has a reported incidence of 3% to 20%. Although no unifying explanation for the etiology of anastomotic ulcers exists, most experts agree that the pathogenesis is likely multifactorial. These ulcers are thought to be due to a combination of preserved acid secretion in the pouch, tension from the Roux limb, ischemia from the operation, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) use, and perhaps Helicobacter pylori infection. Evidence suggests that little acid is secreted in the gastric bypass pouch; however, staple line dehiscence may lead to excessive acid bathing of the anastomosis. Treatment for both marginal ulcers and stomal ulcers should include avoidance of NSAIDs, antisecretory therapy with proton-pump inhibitors, and/or sucralfate. In addition, H pylori infection should be identified and treated, if present. So generally what this is saying is 1) stay off all NSAIDs such as aspirin and excedrin that contains aspirin. 2) use a proton pump inhibitor such as prilosec (omeprazole). My surgeon recommended I take this daily for the first year so that my stomach would heal properly. At the end of my first year I discontinued it. I am now 5 years post-op. 3) make sure you were tested for Helicobacter pylori infection. This is a very common infection, one that is somewhat hidden because of a lack of symptoms. The three most important elements after RNY gastric bypass surgery are to meet your daily protein, fluid and vitamin requirements. Food is secondary because your body is converting your stored fat into the energy that drives your body. Thus you lose weight. So my first concerns are not focused on food but rather to make sure you are meeting your daily protein and fluid requirements.

Just had my one year anniversary, and no, nothing I would change. The restriction I get with my sleeve is more than enough, and with some foods I still struggle to eat much without filling up too quickly (and feeling miserable). I liked the idea of the sleeve because it required less worry/fuss with vitamins and I was also a problem child with portion control. If I was a sweet tooth junky I likely would have opted for the bypass instead. I also went with the sleeve because it was supposed to be less invasive. Then I ended up having some complications anyway so I guess in the end it didn't matter much...lol. Point is that in the end that was something I was really concerned about initially and then realized that it shouldn't have played into my decision as much as I thought.

I had a sleeve surgery done on 10/28/17. I had a bleed after the surgery and lost a good amount of blood before they realised and fixed it. Other than that no complications. Before the surgery I have had my TSH, T3, and T4 tested multiple times. My TSH was generally on the high end of normal (4-4.5), though once it was a 5.6. T3 and T4 have always been within normal ranges. Since the surgery I have been feeling a bit manic and very anxious. I am on antidepressents but have been on the same ones for 3 years. A few weeks ago (about 90 days after surgery) I had bloodwork done and my TSH has gone up to 7.4. My T3 and T4 are still within normal range, but my TSH has never been that high before. My B12 and B6 were also very high, though I have no idea if that could be related. My question is, did anyone's TSH go up after surgery? My surgeons office is being very unhelpful when I tried to ask them about it and I feel like they are just brushing me off. I honestly feel like they were so supportive before surgery, and now that it's over they rush through appointments and just say whatever I'm feeling is either normal or unrelated to the surgery. The NP there said that there is no way the TSH increase could be related to the surgery or the blood loss, and that stress would not cause it to go up. She also said that the elevated B12 and B6 might be because of my antidepressants, but I don't see how considering they have not changed. I am afraid that if I go to an Endocrinologist they are just going to want to put me on Synthroid, but if the high TSH is something that will resolve on its own in a few months I don't want to do that. I am also not sure if the psych symptoms could be related to either the TSH or the high B12 and B6. Has anyone had this happen to them? Do you know if the combination of the stress on my body from blood loss and low caloric intake, and the surgery itself, could cause my TSH to be elevated? Any thoughts or advice would be really appreciated!

The question is what do you want. This does not sound like love. My husband doesn’t want me to have this either- he has many reasons. He has been tremendously supportive though because it is my body and my life. If your husband says he will leave, let him leave. This might be emotionally hard for you at first, but take care of yourself. This is your life and you only get one. You are not ugly-Love yourself and be positive. Life is so short and I know you know this. There can be complications with this surgery, but chances are small. If you follow doctors orders, you will do great. Sounds like you don’t feel so well now- your body is becoming a complication now so take care of yourself,please love yourself, and if you want this you can have this. You are worth it. I am due to have my surgery February 7th and hope you will join all of us on May 8th with your journey. Good luck!

