AJW

And for those of you who have gone to Mexico recently, what was the price and what did it include? My band surgeon also does VSG, but he's here in California. I've asked for a quote; still waiting to get it. I have Healthnet PPO, so am also wondering if they'll pay for VSG. I was looking into the band but because of the long-term issues with the band, it's not looking very appealing. I've been pre-opted so far and am waiting for an ulcer to heal before proceding to one or other WLS, not RNY though. Would love to know the financing issues/answers and ins. who will pay. Thanks!:frown1:

I know from the Yahoo forum someone who got her eyes done, and they look incredible, so he's good at all parts of the body from what I've seen. He and another doctor in Mexicali, Dr. Luque (sp?), are THE TWO most highly recommended, including from Wasabubblebutt (Bipley on the other forum), and she's done her homework on all these doctors. That's all I know. You'd have to take photos of yourself and email them to Dr. Bello, this is how he estimates the cost of what is needed. OK....I found a post from someone who used Dr. Luque; this is what she said:

Dr. Bello is a recommended plastic surgeon from Dr. Aceves' team and coordinators. Several folks have gone to him and really liked the results. He's in Mexicali or suburbs thereof. There is no website; he gets referrals by word of mouth. All I have is an email address. He operates out of the Almater, like Dr. Aceves does. His email is drmanuelbello@yahoo.com.mx ....you can post for more info. on Dr. Aceves Yahoo group. Several people have been to him, all had favorable outcomes and comments. That's where I heard of him.

Mine is accurate. Doing fine weight-wise. Almost at goal, but the last 14 are gonna be a bugger!

It's never been proven that it does. If it did there'd be a LOT of women with breast cancer because of implants. No scientific evidence has ever linked implants to cancer, not even silicone. It was never proven.

Different plastic surgeon sites will have before/after photos; just google it. You definitely get to pick out the size - look at stupid Heidi Montag - or don't look, she definitely went out of her mind and is now unhappy with the back pain she has due to the size if you can believe the weekly magazines. The doctor will show you different sizes and shapes. They don't remove the nipple, they work around it, and YES, you can lose sensitivity there so keep that in mind. I had implants in 1978 (silicone) and had them replaced in 1995 with saline. The silicone definitely looks more natural, especially these days now that they've perfected it so much better. I had my replaced b/c I was told they were leaking; upon closer surgical inspection, they were NOT leaking, but they were replaced anyway. I will be having my current saline replaced with the nip/tuck portion of my makeover and going back to silicone with Dr. Bello in Mexico. Nothing is set up yet, just planning that in the months to come. Hope this helps you.

My weght is hovering around 150-151, sometimes it dips to 149, but usually staying right around 150. IDK if this is going to be all I'll lose, period. I wanted to get to 135. Feeling kind of down about it. Happy for I've accomplished, but so close, yet so far, know what I mean?!

Nope, never got a response about this. I think it'll be a matter of personal preference, though, don't ya think? I'm 61 so my age is working against me too. And I don't work out with weights, but that would only ensure muscle development and won't help loose skin, despite what my DH tries to tell me. It may have to come off. I'll ask the plastic surgeon about it when that time comes - probably later in the year. You keep working it, though, Carolyn, we could go to Mexicali together to see Dr. Bello, the plastics guy!

Carolyn, as far as I know your body needs the Protein so keep supplementing with it. I lost a lot of hair with the weight loss; it'd probably be more if I wasn't taking extra protein. You also need it for other reasons; I'm sure others will be more knowledgeable.

Wearing size 4 Ralph Lauren stretch jeans, and size 28 leggings in different brand. Definitely shrinking. My chiro. keeps asking me HOW MUCH weight have you lost now? The beauty shop gals keep telling me how good I look.....it's nice, but almost getting a little embarrassing like "you guys, do something else for a minute, stop looking me over like a prime grade roast or something." LOL!!

