sleevesearch

Awesome! Great to hear you are doing so well. I'm heading to Mexicali on 8/27. . . .

Woooo Hoooo!! Way to go! Congratulations! . . .

BBJ, Gosh, I'm so sorry you have this pressure surrounding this event. I can't think of anything to say to make things feel better for you. But your story makes me think I did the right thing by not telling my mom, cuz I think she would have just as strong feelings/opinions as yours did. I do think that once this is all over, your family will 'see' that you made the right decision for yourself. But getting thru this will be hard and I'm sorry you have to deal with that, you should only have to focus on yourself and your health. Take Care, . . .

I am so sorry this is happening to you on the eve of the big day. Just know, know, know that you are doing what is best for you! No one else can know what that is, so their opinions basically don't matter, (I know it's hard when its your parents), but they have no right to mess with your head. That is just cruel. The rest of us here on VST are with you 100%! Try to get some rest and just focus on going forward, nothing else matters right at this moment. Wishing you the best! Keep us posted. . . .

You leave on the 5th day at 7am - so that's your travel day . . .

Though I haven't yet experienced this, I did read somewhere on this board that your body is going thru alot of changes and getting used to 600-800 cals per day and temporarily goes into starvation mode, and will hold on to every calorie for dear life. Once your body adjusts it will let the weight go.. Let us know when you start losing again, it would be nice to know about how long this goes on for. . . .

BlackBerryJuice, Happy, Safe surgery and journey! Will be thinking about you... . . .

Ok, I've been reading alot about Protein drinks, but can someone please clarify what you can have in the clear stage. Are you allowed to have the vanilla/chocolate Protein Drinks made with milk or soy milk during the clear liquid stage? Or do you have to wait? Thanks! . . .

Cool! I will try to find you on 8/30, to see how you are doing. I leave 7am on 8/31.

Yay Krista! I'm so glad. After I wrote that post, Nina wrote me back and said: "This medication in particular has strange side effects at the time of surgery. Even back when we only did bands the swelling it caused made it difficult for patients to even drink water" So I don't know....I will try to reduce some and also skip the day of surgery, but I don't want to quit it. Nina did say reducing some would help, she understood that I wouldn't come all the way off. My brother is coming with me, are you bringing anyone? . . .

The search tool is excellent! I found this thread that has a good discussion about carbonation: http://verticalsleevetalk.com/food-nutrition/7560-carbonation.html . . .

I'm curious about the carbonation rules as well. And the reasons why.... Hope someone can share.... . . .

Check out this blog: Gastric Sleeve Foodie Has some good ideas, easy too. . . .

Nice to hear your mom is accepting of your decision. I am so scared to tell my mom, its making me ill, can't sleep. I hope to break it to her this weekend. I know she's going to hate this, and I don't want the rejection. I thought about not telling her, but I need her to watch my dog and lying just doesn't sit well with me.

This is what AETNA sent me, your particular plan may be different, but I believe the clinical criteria is the same. "We determine coverage based on your plan benefits and clinical criteria. For details on clinical criteria, see Clinical Policy Bulletins, which can be found online at Aetna ? Health Insurance, Dental, Pharmacy, Group Life and Disability Insur. 1. Go to Aetna ? Health Insurance, Dental, Pharmacy, Group Life and Disability Insur. 2. From your home page, select 'Health Care Professionals'. 3. Select "Policies & Guidelines" on the left hand side of the page. 4. Next choose "Clinical Policy Bulletins". 5. Select 'Medical CPB'. 6. Click the "I accept" box to proceed. 7. In the box entitled 'Search CPBs', enter policy number '0157' Please review and discuss the clinical policy bulletin with your doctor. Is precertification required? Yes, the procedure must be precertified by your doctor with Aetna's Patient Management department. If your doctor does not precertify this procedure, your benefits could be denied. Please have your doctor contact Aetna's Patient Management area at the toll-free number for precertification listed on your member ID card."

This is what Nina wrote to me about that: "This medication in particular has strange side effects at the time of surgery. Even back when we only did bands the swelling it caused made it difficult for patients to even drink Water. " I find it odd that I haven't seen this discussed on this forum or anywhere else (especially that thread that was specific to wellbutrin). She did say if I couldn't get completely off it, that any reduction would be helpful.

Yikes this part does sound scary!!

I'm scheduled for August 28th with Dr. Aceves in MX. In this thread, I don't see anyone else scheduled out that far (in August only). Anyone else going to be in Mexicali then? :scared0:

Great blog!

Yeah, Bambi, all those skinny people that never finish their plate, just pisses me off. Now I want to be one of them, and with VSG, I think it can happen. Thanks for the message, enlightening.

Yes, thank you very much! This is what I suspected from my research, but just haven't seen in writing. My research continues... I'm leaning towards going to Dr.Aceves in MX. Thanks for sharing!

Does anyone know, when you self-pay in the U.S., are you still required to meet minimum requirements to qualify for the surgery? You know the BMI, co-morbidites, phsyc, pre-diet, etc... From the research I've been doing, seems Mexico doesn't require these things. Thanks for sharing your knowledge!

I posted the other day indicating that Dr. Aceves website didn't provide any information on VSG. Now I have found another website for him (obtained from FACS), with alot more info. LAP-BAND,laparoscopic banding,bariatric surgery,obesity <<alot detailed info Dr. Alberto Aceves M.D. - Welcome << specific to lapband, but the only one that came up on google search, so I thought that was it for Dr. Aceves.

Maybe I'm looking at the wrong website, but Dr Aceves website doesn't discuss anything about the sleeve procedure, only bypass and lapband. Does anyone have a link to this information, specifically from Dr. Aceves? Also what sort of after care do you need when you come home? Can your primary doc do this? Or do you have to find someone specific?