Suzannesh

Hi, Thanks so much. That is the reason I wrote this. I want people to know that they can be just as successful. And getting out and being able to exercise is something that I enjoy too. I used to HATE the thought of exercise and now I know how good it feels. Hugs, Suzanne

Hi Everyone, I hope all of you that have recently had weight loss surgery are doing great. Just remember there are many of us out here that have been down the road ahead of you. We are here to support you and cheer you on. There were days when I first had weight loss surgery that I thought “oh my goodness” what have I done? That only lasted a brief moment. When the weight started to come off I knew that I had done the right thing. Each day just kept getting better and better. So please ask questions or just let us know how you are doing. There is NEVER A WRONG question. If you are sitting out there reading all these posts and never jump in and say anything and you can’t make up your mind if weight loss surgery is for you. Do NOT give another day away of your life being fat and unhealthy. Ask all kind of question and find the right doctor for you. I have a favorite doctor and most of us are willing to tell you about our experience about our surgery and our doctor. Most of us all had the same feelings you are having. I had a disease and it is called obesity. If I needed surgery for anything else in my body and a doctor said I needed it, I wouldn’t have thought twice about having. You have an illness and WLS can help you and it is going to last a lifetime. It does require work on your part, by making good food choices. I also exercise. Walking is the exercise that works for me. I never feel deprived when it comes to eating. PLEASE, don’t waste your summer and another day of your life wishing you would have had this weight loss surgery. If I can answer any questions for you, then please ask away. I will be open and honest with you. Hugs, Suzanne Sleeved 10/21/2008 Lost 105 pounds and have kept it off

Hi, LOL, boy they are getting closer. I had a friend who made a paper chain and took on out each day as she got closer to her surgery date. I looked for recipes of things I could eat after the 1st month. I also got some catalogs, of cute clothes that I wanted to wear and put them in a book to remind me that eating was not as important as having these clothes. So find something to occupy your time with. I am here anytime you need me. We can talk about anything and everything. I know it is nice to have someone who understands your feelings and emotions. Hugs, Suzanne

Hi Everyone, Spring is here and summer is just around the corner. If you are sitting out there trying to make up your mind about having weight loss surgery, this is the time to make that commitment. This is the time of year that I “use” to go on that famous diet that was going to make be fabulous for summer--LOL. I fought that battle for more years than I care to tell you. I could lose most of the weight, but would always gain it back. You know that vicious cycle of lose it gain it back. I bet you are sitting there shaking your head right now because you know exactly what I am saying. Do not give another day of your life away being fat please do something to change your life. You can be very successful at weight loss and keep it off forever. I have maintained my weight loss of 105 pound now for over 3 years—something I would have NEVER done before. I would like to share a little with you about my experience that I started in 2008. I knew that I had to do something that was seriously going to change my life forever. I had a friend who had lost a lot of weight and had weight loss surgery. I started to ask a million question like who & where & was she happy with having weight loss surgery. She made me do some of my own research. I did, & knew this was what I wanted. I can ONLY speak about my experience and about the doctor I went to. I knew how extremely qualified Dr. Aceves is and he also has an excellent reputation for performing the VSG aka “the sleeve.” This was the surgery I wanted and I had educated myself all I could about this type of surgery. I went on 3 different boards for weight loss and surgery where I kept asking questions. My choice was Dr. Aceves in Mexicali in Oct 2008. There a so many ways to describe my experience. I have never received this kind of care from any doctor in the USA or any hospital in the USA. He takes all the time you need to address all your fears and questions. He works with Dr. Compos—who is just as wonderful. They are amazing surgeons who genuinely care about your before and after you have had the surgery. They are kind, personable, caring, friendly, honest, forthcoming, informative, explanatory, and have a sense of humor too. They will take excellent care of you. The entire staff is just as caring and kind. They are there to meet all your needs, they would never send you home until you are ready and have passed all the leak tests and other tests that you will be doing before you go home. I have been asked many times what I think or know about some of the other doctors in Mexico. I honestly can’t tell you much about them. Take the time and read all you can about these doctors. Talk to others who are on the boards and used these other doctors. Trust your gut feelings. Make sure it is safe to cross the boarders—some boarders are NOT safe—Mexicali is a very safe boarder to cross. Make sure you are having surgery in a fully equipped hospital and NOT a CLINIC. You never want to have this kind of surgery in a CLINIC. Find out where you will be receiving the care AFTER the surgery—it should always be a HOSPITAL NOT a RECOVERY HOUSE OR A HOTEL. Be smart when it comes to your health—it has to last you a life time. Make sure that the Doctors are using quality materials for your surgery. Ask what kind of staples they use. There honestly is a reason why some of them charge less. They are cutting corners some place and you don’t want it to be you that they are cutting corners on. Take care, Suzanne

