Re: Question you might have about Weight Loss Surgery

[Guest guest]

What a wonderful reference for newbies... Thank you sooo much!!

>

> Hi Everyone,

> I decided that I would make a list of things for new people who are thinking

about having WLS that might be helpful to them. This is long so please PRINT

THIS OUT TO READ if you don't want to read it all at one time.

>

> 1. First thing is to start asking people on the board you are on all kinds of

questions—make of list of things you want to ask and keep coming back and ask

more questions as time goes on. The more questions that ask the more you

educate yourself about WLS and the process and what doctor they liked. Don't

rely on just one source of information. It is really normal to have all kind of

feeling and emotions when trying to decide if you want to have Weight Loss

Surgery. I must have talked myself in and out of doing this at least 50 times

during my 6 months of research. My only regret is that I didn't do it sooner.

This is a big step. But if diet and exercise worked for us then we still

wouldn't be fat and would have lost the weight a long time ago and never

regained it. It takes a lot of courage to have Weight Loss Surgery. I am very

proud of you for looking into this. Don't give any more days of your life being

overweight, and your body hurting along with being unhealthy. WLS really is

your answer.

>

> 2. How do you select your surgeon? First of all this is NOT a time to price

shop for the cheapest doctor to do your WLS—that is just the wrong way to go at

this. There are a lot of doctors who advertise on the Internet doing sleeve

surgery for a lot less than some other doctors. I found one posting from a

person who had the following concerns after having surgery in Tijuana, Mexico.

(a) They put NO name band on her to be able to ID her when giving medications or

anything else. ( NO one asked if she had any allergies to foods or

medications—thank goodness this person didn't have any. ( The lab did NOT

label tubes of blood with the person's name on it—very dangerous. © Day after

surgery they gave this person ice chips, tea and apple juice. The next day (day

2) they gave this person NOTHING so this person asked why and the nurse said

this person wasn't allowed to eat anything. Well, this person then said I had

clear liquids the day before and they wanted to know WHO gave it to this

person?? (d) This person was told that they would get a copy of the operative

report on their discharge to take home with them—This person has not received it

yet and that was about 2 weeks ago. So make sure have positive feedback about

the Surgeon and Staff and Hospital that you choose. My choice after 6 months of

research was Dr. Aceves in Mexicali, Mexico. What I can tell you in my opinion

is that he is the very best you will ever find to do your surgery. I can only

speak about my experience and my research that I did before I made him my choice

for a surgeon.

>

> 3. Pack lightly for your WLS. So many of us have gone to Mexico, so you want

a small suitcase with wheels, a laptop & a cell phone. The clothing that you

wear to Mexico are the same ones you can wear home—slip on shoes work great too.

Make sure that the clothing is loose fitting. Something just comfortable for

your ride home. While in Mexico—that is if you go to Mexico for WLS make sure

you take GAS-X. They have nothing in Mexico that they give your for gas, and

the use gas in your abdominal area during surgery. It is painful after the

surgery, so GAS-X STRIPS are easy to use by just placing them on your tongue.

Take a couple of boxes with you—you will be glad you did. If you are going to

use a credit card make sure you tell your credit card company and your Bank if

you use your debit card or credit card. Sometimes if you DO NOT let these

companies know you are outside of the US they block your charges. Use a credit

card or debit card vs cash it is much easier to use. Take small amounts of

cash for tips—I took $45.00 in 1's for tip money for various things. If you go

to any hospital anywhere leave ALL jewelry at home –just a watch and no rings or

other jewelry. I never had any problems at all leaving my purse and computer &

cell phone in my room while I was in surgery, but they recommend that you leave

all jewelry at home. If you are a lady please remove all nail polish—they need

it removed to see your nail beds during surgery.

>

> 4. The first month you do after surgery is the HARDEST month you will ever

have to do. You do 10 days of nothing but clear liquids to start with—that

means you have to be able to see through the liquid. Do not panic if you can

not get the protein they want you to have the 1st 10 days—I couldn't find

anything I liked that was clear during the 1st 10 days. They want you to try to

drink 64 oz each day, and I don't think I could ever get that much water

drank—just do the best you can. Your new stomach has just had major surgery and

it is swollen and will only hold something about the size of your thumb. The

next 10 days gets much better—you are now on creamy liquids for these 10 days.

You can now have some creamy soups, yogurt, and pudding—sugar free and find a

protein drink that you like. For me it is Premier Protein Drink and I get mine

at Costco. When looking for a protein drink, make sure they are low in calories,

high in Protein—Premier has 30 grams of protein in each drink box and make sure

you have low carbs too. I know there are a lot of other protein drinks out

there that people like. When it comes to carbs I tried to keep mine at no more

than 20 carbs per day. Ask others what kind of Protein drinks they liked and

where they get them. The last 10 days are mushy foods. So this is a bit of a

challenge. How many foods can I make mushy? I even considered using some baby

foods. Start thinking about what will work as mushy foods for you.

>

> 5. Starting the 2nd month is quite an adventure. You can eat regular food.

Here is where the relearning process takes place. You now will take tiny BABY

BITES of food and chew each bit about 30 times or until it is like a liquid.

From here on out you will need to take small bites of food and chew and chew and

chew. I found out that chicken and fish were a lot easier to chew up. I don't

eat much red meat—your tastes will change and things you didn't like a lot might

taste good and something that you used to love don't taste that great anymore.

