Hello!

About Me:

I am new to BariatricPal and I look forward to connecting with people who have had/will have the Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy. As of today, 03/16/2016, I am 19-years-old and I weigh 263 pounds at a height of 5'9.

Recently both my mom and my aunt got the VSG done and they both look and feel great.

My nanna got the Gastric Bypass many years ago and has kept her weight off.

I am very excited to make this life changing decision myself too!

As you may notice already from what I've told you, I come from a family of overweight/obese people so I really feel that it is in my best interest to do it while I'm young to start to train myself into better eating habits and also to not have to carry around this additional weight that I know is not healthy.

_____________________________________________________________________________

The Nitty Gritty:

Anticipated Surgery Date- November or December of 2016

Right now I am just in the process of during research on where I would want the procedure done. I am looking into Mexico due to the significantly lower costs there. I am however being very picky about this. I will not go to Juarez, and I am very iffy about Tijuana. All my family had their bariatric surgeries done in the U.S. (except for the time my mom had her lap band put in, way before her VSG, in Mexicali--she says her experience was actually very nice).

I plan on paying about half just out of my savings and the rest either on a credit card or through a loan. I am quite sure insurance will not cover any portions of the surgery.

My mom has been watching this doctors YouTube videos for a while now and even considered going to him but was just unsure of going out of country again, she felt more comfortable getting it done in the U.S. This doctor is Dr. Alvarez of Endobariatrics in Piedras Negras, Mexico. I have been doing some research on this clinic/hospital and I am pretty impressed so far, people who have gone to him seem to love him and his staff so I feel that he is a great option for me. The location seems very safe and nice as well. If anyone has gone to him I would love it if you would share your experience with me as well ! Likewise, if you recently (within in the past 6 months) got your VSG somewhere in Mexico and you loved your experience I would love to hear about it.

_____________________________________________________________________________

Healthy/Fit Goals #1

One pre-op goal that I have is to lose 10 pounds on my own before starting the liquid diet. I know that I can do this, I have done it once before. It took a lot of hard work and dedication, I feel that I could've gone even further with it but I ended up going through a break-up doing that time and thats what broke my good habit of going to the gym 4x a week and eating better.

I actually have a gym membership to Curves but I haven't gone in forever (and I still owe them money); but today for the first time in months I went to the gym with my best friend (at her gym) and it felt so good. We didn't stay long but that was okay with me because I was new again and I know it's best to start slow. I did the elliptical for 30 minutes and then we had to go. We'll be going this Friday too and we've decided to at least go once every Wednesday which I think is a really good start.