Summer and are you still thinking about having weight loss surgery?

Hi Everyone,

I know precisely how you feel. I think it was June 2008 when I started to realize that having weight loss surgery was going to be my ONLY way to be successful. I had a friend who had weight loss surgery and I must have asked her a thousand questions about why she had WLS. She was very patient and kind and answered ALL my questions. She is a Nurse Practitioner and I really did trust her judgment. I also was not sure about going to Mexico—now I know it was the best place I could have gone because I was a self-pay patient.  Mexicali is a very safe plae to go. Their hospital has less infection rate than any USA hospital has. My insurance said NO way would they pay for WLS. My friend also encouraged me to do my own research, and also to ask other people questions—I did all those things. 

I was so sick and tired of being fat and riding the roller coaster in my life of lose the weight to only gain in back over time.  I felt like such a failure—what was wrong with me?  You are sitting there right now thinking “oh my gosh that is where I am too!" 

I am writing this to let you know that I had VGS aka the sleeve almost 4 years ago and lost 105 pounds. I have kept it off. So, this was my answer to never getting back on the roller coaster of lose it gain it back. I feel so great now! The sleeve is not a magical cure, it does require you to make some lifestyle changes and it is ONLY a tool to allow you to reach your goal. 

You can maintain that weight loss. I never feel deprived when it comes to eating. I eat small amounts of food. YES, by all means I have a small amount of desert; I just don’t do it every day. I also learned sometimes just having a small bite of something satisfies my need to have it. It is amazing how we can change our lifestyle given the right tools. I eat and cook so different than I did as a “fat person." Yes, I use the word fat because I was fat. I never want to go back to being fat. You have to have your head in the right place too if you want to be successful at this. You can NEVER go back to eating like you are doing now! It doesn’t just melt off you—sure it does the first couple of months, but it does require you to make good food choices and some exercise really does help. I walk everyday—well at least 6 days a week.

I am very prejudice because I went to Dr. Aceves in Mexicali, and I feel I got the very best care I could have ever received. He is an amazing man along with being a highly skilled surgeon. So I would have to say I highly recommend him. He has an extremely skilled staff of people that work with him. They are doctors and nurses who or very professional, but they also care about you as a person. They are all easy to talk to and will answer all your questions. They are great at always making sure you are comfortable too. They want you to be successful, and you receive all your care in a hospital—they never send you someplace else to recover.  I have never received this kind of care in the USA. They have 2 doctors who came to see me at least 2 times a day, every day I was in the hospital!  When was the last time you had this kind of care from doctors in a hospital?

If you are sitting out there trying to take that BIG step forward, please don’t give another day of your life away being obese and unhealthy. Be your own hero and take that BIG step forward and start making some plans to have weight loss surgery. You have a disease that is called obesity. If you had any other kind of disease you would do something about it right away. There is NO shame in having weight loss surgery. It is going to save your life. If you have any questions that you want to ask me please feel free to contact me. If you don’t want to ask on the board my personal E-mail is: [email protected] I am more than happy to answer any and all your questions. You can be very successful at this, NEVER give up on your dreams of being healthy and at a healthy weight.  

Hugs,
Suzanne

 Hi,
I already had my surgery.  But I do have a question.  Who does your follow-up care or responds to any post-op complications?  This is critical the first year.

Thanks,
Jill

Hi Jill,

I had VGS aka the sleeve and you have had RNY.  I had my surgery in Mexicali, Mexico and I am not sure where you had your surgery.  I think you had your surgery done in the US and the doctors who did it should tell you where to go for follow up care. Did they give you any paper work after your surgery.  It may have the information on it if you have it.

I didn't really need any follow up care other than a Full Blood Panel to know when I no longer need medications.  My Primary Care Physican was more than happy to do this for me.  She was so supportive of me going to Mexico to have the surgery--not a lot of US doctors feel this way, but she knew my insurance company was never going to pay for it. I also never had any complications.  So I really can not advise you--my suggestion is to call the place where you had your surgery done and check with them, and ask them for suggestions.

I wish you great success in your weight loss journey.  You have done something that is going to change your life and all for the better.  I do not have any regrets at all.

