SerendipityHappens

skin sagging is related to how fat you are, how long you've been fat, how old you are and your genetic predisposition. For me.. coming from a long line of chicken necks and swinging pani(is that the plural of panus?)and being over 40 and having been fat for my entire life AND coming from 360 pounds.... um yeah, I'm already researching plastic surgeons. I'm pretty sure I'll need a full body lift. I've lost 70 pounds so far pre surgery and my skin on my belly is already wrinkly..... and it's still really fat!

YAY!!! so glad to hear you are doing well!

Hey Lotti, I'm here at the hospital already... getting sleeved at 6AM so they're keeping me in the hospital tonight so I'll be here for the early surgery.

My surgery is on Wednesday and I had to be under a 49 BMI in order to avoid the $1,000 charge for high BMI. I started at 335 in December and this morning I weighed in at 291.2! My personal goal was to make it down to 290 and I still have a two days to go so I think I'll make it, but I'm just happy to be under the doctor's cut off which for me is 294.5... 44 pounds gone in 3.5 months doing an 800 calorie VLCD.

My instructions say limit caffenated coffe/tea to two cups per day.

I bought chewable calcium citrate at Vitacost, I got sublingual b-12 from puritain's pride, and my multivitiman is bariatric advantage. My doctor told me I can switch to pill form just as soon as I feel ready so got the BA capsules for multi vitamin and will just take a flintstone vitamin for a little bit after surgery until I am ready for the pills. Also for the calcium, The most cost effective way for me to go is with the puritain's pride calcium+d3 petities.. they are just like the citrical petities, but they worked out to be only $6.00 a month if I bought two bottles I got three bottles free and I had a 10% off coupon so it was a good buy. Some people on here were saying that their nutritionists said that they should not take the citrical petities because they would not dissolve and would just sit in their tummies like little stones. I wondered about this since my doctor said it was ok... so I did a straight water dissolve test where I put a citrical and a puritain's pride petite calcium pill in a glass of water. Both pills dissolved in 6 minutes which is very fast. I also bought a probiotic bead from Puritain's Pride that was about half the price of CVS/Rite Aid

I would not buy such a fine piece of equipment simply to get you through a few weeks/months post op... BUT if you're interested in using it over the long haul then a Vitamix can't be beat. I want one in the worst way. My grandmother had one for over 20 years and it was AWESOME!!!!!! It is way WAY more powerful than a regular blender and can be an extremely valuable tool for a healthier lifestyle. If use a regular blender frequently and find yourself wishing it would do a better job, then go with the vitamix.

Fiber is a good thing and I want more of it in my belly. I subtract fiber and count total carbs minus fiber. I don't subtract sugar alcohols though.

We are on many different plans. My doctor has me on 2-3 protein drinks a day plus a "lean and green" meal.. meaning a meal of lean protein such as a chicken breast or poached fish and a salad of dark leafy greens or some steamed/boiled leafy greens. no extra oils/sauces no root vegetables and no fruit

I'm heading to Tijuana Mexico on Tuesday for my surgery. I paid $4,500. Covers ground transportation, two nights in the hospital, surgery, bloodwork, three nights in the hotel and also nutritionist consultations via telephone. there is an extra $1,000 charge for BMI over 49 and also they charge $500.00-$1,000 extra if they have to do an extensive hiatal hernia repair.

AWESOME!!!!! It's a huge accomplishment and it DEFINITELY sounds like a big deal to me! Everything is relative to where you start from! I felt like throwing a party when I made it under 300 and was just regular "morbidly obese" instead of "SUPER-Obese".. I mean WHO is happy about being "just" morbidly obese? MEEEEEEEEEE that's who! Celebrate your accomplishment!

Xavier girl, I'm also going alone. Don't worry. I've been to Tijuana before and it's not that different from the USA. PLUS, your driver will be taking you everywhere you need to go so you don't have to concern yourself with getting lost or anything! Also the places you'll be staying (marriott/midoctor) are used to catering to Americans! I'm taking packing light and taking: gasx strips colace stimulant laxative (JUST IN CASE) Anti diarrhea medication (JUST in case) Vitamins acid reducer Protein powder sugar free drink powder mixes bandages peroxide ear plugs computer phone passport comfy clothes(a few pairs of sweats, enough undies some t shirts.. I'll travel in something comfortable but semi-nice and just wear the same outfit coming and going) all the normal personal hygene products slippers there is also a pharmacy very close to the hotel and you can get anything you've forgotten there. Please don't be nervous about Tijuana, it's quite safe and we're going to be in a good part of the city. There ARE areas there you won't want to go to...just like there are areas in every American city that should be avoided. It's not really so different.

