Suzannesh

Hi, if you have insurance and your doctor prescribes something ask for the Generic Prilosec. I can get a 90 day supply for $7.00 through my insurance company. And Prilosec worked for me so much better than Nexium which cost a lot of $$$$. Hugs, Suzanne

Just a warning--I hated Isopure. So if you can buy it at GNC and keep the receipt. There are GNC in most Malls. They will refund your money if you buy something from them and don't like it. Isopure tates like Isopuke to me or pound sucm. As you can tell I don't care for it. Hugs, Suzanne

Hi Cathi, I will say it over and over again. When it comes to your health you DO NOT PRICE SHOP. If it is a car or clothes YES. I am older than you and I was in pretty good health other than being fat, and I knew I wanted the very best I could find and that was Dr. Aceves. Hugs, Suzanne

Hi Cathi, He is an amazing doctor along with a GREAT sense of humor. You will never find another doctor like him who cares so much about his patients. I am please to help and to keep encourging you now and later if you have a bump in the road.. One day there will be someone just like you who is thinking about having this done and will ask all kinds of quesiton and you can tell them about your experience. Congratulations for making this choice, now your weight loss journey is going to start. Hugs to you and Dr. Aceves. Suzanne

Hi Cathi, Well, you will get no argument from me on everything you said. Being in a hospital is soooooooooooooooo important to me too. I would never consider a recovery house. They don't have everything that a hospital has. Serigo is fantastic. And you are right the night nurses manage to figure out what you want and need. Enjoy your stay and have a safe trip home. Dr. Campos is great too--he had sleeve surgery too. Hugs, Suzanne

Hi Eliza, And you will be in that bikini one of these days. I know about the anxiety. I had it, and I want you to know it is really normal to have ALL the motions and feeling that you are having. Any time you need me just send me an E-mail. I always check them many times during the day. It is the unknown that scares us the most. I promise you that you will feel a whole lot better once you see ever thing. They hospital is the cleanest place I have ever seen. They are cleaning it 24 - 7. Everyone that works at the hospital is so very helpful and nice. They will LOVE you because you can speak their language. Most of them speak English too. Hugs, Suzanne