Hello im a nurse of 41 yrs and have been approved for gastric bypass for many reasons including metabolic syndrome, failed diets, painful osteoarthritis gastric ulcers from those meds, hypercholesteremia etc etc ive been scheduled for my insurance approved procedure now twice first time I discussed with husband he threatened divorce and was going to start to pack his bags , I gave it a 6 month effort of strong exercise regime along with my nursing schedule have had to drop my arthritis meds due to non healing ulcers after 3 EGD's finally healed and rescheduled and although I've been exercising the very best I could have I've GAINED 4-5 pounds and my bones and body is in extreme pain...again he stated he's going to divorce me if I have the surgery he's 14 yrs younger exercises regularly but can't and won't understand a postmenopausal series of events leading me to my present health crisis..I don't over eat in fact I eat very healthy but liver enzymes cholesteroland glucose keep going up..( both my sisters are obese have headaches and high cholesterol..)I can't get him to attend doctors meetings or classes he just gets garbled info from his work customers of their troubles having surgery and I on the other hand have waited and watched at least seven other nurses in my own hospital department have my doctor perform their surgery w/o complications and great results i want a better quality of life of life and hopefully extend my life but I also love and want my husband to stay with me i know if issues don't resolve we'll get divorced or I'll get heavy and have heart problems develope or develop more ulcers which could end cancerous( aunt died of gastric cancer she also was a stressed out nurse died at age 60) I'm presently turning 64 i don't know what to do I feel ugly look ugly in pain have no love life at present because of the way I feel and he keeps telling me to get off my fat @ss and just exercise more... Please someone help if you've had this occur what did you do ? my surgery reschedule is May8th thank you for listening

My BMI was under 35 but rapidly creeping up towards it when I consulted with bariatric surgeons in LA. They were all pessimistic that I'd be covered even if my BMI reached 35, and even though I had high blood pressure at the time as well as PCOS and Addison's disease (which requires you to take steroids that make you pack on weight). I had Blue Shield of CA then (2015). They still would have performed the surgery on me, but I would have been responsible for the cost, which ranged from $29,000 to $35,000 at their offices. An insurance coordinator said that even if I was approved for coverage, my portion of the expenses would be around $5,000. I just went to Mexico instead. $4200 in total, which included two nights at the Marriott. I had no hoops to jump through prior to surgery. I picked the exact week I wanted the surgery, to fit with my schedule. I had a really positive experience and no complications. I exceeded my goal and have been maintaining at my "dream" weight for more than a year now. My BMI is 19.5. I think my surgery was just as successful as it would have been if I'd gotten it done by a local surgeon. So don't lose hope if your insurance denies you!

You're very welcome. No, I haven't experienced any major longterm side effects or any complications. The only thing I need to be careful with is having too much to eat (I won't be in excruciating pain or anything severe, but will feel unpleasantly full) or having hot liquids like coffee too soon after eating. I began drinking with meals a few months post-op, in moderation, without any issues except for hot drinks. And I also resumed drinking coffee, in moderation, a few months post-op. I normally have iced coffee, but when that hasn't been available, I've had it hot. When we were on vacation I had a larger brunch than typical, and my coffee had been forgotten about by the server and then finally brought right at the end of the meal, hot. I drank it all too fast and got sick for a couple of hours. That's it. I was ready to go zip lining by the afternoon.

My sister is a respected doctor as well. That being said, there are sh!tty doctors out there, just as there are crappy patients. Don't glorify doctors and surgeons just because they are family. That makes you seem even more shallow. A good doctor will advise his patients and put down guidelines, but no doctor has the right to call you names and belittle you; unless that's how they do it in your family..??? Also, you said if a patient screws up the doctor pays the price? How's that exactly? If the doctor prescribed the correct program and the patient strays from the program, it's on the patient 100%, not the doctor. And if insurance covered the procedure it's actually the psychologists fault for not recognizing dangerous habits in the patient. I don't see doctors or surgeons getting any heat for that. You are obsessing over things that don't even exist. Unless the doctor deserved a malpractice suit...it would never come to pass. We all know doctors and surgeons have much more protection then we mere patients do. You are rooting for the wrong team. Then again blood is thicker than water, so I suppose if a patient had complications from a bad surgery, you would still side with the almighty surgeon. Sent from my SM-N910C using BariatricPal mobile app

