ATX Girl

I did indeed have a food funeral. For a week or two after I scheduled my surgery, I also ate things that I knew I would likely either never eat again (because they're trigger foods for me) or at least not for a long time. I went from 238.8 the day of booking to around 245 and now I'm working on getting back down again before my surgery!

I personally haven't found any powders that I like; they all have a very similar aftertaste. But, I find that I like almost all of the pre-mixed, ready to drink ones (the Premier Protein at costco are my favorite so far and they've got like 30 grams of protein!). As for broths, I saw a suggestion on another forum that rocks - buy Soups that are chicken broth based, like chicken noodle, chicken & dumplings etc (I buy the Progresso light) and then just strain out the broth and it tastes MUCH better than plain chicken broth (of course it adds some sodium, but it's not like chicken broth is LOW sodium to start with ). It does!!

Happy New Year to you as well! Here's to a healthier, happier and thinner 2013!

I love seeing the tickers too!! However, I haven't been able to do my surgery date ticker - it keeps giving me an error and saying that my values are wrong and when I preview it, it says that my surgery date was like 5000 days ago! I keep trying every day to see if they've fixed it (my surgery date is 1/15/13), but so far they haven't. At least my weight ticker works great!

As far as this goes, I will say this. I like these forums, but I am far more active on the gastricsleeve.com forums, and if you would like to see A LOT of happy people with great success stories, pop on over there too! I am "Texas Girl" over there.

Thank you so much for posting and congratulations on a moving forward with a healthier you in 2013!

I absolutely agree! I believe fully that the devil is using food in this world to pull us farther from Jesus and I have such a passion for those of us who struggle with this battle. It goes so much deeper than just a love for and addiction to food - it's a spiritual battle. I feel that I have tried so hard to do this on my own for so long and any success I've had has been through God's grace. Unfortunately, the flesh is weak and I feel this surgery is a gift!

Hi Mindy!! I am up in Northwest Austin and just wanted to say hi and see how you were doing? I am 16 days from being sleeved, but I am going down to Mexico with Dr Ariel Ortiz.

Yeah, I am positive it was some sort of mix-up, because that is the price on the paperwork for the band, not the sleeve ($5,000). The coordinator must have made a human mistake, because there is clear consistency in pricing that doesn't line up with what you were quoted. This makes me believe that you would have seen the $6,500 price on the paperwork from the beginning had you chosen the sleeve and the mistake would have been discovered much earlier - it was just a verbal mistake. Still sorry that it happened and I can totally understand the way you're feeling.

Hello there and ! My suggestion is to research, research, research!! The more research I did, the more my nerves turned into excitement! And now, I'm completely content with my choice and so anxious for it to be over and for my new way of life to begin. Obviously, I don't have much to offer in the way of experience in going through the surgery yet since I'm still 16 days away, but I did do a ton of research on surgeons in Mexico (not morbidly obese AND no co-morbidities; I didn't even bother with insurance) and I was very nervous about that when I first started out, so I would be more than willing to chat with you about my research process, etc. Just send me a private message if you want to connect. There are a lot of very qualified surgeons in Mexico - many of them have done the procedure WAY more times than the US docs, so the more you learn about them, I believe the more comfortable you'll be. Good luck!

Absolutely and like I said - some may find it silly or disagree. But for some reason, it personally made me uncomfortable and I had to follow what I felt, just as others need to do. I know of many who were very happy with Dr Q and I believe he's very qualified! I could be totally wrong on how modern and state-of-the-art his practices and facilities are because I've never been there to personally compare his to anyone else's, etc. In the end, it's just a very personal decision and you have to do what you are comfortable with. Just giving my personal opinion based on the research that I did and I obviously, I did the research I was led to for my own personal comfort level. Oh, and for the record, that wasn't the only reason I chose to go with Dr Ortiz instead, it was just one of those final factors that tipped the scales. The big one, for me, was that Dr Ortiz is in a Center of Excellence. I have a very weak immune system and personally didn't want to take any chances being in a regular hospital with any communicable diseases. If I had a stronger immune system, that might not have been such a high factor on my list.