Here are some more things I want you to know about if you are thinking about having WLS and you are having the “Sleeve.” This is long so you might want to PRINT it out and read it. 1. We have talked a little or a lot about “slimming or "phlegming” In case you missed it, when you first start eating regular food you have to re-learn how to eat again and chew. With your new stomach you will need to take small tiny bites and chew until the food in your mouth is almost liquid like. This is nothing like what you had been doing your entire life. In the past you eat and talk and put big bite in your mouth along with a few chews and then swallowing—this will NO LONGER WORK FOR YOU. This is a very difficult thing to change. So with your new stomach and just having surgery you may experience slimming or "phlegming” First you will feel like the food is stuck, then it comes back up in a clear liquid –your saliva. It isn’t vomit, so that is why it is called slimming or "phlegming” It’s a wakeup call to slow down you eating and chew, and chew and chew some more. Just go to the bathroom or have a napkin ready for the slimming or "phlegming” if you are eating out. If you try to overeat—which is bad you may experience this too sometimes. For me it was always about not chewing enough. 2. What are some signs that you are full? At first I wasn’t sure, but sometimes I just got tired of all the chewing, so I stopped eating. I now get the hiccups or my noise will start to run when I am full. I know that other people have said they experienced this too. 3. It does take some time to retain yourself on how to eating and I know that the first month it is such a process just trying to get all the food in that you need to get in because of your new restrictions. In time it does get a lot easier. Some people actually mourn the loss of food, because you will NEVER EAT the quantity of food that we used to eat---YEAH that is how we are going to lose the fat and maintain that goal weight that we want to have for the rest of our lives. 4. If you think you are hungry and you are positive that you are having physical symptoms of hunger this is YOUR OLD thinking brain playing those tricks we have talked about. You now have to start learning to educate this OLD brain into being your NEW thinking brain. Ask yourself do you just "want to eat" or do you really "need to eat" because it has been 3 or 4 hours since you have eaten anything. It is amazing what our brains can and will do to sabotage our way of thinking. You may be challenged by this OLD brains way of thinking for many years. For me I just have to have some self-talks with myself. We have an addiction to food. There is no way around avoiding food, so we need to find the set of skills that will allow us to change our lifestyle. I eat to live, I NO LONGER live to eat! Food is not my main focus in life. 5. I have seen so many times where people are going along and doing great with their weight loss. Then all of a sudden they are NOT losing anything—they panic—I did when it happened to me. We call these “Stalls.” We have stalled and are not losing anything. Most of the time you are eating all the same and correct things that you have in the past when you were losing weight. Our body just does this naturally--stalls. Mine lasted 9 days one time. This is really normal. I have a few suggestions. Use this site or something like it to track everything you are putting in your mouth. http://www.livestron.../thedailyplate/ You might be surprised at what you are eating—that is why I say track it. Remember keep your total calories at 800 per day—if you exercise then you can eat more. This site will help you figure that out how much more you can it by what kind of exercise you did. You also need to make sure that you are not eating more than 20 carbs per day. No white or refined carbs. They should ONLY be whole grain carbs—not whole wheat, BUT Whole Grain carbs—do the best you can when it comes to carbs. If you are having problems with the weight loss you can kick up the amount of exercise you are doing too. The weight loss will start back up again, so don’t panic. 6. We all stumble and fall along the way, don’t beat yourself up over it. Move on and have a better day the next day. 7. Be aware that your friends and family may not be supportive of you having WLS. For your family, first they really may NOT understand it and they are scared for you. This is pretty normal. You have been on the Internet, and been educating yourself and doing a lot of reading—you know much more than they do about weight loss surgery and your choice is the sleeve. They have only heard the horror stories that the media puts out there or one of their uneducated family or friends have told them. Your friends are scared they may lose you as a friend because you are going to lose the weight and they will remain fat—yes I call it fat. I know there are a lot of politically correct terms to use, but if I can say I was fat you will one day too. Some of your friends will be jealous. My suggestion is that you can try to educate them some, but take your time and effort right now and use it for yourself. After you have had WLS and they see you are becoming healthy and you are alive and well they may come around. I want you to put yourself FIRST, for the very first time. If they are truly your friends they will be there when you are skinny. 8. The first month will be the hardest month you will have to do. You are changing everything about how you eat. I want you to keep saying to yourself that it is ONLY 30 days and I can do ANYTHING for 30 days. Once you start the 2nd month and can have regular food, it gets easier. 9. What do you do about getting smaller clothes? One of my adventures used to be to go to Resale clothing places and sell or trade my larger clothing to them, and then finding some smaller sizes. Just buy what you need to get by for a while until you need a smaller size. It was like a treasure hunt or an adventure for me. I found some places like Goodwill that had brand name label NEW clothing that the local stores gave them. I found some great deals at these places. So consider doing something like this or getting together with some of your friends and trading clothing. I also donated a lot of mine for a tax deduction to nonprofit organizations that give tax receipts—it is really great when it is tax time rolls around and I had all these deductions. I would make a list of everything I was going to donate and how much weight I had lost. I kept that all together in case the IRS asked why I gave away 20 some dress and 10 pair of pants, and 30 tops! 10. Make sure that you go see your Primary Care Doctor when you have had WLS if you have gone outside of the US for your surgery. I went to see my PCP before I went to let her know what I was doing—I wanted a doctor who would support me in my efforts. I had to do a bit of education and after she had time to read all of the information I left her, she was behind me all the way. She said come back in to see her after being home for 2 weeks and she would check me over and run a blood panel to see how I was doing. She did this every month for a while and started taking me of meds that I no longer needed. I did need to start taking potassium—mine was low after having WLS and I knew this when I left Dr. Aceves—they had run a blood panel after I had my “Sleeve surgery.” I loved the fact that my PCP took me off 4 of my other medications within 3months of me having WLS. 11. Exercise is important for you in a lot of ways. Walking and swimming are the ones that work best for me. I know that there have been a few people who said they did nothing. Walking helped me lose a little faster and was good cardio too. I try to walk at least 4 or 5 times a week. When I can I try to swim on the days I don’t walk. I know at first it is difficult to start to exercise, but walk around your home then, down the block a little. When the weather is bad—I live in Oregon and we have a lot of rain, we walk inside the Mall during those times. They open up the Mall at 6:00 am where I live, so you can start early. Buy a used treadmill and see if you like walking on it. My last words of wisdom are the following 1. Saying yes means you will do something new, meet someone new most likely and make a difference in your life. 2. Be true to yourself. It is you, your authentic self, the one you were in the first grade, before you leaned to massage your personality into a form that would suit others. 3. Sometimes it is hard to hear the message because of all the external voices and they are so loud. 4. Voices that are loud are always meant to bully. DO NOT BE BULLIED. 5. So carry your courage in an easily accessible place. Be your OWN authentic person when it comes to Weight Loss Surgery. This is ALL about you and NO one else. 6. Last you don’t need the approval of the Bully. You know what is right for you, follow your heart and go for it. :rolleyes: I am always here if you want to ask me more questions, or I didn’t cover something that you are thinking about. I read my E-mail daily. I know it is a BIG step to take and there are a lot of things to think about, you can and will be success.