I'm fairly new to the site as I'm still in the pre-op stage. I've had 3 of 6 insurance mandated nutritionist visits and am having my psych eval and pre-op extended nutrition class in Feb. Hoping to have all requirements met and ppwk submitted in April for approval. If approved, I will not be able to have the time off for surgery until very end of May or early June due to my work demands. Like many people I've read about on here, I'm ready for a change and sick and tired of being sick and tired. I've struggled with my weight most of my life and have spent more time trying to lose weight in my life than not. I am now at my heaviest and was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes last year. My husband is 6'4" 195 lbs and has been pretty thin and fit most of his life. Though he knows my weight struggles and complicated relationship with food existed long before I met him 23 years ago, he has also witnessed my successes and disappointments since then. Last October I met with a bariatric surgeon my friend recommended and came home even more convinced that this was the right choice for me. I think when I told my husband I was going to pursue the idea and learn more, he went along with it perhaps not thinking I'd really go through with it. When I actually started my nutritionist visits in November he realized I was serious and the first question he asked was, "How much is this going to cost?" I cried at his response that he didn't care to learn more about the surgery or ask me questions about my well-being, but rather only showed concern for the bottom line. I told him this is now a LIFE SAVING decision for myself. It's not about vanity or just changing my life. I believe I MUST do this to SAVE MY LIFE! Of course I assured him insurance would hopefully approve me and cover most of it but that I'd budget for the anticipated out of pocket expenses in the meantime. I've kept him abreast of the little things the nutritionist is having me integrate monthly into my life and share with him tidbits about the procedure, things I read, etc. When I told him I'm now halfway through the 6 month waiting period, he replied, "So, you're still going to go through with it?" I told him of course that I had not changed my mind. He continues to ask me how this is going to be different than my other previous weight loss attempts... that if this is mainly restricting me from consuming calories then of course I'm going to lose weight and that I should just save myself the money and just restrict myself... he believes this is just a permanent, non-reversible way of restricting or starving myself for the rest of my life. I told him that eventually some people can go back to eating "normal" meaning not just having liquid diets and eating like birds for the rest of their lives. His reply, "Well, isn't that why you're getting it?! So, you CAN'T eat NORMAL? Isn't that what got you to where you are in the first place?" *SIGH* Now, I have to say my husband really does sound like a jerk. Really, he's not in any other way. It's just he lacks the ability to understand weight struggles and needs to work on emotional tact sometimes. I know he loves me and wants me to be healthy. I think it does bother him that I'm not as active as him and he really doesn't believe that I'm "big enough" to need bariatric surgery. I assured him he has NO idea how bad it is... I informed him that BMI 40 is considered morbid obesity and I am at 39 WITH diabetes... I'm a ticking time bomb. I also told him he has absolutely NO IDEA how deeply I hate myself right now. I hate how I look and feel. I've hated it for years. Even the evening I went for the bariatric surgery consult, I about cried. One of my friends who was sleeved 1.5 years ago came with me for support. My husband comes from the annoying mindset of "if you want to lose weight just eat less, move more." I told him if food/weight issues were that simple then a lot of people wouldn't struggle with it. He's the type of person that moans and groans when he sees weight loss shows - he just can't understand how/why someone would let themselves get to that point. I have my pre-op nutrition class on Feb. 18th. I told him he is welcome to come if he's interested, otherwise it's not mandated that he join me. Part of me wants him to come to show support but the other part of me doesn't because I think he's just going to be critical of it all and then he's going to become the food police on me post surgery. After spending "all this money" on these consults (that aren't covered by my insurance) and paying the difference my insurance doesn't pay, I fear my husband is going to ride my @ss for the rest of my life about everything I put in my mouth. Last night I gave him a great article about WLS I asked him to read. It explained how it's used as a tool, how it's not a magic bullet, the different procedures, and why bariatric surgeries are different than just cutting calories, exercising and dieting alone. It discussed how for sleeve/bypass patients it reduces the feeling of hunger by removing the hunger hormone and can often times reset someone "set point" and metabolic rate. All things I've already talked to my husband about... sometimes to a deaf or disbelieving ear. He said, "If I read this article do I still have to go to the class with you in Feb?" *rolling eyes* I told him he didn't have to go to the class at all - that was up to him. But, I would appreciate him reading the article because it was well written and I think helped explain a lot. He only read half the article last night... Hopefully he'll finish it tonight. *fingers crossed* I am still planning on moving forward with my surgery... praying I get approved... planning to start attending the support groups in February that my surgeon's office offers... it just makes me sad that my husband's lack of support, understanding, ignorance, etc. etc. is the thing that is making me hesitate ever so slightly. Can I handle someone being the food police on me for the rest of my life? Will he ever come around? I'm hopeful once he sees me be successful post-op, regain my physical/emotional/mental happiness, become more active with him and the kids, etc that he will move past it all and agree that it certainly saved my life. My weight struggles are so very personal to me and run so deep that I rarely discuss my weight issues with anyone. I am literally brought to tears at the mere mention of it and the "F" word to me is "FAT." I HATE that word!! Because of all this, I don't want to tell my family or my husband's family about the surgery until it is over and even then if I could avoid it coming up I would. My family and husband's family also are of the same mindset and would easily think "it's the easy way out" or a "copout." Sorry for the rant... needed to get it out... and I know there are others out there with similar people in their circles or have lacked support where they wanted it most.

Hi everyone, Long time reader, first time post. I am a 33 year old male with a BMI of 33 considering sleeve surgery. Other than having ulcerative colitis which is under control, I am a relatively healthy individual but have had weight issues my entire life. In addition, I have a bad family history of heart disease (both parents had heart attacks in their 40s andbypass surgeries in their 60s) and diabetes. With the arrival of my first child, I have naturally begun thinking more about the future and honestly freaked out about the future. I have been considering gastric sleeve surgery with my main motivation being to hopefully avoid some of these issues my parents have had. I met with a surgeon in my area who has said I am a 'perfect candidate' for the surgery but would love to hear the perspectives of anyone who has had the surgery not necessarily for immediate weight loss but more so to avoid future complications in life. Thanks everyone in advance for your advice!

Hi I’m also new on the site. I started the process a year ago and just got my surgery date last week. I had a few complications during the process and experienced some weight game which set me back. But hang in there because as soon as you get your date everything feels like it’s going super fast at least that is how i fee. I’m having surgery 2/27