JamieLogical

If you are willing to travel out of country, you can find a lot of surgeons who will do VSG on patients with a lower BMI and you'll probably save a lot of money too! I had a great experience with my VSG in Tijuana.

I think it's pretty common to be full of regret in the early weeks. Especially when you hit that week 3 stall and you feel like you've gone through all of this for nothing! Hang in there. Stick to the plan. Trust in the process. It's a real struggle to get your food in as you move through those early food stages, but I promise you, you will work your way up to eating "normally" again. It will be a new normal, but you will find the foods that work for you. Everyone else is absolutely right about how important it is to get your Protein in. And your WATER! Don't forget that. In these early weeks, you just need to eat and drink on a timer. Get your protein and Water in. Walk, walk, walk. Things will take a turn for the better soon, I promise. Just hang in there! I went through all the same feelings you are having now when I was only a few weeks out, but now I'm a year out and maintaining at goal. It seems SOOOOO worth it now! Just have to power through the tough times.

Not true. You can reenter the US with an enhanced driver's license or Nexus card. You don't need a passport or passport card.

There are definitely people on here who started in the 300's and made it to Onederland and then on to their goal weight. CowgirlJane is one that immediately comes to mind. But I know there are others.

Why would you NOT tell your PCP? I met with mine a couple of weeks before I went to Mexico and she scheduled a follow-up and blood work for a month after I got back. She has ordered regular follow-ups and blood work for me to make sure I'm not developing any vitamin/mineral deficiencies. Having her know about my surgery and monitor my progress has been fantastic, since I had my surgery in Mexico and only do follow-ups with my surgical team via email.

I learned VERY quickly after my VSG that setting any sort of date-based goals for weight loss was a recipe for frustration and disappointment. You need to trust and have faith that, if you stick to the plan, you WILL lose the weight. How quickly you lose it doesn't really matter so long as that scale keeps trending downward, you will end up where you need to be eventually. It took me a full year to lose the 71 pounds I needed to reach my goal weight. That's pretty slow compared to most, but now I'm at goal and maintaining. In the grand scheme of things, what does it matter if it took me a few more months to lose the weight than it took someone else?

That definitely reaffirms my decision to have WLS! As if I needed any more affirmation at this point.

Allegedly, Mexico now requires a passport or passport card to ENTER Mexico. However, after jumping through a ton of hoops and going to the actual passport office for a rush passport card prior to my VSG, none of the Mexican border agents asked me for my passport. I already had an enhanced NYS driver's license, so I wouldn't have had any trouble getting back into the US over land with that. Oh well! I wasted $150.

I've had a lot of people ask me for pics of my scars from my extended tummy tuck. I finally got around to having my husband take some at the same time he was taking my "after" pictures for my one year WLS surgiversary. So here you go... sorry for having some pubic area showing in the front shot and some butt crack showing in the back shot... my incision is VERY low and there was no way to avoid it. But if it's a violation of any forum rules, mods, please feel free to delete it! The last pic is just to show that my incision is so low that bikini-cut underwear easily hide it.

You are definitely a long way off from crunch. Along with not being allowed to try raw veggies until 3 months post-op, I was also told no crunchies until 3 months (crackers, chips, nuts, etc.).

I stayed in TJ two full weeks post-op and my drains were still draining a fair amount, but she pulled them anyway. If you leave TJ any sooner, keep in mind that you may be traveling with your drains still in.

I'm over a year out and still can't eat salad. I was supposed to be able to start raw veggies at 3 months post-op, but when I tried, it made me VERY burpy and uncomfortable. I have tried many times since then and the same thing happens every time. I can only eat cooked veggies.

That's actually pretty smart!

So far the only "problem" I've been having with maintenance is that I'm still losing weight. I hit goal the day before my one year surgiversary back on Sept. 1, so it's only been two weeks, but I've lost about another pound and a half since then. I carry ALL my weight in my hips and legs (see my gallery pics) so I am still in size 12 pants. I'm a medium (maybe even a small) in tops. In dresses I'm still wearing a 10, but they are getting a little on the loose side now.

You really shouldn't eat and drink at the same time. I am allowed to drink right up until the time I start eating and allowed to start again 20 minutes after eating (I usually wait more like 40, because I just feel too full). So if you absolutely MUST drink wine at dinner, order it and drink it before your dinner comes, then ask for Water instead of a refill on your wine. Most people won't notice if you don't even touch the water after it arrives. As for the food itself, order something small and only eat as much of it as you reasonably can. Don't stuff yourself or make yourself sick. Ask for a to-go box for the rest. If your date asks why you ate so little, just say you had a late lunch or "it was very filling" or something.

I was told 60 days, but you should ask your surgeon.

I second what @@BLERDgirl said about getting a prescription strength PPI. Your issues with "hunger" while sleeping definitely sound like GERD to me. As for your weight, don't worry about that AT ALL right now. Focus on getting your fluids, walking as much as possible, and getting in as much Protein as possible. They pump you full of fluids during your time in the hospital. Also, dehydration can cause you to retain Water. So it's very likely that what you are seeing as "weight" on the scale is just Fluid retention. Once you get your water in, your body should release those extra fluids.

@@Margie122 Welcome! Sounds like you are doing fantastic!

No no. That was post tummy-tuck. I had lost 90 pounds "on my own" and had plastics back in 2011. Then I eventually regained 80 of the pounds I'd lost before having VSG. So the "before" photos from before my VSG are post tummy-tuck, which is why my stomach was really flat still. My tummy tuck held up AMAZINGLY well through the weight re-gain and re-loss. Here are the before pics from before I lost the 90 pounds "on my own" and had the tummy tuck and breast lift/implants. In these pics I weighed about 270:

How did they possibly think their posts on these forums would be private and confidential. You don't even have to create a BariatricPal account or be logged in to read the posts here and even if you did ANYONE on the planet could create a BariatricPal account. There's no screening of account creation. Just provide an email address in you're in!

I've been away from the site for a few days as I've been handling more house stuff. My sister and her four kids move out tomorrow! Yay!!!!!! Thanks for all of the replies and kind words!

Looks like you grandma has developed quite the six-pack in 6 months. Congrats on your amazing progress so far. Onederland, here you come!

I did the same thing. Just uncontrollable moaning. I think I had the nurses and techs worried.

You aren't even hitting 60 grams of protein? That's a real problem. I was easily at 100 grams at 3 months out. You should definitely work on protein and water and worry about everything else after you are on track with those two.

I had my tummy tuck, breast lift with augmentation, and lipo all over with Dra. Laura Carmina Cardenas in Tijuana, Mexico. I actually had my tummy tuck four years ago, after losing 90 pounds "on my own". I then proceeded to regain 80 of those pounds over the next three years and then had VSG last September. I've now re-lost all the weight I've gained and then some. I am 17 pounds lighter than I was when I had my TT. I am THRILLED with how well it held up through my weight re-gain and re-loss. If you look at my gallery photos, you can see that in my pre-VSG photos, despite weighing 240+ pounds, my stomach was still flat.