There are some hormonal adjustments with weight loss anyway; I don't know about the band, but I did not experience any depression with the sleeve. The surgery itself (removal of 85% of the stomach) really has no bearing on depression or I've never heard the two things linked. Probably just the normal "whatever" anyone experiences after having any type of surgery. Some people get a little depressed from having anesthesia or a certain procedure. What I'm saying is IF you tend towards depression anyway, the surgery might bring it on, but only temporarily. You should really ask a medical professional as it relates to your particular chemistry.

I totally get the picture. No problemo. I actually feel the same way. Last week my manicurist asked me because after 8 mos. she noticed something is different......duh. But she's Asian and she would not let it go with "I had surgery." Then she had all these questions, and was telling me about other "big" people (as she put it) who had surgery, but she didn't know the name of their surgery (I guessed "Bypass?") Yeah, that was it. I told her I had the Gastric Sleeve surgery. Then, cause she's Vietnamese, she kept having me say gastric sleeve over and over so she could remember how to pronounce it properly. She had some trouble with the word "gastric." Kinda funny. Then she went back to her normal mode of talking ABOUT me to the pedicurist in Vietnamese. I didn't care; at least she was done with the 50 questions routine!

When people I've not seen in awhile ask me how I got so skinny (their word, skinny), if I feel like it (and I usually do) I tell them through having surgery. Then they nod like they understand because they are assuming I mean plastic surgery. :001_huh: Then I have to explain to them that I mean WEIGHT LOSS SURGERY. "Ooooohhhhhh" is the response. :ohmy:Then they want to know HOW MUCH weight I lost. I tell 'em - 92 pounds to date. Again, another......"Wow!":001_unsure: I tell 'em, yeah, I'm doing great and feel good! That shuts them up and the subject is either changed OR they want to know the particulars, which I tell them. :laugh0: The big difference in my little story here and you guys who are upset because other people know, is that I don't care if they know. I'm proud of what I've accomplishing no matter how I accomplished it. I know each of you are too:thumbup:, so let that pride in yourselves shine through when you are questioned. If you come across as proud and confident in that this is the BEST thing you've EVER done for yourselves, others will pick up on that vibe too. Any negative comments are coming from jealous people or family members, to which you can merely say, "Oh, are you jealous?" and snicker at them and walk the F away from 'em. Know what I mean?!:biggrin2: AND if your Mom or boyfriend or whoever tells someone about your WLS surgery in your presence and that person starts looking at you a little funny, just say, "Yep, I sure did, and it's the BEST THING I ever did." End of conversation. Do not become embarrassed; nothing to be embarrassed about. It's all about empowerment, girls, and you definitely have that going on for you. Niki - go back to the gym and just act like you are the most proud, hottest mama in the place, and anyone who doesn't like it, can go to Hell. That's how I deal with it. You guys do the same.

Tiff, My husband, the Sagittarius, handles stress like you do. His stomach acts up and then he either can't go to the bathroom, or it's diarrhea all day long. Everyone handles stress differently. I tend to not eat when stressed/depressed. I used to eat when I was bored. I can't eat junk food though; the sleeve conditioning/diet mindset says NO JUNK food or you feel guilty, and it doesn't even taste good anyway. You need to find a way to just relax even if it means taking a low dosage Valium or Xanax. And you have to figure out what the stress is and deal with the issue to resolve it. If you're worrying about not being able to conceive you'll be right - you won't. You have to adopt the attitude that either I do OR I don't.....all in God's time and REALLY MEAN that. That's the only way to get to the baby goal. Release the need to achieve the outcome and THEN it will happen. Truly. I know what I'm talking about.:thumbup:

This morning weighed in at 153.2, but I'm going with 153. I hadn't lost anything in 2 weeks. It's slowing way down at 8 mos. out, but still happy with it. I'm 18 pounds to goal. I have not exercised AT ALL, so I know that would make a difference. Hope you all are doing well, too. I see the above ladies are rocking their sleeves. Keep it up, ya'll! I added a couple of new photos to my album - "Going for Goal" taken on my birthday (17th) and the day before. Take a look.

