marymoon

Good luck!

Congrats, from a fellow Tennessean! I hope you have a quick & easy recovery! Beth

I had surgery the day after you & while I'm still on Clear liquids and have trouble getting all my Water in, I'm also not feeling the extreme restriction we 'enjoyed' in the days immediately following surgery. That said, I was just making mashed potatoes for Easter dinner at my Mom's house and taste-tested the smallest bites to be sure it was good & see what els I needed to add. I probably had 2 teaspoons over the course of 10 minutes and feel FULL! Of course, now I'm going to worry I screwed up my sleeve 'cause I can't cook without tasting for quality as I go.

I was sleeved the Day after you by Dr. Aceves and had the same reaction this evening when I went into an Asian restaurant to get a bowl of wonton soup to go. The smell and accompanying stomach churning was so bad I had to turn around and walk out without my soup!

I got home Monday evening and have 2 young children and a husband to cook for as well as a home bakery. For the first time ever, the smell of food did NOT make my mouth water and once I got out of the kitchen and couldn't see it, i completely forgot about wanting to eat! Before surgery i would have totally obsessed about the box of doughnuts on the counter or the pork loin I had just cooked. Once I was reading in the living room, it didn't even cross my mind to eat. Very nice experience! I do have a cookie order I'm working on today and I'm finding it hard to beak my habit of taste-testing as I go.

Not a big proponent of hiding things from spouses but maybe you jut tell him you're going to a specialist, one of the best surgeons in the world, and must travel to CA? You're not outright lying, just omitting that after you land in CA you're heading to Mexico. I understand what you mean, though. I told everyone I knew EXCEPT my mother and my Facebook page has been in suspended animation/lockdown since she's a FB friend. She's 78, has high blood pressure and is recovering from back surgery herself and I didn't want her to stroke out with worry or worse, try and accompany me on the trip. I spoke to her last on Wednesday, flew out to CA Thursday morning and she was calling me by Saturday while I was in Mexicali recovering. I finally called her back on Sunday after she left a message saying she was worried and was going to drive to my house if I didn't call her back and let her know I was ok. I'm a 40 year old, grown-ass woman who still has to check in. We talk & see each other several times a week and are very close but I was really hoping to get away with a 5 day stretch of no contact. At least your husband will know what you're doing, just not exactly where, and I can understand that. The friends who gave me the most pushback were concerned with my going to Mexico more than I was having most of my stomach irrevocably ripped out. I thought that was strange...

I'm so glad I'm not the only one! I have a home-based business making decorated sugar cookies and I *am* a licker/taste-tester. I was sleeved last Friday and have to start working on a 5 dozen order here shortly that's due Thursday. Dreading it! The kitchen smells so heavenly when the butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla go flying!

Yup. Struggling with my weight since puberty, I started researching WLS seriously back in 2006 or so but wasn't really enchanted with the idea of a lap band or rny. I kept pushing the issue to the back of my mind until I saw pictures of myself from vacation in October 2009 and realized just how heavy I had let myself become. I thought very seriously about going to Mexico and getting a lap band but like you, thought I owed it to myself and family to try it to lose weight naturally more time with all my heart and soul. I started seeing a bariatric PCP and a nutritionist and by June 2010 had lost 60lbs easily! The the hunger kicked in and I couldn't control it. By February 2011 I had gained back 40lbs - 2/3rds of the weight I had lost and I was miserable. I realized that my weight had been and would continue to be a lifelong struggle unless I had extreme medical intervention. Atkins, Weight Watcher and pills, all things I had tried in the past, simply was not going to get the job done. Im now day 4 postop and don't regret having VSG a single bit. My only regret is the time wasted trying to lost the weight 'one last time' the old-fashioned way. That, and I wish this had been an option for me when I was much younger so I could have enjoyed my 20's and 30's much more in a healthier body.

