Garyb_58

Congrats Dan, I'm glad everything is going good. Keep up the weight loss. Life is good.

I'm two months out and have no regrets. Not to say other thoughts have not crossed my mind. Like realizing I can never go eat as much as I want as comfort food. But that is what got me here in the first place. Since surgery I have really learned how much I ate because I wanted to instead of needed to. It is funny but the hardest thing I have had a problem with is leaving food on my plate. For 40 of my 51 years I have not done that and now I listen to my head instead of my stomach. Since I'm not hungry and don't want the uncomfortable feeling of eating too much with the sleeve, I'm able to walk away or get a to-go box and carry it home to the grandbaby. I love my sleeve and just wish I could have had it done years ago. Cause the Lord knows I tried to stop eating on my own and it didn't work. Good Luck, Gary

I was not on a liquid diet prior to surgery just a low-carb diet. That is another reason I say you should be okay.

Hey Steve, You should be fine. I only lost 8 pounds prior to surgery and my doctor allowed us to go out the nigh before surgery and eat anything we wanted too. If you have lost 15 to 20 pounds you should be okay. Good Luck Gary

Kotta, I am sorry to hear the band is giving your trouble. I was looking into getting the band when I learned about sleeve. Being a self-pay I decided on the sleeve due to the problems I was reading about from band patients. As far as you questions I do not know all the answers but will tell you why I went with the sleeve. In looking over many different sites on the Internet I learned the sleeve is like the middle of the road when it comes to reaching your goal weight. What I found was the Lap-Band is the least effective, Sleeve is in the middle and Bypass is the most effective. I was not interested in the Bypass even though I started at 362 pounds. I had my surgery 8 weeks ago and have lost 66 pounds. As for the ghrelin, I have not read anywhere that it is something you need, but I'm glad I don't have it anymore. No hunger pains have made my journey a whole lot easier. As for Dr. Aceves I think I still have the price list at home, but the best thing to do would be call their 800 number. I had my surgery done for cheaper than what was in his price list. If I remember right it was like $12500.00 for taking the band out and doing the sleeve at the same time, but they may have came down on the price. They will gladly answer any question you have if you call them. Hope this helped some. Good luck Gary

Lizzie, My Brother went to Mexicali with me for my surgery and he found things to do. He did help me when I needed him but I was not really out of it and did not have any problems with sickness. He got with other relatives of patients and they would go eat together and walk around to see what was around the Hospital. Good luck with your journey.

Way to go bigdd, keep it up.

Anna, I know you will have a great trip. Tell Dr. Aceves and Campos I said hello. Tonight you will eat the last big meal that you will be able to so enjoy it. They have some great food there. I know you are excited and nervous but it will all be on the downside soon. You will be more excited when you see the weight start to fall off. Good luck and we will see you on the losers bench. Gary

The card is still considered your passport. I went ahead and got the other only because I thought one day I might want to fly into another country. I would just carry a copy of the the paper work showing you applied for the card as well as the receipt for payment. The card only means you applied for a different level of passport, you still applied for your passport even though it's the card form. Good luck on your journey.

Hello Everyone, I hope everyone is doing good. Just wanted to give an eight week update. As of Saturday morning I am no longer in the 300's. As of this morning I weigh 297 which is 65 pounds lighter than when I started this journey in January. I have lost 27.75 inches in eight weeks, WHATTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT!:w00t: Thanks to everyone who posts on this site. All the advise, recipes, love and prayers that you all share really help an old Arkansas boy who reads more than he post. Thanks, Gary :crying:

Hello, I have been using a BIPAP machine for a year now and it is set on 23%. I could not use a CPAP machine because it would not go high enough. Also, they could not set me up with a machine that would increase after I went to sleep. Therefore I had to use the machine with it blowing at 23% from the start. I did not believe I would ever be able to sleep with this machine with me being a light sleeper. After a few nights I started getting use to it and now will not sleep without it. I feel so much better in the mornings and sleep more sound than I have in years. I know it is hard to get use to but once you do it makes all the differnce in the world. I wanted to use a different mask, one that would just fit in my nose but due to the pressure I have to use one that covers the nose. I am able to sleep on both sides and if I get the pillow right partially on my stomach. Again I know how these things are hard to get use to, but when they showed me how many times I would stop breathing during the sleep studies I realized I have no choice but to wear it. That led to me not wanting to sleep without it. I hope that I can get small enough again that I do not have to use it in the future. I also hope I can give it up if I do. The difference in the sleep is amazing. Good Luck, Gary

Hello Everyone in the 200+ group, I am Gary and I'm 51 years old and started my journey at 6' and 362.8 pounds. I too like so many others have struggled with my weight all my life. I had VSG on 01-25-10 in Mexico with Dr. Aceves. This morning I weighed in at 300.8 so I've lost 62 pounds in a short period of time. Oh yeah I love my sleeve.