Hugs,
Suzanne

Any advice on how to deal with the fear ? And my family's fear....they are afraid they are gonna lose me during surgery.

On August 2, 2012 at 5:13 PM Pacific Time, Missey J. wrote: Any advice on how to deal with the fear ? And my family's fear....they are afraid they are gonna lose me during surgery.


Hi,

First of all this is ALL about you and it has nothing to do with your family.  For the first time in your life, but yourself first and sometimes we just have to do what we know is best for us.
I am sending you a couple of things I have written in the past and they pay help you. If you have any questions please send me an E-mail to my private E-mail: [email protected]. It is nice to have family support, but sometimes we just can't have it. 

They are listen to all the negative things about weight loss surgery.  They can make the choice to educate themselves or live in fear.  You are intelligent and smart and know that this is going to be your answer. There are good and bad doctors in the US and the same in Mexico.  The hospital I went to in Mexicali has less infection rate than any US hospital.  I saw 2 doctors 2 times a day while I was in the beautiful well equipped private hospital. 

Sometimes you allow fear to control you.  If you want to live a healthy life you have to take back the control.  You are going to die a lot faster from being fat than you would ever from doing something that is going to save your life.  How many more days of your life are you willing to give away to being fat and unhealthy???????
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How many more days of YOUR life are you willing to give away being fat? Each day you sit there trying to make up your mind about if you should or shouldn't’t have weight loss surgery is another day gone of your life. I know it isn't’t something that you just wake up and say “oh today I am going to schedule my weight loss surgery."  The quality of your life is NOT what you want for yourself.

You do deserve to have the very best life you can. If a doctor said to you that you were going to die if you don’t have surgery to have your appendix out you wouldn't’t think twice about having surgery to have your appendix out because the doctor told you to have it. You have a disease that is called obesity and you and I both know that you can die from that. Some of you have said “I should be able to do this on my own" why should I have weight loss surgery? Gee, if you could do this on your own you would have already done it. You have a disease and your need the “tool" to allow you to conquer losing the weight and keeping it off forever. 

You will be able to maintain your weight loss forever by making the lifestyle changes that will allow you to lose the weight. I never think I am on a diet, I never feel deprived. I eat healthy and I have a desert now and them—just not every day. When I eat a cookie, or cake or pie, I eat a very small amount—for me just tasting it works for me. The foods I eat are always in small amounts because I have a restriction—a new small stomach that does not hold a lot of food. It holds between 6 to 8 oz. but enough to meet all my needs—this is my new tool.

So instead of sitting there trying to make you mind up because I am sure you have been thinking about this for some time, STOP giving another day of your life away and start the process. I was a self-pay person. There was NO way my insurance was ever going to pay for it. 

I researched for about 6 months and my choice was Dr. Aceves. He was the most highly qualified Doctor that I found. He and his staff have more experience than any doctor I found while I was looking. Dr. Aceves’s hospital— is not a clinic, but a full hospital and it is so extremely clean and I have never been treated as well as I was treated. Dr. Aceves was in Newsweek Magazine May 14, 2012.  He is an amazing Doctor and a very nice man *****ally cares about you and wants you to be successful!!!

Please care and love yourself enough to want better for yourself. You have a skinny person inside you screaming to come out—let that skinny person out and have the surgery. The 1st month after surgery is the hardest month you will ever have to do, and it is only 30 days and you can do anything for 30 days to get to where you want to go.  If you have any question or just want to talk, send me an E-mail. I am here to help you in any way I can.

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Random thoughts

When you are thinking about having WLS I want you to think about just a few things.
1.      Saying yes means you will do something new, meet someone new most likely and make a difference in your life.

2.    Be true to yourself. It is you, your authentic self, the one you were in the first grade, before you leaned to massage your personality into a form that would suit others.

3.    Sometimes it is hard to hear the message because of all the external voices and they are so loud.

4.    Voices that are loud are always meant to bully. DO NOT BE BULLIED.

5.    So carry your courage in an easily accessible place. Be your OWN authentic person when it comes to Weight Loss Surgery. This is ALL about you and NO one else.

6.    Last you don’t need the approval of the Bully. You know what is right for you, follow your heart and go for it.

Hugs,
Suzanne