Hi Everyone, This is for the Newbies who have had or are going to have "sleeve" WLS. I have posted these before & have had people ask me to repost them. I know that different doctors have different requirements for what you should eat the 1st month after surgery. Please follow YOUR doctors directions for what you have. I am posting what my doctor wanted me to do. VOL # 1 Hi Everyone, 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 is 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 who is best for you. I can only speak about my experience and my research that I did before I made him my choice for a surgeon. I know that there are other good doctors out there too. Do you research and be careful. Take your time and be comfortable with your choice. 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. The debit card or credit card is much easier to use. Take small amounts of cash for tips—I took $65.00 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 it is difficult—it is like a job because you will need to be sipping Water ALL day long. I want you to give it your very best effort to drink as much as you can. Getting your liquids in each day is so very important to your recovery. You DO NOT want to get dehydrated; you could end up in the hospital. 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—don’t forget to drink you water. 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—Don’t forget to drink your water. Mushy foods are 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. 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. Ask where you recovery will be. 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 us, 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 ½ 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. *********************************************************** VOL # 2 Here are some more things I want you to know about if you are thinking about having WLS and you are having the “Sleeve.” 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 Fleming. 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 retrain yourself on how to eating and I know that the first month it is such a process just trying to get all the food & liquid 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.livestrong.com/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. 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. My last bit of knowledge is making sure you keep drinking your water each day. It is so VERY important that you do this. Hugs, Suzanne

Hi, Congratulations, on your up coming surgery. A lot of doctors have different ideas, but the liquids and they are all right. Just follow what you doctor want you to do. We all arrive at the same place. I am glad that this information can be helpful to you. Be aware of the fact that the closer you get to your surgery date, the more feelings and emotions you will experience. They are all very NORMAL. I am always here if you are having a bad time and just need someone to talk with you. Hugs, Suzanne

Hi, I am just thrilled that this information is going to be helpful to you. There is a lot of information to take in. Some of the thing you may experience and some you may not. I am always out here if you have any questions or need anything. Hugs, Suzanne

Hi, I am so happy that this information will help you. You are at the stage where you may experience some of these things. Just remember I am always here if you need anything or have questions or you are just having a bad day. Hugs, Suzanne

Hi, I just reposted something that I have posted before that you might find helpful. It is titled "Questions you might have about WLS Vol # 1 & Vol # 2. You will find it helpful too. Hugs Suzanne

Hi Everyone, I just reposted something titled "Question you might have about WLS Vol # 1 & Vol # 2. It has a lot of great information that you will also find helpful. Suzanne

Hi, I read your post and you might find this helpful. I have posted it before. I went to Dr. Aceves in 2008 and had a sleeve. I lost 105 pounds and have kept it off. So, I have been down this read ahead of you. I am always here to help you or answer any questions that you might have. ****************************************************************** When some of these things started to happen to me, I thought WOW am I the only one that this is going on with. Well, let me tell you NO, I wasn't. So I made this list and try to post it at least once a month for the new people who have just had surgery, about to have WLS,or someone who is just sitting quietly out there reading these posts, trying make up their mind if they want to do this or not. You have just had surgery and for a lot of you, you have read all the things everyone has posted on Dr. Aceves Web Site. They are helpful and encouraging. I spent some time with a lovely lady yesterday on the phone because she was sure I would have some of the answers for her. I hope I did and I think these are things that all of you can hear and use if you have just had weight loss surgery. So I will post this from time to time for all the NEWBIES. I am sure you have heard me and others say MANY times over "the 1st month is the most difficult month you will do." You have also heard me say that your brain will work extremely hard at play tricks on you. You read it and think oh sure, I can deal with that—and some of you are sure that this will never happen to you. It will happen to so many of us and we aren't even aware it is happening. This person was absolutely positive that she was just starving and was really hungry. She told me what she had been eating. She also said she was weak. I asked if she had been drinking her Water and her answer was just like mine was that 1st month. "Well, I can't begin to drink all that water"—remember your new stomach will only hold about 2 oz. when you are try into drink all this water. And like me she was having a difficult time getting in the amount of protein she should be having 70 grams—no wonder she was feeling weak. After your stomach has healed most new stomachs will hold 6 to 8 oz. of food or water. That is what we wanted permanent restrictions so we can lose weight. So I will say this again, you MUST SIP on your water all day long when you are awake and the same goes for the protein that you are using—drink what you can and then sip the rest until you get it down. This is like having a job—you have to work at it OK. You need the protein to help your body recover. Your new stomach has experienced surgery and is swollen and will only hold liquids about the size of your thumb. This is our relearning time, and for most of us we have developed some extremely bad eating habits. Our OLD thinking brain tells us that we need to be eating more food, and we are not used to Clear Liquids for 10 day and creamy liquids for 10 days and then mushy foods the last 10 days. I want you to tell yourself this is only for 30 days and you can do anything for 30 days. It gets better as time goes one, I promise you. 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 old eating habits. 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 and ours happens to beFOOD. 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. It does take some time to retain yourself in eating and I know that 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 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. These are the things that you will deal with in that FIRST MONTH and I am trying to be fair and honest about them. Hugs Suzanne

