Tina

Great costume!!!

I went with Dr. Rod and he's FABULOUS!!! His whole team was wonderful. Good luck...it's seriously worth EVERY penny~ promise!

Thank YOU for continuing to inspire me! It's amazing that when discussing my weight loss and procedure with people I always mention this forum...telling them...and if you have any questions, need advice, or fabulous inspiration---SEE TIFFYKINS!!! :thumbup1: It's amazing how the ripple effect of positivity reverberates thanks to people like YOU! :glare: Continued luck to you Tiffykins~

I loved reading this...especially the part "I feel as my booty shrinks I grow."---that is SO TRUE!!! I feel the same way~~~ It's been hard learning how to cope with life without the volume of food like you mentioned...it's so nice to see that I'm not the only one who has felt that way. You've inspired me and congrats on your success so far~ Through my "testimony" to people while shopping I've put a seed of hope in others minds who are considering the sleeve...it's life altering and a beautiful process~ an amazing journey~ :thumbup1:

i'm on synthroid also and you'll be amazed at how much of a difference it makes. The thyroid not only controls metabolism but can also effect your mood too. A few times throughout the years I've been slack on getting my Rx filled and I can definately tell the difference...once you're on meds though it's for LIFE. Good luck with the remainder of your weight loss...if you do need medication the rest should just MELT off. :001_tt2:

I've eaten popcorn in small amounts at the movies and it feels fine. (this was at about 3 1/2 months out.) Just like before EXCEPT for the quantity of course! What's a movie without POPCORN!!!

I had my sleeve done with Dr. Rod and the whole experience was FANTASTIC! I highly recommend him and his team. We felt safe at Star Medica and the staff at the hospital were great. VERY NICE HOSPITAL! Clean, advanced, everything in English and Spanish, and modern too~ Good luck! Having the sleeve has been the best decision I've made~

I appreciate your post...helps put things in perspective for me since, I too, have been experiencing anxiety and depression since my sleeve. I'm going to focus on the tips you've listed to see if that helps before trying to "get on something" to alleviate some of the symptoms I've been having. Thanks...its amazing how through this forum we can alter course of events with simple sound advice. Much appreciated!! :thumbup:

Glad to hear you're ok...that would have been horrifying. Good luck with whatever you decide....sometimes "the universe unfolds as it should"...

Hello everyone! So I had the Surgery on March 12th and everything went well. The first two days were really rough due to the gas pain and pressure but I was expecting that from all the stories I've read on here. The Star Medica hospital was REALLY NICE..almost like a hotel room! My surgeon, Dr Jose Rodiriquez was great and his assisting surgeon Dr. Elmo Aramburu was phenomenal.:thumbup: Dr. Elmo visited and checked up on me at least twice a day. I think I was "favored":blush: a bit due to my BFF Melissa who was an "after" of their team and she showed the entire staff her before pic and she has lost 180 lbs and looks fantastic. They want us to submit before and after pics together once I get to where I want to be. In terms of my surgery I felt like I was in great hands the whole time. The staff was great. My anestisiaologist was an angel I swear. One minute I was like "This is it!" and the next I was knocked out while she held my hand and I remember her telling me that everything was gonna be just fine. :001_wub: And it was~ After the first couple days moving onto the liquid diet is like MANNA FROM HEAVEN! Not that I was hungry but GOOD LORD the beef broth made me feel like I was eating a sirloin steak! YUM! Never knew how much I'd love broth!:drool5: LOL Another reason I love my experience is because when I mentioned to Dr. Elmo that I'd like to get some Nexium in Mexico bc it was cheaper he actually DROVE my friend to the pharmacy in his Volvo to get it which was like 6 blocks away. At first she was a bit freaked out that he offered to do this bc this is UNHEARD of in the states...(UM..if I'm not back in 2 hours he has my kidney!:scared0:) but he was so kind and sincere and was just being helpful so that she wouldn't have to go alone. So nice of him. So all in all this was a great experience. I'm home. :biggrin0: Feel great. Can already sleep on my side and the medicince is working fine to keep me comfortable. I recommend Dr. Rodriguez and Dr. Elmo Aramburu and the Star Medica hospital with flying colors! Even though the first couple days were rough pain wise overall this was a FANTASTIC experience and I hope that the days that come will prove that I have reason to LOVE my SLEEVE MORE AND MORE! Thanks to you all for kind words and support!

