JamieLogical

At two weeks I was still in my "full liquids" phase, so I was having protein shakes, strained cream soups, and yogurt. My favorite strained cream soups were cream of shrimp and Progresso's Chicken Cheese Enchilada.

thanks Jamie! I am looking at going with Dr. Ramos Kelly. They give the option of either Clinica San Juan or hospital Angeles in Tijuana. My husband and I are leaning more towards the hospital. But I'm not sure yet. I have heard good things about Hospital Angeles. If you are planning to have your surgery in a hospital in TJ, that seems to be the best option.

Sorry for the late reply. According to Mexican law you need a passport or passport card to enter Mexico from the US. However, I was not asked to show one when I crossed the border into Mexico. So there's a chance they won't ask you for it, though if they do ask you for it, you would be required to supply it or they could deny you entry. You need a passport, passport card, or enhanced driver's license to reenter the United States from Mexico. I have red some people on here were able to cross back into the US with a normal driver's license and their birth certificate, but the law is pretty explicit and in my experience it has always been enforced. I live near the border with Canada and travel to Canada often and they are definitely pretty strict about me having my enhanced driver's license at least when returning to the US.

Usually I try to order sandwiches without the bread/roll, but when it seems like that might be too confusing or too much of a hassle, I'll get the bread and just not eat it. I hate being wasteful though. A LOT of times when we are at a sit-down restaurant, I will ask for a half order of something and tell them it's fine if they want to charge me the full price, I just don't want to waste the food. Some restaurants I know I can get away with being super picky and specific with an order and some restaurants I know I can't and that I'll just have to pick out the bits I can't eat. Like, our favorite local restaurant is completely awesome about custom orders because they still write everything down and actually TALK to the cook. Chain restaurants where everything has to be entered on a touch screen are a whole other story.

It will get a lot easier to eat and drink more quickly. I remember the first time I had a Protein bar once I was allowed solids (couldn't wait to get rid of those damned shakes!) and it took me almost a full hour to eat about 3/4 of it. Wasn't long before I could scarf down a Protein Bar in about 5 minutes. This early out, just focus on sip, sip, sipping your Protein shakes to get it all in.

I agree with @@Inner Surfer Girl that your instinct to cut out your Protein shakes is scary. Protein needs to be one of your absolute TOP priorities right now and moving forward. Don't risk your health.

This is very common. Over the next few months, you will see your biggest losses, but in the first few weeks, things are really wonky with the scale. You retain fluids from the IV, you have soft tissue swelling (more fluid retention), you are healing, your body is freaking out. Things are all over the place. Hang in there and focus on your healing, getting your water in, getting your steps in, and getting as much protein as possible. The weight loss will come, I promise.

I used to use the SparkPeople app and web site. It has the nutritional values for TONS of foods already loaded into it, so basically you just search for the food you are eating, enter how much of it you ate, and it does the rest. It also has an awesome recipe calculator, so you can enter all your ingredients and what amounts you use in your recipe, and it does all the math for you. Another nice feature was that you could create food "groups" so say you ate the same thing for lunch a lot, like greek yogurt with granola. Instead of having to enter the greek yogurt and granola separately every time, you could save them as a "group" and add them both at once.

Well sure, but if you know how MUCH you are eating of whatever you're eating, then it's easy to extrapolate the protein from that. If 8 oz. of chicken breast has 23 grams of protein and you eat 2 oz, you know you are getting roughly 6 grams of protein, for example. Or if math isn't your forte, most food tracking apps will let you enter the food you eat, how MUCH you eat, and then do the math for you.

The scale is your worst enemy right now! Sip,sip, sip. Walk, walk, walk. Get as much protein as you can in. And just focus on your healing!

Your best friend in the whole world is a digital food scale. I don't know how anyone survives post-op without one.

@@Salinagetssleeved I went to Dr. Ariel Ortiz at the Obesity Control Center. But, honestly, there are many many good surgeons out there performing surgeries out of various hospitals and surgical centers. That's definitely one thing you will want to consider if you go to Mexico. Do you prefer a hospital or a surgical center? If you prefer a hospital, you'll want to research them, because not all hospitals are created equal in Mexico.

I didn't have to be on clear Protein shakes for long. I was allowed "full liquids" pretty quickly. But when I did have to drink clear Protein drinks, I uses Syntrax nectar fruit flavors, specifically the strawberry kiwi.

