SerendipityHappens

I am PRE-op but have been journaling for a quite a while now. I like MFP. Tracks my calories, carbs, fat, protein and exercise (syncs with my Bodymedia fit).. saves my favorite meals and foods for quick input AND as a super added bonus, you can add friends there if you want for the extra support factor.

I try to limit my use of artificial sweeteners. Aspartame gives me a headache if I consume any more than 3 or so servings a day. I use Jay Robb for protein powder because it's sweetened with stevia. If I want a sweet drink I'll mix unsweetened kool-aid with stevia. Some things are hard to find in non-aspartame versions. Jell-o is one. I tried mixing knox unflavored with splenda and a koolaid packet YUCK.. so I'll just use the regular sugar free jell-o and be careful not to use too much.

THANK YOU!!!! They've been out for a while so I'm glad that it's back in stock and on sale. I'm ordering some Jay Robb Protein powder today so I'll be adding on the PB2 for sure. thanks again for the heads up!

I have a glorious pannus aka FUPA. I don't even pretend that it will go away without surgery to forcibly remove it from the premises!

Seems that most of the doctors working out of Mi are around the same price. I'm booked with Cabrera/Valenzuela next week at Mi Doctor hospital,including 2 night hospital and 3 night Marriott stay for $4,500. Fantastic value for sure, especially since around here it's around 20K for self pay patients!

Exactly, that's why I took the time to post link for you to a recent thread I read on this board where multiple people shared their Jerusalem FIRST HAND hospital experiences. I took the time to do this for you because I don't find it helpful to receive second or third hand information either. If you don't want to click on the link I gave you and see with your own eyes where people gave less than stellar experiences then that's up to you... you can just ignore the link and keep saying that you've never seen any one provide a negative first hand experience with the facility that Almanza uses. Of course you'll want to weigh the positive and the negative and make the best decision for you which in all likelihood will be continuing with your present plan... but it's irritating to me that I GAVE YOU THE LINK to a recent thread on this board that recounts several first hand negative experiences and yet you continue to claim that you have not read any negative first hand experiences. And again, here is the link. http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/topic/65082-notes-on-mexico-jerselem-hospital/ and yes.. there are positive reviews in that thread as well... discount the negative reviews if you want. I discounted a negative review of the facility where I'm having my surgery, but I don't pretend like it doesn't exist.

LOL.. Yes, this is DEFINITELY the wrong post! ... 250 calories in addition to my BMR during 40 minutes of um.. activity.

Almost every time. Frankly I'm disappointed at how little a good BM weighs. I also have one of those bodymedia fit arm bands like they wear on biggest loser. and I'm just as obsessive about it as I am about the scale. I'm constantly checking it to see how many calories I burned during certain activities.. I wear it day and night.. and yeah.. I've connected my bodymedia after um.. ya know s.e.x. to see how many calories it burned.

I am presleeve and have lost over 60 pounds already from my highest weight... 35 of those pounds have been during the past few months during a very strict presurgery diet. (Not as much as YOU though.. AWESOME losses pre-surgery by the way!) I don't really see any difference in "counting" weight loss pre and post surgery.

The only use I could think for it would be in the event of some weird post-apocalyptic famine where if you found food you'd have to gorge yourself quickly and eat as much as possible while defending yourself against other survivors, escaped zoo animals and perhaps Zombies.

Hey LSG, guess what? Our surgery is this month. THIS MONTH. I've been having lots of VSG related dreams almost every night. Mostly it's that I've eaten something I'm not supposed to or that surgery date arrives and I'm not prepared.

I did not want the maintenance of the lap band... and I didn't want to deal with slippage. It just didn't seem permanent enough. I did not want the malapsorptive aspect of the bypass because it was only temporary from a caloric perspective but permanent from a nutritive perspective. Also, I had an old roommate who had bypass and after about 18 months she could eat a LOT of food. Seems the connection between her stomach and intestine wasn't tight enough and all the food was just going straight into her intestine and it was acting like a big huge stomach.. So I was like.. REALLY??? what's the point???? As someone who was in the category of the SUPER morbidly obese, I did consider the Duadenal switch, but it just felt too extreme for me because again you've got the whole malabsorptive component though with the DS the caloric malabsorption is a permanent feature. VSG really seemed like the best fit for me. I know I would have a better chance of making it to goal with DS but honestly, I'd rather NOT make goal than deal with the malabsorption of the DS.

I have done low carb before and try for 30 carbs NOT INCLUDING the fiber.

A big THANK YOU for your review. I'm getting sleeved with Cabrera/Valenzuela in exactly two weeks. Since I'm unable to meet with the doctors before traveling to Tijuana, It is soooo important to be able to read as many reviews as possible before going. Your account has me feeling really good about my choice of doctors. I'm glad to see that the doctors transferred the man with diabetic complications to a US hospital when things got serious and also that Doctor Cabrera went up with him. I'm sorry that it interfered with your surgery though. They should have been more forthcoming with what was going on with the delay of your surgery... but with the language barrier, I can see this being a problem. I hope this patient is doing ok now! Also the $20.00 for medication, that would have seemed a bit strange to me too if I wasn't prepared for it! Christy told me about that a few weeks ago. She said that it was something that I should be prepared for. She hadn't told me about it before and she said that it's something she just learned about that Garcia/Cabrera prescribe but not to every needs it so it's not built into the fee. I'm happy to hear that your actual surgery went so well, though the blood clot is DEFINITELY a cause for concern.... AND of course, CONGRATULATIONS on losing 30 pounds already. That's awesome!