Hey, Your welcome, sometimes I forget all the things that I have learned and I am trying to put them to good use to help others along the way. We all have different issues and problems, but sometimes we have some of the same ones, and don't think anyone else has them. Hugs, Suzanne

Hey Sara, Way to go and GREAT added information. I am thrilled to see that you are doing so good. Way to go girls. And to think you weren't quit sure you could do all this. I am so thrilled that you had the courage to go for it! Hugs, Suzanne

Hi, you are doing the right thing. You are also going to the very best hospital that you could have gone too. Dr. Aceves and Dr. Campos are top of the line skilled doctors who are going to take fabulous care of you along with their entire nuring staff. My insurance did not pay for it and that is why I started to look for a doctor in Mexico. I also went by myself and felt very safe and was glad that I was there alone. I had heard good things about Dr. Aceves and his hospital. I had a friend who had gone to Dr.Aceves and she was a nurse and I trusted her judgment. She made me do my own research and I kept seeing his name and then found out just how many WLS he had done and how his patients were so please and happy with him and the hospital. So I had my sleeve surgery done in Oct 2008. You will never have one regret. I am now glad that my insurance wouldn't pay for WLS because I would have never found this GREAT doctor. You will say the same after having your surgery. Stay in touch. Hugs, Suzanne

Hi, for the Gas pain send someone to Wal-Mart or a drug store or a grocery store and have them buy you 2 boxes of GAS-X--the strips that melt on your tongue--much easier than trying to take a pill and they work faster. When you get them, use 3 or 4 at one time it is OK to do that. They will work wonders for you and get rid of the gas pain. You are bloated from the gas. I am shocked that you had surgery and are home already. You must have had it done in the US. You should have been given some pain meds too--call and find out where you pain meds are. I hope this helps you. Keep me posted. GET the GAS-X RIGHT away! It will really help. Hugs, Suzanne

They want you to drink Water and to make the water better by some flavors of Crystal Light. It really does help. You can have apple juice and white grape juice too. I had the 1st 10 days nothing up clear liquids--you had to be able to see through them. The the 2nd 10 days creamy liquids. the last 10 days was much food. I had a difficult time the 1st 10 days with finding a Protein that worked that I likes. I hate Isopure--taste like pond scum to me. So I just got by without much protein the 1st 10 days. I drink Premier Protein Drink and I buy mine at costco. There are lots of Protein drinks. Try some of them out, and there are places on line that you can order them from. Just get small amounts until you know you will like them. I use chicken and beef broth--don't worry about the salt, you won't eat that much of it to really matter. Yogurt, SF pudding, cream Soups where things that worked for me. I could have Jello in the 1st 10 days too. SF Popsicles worked when my stomach felt upset too. Good luck and don't forget the GAS-X get the strips that you can put on your tongue and the melt away. It is much easier than trying to swallow a pill and they work faster too. Suzanne

