JDR

Just wondering if I was the only one

After I get the VSG will there be any foods I am permanently banned from having? Why?

So I was originally going to Dr. Almanza. I was nervous because of the mixed reviews but had some serious financial issues ot work through. I was finally able to get a loan but the company (surgeryloans) would not pay Almanza. They said they had had problems with him in the past but would not elaborate on that statement. Anyway I was left high and dry with no doctor one week before my scheduled date. I was ready to cry I called BeLiteWeight and they were very bad with calling me back when they said they would. When they did they could not do my surgery until later in the month and it would cost quite a lot more. I called alighterme.com though and Sandy Johnston answered. She said I could get the same surgery date with Dr. Ramos-Kelley. I was a bit nervous about what I had read about the INT hospital but she told me they no longer use that facility. I contacted the surgery loans place and within a couple hours had a new doc. I was nervous about telling Sandy I wanted my partner to come (coming out is always tough) but it turned out she has a gay child and she was very supportive in getting any preparations made for him as well. I had heard some about Dr. Kelley but not much. I did as much research as I could over the next few days until I was comfortable and then flew to San Diego where the driver took my significant other and I to Mexico where we met Trish, the doctors coordinator, at the hospital. Trish was a sweetheart and I was impressed by the Oasis Hospital. There is a little age that shows around the place but overall it has been well cared for and well maintained and I was comfortable with it. There were quite a few Amish patients from Wisconsin while I was there too. I was taken to my room, changed, introduced to Alfredo the orderly who wheeled me around to "the cute girl in X-ray" as he put it. Dr, Kelley came in and asked if I had any questions then, when my blood work was done, I was taken to the OR. Within 30 min of that they had me down in the surgery. I was the first person of the day and dont even remember being put out. Next thing I remember are snatches of pain throughout the day and nurses giving me pain meds. The first night was awful. I was sure to get up and walk the first day and night though even though it was painful. Over the next few days our impression of the Oasis Hospital were as follows: It is clean. My room was checked twice per day by the cleaning staff to make sure it was clean. I was NOT worried about leaving things in the room the way I would be at a regular hotel. The staff seemed quite trustworthy and I was confident in their professionalism. Most of the staff speaks english. All but one of the nurses spoke english at least a little. Even when she was my main nurse there was always another person available who spoke it fluently. The staff was caring and happy to help. Never once did I have the impression that I was "intruding" on their time by asking for assistance. When I rang the call bell they were there very quickly and took care of whatever my issue was. The orderly, Alfredo, even come by once and offered to replace the chair in my room with a lazyboy recliner because he thought it would be more comfortable for me (really it was not necessary but it was a nice thing to do). The hospital fed my partner for free. All the food was organic. All the food was good and well prepared although he did not like the vegitarian night tofu too much. They have free wireless access but dont plan on Netflix or Hulu because they wont stream to a Mexican IP. I understand Dr. Kelley has been looking for a new location for a while to replace INT and has just recently settled on this place. I think he as made a good decision. So...Anyway...After my surgery the first day and night were miserable. The second day and night were not too bad. The third day they transferred me from the hospital to a hotel and I was feeling pretty much normal other than the feeling of fullness and occasional nausea. On the third day Dr. Kelley did my leak test at hospital Angeles where he was shown a film of a leaking plication as a point of interest. Afterward they dropped us off at a hotel while they picked up a woman to do a band fill. Following the fill the whole crew (the fill patient, Trish, the Doc, the driver, me and my significant other) all met at a mexican seafood restaraunt where Dr. Kelley bought us a birthday dinner (My birthday is coming up in a week, my partners was on my surgery date). It was great fun and he really turned out to be a great guy in addition to being a wonderful doc. That brings us up to today. I have one more day here in TJ. My partner is being picked up to go to the airport at noon. I will miss him for my last day here. Cheers all! Jason David

I am one of his patients but I am only one month post-op. Cheers! and Hello anyway.

For treadmill and similar I would wait a week or two just to get your balance back. If that is not an issue it otta be fine asap. For aerobic classes and lots of jumping or kicking I would wait at least a month. For weight lifting or any type of workout that includes a lot of abdominal work I would wait six weeks. Hope that helps.

I made some fresh yogurt. Chipotle chicken broth mixed with mashed potatoes instead of Water is great. Have not tried refried Beans yet. Made deviled eggs and ate one. thats my mushy experience so far.

I saw Dr. Ramos-Kelley in early January 2011 and was very happy with the care I received. He has a new hospital he is working with and they took very good care of my companion too. It was just like having surgery done in the states. I would recommend Dr. Kelley anytime. Good luck!

I admit that I like to drink. In the last year I have cut my alcohol use down significantly from a cocktail or two per night to one-two per week instead. I also make smaller ones than I used to. After VSG why are we not supposed to drink alcohol? Is it just the extra [empty] calories or is there another reason? I have already cut down from 7 oz martinis to 3 oz ones. I have 1.5 oz martini glasses I can switch to in my bar if it is just the calories. I do enjoy drinking wine as well and have cut down from 3-5 bottles per week to just 1. If there is another health issue other than the calories? It is no big deal to drop my consumption to almost nothing but really don't want to lose the booze completely (although I am willing to do that if necessary).