Keep track of what you are eating and keep your calories at about 800 calories

per day and no more than 20 carbs per day—whole grain carbs are the best to

have—NO white or refined carbs. I highly suggest that you keep track by writing

them down or using some of the Internet sites that offers you this. I suggest

this site it works great there are other sites to use this is just a suggestion.

http://www.livestrong.com/thedailyplate/ It really is good to write down and

track everything you put in your mouth to start with—that is how you know that

you have not had more than 800 calories per day.

>

> 6. I want you to understand weight loss surgery is just a tool. The fat

doesn't not just melt off of you—they is NO miracle cure. Now you have to put a

lot of effort into eating healthy and starting to exercise. Everyone has some

kind of exercise that works for them. I love walking and try to walk about 5

days a week.

>

> 7. For many of us we started to lose some of our hair 3 or 4 months after

having WLS. I would find a lot of hair in the shower after washing my hair. That

is pretty normal for a lot of us—this does not happen to everyone. There is no

magical cure for hair loss—some people use different shampoo's or take Biotin.

It happens and you live with it. YES, it will grow back. For me I had pencil

straight hair and mine grew back natural curly and I love it now. I already had

thin hair so for me, I got some cute wigs and wore them for about 9 months until

my hair looked a lot better. It was worth the hair loss to lose 105 pounds.

>

> 8. Because we eat a lot of protein we suffer from constipation. You need to

have at least 70 grams of protein EACH day. So I mix my protein drink each

morning with MIRALAX. It is NOT habit forming and is tasteless and it is just a

good way to start off the day. I put the protein and a cap full of Miralax in

the blender with about 5 small ice cubes and that is my breakfast. 3 years

later I still have this for breakfast and nothing else, it just works for me.

>

> 9. You may have periods where you have what we call STALLS. You may be doing

everything right and eating and exercising and you have NO weight loss for a

week or more. This is normal—mine lasted 9 days. Don't panic the weight loss

will start up again, just keep doing what you are doing.

>

> 10. Our heads play games with us sometimes it is ugly what our brain tried to

convince us of—We call these " Head Games " and they really are tough times to

work though, but you can do it. Your head is still thinking with your old brain

and way of thinking that you have been doing for most of your life. You now are

eating VERY small amount of food, but your head is used to you eating LARGE

amounts of food and that is what your brain wants—so it tries to tell you the

you should be eating more—NOT true at all. So you need to have a talk with

yourself. Do I just WAN T to eat or do I really NEED to eat?

>

> 11. You are not on a diet, but you are making a LIFESTYLE change and that is

good because you can do this for the rest of your life. You will NEVER be able

to eat like you used to. That is good because that is how we got fat. You will

morn the loss of food—you will look around and see others inhaling all this food

and you think to yourself—I used to eat like that. You will notice how fast

people eat and inhale their food and talk and hardly chew what they are eating.

That is pretty normal feeling to have—because you are now eating such small

amounts of food and chewing and chewing. You will never be able to guzzle a

bottle of water again—that is OK too. These are all good things. In time you

will look at all the food people are eating and thinking to yourself oh my gosh

I could never eat that much again—it is way too much food.

>

> 12. When you have issues or problems come back to the board and ask others who

have already done this. We are here to help and support you.

>

> 13. Give or exchange all your fat clothes away. You will never need them

again after they become too big for you. This weight loss is something you will

be able to maintain for the rest of your life. You have earned the right to

have new clothes.

>

> 14. Make sure you have the VERY best doctor that has had a lot of experience

with sleeve surgery and check his success rates out. Check the doctor for HIGH

patient reviews from the people who have gone to him or her. I can NOT STRESSS

this enough. Make sure that your surgery is being done in a hospital NOT a

Clinic. One clue that it is a clinic is if they send you to a hotel room to

recover—that is why they cost less, this is also dangerous too. YOU are worth

the extra money that it cost to have this WLS in a Hospital and by the best

Doctor you can have. You want to have a happy and GREAT life and having the

RIGHT Doctor and Hospital are the key to this.

>

> Sorry if this is long, but it is intended to have as a reference and answer a

lot of your questions that you might have. For some of you, you are very lucky

because your health insurance is now starting to pay for Weight Loss Surgery.

For many of this, we did not have your luck, so we are self pay patients. There

are companies that loan money for this surgery—be aware that their interest rate

is high. Once you pick your doctor ask them about these companies that give

loans for surgery if you are a self pay patient.

>

> You know we never think twice about making car payments. If you have to

borrow the money for this surgery just look at this as " body payment. " It will

be the best money you have ever borrowed. Please PRINT this out to read later.

If you have any questions for me please feel free to contact me. I had surgery

almost 3 years ago, so I do have quite a bit of experience. I really am here to

help you along your journey. It took me 14 months to lose this weight and I was

63 when I had the surgery, so it is NEVER too late in life to do this.

>

[Guest guest]

Hey,

Thanks so much. I had such wonderful support from people on this board. It is just another way to give back and help others.