This website that you're on right now could probably make you feel a lot better if you read through posts in the Mexico & Self-Pay forums. Hundreds and hundreds (maybe thousands?) of Bariatric Pal members have been to Mexico for surgery. Bariatric Pal is even affiliated with several surgeons in Mexico to offer special deals and packages to members. I didn't go through Bariatric Pal for my surgery, but I did read lots of posts here when researching and choosing a surgeon. I've been to Mexico twice for surgery. Once for plastics, and once for my sleeve. Both were incredibly positive experiences. As long as you do your research and choose a reputable surgeon, you have nothing to fear. The level of care you can receive in Mexico is on par or better than what you would receive in the US. Certainly, when I went for my plastics, I had a much higher level of care than I could have possibly had in the US. I had 24/7 nursing care for two full weeks and daily visits from my surgeon. In the US, I would have been sent home one or two days post-op to fend for myself and maybe seen my surgeon once or twice in the two week period after. For my sleeve, it was a much more minor surgery, so I was discharged back to my hotel the day after my surgery. A shuttle picked me up from my hotel and took me back to the clinic each of the next two days for follow up (barium swallow test, having my drain removed, etc.). And then I flew home on the 4th day post-op. The area in Mexico where most of the Medical Tourism happens is a very high-class neighborhood with excellent accommodations and amenities. It's RIGHT across the border from San Diego (seriously a 10 minute drive if you don't count the traffic at the border crossing). It's pretty much exactly like being in the US. A McDonald's and Starbucks on every corner. The clinic where I had my plastics, I had a lovely view of an Office Max from my room.... I stayed in a recovery house with on-staff nurses when I had my plastics. It was a lovely house in a gated community. When I had my sleeve, I stayed at the Marriott, which was a very nice, clean, upscale hotel with amazingly friendly staff. They accommodate dozens of WLS patients daily, so they have things like chicken broth and Jello from room service free of charge. As for pricing, it can definitely save you a LOT of money. The cheapest I've seen self-pay VSG in the US is around $12000. For my round-trip airfare, surgery, and hotel, I paid maybe a total of $7000? And I had my surgery with a world-renowned surgeon at a International Bariatric Center of Excellence. Remember, if you go with the cheapest option in the US, it's probably the cheapest option for a reason!

Definitely one of the best decisions I have ever made. I cannot say enough about how much it has changed all aspects of my life, not just numbers on the scale. I am happier, healthier, and more confident than I have ever been! There was definitely some "buyer's remorse" in the very beginning and some struggles and frustrations in the early months. But once I was fully adapted to my new life and new way of eating, it has been completely amazing. Definitely worth that little bit of suffering for a few months to be able to enjoy the whole rest of my life!

Have you asked your surgeon about it? IO was super lucky and didn't throw up at all post-op, though I did have some times when I ate too much or too fast and I was very very miserable for a while afterward. There was definitely a learning curve for me once I was on solid foods to be able to accurately judge how much I could eat safely (without pain and discomfort) and how fast to eat. It wasn't really until I was about 4 months out that I really got the hang of it. A few shrimp is actually pretty normal. I'm almost 16 months out and I still can't eat more than maybe 10 medium shrimp at once? When I was where you're at, I could maybe have done 5? Its the vomiting that has me worried about you. Hopefully you can get that figured out.

I had my surgery at OCC back in September, 2014. If you have any questions or concerns about the experience, feel free to PM me!

My thought was just that maybe if you are getting in a lot more carbs than protein, you snacks aren't really keeping you full feeling as long as they might if you focused more on high protein snacks? But even if it was all carbs, that does seem like a lot to have eaten and still be hungry. So far all I've eaten today is a protein bar and some cheese and it's already 2:00pm here. Will be having my afternoon snack in a few minutes though.

Is the kale cooked? I don't think I was allowed raw veggies yet at 11 weeks. Also, while quinoa does have some Protein, I wouldn't consider it a great protein source, so I don't really see that as an appropriate post-WLS "meal". At 11 weeks, you should be able to do maybe 3 oz. of meat, depending on the type of meat and the density of it. How are you doing with Protein shakes? Any trouble keeping those down or is it just solids you are struggling with?

Our bodies definitely have set points where they LIKE to stick for a good long while. But just because they LIKE to stick there, doesn't necessarily mean that they SHOULD. Are you happy and healthy at your current weight? What be your reasoning behind trying to go lower?

Are you trying to kick a carb habit after going back on the carb wagon? How many carbs are in the "protein cereal", "protein bar", fruit bar, and trail mix you had?

What are you considering a "full small meal"?

Wow!

I had the exact same thing post-op. Every teeny tiny sip was this huge ordeal where my esophagus would constrict and cause terrible pain in my chest, then I would get this gurgling in the back of my throat. It was a real challenge. Marching in place while drinking helped some, but not much. The good news is, it was just swelling, so once the swelling went down, it was much better at about 2 weeks out. As much as it sucks, as long as you aren't throwing up, you really just have to endure it. Ever sip was a chore, but I knew I needed the hydration, so I dealt with it. Sip, sip, sipping my way to at least 6 cups of Water a day (aimed for 8, but just could not get there in those early days). Another thing you might want to try is different temperatures. I did MUCH better with hot beverages like tea and broth than I did with room temperature water. Later on (several weeks out), I could do extreemely cold water as well. Still can't really do luke-warm or room temp water even to this day.

I'm nowhere near as far out as you (going on 16 months), but my instincts tell me that the best thing to do would be to get back to the basics. Protein first, getting all your water in, and exercising regularly. Once you start doing all of those things again, hopefully you'll settle right back into that routine, because your brain and body will remember it from your first year or two post-op.