I went in the day after you did Hope. The only thing I could think for the first 10 hours was "oh my god what did I do to myself" and "what a mistake this was". Now, only three nights and four days later, I am confident I made a good decision for my long term well being. I am sure you did too.

So...They say the plication surgery cannot leak but while I was at Hospital Angeles the X-ray guy took the doc aside and showed him some images of a leaking plication they had had earlier that day. Apparently the girl had been taken back into surgery and the issue was resolved. So anyway, if anybody is considering the plication just remember that even though it is a less invasive surgery the risk of a leak is not completely gone. Just thought i would pass it on. cheers all!

Oh Yes....and I forgot to say: The dinner they took us to was a ceviche dinner. My partner had mentioned that while I was coming down for weight loss he wanted some food that was authentically Mexican. I dont know if octopus and other seafood ceviche along with octopus tacos was their idea of checking to see if he could handle it (in which case he did fine) or if they were going as authentic as possible but it was great fun. We the birthday tequila the waiter brought him had an actual dead rattlesnake in it! I say A+ for authenticity.

Hello! I cant believe I didnt see this section before!

Damn! You lookin gorgeous girl!

Does anybody know where to call or who to write to in order to find out more information about Mexican surgeons? Stuff like how many leaks they have, rates of other complications and similar information? I just finished saving up and am starting to look for a place to go.

Well this cookbook is written by a Lebanese nutritionist and contains a lot of very good nutrition advise as well as tips for storing recipe components (such as cilantro and ground beef) so you can do most of your prep the day you go shopping. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1566566770/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_1?pf_rd_p=486539851&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=0670899720&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=0C97A9X5B4CK9N6WFKGQ I bought the book a few years back and have never regretted it. Every recipe is both awesome and healthy in addition to being simple. Many of the recipes are a little on the bland side but I make up for that by improvising with anise, cardamom, cinnamon, allspice and chile *****. I would recommend this book to any beginning cook not only because of its simplicity but also because of its quick nutrition tutorial at the end.

I like oat milk the best, especially for cereals and the like. It is also thicker than a lot of the other fake "milks" and doesn't taste like sh*t the way soy milk does. If you want GOOD milk though find a place that sells raw milk. It is good for you and tastes wonderful. It also contains enzymes and nutrients that are destroyed in the homogenization/pasteurization process (homogenization makes milk pretty, pasteurization allows milk to be produced in a less hygienic manner because it kills bacteria. These are the processes that make milk bad for you by altering its composition and denaturing its proteins). Don't believe the hype you hear about raw milk on the news. People drank it for how many generations before we started processing it? The health issues come from producing raw milk in an unhygienic manner the way milk destined for pasteurization is produced. If you find a good farm/dairy/co-op source for raw milk there is not really anything to worry about and the milk is fantastic. Raw, non-homogenized milk is also a self-digesting product so it is generally OK for lactose intolerant people to drink as well. Good luck finding something you like.

I would recommend finding a high Protein yogurt recipe. After making the yogurt (or buying it if you prefer) just dump it as-is into the ice cream maker and let it do its thing. *some people add sugar because the yogurt will become more tart as it freezes.

So once I went over to my sisters house on new years eve around 8pm. She answered the door with her kids and said "YOURE HERE JUST IN TIME FOR NEW YEARS! " the kids were excited and jumping around. We went in the living room and they started yelling and making noise and then she said "OK now its time for bed" and the kids all trundled off happy that they had a great new years celebration. The point is if Xmas is on the 21st, 26th or 27th the four year old will never know (if you are careful about what you tell him/her/it). So the point is...if you think the surgery is important go for it. How much later would your date be if you do not take this appointment?

That is what I am worried about too. I dont mind telling people about the wls at all but going to mexico will freak my folks out. I dont know if I should even tell them. Funny thing is that I have gotten angry at them for not telling me when they do surgery in the past! Where are you going?

yeah but they will sure look hot.

There are obese chiropractors out there and even some (me) who are doing WLS. It is just so important that people dont use surgery as a first attempt at losing. That being said there are so many benefits to losing weight that I would recommend it to any patient I thought needed it with a clear concience.

While the trainer may not be giving you the right approach about diet he/she is giving you very good advice on the workout. Doing high weight to the point of muscle failure will stress your tendons and other structures to the point where they can be very seriously damaged if you have not first built up their strength as well. After all your body is made of more than just muscle and fat and those other tissues need to be prepared for that sort of treatment. You should start with low weight-high rep and then decrease the reps slowly over several months from 15-10 when you hit your first training plateau and then from 10-5 over a few months more when you hit your next one.

I dont have FM myself but here is what I would expect: FM is often linked with sleep issues and obesity can certainly contribute to those so yeah I would say it is possible. It will also be easier to get massage because the therapist will be better able to feel the anatomy without the gigantic layer of fat covering it (other bodyworkers would be the same) so it would make it easier to get better quality treatments. Lastly exercise is probably much easier when you are skinny cuz self-esteem is higher & FM people who exercise tend to do much better with it than those who do not. Exercise also helps improve sleep quality which, as I alluded to earlier, some docs say is what really lies at the heart of the whole fibro myalgia/chronic fatigue issue. I hope that helps. Did you get cut yet? How did it go?

Catheder bag? Ugh they really make you have one?