Hi, You are very normal with your fear of flying. Flying did not bother me at all. I was 2nd guessing my choice to have WLS and as I was flying to San Diego. I kept asking myself what in the hell am I doing to myself? I guess it is the fear of the unknown. I am glad you are doing fine with the emotions. I had all kinds of feeling. I was excited that I was going to have the surgery and in the next moment I was scared to have it done. I had anxiety, and happiness all at the sometimes. So I just want you to know that they things are very normal. Once you are up in the air you will feel just fine. Flying is not bad at all. I know it is easy for me to say because I have done a lot more than you. But, if you get scared ask your doctor for something to take before you get on the plane. I want you be be successful and to be successful at weight loss surgery you have to get there--LOL. If I could I would come along and hold your hand. Hang in there and if your fear gets too bad let me know. I will send you a private message if you need with my phone number and we can talk. Hang in there girl, you deserve to have it ALL and life is going to be a whole lot better. Hugs, Suzanne

Hi, Awww thanks, I just want to pay things forward. There are some good doctors out there and there are some bad ones. I just want people to be safe. I can only speak about Dr. Aceves because that is who I have gone to. You will love him and his staff. They are great. If I lived closer he would be my PCP. I am always out here if you have any questions when you get home or before you go. Remember the closer you get to going the more emotions and feeling will come out. This is very normal. So just send me a note I am here. Hugs, Suzanne

Hi, I am NOT putting other Mexican surgeons down. I am saying be careful. Know what you are getting into. Check things out, do your research, and ask 100's of question for a lot of different sources. You know what they say "if is sounds to good to be true, then is usually is." If you read any of my posts you will NEVER here me single any doctor out as "bad" or do not go to him. I have heard many good things about your doctor along with Dr.Kelly, so I do know that there are other great doctors out there. I can only speak with experience about the doctor who did my surgery and several of my close friends who have gone to him, after they say my results. If you notice and read what I wrote this is being directed to newbies who are thinking about going to have WLS. I am sure if they asked you about your doctor you would give him rave reviews, which you should. We all have the right to speak about who did our surgery and how it went for us and speak about what we know about. Enough of this going back and forth this way. I am here to help and support others just like you are. Take care, Suzanne

Hi, All, I am saying is do your homework. Ask questions, get the answers that you are comfortable with. I was willing to pay a little more for Dr. Aceves, because I had certain standards that were and are important to me. I was 63 years old when I had this surgery. My health and the kind of care I received was so very important to me. I am not telling you not to go to your doctor, I am saying ask questions, be comfortable with your choice. I do not feel that a hotel's cleaning standards are the same as a hospital. They clean with entirely different products in a hotel vs. a hospital. Infections are not a lot of fun and add complications to your surgery. I want you to feel comfortable and safe. I have worked in the medical field, and know that there are many doctors who do not use the highest quality of staples or other things. I guess sometimes knowing where they cut corners gives me a little bit of an advantage. When I picked Dr. Aceves, I knew some of these things and I knew about his equipment and supplies. I am thrilled that you have great success. I wrote this for people who are just starting out and I want them to be aware that NOT all things are equal and to pick their doctor after doing some research and asking lots of questions. I know you are going to be very successful and you have done something good to change your entire life. Take care, Suzanne

Hi, My main concern is that Hotels are not at sterile and as clean as the hospital is. In a hospital if you have any kind of problem or pain you have a medical trained staff person there 24-7. And on the day before I went home and I was in a hospital, they gave me something to drink, watched in go down to my new stomach and made sure that everything was working OK--I have no idea if they ran this kind of test on you. These things were all very important to me--not everyone feels the way I do and that is OK. I know how easy it is to get an infection, and I just do not think that the hotel standards are the same as the hospital. They actually clean with entirely different products in a hospital than in a hotel. I am glad you had a good experience and this worked good for you. I wish you great success. Suzanne

Hi, I live in Eugene, OR. Thanks for the nice words. You have a great doctor and NOTHING is going to go wrong. I want you to stop being negative about this. I want you to think good things. Hugs, Suzanne

Hi, Congratulations to you. I am 66 and I lost 105 pounds almost 4 years ago. I hadmy surgery when I was 63. It was the best thing I have ever done for myself. I have not regrets. You will love it when you have lost all your weight. Keep doing what you are doing. And congratulations on your choice. It is a fabulous tool. Hugs, Suzanne

