supbanana

I just have to share, I've lost 100 pounds!!! I'm so excited. One of the main reasons I decided to have surgery was that for the life of me I could NOT get under 280.0 pounds from my high weight of 370. I was stalled for over a year and finally I just got fed up and scheduled the surgery. I almost cried when I stepped on the scale post surgery and finally saw that gorgeous number, 279. My body decided to whip through the 270s in a matter of two weeks. This morning I weighed in at 270.0. That's 100 pounds gone, on the dot. It's only been two weeks but this surgery is already by far the best thing I've ever done for myself and my health. I can't even describe how I feel right now. I've lost 100 pounds. This is unreal.

I admit I was wondering the same thing - if this guy is so great, why is he so affordable? I had been saving money for a doc that charges close to $9k, but the great reviews and the low price convinced me to go with Dr. Illan. I'll be honest, he's worth every penny and more. He could easily charge those higher prices. The hospital care was wonderful, the best hospital care I've ever had in my life. Everyone was so kind and attentive, from Omar to the nursing staff to Dr. Reyna to Dr. Illan. Dr. Illan even took time out of his day to hang out with my mom and comfort her when I was coming out of anesthesia; he's a real class act and very competent. I know I sound like an infomercial or something but I honestly have no complaints or regrets and wouldn't change a thing about the entire experience. Even his technique is ideal - he staples, then stitches over the staples and then glues it shut so there's virtually no risk of leaks. I would have no hesitation letting him operate on any of my loved ones. If you're interested in Dr. Illan, there's a facebook group called 'Team Illan' that might be helpful to you, it's full of people that went with him and they're happy to share their experience.

Nope, not even for a second. Then again, my surgery was flawless and my recovery has been great, no pain, no nausea, nothing. Like I mentioned in a different response, everyday I just wake up overwhelmed with how happy and positive I am for the first time in a LONG time. No regrets whatsoever!

Good luck! I hope you love it as much as I do. I'm just... overwhelmed with how happy and relieved I am that I did it and I'm seeing results, finally, after a year of being stalled pre-surgery.

http://imgur.com/a/ldVZI#0 (Note: potentially NSFW, incision pics are pics of my bare tummy) ^ Some pictures from Tijuana, both the hospital and hotel, and of course some pictures of my incisions! Between the two week pre-op diet and the two weeks post-surgery I'm down 28 pounds and LOVING the sleeve so, so much. Also, if any of you want to see the part of my stomach that was removed, well... http://i.imgur.com/CbipMcy.jpg

I'm glad it helped! lol, my mom told me that when I was coming out of it I darkly told Dr. Illan that "I better lose 100 pounds after this ****"... I was so embarrassed! I apologized to him later but he laughed it off and said he hears that kind of thing a lot. I'm doing great!! Incisions are healed up, I have more energy, no complaints whatsoever. Last time I weighed in I was 273 - 15 pounds lost since surgery, 97 overall! I'm so close to finally, finally losing 100 pounds that I don't even know what to do with myself. I'm seriously contemplating throwing myself a party when I hit that milestone because it's taken nearly 4 years to do but thanks to the sleeve it's really going to happen. It seriously feels like a dream; I can't believe it. I'm only two weeks out and I can't tell you how relieved and glad I am that I finally had the courage (and, you know, money) to go through with the surgery!! I absolutely love it. I hope that you have an experience like mine and that you love it too... I can't even describe how it feels to finally be seeing the weight dropping. I stalled for over a year before giving in to the surgery - that was a long year full of failure and heartache and now that's done with. Huge weight off my shoulders (and gut, and thighs, and... ).

I wrote about my experiences, you can find it here: http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/topic/90298-made-it-to-tijuana-surgery-tomorrow-with-dr-illan-at-florence-hospital/#entry942885 Of course I wrote all of that on the fly, so if you have any more specific questions I'm happy to answer them. That should give you a rough idea of what to expect though. I didn't really find anything similar before surgery and had no idea what I was getting into, so I hope you find this helpful!

If they do set in, be sure to hop on VST and let us support you! I just got back from Tijuana and surgery with Dr. Illan and it was absolutely amazing. I would trust absolutely anybody with him and can't recommend him enough. If you have any questions you're more than welcome to message me! Or, of course, post here. Just want to say that you're in excellent hands and I wish you the best!

I low-carbed it for sixteen months prior to getting surgery and honestly, what helps the most is going through your house and getting all of the junk OUT. Throw it away, donate it, just get it away from you and then don't buy it anymore. If it's not easily accessible, you're more likely to eat the good foods that are. Of course that wasn't foolproof and every so often I would drive to the store just to get a pie that I would eat in one sitting, but 99% of the time if I wasn't around it, I just didn't think about it. The carb cravings can be miserable for a few days but seriously, once you stop eating them, your insulin levels out and you no longer get those cravings.

A friend of mine went to the clinic to discuss nutrition because she needed to lose a solid chunk of weight. The doctor told her to eat Soup for Breakfast and a little salad for dinner. When the friend said she didn't think that sounded healthy, the doc responded, "well it worked for those Jews in the concentration camps." Same doctor also told my aunt she would lose weight if she rode her bike to the next town over during school days. Aunt tried it, ten miles a day, five days a week, on a busy highway, didn't lose anything.

Because when people know about it, my weight becomes the sole focus. Every time we meet, "how much weight have you lost?", "you look great!", "have you heard about the new tapeworm diet??". Im a very private person, and with telling people I feel like I'm under a microscope that's focused solely on the size of my ass. My weight is the least interesting thing about me and I find the topic both boring and uncomfortable. I'm not at all ashamed of the surgery, but I went through it so that my weight would no longer be an issue. If I tell people, it becomes THE issue.

