SandSandles

To set the stage, I must tell you that I am over 50. I had my stomach "stapled" way back in the early 1980's. I went from 225 to 125 and maintained for 6 years... then slowly gained it all back over the past 20 years. In 2011, reaching 205 and struggling, I decided to try the sleeve. I went to Mexico in July, 2011 and had it done. I had a bad infection from the drain tube a few weeks after I got home and had to be hospitalized for 10 days. The money I saved going to Mexico was spent recuperating at the hospital. I was glad my insurance covered most of my hospital stay. lol. sigh. Anyway, the first couple of months after the surgery I lost 30 pounds. yay. A couple of months after that, I gained back 10 pounds. I felt pretty sorry for myself. I spent all that money and all that time -- for 20 pounds. The MOST expensive diet plan to date. What was I eating? Anything I wanted. Somehow in my mind I had a wrong idea and because I had heard someone say, "You are eating so little that it won't matter what you eat!" There was a younger woman who had the sleeve a year prior and she was eating M&Ms and drinking cokes. She had lost 100 pounds. Wrong. Jumping forward ... January 1st I decided to try Low Carb eating again. It was obvious that the sleeve did not work for me and I had to at least try something. I had made it through the holidays maintaining the 20 lb loss, in spite of eating as much sugar as I wanted. Yikes. My history with low carb diets in the past has been a roller coaster ride that left me angry and frustrated and sad and very little weight loss to show for all the work. I would diet and diet and diet and lose 1 pound. I would eat ONE thing off plan and gain back 3 or 4. I would cook ahead and write everything down. etc etc. I would plateau every 4-5 weeks. I would shake my fist at the "diet" and yell at it... and my body & metabolism just wouldn't cooperate. I hated the scale - typical stuff, ya know? January 1st, with much resignation, I sucked it up, put on my big girl panties, bit the bullet and got down to brass tacks. I hit the low carb track again. I stopped ALL sugar. I stopped eating all starches. I eat grilled meat & vegetables. I eat an occasional Atkins bar if I feel like I am craving something sweet. If I get home at night and I am too tired to cook, rather than standing in front of the fridge just stuffing things in my mouth, I will cook an egg. Of course, I am eating smaller portions than before the sleeve, but it is clean eating. I was SO hoping that the sleeve would be a cure-all. I was hoping that just eating less would suffice. I really wanted to think that I was 25 years old again and had plenty of time ahead of me. lol. Yeah... I see you shaking your heads. hahahaha SO, I may not have the shining report about the sleeve that others seem to have. I didn't drop to 120 wearing a size 4... don't know if that is even possible... BUT I feel like there is more control. I cannot finish everything on my plate. I cannot stuff myself. I cannot. I have to chew slower. I have to restrict eating beef (it doesn't go down easily). I have to be VERY careful when I go out to eat with others because I get full before they are barely getting started with their meal. So, as of January 1st, 2012 and 3 weeks of eating clean low carb, I have lost 10 pounds. Wow, that was fast. The light bulb is starting to come on --> sleeve + low carb = steady loss I am hopeful that this trend will continue. I am calm. I am changed. I'm losing.

Checking in... Down another 10 pounds. Slowly, but steady.

Sorry I have not responded sooner but I did not get any notifications that there were responses. It is a couple of weeks later now.. and I am stalled. up/down/up/downol/up/down SAME two pounds. But I keep eating low carb. I keep eating Protein first. Sort of had a weird thing happened today, I was changing clothes and noticed that my bloat was gone. My tummy looked sort of like a wrinkly raisin - very large raisin. lol. So changes are happening. My clothes are loser, no matter what the scale says. I just keep hoping and believing. SURELY the weight will come off. SURELY I can hang in there long enough - not get discouraged or give up -- and THEN I'll see things turn around. I still have hope.

Just curious about those who traveled a distance to have their surgery in Mexico. .. How did you handle follow-up on the procedure? Did anyone NOT have follow-up by a doctor? Did anyone have to try and "find" a VSG friendly doctor when you got back home? I am never sick and rarely go to the doctor. In the past 5 years I have gone once a year for a regular check-up. Last year I had mentioned "lap band" to my PCP and he was dead set against it. So IF I a go proceed, I will probably have to find a new doctor. Has anyone ever been turned down by a doctor for having VSG?

