Dreamchasertx

I'm back from my vacation to California and Tijuana! I had my surgery on 10/18 with Dr. Lopez Corvala and spent two nights at the hospital, one night at the Camino Real hotel in Tijuana, spent all day shopping there and spent waaaay too much money! Then I went to San Diego to spend a night at the Paradise Point Resort. I haven't had any pain, no gas pains, no suture pain, nothing. I have had some diarrhea so I've been stopping that by taking Imodium. I'm back at work today and feeling very good, except tired, like I just took a vacation! I'm very pleased with my surgery, my doctor, the hospital, everything! I went into surgery at 241 lbs. I haven't weighed since the 18th and don't want to weigh until another week goes by. I'm so glad I had this done and so far, I wouldn't trade it for anything! Tonight I'm going to add some pictures and stuff to my journal. :whoo:

Cosita, I'm sorry you're not getting much support. I'm sure it's a very big deal to those that really care about you, but don't know all the facts. After I've started telling people about my surgery, I've found out about several people around here that have had it, so I've talked to them and they are all VERY pleased that they had done it. Maybe if you can find a success story up there where you live and let your family meet them, it would help. I've really kind of had the opposite reaction with my friends/family/coworkers. Every single person has been very supportive, and the more I felt that they support me, the more I've been telling other people! The only person who is not wanting me to go is my best friend. She is large herself, and had looked into surgery, but she didn't want to take the risk. Her insurance would pay for hers, which kind of makes me sick! But she said she's all for me having the surgery, she just doensn't want me to go to Tijuana. She was lived near San Diego when her dad was in the service and she says she's heard all kinds of horror stories about going across the border. But honestly, thousands and thousands of people cross the border down there, for shopping, vacations, to work, etc. Every time I mention the surgery, she purses up her lips and won't talk to me about it at all. But basically, everyone else has been very supportive. My sister is flying to San Diego with me from Dallas, and I'm actually staying the two nights in the hospital, one night in their hotel, and then I reserved a room at a resort in San Diego for the next night. I want to be close by the hospital just in case something goes wrong! But I'm getting all my stuff together today, and I've got my video camera and digital camera all charged up! I've had my suitcase packed for days! Oh, I forgot the one thing I did want to mention... Belite called and left a message for me last night that they were having some trouble getting the Inamed band through customs, which happens sometimes. They want to do the Johnson & Johnson band instead, which is $7250. I've checked out a surgery with that band, and it looks basically the same and is a FDA-approved band, so I don't mind the switch. The original cost with the Inamed band was $8000. I sent a deposit of $500 to Belite, and then I have to pay the remainder when I get to TJ. I saw some posts on here about pregnancy & the band... you might want to look those up. Just do your research really good and that way you'll be able to have ALL the answers when you're getting non-supportive comments from friends and family! :clap2:But I'll be your biggest supporter! It's a life change that we're doing! And it may be a little drastic, but if we could do it on our own, we certainly would have done that by now!

In reply to your post, I'm getting ready to head to Tijuana on the 18th! I'm so excited! The only thing that has worried me so far is that I went through Belite to schedule my surgery and I called the hospital just to kind of verify things, and they told me that they don't keep up with what Belite schedules for them, but that if Belite had me scheduled for the 18th, then the doctor would surely be doing my surgery that date. I'm going to be videotaping & taking pictures and I'll have them on my website so I'll let you know when I get them up. I'm going to try to do a YouTube blog, but I've never done it before so hopefully I can figure it out. I've got my plane scheduled for Thursday morning, and I'll be in Tijuana by noon on the 18th! I just can't wait! Cosita: If you'd like to contact me through here, I can give you some more details. I know exactly how you feel!

:confused: I'm ready to go! I've been planning to have my surgery for a really long time now, but have only just convinced myself that it's okay to spend the money! My insurance won't cover any type of weight-loss program or surgery, so I'm on self-pay and have been really trying to save money, along with cashing in some stock options. I don' t mind taking the money out of my savings, but it sure did hurt to cash in that stock! But I figure that this is a much better investment! I'm scheduled for surgery on October 18, and I'm flying to California from Texas. I haven't told a whole lot of people about my surgery. I just don't want to hear a lot of "I told you so's" if something doesn't go right. But I'm thinking positive -- Like Oprah says, if you put positive energy out into the world, you'll get positive results! My weight loss ticker isn't going to be right until I actually go down for my surgery because I'm scared to weigh myself lately! But I've promised myself that I'll keep it updated and keep journaling my progress! I can't wait to say hello to the "new me" a year from now! Life begins (again) at 40!:whoo:

:car: I'm ready to go! I've been planning to have my surgery for a really long time now, but have only just convinced myself that it's okay to spend the money! My insurance won't cover any type of weight-loss program or surgery, so I'm on self-pay and have been really trying to save money, along with cashing in some stock options. I don' t mind taking the money out of my savings, but it sure did hurt to cash in that stock! But I figure that this is a much better investment! I'm scheduled for surgery on October 18, and I'm flying to California from Texas. I haven't told a whole lot of people about my surgery. I just don't want to hear a lot of "I told you so's" if something doesn't go right. But I'm thinking positive -- Like Oprah says, if you put positive energy out into the world, you'll get positive results! My weight loss ticker isn't going to be right until I actually go down for my surgery because I'm scared to weigh myself lately! But I've promised myself that I'll keep it updated and keep journaling my progress! I can't wait to say hello to the "new me" a year from now! Life begins (again) at 40!:whoo:

Wow Amy! You're the first right-out-of-room response I've had! Please keep us updated! It makes me think it might not be too bad to tell folks. I'm sure most people will be supportive. When I go to TJ, I was thinking about going a couple of days early and taking a layover in Vegas! But I guess I'd better wire my $$$ ahead of time for my surgery! Then I thought I'd fly out to San Diego & spend the night before I go to TJ. I may never get out that way again, and I hear the city is beautiful. :whoo:

Oh my gosh! Does that subject line sound so cool or what?!!!!! I can't wait! I'm going to Dr. Lopez (Corvala) in Tijuana and I've done so much research and feel very confident about my decision. I'm 40 and I've been waiting for my life to start, not realizing that I've wasted it being miserable and not living every moment to its fullest! I guess 40 hit me pretty hard! No more taking my life for granted... I'm taking this bull by the horns and I'm ready for the adventure! I'm scheduled for October 18 and I don't know what to do with myself in the meantime! I'm so excited! I want to tell everyone, but yet I don't want people to know until I'm sure there won't be any complications. I just hate people saying "I told you so"!. I have told a few people at work and two good friends, and mostly everyone has been supportive, but the two that I thought would definitely be supportive have been completely opposite. They both got that 'hmmmmmm' look in their eyes & the tone of their voice changed. One of them actually said "Do not do this". But that's okay. It's my life, my decision, and I just won't invite them to my "100 pounds gone" party! Good luck to everyone out there that's still waiting for surgery, and thanks so very, very much to all of you that have had the surgery and are putting up posts about it. You've made me feel so much better about my decision! :bounce:Texan headed to Tijuana!!!!!!

I've been dealing with the issue of whether or not to tell anyone, also. I told my best friend first, and she flat out told me "No, don't do it". But I did tell a few people at work today, but asked them not to spread it around. They were all very supportive. I haven't told my daughters or my sister. I know my sis would surely blab it all over town. I just don't want to be known as "she's the one that had that weight loss surgery". I want me to just look at me when they see me, not that I've had to get banded to lose weight. How do you guys feel about that part of it?