ATX Girl

I was feeling that way earlier in the week, but I figure I'm taking in so few calories on this liquid diet, of course I'm weak! But, I got a B12 shot on Wednesday and it made a WORLD of difference. You might want to give that a shot (pun intended) to feel like yourself again?

I drank protein drinks right up to the end, pre-op. My instructions said "liquids only" the last two days, not "clear liquids only", so my interpretation was that I could still have the protein shakes, just not the green veggies, etc that I could the previous 7 days. If I interpreted that wrong, well, it's all over now, and I came through just fine!

Actually, I never made it to the pool area, but with as nice as the hotel was, I can't imagine it's NOT nice.

Y'all will LOVE Dr Ortiz and will be very impressed with OCC. I certainly was. I felt so taken care of and everything was very smooth. I loved the Marriott - the bed was so amazingly comfy! Actually, the hospital bed was actually very comfortable too! I had a bit of nausea the day AFTER surgery, but that's it. I spent most of that day in bed, relaxing, napping and watching TV. Woke up on Day 2 and the nausea was gone and it hasn't returned. Now, Day 4 post-op, I can barely even tell I've had surgery (other than not being hungry!! ).

That must be the other Dr Ortiz, because Ariel Ortiz works solely out of the Obesity Control Center. Either way, good luck to you!

I'm on Day 6 of 10 (I started a day early) and so far, so good! The first 2 or 3 days were NOT fun, but now I'm finding that I feel fairly normal!

Hi Shergil! I'm one day ahead of you with Dr Ariel Ortiz - I'm sure I'll see you there.

Powdered peanut butter! http://www.bellplantation.com/products/1-case-jar-pb2.html

That sounds like gastric plication, or the "stomach-sparing sleeve". So far, the results haven't been quite as good and you don't have the reduction in ghrelin production.

Hi there! I am extremely analytical, so I started by making a spreadsheet with all the doctors names I could find. Then I started doing research on each one - I had columns for pretty much everything I could think of. Bougie size, days in hospital, leak tests, drain tubes, notes, etc. I, too, really wanted to go to Dr Alvarez (being in Texas I could have just driven down to him instead of having to drive to San Diego), but he was also just out of my price range. And FYI, Dr A Ortiz does state on the short video on his website homepage that there are always two surgeons, two anesthesiologists, etc. They double up on everything. As for financing, I decided to go this route as well, and I just went to my bank, because there are no fees and much lower interest rates. Good luck and let us know if you have any specific questions! There are lots of people here willing to help!

Congrats! I'm on the 15th! So excited!

Oh, and congrats on reaching goal!

No worries. Totally relaxed here. Just not a fan of judgmental attitudes, especially in regards to personal preferences regarding something as big a decision as surgery. Sorry, I don't find the Center of Excellence BS, because I have a very low immune system and don't want to take any chances being in a regular hospital and contracting something. Not everyone's circumstances and situations are the same as yours and therefore, not everyone will see things the way you do and arrive at the same conclusions and make the same decisions. When I come across someone in a situation that I find myself being somewhat judgmental of, I stop and remind myself that one different circumstance in my life could have put me right where they are and that I have no right to judge them. But again, no worries. I know most people don't look at things the way I do and again, that's ok! I I just thought I would explain so others who hadn't yet made a decision knew where I was coming from and that it wasn't a black and white "dissolvable stitches or not" kind of thing. I think Dr Q is likely a great surgeon - he just wasn't the right decision for me.

Wow - such an amazing journey to go on together. Keep us posted and congratulations!

I know some people may find it silly (and I stated as much in my post about it), but I also believe we all have to go with what makes us comfortable. And it certainly wasn't THE determining factor (the Center of Excellence was), but it was one of the factors I considered. And you may not agree or think it's a big deal at all, but I may find something that bothers you silly, right? That's what makes us all unique people! I have just seen more than a few people saying that their incisions ended up opening up again shortly after taking them out and that's just not something I personally want to deal with.