BeautyVGSJourney

it will take some time to adjust but most people do. Journaling and support groups are definitely great ideas! You might want to also consider psychological therapy to figure out the reasons behind your self medication with food. Unfortunately many people get the surgery and don't deal with the underlining issue and end up abusing drugs or alcohol. Good luck and hang in there!

I took epilepsy medicines in the past, I no longer take them. I do take ritalin LA for ADD and Celexa for depression. I did some research on them on my own then went and talked to my psychiatrist about them. What I found out from the literature and later confirmed with both my surgeon and my psychiatrist is that after surgery I will be taking Prilosec (or another proton pump inhibitor like it) and they change the pH of the stomach making it more basic, I will be taking it for about 6 months. This high pH is ok for many drugs but drugs that are slow release, or long acting such as my Ritalin LA do not work correctly in such a high pH. Also because at the begining food is processed faster thru the stomach (since we will be mostly drinking) and the stomach is smaller the medicines will pass faster into the intestines where most drugs are absorbed. there is a sprinkle form of depakote that some people take after surgery. I just did a small medicine interaction on depakote and prilosec and there does not appear to be a problem (you might be given other meds that they need to make sure there are no interactions), but definitely ask your doctor! People tolerate medicines differently after surgery the same way that they tolerate foods differently, but is very hard to know how we will tolerate the specific medications after surgery since everyone is different. Make sure you tell your psychiatrist or neurologist (or whoever prescribed your meds) that you are having this surgery BEFORE you have it. Please don't wait until after because if you have gran mal seizures you don't want to have one during or after surgery. Good luck!

Congratulations MG! I am having my surgery 4 days before you and I am flying into San Diego! I hear that whole process of approval is a nightmare, I am glad you got it approved!

yes I just started a channel with my journey, there is only one video there right now but my goal is to post one every week for at least the first two months after surgery and then maybe once a month. Right now I am going to focus on finding scientific data to answer some of the questions I and other people have, but because I am busy with school I can only do it at most once a week. My youtube name is BeautyVGSJourney (note is VGS not VSG). Please feel free to comment on them and let me know if there is something you want to know more specifically about and I will try to find it for you! Thanks!

Hello again Ashlee! So for me, I am having my surgery in Mexico and my doctor does not require me to have a long pre-op diet (because my BMI is 36), I am required to have a liquid diet for three days before surgery however. This varies with each doctor however and your starting BMI. I spoke to a nutritionist that specializes in bariatric surgery and here is some info she sent me. you can use the liquid phase of it for pre-op, but again it varies with doctors. (Well I can not figure out how attach the diet here, so I will try to put it somewhere else in the group.

Hi MG in SD welcome to the group! you are a member, I just checked. What you need to do is click on the tab that says "Groups" and it should give you a list of the groups you belong to. click on the May 2012 sleevers and you are in! let me know if this does not work and I will see what else might be wrong.

Congratulations on your engagement Ashlee! how exciting! I completly understand about the medicine thing, I have had depression all of my life and have been on medications on and off for that and epilepsy and ADD (not to mention the Depo shots!) I would also die to be on a size 14, I can no longer remember when it was the last time I fit in one of those. Good luck in your journey! Hi Committed2Change (I still like your nick ) I am with you on the excited and nervous! Amanda I absoluptly agree with you, if you don't feel comfortable with a surgeon RUN! Unfortunatelly many people have surgery with people because they feel that they have no choice or because they want to stick to their choice or because they are too lazy or badly informed to make an educated decision. I already changed my surgeon once and like I told him, if I ever was to find something that I did not like eve on the day of surgery I would not hesitate to change it again, my life is worth it! I am glad you found a surgeon that you like!

Sure thing kansasgirl, will email it to you this weekend (I have a few things I want to add to it). Hopefully in my next video I will talk about preventing bloodclots, I know mommyinneed wanted for info about it.

I finally got the guts to make my first youtube video, I kept putting it off because I did not want to see myself in camera. Let me know what you think!

I enjoy them too, draw my husband and daughter nuts! Lol I am 5'5", my surgery is May 10th, and I cannot wait!

Thanks for the tips Lynda, I will definitely remember the bathroom tip! I will add some of your suggestions to my ongoing list.

Commited2Change, I love your nick name! I am also committed (I hope I don't end up committed somewhere else LOL).... My name on youtube is beautyvgsjourney (note is VGS not VSG). Let me know if you decide to share your journey, its a very personal journey but I am using it in a way that will hopefully keep me accountable and hopefully will help others in the future. Thank you for your encouragement!

Thank you Kathy, that is so kind of you :-) Congratulations on your weight loss, I see that you are over half way to your goal! I don't really know how to use youtube either LOL it took me a while to load it up, trial and error. At this point I will be good with at least Acing some of them and getting B or better on all of them LOL its though! I am sure I will be fine, thank you for your good wishes. Thanks! My name on youtube is beautyvgsjourney (note is VGS not VSG).

Thanks for that! I was super nervous LOL.... I decided to post it in hopes it will help other people the way that other peoples videos have helped me. Also part of me wants to be accountable to others, since obviously (because of my past failures) I am not good at being accountable just to myself. Making it for yourself is also a good idea.

Hey everyone, For those of you who had surgery with dr. Ponce de leon, or are considering him or just plainly interested, I just came across this video, its pretty cool. http://www.globalnews.ca/video/weight+times/video.html?v=2191228745#video

I cannot wait for my second birthday!

InASmallCar, this is a big decision that can will change your life forever. Its definetly not one that can be taken lightly. Feel free to private message me if there might be anything that I might be able to assist. I have done a lot of research about different mexican doctors and I would would be happy to share what I found. Good luck on your search!

Anyone else having their surgery that day and/or with Dr. Ponce?

Hmmmm I tried to pull it up with my iPad and it did not work either. I think you need a computer or something with flash player.

Hi Everyone I am having my surgery May 10th I was wondering if anyone else in DFW is too?

4ALongerLife, I am sorry you are going thru all of this, I am terrified of going thru what you are going thru but you are right is a risk we all do not want but do know is a possibility going in. I hope you will feel better soon! I live in Fort Worth and am often in Arlington and Dallas, if there is anything at all I can do for you (cannot offer money since I am a medical student with no money LOL but I would be more than happy to visit and bring you a meal (clear liquid) or two) please let me know. God bless you and may you have a speedy recovery!