Sorry to say, but please remove my name from June 30th. Time and money are a factor for now. Will reconsider later. Having to work on it the old fashioned way. (sigh)

I saw that you have band to sleeve revision. Do you think some of your complications might have been still part of the hard time you had with the band? I have heard bunches of horror stories about lapbands now. Wow.

WOW... that IS a mess. So I see how important it is to have a PLAN. That means more urgency in finding someone, and hope my "network" idea will be successful. Thank you SO MUCH for taking the time to answer. Really hope things work out for you!!

Thanks! I will definitely watch those things!

I have no other choice. My insurance will not cover it. I have to self pay. I have the money for Mexico, but NOT for what they charge in the states (double). It is either this way, or continue to live obese. Also, I only have a few vacation days left from work, so I will have to go back to work in 5 days after surgery. Again... it is either this way or NO way. I figure I am reasonably healthy for a fat person. I have a VERY high pain tolerance, and I have always healed rapidly. It would just be good to be able to stay on top of things and make sure my blood levels and Vitamin levels stay good.

There is a WLS support group that meets a local hospital. I am hoping I can go to the meetings and perhaps connect with a doctor through that network.

That is fantastic!! Congrats.

Wow... 33 views and no responses yet. Come on y'all... makin' me nervous. hahaha

ToDream/ I've been thinking about you and hoping things went well. Look forward to more reports from you. ...like what day you start to feel better. I have to go back to work 4 days after surgery. So ... Keep us up to date on your progress, you skinny thing!! Lol.

Next obstacle -- picking the right location for the right price. The doctors I am looking at both have GREAT reviews. Dr. Aceves in Mexicali OR Dr. Almanza in Tijuana I was quoted $9,500 for Dr. Aceves -- "The cost for laparoscopic Gastric Sleeve Surgery here at our center $9,500 USD.* " (p.s. Gastric Sleeve in the town where I live is currently going for $9,900 - so considering the addition of airfare? ... no bargain / same price. The quote for Dr. Almanza is this -- " We are also offering the Vertical Gastric Sleeve Package for only $4,999!" Gee -- hard decision. Also, Airfare to Mexicali is around $650 round trip, whereas round trip to San Diego looks like it is around $450 SO.... Looks like it is Dr. Almanza in Tijuana. Do you agree?

I'm sure.

VERY well said, Dr JSA!

Age - 50ish Weight to lose - at LEAST 75 pounds *****************************************Last year I thought about doing this. ... and didn't. Didn't really have the money. This year I wish I had followed through... and seriously looking at it again. I have a little more financial room than before. I am nervous -- NOT about the surgery and certainly NOT about the lifestyle changes, but I am nervous about my social sphere. I want this for ME and I want it to be TOTALLY PRIVATE. The only person that I must tell is my spouse. So I am asking myself how much information do I need to give him? I do NOT want to just flat out lie to him... but he is going to be difficult. He loves me dearly and is very afraid of losing me - on a lot of levels for different reasons. I have just started planting the idea of WLS into him. At first he immediately jumped to all the negative results of people who have had WLS (one being his daughter (Run-Y) who gained all of her weight back within 1 year). I told him that we hear the same exact things from people concerning other "risk" events - motorcycle riding, flying, hiking, etc. So several weeks have gone by now and he is a little more settled with it. NEXT he asked, "You are NOT going to do something crazy like go to Mexico to do this are you?!??!" How do you answer that? "Uh yes honey, I'm going completely insane and going to save 50% on the surgery." Right now all Texans are being asked to NOT cross the border in Texas into Mexico because of the vast number of disappearances happening to tourists. Not a problem... I think I want to go to San Diego and use Dr. Almanza at Mt. Zion. So how much do I actually tell my husband? He is a very talkative person and he tells everything he knows. He will tell his mother (she can be a little critical.. very critical). I don't want people to worry... seems like I am surrounded by a few of those types. He will tell. So I feel like I am almost stuck in a place of flat out lying to him, or knowing that I will have to deal with a lot of questions, etc. when I get home. EVENTUALLY I know it won't matter -- once the weight is off, I'll be singing it from the rooftops, but for now... I'm embarrased, and shy, and private! I emailed the contact person about setting a date. It is all okay.... I have 3 extra days off work, coupled with a weekend - so a total of 5 days to get it done. My work is not strenuous so no problem there. How do I disappear for 5 days? How do I do that without notifying the people who I am in daily contact with. Again... I don't want to flat out lie to them... but I also don't want to deal with confrontation or negativeness or arguments or other peoples fear. NOR do I want to hurt or alienate the people who just love me so much they can't help giving me their opinions. lol.