Hugs, Suzanne

In a message dated 7/8/2011 7:54:24 P.M. Pacific Daylight Time, jengyrn3@... writes:

What a wonderful reference for newbies... Thank you sooo much!!>> Hi Everyone,> I decided that I would make a list of things for new people who are thinking about having WLS that might be helpful to them. This is long so please PRINT THIS OUT TO READ if you don't want to read it all at one time.> > 1. First thing is to start asking people on the board you are on all kinds of questions—make of list of things you want to ask and keep coming back and ask more questions as time goes on. The more questions that ask the more you educate yourself about WLS and the process and what doctor they liked. Don't rely on just one source of information. It is really normal to have all kind of feeling and emotions when trying to decide if you want to have Weight Loss Surgery. I must have talked myself in and out of doing this at least 50 times during my 6 months of research. My only regret is that I didn't do it sooner. This is a big step. But if diet and exercise worked for us then we still wouldn't be fat and would have lost the weight a long time ago and never regained it. It takes a lot of courage to have Weight Loss Surgery. I am very proud of you for looking into this. Don't give any more days of your life being overweight, and your body hurting along with being unhealthy. WLS really is your answer.> > 2. How do you select your surgeon? First of all this is NOT a time to price shop for the cheapest doctor to do your WLS—that is just the wrong way to go at this. There are a lot of doctors who advertise on the Internet doing sleeve surgery for a lot less than some other doctors. I found one posting from a person who had the following concerns after having surgery in Tijuana, Mexico. (a) They put NO name band on her to be able to ID her when giving medications or anything else. ( NO one asked if she had any allergies to foods or medications—thank goodness this person didn't have any. ( The lab did NOT label tubes of blood with the person's name on it—very dangerous. © Day after surgery they gave this person ice chips, tea and apple juice. The next day (day 2) they gave this person NOTHING so this person asked why and the nurse said this person wasn't allowed to eat anything. Well, this person then said I had clear liquids the day before and they wanted to know WHO gave it to this person?? (d) This person was told that they would get a copy of the operative report on their discharge to take home with them—This person has not received it yet and that was about 2 weeks ago. So make sure have positive feedback about the Surgeon and Staff and Hospital that you choose. My choice after 6 months of research was Dr. Aceves in Mexicali, Mexico. What I can tell you in my opinion is that he is the very best you will ever find to do your surgery. I can only speak about my experience and my research that I did before I made him my choice for a surgeon.> > 3. Pack lightly for your WLS. So many of us have gone to Mexico, so you want a small suitcase with wheels, a laptop & a cell phone. The clothing that you wear to Mexico are the same ones you can wear home—slip on shoes work great too. Make sure that the clothing is loose fitting. Something just comfortable for your ride home. While in Mexico—that is if you go to Mexico for WLS make sure you take GAS-X. They have nothing in Mexico that they give your for gas, and the use gas in your abdominal area during surgery. It is painful after the surgery, so GAS-X STRIPS are easy to use by just placing them on your tongue. Take a couple of boxes with you—you will be glad you did. If you are going to use a credit card make sure you tell your credit card company and your Bank if you use your debit card or credit card. Sometimes if you DO NOT let these companies know you are outside of the US they block your charges. Use a credit card or debit card vs cash it is much easier to use. Take small amounts of cash for tips—I took $45.00 in 1's for tip money for various things. If you go to any hospital anywhere leave ALL jewelry at home –just a watch and no rings or other jewelry. I never had any problems at all leaving my purse and computer & cell phone in my room while I was in surgery, but they recommend that you leave all jewelry at home. If you are a lady please remove all nail polish—they need it removed to see your nail beds during surgery.> > 4. The first month you do after surgery is the HARDEST month you will ever have to do. You do 10 days of nothing but clear liquids to start with—that means you have to be able to see through the liquid. Do not panic if you can not get the protein they want you to have the 1st 10 days—I couldn't find anything I liked that was clear during the 1st 10 days. They want you to try to drink 64 oz each day, and I don't think I could ever get that much water drank—just do the best you can. Your new stomach has just had major surgery and it is swollen and will only hold something about the size of your thumb. The next 10 days gets much better—you are now on creamy liquids for these 10 days. You can now have some creamy soups, yogurt, and pudding—sugar free and find a protein drink that you like. For me it is Premier Protein Drink and I get mine at Costco. When looking for a protein drink, make sure they are low in calories, high in Protein—Premier has 30 grams of protein in each drink box and make sure you have low carbs too. I know there are a lot of other protein drinks out there that people like. When it comes to carbs I tried to keep mine at no more than 20 carbs per day. Ask others what kind of Protein drinks they liked and where they get them. The last 10 days are mushy foods. So this is a bit of a challenge. How many foods can I make mushy? I even considered using some baby foods. Start thinking about what will work as mushy foods for you.> > 5. Starting the 2nd month is quite an adventure. You can eat regular food. Here is where the relearning process takes place. You now will take tiny BABY BITES of food and chew each bit about 30 times or until it is like a liquid. From here on out you will need to take small bites of food and chew and chew and chew. I found out that chicken and fish were a lot easier to chew up. I don't eat much red meat—your tastes will change and things you didn't like a lot might taste good and something that you used to love don't taste that great anymore. Keep track of what you are eating and keep your calories at about 800 calories per day and no more than 20 carbs per day—whole grain carbs are the best to have—NO white or refined carbs. I highly suggest that you keep track by writing them down or using some of the Internet sites that offers you this. I suggest this site it works great there are other sites to use this is just a suggestion. http://www.livestrong.com/thedailyplate/ It really is good to write down and track everything you put in your mouth to start with—that is how you know that you have not had more than 800 calories per day.> > 6. I want you to understand weight loss surgery is just a tool. The fat doesn't not just melt off of you—they is NO miracle cure. Now you have to put a lot of effort into eating healthy and starting to exercise. Everyone has some kind of exercise that works for them. I love walking and try to walk about 5 days a week.> > 7. For many of us we started to lose some of our hair 3 or 4 months after having WLS. I would find a lot of hair in the shower after washing my hair. That is pretty normal for a lot of us—this does not happen to everyone. There is no magical cure for hair loss—some people use different shampoo's or take Biotin. It happens and you live with it. YES, it will grow back. For me I had pencil straight hair and mine grew back natural curly and I love it now. I already had thin hair so for me, I got some cute wigs and wore them for about 9 months until my hair looked a lot better. It was worth the hair loss to lose 105 pounds.> > 8. Because we eat a lot of protein we suffer from constipation. You need to have at least 70 grams of protein EACH day. So I mix my protein drink each morning with MIRALAX. It is NOT habit forming and is tasteless and it is just a good way to start off the day. I put the protein and a cap full of Miralax in the blender with about 5 small ice cubes and that is my breakfast. 3 years later I still have this for breakfast and nothing else, it just works for me.> > 9. You may have periods where you have what we call STALLS. You may be doing everything right and eating and exercising and you have NO weight loss for a week or more. This is normal—mine lasted 9 days. Don't panic the weight loss will start up again, just keep doing what you are doing.> > 10. Our heads play games with us sometimes it is ugly what our brain tried to convince us of—We call these "Head Games" and they really are tough times to work though, but you can do it. Your head is still thinking with your old brain and way of thinking that you have been doing for most of your life. You now are eating VERY small amount of food, but your head is used to you eating LARGE amounts of food and that is what your brain wants—so it tries to tell you the you should be eating more—NOT true at all. So you need to have a talk with yourself. Do I just WAN T to eat or do I really NEED to eat? > > 11. You are not on a diet, but you are making a LIFESTYLE change and that is good because you can do this for the rest of your life. You will NEVER be able to eat like you used to. That is good because that is how we got fat. You will morn the loss of food—you will look around and see others inhaling all this food and you think to yourself—I used to eat like that. You will notice how fast people eat and inhale their food and talk and hardly chew what they are eating. That is pretty normal feeling to have—because you are now eating such small amounts of food and chewing and chewing. You will never be able to guzzle a bottle of water again—that is OK too. These are all good things. In time you will look at all the food people are eating and thinking to yourself oh my gosh I could never eat that much again—it is way too much food.> > 12. When you have issues or problems come back to the board and ask others who have already done this. We are here to help and support you.> > 13. Give or exchange all your fat clothes away. You will never need them again after they become too big for you. This weight loss is something you will be able to maintain for the rest of your life. You have earned the right to have new clothes.> > 14. Make sure you have the VERY best doctor that has had a lot of experience with sleeve surgery and check his success rates out. Check the doctor for HIGH patient reviews from the people who have gone to him or her. I can NOT STRESSS this enough. Make sure that your surgery is being done in a hospital NOT a Clinic. One clue that it is a clinic is if they send you to a hotel room to recover—that is why they cost less, this is also dangerous too. YOU are worth the extra money that it cost to have this WLS in a Hospital and by the best Doctor you can have. You want to have a happy and GREAT life and having the RIGHT Doctor and Hospital are the key to this.> > Sorry if this is long, but it is intended to have as a reference and answer a lot of your questions that you might have. For some of you, you are very lucky because your health insurance is now starting to pay for Weight Loss Surgery. For many of this, we did not have your luck, so we are self pay patients. There are companies that loan money for this surgery—be aware that their interest rate is high. Once you pick your doctor ask them about these companies that give loans for surgery if you are a self pay patient. > > You know we never think twice about making car payments. If you have to borrow the money for this surgery just look at this as "body payment." It will be the best money you have ever borrowed. Please PRINT this out to read later. If you have any questions for me please feel free to contact me. I had surgery almost 3 years ago, so I do have quite a bit of experience. I really am here to help you along your journey. It took me 14 months to lose this weight and I was 63 when I had the surgery, so it is NEVER too late in life to do this.>

