LivingLight

I think if you are going to self pay, ANYWHERE, your concerns should be more than the cost of the surgery. I am booked for my sleeve in Mexico on the 29th. The wait list in my province for bariatric surgery is 3 years long. As for the surgeon you go with, spend a lot of time researching. Consciously LOOK for good and bad reports about any one surgeon. This is a life changing opportunity, just do your best to make sure that it's changing your life for the better (a poor surgeon can make it worse).

My pre-op diet is up to 3 Protein shakes a day (with skim or unsweetened almond milk, or water), low fat broth, sugar-free Jello and 4+ cups (as much as I want) of green leafy veggies (INCLUDING: lettuce, spinach, kale, cabbage, cucumber, celery, tomatoes, onion and garlic, you may have them raw or steamed (no oil, butter, dressings or sauces). It also specifies (and this is cut and pasted): Do not eat any type of carbs, fats nor oils. Carbs include FRUITS, flour and sugars. I don't think you should cut down the cheese and trail mix, I think, if you want the sleeve, you will have to cut it out completely.

The thing is, I am less interested in "documentary" shots, and have a particular interest in portraiture and macro (as a whole). I feel like Mexico would offer me some new and interesting scenes, unavailable in rural Saskatchewan. That being said, of course I don't want anything to happen to my gear. I am actually really stumped on this. I have no clue how Dewitt Jones has that sort of mastery over his smart phone, to me mine's the equivelent of a point and shoot. I have no clue if you can adjust aperture, ISO, etc on it. I've never seen the options!

I am worried about this too. My patient paperwork says I have to schedule a flight after 3pm, and I can't seem to find a flight that doesn't have an overnight 12 hour lay over. Thinking I may need to get a hotel room, or spend the night in San Diego and leave the next morning. I'll be flying from San Diego to Saskatoon Canada.

I actually went through my pre-op paperwork and it says I can have as much of those things (and a few others) as I want. WHEW.

I am day 3 of the pre-op diet, and working VERY hard to stay very strictly on track. My pre-op diet for the 2 weeks prior to surgery allows me (this is cut and pasted): Unlimited leafy green vegetables (spinach, lettuce, kale), every day. Add some flavor with balsamic vinegar, lemon juice or any zero calories dressings. Green leafy vegetables may be enjoyed cooked or raw in Soups or salads. You may have as many as you´d like throughout the day, aim for at least 3 cups to control hunger and improve liver functions. You may include tomatoes, mushrooms, onions, and peppers. Some examples of green leafy vegetables are spinach, romaine lettuce (or any other type), celery, kale, chard, cilantro (coriander), watercress, collards, turnip greens, mustard greens, broccoli, cabbage. I went to make myself a salad tonight at work, and when I opened my lettuce I saw that it was bad. Ultimately I ended up eating half of an english cucumber, and a decent sized tomato. Does the wording on my instructions look like I am ok to eat those unlimited as well? Or did I overdo it on those 2?

The 29th in Mexico here!

Fellow Canadian, BC born and raised, transplanted to Saskatchewan in 2007. It looks like I am going for VSG July 29th with Dr. Ariel Ortiz. Everything is as the 98% likelihood of happening, I am just hoping nothing falls out of place! Zoiks!!

OK, so I haven't started my pre-op yet (still trying to make sure I can get funding), but as an unexperienced know-it-all (lol aren't we all, when we are outside looking in?), my theory will be to remind myself that this will be the WORST of it. Once you get through this, your diet will be liquids, but you won't be hungry, so it shouldn't be as hard. In my mind, this is the same as when you have to go for a fasting blood test....you may NEVER eat Breakfast, ever.....but if you have to go for a fasting blood test you wake up STARVING, every time. You've got this! Distraction, lots of Water, keep busy, and daydream about how different your life will be 1 year from today! Good Luck!!

OK, so I'll be honest, I didn't search to see if this had been discussed before, but I am going to guess it probably hasn't. I am pre-op, without a date yet (I am self-pay, and have only secured about 50% of the cost so far, but am keeping my fingers crossed I'll have the rest worked out in a week or 2 and hopefully surgery by the first week in August, at the latest). 3 of my girlfriends and myself are planning a weekend camping trip in September....on horseback. We plan on doing about 30km in total (I am the slow, anxious rider, with a slow older horse), 18km one day and 12km the next I believe. What I am wondering is, how long would it take me to be physically able to do the trip after surgery (under ideal conditions, I do realize there are a lot of variables). Things to note: I have an older horse, VERY calm and reliable (but I do realize crazy things can happen), has been through bomb proofing and only reacted at all to cap guns (the smell of gunpowder, not the sound) and sparklers.....and none of us are bringing either on our trip lol. We will probably be in the saddle for 3-4 hours a day, at most. We plan on going the first 3 weeks in September (isn't that specific? lol we are trying to work everyone's schedules together). So, does anyone have any input/thoughts/considerations?

