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I live in a small rural town with no doctors. My doctor is a friend who lives 20 minutes from me. He is an ER doc in another town about an hour away (the closest ER to where I live). The nearest facility with a bariatric surgeon is 3 hours away. But the nearest facility that I would trust going to if I had a major complication is 5 hours away. So helping to educate my doctor about this procedure and potential complications is going to be my first "line of defense" so I'm not wasting a whole day driving to a specialist for every little ache or pain I might have post-op. Not to mention the fact our town gets snowed in with no traffic in or out for several days every winter, so finding another doctor wouldnt do much good anyways.

I know your question is really old and you've probably heard the answer by now, but thought I'd post in case anyone else was curious.... Intubation wouldn't have any impact on your sleeve because the tube goes in your trachea, which leads to your lungs, not your esophagus, which leads to your stomach. An NG (nasogastric) tube, however, could be an issue if they accidently rupture your sleeve. Some people even advise to wear a medical bracelet indicating "no NG tube" or some other alert so they know you've had a VSG.

Check out the "self pay and Mexico" section of this forum. There are already a lot of great reviews and comments.

I'm getting a written technical copy of the surgical procedure from my surgeon to give to my doctor so he can read about it for himself. I will even sit in his office with my ipad so he can watch a youtube video if it will help. He is an ER doctor, so I wouldn't expect him to be an expert in bariatric surgical procedures. But I want to help him know what complications might look like.

Glad you had a successful surgery. Are you back home yet? How are you feeling? I know from your previous posts that you've been very nervous leading up to your surgery. Did you research plication prior to going down there or was it something they suggested once you got there? Sorry for all the questions.... i plan on getting sleeved at OCC in January, but have slightly considered plication, so I'm interested in your experience.

Angelia, just email them and they'll send you a quote. They are very non-high pressure, so you don't have to worry about getting barraged with emails and phone calls after you contact them. I've asked Carolyn (one of their coordinators) dozens of questions over the last 3 months and have never been pressured to "set a date".

The gas is in your abdominal cavity, not in your digestive track, so you can't burp it up or fart it out. They use it to inflate your belly so they can see around when they are doing the laparoscopic surgery. Your body just has to absorb it and dissipate it so moving is the only thing that helps. The pain is from the pressure of gasses being trapped in various parts of your body (shoulders and back/neck are the most common sites of pain)

Lark60... What's your parent's address? I wanna go there, too!

I'm not telling my mom for the very reasons you don't want to. She will be extremely upset, try to talk me out of it, and be terrified and worried the whole time. I did tell my sister and although she doesn't think I should do it, she is supporting my decision. But the first thing she said was, Don't Tell Mom! I'm going to wait and tell her afterwards. I have no doubt she will still be upset and very pissed at me. And I mean REALLY pissed... I broke my back when I was 18 the day after my parents left for a two week "second honeymoon" vacation. The whole family (heck, the whole small town I lived in) agreed not to tell them till they came home. Why ruin their vacation? Well, we still hear about it 27 years later.... "Remember when you all lied to me...". But by not telling about my WLS, I will eliminate months of worry for her (I'm not getting sleeved until Jan) and a lot of pre op hassle for me.

Fat free 1/2 and 1/2 is a perfect example. My mom started buying it for my dad to put in his coffee. When I went home to visit, I used it too and noticed a slimy film on the bottom of my coffee cup. I looked at the label and saw they replaced the fat with corn syrup solids. I convinced my mom this was way worse than a little fat, so she's back to the real stuff. No one is happier than my dad!

-Too embarrassed to go to the lake or float the river 'cause everyone would see my fat white legs in shorts (I used to be a whitewater rafting guide so this one really hits home) -My ankles hurting so bad by the middle of the day I can hardly walk. -Feeling really bad that my poor horse has to carry my fat ass around. Actually, these were the last three "straws" that convinced me to have this surgery. There's a huge list of other little things, but whenever I start having doubts and fears, these are the three cons that pushes sleeve surgery back to the top of the list.

Thanks for sharing. I'm glad you were able to finally get the attention you needed with your complications. That's my biggest concern since I will be so far away from my surgeon if problems should arise. I'm going to meet with my PCP one of these days and see if he will be comfortable dealing with my post-op concerns. I'm a little nervous about telling him because besides being my doctor, I'm friends with him and his wife. I'm not sure if I'll get support or judgement. The latter would be weird for our friendship. Glad you're healing and feeling better.

Holy carbonation! And I was sad about having to give up beer! You made my day.

A_jap21... Gotta agree with madam r. Most post -op diets are several weeks on clear and full liquids only. Can only imagine crackers and cheese are extremely irritating and stressful on a fresh incision to say the least. OP - congrats on your light at the end of the tunnel. I'm having surgery in Mexico, too (dr. Ortiz) but am very worried about what will happen if I have complications. Since you live in San Diego, did you go back to your original surgeon for your complications or did you stay in the US? If the latter, How did you deal with getting treatment for your complications from your US doctors? Did you get any support/consultations from your original surgeon?

I'm not sleeved yet but I read somewhere that if it can go through a strainer it's considered OK for our full liquid stage. So maybe do the same thing but pour it through a strainer after blending it. That should take out any tiny noodle pieces still left.

Did they give you a reason for no Gatorade? That just seems like a weird protocol unless its a sugar thing ( in which case G2 should be OK). I'm a big vitamin water/life water fan, so I wonder if your doc would OK those.

My insurance doesn't cover WLS. I will end up about $7500 after surgery, meds, hotel and plane ticket ($8000 if I end up bringing someone with me to TJ). But as you can tell from the huge variation in replies, it all depends on your deductible, copays and insurance policy details.

Sorry to offend, folks, but I have a small business and have to deal with people not paying their bills all the time. I listen to excuse after excuse and then see their vacation photos posted on Facebook. Makes me a little grumpy when it comes to finances. Bottom line, bad credit comes from not paying money you owe. I realize there are circumstances in everyone's "past" that made that happen. A good friend married a a guy with lousy credit who continued to spend HER money behind her back, so now she has bad credit through no fault of her own ( other than choosing to marry the bum) I'm not saying these things because Im wealthy and dont know whats its like to struggle financially. I worked two, sometimes three jobs to put myself through college. Years ago, I lost my job and owed thousands of dollars in medical bills for a cervical fusion surgery. That was a surgery I couldnt "save" for because I was at risk of becoming paralyzed. I talked to the hospital and doctors and arranged to make small monthly payments. It took almost 6 years to pay off ( of course I started paying extra once I got a job,) but the point is, it didn't result in bad credit. I've never financed a car...I drive a 14 year old truck. I'm 45 years old and still have a roommate in order to help pay the mortgage. Believe me, I would love to live alone and have nice things, but what if I cant work for some reason, that would leave me with a lot of debt I cant afford. It's all about choices and like Cassie said, there are ways to clean up credit history and all those applications for loans is further hurting your situation. And rizabonita, you're right... "As long as you're able to pay off the loan" it's none of my business!

How about saving up for your surgery? Unless there are medical complications I'm not aware of, you don't "need" plastic surgery ASAP. Why not save up and get it when you can afford it? I am self pay for my sleeve, and I have great credit...I could put it on a credit card tomorrow, not to mention any number of loans I would qualify for. But I made the choice to not finance and have been saving for almost 2 years. I don't have any life-threatening comorbidities, so it just doesn't make sense to pay all that interest. I don't mean to be disrespectful, but financing stuff you can't afford is probably how you got bad credit in the first place.

Probably the high fat and sodium content of most cheeses is where it gets a bad rap. For example, 1 cup of cheddar cheese has like 33 g of Protein (good) but over 500 calories and 43g of fat (bad). Some cheeses are better than others... Apparently cottage cheese, Parmesan, ricotta, feta, and Gouda are lower in fat and calories than other cheeses. However, I did see a TV program that showed that consuming dairy products actually decreased your body's absorption of fat. Apparently dairy Calcium will emulsify with fat in your stomach and pass through your intestines without being absorbed. Of course the experiment was with a "normal" stomach, not a sleeve. And, being from Wisconsin, I will never give up cheese!

You should NEVER tolerate disrespect or anger from anyone. No matter how much you weigh. I watch my non-single friends deal with that sh** and I just can't understand why anyone would put up with it. Don't stay together just for your son. Kids always know when there is tension, disrespect, regret, and anger between parents. Much better to raise him separated than together in a negative environment.

My doc actually sends you home post op with a 4 day supply of NSAID's. I questioned that, but apparently it really helps take the swelling out of your new sleeve. He also puts you on 7 days of an anti-ulcer and 2 months of anti-acids, so that counteracts the short term affects of the NSAID. You may want to check with our doc about the possibility of using a stomach protectant (I.e. sucralfate) in the event you need to take NSAIDs post-sleeve.

I've been diligently reading everything I can find on this and other forums, preparing for my sleeve surgery in January. Ironically, when it comes down to it, the two things that I think will be the hardest for me is not being able to guzzle water and having to count calories/track food. When I'm thirsty, I love to chug water (or life water) and I know the sipping thing will be hard. Not much I can do about that one, I guess. But the other thing is the keeping track of water intake, protein, calories, carbs, etc. That sure sounds like a lot of the diets I've been on (nutrisystem, HCG, etc.), which I find annoying to say the least. I know I'll be good about it in the beginning, pre-op, 6-8 weeks post op, etc. when water, protein, etc. are crucial, but I'm not looking forward to tracking that sh...t for the rest of my life. I just want to LIVE my life. So I guess my question is, are there any long term sleevers out there that are successful in simply eating "right", going for proteins first, not drinking with meals, avoiding carbs, etc. but not actually COUNTING every bite and calorie that goes in.

I'm headed to mexico for my surgery. Where did you Go? Do they have any post-op protocols or someone you can contact with your current concerns? Did they have you speak with a nutritionist pre-op to clarify vegetarian options?

Not that I'm defending the excessive hospital charges in anyway, but part of why they have to charge so much is to make up for all the deadbeats that don't pay a dime. For example, I have a "friend" that has had breast cancer and lymphoma. He travelled to three different states to scam free surgeries and chemo from several different Hospitals. His bills have exceeded 1/2 million dollars and he's never paid a penny. He's had at least 1 community fund raiser for medical expenses that raised over $15,000. Since he figured he owed so much, that money wouldn't make a difference so he used it to buy a new truck instead. Scumbags like this is partly why hospitals have to charge so much for the people (and insurance companies) that actually do pay.