[Guest guest]

Thank you, Suzanne! Lots of great information!

>

> Hi Everyone,

> I decided that I would make a list of things for new people who are thinking

about having WLS that might be helpful to them. This is long so please PRINT

THIS OUT TO READ if you don't want to read it all at one time.

>

> 1. First thing is to start asking people on the board you are on all kinds of

questions�make of list of things you want to ask and keep coming back and ask

more questions as time goes on. The more questions that ask the more you

educate yourself about WLS and the process and what doctor they liked. Don't

rely on just one source of information. It is really normal to have all kind of

feeling and emotions when trying to decide if you want to have Weight Loss

Surgery. I must have talked myself in and out of doing this at least 50 times

during my 6 months of research. My only regret is that I didn't do it sooner.

This is a big step. But if diet and exercise worked for us then we still

wouldn't be fat and would have lost the weight a long time ago and never

regained it. It takes a lot of courage to have Weight Loss Surgery. I am very

proud of you for looking into this. Don't give any more days of your life being

overweight, and your body hurting along with being unhealthy. WLS really is

your answer.

>

> 2. How do you select your surgeon? First of all this is NOT a time to price

shop for the cheapest doctor to do your WLS�that is just the wrong way to go

at this. There are a lot of doctors who advertise on the Internet doing sleeve

surgery for a lot less than some other doctors. I found one posting from a

person who had the following concerns after having surgery in Tijuana, Mexico.

