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I had the gastric sleeve with Dr ceaser elenes. The surgery itself was 1000/10. Didn't feel any pain or experience any issues. Excepted the fact that I woke up speaking Spanish....😂😂😂. Followed the after diet for the first 3 months and lost 80lbs. Surgery date. June 1,2022 Price $3000 Travel $700 (from Miami to mexicali,Mexico). Hw 384lb Surgery 372lb Currently weight 291. Pros: The price extremely affordable. Had been getting dicked around by my insurnace for 3 years. The care (bedside manner) of the doctor. Getting a new lease on life(not to sound corny). No more early morning back pain. sleep apnea. Blood pressure meds. Cons. As with any out of the country surgery lack of a follow up. After the first three months your done no more care. You are on your own... kinda scary. But do I regret my decision hell No. A great price Great doctor Great facilities. I give it a rating of 9/10.

Three weeks today! Still dealing with the abdomen drain hole not fully closed, left arm numbness and swelling. The swelling is on my forearm so I kind of look like popeye especially since my upper arm is smaller now. Speaking of swelling, still super swollen especially as the day goes on. I knew this happened post op but I don’t think I really understood how much swelling was happening or how uncomfortable it was. Also hard to see real results when you’re puffed up like a water balloon. Not having pants fit was kind of alarming for me- I know it’s probably just the swelling but I can’t help but be worried that I’m bigger now.

Soo sorry for your cramps, try a hod pad...for me a little bit of cramps, I´m on my fourth day, hopefully tomorrow is my last. Yesterday in the weight in at the doctors appt I gained three pounds 😭, thanks the heavens the surgeon is out of town, and I got his assistant. The first question she asked me was if I consumed any food with sugar or not authorized in the program (they are very strict with that), I told her no, then asked if I was on my period, when I answered yes, she explain that´s normal, don´t worry about it, and put a little note for the surgeon. I'm on phase 4: soft food, eggs, and plantain, cassava puree, mozzarella and meat (without been grounded). I got to eat chicken breast and avocado in a restaurant for lunch yesterday, it was heaven, even though 95% of the plate went to a doggie bag.

I had the gastric sleeve a month and four days ago. I did not get a calorie level recommendation from anyone, no. Currently, I am eating every three or so hours, but I cannot stomach either protein powders or greek yogurt. So I eat mostly chicken, eggs, fish, ground beef and some veggies. Not a lot of fruit. Sometimes a half or a whole protein bar per day. I cannot eat much more than around 40-50 grams of meat at a time. If I eat more I will throw up. So, I'm pretty much eating as much as I can. The only way to increase the calories would be with fruit juice or something like that, which is not on my list of recommended foods.

Hello and welcome in the forum, its great to have peoples from other countries who contribute and share their journeys and knowledge. I didn't know anyone who had this surgery either, so this forum was super helpful. In the months waiting my surgery I read thousands of back pages. You are at a really difficult place in your journey. Everything is hard to learn, eating and drinking are difficult. Lots of people find it hard to drink the shakes, I just drank milk with dried milk powder in to boost the protein or milk with peanut butter and fruit. You just have to wait until you can have real food again. We have all been there, it sucks. There are still foods that are off my menu, mainly chicken and the very preloved cooked salmon. I hope that I can eat them one day but its still a small price to pay for my weight loss and getting my life back. I wouldn't change a thing You may get a stall in your weight loss soon. If you want to read up on it, put three week stall in the header. There are thousands of posts. It saves a lot of anguish and asking yourself 'What am I doing wrong' Just take it day by day and trust the process. Go back and ask your team if they have any info that will help you just now with food and drink choices and make sure you have enough medication for the nausea. Good luck in your journey

