IowaAndy

One things that they suggested to me when taking pills what can not be cut into smaller pieces was to take them with a spoonful of jello as the jello will help open you up a little so that the pill has an easier time going through. I found this help and eventually I started to take all of my meds with applesauce. Make it more bearable as I had to take more than 1 for daily meds

One thing you can do is to check with the coordinator for your WLS if you had it in Mexico. They can usually get some info or give you some different names that they may recommend. Just a thought.

Best of luck tomorrow with your surgery. tomorrow will be your "New Birthday" The day that your new life began. Congratulations all

I think that I was pretty standard for Dr Garcia. Maybe since I had surgery so late in the day on Monday is why I was there until Wednesday. I think that he usually keep you a couple of days after the surgery and then 2 days in the hotel. I certainly did not want to leave until I knew that all was going as expected and then have to find a doctor here in the US to take care of me. The doctor that did the lapband has refused to see me now that I had the sleeve in Mexico. Sounds like the US doesn't it.

I agree with you 100 percent. The entire staff of Dr Garcia was great and very professional. I also thought that the internist was fantastic. I had a question after I was released to the hotel and she called me right back and gave me a new medication. It was after dark and since I had no idea where to go the hotel staff went to the pharmacy for me and brought the meds to my room. I would go back for surgery there again in a heart beat. Oh and if anyone is planning on going to Dr Garcia and staying at Hotel Pueblo Amigo I have posted pictures of my room and the hotel on my pics. Glad you had a great experience also and wish you all the best in your journey.

Any money you spend in medical expenses out of your pocket that is not paid back to you from a Cafeteria Plan or money that is taken out of your paycheck before taxes is tax deductible. As for the gym membership it does not make any difference if it is prescribed by a doctor or not that is not deductible. I have a portion of the tax law on my computer somewhere that talks about both of these and if I can locate it I will send to you. I deducted all of my surgery costs, medications and travel expenses on last years taxes. It does make a big difference.

Congratulations on your amazing weight loss and journey. I can not wait until I reach the 85 pound loss. I have lost 36 pounds so far and I am also feeling great. Thanks for sharing your story

I have to agree with Rootman......do you research on the different doctors and then make a choice that you feel comfortable with. Everyone on this forum has different opinions about their personal experiences and the doctor that did their surgery. There are several good doctors doing the same surgeries and the choice will ultimately be yours. Whoever you choose I want to wish you all the best in your journey.

My pillow would have looked like a monster as I can not sew or know how to use a sewing machine. I love your pillow and it is such a good idea. It gives you stomach some support as you cough. The reason they want you up and coughing is because if you lay around and do not take in deep breaths you can develop pneumonia and that is just one more problem that you do not need after your surgery. Again I love you pillow.

According to the diet plan that my doctor gave me on discharge I can not have rice, bread until farther out post op. I know that each doctor is different but to be safe I would check with your NUT. You certainly do not want the rice to plug you up and make you sick and start vomiting at this early stage so close to your surgery. I am 9 weeks out and almost stopped yesterday at Chinese to get some chicken and veggies.

I had surgery on Dec 11, 2011 with Dr F Garcia at Hospital Mi in Tijuana. Was in the hospital from Monday until Wednesday afternoon and then in Hotel Pueblo Amigo until Friday morning when I flew home. I had a wonderful experience with Dr Garcia and Hospital Mi. The staff at Hotel Pueblo Amigo was also more than helpful with what I needed. I would go again in a heartbeat. My surgery here in the US would have been $40,000 but I paid around $6,000. I had a lapband to sleeve revision. Any questions just ask.

From what I remember reading they do not take you gallbladder as a standard practice. Many on here take medications after surgery to prevent problems with the gallbladder. My doctor did not suggest of put me on any medications. I know that when I did my 8 month liquid diet they told me that there was a chance that you may have to have your gallbladder removed. Only 1 person in my group of about 16 had her removed and everyone else was fine. Guess it depends on each persons makeup. sorry you had this problem but I do know that it can happen

So sorry to hear that you had so many problems but I am glad that you were at a hospital that had an ICU and emergency care and that they could wheel you back into surgery to find out where you were bleeding from. I know that your throat is probably sore from being intubated twice as you had to have 2 surgeries. I know that you will make it through this and this experience will make you stronger. Now you know that there is someone watching over you and has your best interest in his hands. God bless and I hope that you make a speedy recovery and that in a few months this will be a bad memory.

I was never told that I could not have gum.....will have to look at my diet plan again

My sleeping was all messed up for the first 6 weeks. Then I seemed to have resumed back to my normal sleeping patterns. I had surgery on Dec 11, 2011 and not having any problems at this point.

My itchiness was due to the dressing that were over and the tape irritated my skin. I had to start using small pieces of different take and then finally a bandaid. i put some cortisone cream on the rash area but did not get it onto there the incision was as did not want any infection.

I noticed that someone said that they opened the capsule and sprikled it on something. I would check with the pharmacist to make sure that this does not change the way the medication is made to be absorbed by your body. You could run into trouble anytime you take medication out of its capsule and not take it as directed. Just do not want you to cause any problems. I was never offered the medication and do not take anything. I am just wondering for those of you taking this medication how long that you must continue to take this?????? I am trying to get off meds not add meds to my list.

My insurance required it but I had already tried a liquid diet for 8 months at the point that I decided to go for WLS. Too bad that they told me that the band was my best choice at that time. Now I have the sleeve and not sure if I would recommend the band to anyone. Guess it would have to depend on the person medical conditions and their expectations.

I had older shoes that had become too tight on my feet and I was not wearing. Now that I have been losing weight they are fitting again and feel fine. Smaller feet is good as now I can wear shoes and not have to spend a fortune on new shoes too. The cost of clothing is enough but then I had a lot of old clothes in smaller sizes too. Guess i did not throw some things away as I always thought that someday I would get back into that size......maybe one day

The cold part I had really bad for the first 2 months after surgery. It seems to have gotten better as before I had to sit around with a blanket at night and the heat higher than normal. As for the blood pressure being lower that is natural as you are losing weight, may not be drinking enough fluids and are possibly eating foods that are lower in salt content than you were before your surgery. Unless you are passing out and getting light headed everytime you get up than I would say that you pressure is doing fine. I have gotten off one of my blood pressure medications as my pressure has come down. With more weight loss I hope to get off the other one and not take any blood pressure medicaitons at all.

The more weight you have to lose the longer the process. If you were 20 your skin would bounce back more and faster. Granted they may be able to lose faster but if you are in your 50's like me slow is good as I do not want to end up with sagging and hanging skin and look like I am much older than I am. As long as you are losing there is not much to complain about.

When I get down and think that I should be losing weight faster I just think to myself.......how many years did it take me to gain all of this weight??????? A long time. So do not expect to lose all of the weight that you want in just a short 6 months. Give you body time and it will do what it needs to do. You will lose the weight and feel much better for it. Keep the faith.

I started putting a large scoop of miralax in my breakfast protein shake. I have not been going daily but my stools are more normal but small.

My stall lasted for 2 1/2 weeks and I thought I was done. But then it started to move again and all is well.