Oh for sure. That was a hard one. It was my first knee-jerk response. The couple of times I brought it up he was so NEGATIVE about it -- would not discuss it, would not listen, (refuses to read about it). He finally firmly and loudly said, "WELL, IF YOU WANT THIS THEN YOU WILL HAVE TO WAIT UNTIL YOU HAVE A CHUNK OF MONEY FALL INTO YOUR LAP SO THAT YOU CAN JUST PAY FOR YOURSELF." sigh. So I was driving home on Sunday afternoon (had a 2 hr drive) and I got to thinking about how I had never lied to him before. Then I thought how would I feel if he did the same thing to me... etc etc etc. Oh yeah, I've omitted details or been very careful with my wording, but NEVER just blatantly told him an "untruth". (Wisdom my mom taught me! Timing is everything) Pretty much decided that somehow, someway I needed to get this settled before surgery. (pretty smart girl, lol) That settled that. So.... I practiced on my sisters. I was unsure how one of them would respond. I was surprised at how supportive they both were - even volunteering to go with me. That gave me confidence. yay. So... once that was all settled, I picked a time in my mind for a good discussion with hubby. We are dealing with SEVERAL big changes right now, so it will be a couple of weeks before I know that he can handle another "stressful" thing on his plate -- but I've mentally penciled it on my calendar. Again, it is all in the timing. lol. Isn't it amazing that when you CHOOSE to be honest and CHOOSE to do the right thing, something wonderful happens? I suddenly remembered that I am getting a HUGE commission check mid June (not that big, but enough to make up the difference in what I have so that I don't have to charge anything). DUH!! There is my "CHUNK OF MONEY" falling into my lap. I will be able to pay cash. SO... He said it! I got it! hahahahhaaha NO harm, no foul, gemintherough - TOTALLY understood where you were coming from!

jbtcat -- I missed this post! Thanks for posting this! It is good to know there is support with "skin on" when we get home. THANK YOU.

HEY! Yep -- I feel good about my choice. You know how many "day surgery" clinics there are in Houston?!?! The term "real hospital" doesn't mean much to me since I live in a town FULL of "Day Clinics" (and some of the best medical facilities in the world). I've looked at the reports from 2009, 2010, and 2011. I also feel comfortable with my choice. Texas girls can be tough. hahaha Let's keep in touch! Several years ago I had major surgery (in Houston) on my face due to skin cancer. They got me up off the recovery room bed and WALKED me to the waiting room. My husband was SHOCKED to see my cut up face (they had to remove part of my nose, cut a flap of skin from beside my lip to build a new nostril, cut cartiledge from behind my ear to rebuild my nose - I had stitches & blood everywhere!). They had him walk me to our vehicle and drive me to a "hospitality house" for recovery. I had an appointment with the doctor the next morning and then released. I remember NOTHING except standing up in recovery until I woke up the next morning to get dressed for my appointment. My husband said I threw up several times during the night. He was freaked. Needless to say I have a very HIGH pain tolerance. Day surgeries & Day Clinics are common place in Texas. BTW - The doctor who performed my surgery was a plastic surgeon. My face is almost perfect -- Most people cannot tell there is a scar at all. YES it was scary at first... but now? It is all ok. ALSO -- I found a support group close to me (North Houston area). That was one of my concerns - "after surgery". I feel a LOT better knowing that there is a group I can join and learn from. (Methodist Hospital)

SO happy for you. Can't wait to hear your report when you get back home!

Ya know, Starygrl, that could work. A little tweaking but very close to it. I DO have a friend in CA. I HAVE gone to "girls weekend" gatherings before. Thanks.

I have told 2 people -- my sister, and a friend who lives in another state. I'm just going to wait it out and perhaps eventually opportunity will rise to tell my husband before... or at LEAST after... lol. Forgiveness can be easier to obtain, than permission. thanks for yall's help.

Spring TX Scheduled for June 30 in Tijuana