Gastric Sleeve in Mexico - Dr. Ariel Ortiz - I'm on my Way! - Mexico

I have to say it feels as if surgery was about 5 months ago rather than 5 weeks ago. The change in weather here in Ohio puts me in a whole new season versus when I had the sleeve done.

Let’s start with the numbers….

Weight Update...As I reminder I'm 5'9" - I always like to know this when I see others' statistics:

235 Highest Weight
212 August 1st-Day One of Preop Diet
197 Day Before Surgery (last preop weight)
191.2 September 16th - 6 Days Post Op
187.8 September 24th - 14 Days Post Op
181.0 October 15th – 5 Weeks Post Op

Down 31 lbs since 8/1 (47 days)
Down 16 lbs since surgery weight
% of Body Fat - From 45.2 to 39.1

I also took measurements, which was very validating. Here are my current inches lost:
- 1 Neck
-2 1/4 Bust
-1 3/4 Rib Cage Right Under the Bra
-4 Belly Button Line
-2 3/4 Hips
-3 Thigh
-1/4 Ankle

Here’s the very coolest, most exciting, made me actually cry number – FOURTEEN!!!!! Yes, that’s the number on the tag of the jeans I can wear now. I’m thinking 14 sounds much better than the 18 on all the tags I was wearing. I had borrowed one pair of 16s from my mom since my 18s were falling off. Fortunately, my mom has about 6-10 pairs of jeans in size 16 and in size 14 that I could borrow. They’re all new, as she bought them on clearance and put them away for a rainy day. My daughter was wearing a size 12 for a while, so she has some of them for me to move into next. Then I can borrow my daughters. She told me the other day, “You’re going to look so hot if you get down to this size!” I’m not sure about “hot”, but definitely thinner!

There’s only one big downer on the report today, and for that we return to the TMI department. The big “C” – constipation – ugh! When I quit eating meat a while back it solved that life-long problem for me. Since surgery, it’s not been good. I’m taking Amitiza now, which is a medication that causes fluid to shift into your intestines so things can move along. It’s working about 1/2 to 3/4 of the time, but waiting a week is not uncommon. My advice to others after surgery is to not mess around with this. Start using something like Colace and Miralax as soon as possible. If that doesn’t work, talk to your doctor. I happened to have Amatiza on hand from when I was taking it a few years ago, but I would have been heading to the doctor’s office if it wasn’t there.

Now for some “meh” stuff. First, a disclaimer for anyone reading this that hasn’t yet had surgery. None of what I’m about to say in any way means that I regret having had surgery. I would still choose that path, and I’ve not had one moment where I thought “maybe I shouldn’t have done this.”

Here’s my sad words…..eating, particularly going out to eat, just isn’t much fun anymore. Please realize I am just being whiny here and I fully appreciate that I’ve been able to have this surgery and will forever be grateful that I could. I feel guilty complaining, but I really miss enjoying good food. I’ve been able to eat anything I’ve tried without any complaints from my stomach which is a beautiful thing. Here’s what I mean……You know how there are times when you have something that you really enjoy, it’s cooked/made perfectly, and you really enjoy savoring it? I feel like I enjoy the first few bites, really think it’s amazing, and then am sad because that’s it – I’m full. Here I sit at the table with a dish of _________ (fill in the blank), it’s SO good, and I can’t eat anymore of this. On top of that, everyone else will continue to eat and enjoy for the next 15 minutes while I watch. In the grand scheme of things this isn’t a big deal, but as food has been my passion and also my coping mechanism it feels figuratively empty to not eat more. I don’t want to gorge, just enjoy a ‘normal’ portion.

I have found one thing to be helpful with this. I went out to dinner this weekend to a really great vegan restaurant where the portions tend to be very large. I asked for a container with each thing when it came out. I had mushroom soup, and I put all but about 4 spoonful’s into the container, popped on the lid, and then emptied the bowl. I ordered a side salad as my main course, and it was bigger than a full salad at most places. The lettuce was crisp, fresh leaf lettuce, and it was topped with an incredible dressing, a little sliced avocado, tomato, black beans, corn, cilantro – just YUM! I had one of those large square leftover Styrofoam containers and I put all but about 5 forkful’s into the box, closed the lid, and finished of my plate. Mentally it felt so much better to be able to eat everything in front of me rather than sitting and staring at a full plate or bowl. Hopefully this is an idea that might be helpful to others.

Okay, put the cheese, crackers, and glasses away because I’m done whining.

