Hi all,

I am set gor April 9th with Dr.Ponce...I have heard good things from ppl who used him, looking for anyone who went within the last year. I am going thru wls4betterlife. Trish is my coordinator and has been great so far. Any info would be appreciated. Also any info on your experience at hospital INT regardless of the doc you used. Thanks everyone and have a great day!

Highly recommend him and if you search his name you will find a lot of info about him. Trish is awesome and my daughter is going with them this fall.

Absolutely the best decision I made and so pleased with the entire deal

Thanks for sharing....I feel good about him...I just really dont see his name to much on here....did they give u post op meal ingo before u left. I only have pre op of 3 days water, yogurt. ..if u dont mind sharing.

Oops that should say...post op meal plan. Auto correct. ...ughh

Yep, you are well prepared when you leave. Trish gives you a huge gift basket og goodies you'll need which includes meds too.

Oh that sounds nice! I am stressing myself over the post op diet....silly but I have read so many different things on here about protein shakes, some do them some dont..etc its a little confusing.

If you poke around there is a REALLY long post started called "All things Dr Ponce De Leon" its full of great info about Dr Ponce, I plan to go with him once I have the money saved.

I think you mostly don't hear as much about him as other surgeons because he's a bit more expensive, but there are plenty of people who have been with him, my experience was great.

He is a great dr I had surgery with him on October 10,2012 would highly recommend him.

Thanks everyone, this makes me feel better. :-)

The nerves plus the hurry up and get it done...is starting to kick in. But like all things april 9 will be here before I realize it.

If you poke around there is a REALLY long post started called "All things Dr Ponce De Leon" its full of great info about Dr Ponce' date=' I plan to go with him once I have the money saved.[/quote']

Thanks I will look for it...

You have choosen an amazing surgon. I had mine done 6 weeks ago with him and I felt and was treated with amazing care. You will do great

I follows his post open loosely. I looked at all kinds of place s and just went with a bit of each. I did 1 week clears 2 weeks of shakes and full fluids and right into soft foods and now I am pretty much tolerating all foods

If you want a texting friend. I am here for ya.

Sarah...that would be great, I could use a texting buddy.

I think I am just anxious and worried along with excited. I just kept seeing so many different ppl saying what they were drinking or where to buy Protein shakes from...etc and its was getting confusing.( Im still confused on what to buy so its here at home when I get back) Plus I was only told about pre-op of 3 days yoguart and Water, is this what you did to?

Before you left did they give you all post op food info? Any other info you could pass along would be awesome!!! Im very happy with my choice of using Dr. Ponce, all the research I have done on him and now from everyones post here has made me even more confident in my decision to use him.

3 days yogurt pre surgery, we all did that. Post op they give you the food plan. Honestly I didn't follow it very well. I don't drink tea so I didn't force myself to. I followed it basically like "x weeks liquid, x weeks soft" but not the actual foods they put on there. The other thing that I wasn't a fan of is that they don't mention vitamins, they say that if you cook everything yourself (and they mean even making your own chicken stock by boiling a chicken carcass!) then you shouldn't need vitamins. I'm not so sure I agree with that, but anyways, I have no time to make everything from scratch. Looking through other surgeons plans, I supplement with double the regular adult dose of a multi, plus 1500mg of calcium citrate, plus sublingual B12. (Plus a stool softener!). During my period I'll add iron to the mix, and from time to time I take folic acid too, I'm not sure if it's needed but I read that Dr Cirangle recommends 1000mcg a day. Anyways, that's what I do. I also do protein shakes which aren't anywhere on Dr Ponce's post op plan.

Oh yes. I was sleeved by Dr. Ponce on Nov. 23, 2012. It was a great experience other than the gas pains! Trish was wonderful. She's a woman of great faith. My gas pains were exceptionally bad because I can't burp so the gas just wouldn't come out. At one point I was in tears and she prayed for me out loud it Spanish while rubbing my forehead to comfort me. I was so thankful for her compassion. There's also a female doctor at the hospital that you will see/ meet who was sleeved by Dr. Ponce. Can't remember her name. You will be in great hands!

And in the goodie bag that artist prepares for you, you'll get a hilarious pink tshirt that reads, " I left my stomach in Tijuana." Really cute!