BEST POST EVER!!! THANK YOU!!!!! and thank your man too! I know I am already damaged goods metabolically speaking and this surgery is not going to help any.. but I am a firm believe that metabolic slow down is temporary and can be fixed by this very method you ountlined if you are patient and meticulous about your diet. THANKYOU for showing us that it can work in practice! Edited to add: and I KNOW I'll never be able to get up to a normal metabolic rate because I have other issues that are affecting my metabolism, but I am confident that I can reverse whatever metabolic slow down that I get from eating so low calories.

I started with a 55 BMI. I did three months of an 800 calorie low carb/high Protein VLCD and then three weeks of a preop that is 3 Protein drinks and a lean and green meal (lean and green = lean protein source plus a salad or serving of greens/no oil. My BMI is now under 49 and my surgery is in four days! I am so happy to have had a very long time to prepare mentally and physically for this huge change. Yes I had a few slip ups.. but I learned from them and for the most part I stuck to my eating plan very closely. I can now go into surgery confident that I CAN stick with the post-op diet and I'm NOT a slave to food. I also know that I have prepared my body well and will have an easier surgery because of it... So my advice is don't lament that you have a long preop, embrace it as a very positive thing! You can do it and you'll feel so great that you did!

I'm March 13th with cabrera/valenzuela at Mi Doctor. Staying at the Marriott.

I don't ordinarily do a lot of sugar free stuff, but with my preop, because I'm so limited on what I can have, I've been eating more artificial sweeteners than I ordinarily would. If I consume more than a few servings of aspartame a day I get a wicked headache. Of course Jell-o is an AWESOME treat on the pre-op but it's also loaded with aspartame so if I eat jell-o, I have to make sure that my drinks and Protein powders are sweetened with something else. So I found a Protein powder sweetened with stevia and I'm drinking mostly Water for my drinks. Just a thought... if you don't usually do a lot of sugar free stuff, that the aspartame could be causing headaches. Also some people report flu-like symptoms during the first few days of preop or any low carb VLCD.. Although it's unpleasant, it is completely normal. By day 6 you'll be feeling AWESOME! Cheating and eating a bunch of carbs will only prolong the process your body is going through and you'll be feeling yucky for longer. Good luck to you on your preop. I'm on the last day of mine.. then three days of nothing but clears.. NOT looking forward to that part, but this too shall pass!

I am not at this point yet, but I have been researching and QUEST seems like a VERY good option. Price but low in net carbs and around 160-200 calories and 20G protein. They have several nutrition labels right on their main page http://www.questproteinbar.com/

YAY!!!! I'm so happy that you two are together. Don't have TOO much fun now, but just remember, what happens in Tijuana, stays in Tijuana

I'm paying $4,500 (all inclusive except airfare) for a surgical team that has done more than 2,000 sleeve operations. Here in my area, I would be paying 20,000 for a doctor who has done a few hundred sleeves. Just made sense to go where I could get a good price from a well qualified surgeon.

Jay, they're newer at serving the foreign market so not as many reviews on them yet. I'm getting sleeved by them on the 13th and I'll post a review just as soon as I can type. Promise!

There's a thread of middle eastern sleevers somewhere on here that was quite active for a while.

I'm at the Marriott too!

I am also March 13th at MiDoctor and after three months of having this scheduled and feeling completely calm about it, I'm definitely feeling anxious now! I just finished cooking and freezing THREE WEEKS of meals for my BF since I'll be leaving tomorrow for my sister's house and fly to and from SanDiego from her house and then staying with her for a while after the surgery. I still have to pack a few more things and do some cleaning when I get home from work tonight. My train to my sister's leaves at 6AM tomorrow! I'll see you ladies next week!

I have too much weight to lose before surgery so I did 3 months of an 800 calorie VLCD instead of food funerals... If I didn't have to lose all this weight pre-surgery I'm still not sure I would have been pigging out though. I've NEVER been one to eat a lot right before starting a diet because I just think that every additional pound I put on, is just ONE MORE that has to come off.