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March sleever with Dr. Mario Almanza?



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Looking for a sleeve buddy to talk with and compare notes and share stories. Looking to share in this adventure of a new life. I'm scheduled for March 10th.

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Hi there, Borders 3.

I am 1 year post op with Dr. Almanza, as of December 18th.

My experience has been fantastic. I maintain a weight between 107-110 lbs. It's thin for my height of 5'4" but I m healthy and happy, with boundless energy

Please contact me if you have any questions. Stephanie

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I had surgery with Dr. A in September and I am also doing great. Good luck on your journey.

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Hi there, Borders 3.

I am 1 year post op with Dr. Almanza, as of December 18th.

My experience has been fantastic. I maintain a weight between 107-110 lbs. It's thin for my height of 5'4" but I m healthy and happy, with boundless energy

Please contact me if you have any questions. Stephanie

Was there any pain post-op from surgical site? I hear there is more gas pain than anything else. Is this true or a rumor?

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I was one of the lucky ones who did not have any pain at all. I did help out some other people who were not as fortunate. We had a great time there shopping (we tucked our drain inside our pants) then meeting some of the locals, who were real characters.

Some people will complain that the medical care is not up to par with the US but I got the precise care I needed and have a nice tight boughie to show for it. I continue to have great restriction and easily maintain my weight loss,

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I also had a drain I almost forgot about. I wished that I had brought along a safety pin to pin it to my shirt or something so it wouldn't drop to the floor every time I went to the restroom. Having it removed was the weirdest sensation ever.

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How long does the drain stay in? one or two days?

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Just a couple of days at the most.

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Guest drowdie

Hello everyone! I'm scheduled for Dr Almanza in his new facility ( just opened) the new Jerusalum Hospital. It's no longer in the strip mall. I have told no one, so that's what's so frightening. I'm relying on your written advice: do and don't's for the experience down there and coming home on the airplane.

I too am worried about pain management. Are you on pain tabs or morphine IV?

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I had sleeve surgery with Dr A on 2-14-14. The hospital is a maternity hospital, about 4 babies were born the day we had surgery. Very clean, nice nurses, awesome care. My mil and I had it together and stayed at Camino Real hotel. Nice hotel, 5 stars there probably 3.5-4 in CA. They took us shopping the day before we left (Omar was the driver). My MiL is 58 and diabetic, I am 33 and just had a radical hysterectomy in May (early stage uterine cancer). No complications for either of us. I was scared to death, I don't speak Spanish and you hear horror stories. Half the nurses spoke English, those that didn't apologized and tried to communicate with you. I had a great experience, best care I have received at a hospital ever.

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Thanks so much for the update, Jessica! That's great to hear. :)

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Guest drowdie

I want to thank you as well Jessica. I smiled at the genuineness of the comment that The Hotel "T" was equivalent to 3.5 -4 stars. Actually, the better prepared I am for this medical travel alone, the less anxiety I'll have. I'd appreciate reading about pain management.( are there choices, I'm sensitive to Codeine), did they send you home with pain meds?

Also, did you manage to take any of your prescription medications post-op?

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They take down what you are allergic to and accommodate that. I stopped pain meds after I went to the hotel. They sent me home with cipro for 8 days. They also sent me home with tramadol which I didn't take. When I went home from my hysterectomy I only took 1 5mg Percocet for the first week I was home. Was I in pain? Oh yeah but I hate drugs. Oddly though, no one else in my group was given tramadol. Not sure why I was.

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They take down what you are allergic to and accommodate that. I stopped pain meds after I went to the hotel. They sent me home with cipro for 8 days. They also sent me home with tramadol which I didn't take. When I went home from my hysterectomy I only took 1 5mg Percocet for the first week I was home. Was I in pain? Oh yeah but I hate drugs. Oddly though, no one else in my group was given tramadol. Not sure why I was.

I know Cipro is an antibiotic, right? Tramadol is a pain med. It is a much milder one than something like Vicoden. What pain meds did they give the others? I'm allergic to percocet, so as long as they don't give me that, I'm good. :-)

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    • Alisa_S

      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
      · 1 reply
      1. LeighaTR

        I hope your surgery on Wednesday goes well. You will be able to do all sorts of new things as you find your new normal after surgery. I don't know this from experience yet, but I am seeing a lot of positive things from people who have had it done. Best of luck!

    • Alisa_S

      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
      · 1 reply
      1. summerseeker

        Life as a big person had limited my life to what I knew I could manage to do each day. That was eat. I hadn't anything else to look forward to. So my eating choices were the best I could dream up. I planned the cooking in managable lots in my head and filled my day with and around it.

        Now I have a whole new big, bigger, biggest, best days ever. I am out there with those skinny people doing stuff i could never have dreamt of. Food is now an after thought. It doesn't consume my day. I still enjoy the good home cooked food but I eat smaller portions. I leave food on my plate when I am full. I can no longer hear my mother's voice saying eat it all up, ther are starving children in Africa who would want that!

        I still cook for family feasts, I love cooking. I still do holidays but I have changed from the All inclusive drinking and eating everything everyday kind to Self catering accommodation. This gives me the choice of cooking or eating out as I choose. I rarely drink anymore as I usually travel alone now and I feel I need to keep aware of my surroundings.

        I don't know at what point my life expanded, was it when I lost 100 pounds? Was it when I left my walking stick at home ? Was it when I said yes to an outing instead of finding an excuse to stay home ? i look back at my last five years and wonder how loosing weight has made such a difference. Be ready to amaze yourself.

        BTW, the liquid diet sucks, one more day and you are over the worst. You can do it.

    • CaseyP1011

      Officially here for a long time, not just a good time💪
      · 0 replies
      1. This update has no replies.
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