Hi, I get that you are scared about losing 85% of your stomach. But for many years people who have had stomach cancer have lost part of their stomach and survived the rest of their life with a big part of their stomach gone. All I ever got from have my entire stomach was FAT--it allowed me to overeat most of the time. I honestly do not notice anything different about me other than 105 pounds gone and it is easy to maintain. You eat healthy food just like other people eat. I never feel deprived and I know for a fact that I will always be able to maintain this weight loss. This is your tool to allow you to become healthy and never have to deal with any more surgeries. I love having a sleeve and I only wished I would have done this years ago. I am so HAPPY that I didn't do the lapband and be where you are right now. Honestly you will NEVER have any regrets about doing this once you have done it. GO FOR IT, and for the first time in a long time never look back. You life is going to become so much simpler. Hugs, Suzanne

The pains you are having in your shoulder and upper chest are from the gas that they pumped in your stomach to do the surgery. I always tell people to take GAS-X with them. It works and gets rid of it, it is too late to tell you. They DO NOT have GAS-X in Mexico that I know of. They will tell you to get up and walk around at fart all the time--yep fart to get rid of the gas. LOL. And I want to say( "I told you it was a wonderful place.") Just kidding, but until you experience it yourself you have no idea what we are talking about. Tell my GREAT friend Dr. Aceves Hi from Suzanne. Hugs and enjoy your stay and have a safe trip home Suzanne in Oregon.

Hi, you are so very welcome. We ALL can learn things for each other. I try to learn something new everyday if I can. These boards for the most part are really helpful. I would never forget about the new an up coming people. I had such great support myself from a lot of people, so I promise you I will be here for any questions that you might have. I also understand all the emotional things that go along with WLS or if you just want to vent because you are having a bad day--and trust me there were days when I would ask myself at first what in the world did I do to myself???? It just takes time and I know you will be very successful. So if you have any questions just ask away. Hugs, Suzanne