Hi there, it has been wonderful to read all of the stories here. I'm a 39-year old mother of three from Finland and have had RYGB 17 days ago. Here surgeons actually operate more RYGB than SG (contrary to US), and although I was set on SG before when I decided on needing the surgery, the surgeon did convince me with RYGB suiting me better in the end (and she is the surgeon in Finland who gets referred with the most difficult cases and operates a lot both in University hospital as well a privately, so I just ended up trusting her expertise). I don't know anyone personally who has had the surgery so nobody to really have discussions with about the downs (ups is another matter as I do have a family but obviously not all of the NSV's (a new term I learned today, yay) can be comprehended by someone who really has never been there. I started my journey with the decision in May, first appointment at the clinic June 2nd weighing 352 lb (160kg, I'm 5'10 tall so BMI about 50 at this point), 11 weeks later August 10th had a meeting with the surgeon and internist for approval (weighing 320 lb), had to have ECG and gastroscopy due to medical history to be approved, and the surgery was done 26th of August so jyst over two weeks ago. My weight that day was 317 lb (143,8kg), and currently it is 301 lb (136,6kg). Here in Finland we have the possibility to get the operation through regular healthcare system if we fullfil the criteria (BMI over 35 with obesity related diseases or BMI over 40 plus you need to have had experience before atleast of 6 months of conservative weight loss (can be from the past, does not need to be just then) and you need to lose 8% of your weight prior to surgery with atleast 3-4 weeks vlcd to make sure liver loses its fat to make surgery less risky). I obviously fullfilled the criteria and was referred to the process, but unfortunately due to Covid having resulted in so many cancellations of elective surgeries, the waiting time for surgery was more than a year in every University hospital (we have 5, so I called everyone of them). Here we have this wonderful thing, called progressive taxation which ensures that people who make decent money, don't really get to keep more than 50% of my paycheck so having good healthcare and free education (like University is free, free school meals up until you're 18) comes with a prize tag that we just have had to accept, so obviously I would have preferred to get the surgery for that regular prize (which would have been probably around 300 euros in total with the doctor's pre visits and the hospital days). However I quickly decided, and my hubby agreed, that waiting for a year, maybe even two, was too long as my body had gone through so much already last year. I was worried that too long of a wait would result in me yoyoing with my weight and more complications could have a really bad impact on my long term health. So, I ended going to a private hospital in Finland which in overall was a good experience, and I was able to go home the next day as planned. Tried to go to work 3 days later, but had to go back home after a couple of hours and just work from home the amount I was able to. After leaving the hospital I only took a couple of acetaminophens a day, which I found quite surprising. A week later I was already working regularly normal hours (mostly a desk job, no heavy lifting). No vomiting but a couple of times now that after two weeks I was allowed to have crisp bread (and somehow thought it was a good idea to make it less dry by combining it with cream cheese) have I had it block the stoma or just become just a big clump inside the pouch. Not a pleasent feeling, and tried to drink a bit, and I could feel the fluid staying in the esophagus so just waited it out... Thing I find most annoying is that I have never been a person to drink my calories, not a soup person, especially pureed soups are not at all my thing. Vlcd with the shakes was already a 5 week misery and the the liquid and pureed food phase now after surgery. I already hate all the things I previously used to like such as protein puddings and smoothies. I like the textures of differents foods, fresh fruits and vegetables and can't have most of them in a long time. I have started to chew foods like sweet paprika in my mouth to get the experience and then spit it out to not cause problems. I had no idea I would grow such a disgust (it really is like a physical feeling of nausea) towards so many liquid and pureed foods so quickly.. Feels like right now, at this point when I really don't have any of the NSV's etc effects yet, that it is quite hard to stay in positive at times when the physical nausea, inability to join the family dinners etc. makes you feel down. Maybe atleast some of you understand where I'm coming from, some support would be encouraging. At least reading threads about different topics related to WLS is already something to keep my mind of negativity. Final note; WLS aka weight loss surgery sounds so much more upbeat than our translation in Finnish which is Lihavuusleikkaus (direct translation to Englush for it is Obesity surgery). It sort of has the emphasis on the obesity rather than what it aims to do. Person who came up with the terminology must not have been obese themselves... For anyone who actually read the whole post, thank you, I appreciate it! Sent from my AC2003 using BariatricPal mobile app

I luckily stopped myself from swallowing an accidental gulp, I got it down in three and it hurt but it could have been worse.

I was just having this conversation with my sister the other day. I find it really interesting when it comes to ideas about bariatric surgery and birth control. I had the Paragard IUD when I had my RNY in September 2013. I started experiencing horrible hormonal acne three years later, and was prescribed Yaz. I had my IUD removed because the bleeding was terrible. I had never had heavy periods prior to the Paragard and when it was removed, the heavy bleeding stopped. Yaz has kept my skin blemish free for 6 years. Even as a RNY patient, it has been completely effective against pregnancy. So, for some women, there may be an increased risk of malabsorption of the BCP, but that has not been my experience. My GYN knows my surgical history and told me years ago it’s totally fine for me and my husband to continue using as our primary method of BC.

I am so rubbish at this and have been since day 1. I gobble the first three-quarters of any meal (because I pretty much know what volume of what types of food my stomach will hold after almost 10 months). It's only then that I can get control of myself and slow down a bit. Even then if I'm busy at work or something I just eat the whole meal quickly. I wish I could be better at it. Maybe I leave it until I'm too hungry before eating! I also drink far too quickly. Sorry this has been no use at all has it?

Almost everyone hits their first stall AROUND the three week mark. Some before and some after. You will go through a few of these along the way so if the scale is getting to you try to weigh yourself less often.

