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on July 21, 2008 6:49 am
Surgery Day, April 5, 2008
Three months and one week later and feeling great!
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Surgeon Testimonial Guillermo Alvarez M.D. My whole experience has been wonderful. I found so much information on weight loss surgery on Obesityhelp.com. That's where I found out about VSG. I checked out the forums and found the VSG group to be happier with their surgery and results as well as reporting fewer side effects and complaints. I decided on the VSG and started looking all over the Internet for the doctor most experienced. Dr. Alvarez was by far the most experienced and the best price I found anywhere. Susan made the planning go so smoothly and had answers to all of my questions. She did the initial evaluation and sent the information to the doctor. She kept me informed of everything through phone calls and email and provided a ton of emotional support. I feel like I know her although I haven’t met her. Rosie picked me up in San Antonio along with Leigh Ann, another lady going for the surgery. Susan had put is in touch by email and it was great having someone there I felt like I knew. The ride there was actually fun. We laughed and talked silliness, mostly out of nervousness, all the way there. Leigh Ann and I went out to have a late lunch in Piedras Negras the afternoon before surgery and had a wonderful meal. Just forget the margaritas! They were delicious but caused us both to be dehydrated and made the blood work harder than it needed to be. Of course, we told the doctor. Meeting Dr Alvarez was almost anticlimactic because I felt like I already knew him. He was exactly like everyone said, polite, calm and professional. He paid 100% personal attention to each of us. Although he must have had a ton to do he never appeared rushed or that he was trying to move us along a conveyor belt. He was also as charming and good-looking as everyone said he was. We each had a weigh in along with our personal interview with the doctor and met his gorgeous assistant Dr. Gabriel Rosales. We got to see the outgoing patients who were headed back to San Antonio. It was reassuring to see them looking well, although walking a bit gingerly. We got our room assignments and as we walked toward our rooms we got to see the hospital. It was very old fashioned with nurses in white uniforms and paper caps. I noticed then and every other time I was out of my room that there was ALWAYS someone mopping and cleaning. The rooms were really nice and had computers with Internet access. We had blood drawn (remember not to have the alcohol!) and then off to surgery. I was already passed out so didn't get to experience the famous passing through the window from one gurney onto another gurney into the clean surgery room. I'm pretty sure that's a rarity if not unknown in the United States! Saturday afternoon after surgery wasn't great. The main thing was getting the anesthesia out of our systems. I had some dry heaving which was horrible. I only had them two or three times and they were gone by Saturday night, for sure within 12 hours after surgery. I also had several rounds of nausea but didn’t throw up at all; it just felt like I was going to. I’d just go to the bathroom and spit until the sensation passed. I got nauseous maybe a half dozen times but not past Monday, two days after the surgery and it was mostly after I’d do something slightly more strenuous, like taking a shower. On Sunday, Dr. Alvarez allowed my IV to be removed. I was so glad because my hand was really swollen and the meds burned like the Dickens going into the IV port! We started on the ice chips and he said that pain meds could be taken orally and nausea meds by injection. I didn’t need either one though. Priscilla, the English speaking nurse, kept getting me up to walk but by Sunday I felt 100% better and was off the meds and walking and resting all on my own. Priscilla was wonderful and sweet. If only she could be cloned and be a night nurse also! The Spanish-speaking night nurses were sweet but the language barrier was apparent. They did, however, understand our grunts and gestures. Good caveman communication crosses every language barrier! I never had real pain from the surgery. I had stiffness, swelling and discomfort, but not pain. Within three days I could sleep on my left side and within a week I could lay comfortably on my stomach. The internal stitches itched but are healing up wonderfully! At the end of our 48-hour hospital stay Dr. Alvarez and Dr. Rosales checked us for leaks and gave us our little boxes of medications and our detailed instructions. He made sure we understood both our meds and our diets. Again, he was relaxed and spent all the time we needed and never once checked his watch. That was pretty amazing. We got to see the incoming patient as we were leaving and then Rosie took us back to San Antonio. Since I wasn’t staying in San Antonio they didn’t reserve a room for me but Leigh Ann let me take a nap in her room before I drove home to Houston. The hour nap helped quite a bit but I could really have slept another five. I had to leave to be at work Tuesday morning. I only took two days off work but one was to get there and the other was to get home. I only really missed one day of work because of the surgery. I have a desk job so could actually have worked that Monday as well, although not comfortably. The three-hour drive was fine. I stopped once to stretch and use the restroom. I was really glad to be home and get into my very own bed! I did get nauseous once just as I was leaving San Antonio but I think that trying to read directions and drive added to the stress I’d already gone through. That was about the last time I had any nausea. I can't say that I did it by myself because I had Leigh Ann, Rosie, Dr. Alvarez, Dr. Rosales, Priscilla and the night nurses all looking after me at various times. I hope I gave some of the comfort back by looking in on Leigh Ann and encouraging her as much as she did me. We are truly sleeve sisters and have a bond for life! I am hoping to afford to take my daughter and my mother for the surgery. My dream is for us all to be healthy and slim for life. I would recommend Dr. Alvarez and his team to anyone. Don't be deterred by the fact that it's in Mexico. The United States isn't the only place with good health care. I don't think I could have found better anywhere else. Member Interests
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Long2beThin's Blog
3 Month Before and After Pictures on July 21, 2008 6:49 am Surgery Day, April 5, 2008 Three months and one week later and feeling great!
