sharonintx

Hola! Welcome and congratulations to you.

I did not have pain at all. I was pretty tired but able to get around as I needed to and nothing hurt.

I did. I had surgery with Dr Almanza in March 2013. You are going to get a lot of advice, stories, tales of horror, and warnings about both Mexico and about Almanza. Don't buy into the negativity. Dr Almanza is very capable, professional, and of all the people I met while I was there not one of them had anything bad to report. He did a great job, charged me a reasonable price, my sleeve works great, I have nothing but good things to say about the Dr, his staff, his facility, and the outcome of my surgery. I give him a big thumbs up. I did not have even one small issue - it was a pleasant experience.

Yes. I was quite angry for a good while post op. It set in at about 2 months out and went on for several months until my kids came in one day and asked me why I was mad all the time. It took me a few days to figure out why I was mad and several more weeks to decide that it had to stop. It's so hard to adjust after surgery of this kind. But you can do it! After a while I was ok again and living pretty happily. You'll work through it and carry on - I promise. Now that you've recognized the problem you can begin to correct it. You are doing a great job - smile:)

Who designated a time frame? I'm just saying that there is no reason to think you've failed when in reality to have the rest of your life to make it work. It may not be working as fast as you want and you may not be doing all you can to help it along, but there's no failure. If you need to do better then just do it. Falling off the wagon and catching yourself is nothing to worry about. Just start today and do a little better than yesterday, and so on. You have every day from now on to do a little better than the last. There's no race to the finish:) Love yourself and be kind to those you love. You'll make it in the end - you know - as in slow and steady wins the race.

I didn't have nausea and the gas pains were not an issue.

I love bread and potatoes. I have found that both of them tend to sit at the opening of my stomach and take a long time to go down. So I've had no choice but to eat just a little of each because there will be no room for anything else otherwise. Other than the fullness factor they have caused no problems.

Lol @ we're all fat in Texas. I know thats right. We like gravy.

Congratulations! I am not having surgery tomorrow but figured I'd say good luck anyway. You don't need to bring Protein shakes to the hospital and they will give you all the info you need for your post op diet while you are there. Keep us posted:)

Well anyway - I love Mexico. I like to go on vacation in Mexico, have opted for surgery in Mexico, and oh how I wish I had some of the corn on the cob with red pepper that they sell on the street in Mexico. I once saw a man pick up an orange, cut it in half, and fill up an 8 oz. glass with juice from that one orange in Mexico. It was delicious. I have never been mistreated, harmed during surgery, nor have I ever been afraid of my surroundings. The doctors and nurses that I encountered in Mexico were very informative, professional, and they did their jobs. I was a chunky girl most of my life. Lose weight, gain it back. That was the story. I chose Mexico because I couldn't qualify under my insurance at the time and I didn't have the outrageous amount of money they wanted if I just paid outright. I got exactly what I asked for in Mexico and they charged me a price I could pay. I love those guys. This time tomorrow I will be 49 years old. I will walk out my door in the morning and not look like a larda**. And that is thanks to my Dr in Mexico.

Guarana's stimulant effect comes from caffeine. Look it up. I just did because I didn't know what it was.

I don't know if you'll believe me or not but the answer to what do you substitute for the food addiction - is you don't. This is such a hard phase you are going thru. I have complete sympathy and understanding for the way you feel. Right now it seems like it will be forever until you have some sort of normal life and normal way of eating. Its not forever though. Its actually a very short time in the big scheme of things. That knowledge doesn't make it easier though. Its hard to adapt to this new way of doing things. But you will. You will look back on this day and smile. That day isn't today - I realize that. As hard as it sounds, don't try to find a substitute to feed your habit. Food. That was my habit too. Its the reason we are here and the reason it became necessary to have an operation to fight it. You don't need a substitute. You need to take the time to really understand your issues and find a way to overcome them. You probably won't be doing any soul-searching today on this matter - I know. But you will and you are going to be just fine. In fact you will be better than ever before and when you look in the mirror at the new person you've become, both inside and out, you'll know that your substitute came from inside yourself. You can do this:)

Good for you! That's awesome. Congratulations.

