SerendipityHappens

I'm so excited for you. Remember to ask for everything you need. They don't always bring stuff to you or tell you what's going on there.. but they'll help you with anything you ask for. So ask, ask, ask.

I did not have Dr. Aceves, but seriously... he's one of the best bariatric surgeons out there. Go to the Mexico section of this board and there are many here who will be happy to share their experiences first hand.

MiDoctor has a small single bed ICU if it's needed. It's definitely NOT an outpatient clinic. After surgery you recover there for two days. It's just not fancy and has some older equipment.. for example the EKG machine was the old version, but it still worked just fine.

Wow. I never even considered something like this as a possibility! Sending you lots of positive thoughts and hoping for the best possible outcome for you.

Thanks everyone for posting your updates! I'm 8 days post-op and feeling fine except for a nasty yeast infection thanks to the antibiotics. Incisions are healing very nicely but still a bit of a pulling sensation when I move the wrong way. As for weight loss..... drum-roll please.... ZERO POUNDS!!! I'm not worried about it. I'm just happy to finally be back down to my surgery weight! And I am not expecting huge losses anyway since I was 3 and 1/2 months on an 800 calorie diet prior to surgery.

My post op diet says 7 weeks.

Yes and no... The hospital is clean and has equipment etc.. It reminds me a LOT of my little hometown hospital. It's definitely not a clinic or "scary" But it's not like a big fancy US hospital. Also, you have to ASK.. I even had to ASK the nurse to help make sure I was walking enough. I also had to keep an eye on my IV bag and make sure that it was still dripping. Any time I'd wake up, I'd check to make sure it hadn't stopped.. It doesn't have the beep that will alert anyone when it's not functioning. For me, This wasn't a big deal. I have no problem asking for what I need! I had a great experience and I was well cared for, but there were some things that were not exactly like US hospitals.

http://www.makeyourownyogurt.com/ This is an excellent tutorial. It seems more complicated than it really is. And there are many MANY ways to keep it warm while it's processing. But this tutorial will get you started. I make a LOT of yogurt. My BF has a convenience store and any time we have milk that's out of date, it gets brought home and made into yogurt!

They can compare their numbers to mine.. Here ladies.. I'm one week out and I've lost ZERO pounds! Feel better? :-P To me going off plan even by just a little is a slippery slope. I think it's just a much better idea to follow the plan your doctor gave you. I mean, I feel AWESOME. I drank 80 ounces of Fluid at one day out, I feel like my sleeve is healing really well, but I can't see what is really happening inside so I'm just going to stick with the plan my doctor gave me and that is what I would advise anyone who asked if I would suggest advancing early. Now, I'm a fattie inside and I WANT TO EAT! I just made my nephew a burrito and I really wanted to sneak a spoonful of Beans.. but I'm a week early for that so I did restrain myself. I have found watching food porn and researching new recipes to be helpful. I'm not joking. I have been watching episodes of Diners, Drive in's and Dives and I don't know I found that it kind of satisfied my head hunger.

I am one week out and didn't have much luck when I mixed with milk so I tried coconut milk and it worked great. I use Jay Robb protein powder which mixes up really thin... you can even add it to sf juices or water and you taste no thickness at all.

When I was doing my preop, I once put chocolate Protein powder in diet orange soda and it was NOT nice.. but your mileage may vary. Please remember that we all have different doctors and different instructions. MY post op plan happens to state that carbonated beverages are FINE after 6 months if they are well tolerated. Other doctors do indeed tell their patients that carbonation will stretch their sleeves.

I had mine in for two days and they took it out right before I got out of the hospital. Mine is healing up nicely and you can't even tell the tube was there..it's just like a line like my other incisions.

YAYYYYY! Dr's Cabrera, Valenzuela and their new team member Dr. Garcia are SOOOO caring. Less than a month!

YAYYYY! I was traveling all day yesterday and it was driving me crazy that I couldn't check in on you to see how things were going. Glad to see you're recovering nicely.

I detest chewables and instructions from my doc allowed me to swallow pills as soon as I felt I could and he does not feel that special bariatric Vitamins are necessary so my advice might not be helpful if your doctor recommended something different, but here goes anyway... I was told I needed a Multivitamin with 200% of the RDA (or two 100% RDA multis) He mentioned Centrum but said just get a high quality one and make sure it was complete. 1200-1500 of Calcium citrate plus Vitamin D , 18-36 MG of Iron depending on blood work. sublingual b-12 and an optional b complex if I felt my multi didn't provide enough. I'm also a fairly frugal person, so keeping cost low is important to me in order for me to stay compliant with my vitamins. Anyway, here's what I got: Iron- I purchased chelated iron from puritain's pride. http://www.puritan.com/iron-650/iron-bisgylcinate-18-mg-ferrochel-chelate-073943 This form of iron is highly absorpable and is gentle on the body. It says it does not interfere with calcium absorption, but I still take it separate from my calcium just in case. Calcium- Again, from puritain's pride I ordered their calcium plus Vitamin D "miniatures" these are exactly like citrical petities and I did a side by side dissolve test and both the puritain's pride brand, and the Citrical brand dissolved in plain Water in about 6 minutes. WARNING.. these pills are NOT really that small.. they're just smaller in comparison to a regular giant calcium horse pill. I showed my doctor the size of pill and he suggested that with these, I should wait until I was 2 weeks out to start taking them (I was taking capsules the day after surgery). Because I have to take SO MUCH calcium, I opted for the buy two get three free option which when combined with a 10% off coupon I had, worked out to about six dollars for a month's worth of high quality calcium citrate http://www.puritan.com/calcium-supplements-001/calcium-citrate-vitamin-d3-miniatures-033195 B-12 Again, from puritain's pride, I chose the sublingual losenge with Biotin, b-6 and folic acid. http://www.puritan.com/sublingual-formulas-355/vitamin-b-12-2500-mcg-sublingual-with-folic-acid-vitamin-b-6-and-biotin-018641 but there are many choices that might suit your needs better. It's just really important that it's SUBLINGUAL for maximum absorption. Protein: I did a three month high Protein vlcd prior to my surgery, so I went through a LOT of Protein powder already. I was told to use whey Protein ISOLATE. I like Jay Robb protein powder the best because it is sweetened with stevia and mixes like a dream. It's an expensive brand, but for me, it was worth it. I get it from vitacost.com when they are offering a sale or coupon. If I don't have coupon for vitacost, then amazon.com is cheaper than Vitacost's regular prices.. but vitacost is a better route if they're having a sale/promotional coupon. If you like Isopure, Puritain's Pride has Isopure for a very good price but limited flavors. Multi-vitamin: OK, I made myself nuts comparing Multivitamins and although my doctor said that bariatric vitamins weren't necessary, I finally settled on Bariatric Advantage capsules I got them because they are complete, they use chelates where applicable, and they don't have iron which could interfere with my calcium routine. I also like that I can divide them out during the day. The best price I found on these was through Amazon.com with free supersaver shipping. Acid Reducer- My doc recommended omeprazole 20mg. Walgreens.com had an excellent buy on their brand.. and it was on sale with a buy one get one 50% off to boot. Rite Aid and CVS also frequently have Omeprazole on sale.

