So, here are a few questions:
Not at all. My BMI was 36, and I weighed 105 kgs at 1 m 70. That is 231 pounds at 5 ft 6 inches for you non-metrics. My lowest weight was 63 kilo’s, or 139 lbs and I’ve now been steady for over one, almost two years at 143 pounds, 65 kg.
Wow, that is really not expensive at all. Can I ask, does that price include after care in any form, and what if medical complications arise? How much for airfare and hotel, so, all in? How many surgeries has your doc done? (after 75 he is experienced enough, more then 300 in total makes him an expert). Will the surgery be done laparoscopically?
Almost immediately. I lost 3 kilos after the first week, mostly because I didn’t eat pretty much anything. After that is was a steady weight loss of slightly more then a pound a week. Here’s agraphI made on a Dutch forum, I hope you can see it.
Physically, I could have gone back to my desk job after a week. But that was just about the physical healing from the surgery, and I was lucky in that I didn’t have complications. Psychologically, and in getting used to it, it was a long journey. In a way, I am still not back to normal. If you want to know how long untill I didn’t give it much thought anymore, I guess about one, one and a half years.
The diet phases are different for each doc, you should do as he prescribes. Mine prescribed one to two weeks of near liquid/pureed food and after that to introduce normal foods slowly, chewed nearly to death.
It is normal to regain about 10 % of the weight lost in the first few years. For me, I’ve regained less than that, but I’m still just two years post-op.
I have a few post-op complications that are also common in wls patients. Still, they are minor and I don’t mind them much.
Blood sugar fluctuations. Eating fast carbs, or some otehr foods (experience will teach you) can bring about a dumping reaction, but also a more subtle reaction, in blood sugar fluctuations. I need to be careful what I eat, or I get very tired very soon. I monitored myself for a while with one of those little DIY blood monitors that diabetics use.
Low blood pressure. I always had low blood pressure, but now I sometimes get dizzy when I get up too fast. A few seconds and I’m okay again.
The price includes transportation from (and back to) SanDiego to Tijuana, a hotel the night before surgery, hopsital stay for two days, then hotel for two more days after surgery. If there are complications you may have $300-$500 in hospital/medication fees, but no additional doctor fees . Airfare was really cheap from KC, at only $300 round trip. So, all in all, I spent $6800. Everything else is covered. The Dr. has done over 1500 surgeries, and is a top in his field in Mexico.
Do you have any supplements that you suggest to take, or even to NOT take?
6penningtons - Are you worried about going to Mexico because of the crime? I have some dental work I was thinking about having done there, but the crime rate has gone so high I worry about it. And I’m not normally a worry wort. Or maybe I’m projecting my dental fear into crime fear.
StG
The supplements will depend somewhat on which procedure you have as they each affect absorption of different nutrients in different ways. For a RNY, you’ll be needing crazy high amounts of B12, for example - the vitamins my husband takes give 5800% of the RDA for it. As far as brands, he uses Celebrate, but there are others. Celebrate is just the one that his surgeon recommends.
Just be sure that you’re using a bariatric formula - trying to get all that B12 with regular multivitamins would give you toxic doses of vitamin A, among others.
congratulations on your weight loss surgery!
I had the sleeve in 2008 and could not be more glad. I had “only” 100 pounds to lose which is considered a lightweight in WLS circles but I tried to lose it and never got anywhere. people say keeping it off is the hard part but I couldn’t lose it to begin with.
there is a weird anti-surgery bias in our culture which does not serve us well. you just need to eat less! don’t do it the “easy” way! bunch of BS, IMO.
FYI - I’m glad my surgery isn’t reversible, no way I’d want a giant, stretchy stomach back!
and can I take this chance to point out the band isn’t really reversible: you can take it out but there will be all kinds of scar tissue; you don’t really get your pre-band stomach back.
I just had the gastric sleeve on 10-15 and want to be that poster coming back in two years with stories of my success!
I’ve had virtually no problems since the surgery. No pain, not even discomfort. I’m on pureed foods for another 10 days or so but after having just broth right after surgery, I’m thrilled to eat “real” food.
Correct. There are plenty of brands of bariatric vitamin supplements. It takes a while of experimenting to decide what brands you like (capsule or loose powder, the taste, form, etc) and fit your schedule best. Most companies are quite willing to send you samples, because if you stick with them, they’ve got a client for life. Most brands even have services where they send you new packets by mail on a fixed schedule so you don’t even have to think about ordering new pills.
The problem with vitamin supplements is that you need both iron and calcium, but those two prevent each others uptake. So you have to take them with about 2-3 hours in between. One brand of supplements will have you take the iron separately, the other will have taken the calcium out of the mix and give it separately, along with some stuff that you digest better with just calcium (like vit D, K and magnesium). Also, bariatric patients should have crazy high dosages of vit B12, and they should contain calcium citrate instead of calcium carbonate. But all of that will be taken care of, in a specific bariatric supplement tailored for your surgery. (Yes, they offer supplements per surgery type!)
Me, I take supplements from a Dutch brand. I take a calcium tablet in the morning, a multi with lunch, and a calcium at night. I had total bloodwork tested twice the first year and once the next year to see if my vitamin and mineral levels were okay, and they were, so the bariatric vitamin supplements work fine.
Two more things.