(a) They put NO name band on her to be able to ID her when giving medications or

anything else. ( NO one asked if she had any allergies to foods or

medications�thank goodness this person didn't have any. ( The lab did NOT

label tubes of blood with the person's name on it�very dangerous. © Day

after surgery they gave this person ice chips, tea and apple juice. The next

day (day 2) they gave this person NOTHING so this person asked why and the nurse

said this person wasn't allowed to eat anything. Well, this person then said I

had clear liquids the day before and they wanted to know WHO gave it to this

person?? (d) This person was told that they would get a copy of the operative

report on their discharge to take home with them�This person has not received

it yet and that was about 2 weeks ago. So make sure have positive feedback about

the Surgeon and Staff and Hospital that you choose. My choice after 6 months of

research was Dr. Aceves in Mexicali, Mexico. What I can tell you in my opinion

is that he is the very best you will ever find to do your surgery. I can only

speak about my experience and my research that I did before I made him my choice

for a surgeon.

>

> 3. Pack lightly for your WLS. So many of us have gone to Mexico, so you want

a small suitcase with wheels, a laptop & a cell phone. The clothing that you

wear to Mexico are the same ones you can wear home�slip on shoes work great

too. Make sure that the clothing is loose fitting. Something just comfortable

for your ride home. While in Mexico�that is if you go to Mexico for WLS make

sure you take GAS-X. They have nothing in Mexico that they give your for gas,

and the use gas in your abdominal area during surgery. It is painful after the

surgery, so GAS-X STRIPS are easy to use by just placing them on your tongue.

Take a couple of boxes with you�you will be glad you did. If you are going to

use a credit card make sure you tell your credit card company and your Bank if

you use your debit card or credit card. Sometimes if you DO NOT let these

companies know you are outside of the US they block your charges. Use a credit

card or debit card vs cash it is much easier to use. Take small amounts of

cash for tips�I took $45.00 in 1's for tip money for various things. If you go

to any hospital anywhere leave ALL jewelry at home �just a watch and no rings

or other jewelry. I never had any problems at all leaving my purse and

computer & cell phone in my room while I was in surgery, but they recommend that

you leave all jewelry at home. If you are a lady please remove all nail

polish�they need it removed to see your nail beds during surgery.

>

> 4. The first month you do after surgery is the HARDEST month you will ever

have to do. You do 10 days of nothing but clear liquids to start with�that

means you have to be able to see through the liquid. Do not panic if you can

not get the protein they want you to have the 1st 10 days�I couldn't find

anything I liked that was clear during the 1st 10 days. They want you to try to

drink 64 oz each day, and I don't think I could ever get that much water

drank�just do the best you can. Your new stomach has just had major surgery

and it is swollen and will only hold something about the size of your thumb.

The next 10 days gets much better�you are now on creamy liquids for these 10

days. You can now have some creamy soups, yogurt, and pudding�sugar free and

find a protein drink that you like. For me it is Premier Protein Drink and I

get mine at Costco. When looking for a protein drink, make sure they are low in

calories, high in Protein�Premier has 30 grams of protein in each drink box

and make sure you have low carbs too. I know there are a lot of other protein

drinks out there that people like. When it comes to carbs I tried to keep mine

at no more than 20 carbs per day. Ask others what kind of Protein drinks they

liked and where they get them. The last 10 days are mushy foods. So this is a

bit of a challenge. How many foods can I make mushy? I even considered using

some baby foods. Start thinking about what will work as mushy foods for you.

>

> 5. Starting the 2nd month is quite an adventure. You can eat regular food.

Here is where the relearning process takes place. You now will take tiny BABY

BITES of food and chew each bit about 30 times or until it is like a liquid.

From here on out you will need to take small bites of food and chew and chew and

chew. I found out that chicken and fish were a lot easier to chew up. I don't

eat much red meat�your tastes will change and things you didn't like a lot

might taste good and something that you used to love don't taste that great

anymore. Keep track of what you are eating and keep your calories at about 800

calories per day and no more than 20 carbs per day�whole grain carbs are the

best to have�NO white or refined carbs. I highly suggest that you keep track

by writing them down or using some of the Internet sites that offers you this.

I suggest this site it works great there are other sites to use this is just a

suggestion. http://www.livestrong.com/thedailyplate/ It really is good to

write down and track everything you put in your mouth to start with�that is

how you know that you have not had more than 800 calories per day.

>

> 6. I want you to understand weight loss surgery is just a tool. The fat

doesn't not just melt off of you�they is NO miracle cure. Now you have to put

a lot of effort into eating healthy and starting to exercise. Everyone has some

kind of exercise that works for them. I love walking and try to walk about 5

days a week.

>

> 7. For many of us we started to lose some of our hair 3 or 4 months after

having WLS. I would find a lot of hair in the shower after washing my hair. That

is pretty normal for a lot of us�this does not happen to everyone. There is

no magical cure for hair loss�some people use different shampoo's or take

Biotin. It happens and you live with it. YES, it will grow back. For me I had

pencil straight hair and mine grew back natural curly and I love it now. I

already had thin hair so for me, I got some cute wigs and wore them for about 9

months until my hair looked a lot better. It was worth the hair loss to lose

105 pounds.

>

> 8. Because we eat a lot of protein we suffer from constipation. You need to

have at least 70 grams of protein EACH day. So I mix my protein drink each

morning with MIRALAX. It is NOT habit forming and is tasteless and it is just a

good way to start off the day. I put the protein and a cap full of Miralax in

the blender with about 5 small ice cubes and that is my breakfast. 3 years

later I still have this for breakfast and nothing else, it just works for me.

>

> 9. You may have periods where you have what we call STALLS. You may be doing

everything right and eating and exercising and you have NO weight loss for a

week or more. This is normal�mine lasted 9 days. Don't panic the weight loss

will start up again, just keep doing what you are doing.