Three months today... on July 5, 2008 12:22 pm Month 1, down 21 pounds
Two and a half months... on June 19, 2008 1:01 pm My weight loss is slowing down and I'm having to put more work into the process. I still feel great about it though. Maybe my skin will shrink in line with my weight loss and maybe not losing extremely fast will help me save my hair? (wishful thinking, I know!)
On Alcohol on June 16, 2008 2:35 pm I know that alcohol has empty calories and that it's recommended to wait 6 months to a year to drink.
Be the first to leave a comment.Even so, I have had a few drinks on several occasions when out with friends. It hasn't been often but I don't feel bad about going out and having a couple of drinks with a friend. I can't drink like before but have had Baileys Irish Creme and milk. It has protein and calcium, which is good, right? ;-) I’ve had Baileys in coffee, a mimosa (with the bubbles stirred out), a cranberry and vodka, and red wine. I haven't tried beer but I'm not a huge beer fan. It seems to go to my head a little bit quicker than pre vsg but I've only had one or two spaced out over an hour or more. I make sure to keep my other fluids up if I've had a drink because alcohol can cause dehydration and we are at risk already. I am being very honest and I know that there are some who will be dropping their jaw over some of my laxities. My shoes are a size 7 1/2 to an 8, depending on width and maker. You're welcome to come try them out anytime you like.
What I generally eat...
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on June 12, 2008 12:00 am I'm having coffee in the morning with a scoop of Unjury Vanilla protein powder and a packet of Diet Swiss Miss hot chocolate and about half a cup of Hoods low carb milk. It makes an awesome Cafe Mocha or Mocha Latte, whichever you prefer to call it. It has about 25 grams of protein and 170 calories.
Be the first to leave a comment.I might have a cheese stick or deli meat mid morning. For lunch it might be a cup of soup, some cottage cheese or yogurt. Mid afternoon snack is about the same as the morning. Dinnertime is difficult for me because I don't cook much. I am always working or studying so it's usually take out. I need to do better but it's a process, OK? Just kidding. So, judge me. I might have 3/4 of a slice of pizza, one Taco bell crispy taco or a junior burger with most of the bun removed. Sometimes I manage to do better and have soup, a healthy frozen dinner or eat at my moms. Recently she made a delicious frittata. My Story Hi! I am an apartment manager and college student in Houston, Texas. I have a 23 year old daughter and an 11 year old son who live at home with me. My fiance and I bought a house in the Spring Branch area last year (2007). I've been fixing it up while he is off contracting in Iraq (Starting his 3rd year now. I miss him SO MUCH!). My son has ADHD as well and is always in trouble at school. He is a sweetie with a loving heart but is never quiet or still. Sometimes I think I'll lose my mind but other times I zone him out, to both of our detriment. Despite all that, he made it through elementary school, Yeah! Today was his last day of school. Now he has to be off his meds for the summer (oh yeah) so he can gain weight and grow. He does not eat while on his meds. I am in the process of evicting my ex-husband who lives at the apartment complex where I work. He didn't pay his rent for May 2008. He just got discharged today from the hospital for what he thought was another heart attack but apparently it was just side effects from the COKE he did last weekend! So THAT'S what he did with his rent money! My daughter actually had the nerve to take him over to my house after discharge because his electricity is cut off! He is soaking up my air conditioning and watching my cable on my TV because he has utterly failed to take care of his own responsibilities. My daughter and I will be having a heart to heart tonight. My 23-year-old daughter still lives at home with me. She had CFIDS (Chronic Fatigue Immune Dysfunction Syndrome) from the age of 12 and was home bound from school for two years. She barely managed to graduate because of the physical challenge of being in school on a walker or a wheel chair and the pervasive mental fog. She has not had a relapse in several years but I'm always looking for signs. My worst fear in having children was that they might get something I couldn't fix. That was my worst nightmare. I'm so thankful for her current health. She is taking college classes online now, working part time in the child care/home workroom at our friends’ local tae kwon do after school program. She does not, however, lift a finger at home despite the fact that I work full time and am in college as well. Ok, so that's just a little bit of what I am dealing with today. Tomorrow it will be another assortment. I frequently don't deal with things as they crop up so I end up dealing with it for the long haul. It's not constructive or healthy and I am aware of that. Still, it's my baggage that I have to sort out. No more food field to keep the gremlins at bay! Sometimes I just need love and nonjudgmental support. I know damn well what I need to do. It's the HOW and the ongoing management of it all that stumps me.
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