Hello everyone,

I have been reading everything on this forum for about three weeks now. I thiught it was time for me to introduce myself.

My name is Miguel (Mike). I'm almost 35, married, no kids yet. I live in Puebla, Mexico. My family owns a Truck Dealership (Navistar-International) and I work there. I also teach at a University.

I had my surgery done on September 15th, 2009 in a private hospital here in Puebla.

The hospital was brand new so everything went really well. I had to stay my first night post-op in the ICU but that was just a precaution, because the pain meds hadn't been passing correctly for the first 8 hrs and the Dr. wanted to keep me overnight in observation. The following morning I was sent to my room and my recovery went pretty well. I stayed a total of four nights in the hospital.

Last week I went to see my surgeon (week five) and it turns out I had lost 19kgs (41.8lbs) already! I was very excited. He said I could loose much faster than he had anticipated.

The first two weeks were a little rough, not due to pain but rather lack of energy to do things, work, drive, etc. But after week three everything has been going great.

I went through about 5 days of liquid diet then 7 days of mushies. The good thing is before the surgery I was put in a Low Carb Diet for one weej, (not hard since I did Atkins in the past) and post-op I haven't had to drink a single Protein drink as I have read that many people do. I even asked my Dr. about them since I read a lot of people have to drink them, but he said that they weren't necessary as long as I ate what my nutritionist told me (They are in a sort of team to treat obesity so they are very coordinated).

I currently only take Nexium.

I can eat more than I could three weeks ago, but it still surprises me, how very little it is compared to what I used to eat and what others eat.

I love my Sleeve, (we call it Manga Gastrica here in Mexico), it has been the best decision of my life.

Nice to meet you all.

Great job Mike,

Keep up the good work and you will reach your goal in no time. What does Manga Gastrica mean.

Bill

Manga = Sleeve and Gastrica = Gastric, so I guess the translation would be Gastric Sleeve.

Welcome to the forum Mike. So glad that you decided to join us. Thank you for posting your story. You are doing a great job. Please keep us updated on your progress and jump in and talk to us whenever you feel like it.

Hi Mike, sounds like you're doing really well so far. Having surgery was the best thing I ever did. This site is great and there are lots of lovely friendly people here who will be able to help and advise you along your journey.

Hello and welcome to VST! It is great to see more and more men joining us. It sounds like everything is going fabulous for you, that is very exciting. We look forward to taking this journey with you.

Hola Miguel!

Felicidades!

I vivo en Nicaragua! Yo soy una misionera aqui. Mi esposo es de aqui. Yo soy de los estados (Tennessee). Mi espa?ol no es muey bueno... lol

I got sleeved here in Nicaragua 2 weeks ago. It was one of the best things I have ever did!

Welcome to this site! Keep us updated on how you are doing.

Miguel,

Congratulations on your successful surgery!

I am interested in exactly what kinds of foods you eat that make it possible to not rely on protein drinks?

Who was your surgeon?

Charitymarroquin: Nicaragua WOW! I have and uncle and his family living there. He works for the Mexican Consulate.

My Dr. was Ernesto Salgado he is the bariatric surgeon at Hospital Angeles here in Puebla.

Practically all my meals include Protein in a higher proportion than carbs and veggies or pure fat.

Ham and cheese quesadilla (tortilla) in the morning, fruit with ham mid-morning, meat, chicken or fish with vegetable Soup for lunch, I usually skip mid afternoon, and for dinner, generally another quesadilla with avocado, cheese, and some leftover meat from lunch. I try to drink Water all day long, no problem drinking it other than forgetting.

Protein drinks aren't even common here in Mexico, I guess you could find them at GNC, but I don't think you'll find them at Wal-Mart.

So far I don't feel like I have been needing any extra protein.

I don't do protein drinks either. I have never found one I could really tolerate. I also just make sure I get plenty of protein via the foods I eat. It can be done, and I am much happier getting mine that way.

Mike, welcome to VST - happy you decided to come out of hiding and share your story. Sounds like you're doing great - keep up the good work.

I haven't ever found a protein drink that I can tolerate either so try and get it all in from my food -- although I have sound some tasty protein bars that I can tolerate that are high in protein/low in carbs; however, I don't eat them every day.

Keep us posted on your progress - we're here for you!