So far I'm not experiencing much hunger. My husband picked me up at the airport with a bag of ChickfilA in the front seat, tho. Men. Still, before surgery I wouldn't have had the willpower to resist. I just enjoyed the smells for a moment and put it out of my mind. Very easy!

I just got back from Mexicali yesterday and wanted to let you know that everything that was posted about the experience was spot on. The procedure runs like a well-oiled machine from start to finish. My only disappointment came from not having Ernesto as a driver. His daughter was getting married & he was on vacation last weekend. The weekend driver was a little behind schedule which, when one is traveling alone for a surgery in a foreign country, can be disconcerting. I had to call Nina a couple of times once I got to the airport because I had no ride! My flight arrived in San Diego just before 11am and the driver didn't show until close to 12:30. Bring your own wash cloths or scrubbie from home, I was given a fresh full-sized towel, clean gown, small bar of soap and shampoo/conditioner packet, but when I asked for a wash cloth, they just brought me another full-sized towel. Most of my nurses knew enough English to communicate well. Which is good 'cause the only Spanish I know is whatever I remember from Sesame Street.

This is post-op day 4 for me & feeling pretty good! Home from Mexico last night and sooo glad to be back in my own bed. Good luck to everyone with upcoming surgery and fast healing vibes to those newly sleeved this month!

What a bitch that was! I didn't receive an epidural before surgery because, as the anesthesiologist explained, if Dr. Aceves thinks you may have a hiatal hernia, he doesn't want you to have the epi, for reasons that were explained but I now can't remember. And of course, I had a hh and Dr. Aceves fixed it for me but my God, last night was rough! I was up and walking just as soon as I was back in my room from recovery but my surgery buddy and I are in a different area then where most of his patients are, I think. It's a very short hall and we don't have far to walk. They took us of the saline drip so now we're free to ride the elevator down but I really don't feel like doing much walking. Feel much better than yesterday or even this morning and I know each day will see improvement. So far the only negatives have been that the night nurse never gave me anything to help me sleep and I apparently rammed my IV thru the vein when I was getting out of bed once to use the bathroom. The tube popped out, blood spurted from my hand and saline from the tubing! The nurse came almost immediately after I pushed the call button but it took a total of 3 nurses and 4 more sticks to find another good vein. At the time, I was hoping they'd just go away and let me die in peace. My surgery buddy DID have an epidural but she's experiencing quite a bit of discomfort, as well. Maybe the nurses up here aren't as trained to handle bariatric patients like the ones on the regular wing? So it's Day 1 of my new life and I've so far managed to drink 6oz of Water and half a cup of hot tea & I'm full! Gonna loooove this new, tiny tummy!

I'm wide awake at the hotel in Mexicali thanks to something that sounded like a foghorn blaring right outside my window. I tried to go back to sleep for at least another hour but it seems that when the ativan is done with you, it's done! I'm wide awake & checking email, Facebook & hanging out here for the next 2 hours as it's just now 5am in Mexicali. Today I meet Dr. Aceves & his team and will have most of my stomach liberated and expunged sometime this morning. My surgery buddy & I had a great dinner last night at the hotel's restaurant; it felt so go be able to order anything but not so much when the waiter innocently asked if we were in Mexico to have the weight surgery. Guess my fat ass gave it away again, huh? No worries, by this time next year I'll be healthy & smokin' hot. After fasting all freaking day yesterday, that food was delish, not to mention the margarita & Coke I downed. Is it weird that Im not nervous at all? Sure, I worry a little about the unforeseen; equipment failure, bad reaction to anesthesia, nicking the liver, etc, but not enough to get all worked up over it. I do wonder, though, since our "last supper" is still gurgling away in there, if Dr. Aceves had to suction all the undigested door out before of after he pulls the liberated part of the stomach out? It seems so gross! That's why he gets the big bucks, I suppose! Yesterday was a bit of a rough start. Ernesto is on vacation to see his daughter get married but I didn't know this when I arrived at baggage claim yesterday right at 11:00 and there was absolutely no one to be found holding a sign with my name on it, I waited until 11:10 before calling the office who explained that the weekend driver was coming and should be there in 10 minutes. Nina called me back after another 5 to 10 minutes to explain that another patient was arriving late and asked me to wait inside 15 minutes then head outside so the driver could pick me up at the curb. I was looking for a tan van with my name on a card in the front windshield. I sat in the southern California sun for over an hour and never saw the van with my name. Finally, around 12:20pm the driver was walking around & found me sitting on a stone bench right by the street but he had to go to the other terminal to find my surgery buddy. So I waited another 20 minutes or so. I hadn't expected to be outside so long and as my 3-1-1 bag was full, I didn't pack any sunscreen - I'm now sporting a lovely burn on my neck and arms. My advice to incoming patients would be to call or email the day before you fly in to see when the other patients will be arriving so you can plan meeting with the driver accordingly. Im going to miss out on meeting Ernesto, unfortunately. He's due to come back Tuesday, the day after I return home. The hotel is nice & from what I saw at the hospital from pre-op testing, it is just as clean as others have said. Looking forward to heading over in a bit and settling in to my new home for the next 3 nights! I hear they have AWESOME drugs, too! Soooo ready to get the most uncomfortable part of this journey over and so I can start writing a new chapter of my life! I could really, really use a cup of coffee, tho!