Hi --this is the 1st one I sent out. I am glad that you found Vol 2 helpful and I hope this will be as helpful. I decided that I would make a list of things for new people who are thinking about having WLS that might be helpful to them. This is long so please PRINT THIS OUT TO READ if you don’t want to read it all at one time. First thing is to start asking people on the board you are on all kinds of questions—make of list of things you want to ask and keep coming back and ask more questions as time goes on. The more questions that ask the more you educate yourself about WLS and the process and what doctor they liked. Don’t rely on just one source of information. It is really normal to have all kind of feeling and emotions when trying to decide if you want to have Weight Loss Surgery. I must have talked myself in and out of doing this at least 50 times during my 6 months of research. My only regret is that I didn’t do it sooner. This is a big step. But if diet and exercise worked for us then we still wouldn’t be fat and would have lost the weight a long time ago and never regained it. It takes a lot of courage to have Weight Loss Surgery. I am very proud of you for looking into this. Don’t give any more days of your life being overweight, and your body hurting along with being unhealthy. WLS really is your answer. How do you select your surgeon? First of all this is NOT a time to price shop for the cheapest doctor to do your WLS—that is just the wrong way to go at this. There are a lot of doctors who advertise on the Internet doing sleeve surgery for a lot less than some other doctors. I found one posting from a person who had the following concerns after having surgery in Tijuana, Mexico. (a) They put NO name band on her to be able to ID her when giving medications or anything else. ( NO one asked if she had any allergies to foods or medications—thank goodness this person didn’t have any. ( The lab did NOT label tubes of blood with the person’s name on it—very dangerous. © Day after surgery they gave this person ice chips, tea and apple juice. The next day (day 2) they gave this person NOTHING so this person asked why and the nurse said this person wasn’t allowed to eat anything. Well, this person then said I had Clear liquids the day before and they wanted to know WHO gave it to this person?? (d) This person was told that they would get a copy of the operative report on their discharge to take home with them—This person has not received it yet and that was about 2 weeks ago. So make sure have positive feedback about the Surgeon and Staff and Hospital that you choose. My choice after 6 months of research was Dr. Aceves in Mexicali, Mexico. What I can tell you in my opinion is that he is the very best you will ever find to do your surgery. I can only speak about my experience and my research that I did before I made him my choice for a surgeon. Pack lightly for your WLS. So many of us have gone to Mexico, so you want a small suitcase with wheels, a laptop & a cell phone. The clothing that you wear to Mexico are the same ones you can wear home—slip on shoes work great too. Make sure that the clothing is loose fitting. Something just comfortable for your ride home. While in Mexico—that is if you go to Mexico for WLS make sure you take GAS-X. They have nothing in Mexico that they give your for gas, and the use gas in your abdominal area during surgery. It is painful after the surgery, so GAS-X STRIPS are easy to use by just placing them on your tongue. Take a couple of boxes with you—you will be glad you did. If you are going to use a credit card make sure you tell your credit card company and your Bank if you use your debit card or credit card. Sometimes if you DO NOT let these companies know you are outside of the US they block your charges. Use a credit card or debit card vs cash it is much easier to use. Take small amounts of cash for tips—I took $45.00 in 1’s for tip money for various things. If you go to any hospital anywhere leave ALL jewelry at home –just a watch and no rings or other jewelry. I never had any problems at all leaving my purse and computer& cell phone in my room while I was in surgery, but they recommend that you leave all jewelry at home. If you are a lady please remove all nail polish—they need it removed to see your nail beds during surgery. The first month you do after surgery is the HARDEST month you will ever have to do. You do 10 days of nothing but clear liquids to start with—that means you have to be able to see through the liquid. Do not panic if you can not get the Protein they want you to have the 1st 10 days—I couldn’t find anything I liked that was clear during the 1st 10 days. They want you to try to drink 64 oz each day, and I don’t think I could ever get that much Water drank—just do the best you can. Your new stomach has just had major surgery and it is swollen and will only hold something about the size of your thumb. The next 10 days gets much better—you are now on creamy liquids for these 10 days. You can now have some creamy Soups, yogurt, and pudding—sugar free and find a Protein Drink that you like. For me it is Premier Protein Drink and I get mine at costco. When looking for a protein drink, make sure they are low in calories, high in Protein—Premier has 30 grams of protein in each drink box and make sure you have low carbs too. I know there are a lot of other Protein drinks out there that people like. When it comes to carbs I tried to keep mine at no more than 20 carbs per day. Ask others what kind of Protein drinks they liked and where they get them. The last 10 days are mushy foods. So this is a bit of a challenge. How many foods can I make mushy? I even considered using some baby foods. Start thinking about what will work as mushy foods for you. Starting the 2nd month is quite an adventure. You can eat regular food. Here is where the relearning process takes place. You now will take tiny BABY BITES of food and chew each bit about 30 times or until it is like a liquid. From here on out you will need to take small bites of food and chew and chew and chew. I found out that chicken and fish were a lot easier to chew up. I don’t eat much red meat—your tastes will change and things you didn’t like a lot might taste good and something that you used to love don’t taste that great anymore. Keep track of what you are eating and keep your calories at about 800 calories per day and no more than 20 carbs per day—whole grain carbs are the best to have—NO white or refined carbs. I highly suggest that you keep track by writing them down or using some of the Internet sites that offers you this. I suggest this site it works great there are other sites to use this is just a suggestion. http://www.livestrong.com/thedailyplate/ It really is good to write down and track everything you put in your mouth to start with—that is how you know that you have not had more than 800 calories per day. I want you to understand weight loss surgery is just a tool. The fat doesn’t not just melt off of you—they is NO miracle cure. Now you have to put a lot of effort into eating healthy and starting to exercise. Everyone has some kind of exercise that works for them. I love walking and try to walk about 5 days a week. For many of us we started to lose some of our hair 3 or 4 months after having WLS. I would find a lot of hair in the shower after washing my hair. That is pretty normal for a lot of us—this does not happen to everyone. There is no magical cure for hair loss—some people use different shampoo’s or take Biotin. It happens and you live with it. YES, it will grow back. For me I had pencil straight hair and mine grew back natural curly and I love it now. I already had thin hair so for me, I got some cute wigs and wore them for about 9 months until my hair looked a lot better. It was worth the hair loss to lose 105 pounds. Because we eat a lot of protein we suffer from constipation. You need to have at least 70 grams of protein EACH day. So I mix my protein drink each morning with MIRALAX. It is NOT habit forming and is tasteless and it is just a good way to start off the day. I put the protein and a cap full of Miralax in the blender with about 5 small ice cubes and that is my Breakfast. 3 years later I still have this for breakfast and nothing else, it just works for me. You may have periods where you have what we call STALLS. You may be doing everything right and eating and exercising and you have NO weight loss for a week or more. This is normal—mine lasted 9 days. Don’t panic the weight loss will start up again, just keep doing what you are doing. Our heads play games with us sometimes it is ugly what our brain tried to convince us of—We call these “Head Games” and they really are tough times to work though, but you can do it. Your head is still thinking with your old brain and way of thinking that you have been doing for most of your life. You now are eating VERY small amount of food, but your head is used to you eating LARGE amounts of food and that is what your brain wants—so it tries to tell you the you should be eating more—NOT true at all. So you need to have a talk with yourself. Do I just WAN T to eat or do I really NEED to eat? You are not on a diet, but you are making a LIFESTYLE change and that is good because you can do this for the rest of your life. You will NEVER be able to eat like you used to. That is good because that is how we got fat. You will morn the loss of food—you will look around and see others inhaling all this food and you think to yourself—I used to eat like that. You will notice how fast people eat and inhale their food and talk and hardly chew what they are eating. That is pretty normal feeling to have—because you are now eating such small amounts of food and chewing and chewing. You will never be able to guzzle a bottle of water again—that is OK too. These are all good things. In time you will look at all the food people are eating and thinking to yourself oh my gosh I could never eat that much again—it is way too much food. When you have issues or problems come back to the board and ask others who have already done this. We are here to help and support you. Give or exchange all your fat clothes away. You will never need them again after they become too big for you. This weight loss is something you will be able to maintain for the rest of your life. You have earned the right to have new clothes. Make sure you have the VERY best doctor that has had a lot of experience with sleeve surgery and check his success rates out. Check the doctor for HIGH patient reviews from the people who have gone to him or her. I can NOT STRESSS this enough. Make sure that your surgery is being done in a hospital NOT a Clinic. One clue that it is a clinic is if they send you to a hotel room to recover—that is why they cost less, this is also dangerous too. YOU are worth the extra money that it cost to have this WLS in a Hospital and by the best Doctor you can have. You want to have a happy and GREAT life and having the RIGHT Doctor and Hospital are the key to this. Sorry if this is long, but it is intended to have as a reference and answer a lot of your questions that you might have. For some of you, you are very lucky because your health insurance is now starting to pay for Weight Loss Surgery. For many of this, we did not have your luck, so we are self pay patients. There are companies that loan money for this surgery—be aware that their interest rate is high. Once you pick your doctor ask them about these companies that give loans for surgery if you are a self pay patient. You know we never think twice about making car payments. If you have to borrow the money for this surgery just look at this as “body payment.” It will be the best money you have ever borrowed. Please PRINT this out to read later. If you have any questions for me please feel free to contact me. I had surgery almost 3 years ago, so I do have quite a bit of experience. I really am here to help you along your journey. It took me 14 months to lose this weight and I was 63 when I had the surgery, so it is NEVER too late in life to do this. Hugs, Suzanne