Hi, I had to laugh because I write long things too. I do not have any hanging skin. I would love to have some plastic surgery on my face and neck, but this is because age has caught up with me. I am 66. I did have my eyes fixed but that was also because of my age. I had been walking for about 5 years before I had surgery and I think that has helped me a lot. My arms are a little floppy, but again that may be age. I am working on some exercises for the arms too. I think a lot of my good luck with no hanging skins has to be good genes too. Everyone is a little different. I still walk about 4 to 5 miles 6 days a week. I have recently started doing some Pilate's and I love that too. I will tell you I wasn't so sure about going to Mexico either--don't believe all the bad things people say about Mexico--so many Americans go there for their Health Care. I was very lucky and worked with a Nurse Practitioner who I trusted so much. She is the one who told me about Dr. Aceves and how wonderful he was. She had weight loss surgery. I trusted her, but she made me check things out for myself. Well, Dr Aceves's name kept coming up and I learned how Highly Qualified he is when it comes to weight loss surgery. So I knew without a doubt that I was going to go to him. I think his fee is about $8,750 for everything including a night in a 5 star hotel. That is the night before the surgery. You have to pay your own air fare and have a little spending money for dinner the night before the surgery. This fee includes the surgery, the staff, the test and blood work and all your aftercare--like sending you home with pain meds and anything else you will need for the first month. I just never looked at this surgery and thought what if I get home and something goes wrong. I think differently and knew what great care my friend had received and I had the same kind of care. My PC doctor was so in favor of me going and she did any blood work I needed when I got home, and my insurance paid for it. Mexicali, is a very safe city to go to. His hospital is about 5 blocks away from the boarder. The sleeve surgery has to be the best thing I have EVER done for myself. WLS has changed my entire life. I feel 20 years younger and I love everything about it. If you have more questions please let me know. I am more than willing to help you with anything I can. There isn't anything that we can't talk about. I try to be as honest and open as I can be about this. This is not a magical cure, it does require work and effort on your part too. Hugs, Suzanne

Hi, Well, it is the 20th right now and I know for a fact, that you are going to do great. It usually is the fear of the unknown. We are all here to support and help you every step of the way. All you have to do in get on here and post an E-mail and there are so many great people on here who are more than happy to try to help with your questions. Keep us posted to how you are doing. Hugs, Suzanne

Hi, Well, you have named what you have done wrong. That is half the battle right there. NO one is perfect. Most of us have fallen off the wagon more than once. Here is the good news. Today is a new day and learn to forgive yourself for what you did and start all over. First of all get rid of the things that have tempted you to fall of the wagon. Toss them out, give them away, but GET THEM OUT OF YOUR HOME. Go back to drinking a lot of Water. I noticed a few weeks ago I was NOT drinking as much water as I used to. So I got a great Acrylic double walled drinking glass with a acrylic straw and a screw on lid. I have that drinking glass almost every place I go, and I am always drinking water. I got tired of plain water so I found some flavors of Crystal Light that I like. And by the way Crystal Light now has some mixes that have caffeine so if you are missing the caffeine, you can get it in Crystal Light. I also discovered something else new to add to my water and that is Mioenergy--it is a concentrate in a small bottle. It is usually located in the store where the Crystal light is. It is in a small black plastic container with a flip top lid. You put a couple of squirts of the flavoring in 16 oz. of water add some ice cubes and it is good to go. I loved this stuff too. Sit down and figure out some things that you can have around to eat when you start grazing or want to eat in between meals. Planning ahead will help with your success. You have all the tools, now it is time to take your power and control back. You take control of the brain and stop allowing the thought foods to control you. Our brains play UGLY tricks on us. You have to take back the control and you be in charge of the food. Remember this easy equation. Calories in Calories out. So your goal is to keep your calories at about 800 to 900 per day. If you track everything that goes into your body then you know if you need to do some extra exercise to burn those extra calories up to be between 800 and 900 calories per day. Go for a nice long walk--about 1 hour. Watch your carbs. Carbs were and always will be my down fall. When I was losing weight I kept my carbs at about 20 - 25 per day. You have to have self talks with yourself all the time. Do you just WANT the food or do you NEED the food--remember the ugly tricks our brain will play on us. Most of the time it is a "want." For me it really helped when I wrote every thing down that I ate. There are some great Web Site that you can use for free to keep track of your food and exercise. Hang in there stop being so hard on yourself. Today is a new day; make this be the day you take back the control over the food. Hugs, Suzanne

Hi Everyone, I made the choice to remove what I had written. I was tired of all the drama that was going on. There are too many more important things like supporting each other. Sometimes some people just can not Stop so I have ended this conversation. Thanks for the great support from many of you. Suzanne

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Hi, Thanks so much for the heads up. I had Ramon drive me one time when I went with a friend to Dr. Aceves. She had surgery 3 years ago. Ramon was very nice. I appreciate the heads up. I wish you great success and if you have any questions at all, I always read my E-maild 2 and 3 times a day. Hugs, Suzanne