Great. I'm having surgery with Dr. Aceves this Friday and NOW I find out I can't get in the hot tub for 3 whole months?!? Suck. Loving your updates! Beth

Hi all! I've been stalking these forums for a while now but since my surgery date is fast approaching I thought I'd make my grand appearance! LOL! I'm Beth, I'm a 40 year old SAHM of two - a dd10 and ds7, married for almost 16 years to my college sweetheart and have struggled with my weight since the onset of puberty. Like many others, my condition is a result of a combination of poor eating habits, lack of exercise and genetics - pretty much every family member on each side is heavy and heart disease is commonplace on my Dad's side of the family. My oldest brother was diabetic, 300+lbs and dropped dead of a massive heart attack at the age of 44 in 1998. My Dad died 7 years ago at age 73 during open heart surgery he underwent to replace a valve and do a quintuple bypass - he had suffered from congestive heart failure & diabetes for years and was overweight ever since he retired from the military. My 2 remaining brothers are each 300+ lbs each and I have three 1st cousins on my Dad's side who tip the scales around 400+ lbs. Most everyone else is just regular obese. I started looking into WLS back in 2006 - I hovered between 180 and 200lbs most of my adult life but after my Dad died I was very depressed and grew to 260lbs in no time. Our insurance specifically excluded WLS so I started researching Mexico and the Lapband since RnY seemed too drastic for me. I procrastinated and continued the cycle of gaining and losing until I saw a picture of myself from a vacation we took the first week of October in 2009. I was standing next to a woman who (at the time) I thought was HUGE and vowed to myself to never get as big as. I was shocked to see in the photo that IRL, I was just as big as she was! Denial much? By mid-October I got myself to a local bariatric doc who employs a nutritionist and started on one last, dedicated journey to get the weight off for good the old fashioned way - by eating right and exercising. Between October 2009 and June 2010 I lost 60 lbs, dropped my 4 can/day soda habit completely was going to the Y 6 days a week, doing high-impact Zumba 3x/week and running 5k races. I even learned to love broccoli! In early June 2010, my elderly mother ruptured a disk in her back and needed pretty much daily assistance. One brother is mentally disabled and lives with her and needed my help as well. The kids were out of school for summer and between their needs and the needs of my mom & brother, I put my needs on the backburner AGAIN. The stress eating kicked in and by August 2010 I had gained 20lbs back. Mom had back surgery 2 days before Thanksgiving and was sent to a rehab facility for 5 weeks. All this time I had to manage 2 households and take care of her needs. Oh, did I mention that during this time I also started a home bakery business and am secretary of my childrens' PTO? She was released by January 2011 & I was finally able to try and focus on myself. For whatever reason, I just could not find the motivation to get myself back to the gym and eating right. Right now, I've gained back 40 of the 60lbs I lost and feel like crap. I'm back at the Y and doing weights and Zumba, but the weight will not budge this time. In 2011 my husband's insurance changed their policy and started covering WLS! Woot! However, it is BCBS TN (self-insured, Bridgestone) and they only pay for 50% of charges and the costs do not apply to the max out of pocket. If the contracted rate for surgery was $24k, I was going to be on the hook for $12k out of pocket and would still have to meet my deductible of $750! Boo! I went to a local seminar at the COE anyway, I was leaning toward the sleeve and started the paperwork trail. Got my 5 year weight history from my doc, already had the 6 