I ate 4 bites of pizza 5 days out. I chewed it like there was no tomorrow. Nothing bad happened. No leak, no rupturing of sutures or staple line. It made me quite happy. At that point in time it certainly was about comforting myself. No regrets in the things I ate post op. None.

I did fine. In fact, I started soft foods about 3 days post op ( obviously very carefully) and had no issue whatsoever. I did not end up stretching my sleeve, failing to lose weight, nor have I found that I am gaining weight after 2 yrs. I haven't gained a pound back. Not one. My sleeve works great. This won't be a popular response, but I do not put much faith in the opinions of nutritionists and the like. I am pretty sure we are all capable of making intelligent decisions about our diet and our own best interest. Those eggs I ate on day 3 after surgery made me feel a lot better about life in general. Just my experience. I am not suggesting that everyone should rebel against Drs orders.

Hey Louise. Welcome aboard. Best wishes to you.

Leftover enchiladas that I didn't get my fill of the night before.

Awww Coleen it'll work itself out with time. I know exactly what you mean and how you feel. I wish I could say that these feelings will pass in a couple of days and you'll be overjoyed. But I'm going to tell you this instead: It's hard to change your entire way of life. In fact it really blows at times. Let me tell you what the sleeve did for me. I lost weight - yes ma'am. I like my new appearance. It's been over 2 years now. In that 2 years I've been through every emotion imaginable. Some good and a whole lot of frustration and having to learn to fight off the demons that made me overeat and be fat in the first place. That was the real struggle. But I did it. I came to terms with my feelings, my shortcomings, and my dysfunctional mind that equated contentment with a big ole cheeseburger. For a good while I secretly hoped the people around me would choke on whatever delicious thing they were scarfing down. Then I was angry. Then I was regretful. Then I was sad. Then I pulled myself together.and found out that I didn't need my good friend food to be happy. I could be happy all by myself and actually come to like the person I was becoming. And now here I am telling you about it. You'll make it too:). Hang in there and work thru this process. You will end up feeling beautiful inside and out.

If you go to Mexico for surgery you arrange for follow up care before you go. I know it can be hard to find Dr who is willing to take on a patient that had surgery in Mexico, but it can be done. It took me 3 phone calls and a visit to his office before surgery.

We have the same chance of dying on an operating table right here in the USA.

Corn is better than flour as far as feeling bulky after you eat it.

I waited a year and a half and got rid of a lot then just last month, which would be 25 months out I got rid of the rest.

The first month I lost about 20 pounds. It was pretty cool.

I walked into the operating room too. I remember the assistant talking to me and I was about to ask him if the stuff he was putting in my IV was the same stuff that killed Michael Jackson. I got as far as saying Hey is that....then I drifted off and woke up with a whole new life. I didn't recognize it as such at that moment but it was. You are about to get a new life as well. You'll do great! Best of luck to you and try not to worry. It's all gonna be ok.

Congratulations! On an average day I eat 1200 calories or a little more, I eat anything I want, Sometimes I eat more sweets or other junkfood than usual and I end up at 1600 calories. I kind of quit counting calories on a strict basis but I'm giving a fair estimate. I don't have any foods that are off limits but my tastes have changed a little. I think everyone experiences some change in taste. Some things you find you don't want anymore and you now like things you never liked before. I'm never hungry. I start wanting some food after several hours but it's not real hunger. It's my head saying Feed Me. My stomach does get full but never uncomfortably so. What happens is that the food tends to sit on the opening of my stomach and slip through little by little. After so many bites go down it causes a traffic jam and things will get mighty uncomfortable if I send any more food down there. So I stop. Oddly, I have never thrown up. Not once since surgery. In fact, I do not think I could throw up if I wanted to. I've apparently lost that ability. I don't have regrets. I'm not always happy about the small amounts of food but it is what it is. I look a lot better now. You'll be very happy with that part. Best of luck to you.