>

> 10. Our heads play games with us sometimes it is ugly what our brain tried to

convince us of�We call these " Head Games " and they really are tough times to

work though, but you can do it. Your head is still thinking with your old brain

and way of thinking that you have been doing for most of your life. You now are

eating VERY small amount of food, but your head is used to you eating LARGE

amounts of food and that is what your brain wants�so it tries to tell you the

you should be eating more�NOT true at all. So you need to have a talk with

yourself. Do I just WAN T to eat or do I really NEED to eat?

>

> 11. You are not on a diet, but you are making a LIFESTYLE change and that is

good because you can do this for the rest of your life. You will NEVER be able

to eat like you used to. That is good because that is how we got fat. You will

morn the loss of food�you will look around and see others inhaling all this

food and you think to yourself�I used to eat like that. You will notice how

fast people eat and inhale their food and talk and hardly chew what they are

eating. That is pretty normal feeling to have�because you are now eating such

small amounts of food and chewing and chewing. You will never be able to guzzle

a bottle of water again�that is OK too. These are all good things. In time

you will look at all the food people are eating and thinking to yourself oh my

gosh I could never eat that much again�it is way too much food.

>

> 12. When you have issues or problems come back to the board and ask others who

have already done this. We are here to help and support you.

>

> 13. Give or exchange all your fat clothes away. You will never need them

again after they become too big for you. This weight loss is something you will

be able to maintain for the rest of your life. You have earned the right to

have new clothes.

>

> 14. Make sure you have the VERY best doctor that has had a lot of experience

with sleeve surgery and check his success rates out. Check the doctor for HIGH

patient reviews from the people who have gone to him or her. I can NOT STRESSS

this enough. Make sure that your surgery is being done in a hospital NOT a

Clinic. One clue that it is a clinic is if they send you to a hotel room to

recover�that is why they cost less, this is also dangerous too. YOU are worth

the extra money that it cost to have this WLS in a Hospital and by the best

Doctor you can have. You want to have a happy and GREAT life and having the

RIGHT Doctor and Hospital are the key to this.

>

> Sorry if this is long, but it is intended to have as a reference and answer a

lot of your questions that you might have. For some of you, you are very lucky

because your health insurance is now starting to pay for Weight Loss Surgery.

For many of this, we did not have your luck, so we are self pay patients. There

are companies that loan money for this surgery�be aware that their interest

rate is high. Once you pick your doctor ask them about these companies that

give loans for surgery if you are a self pay patient.

>

> You know we never think twice about making car payments. If you have to

borrow the money for this surgery just look at this as " body payment. " It will

be the best money you have ever borrowed. Please PRINT this out to read later.

If you have any questions for me please feel free to contact me. I had surgery

almost 3 years ago, so I do have quite a bit of experience. I really am here to

help you along your journey. It took me 14 months to lose this weight and I was

63 when I had the surgery, so it is NEVER too late in life to do this.

>

[Guest guest]

Hi,

You are welcome, I have a few more things I am working on that I will put out. It is an easy way to answer a lot of different questions. I am ALWAYS here for you if you have more questions or you get scared and just want to talk.

Hugs,

Suzanne

In a message dated 07/11/11 07:37:23 Pacific Daylight Time, judyalbertson writes:

Thank you, Suzanne! Lots of great information!>> Hi Everyone,> I decided that I would make a list of things for new people who are thinking about having WLS that might be helpful to them. This is long so please PRINT THIS OUT TO READ if you don't want to read it all at one time.> > 1. First thing is to start asking people on the board you are on all kinds of questions�make of list of things you want to ask and keep coming back and ask more questions as time goes on. The more questions that ask the more you educate yourself about WLS and the process and what doctor they liked. Don't rely on just one source of information. It is really normal to have all kind of feeling and emotions when trying to decide if you want to have Weight Loss Surgery. I must have talked myself in and out of doing this at least 50 times during my 6 months of research. My only regret is that I didn't do it sooner. This is a big step. But if diet and exercise worked for us then we still wouldn't be fat and would have lost the weight a long time ago and never regained it. It takes a lot of courage to have Weight Loss Surgery. I am very proud of you for looking into this. Don't give any more days of your life being overweight, and your body hurting along with being unhealthy. WLS really is your answer.> > 2. How do you select your surgeon? First of all this is NOT a time to price shop for the cheapest doctor to do your WLS�that is just the wrong way to go at this. There are a lot of doctors who advertise on the Internet doing sleeve surgery for a lot less than some other doctors. I found one posting from a person who had the following concerns after having surgery in Tijuana, Mexico. (a) They put NO name band on her to be able to ID her when giving medications or anything else. ( NO one asked if she had any allergies to foods or medications�thank goodness this person didn't have any. ( The lab did NOT label tubes of blood with the person's name on it�very dangerous. © Day after surgery they gave this person ice chips, tea and apple juice. The next day (day 2) they gave this person NOTHING so this person asked why and the nurse said this person wasn't allowed to eat anything. Well, this person then said I had clear liquids the day before and they wanted to know WHO gave it to this person?? (d) This person was told that they would get a copy of the operative report on their discharge to take home with them�This person has not received it yet and that was about 2 weeks ago. So make sure have positive feedback about the Surgeon and Staff and Hospital that you choose. My choice after 6 months of research was Dr. Aceves in