month weight loss thing done with the nutritionist and just needed to submit all the paperwork to insurance. When I started questioning the bariatric surgeon's experience with the sleeve I became concerned. He hasn't done that many and really pushed for RnY. His nurse coordinator had had RnY the previous year but admitted she would have have preferred the sleeve, but her insurance didn't cover it. I decided right then and there that VSG was the right path for me - I have joint problems that aren't likely to be resolved when I get the weight off and I need to be able to take NSAID's now and in the future. Unfortunately, BCBS TN considers VSG 'investigational' and although I could appeal, it would probably be toward the end of summer before anything were decided and my OOP cost would still likely be around $10k. As the self-pay price for VSG is around $20k here, I started researching my options in Mexico once again. At first, I settled on Dr. Joya and my friend who is a nurse practitioner was going to accompany me so she would be able to advocate for me while enjoying a nice resort location. As I researched further, I kept seeing Dr. Aceves' name. I'm impressed with his stats and his qualifications. Plus, tho my husband had reservations about my going to a 'border town,' I liked the idea of being so close to the States in case of an emergency. And the cost difference is going into new kitchen cabinets for me, tho $$$ wasn't really a deciding factor. My date is almost here! I fly out to San Diego this Thursday and have surgery Friday, April 15th! I couldn't be more excited! I'm a titch nervous about the procedure but totally comfortable going alone (my NP friend couldn't rearrange her schedule so quickly) and looking forward to getting this behind me and moving forward with the rest of my life at a normal, healthy weight. I took my Girl Scout troop camping this weekend and hated that I had such a hard time keeping up with a bunch of 9 and 10 year old girls on the hikes. I miss running and want to get back outside on the local greenway without feeling like my knees are going to shatter with every step. I want to be able to push my kids on the tire swing without getting winded and needing to sit down for a breather. I want to live a long and healthy life, free of the curse of heart disease that has ravaged my family for several generations. Anyhoo, I'm happy to be here and glad I finally uncloaked. Looking forward to being an active participant here - you all give such wonderful, supportive advice and have a great community! Beth

Thanks for the warm welcome! I'm sooo excited about the upcoming surgery! Been busy trying to tie up some loose ends here, getting the house clean, and planning school lunches and clothing choices for the kids while I'm gone. I love my husband but he'd let them wear ratty play clothes to school if they asked. This way I'll know they'll look decent in my absence. I'm chaperoning a field trip for my DS's grade tomorrow so I have to get it all done TODAY! Ack! My daughter is very upset that I'm leaving and is afraid I'll die in surgery like her PaPaw. I explained that I'm much healthier than he was and my surgery isn't as complicated but she has a sensitive heart and is a worrier. I know I'm getting ready to have a major surgery in a foreign country by a doc I've never met and all, but my biggest fear at this point is whether I'm going to fit into the ridiculously small seats on Southwest. I'm 25lbs heavier than the last time I flew & I'm so afraid I'll get up there and be asked to buy a second seat. My DH thinks I'm being silly but I'm really, really worried about this.

Thank you so much for your post today! Dr. Aceves will be doing my surgery this Friday and testimonials like yours are the main reason I chose him over all others.

Good luck!!!

Friday, 4/15/11, with Dr. Aceves! Sooo excited!