How I feel about my Doctor

[Suzannesh 376]

Hi Everyone,

I know that I can only speak about what I have experienced. Everyone who has had WLS feels the same about the doctor they had as I do my doctor who I had.

So for me, I new without a doubt my insurance was NEVER going to pay for my weight loss surgery. So it was my mission to figure out how I was going to have the weight loss surgery. I knew after a lot of research that I was only interested in "Sleeve or VGS" weight loss surgery. Then the next mountain to climb was how was I going to pay for this. I had a little money set aside for an emergency--almost enough to pay for my surgery. I put about $1,000 on my credit card when it came time to have the surgery.

My next challenge was WHO was I going to have do the surgery. I had worked with someone who had weight loss surgery and I must have asked her a million questions--she is a Nurse Practitioner and I really trusted her judgment. She made me do a lot of research on my own.

I kept hearing the name Dr. Aceves over and over when I got on this board and two other boards. I called his office, I loved the people who worked for him and how open they were an listened to my concerns and answered my questions over and over. I found that asking others who had been to him really gave me a lot of great information too. They were honest and told me the good, the bad and the ugly about having sleeve surgery. They were all so honest and helpful. When I was scared or had all kinds of feeling an emotions they were there for me too!

So, I am here to say, Dr. Aceves is rated extremely high in my book--the BEST. If he lived closer to me I would make him my Primary Care Doctor in a heart beat. He is so caring, and kind along with being a high skilled doctor. He really cares about his patients.

I am a real person who lives here in Eugene, OR. Honestly if you are sitting on the fence please give me a shout out, I would be happy to talk to you and answer any of your questions. YES, he is in Mexicali, Mexico. It is a very safe boarder to cross. They have a fully equipped hospital and NOT just a clinic. They pick you up at the airport in San Diego and take you to the hospital and return you back to San Diego when it is time to go back home. You have nothing to fear. I went alone and ALWAYS felt safe, comfortable and well taken care of. I have never in my life ever received the kind of care in any US hospital that I received by this team of excellent medical people.

So this it my story and how I lost 105 pounds. I am almost 66 years old and I lost this almost 3 years ago. So don't wait as long as I did to have WLS. This is a life changing event, and one that I have never regretted. I wish you all the success in the world on your journey.

Hugs,

Suzanne

[myrori 55]

Glad you had such a great experience,, but I have one question? What is the bad and ugly of the sleeve?

[Suzannesh 376]

Glad you had such a great experience,, but I have one question? What is the bad and ugly of the sleeve?

Hi,

The bad was all the feeling and emotions before you go. The second guessing yourself, And the 1st month after the surgery is the hardest month you will have to do. You start off with 10 days of nothing but Clear liquids, then 10 days of creamy liquids, and the last 10 days of mush foods.

Then you start to eat regular foods. That is a BIG challenge. Your brain plays tricks on you and we call "head games". You know you are full, but your old brain says---hey I am used to eating a whole lot more. But, you know you are full. So you learn to figure out do I just "want" to eat or do I really "need" to eat. You no longer ever feel hungry. So you really have to figure this all out. The next thing is that you have to learn not to inhale your food like you used to do. You will never be able to guzzle a bottle of Water again--that is OK I can deal with that. You now have to take tiny small baby bites of your food and chew each bite about 30 times before you swallow it. Your food almost needs to be a liquid in your mouth before you swallow. You get tired of eating and chewing and chewing and just push the food away. You are always the last one to finish eating, and that is OK too.

You may have hair loss ( it will grow back and when mine came back in it is now natural curly) I always had very straight hair--so the was a nice thing for me and you will probably suffer from Constipation too.

So those are some of the bad and ugly.

Hope you are smiling still, it is all worth it!

Suzanne

[Nut4bears9 1]

Hi, I am 65 and due to have a Gastric Sleeve very soon. I have questions about my Doctor. I have read good reviews and bad reviews and wondered if there was an agency I could go to that would be able to accurately rate him. What kind of success rate does he have or if I should just ask him directly. Naturally, I am scared and I'm trying to get as much information as I can. Can anyone out there help me? Thank you so much!