I used Dr. Aceves so I knew he had done more than 700 at the time I went to him. I would ask your doctor is she has done any surgeries where VSG was used as the first part of another WLS. They do this a lot when the person is too big to safely have a bypass or DS surgery. Or if she has done any surgeries where they removed removed a persons stomach due to cancer. She may just be telling you how many VSG's she has done as a stand alone surgeries. Good luck.

I too am a patient of Dr. Aceves and was lucky enough to be able to talk to other patients of his from the same town where I live. I too cannot prove his record but will tell you I am very happy with my surgery that he preformed and the results. That being said I feel that if Dr. Aceves was having problems someone would have came forward and said something. I checked every website I could find and even open searches on the Internet and could not anything bad being said about Dr. Aceves. I would go back to him in a heart beat.

I have not heard of that doctor, but I was sleeved on 1-25 and as if yesterday have lost 60 pounds. Just something to think about. Of course I started at 362 and I'm a guy so we seem to loose a little faster. Good luck on your journey.

Wannalise, yes we checked with Customs and the Border Patrol prior to my surgery 1-25 and they confirmed that as long as you have the paperwork and receipt for payment for the passport and your photo I.D. and birth certificate you will be allowed back in to the US. I was prepared to make the trip based on that information and with us checking oursleves instead of just the doctors office. Our passports arrived the Saturday before we left on Sunday morning so I was lucky. I was going even if they did not come in though. Hope this helps.

I cannot answer if it prevent you from having surgery or not. I received an email from my Doctors in MX Wednesday informing me they learned during test on the part of my stomach they took out that I have it. I have an appt. Monday with my local Doctor. I was told by the MX doctor that I will have to continue taking Nexium and two other meds for 14 days to get rid of it. They do not want it to cause ulcers in my new stomach. Good Luck with your journey.

Mine was $8750.00 in MX which included everything except airfare. It included all test, surgery and all, one night in Hotel, three nights in Hospital. Good luck

Congrats, your doing a great job. The sleeve is great. Keep it up.

My doctors gave me strict instructions to never drink cokes or beer. You don't want the gases in the stomach.

Notsofluffy, I have heard good things about both Doctors, but I chose Dr. Aceves because of him having more than 700 VSG surgeries without a leak. I also could not find anyone that had anything bad to say about him, his staff or the Hospital. I check on-line and also was able to talk to people from my area that had used him for Lap-band surgeries. All spoke highly of him and his staff. I also liked the fact that Dr. Aceves keeps you in a Hospital where he and Dr. Campos both check on you three times a day. I paid $8750 for my surgery. You have to make your mind up which will do the best job for you and I'm sure both Doctors do great job. This is just what made me choose Dr. Aceves and why I would go back to him in a heartbeat. Good Luck on your journey. Anything else I can help with please let me know. Gary

I used Unjury that you order on-line. They have an unflavored one that you can mix with other drinks like tea or Crystal Lite and it worked best for me. I have also used Choc. Muscle Milk. I have some Whey protein (Choc. Peanut butter) that I got that will mix with water or milk either one that taste good. I did not find any premixed protein water that I could use on a long term, bad tasting stuff.

I don't remember them weighing me. They may have but I sure don't remember it.

Hello everyone, Just wanted to give a one month update. I had surgery on 1-25 with Dr. Aceves in MX. I lost about 8 pounds prior to surgery and as of Monday 2-22 I have lost a total of 47 pounds and 19.25 inches. I'm sure loosing that much weight that fast has to do with me being a guy and having a starting weight of 362 pounds. But I'm still proud to see it coming off. I'm getting back into clothes that have been tucked away in my closet for sometime. Thanks to everyone on this forum for the information you have shared and continue to share. When I was invited to site in December I was considering Lapband and quickly changed my mind. Thanks again for all of your help. Gary

I too would say call the 800-number, before I had my surgery with Dr. Aceves and would send an email it seems like it did take a day or two for them to respond, I would call. I paid $8750 in January. Good luck