There are plenty of threads with helpful experiences on the fora over at obesity help.com. But initially I didn’t see that, because the threads don’t have descriptive titles. I’m used to descripitve titles in threads, as this board has spoilt me. There, all the threads are in the shape of a blog by one person undergoing surgery, usually form the beginning phase to the end. Other posters chime in with sympathy posts and some practical info scattered here and there. While very informative, it takes a lot of time to wade through the long threads. You, 6penningtons as a mom of four kids will probably not have that time. Yet, I found that it helps to read there, as there is more then practical info in the treads; they also function as a sort of sounding board for emotions.
I also found that I kind of lost my motivation to cook as well as I did. I now have to cook separate meals for my husband, my kid and myself, because each has things they don’t like or can’t eat. While the three meals overlap, all three of them are just things thrown in together. Mostly I’'ll just lunch well at our work cafetera, which serves healthy meals.
6penningtons, two things that you should do before surgery:
let your husband take a LOT of pictures of you as you are now. In your underwear and clothed. Most fat peopel hardly have any good full length pictures of themselves pre-op, as they’'ve always dodged the camera.
Have some bloodwork done for the most common vitamins and minerals. Ask your doc for what he will be testing afterwards, and let yourself be tested for that before surgery. It will give you a baseline and that will be useful in many ways.
Tell your regular doctor (GP?) that you are having this done, by mail if you want, but don’t expect him or her to be able to tell you much useful stuff. many docs don’‘t knwo much about this surgery. If you’re doing the Mini Gastric Bypass Surgery, this surgeon has compiled a reader for GP’'s that give them the basics.
You can find it on this site.
Maastricht, I’m strongly considering some type of weight loss surgery, as I’m now a BMI of 41. There’s only been one time in my life when I lost a significant amount of weight (45 pounds) and kept it off for just over a year. I had one issue that I think may have played into regaining the weight, and I wonder if you’ve encountered it: I was very uncomfortable with how much my body changed. There were parts I loved (Knees! I have knees again!), but overall, I was constantly aware of how different my body was, how my clothes didn’t fit (I didn’t have enough money to buy a new wardrobe), and I got very little feedback that I looked better (when I look at pictures taken during that time, it’s striking how much better I really looked).
Have you had to deal with any readjustments to your body image or discrepancies between what you think you look like and what you really do?
How have others reacted to your weight loss? Do you get compliments? Do you feel more attractive? Are you treated differently?
Thanks in advance.
Just the thought of going to another country seems scary to me. Yes the crime is certainly an issue. However, with the company I am going through, you are escorted at all times. They said that after sugery if I feel up to it, that I can walk to the shopping area which is only a couple of blocks away. I don’t see myself doing that…just seems safer to stay at the hotel or hospital since I will be alone. I guess I have watched too many movies that show kidnappings and corrupt government in Mexico to make me feel 100% safe! 
So, I am just praying that the whole trip will be safe and successful!
Maastricht - Thank you for all the info! I have ordered some vitamins/supplements (multi-vitamin, Glutamine and Creatine as well as some Flax Seed Meal). I haven’t gotten any B12 yet. I will try to get up the courage to let my hubby take some pics…although the thought makes me sick to my stomach. I can’t even imagine letting him take some in my undies! 
But I know you are right, and I will want the before pics to compare. I posted a thread on obesityhelps.com however the people on there don’t seem to reply. At first I thought it was just me due to the low BMI, but looking at the other posts, they didn’t have replies either. So, this board is spoiling me as well!
Jackie - How long did it take you to lose your 100lbs, and have you gained any back?
it took me a little over a year to lose it, very slow but more typical of lightweights. a very large man* can* lose that much in 6 months.
but it’s important to look at LONG term since the honeymoon period (re-read the thread title - in the honeymoon everyone loves their surgery!) is over at some point.
I went 5 pounds under my goal and that was my bounce back and since then I have regained 5 pounds - at 4 1/2 years I am here to tell you the further out you get, the easier it is to regain. hint simple carbs are not your friend.
I spent years, literally, posting every day on obesity help but I am no longer there. I can tell you that advice/answers for one surgery type are not necessarily right for all the surgery types.
anybody has more questions for me, please PM me. I’d be happy to share!
I had my VSG (sleeve) in Mexico as I did not have health insurance at the time and was private pay.
just like in this country, you can get a good or a bad surgeon so you need to research. make sure you have having surgery in an actual hospital as there are “clinics” were you can have surgery and then you recover in a “guest house” - as far as I know, this is just in Tijuana. but take care.
another major point I didn’t see mentioned here
if you get bypass or a version of it, the malabsorption of calories is limited to the honeymoon period (this is not true of the DS surgery) while the malabsorption of NUTRIENTS (vitamins, etc) is forever. something to keep in mind.
I am having the procedure done at Mi Hospital, and am using Dr. Alejandro Lopez. I have also looked at the DS, but that is specifically for people with a very high BMI. After everything I read, I really think that MGB will be best for me due to the lower BMI, but I still want somethings “stronger” than LapBand. Hopefully i can change my eating habit enough, and make the forever changes, that by the time the honeymoon is over the changes will stick. I am so afraid of failure, simply because everything Ihave tried up until now has ended in failure. 
since you are still a pre-op, I am wondering if you have been to this site
I am no expert on the DS surgery but I do know there are many of a lower BMI who got a DS and were glad they did.
also, it was stated further upthread about that surgery produces more gas or GI problems and that is a common fallacy. fact is, most doctors just don’t know how it really works let alone have the ability to do one. it’s a more difficult surgery than bypass but many people I’ve met are glad they got one.