I am also scheduled with him and went back and looked at the paperwork that has the pricing on it (Initial Contact Letter) and mine also shows the same exact price for the sleeve and plication. The band is less and the bypass and revisions are more. Do you still have your Initial Contact Letter that shows the prices for all the procedures offered? It truly sounds like if someone quoted you different prices that it was a mistake, because there are now two of us who have paperwork showing that the prices are the same for these two procedures. I booked in November. Sorry to hear there was a mix-up somehow and hope you get it straightened out.

He was one of my final 4 doctors and while I believe he is a fully qualified surgeon, one of the main reasons I did NOT choose him was because of something that might seem very silly, on the surface: he doesn't use dissolving stitches. Now, while I admit it was absolutely a consideration to NOT want to have to worry about having my stitches removed once I came back home, this was actually not just an "on-the surface" decision. What drove it was more of what it implied to me, which is that he is actually NOT state-of-the-art. I had my gall-bladder removed over 5 years ago and way back then I had dissolving stitches, so to not be using them today does not give me confidence that everything else is as modern and state of the art as they claim. When I was researching surgeons, I found only two that were NOT using dissolving stitches: Dr Q and Dr Almanza. Again, this may be ridiculous and silly to someone else, but these are big decisions and everyone must make a decision that they are comfortable with and for me, this just left me a bit uncomfortable. Your mileage may vary.

Hi everyone! My name is Angie and I am 38 years old and currently live in Austin, TX with my best friend and husband, Mike and our spirited 4-yr old son. I was born and raised in Minnesota (Twin Cities) and was very thin until about 19, when my mom was diagnosed with lung cancer. It seemed to be a "trigger event" for me and I found comfort in food. I've been yo-yo dieting every since with my highest weight being 283. When I was 23 I moved to Phoenix, AZ where I spent 11 years and met my fabulous husband. We've been married for 11 years this past May. I lost a grandma to diabetes and while I have been lucky to not exhibit any weight-related issues so far (no co-morbidities and a BMI currently around 35 means I'm self-pay), I feel it's only a matter of time since I have both heart issues and diabetes in my family. I've been able to lose weight many times, but it's always a temporary reprieve and I go back up (I was 159 as recently as June 2011). I am currently the database coordinator for a large church in Minnesota and am blessed beyond measure to be able to telecommute! Working from home has been a dream come true for me. The only issue is that is keeps me even more sedentary than a desk job at an office would, so I'm going to have to find a way to overcome that and find some motivation to exercise! I'm a little more than 2 weeks away from being sleeved by Ariel Ortiz in Mexico and I can't wait!!

The airfare is not through the surgeons, you have to book on your own through the airlines, so you will have to pay normal fare for your guest.

Thank you so much! I did so much research before settling on OCC and I am fully confident with my decision - I actually believe I might choose Dr Ortiz over local surgeons!

I am going to Dr Ariel Ortiz in TJ and he practices out of an Intl Center of Excellence. There are lots of options in Mexico and they seem to range from $4k - $9k. I believe most of the surgeons are very reputable and will do a great job - you just have to research them all and go with who you can afford and are comfortable with. All of them that I researched included everything but the airfare to San Diego and they will pick you up there and escort you across the border (and there is a medical line, so it's quicker than the general public). Good luck!

I have heard some people say that the pre-op diet is the hardest thing about this! Ha! I am not looking forward to it either!! Hang in there - it will be over soon and you'll be sleeved!!

The thought of Mexico scared me at first too. But, the more research I did, the less scared and more comfortable and confident I became. All facilities and surgeons are not created equal, whether you are looking in the US or in Mexico and there are great surgeons there and bad surgeons there, just like here! I am EXTREMELY comfortable going to Dr Ortiz - he is in an International Center of Excellence that exceeds the standards of 95% of US hospitals. I knew I had no chance with insurance, because my BMI is only around 35 (now, it's been higher many times!) and I didn't want to GAIN weight just to have surgery. Good luck!!

I am coming into this a little late, but for those who aren't familiar with what a DS is, it's a Duodenal Switch - this is what can be done after a sleeve to add malabsorption to the equation if restriction alone isn't working. As for advice for the OP, I am so sorry that I don't have any, as I am pre-sleeve and have never had any WLS. I would agree with those who suggest eating your Protein first and eliminating the simple carbs, such as bread, Pasta, sugars, etc. I wish you the best and hope you get it figured out!

I'm not a revision, but I'm Jan 15th with Dr Ortiz too!!

Congrats!! I have my surgery with Dr Ortiz on January 15! Just under 3 weeks to go!