Mexicali, Mexico. What I can tell you in my opinion is that he is the very best you will ever find to do your surgery. I can only speak about my experience and my research that I did before I made him my choice for a surgeon.> > 3. Pack lightly for your WLS. So many of us have gone to Mexico, so you want a small suitcase with wheels, a laptop & a cell phone. The clothing that you wear to Mexico are the same ones you can wear home�slip on shoes work great too. Make sure that the clothing is loose fitting. Something just comfortable for your ride home. While in Mexico�that is if you go to Mexico for WLS make sure you take GAS-X. They have nothing in Mexico that they give your for gas, and the use gas in your abdominal area during surgery. It is painful after the surgery, so GAS-X STRIPS are easy to use by just placing them on your tongue. Take a couple of boxes with you�you will be glad you did. If you are going to use a credit card make sure you tell your credit card company and your Bank if you use your debit card or credit card. Sometimes if you DO NOT let these companies know you are outside of the US they block your charges. Use a credit card or debit card vs cash it is much easier to use. Take small amounts of cash for tips�I took $45.00 in 1's for tip money for various things. If you go to any hospital anywhere leave ALL jewelry at home �just a watch and no rings or other jewelry. I never had any problems at all leaving my purse and computer & cell phone in my room while I was in surgery, but they recommend that you leave all jewelry at home. If you are a lady please remove all nail polish�they need it removed to see your nail beds during surgery.> > 4. The first month you do after surgery is the HARDEST month you will ever have to do. You do 10 days of nothing but clear liquids to start with�that means you have to be able to see through the liquid. Do not panic if you can not get the protein they want you to have the 1st 10 days�I couldn't find anything I liked that was clear during the 1st 10 days. They want you to try to drink 64 oz each day, and I don't think I could ever get that much water drank�just do the best you can. Your new stomach has just had major surgery and it is swollen and will only hold something about the size of your thumb. The next 10 days gets much better�you are now on creamy liquids for these 10 days. You can now have some creamy soups, yogurt, and pudding�sugar free and find a protein drink that you like. For me it is Premier Protein Drink and I get mine at Costco. When looking for a protein drink, make sure they are low in calories, high in Protein�Premier has 30 grams of protein in each drink box and make sure you have low carbs too. I know there are a lot of other protein drinks out there that people like. When it comes to carbs I tried to keep mine at no more than 20 carbs per day. As

k others what kind of Protein drinks they liked and where they get them. The last 10 days are mushy foods. So this is a bit of a challenge. How many foods can I make mushy? I even considered using some baby foods. Start thinking about what will work as mushy foods for you.> > 5. Starting the 2nd month is quite an adventure. You can eat regular food. Here is where the relearning process takes place. You now will take tiny BABY BITES of food and chew each bit about 30 times or until it is like a liquid. From here on out you will need to take small bites of food and chew and chew and chew. I found out that chicken and fish were a lot easier to chew up. I don't eat much red meat�your tastes will change and things you didn't like a lot might taste good and something that you used to love don't taste that great anymore. Keep track of what you are eating and keep your calories at about 800 calories per day and no more than 20 carbs per day�whole grain carbs are the best to have�NO white or refined carbs. I highly suggest that you keep track by writing them down or using some of the Internet sites that offers you this. I suggest this site it works great there are other sites to use this is just a suggestion. http://www.livestrong.com/thedailyplate/ It really is good to write down and track everything you put in your mouth to start with�that is how you know that you have not had more than 800 calories per day.> > 6. I want you to understand weight loss surgery is just a tool. The fat doesn't not just melt off of you�they is NO miracle cure. Now you have to put a lot of effort into eating healthy and starting to exercise. Everyone has some kind of exercise that works for them. I love walking and try to walk about 5 days a week.> > 7. For many

of us we started to lose some of our hair 3 or 4 months after having WLS. I would find a lot of hair in the shower after washing my hair. That is pretty normal for a lot of us�this does not happen to everyone. There is no magical cure for hair loss�some people use different shampoo's or take Biotin. It happens and you live with it. YES, it will grow back. For me I had pencil straight hair and mine grew back natural curly and I love it now. I already had thin hair so for me, I got some cute wigs and wore them for about 9 months until my hair looked a lot better. It was worth the hair loss to lose 105 pounds.> > 8. Because we eat a lot of protein we suffer from constipation. You need to have at least 70 grams of protein EACH day. So I mix my protein drink each morning with MIRALAX. It is NOT habit forming and is tasteless and it is just a good way to start off the day. I put the protein and a cap full of Miralax in the blender with about 5 small ice cu

bes and that is my breakfast. 3 years later I still have this for breakfast and nothing else, it just works for me.> > 9. You may have periods where you have what we call STALLS. You may be doing everything right and eating and exercising and you have NO weight loss for a week or more. This is normal�mine lasted 9 days. Don't panic the weight loss will start up again, just keep doing what you are doing.> > 10. Our heads play games with us sometimes it is ugly what our brain tried to convince us of�We call these "Head Games" and they really are tough times to work though, but you can do it. Your head is still thinking with your old brain and way of thinking that you have been doing for most of your life. You now are eating VERY small amount of food, but your head is used to you eating LARGE amounts of food and that is what your brain wants�so it tries to tell you the you should be eating more�NOT true at all. So you need to have

a talk with yourself. Do I just WAN T to eat or do I really NEED to eat? > > 11. You are not on a diet, but you are making a LIFESTYLE change and that is good because you can do this for the rest of your life. You will NEVER be able to eat like you used to. That is good because that is how we got fat. You will morn the loss of food�you will look around and see others inhaling all this food and you think to yourself�I used to eat like that. You will notice how fast people eat and inhale their food and talk and hardly chew what they are eating. That is pretty normal feeling to have�because you are now eating such small amounts of food and chewing and chewing. You will never be able to guzzle a bottle of water again�that is OK too. These are all good things. In time you will look at all the food people are eating and thinking to yourself oh my gosh I could never eat that much again�it is way too much food.> > 12. When you ha