I’ve bought premier protein vanilla and add a teaspoon of my extract flavors…. My favorite is almond. On Amazon you can find almost any flavor imaginable. I’m on day nine of full liquid… three shakes and some sf jello, pudding, or low sodium tomato juice. Add some of those extracts to your water too. Keep strong you got this

I had an issue with that about a year after WLS. They checked several things because they said there could be any number of reasons - low blood pressure, reactive hypoglycemia, inner ear imbalance, or even at UTI! They didn't find anything, but my PCP suspects it was probably glucose-related, and my glucose level just happened to be normal during the work up. So she suggested I eat something every three hours - preferably a protein. I haven't had that issue since, so that might have been it - or at least it was for me. I know a lot of people experience that because of low blood pressure, though - that seems to be the most common culprint. hope they figure yours out!!

The first one was 2 1/2 weeks and the last three lasted about a week.

I have not managed to do all three shakes… I have not cheated but they are kind of making me sick at this point.

Same here! Am actually smack dab in the middle of those right now, and I just eat until satisfied as always. It just happens to be more than during the other three weeks, I’d say it’s a 25% increase. Hasn’t affected my weight loss goals in the slightest thank goodness!

I don’t think any of us can say we didn’t have any fear pre op. In fact I would probably wonder why if you didn’t. I have been through three surgeries before this one and I still had some nerves a few days pre surgery. There is no shame in rescheduling if you are not ready. I have seen a few people on here who backed out and had the surgery a while down the road when they were truly ready. If it’s just the typical pre surgery jitters though, talk them out here. Write down WHY you are having this surgery and what your goals are. Also check out the “weirdest non scale victories” thread.

Best to have a chat with your dietician to work out portion sizes, caloric goals, nutritional needs that are right for you. We all have different needs. 6ozs is actually more than a recommended portion size for any adult. 4ozs is the recommended portion - I can barely eat that three years out. Certainly no where near that 2 months. As to whether you can eat steak or not is more of an issue of is it allowed on your plan or if you are able to. Many find steak hard to tolerate at first. I was eating steak pretty early on but then I only eat good quality tender cuts, cooked to medium rare & cut into very small bites. Remember, all because you can doesn’t mean you should.

I can completely relate and I'm glad I am not alone. I was also thinking that the further out I am from surgery, the more PMS/normalized pre-menstrual symptoms I have. I have been on Yaz for over 6 years (started it 3 years after my RNY) and for the first few years, I did not notice the intense PMS symptoms. Now, the week before my period, I just don't feel near the restriction as I do the rest of the month. I spoke with a friend who had her RNY in 2017 and she also said she can eat and eat the week before her period. I don't know if there are any studies or research to back this up, but I would swear to it that my food capacity increases before my period and then goes back to normal the other three weeks of the month.

Sorry, two of the fairlife nutrition drinks = 60 grams of protein, not three.

It’s chips in my fillings. Not sure why I said chipped cavities, lol. I go to the dentist twice a year and have never had any but this time I have THREE. I know that fillings do fail eventually and I have had some of them for over a decade, possibly two so It’s also possible they are just past their prime but three at the same time I thought was really odd (when they were all definitely fine during my recent exam). I thought acid could possibly have to do with it?? I will let you know after my appointment what the dentist thinks though.

If you couldn’t cite Wikipedia or TikTok on a term paper why would you believe they are reliable sources now? I found I have more cavities, but there are reasonable explanations. One, menopausal hormone changes make women more susceptible to cavities due to dryness of the mouth. Two, weather/climate change is causing more allergies and mouth breathing. Three, cheap US dentists when on Medicaid use cheap filling products that don’t last more than two years, not many dentists take Medicaid anyway so you’re kind of stuck with who you find. Four, yeah the hernias and GERD caused lots of regurgitation. I never had a cavity until I was 44. Not everyone has the same experience. I can honestly say that the bypass and hernia repair have corrected the terrible GERD symptoms! Teeth I’m coming after you.

Did your doctor tell you to remain on liquid diet for so long? Three weeks seems like a lot. They had me eating soft/pureed foods starting day 1 after surgery.

They may ask you for that log so it could T hurt to start one. I think they asked him to take it three times a day around the same time. Also, just because of the time crunch, you may consider scheduling an appt with whatever dr you will ask for the rx from just so you have it. Just be sure to cancel a little ahead of time so they can fill the slot if you don’t need it.

thanks - I neglected to tell the OP that we just had a discussion about this three days ago!

I’m currently in the process of dealing with hypoglycemia too. I am also three years out and this is the first complication I have had. It’s very exhausting and mentally taxing. Hang in there!