Wine is good; I love wine. No problem at all, wine away.:wink0:

Let 'em think what they want. You need time off to take care of your "personal business," they don't need to know what for. Interestingly enough when people see you every day they don't notice so much that you're losing weight. People who haven't seen you for a long time notice. I get my hair done every 3 weeks. For the longest time they didn't say anything, don't think they noticed, until it became obvious, and then the owner of the shop didn't even recognize me the last time I was there. That was funny. Then I told them. I just say "Yeah, I lost it thru having weight loss surgery. I feel great." They've never said "Oh, why did you do that?!" They say, "Oh, well you look great!" and mean it. I think the more positive and confident you are in your decision, the more positive the comments will be from others, unless they are just the jealous types, and them you can live without. Listen to your inner wisdom and respond accordingly. :wink0:

/ Your Mom isn't you and she isn't living in your body, so IMO she doesn't get a vote. Don't tell her until after it's over and you start losing. Then she'll notice that you're finally "getting yourself back into shape" and will compliment you. As an aside note on Mothers: One Thanksgiving after not seeing my Mom for like 3 or 4 years, we showed up for Thanksgiving dinner at her house. Before she even said Hi and hugged me, she drug me off to a bedroom and gave me my Christmas gift. Guess what it was? An exercise video. As she handed it to me her comment was "WHEN are you going to start getting yourself back in shape?!" I was floored. I hadn't seen the woman in over 3 years and these are the first words out of her mouth? I was wearing a pair of black stretch slacks and a bulky turtleneck sweater. I was probably around 185 pounds then - much less than I ened up being before surgery - and thought I looked pretty good. Apparently she disagreed. I was so hurt by that exchange I didn't talk to her for a long time, and you know what, I have NEVER visited her since. She's 86 now and lives with her 48 year old husband she managed to snag because he's a bum who doesn't work. I know he's taking care of his "investment" so it's not imperative that I go visit her, and in fact, she has never asked me to come down for the holidays or any reason. Whatever. I figure one of these days I'll get a call that she passed away. We were never close. My point being: sometimes this is how it goes with judgmental parents - they lose out on seeing their kids, which is their choice. Don't sweat the small stuff, NursyGirl, and all stuff is small.

Me too, my husband is a CEO of a company and I was also the most rotund at gatherings. Not no mo; now I'm rocking the fashions and HIgh heels. You all can do the same!

That's fluids in your body fluctuating is all. I'm not one to talk b/c I weigh every day, but if you only weigh yourself 1X a week you won't go through all this up/down crap. :sad0:

Oh honey, stop crying and listen here: YOU ARE DOING THIS FOR YOU! Nobody else. I know you were throwing it out there to see what they'd say, but now you see that other people cannot relate to your pain. Your Mom sounds like mine about how the money SHOULD be spent. I didn't tell my Mom cause she's 86 and not cooking on all cylinders, know what I mean? I also don't see her much so it's a moot point. Your MIL sounds like your supporter, so that's good. The others will see the wisdom in all of it after they see you start to change, both on the inside and the outside. I was heavier than you when I decided to have the sleeve at 246. I'm 5'-7.5" tall with a small frame, so I could get by with all that weight, but God knows it wasn't good for me and I hated how I looked. Now I'm 154, and in a size 4-6 pants, so life is definitely better. Don't tell others until you actually have it, and then they'll see the transformation. It's all good. Stay strong and know your decision is the best for YOU.

My thought is people (alleged friends and family) who don't support your decision are not your friends anyway, so screw 'em, know what I mean? You know who they are. Any so-called friend who isn't supportive of what's best for you doesn't deserve the time of day from you. Your health is more important than maintaining a relationship with jealous people. Amen to that.:001_smile: