LighterSmarter

I was 34.6 BMI. had surgery july 7th. Lost 22 pounds. can't eat much, but can can "drink" food quickly. soups, fruit shakes, etc. Lost the weight VERY quickly. had no much dicipline outside of the fact that i ate practically nothing. Now I am starting to eat, some meat ball with souce (one), buy vegtable soups at Hale and Hearty, and take them all. But I read alot and I know I need to get my proteins in order. I drink all day long, but in order to avoid stalls, I must get more protein. I had all the classic issues: a) it was so easy for me at first, that i thought the surgeon didn't cut enough. This disappeared when i started to eat solid food (meat balls). i progress way faster than the recommendation, but i heal so much better than others and I can easily take solid food (tiny amounts). It's all personal and you need to dance between what you feel/know about yourself and what your doctor tells you to do. I am happy to answer any question. send me your email here and I will contact you. (I never told anyone I had a surgery, but my wife. so I am keeping my email personal.

I'm on 7/7 with Dr. Alvarez...would love to join this group and share expiriances post surgery

I'm on 7/7 with Dr. Alvarez...would love to join this group and share expiriances post surgery

My name is Roger, I am 45 years old, happily married with 4 young kids. I am starting to write this blog from a hotel room, where I'm waiting for my surgery on Monday. I am here alone, never told anyone around me as i know what their reaction could be. I want to write about everything, my questions, my concerns, the background for my decision, my pre-op preparations, my cheats on the pre-op preparations, and everything else. To start, my journey as started on the left foot. I was supposed to have my surgery last week with Dr. Aceves, who died tragically in a car accident. I got the news 4 days before my surgery - what do I do now, I said to myself. I selected Dr. Aceves after very careful consideration and months of mental preparation. The two weeks prior to the original date of the surgery were a nightmare. I couldn't sleep, eat or think. How could I cut a perfectly working organ voluntarily, I asked myself. What is I discover a few years down the road the I have made a terrible mistake? I couldn't come to terms with my decision, and bhaaammm, after all my thinking and endless self-debating, after convincing myself I'm doing the right thing...he died. What a mental turbulence that had cause me. worse than my own nightmares. Why surgery? I am successful in life, I have a great job, great wife, great kids, but I hated the way my body looks back at me from the mirror. I am tall, 6'4", but my belly was big. Over the years, I have tried every single diet on this planet...pills, liquid diet, starvation diet, prepared food, voodoo stuff and all the Atkins variations. nada - lose some gain some. I started just feeling heavy - no impact on health yet, but I knew this will come unless I lose weight. Just thinking about it, I gained 20 more pounds, peaking at 275 pounds. This is it - no more. Two friends went with sleeve and one of them asked me that I simply need to choose - a sleeve surgery or heart bypass surgery - my call. Questions questions questions This is an elective surgery and to me...I had to be completely nuts to voluntarily cut my stomach. I had tons of questions - will I have normal life after this? Will I enjoy going out; will I be able to drink water fast enough when I run or play basketball, are there any major side effect...sorry for the bluntness but I heard of people who frat unexpectedly after the surgery. I asked and asked and asked on all wed sites, got the help of other sleevers, and heard their stories. the answer of most people was that yes...my life will absolutely change, but the change will be for the better... How did I select my surgeon? After months of research, I short listed three surgeons based on all the feedback I collected from sleevers. I am a new-age patient. I need to see YouTube videos and asses the skills of the surgeon. I could not make the decision based on word-to-mouth. I had to actually assess the skills myself. One Doctor for example demonstrated his technique and the liver always covered the stomach, he didn't lift it like the others, and half of the time I thought he is simply guessing where he makes the cuts of the stomach. That was a no-go. Right from the beginning I knew that Dr. Ortiz and Dr. Alvarez were two leading surgeons. I didn't go to Dr. Ortiz because his place was not a hospital, and initially I selected Dr. Aceves due to his superior success rates. But after his tragic accident, I had to quickly select a new surgeon. I went back to my original list, and added a few more, like Dr. Illan and two others - but I couldn't find any video of a live surgery. Dr. Alvarez however, made the best impression. He is articulate, knows the material, explains things very clearly and generally made the best impression. He knows his stuff. Hotel alone... Yes, I didn't tell my wife. She loses sleep over our cat's irregular bowel, i just can't think what would go inside her mind, if she knew I'm about to cut my stomach. I waited for her to go on a trip to her parents in Boston and went to a "business trip". I wish she was here....but I also know I made the right choice I actually haven’t told anyone. I don't need anyone getting into my belly - we have a huge social friend, and I do not want to become the talk of the neighborhood. I am doing this for myself, and want to do this journey alone. Don't get me wrong, my wife knows I am planning this, as I shared it with her, I just never shared the exact date. I will tell her when I am back, after it's all said and done. Pre-Op Diet....arrr. I am not a huge person. My BMI is 34. I couldn't get insurance approval, so I went with the self-pay option. The first Doctor (Dr. Aceves) told me that I do not need any pre-op diet. The second one, asked for a 5 day liquid diet. I had no problems doing it for three days, but I just had to have a food funeral and ordered today chicken wings. Good bye wings, good bye spicy food...perhaps I will meet you again in one year, but I am opting for something different for now. I will not tell my doctor that I cheated :-) I am finishing my first entry of the blog here. I will continue to update.

