I have scheduled surgery with Dr. Aceves on 1/29/11. Looking to talk with anyone else who might be going at that time. I'm scared to death. Not of the surgery, not of going to mexico but that I won't be successful again. And if I'm not successful, I will be without 85% of my stomach...I have seen posts about buyer's remorse in the first 30 day period but how did people handle their fears before the surgery? Any tips would be appreciated.

hi i am scheduled for jan 27th so we will be seeing each other in the halls. kelly

Hi Lucill35, I 'm actually penciled in for Jan 29th 2011 with Dr. Aceves. I am scared to make it a reality. This is the first time i have said anything. I have a family of 8 and using all that money on just me just doesnt sound logical or sensible. What if I fail. Which i know alot about. Losing weight has been my nemisis for a long time! The last 3 years it has beaten me down to no return. My sister had the lap band surgery with great sucess so i start looking around and here i am. The money thing is giving me anxiety; I think just do it on you own and save for a rainy day. But i havent cancelled yet so if i get things secured I will pm you so we can look out for each other when we arrive in Mexico. It will be nice to have friend during this journey. Sound good? :rolleyes:

Hi Lucill35, I 'm actually penciled in for Jan 29th 2011 with Dr. Aceves. I am scared to make it a reality. This is the first time i have said anything. I have a family of 8 and using all that money on just me just doesnt sound logical or sensible. What if I fail. Which i know alot about. Losing weight has been my nemisis for a long time! The last 3 years it has beaten me down to no return. My sister had the lap band surgery with great sucess so i start looking around and here i am. The money thing is giving me anxiety; I think just do it on you own and save for a rainy day. But i havent cancelled yet so if i get things secured I will pm you so we can look out for each other when we arrive in Mexico. It will be nice to have friend during this journey. Sound good? :rolleyes:

Eloray, I understand your fears and have those same fears myself. I am penciled in but have already purchased plane tickets as a way to ensure that I wouldn't cancel. I also think, "well maybe i can do this myself without surgery" but then realize if that were true, I wouldn't be where I am now. Please keep in touch as it will be nice to have a friend while in Mexico. I am going to try and figure out how to add you as a friend as I am still trying to figure out this site and how to pm and to keep track of my posts. Have a great day!

I was sleeved by Dr. Aceves in Sept 2010. You WILL absolutely love him and his staff.

...and you WILL be successful. I don't think I've seen one sleever yet who hasn't been (especially his patients), including me. I can be really terrible when it comes to losing weight - and I'm losing quite well.

All the best to you and all who will be sleeved by Dr. A. soon.

I did it perhaps the WORST way possible. I rushed into the decision after a few health issues popped up, I made the decision in about a week and immediately committed to a date and bought tickets. I went ALONE - all by my little self - and sat in a hotel room for 2 days (the flight was $250 cheaper if I left Saturday instead of Sunday, so I saved about $150). All alone watching TV, not able to sleep without my CPAP (didn't want to carry it). I was a nervous wreck. On Monday I awoke out of fitful sleep at 4am and stayed up. Caught a ride to the airport to get picked up by the hospital transport. I was just about to throw up the whole morning.

Got there, went through the blood test, check in and prelim exam. I laid shivering on the cot for about 20 minutes - it wasn't cold I was scared sh##less. They came and got me and in a few moments in MY reckoning I was out of surgery and being woken up and walked back to recovery. Now the SCARED REALLY set in.

I made it OK despite some pretty sever nausea, made it back through the border and back home on my flights (flying is horrible let alone after surgery).

I've said this to tell you that if I can make it without any support YOU can make it too. Stick with it, buck up and be brave. YOU CAN DO IT.

I am scheduled for a revision 01|17|10 with Dr Aceves. I am nervous... but I have traveled for WLS surgery before. This time MX is actually closer. haha.

I was sleeved by Dr. Aceves in Sept 2010. You WILL absolutely love him and his staff.

...and you WILL be successful. I don't think I've seen one sleever yet who hasn't been (especially his patients), including me. I can be really terrible when it comes to losing weight - and I'm losing quite well.

All the best to you and all who will be sleeved by Dr. A. soon.

You have such a positive attitude and are an inspiration to those of us getting ready for surgery. Can you tell me what your experience was with Dr. Aceves in terms of anesthesia and a drain? I have seen some posts that people have had a spinal block and others not and can't remember if they were with Dr. Aceves or not. Also does he put a drain in? And were you restricted for driving after your surgery and if so, for how long? I live alone so need to make some arrangements if there is a restriction on driving. I haven't seen anything about it in the info I have received from Nina or Monica. Anything you could provide would be very much appreciated!

You have such a positive attitude and are an inspiration to those of us getting ready for surgery. Can you tell me what your experience was with Dr. Aceves in terms of anesthesia and a drain? I have seen some posts that people have had a spinal block and others not and can't remember if they were with Dr. Aceves or not. Also does he put a drain in? And were you restricted for driving after your surgery and if so, for how long? I live alone so need to make some arrangements if there is a restriction on driving. I haven't seen anything about it in the info I have received from Nina or Monica. Anything you could provide would be very much appreciated!

I love providing support here, this is a major decision and can be very intimidating before you have it. I just love that we are able to have a place we can all get together and do this, pre- and post-op.