So it looks like my home scale is off by almost 10 lbs when I weighed at the Dr's office today. UNBELIEVABLE...and here I was thinking that I've been stalled throughout the last 3 months!!! As of today 44 lbs lost! :biggrin0:

Keep up the good work!! You're an inspiration!! :001_tt2:

Yea!!! I'm glad everything went well~ Did you get to meet Dr. Elmo too? Not sure if he travels with Dr. Rod or not. The first couple days are the hardest but just wait after that it gets easier every day. Gas X strips rock huh?!!! Makes you feel so much better and the minty part is nice when you can't have much else. Well, keep us posted! :001_tongue:

So I'm about 5 weeks out and am having a REALLY hard time doing the "no drinking" rule with my meals. I've lost a bit over 25 pounds the first 4 weeks and now at week five...nothin....seems to be at a stall---could this be the reason why? I am SO THRISTY all the time. It's so hard to get in our liquids so I just thought..."I gotta drink whenever I can!"...I've been having the feeling that I'm sabatoging my weight loss. I've noticed that I can eat a small portion and then in like an hour or so will go back for more of my protien...maybe this is detrimental too. Any thoughts??? I may just throw my scale out and weigh at Dr. appt's like some of you do so that I don't worry about it so much.....

Good luck!! He's a great doctor~ Can't wait to hear about your experience!!!

Thanks you guys...all the advice really helps! I think I will get the hang of it. It's just one of those things that is so automatic that it's hard to break the habit. I haven't even tried soda yet...which I'm not much of a soda drinker anyway...but do any of you have problems with soda? How about wine or cocktails? We had friends over at the pool last night and had some beer and wine and I didn't even indulge because I forgot the rule about alcohol~ plus I didn't get IN the pool because #1...I have'nt lost THAT much weight lol and #2 I don't know when we can go in pools or jacuzzi's and the such?? I'm sure at 5 weeks out it's fine though right?~? LOL I used my incisions as the excuse although it was more due to my #1 reason!!! :biggrin2:

That's FUNNY~!!! You'll love Dr. Rod and Dr. Elmo* too!!! (*he has a long last name but he was FAB~) The whole staff there was great...if you have any Q's shoot me a msg and I'll fill you in~! :thumbup:

Good luck! It's an amazing experience and we will scoot on down to make room for ya~ :confused1:

Good luck!! So far the sleeve has been GREAT!! We will move on down to make room for you~ :confused1:

So glad to hear that everything is going to be ok...I commend you for your strength! Good luck!

Congrats!!! What an inspiration you are to me, as I was sleeved only a week ago!!! You look FABULOUS!!!