I use my fitnesspal.com too. LOVE IT.

I asked my doctor and he said I can have whole pills as soon as I feel ready. I absolutely DETEST chewables so I know I'll stick with the Vitamin routine a lot better with pills. I also checked the post op paperwork for MU which has a very reputable program, and they also say whole pills are fine.

Such a normal thing! I used to dream like that whenever I'd start a new year in school, or even get a new job. As far as pre-surgery dreams... the worst one I've had, Is when I dreamed I was just sleeved and still in the hospital and I pulled out fried chicken legs from inside my pillow case and started eating them. Then I remembered my doc was coming down to do the leak test so I was trying to stall him so he wouldn't see my belly full of fried chicken... I think it is just my minds way of releasing anxiety I have about the surgery. I honestly don't feel anxious, but apparently I am on a subconscious level! .... and it means I love friend chicken and haven't had it in a very VERY long time!

That sounds yummy. I'm going to try that when I'm post op. I can't have the beans during my particular "liver shrink" preop diet through :-(

This is so delicious, I'm sure it's been posted before but I couldn't find it and it's definitely re-post worthy anyway! 1.5 cups low sodium low fat cottage cheese (can use regular)I used 1% 1 envelope sugar free orange jell-o 2 scoops vanilla or one scoop vanilla and one scoop orange Protein powder (I used jay rob which like most isolate powders has 26 g protein per scoop) Mix 2/3 cup boiling Water with Jello powder stir until dissolved. Pour into blender Add one cup cold water and 2 scoops Protein Powder stir until mostly dissolved, (it may not dissolve all the way) Add cottage cheese.. Blend well until smooth. pour into four glasses/cups refrigerate until set. Makes 4 servings. Each serving is about 2/3 cup 133 calories, 23g protein, 1.5g fat, 5g carb I also made this with strawberry jell-o and strawberry protein powder. DELISH. There is also a variation that uses lemon jell-o, and calls for the addition of 2T sugar free jello cheesecake instant pudding It's supposedly tastes like cheese cake.. I haven't tried that yet because the pudding mix is not on my pre-op diet.

I'm just finishing up day 8 of 21 days... I have high BMI and I need to get it down under 49 before surgery date so I can avoid paying an extra thousand dollars. So I'm doing 21 days of the Protein drinks plus a lean and green meal then on Sunday prior to surgery they want me to take a laxative or two and be on clears until my surgery on Wednesday

It's somewhat comforting to know I'm not the only one who struggled with the math. I actually had my coordinator tell me when to get my tickets. I was getting confused counting DAYS when I should have been counting NIGHTS. She even helped me pick my surgery day so I could get the cheapest flights.

Excellent, I'll see you there! Not sure what floor I'll be on since I'm with Cabrera but I know Mi is a teeny hospital so I'm sure we'll find each other. Are you staying at the Marriott?

Many people fly back a day early and some take an extra day. For me I'm flying in on the 12th, surgery on the 13th and I'm flying out on MONDAY. I am paying for an extra day. If I just went with what my package offers, I'd be flying back on Sunday, but I arrived a day before you. MBC give one preop night in the hotel, two nights in the hospital and then two more nights in the hotel... Does R4C give one less night in the hotel?

YAY! I've been doing an 800 calorie VLCD since December 3rd and I'm currently on day 7 of my actual 21 day preop. I do get a "lean and green" meal (piece of lean protein and a salad of greens)which is kind of nice. I DO know how it feels to do all liquids though as I have done that before (both with shakes and I once did a 30 day juice fast) The first few days are SO HARD, sometimes I would just go to bed rather than endure seeing food... but by day four or so you really start feeling better and stop being so hungry. AND, your body is very kind to you since there is a chemical response when you go very low carb and enter ketosis, that releases a chemical similar to the drug xtacy. This feeling often kicks in between days 3 and 7 and can last from several days to a few weeks!!! So DON'T cheat and eat carbs or you'll lose out on this natural high which can really help carry you through the process. I'm super excited for you. I think having a longer preop period is actually a very positive thing as it has really been helping me feel much more mentally prepared for this surgery!

I agree... With the exception of the comparison to the bypass. When a bypass patient talks about "stretching their stomach" it's actually a misnomer. The bypass pouch is not made of the fundus, it is just the very top part of the stomach that is stapled into a pouch. It is actually the connection that the doctor creates between the stomach and the intestine that looses it's tightness and food is allowed to go quickly into the intestine, almost making the intestine act like a full size stomach! Because Sleeve patients do not have any alteration of the connection between stomach and intestine, then this is not an issue for us. Also I've heard some people compare sleeve stretching due to consistent overeating to blowing up a balloon. The first time you blow up a balloon it is very resistant and difficult to do, but as you inflate and deflate it many times it then it will become easier to blow up. It's not stretched out, and there is still going to be some resistance to blowing up, but it's just not going to be quite as tight as before.