Who was ur surgeon? Thanks

Following Dr. Aceves' tragic death, the surgery is done now by Dr. Beltran. Anyone knows him? I think he was trained by Dr. Aceves

Hi, I was scheduled to have a surgery with Dr. Aceves in august. Because of tragic death, the surgery is done now by Dr. Beltran. Does anyone know him? any word of wisdom? I am worried about using this unknown doctor, given he had never done any surgery on his own, without Dr. Aceves Thanks in advance

Hi, I was scheduled to have a surgery with Dr. Aceves in august. Because of tragic death, the surgery is done now by Dr. Beltran. Does anyone know him? any word of wisdom? I am worried about using this unknown doctor, given he had never done any surgery on his own, without Dr. Aceves Thanks in advance

Sorry bout the repeat question...i am doing a search in FB for "july 2014 sleevers" and nothing comes up...pls help...

Thank you! 23 days post op and you already eat? Wow. That's nice

How do i join the fb group?

I am two weeks before a surgery and scared to death about my quality of life after a surgery. Sleevers with some experience, please share your experience: All my questions are about the steady-state phase, not the first few weeks: 1) when you eat and get full, is it the same feelling as today, just without the big food quantities? Or is it a different feeling? 2) are you handicapped for life? Like the need to avoid certain foods and certain drinks. 3) can u ever drink a whole cup of Water, or will you need to sip slowly for life (sounds lile a torture). 4) just tell me about ur day to day life. I dont know if u had the same feeling, but I sometimes think to myself that I might be crazy to be cutting an organ that functions 100% right. Would love to get your input.

I am two weeks before a surgery and scared to death about my quality of life after a surgery. Sleevers with some experience, please share your experience: All my questions are about the steady-state phase, not the first few weeks: 1) when you eat and get full, is it the same feelling as today, just without the big food quantities? Or is it a different feeling? 2) are you handicapped for life? Like the need to avoid certain foods and certain drinks. 3) can u ever drink a whole cup of Water, or will you need to sip slowly for life (sounds lile a torture). 4) just tell me about ur day to day life. I dont know if u had the same feeling, but I sometimes think to myself that I might be crazy to be cutting an organ that functions 100% right. Would love to get your input.

Thank you ! My date is approaching and no one knows yet outside of my wife. I wake up every day at 4am. Cant explain why- I am not afraid of the procedure itself, juat anxious. I will go shopping today for some protein drinks just to taste what I like and what's not before the surgery.

Thank you all!!! I read every word and every piece of advice.