October here is usually below freezing overnights, and often we see snow

Haha....I'm a fat girl with a Percheron, I cant mount from the ground anyway, and at least one of my friends coming also needs to stand on something to mount. Dismounting may be a bit trickier, I usually slide down the saddle to the ground.

Congrats! Good Luck and maybe you wake up with very little pain and nausea!!

Thank you so much for this. I was really curious about WHY it may not be a good idea. I was worried that if I asked I would seem argumentative or combative when really, I just want to understand what may be a concern. From what I read, typically surgeons start allowing weight lifting back in around 4 weeks, so I wasn't sure why there could really be a reason for concern. Hmm....my saddle will be too heavy to hoist up, if I am cleared to go (it's a draft saddle, and at least 35lbs, up high onto his back)...guess my friends will have to do that for me Muahahaha

Thanks for the input everyone. I really appreciate it. I will for sure ask the surgeon what he recommends. I would actually be more concerned about myself if I was riding him in the ring...on the trail he is "point and shoot". LOL he will follow another horse with NO problem, no direction, and without me even telling him what speed to go. He was an Amish plow horse (for 22 years) that is well acquainted to working in a team. He is also BIG lol (which is why I am able to ride, I would be worried about a light horse at my weight). We will be just walking (we will have a pack horse with us, because there are no garbages, etc, you have to bring out everything you bring in, and no vehicles allowed). As far as rides go, it will be slow and easy, but long. I do have concerns about how long we will be riding (but my friends would be willing to stop whenever I needed), but I don't want to put myself at risk to go for a ride.

In my opinion, you should be establishing a maintainable level of fitness. I think we all want the weight to just fall off of us, but exercising a LOT now won't help you in the long run. The goal is to establish a new lifestyle that you can continue on with. I know, from my past weight loss experiences, it's really easy to dive in to fitness, and work hard...super hard, to achieve results.....it's also easy to burn out (at least I did). Try not to overdo it in your haste to burn calories!

I have a few things that led me towards thinking about the surgery... 1)I want to be a professional photographer (portraits, weddings etc), and feel like showing up fat, hiking up and down to photo sites, carrying all my camera gear, being out of breath, would be unprofessional. 2)Also, I still enjoy non-profit forms of photography, including macro (close up of small items), which has me getting up and down from the ground a lot, which is tougher to do at 285lbs. 3)I am tired of the lose/gain/lose/gain game 4)Mentally I feel so much younger and more energetic than my fat body lets me be (I am 40, but feel 10+ years younger, mentally). I would like my inner self and my outter self to match. But the BIG one...the FINAL straw was a good friend who had VGS.....she posted a picture of herself on facebook, and at first I honestly didn't recognize her (to be fair, she had also coloured her hair). She lives far away, and I hadn't seen her in 2 years or so, but knew she had the surgery about 1 year previous. So I went back through her pictures. I found one taken right after she got home from surgery (she had hers done in Mexico). It turns out the new picture and the old picture I remembered were taken 1 year apart....to the day. It was UNREAL what 130lbs gone looked like on her. I started asking her questions about her surgery, her recovery, etc. She told me she literally has 3x the energy she had before surgery, and that she would ABSOLUTELY do it again....in a heartbeat. She is the only person I have told that I am planning to do this, except my husband. I am self pay, and I want everything lined up, and a date booked before I make it common knowledge.

@@Malagal For people who don't take the time to research the procedure, it LOOKS like, you go get surgery, then you just lose weight. I knew someone yeeeeeeeeeears ago who had a gastric bypass, and I personally saw her eating fries, cake, burgers, chips and candy often, and still losing. Eventually she put the weight back on (how shocking), but to anyone witnessing that, it sure LOOKS like the easy way out. Clearly I learned that this was not the case when I did some research of my own. I am an information person, which is part of the reason I personally wouldn't be quiet about surgery. For me personally it's an opportunity to educate people (it's what I have done with my PTSD too, no sitting quietly in the corner for this girl), so maybe that "the easy way out" mentality will start to go away and people can start to realize that this is a tool, not a cure.

I absolutely HATE to admit this, but I was a "it's the easy way out" person. A close friend had the surgery, and while I marveled at her weight loss, I always thought (never said) she took the easy way out. Then one day, I decided "to heck with this, I want the easy way out too". So, I started doing my research, so i could get skinny without working at it.... Boy, was I in for a shock. Anyone who puts time into investigating the process will realize that it is absolutely NOT the easy way out. There IS no easy way out of obesity, or we'd all be thin already. For me, I won't be afraid to tell people. I won't be offended by anyone to tells me I took the easy way out because I know, from experience, that they are just uneducated.

Oh.....I hope so!! I am a size 11, and for a woman, that SUCKS!! I would happily go to a size 10! lol