I was scheduled to have my VSG with Dr. Kelly on October 24 but my coordinator just called and said he has meetings that week & will be unable to do it. I have already purchased my plane tickets & made arrangements for my kids--so the coordinator gave me the option of using Dr. Garcia. Does anyone know anything about this Dr? I did a lot of research before I choose Dr. Kelly but so far I cannot find many with experience with Dr. Garcia. I am just trying to decided if I stick with Dr. Kelly (what I am leaning toward right now) and change my ticket no matter the cost or go with Dr. Garcia? Any comments would help. Thanks!!

:thumbup:

Hey everyone! I an currently at the Hotel Ticuan in Tijuana. My surgery is in only way few hours. I'm very pleased with the Hotel...very nice and comfortable. I'm so nervous! Had all kinds of dreams last night, including one about food lol. Has everyone gone through Sandy for coordination? I'll post more updates as soon as I can!

good luck phatgurl!

:thumbup:

Hey girly,

How are you feeling? We are waiting to hear from you.

Hey everyone! I an currently at the Hotel Ticuan in Tijuana. My surgery is in only way few hours. I'm very pleased with the Hotel...very nice and comfortable. I'm so nervous! Had all kinds of dreams last night, including one about food lol. Has everyone gone through Sandy for coordination? I'll post more updates as soon as I can!

Hello everyone!

So, today is 7 days since my surgery and I'm back at work as of today. I'm feeling pretty good, other than some lingering gas and some sorness from the wounds. I went to my PCP on Monday for a non-related issue and she looked at the incisions and gave a thumbs up and a smile. They are healing great. And overall I feel, well, pretty normal. I am having a bit of trouble getting all my fluids in. And decided that Gatorade or Powerade is the best for me for the time being. Drinking only Water left me feeling pretty weak but the Gatorade/Powerade has the necessary electrolites.

The Doc has me on Clear liquids for one week, full liquids for week 2, and then week 3 I can try to start testing out normal foods. He said there is no real need for me to puree everything in week 3. He actually advised that I try out all sorts of foods so see what I can tolerate.

My overall experience w/ Dr. Garcia and his staff was an A+. Right down to the nurse (who didn't speak english). Wendy and I got very good at playing charades lol. My only gripe was that apparently my veins are hard to find so I got STUCK like 8 times in attempts to put in an I.V. After the surgery, i was allowed to walk within about 2 hours because the gas was TERRIBLE. Honestly, that was the hardes part of this whole thing. And there's really nothign you can do about it. I brought Gas-X strips per the information I gathered on this forum, but was quickly slapped on the wrist when the nurse saw that i was taking them. The Dr. said that teh gas I was feeling was coming from outside the stomach and the strips only affected gas inside the stomach. By Sunday, the day i flew home, the gas was so much better.

The hotel we were at was marvelous and even had a night club downstairs that I peaked into.

Another Dr. came to the hotel to visit me and to answer all the questions I have and they emailed me Post Op diet along w/ a website in which we can communicate comments on their service or general questions.

Again, I feel pretty good overall and I dont' know if I would have needed an entire 3 weeks off work lol. I think I would have gotten antsy sitting at home for that long.

Oh, and my wonderful fiance somehow got them to allow him to take a picture of the part of the stomach that was taken out, plus he took a crap load of pics at my worst hour lol. He even talked the Dr. into getting a copy of the surgery video. I'll email them to anyone who's curious! lol

Hey girly,

How are you feeling? We are waiting to hear from you.

Hi Phatgurl80,

Congratulations, I'm glad your procedure went well. Dr. Garcia and company are awesome. Wendy was also one of my nurses. I loved them all. Sorry about all the IV sticks. That intestinal gas will go away when your diet changes on week 2. The clear liquid thing sucks by about day 5. Make sure your blood sugar doesn't get too low. The Gatorade should fix that. The gas pain you experienced in the hospital is from the carbon dioxide that they use to inflate your abdomen during the procedure. The only cure for that is walking.

Go easy on the "Real" food. I've found that many of the foods I loved before are now hard to tolerate. On week 3, I did well with thin deli meat and cottage cheese. I haven't pureed anything. I am 6 weeks out now, and I can eat most anything in small amounts, as long as I take my time and chew it well. Your stomach will let you know when it's full. It's pretty uncomfortable if you over eat, so eat slowly and listen to your stomach. When you start feeling discomfort in your stomach, stop eating. Trust me, it's not pleasant if you over do it. You'll be surprised at how little you need to feel full. I find that my brain tells me I need to eat more than my stomach can hold. When I feel full, I stop eating, and within a few minutes, I feel satisfied. A little brain override...He he.

The cravings have started going away for me now. There is still a mental factor that kind of sucks. Last night I wanted a huge slab of lasagne and a double "Quarter Pounder with cheese" and fries. I still haven't totally figured out how to curb these cravings. Hopefully it will be easier for you.

I am 5 1/2 weeks out, and I have lost 51 pounds. I feel great. There is a little bit of lingering nausea, which has been annoying, but overall, I have NO complaints. I'm just glad the weight is finally coming off. I sincerely hope your experience is as good or better than mine. I wish you much success.

Hello everyone!

So, today is 7 days since my surgery and I'm back at work as of today. I'm feeling pretty good, other than some lingering gas and some sorness from the wounds. I went to my PCP on Monday for a non-related issue and she looked at the incisions and gave a thumbs up and a smile. They are healing great. And overall I feel, well, pretty normal. I am having a bit of trouble getting all my fluids in. And decided that Gatorade or Powerade is the best for me for the time being. Drinking only Water left me feeling pretty weak but the Gatorade/Powerade has the necessary electrolites.