So many of you are newbies and have just had WLS or you are sitting out there thinking about having it. I used to be one of you. I had my sleeve surgery done on Oct 21, 2008. After 6 months of research and asking a lot of question from tons of people on different boards and checking on the Internet, I made the choice to have Dr. Aceves do my surgery. So if you ask me who would I have do surgery, I will honestly admit he is the “top of the line doctor.” Yes, I am very prejudice about him. This is the only thing I have to judge by. I had excellent care in a top of the line hospital by and extremely skilled group of doctors and nurses. I saw 2 doctors 3 times a day while in this very clean hospital. My point is that yes quite a few doctors do advertise on a lot on different web sites and they do cost less than Dr. Aceves. I don’t honestly think when it comes to my health that I want to shop around for the best price—think about it. If it were clothing or something for my home, I will always shop around for a good price, but when it comes to my health and the rest of my live I will NEVER shop around for a price. I want the very best doctor I can find. Please check these doctors out. So many of them are doing their surgery in a clinic—no more than an office and then they send you to a hotel to recover. This is dangerous and not anything I would want for myself. I know if you are a self-pay it is difficult to come up with this much money. There are places that loan money for these types of surgeries. They charge a higher interest rate. You are worth every dime you are going to spend. Consider it body payments. We make car payments, why not body payments? Weight Loss Surgery it a BIG step to take and you have been thinking about it for a long time or you just had it. I want to say congratulations for making this step. There are a lot of emotions and changes that scare you and excite you all at the same time. These are really normal feelings to have and to have them all at the same time. Just remember that there are a lot of great people on this board who can answer your questions and help you out. All you have to do is ask. We got support from others when we had out WLS. I can’t say it ENOUGH times. The 1st month after WLS is the hardest month you will ever do. It is a time for relearning—and when I say than, I mean it is time to let your brain know that from here on out you are in charge. Your old brain will want what it used to having—all the foods that made you fat, and when you don’t do it, it honestly will try to convince you that it is going to starve if you don’t give it to them. We call this “head games.” Or “head hunger.” And you will be convinced that you are not getting enough to eat even if you feel full or know that you are full—that is that ugly brain working on you. You are going to need to make some BIG lifestyle changes. These things are doable. And in time you will love your new lifestyle changes and becoming healthy. I am not saying you will never have something that you love to eat, but in small amounts and not all the time. I NEVER feel deprived at all. There are a lot of things to think about. None of us are hero’s we are just regular people who wanted to lose weight and we did or are in the process. You can do this, and I have no doubt you are going to be successful at it. If you have any questions or just need to talk I am always an E-mail away. I have NO regrets at all, only I should have done this year’s before I did. I just had to have my head in the right place to make it work for me and it did, I lost 105 pounds. Hugs, Suzanne