I pooped in the hospital and felt the awkward need to announce it to the floor as if someone was going to arrive and pin a medal to my johnny to honor my accomplishment.

I was sleeved 3/13. I had to do three days of clears prior to surgery so I am now on my 8th day of clears.. and by clears I mean no protein drinks.. just water, sugar free flavorings in the water, and clear broths. Of course I'm sick of drinking these drinks. On Tuesday I can add protein powders and milk WOO HOOOO and will stay on that for a week. Now I absolutely feel that I could "handle" mushies right now. I drank over 80 ounces of fluid the day after surgery with ease so I'm sure I could handle something more substantial... BUT You could not PAY ME ENOUGH to deviate from the plan that I have been given. I want to give my sleeve lots of time to heal in peace without stressing it by adding food ahead of time. We can certainly handle a few weeks of a boring diet, I mean we have the rest of our lives to enjoy eating a variety of delicious foods, right?

Check out the Mexico/self pay section of this forum.. There are sooooo many of us there who share our experiences with traveling to Mexico for this surgery. Currently I am recovering very comfortably at the Tijuana Marriott and will travel home tomorrow. I had absolute confidence in my surgeons, Dr's Valenzuela and Cabrera and have felt completely safe and cared for this entire time. The name of the company I went through was Mexico Bariatric Center www.mexicobariatriccenter.com and Christy made all my arrangements... but if you or your sister go to the Mexico section you can read about experiences from many of us who used various doctors and coordinating companies.

Decide what flight you are going to go on and then go to seatguru.com to see the exact configuration of the plane and size of seat. The seat on the jetblue plane that I flew on was 18" wide and the distance between my knees and the seat in front of me was ample! My weight was 290 and my pant size was a Lane Bryant size 24 and I have very full hips/thighs and a nice generous lower tummy. I fit in the seat just fine although it was a bit tight, the armrests went down and everything and I did not need a seatbelt extender. Last year I flew on a plane with an 18 inch seat at 325 pounds and I fit then as well.. I needed a seatbelt extender for one flight because the belt was WAY short.. but the other flights I didn't need one. Hope this helps.

My doctor (also mexican) prescribed the same thing except in pill form (I've been swallowing pills since the day after surgery)He said that since I'm prone to being "yeasty" I could start taking probiotic beads the day before I complete my antibiotic cycle, hopefully preventing any problems with yeast in the first place.

LOL, I'll bet! I am enjoying mine immensely. NOT looking forward to my plane ride home tomorrow.. OH well, I guess all this gas will give me an excuse to walk to the restroom frequently. Tell me, are you finding that they don't come out on their own? I'm having to use some force to help them along... accompanied by a quick "please let this be just a fart" prayer.

My doctor stressed the importance of not consuming sugar and going very low carbohydrate. I was asked to do two weeks of Protein shakes and one lean and green meal. I was asked not to consume grains,fruits, starchy vegetables,or anything containing sugar for the two weeks leading up to surgery. I got the impression that being "liquid" was not the important part but rather they wanted me high protein and low carb

Caffeine- I was given mildly caffeinated beverages (green tea) in the hospital. Was told to limit my coffee or black tea to two cups a day ..... exercise? 6 weeks out for anything more vigorous than walking ....drink alcohol? 6 months, and even then he said it's not recommended .... smoke cigarettes? ( I am sure the doctor would tell you not to start again.) Didn't ask .... smoke marijuana? Didn't ask ... anything else? Soda- was told none for the first six months Can't answer the question about when I started those things, since I'm only four days post op... but I'm a rule follower so I'm sure I will introduce these things according to my Dr's schedule.

AMEN!... but their sales are AWESOME! I won't buy anything there unless I can get it under ten bucks. I'm out of clothes and just got 9 tops and two bottoms for $82.00. I am currently a comfortable 22/24 and I got sizes 14-20 so I have at least SOMETHING to shrink into! I'm big into shopping at the thrift store but the clearance prices at LB are insane.. Not ALL LB stores have these super low clearance items though. They usually consolidate all their clearance into one store in the area.