This is what I wanted to say, it sounds like that person had the DS. With that surgery the food comes out more or less intact and the smell is just... There are no words. I had a DS patient once in the nursing home and cleaning up those bowel movements was fairly memorable. He actually passed away as a result of the DS surgery because he refused to take his Vitamins and lived off of pizza and coke. He was the reason I decided never to get the DS, but thats just my personal story.

I'm really glad we got to meet you and your daughter, I had so much fun! I'm so happy for her, really. She seemed like a complete sweetheart and I really wish her (and you!) the best.

I lost 90 lbs pre-surgery and went from having the weird back-fat bulge all the way across my back to now just having little saddlebags on either side. It's probably different for everyone but that's my personal experience. Lol I wouldn't mind hanging onto those if it meant I would lose my bingo wings.

Not until day 4, really. Today is day 7 and marks the most gas I've had. I only burped once, on the first day.

I just want to be average, I want to blend in and not stand out for my weight. I want to not be hated and mocked on sight because I'm fat. I want to be taken seriously instead of immediately dismissed because I'm not slim. I don't want to be considered worthless anymore. In my wildest dreams, I just want somebody to love and to love me, but a lifetime of fat shaming and fat phobia has me convinced that no one will ever love me. (Whoo, that was emo, apologies. I'm sure someone will love me eventually.)

Supbanana

I got therapy to deal with my actual emotion-based food issues and it was remarkably helpful, but it sounds like you're really talking about boredom eating here. Definitely just find something else to do instead of eat. Or, if the compulsion gets too strong, you can always drink some fluids or maybe chew gum.

Oh yeah, just some random stuff I thought was neat. I got a copy of my chest X-ray ( I adore bones, planning on copying this and framing it to hang on my wall), a video and picture of my leak test, a pic of my stomach, a copy of my EKG and lab work and a wallet-sized card to present at restaurants that will allow me to order smaller portions/from the children's menu for medical reasons!

Have you been sleeved yet? If not, I hope you have an equally great experience! Thanks for reading my ramblings! I'm happy to answer any specific questions, other than that I just have a couple of pictures to post when I get home, and then I might do a couple of vlogs. I hope this helps someone.

I'm back home, down 9 lbs since surgery, first time I've been under 280 since Christmas! Starting to feel like this surgery might actually work for me. Anyway, there's not too much else to say. That Monday Dr. Illan himself came to the hotel room to check on me and we said our goodbyes. I have nothing but excellent things to say about him, he was an amazing surgeon and kind and pleasant. I found out that when I was having such a rough time coming out of anesthesia, my mom had a little emotional meltdown. Dr. Illan hung out with her and reassured her until she felt better. I would recommend him to absolutely anybody with no hesitation. Dr. Reyna came to check on me as well shortly after Dr. Illan left. Three doctor's visits in a hotel, of all places, in a single day! I definitely felt well taken care of. The steristrips are still hanging on, I've had absolutely no bruising, no nausea, and only minimal pain at the incision where the stomach was actually removed. I honestly don't feel like I just had surgery at all (the picture they took of my removed stomach is pretty decent proof though, lol)... I feel kind of guilty having a thus-far easy recovery after reading some of the other experiences here, very grateful. I do have to walk around when I drink and kind of bounce a little to 'burp' myself. It reminds me of burping a baby, heh. Anyway, one of the coolest parts of the trip was Omar taking us to a couple of places to shop! There was a small group of us that went. I'm the kind of person that is more or less afraid of, well, everything, so I'm so glad for the other people that went along. It was so much fun! We got to see the sights in that section of Tijuana (how stinking cute were the donkeys painted like zebras - zonkies) and we even got to practice haggling! I've never done that before and I wasn't very good at it. I know I could have gotten better deals on a couple of items but I still feel like I got a great deal and it was just a fun experience. I was really struck by the little piece of Tijuana culture that I got to witness. Everything was so bold and vibrant, people were kind but not afraid to try to aggressively sell their goods, it was just so different from the rural, isolated area I live in. I'm going to do a vlog eventually on my experience with Tijuana itself, but one thing I found interesting was the lack of junk food. I mean, it could be found, but it wasn't prevalent like in the US. For instance, at the hospital, my mom was hungry so she went looking for a vending machine and there wasn't one. Our local hospitals have vending machines full of chips, soda and ice cream. florence Hospital had an organic buffet set out in their cafeteria, which made sense to me. (Note, definitely make sure your guest brings snacks!) On the way out of town, people were in the streets selling food, phone chargers, etc, trying to get a little money out of people leaving the country. I got a delicious glass of fresh squeezed carrot/orange juice for 2 dollars from a guy with a cart in the middle of the road. Even their bags of potato chips were clearly home made instead of Lays or Ruffles. They were making churros by hand, etc. It was mostly real, fresh food with minimal ingredients. I loved it. Anyway, long story short (too late!) I had an amazing experience and would sincerely recommend Dr. Illan to anyone considering this surgery. It was a wonderful, positive experience that I would repeat again without hesitation. Please feel free to ask any questions.

How far out was it before you could sleep on your side/stomach again?? I stopped sleeping on my back eight or so years ago because it always triggered sleep paralysis. I'm four days out and can't get comfortable sleeping on my side or stomach (uncomfortable pressure in the surgery area + irrational fear of popping new stomach like a balloon) but am having old anxiety resurface in regards to sleeping on my back. As soon as I start to fall asleep my body panics and jerks me awake again. I'm exhausted. :/

You guys are awesome! I was able to sleep in a loose fetal position last night thanks to hugging a pillow tightly against my abdomen. SUCH a relief! I finally feel well rested and like myself again.