Hey Gayle, Thanks for the very kind words. I want you to be successful, and most of all I want you to know that you are strong and can do this. You are going to have all kinds of feelings and emotions. They tend to over take you--this is really normal and I had all the feelings and emotions that you are having now and as you get closer to having the surgery. You can do this because you want to change your life and you want to be healthy and at the right weight. The pre op diet is OK, I did the Atkins and it worked for me. I am always going to be here for you and any questions or fears that you might have. Hang in there and know there is all kinds of support on this board. Hugs to you!

Hi, you are in my thoughts, but I know without a doubt that you are going to be just fine. You are in excellent hands. I want you to know that I am so happy and proud of you for doing this. This takes a lot of courage and it is a very BIG step to take. Keep us posted on how things are going. Tell Dr. Aceves that Suzanne says Hi. :D Hugs, Suzanne

Hi, I understand that when you are a self pay you look at prices. But here is what I have to say about this. It is NOT a time to "price" shop. You want the very best doctor who has a lot of experience and you will receive the best care you can. This is your life and health that we are talking about. You DO NOT WANT your surgery done in a clinic--and then they send you to a Hotel to recover. That is NOT safe at all. I took 6 months to research out the doctors in Mexico. After 6 months my choice was Dr. Aceves in Mexicali, Mexico. He is the top of the line when it comes to WLS. I highly recommend him and his team of skills nurses and doctors. You will NEVER receive the kind of care you will get from him and his staff with any of of the other doctors. He truly cares about you and your health and your success after the surgery. He is kind and caring and takes the time to answer ALL your questions. You are in the very best hospital I have ever been in and it is SO much cleaner than any US hospital. I saw 2 doctors 3 times a day everyday I was in the hospital. They have less of an infection rate than any US hospital. So please do a little research and see how many times Dr. Aceves name comes up as being the best there is out there. Yes, he charges a little more, but you are in a hospital NOT a Clinic--you are paying for the best care you can have, and it is worth it. If you have any question feel free to contact me. Good luck in your search. If you want the best care and the safest place this would be where I would go. Suzanne