The Doc has me on Clear liquids for one week, full liquids for week 2, and then week 3 I can try to start testing out normal foods. He said there is no real need for me to puree everything in week 3. He actually advised that I try out all sorts of foods so see what I can tolerate.

My overall experience w/ Dr. Garcia and his staff was an A+. Right down to the nurse (who didn't speak english). Wendy and I got very good at playing charades lol. My only gripe was that apparently my veins are hard to find so I got STUCK like 8 times in attempts to put in an I.V. After the surgery, i was allowed to walk within about 2 hours because the gas was TERRIBLE. Honestly, that was the hardes part of this whole thing. And there's really nothign you can do about it. I brought Gas-X strips per the information I gathered on this forum, but was quickly slapped on the wrist when the nurse saw that i was taking them. The Dr. said that teh gas I was feeling was coming from outside the stomach and the strips only affected gas inside the stomach. By Sunday, the day i flew home, the gas was so much better.

The hotel we were at was marvelous and even had a night club downstairs that I peaked into.

Another Dr. came to the hotel to visit me and to answer all the questions I have and they emailed me Post Op diet along w/ a website in which we can communicate comments on their service or general questions.

Again, I feel pretty good overall and I dont' know if I would have needed an entire 3 weeks off work lol. I think I would have gotten antsy sitting at home for that long.

Oh, and my wonderful fiance somehow got them to allow him to take a picture of the part of the stomach that was taken out, plus he took a crap load of pics at my worst hour lol. He even talked the Dr. into getting a copy of the surgery video. I'll email them to anyone who's curious! lol

congrats!!

Hello everyone!

So, today is 7 days since my surgery and I'm back at work as of today. I'm feeling pretty good, other than some lingering gas and some sorness from the wounds. I went to my PCP on Monday for a non-related issue and she looked at the incisions and gave a thumbs up and a smile. They are healing great. And overall I feel, well, pretty normal. I am having a bit of trouble getting all my fluids in. And decided that Gatorade or Powerade is the best for me for the time being. Drinking only Water left me feeling pretty weak but the Gatorade/Powerade has the necessary electrolites.

The Doc has me on clear liquids for one week, full liquids for week 2, and then week 3 I can try to start testing out normal foods. He said there is no real need for me to puree everything in week 3. He actually advised that I try out all sorts of foods so see what I can tolerate.

My overall experience w/ Dr. Garcia and his staff was an A+. Right down to the nurse (who didn't speak english). Wendy and I got very good at playing charades lol. My only gripe was that apparently my veins are hard to find so I got STUCK like 8 times in attempts to put in an I.V. After the surgery, i was allowed to walk within about 2 hours because the gas was TERRIBLE. Honestly, that was the hardes part of this whole thing. And there's really nothign you can do about it. I brought Gas-X strips per the information I gathered on this forum, but was quickly slapped on the wrist when the nurse saw that i was taking them. The Dr. said that teh gas I was feeling was coming from outside the stomach and the strips only affected gas inside the stomach. By Sunday, the day i flew home, the gas was so much better.

The hotel we were at was marvelous and even had a night club downstairs that I peaked into.

Another Dr. came to the hotel to visit me and to answer all the questions I have and they emailed me Post Op diet along w/ a website in which we can communicate comments on their service or general questions.

Again, I feel pretty good overall and I dont' know if I would have needed an entire 3 weeks off work lol. I think I would have gotten antsy sitting at home for that long.

Oh, and my wonderful fiance somehow got them to allow him to take a picture of the part of the stomach that was taken out, plus he took a crap load of pics at my worst hour lol. He even talked the Dr. into getting a copy of the surgery video. I'll email them to anyone who's curious! lol

Phatgurl80--Congrats! SO glad to hear you are doing good & had a good experience. Thanks for keeping us updated! In little less than a month I will be having my surgery too--so EXCITED!! Also I am going through Christi--hope all is going good for you!

I was scheduled to have my VSG with Dr. Kelly on October 24 but my coordinator just called and said he has meetings that week & will be unable to do it. I have already purchased my plane tickets & made arrangements for my kids--so the coordinator gave me the option of using Dr. Garcia. Does anyone know anything about this Dr? I did a lot of research before I choose Dr. Kelly but so far I cannot find many with experience with Dr. Garcia. I am just trying to decided if I stick with Dr. Kelly (what I am leaning toward right now) and change my ticket no matter the cost or go with Dr. Garcia? Any comments would help. Thanks!!

I saw your post here and I'm new. I don't know if I'm even responding properly. I found this post by searching for info on Dr Garcia on Google.

I received a call today from a woman named alma. She was calling from Ready4Achange.com. We talked about bariatric surgeries and she recommended Dr. Garcia above all those other doctors, and she actually works for all of those four. Ready 4 a Change is rated well with the BBB. I don't know if that makes a difference.

Anyhow, I was wondering if you got your surgery and if so, who with. Would your recommend doing it and with the doctor you chose? I have been doing a lot of research and am very interested and excited about surgery. I am also apprehensive about doing it in Mexico.

Please contact me at your earliest convenience.

BTW...I am a mommy to six also:)

Thanks and blessings,

Donna

donnazang@msn.com