Here's the post of my experience with Dr. Rod below: Hello everyone! So I had the Surgery on March 12th and everything went well. The first two days were really rough due to the gas pain and pressure but I was expecting that from all the stories I've read on here. The Star Medica hospital was REALLY NICE..almost like a hotel room! My surgeon, Dr Jose Rodiriquez was great and his assisting surgeon Dr. Elmo Aramburu was phenomenal.:thumbup: Dr. Elmo visited and checked up on me at least twice a day. I think I was "favored":blush: a bit due to my BFF Melissa who was an "after" of their team and she showed the entire staff her before pic and she has lost 180 lbs and looks fantastic. They want us to submit before and after pics together once I get to where I want to be. In terms of my surgery I felt like I was in great hands the whole time. The staff was great. My anestisiaologist was an angel I swear. One minute I was like "This is it!" and the next I was knocked out while she held my hand and I remember her telling me that everything was gonna be just fine. :001_wub: And it was~ After the first couple days moving onto the liquid diet is like MANNA FROM HEAVEN! Not that I was hungry but GOOD LORD the beef broth made me feel like I was eating a sirloin steak! YUM! Never knew how much I'd love broth!:drool5: LOL Another reason I love my experience is because when I mentioned to Dr. Elmo that I'd like to get some Nexium in Mexico bc it was cheaper he actually DROVE my friend to the pharmacy in his Volvo to get it which was like 6 blocks away. At first she was a bit freaked out that he offered to do this bc this is UNHEARD of in the states...(UM..if I'm not back in 2 hours he has my kidney!:scared0:) but he was so kind and sincere and was just being helpful so that she wouldn't have to go alone. So nice of him. So all in all this was a great experience. I'm home. :biggrin0: Feel great. Can already sleep on my side and the medicince is working fine to keep me comfortable. I recommend Dr. Rodriguez and Dr. Elmo Aramburu and the Star Medica hospital with flying colors! Even though the first couple days were rough pain wise overall this was a FANTASTIC experience and I hope that the days that come will prove that I have reason to LOVE my SLEEVE MORE AND MORE! Thanks to you all for kind words and support!:thumbup: ---------------------------------------------------------------------- As for Jaurez: The hospital Star Medica in Jaurez was like a hotel and my BFF Melissa slept well on the bed that was provided in the room. When we were in Jaurez there was some unrest that happened but we were completely unaware of it being in the hospital and never felt unsafe at all. The price IS great and the experience was suberb. My friends can't believe I'm back home as if I never even had major surgery---I feel great! You'll really like the hospital. I took a ton of pics to show my family how it was nicer than our local hospital. The only thing I wish I would have brought was washclothes and a heating pad. For some reason they didn't have wash clothes...only towels.. lol. There are two good English channels that run good movies 24/7 for the HOURS that you spend healing and resting in your room. There's like an atrium courtyard kinda of thing in the center of the floor we're on to chill and walk around. There always seems to be a nurse on that spoke a bit of English so communicating wasn't bad. Again, as for Jaurez it does have a bad reputation but our driver, Sergio, kept us in good hands and delivered us promptly to our hospital from the airport and then back across the border without a hitch once our stay was over. There were two other people who had the sleeve like me and they did really well too. We all 3 had flying colors on our leak tests and our team explained everything to us so that we felt comfortable going home. Good luck with your decision! :wink: <3 Tina

Hello all! I am getting ready to go into the hospital for pre-op tests and am scheduled for surgery this afternoon. Thank you all for the support and for giving me the answers to SO MANY questions through your wisdom! I will post how everything goes...getting nervous but also excited to start this new chapter in my life! "Just when the caterpillar thought the world was over, it become a butterfly...."

I can relate to how you feel...i have a 2 1/2 year old and an 11 month old and just the thought of not being in this life with them makes me have 2nd thoughts...but I also think about all the things that I don't do or enjoy in life due to my weight and think that I will be a more active and healthy and HAPPIER mom for them. I know the risks but I hope that what I have to gain will drastically outweigh those. I'm scheduled for Friday so it's REALLY sinking in now....so i hear ya~ Good luck!

Hello! So I am sheduled for my surgery on March 12th with Dr. Jose Rodriguez. For some reason...I'm NOT nervous...YET. I went absolutley nutty on my last "anything goes" food-wise day. Here's my confession: I had Starbucks Cinnmon Dolce Latte and a sausage, egg, and cheese sandwich for breakfast, Dunkin Donuts later with a apple fritter for a snack, McDonalds BIG MAC with fries and a Coke for lunch, and then had a Dragon Roll, Panang Curry, and a glass of wine for dinner out with my friends for my "Last Supper". THEN when I got home I made my husband pick up some chocolate cake and me and my BFF and him sat and ate that with MORE wine. (Unbuttoning my pants)...GEEZ!!! You'd think I was NEVER gonna eat again. I'm CRAVING anything and everything that I can't have. I got a corn muffin with my chicken at Boston Market yesterday and I obsessed about it all day and finally just had to throw it away instead of saving it for my hubby JUST to avoid eating it!!! LOL So ANYWAY...I'm on my pre-op "high protien and low carb diet" and I'm 3 days in and going NUTS. I'm obsessing already and I hope that this isn't how it's going to be AFTER I get sleeved. Can anyone relate? Any "last supper" confessions to top mine? Does anyone have info on Pre-op diets that are high protien like mine that I can take a look at? I don't have much to go off with what my coordinator provided me it seems. I hope all is well with you and in 11 short days I will be on the "sleeved side"!~! YEA!:)Tina