Hi, I will give you a big shove. I HIGHLY recommend him. I wrote this a little while ago, but I am sending it to you. If you want more infomation please feel free to contact me any time via E-mail or on this board. He HONESTLY IS THE VERY BEST YOU COULD EVER HAVE DO YOUR SURGERY. You are in the best hands there is and it truly is a highly skilled suregon along with his entire staff. Below is a posting that I posted before. Find some of my posts and read them, but this one should help you a lot. Are you lurking out there reading all these posting by everyone trying to absorb as much information as you can about weight loss surgery. I used to be one of you too. I knew I need and wanted to do something about being fat. I had struggled for 25 or more years trying all the kinds of diets there were—yep you too—I knew it. I had my greatest success with Weight Watchers, and to this day I feel for so many people it is the healthiest way to lose weight. I saw over the year too many people including some of the Weight Watchers group leaders gain the weight back—and me too. I became interested more and more in Weight Loss Surgery the more I lurked around on these boards seeing what people had said. I even thought to myself are these people really real or is someone paying them to write all these stories about their success. I really was fortunate enough to have a very close friends who went to Mexicali, Mexico and had Dr. Aceves do her weight loss surgery. She was an RN and I worked with her, so I knew what integrity she had as a nurse and trusted her judgment. I wasn’t sure this was what I wanted to do yet. So after watching her drop the pounds and become more healthy each day, I started asking her a million different questions. She was great and pointed me in the right direction of making me do some research and see what I came up with and what kind of Weight Loss Surgery did I want for myself? I must have spent 6 months reading everything I could find about weight loss surgery. I knew that I wanted to have the sleeve surgery and I knew without a doubt that Dr. Aceves in Mexicali was the ONLY doctor that I was willing to put my trust in. I also called and talked to the people who worked for him and asked them all kinds of questions. I bet they started referring to me as the “Queen of Questions.” Not really they really are happy to answer all your questions this is a life changing event that you are about to do. I talked with my husband about doing this and he was so very supportive. He answer to me was “I know you well enough to know that you have done all kinds of reading and research.” He said if this is want you want go for it. Not everyone was supportive of this and I know it was because they really had NO idea of what kind of surgery I wanted to have. I was also 63 when I made this choice. What I want to say for you “newbies, or those lurking out there with just the thought of having weight loss surgery.” It is OK to do just want you are doing. But, don’t wait forever to do something about it. Every day that you live your life unhealthy, fat, uncomfortable in your own body, is a day that you are giving away. STOP giving any more days of your life away. It is time to take control of your life instead of food controlling you. Take back your power, be the person that I know you can become. I know that if you are a “self pay person” that is a lot of money to pay to have surgery. It will be the best money that you could ever spend. You are adding years back on your life. You will spend less on food, health care, medications and so many other things. If at 63 I could do this, I know that you can do this too and be very successful. I am very prejudice about Dr. Aveves. He is the best there is when it comes to this kind of surgery, and don’t you want the best you can have when it comes to your health and the rest of your life? I know I sure did. I went alone, I wasn’t scared to go to Mexicali, you are picked up at the airport in San Diego and driven by a very nice man in a van along with a lot of others who are about to change their lives just like you are going to do. They take excellent care of you in hospital with everything that you would ever need. I am here to answer any questions that you may have about having this surgery and Dr. Aceves and his team of talented staff. The care you receive it top rated and better than anything you will ever have in the US. So don’t give away another day of your life. Do something for the first time in your life and that is put yourself first! Hugs, Suzanne

Hi, NO check out the label, I believe last time I read the label it has too many carbs. You should NOT have more than 20 carbs a day. Suzanne