ve issues or problems come back to the board and ask others who have already done this. We are here to help and support you.> > 13. Give or exchange all your fat clothes away. You will never need them again after they become too big for you. This weight loss is something you will be able to maintain for the rest of your life. You have earned the right to have new clothes.> > 14. Make sure you have the VERY best doctor that has had a lot of experience with sleeve surgery and check his success rates out. Check the doctor for HIGH patient reviews from the people who have gone to him or her. I can NOT STRESSS this enough. Make sure that your surgery is being done in a hospital NOT a Clinic. One clue that it is a clinic is if they send you to a hotel room to recover�that is why they cost less, this is also dangerous too. YOU are worth the extra money that it cost to have this WLS in a Hospital and by the best Doctor you can have. You want to have a happy and GREAT life and having the RIGHT Doctor and Hospital are the key to this.> > Sorry if this is long, but it is intended to have as a reference and answer a lot of your questions that you might have. For some of you, you are very lucky because your health insurance is now starting to pay for Weight Loss Surgery. For many of this, we did not have your luck, so we are self pay patients. There are companies that loan money for this surgery�be aware that their interest rate is high. Once you pick your doctor ask them about these companies that give loans for surgery if you are a self pay patient. > > You know we never think twice about making car payments. If you have to borrow the money for this surgery just look at this as "body payment." It will be the best money you have ever borrowed. Please PRINT this out to read later. If you have any questions for me please feel free to contact me. I had surgery almost 3 years ago, so I do have q

uite a bit of experience. I really am here to help you along your journey. It took me 14 months to lose this weight and I was 63 when I had the surgery, so it is NEVER too late in life to do this.>

[Guest guest]

Hi,

The have very comfortable sofas for him to sleep on--nice soft leather ones. NO there is no hotel next to the hospital. The transportation is great if you are flying into San Diego. The hospital will send Ernesto in a very nice comfortable van to pick you up and take you to the hospital--the ride takes about 1 1/2 hours, then to a hotel that afternoon. He picks you up the next morning and takes you back to the hospital for your surgery. When it is time to leave and go home he takes you back to the airport. This is ALL included in your price of the surgery. I did tip Ernesto $25.00 at the end for all that he does in taking care of getting you every place you need to go. Your husband can use your private bathroom and they will give him sheets, a pillow and a blanket for sleeping on the sofa. They have TV in each room. They will also give him towels to use when he showers--sometimes you have to ask for the towels, but they are happy to give them to you. They have an excellent cafe that he can eat all 3 meals at if he wants. Tell him to ask for the menu in ENGLISH. The food is really good and very low priced I thought. Have him use a debit or credit card to pay for food--it is just much easier to do it that way. Make sure you tell your bank or credit card company that you will be using these cards in Mexico and the dates you will be using them. Sometimes some of the people who are there with other patients get together and go out and eat at some of the local places around the hospital too.

If you have any more questions please ask. I hope that helped you.

I wish you great success with your WLS and your new journey you are about to do.

Hugs,

Suzanne

In a message dated 8/4/2011 8:40:50 A.M. Pacific Daylight Time, dazingdawg@... writes:

So I have a question for those of you who have traveled with a friend or partner. What are the sleeping accomodations like? I am trying to figure out if it would be best to get my hubby a hotel or is there something comfortable im the room for him to sleep on? Is there a hotel next to the hospital? What is transportatkon like?

[Guest guest]

Just be sure to call your credit card company first. I did not know that my credit card company charged me some type of fee for usage in a foreign country and I had an additional fee tagged on to every single charge I made :-(

From: SuzanneSH@...Date: Thu, 4 Aug 2011 12:14:20 -0400Subject: Re: Re: Question you might have about Weight Loss Surgery

Hi,

The have very comfortable sofas for him to sleep on--nice soft leather ones. NO there is no hotel next to the hospital. The transportation is great if you are flying into San Diego. The hospital will send Ernesto in a very nice comfortable van to pick you up and take you to the hospital--the ride takes about 1 1/2 hours, then to a hotel that afternoon. He picks you up the next morning and takes you back to the hospital for your surgery. When it is time to leave and go home he takes you back to the airport. This is ALL included in your price of the surgery. I did tip Ernesto $25.00 at the end for all that he does in taking care of getting you every place you need to go. Your husband can use your private bathroom and they will give him sheets, a pillow and a blanket for sleeping on the sofa. They have TV in each room. They will also give him towels to use when he showers--sometimes you have to ask for the towels, but they are happy to give them to you. They have an excellent cafe that he can eat all 3 meals at if he wants. Tell him to ask for the menu in ENGLISH. The food is really good and very low priced I thought. Have him use a debit or credit card to pay for food--it is just much easier to do it that way. Make sure you tell your bank or credit card company that you will be using these cards in Mexico and the dates you will be using them. Sometimes some of the people who are there with other patients get together and go out and eat at some of the local places around the hospital too.

If you have any more questions please ask. I hope that helped you.

I wish you great success with your WLS and your new journey you are about to do.

Hugs,

Suzanne

In a message dated 8/4/2011 8:40:50 A.M. Pacific Daylight Time, dazingdawg@... writes:

So I have a question for those of you who have traveled with a friend or partner. What are the sleeping accomodations like? I am trying to figure out if it would be best to get my hubby a hotel or is there something comfortable im the room for him to sleep on? Is there a hotel next to the hospital? What is transportatkon like?