The anesthesiologist will talk with you the day before your surgery. He will answer any questions you have and will ask you some questions. You will also need to fill out a questionnaire (same as any normal hospital). My experience has always been that anesthesia makes me extremely tired and nauseated. This time was no different. Also, added on the type of surgery made me nauseated too - so I had a kinda rough time. However the nurses were so totally awesome and never left my side. If I pushed the call button I never had to wait for more than 60 seconds for a response. That is NO exaggeration.

The drain was annoying and painful. No cover ups here, and I was very glad to have it taken out. It felt weird coming out, as I'd never had one before. Once it was out though, I felt so much better and seemed to bounce back immediately! LOL

Dr. Aceves crew will give you a spinal block. You won't remember much, as they do it while you are already on your way to happy town. I remember being pushed to my side while they were doing this and it was pretty much lights out immediately after. No worries, that really wasn't all that bad.

I didn't have any driving restrictions and drove many miles home. I was very tired when I got home though and rested for the rest of my time off. Just do what you can, but once you get home, I suggest you stay home and recuperate. You will need it.

Don't let going alone keep you from anything. Lots do go there alone and you will be shuttled back and forth the whole time you are there. The Mexican people are extremely hospitable and really nice and caring. I've always known this as my family is Mexican and so is my husband's. They are even more so in their native country. You will also have co-surgeries, so you can keep up with them during and sometimes even after. Once you get there you will see, its really not that big a deal where you are - it's more who you're with, and you will be in very good hand. Promise.

I'm always happy to help! Let me know! Good luck to you in your journey! Though you won't need luck so much as patience and positivity.

I love providing support here, this is a major decision and can be very intimidating before you have it. I just love that we are able to have a place we can all get together and do this, pre- and post-op.

The anesthesiologist will talk with you the day before your surgery. He will answer any questions you have and will ask you some questions. You will also need to fill out a questionnaire (same as any normal hospital). My experience has always been that anesthesia makes me extremely tired and nauseated. This time was no different. Also, added on the type of surgery made me nauseated too - so I had a kinda rough time. However the nurses were so totally awesome and never left my side. If I pushed the call button I never had to wait for more than 60 seconds for a response. That is NO exaggeration.

The drain was annoying and painful. No cover ups here, and I was very glad to have it taken out. It felt weird coming out, as I'd never had one before. Once it was out though, I felt so much better and seemed to bounce back immediately! LOL

Dr. Aceves crew will give you a spinal block. You won't remember much, as they do it while you are already on your way to happy town. I remember being pushed to my side while they were doing this and it was pretty much lights out immediately after. No worries, that really wasn't all that bad.

I didn't have any driving restrictions and drove many miles home. I was very tired when I got home though and rested for the rest of my time off. Just do what you can, but once you get home, I suggest you stay home and recuperate. You will need it.

Don't let going alone keep you from anything. Lots do go there alone and you will be shuttled back and forth the whole time you are there. The Mexican people are extremely hospitable and really nice and caring. I've always known this as my family is Mexican and so is my husband's. They are even more so in their native country. You will also have co-surgeries, so you can keep up with them during and sometimes even after. Once you get there you will see, its really not that big a deal where you are - it's more who you're with, and you will be in very good hand. Promise.

I'm always happy to help! Let me know! Good luck to you in your journey! Though you won't need luck so much as patience and positivity.

Thank you! You are so helpful that I have another question. When you say that you got home and just rested for the rest of your time off, how long was that? I am flying back home on 2/1 and on 2/7 will fly to florida to rest in the sunshine unlike in the midwest where there's just cold and snow. Also my mom is there and will be taking care of me. Do you think that is too soon to fly? It's a direct flight from Indiana to Florida so I won't have to race through the airport and it's only about a 2 1/2 hour flight. Think that will be a problem?

Thank you! You are so helpful that I have another question. When you say that you got home and just rested for the rest of your time off, how long was that? I am flying back home on 2/1 and on 2/7 will fly to florida to rest in the sunshine unlike in the midwest where there's just cold and snow. Also my mom is there and will be taking care of me. Do you think that is too soon to fly? It's a direct flight from Indiana to Florida so I won't have to race through the airport and it's only about a 2 1/2 hour flight. Think that will be a problem?

No I don't think that will be a problem at all. I've seen lots that do flights from San Diego back to Canada a few days out. I say you'll be ok. You'll probably be tired and maybe a little uncomfortable - but you'll be ok.

Okay...I googled 'Spinal block' and read up on the wikipedia article. I gotta say, that scared the ##tootsie fruit## out of me! Slicing apart the stomach...I'm becoming a little more okay with that. Putting a needle in my back? ACK!!!

May I ask what you all are being charged? When I checked out his website it was around $9-10,000. Is that right?

May I ask what you all are being charged? When I checked out his website it was around $9-10,000. Is that right?

I was charged 11,250.00 -- but that was for him to remove my lap-band as well. I do believe he charges a bit over 9k for just the sleeve alone.

Hi, my surgery is the 01/02/2011 and I'm flying to the Czech Republic from England for mine. I'm loving every second of the excitement of the count down at the moment. I know I'll be an absolute nervous wreck on the day but I just can't wait for the end result and how fantastic I should feel and look in a years time. Sorry no answers to your concerns, but just to let you know I'm only a few days behind you.

Andrea

I'm scheduled February 14 with Dr. Aceves. Burying my head in the sand to avoid the fear whenever I think about it. But then, super excited that it's only 4 1/2 weeks away. My fee was $8750.