Let’s talk exercise! I’m feeling very proud of the fact that I’ve gotten back to the gym. I also have gone walking in a nearby park with my daughter on two occasions in addition to my daily dog walks. I have to say I am really shocked by how weak I feel. The course we walk goes around a lake and there are two big hills over the 3-mile path. I was getting short of breath to the point of having difficulty conversing with my daughter! At the gym I had to face the fact that I’m no longer the strong woman. Normally, I can spend a day hauling wheelbarrows full of rocks, moving 40 lbs. bags of topsoil, etc. without much effort. I sat down at some of the machines, put the pin in the stack of weights, did one rep, and moved the pin up to near the top of the stack. I have got to build those muscles back up. I plan to use sessions I’d previously purchased with a personal trainer, but she’s a body builder and works me like crazy. If I go to her in this condition you’ll have to scrape me off the gym floor and load me into my car!

I’d read from several people that it was a smart plan to start lifting a month or two ahead of surgery to build up a little reserve. I let work, life, and the lazy’s get in the way of doing that and I shouldn’t have. But we all know woulda, coulda, shoulda doesn’t help. I do hope that if you are heading into surgery in the future you’ll take heed and do some work. You don’t have to go to the gym – just use cans of food in the home and google body weight exercises. I think it would be very worth it to go that direction.

I also wanted to share that I had my first experience of overeating with the sleeve on Friday. I ate a reasonable amount of food, but then had a lapse in memory and took two big swallows of liquid. That was a very miserable 10 minutes waiting for everything to move down into the stomach :( I won’t be making that mistake again any time soon.

Lastly, I wanted to talk about family and their fears about surgery and also about going to Mexico if you’re heading that direction because of lack of insurance. A big shout out to the parents of smoogott3 as they heard a little about me and my experience. I just want to reiterate that having surgery will always carry some level of risk, but it is outweighed by the risk of staying overweight for most people. I can also say that I’ve read many stories on here and elsewhere of people who’ve had less than optimal outcomes with many types of surgeries here in the USA – more than I’ve read for Mexico and Costa Rica (the two places I’ve researched). Research is the key – reading everything you can find until you’re sick of looking at it and then making an informed, sensible decision. My husband has been all about me losing weight for the past several years because he’s one of those very health-focused people. If I had a dollar for every time I heard about how I need to take better care of myself I’d be retiring tomorrow. Yet he was of course worried about surgery in general, and surgery in Mexico too. I showed him all of the information I’d found including posts from other nurses and doctors who chose to have the same surgery at the same facility and had only positive comments. He said it came down to trusting that I’d made a decision based on facts and taken the time to be sure this was the right decision for me. So to all the family out there, ask questions and do some reading yourself. When your loved one choses this path, be supportive – it makes a world of difference!

That’s enough words for the next month! I’ll be back with more pics and updates in 2-3 weeks unless something interesting comes up before then. Thanks for reading and taking an interest in my story and my opinion, and best of luck to all of you in whatever paths you choose :) - Anita

Hi Everyone! First, my apologies to those who have sent private messages where I haven't returned them quickly. Between life and work things have been a bit hectic. As promised, I've uploaded comparison shots that show changes from 8/1 to 9/24 including a picture with the 5 small incisions. There's also a picture of me in my regular clothes so everyone doesn't think I live in my running outfit. I told my husband I feel like I should go out and run now that I've gone to the trouble of getting into the clothes!

I am pretty happy with the pictures in general. I can see a big difference in my face and my stomach is much flatter, which can't really be seen from these pictures. I also can see my forearms are shrinking and my chest has gotten smaller. That's not a bad thing for me as I have enough to work with there.

Weight Update...As I reminder I'm 5'9" - I always like to know this when I see others' statistics:

235 Highest Weight
212 August 1st-Day One of Preop Diet
197 Day Before Surgery (last preop weight)
191.2 September 16th - 6 Days Post Op
187.8 September 24th - 14 Days Post Op

Down 24.2 lbs since 8/1 (47 days)
Down 9.2 lbs since surgery weight

I would be thrilled to say I've lost more than this, as the weight loss has slowed dramatically. I'm kind of surprised given the low level of calories. I'm averaging around 700-800 calories per day and I walk about 1 hour per day. I'm fine with it though since I can see visible results and I know I'm doing the right things to make a difference.

I am able to get fluids in without a problem. Food is not an issue either, although I have definitely now figured out what the "new" full feels like. I totally didn't get this at first. Feeling full is nothing like the stretched out, bloated feeling I was used to before surgery. It's much more of a "something's stuck" feeling. It seems as if I swallowed too large a bite of food and it stopped just short of my stomach. I feel as if I take two good swallows it will go down, but that obviously would not be a good plan. Interestingly, I go from 'not full' to 'full' in the matter of one bite. In the old days, I'd go from feeling like things are getting full, to full, and then to stuffed if I hadn't stopped shoveling. Now I'm perfectly fine, but then overfull at the next bite. That's a little frustrating as I have to remember to set out an exact portion of food and stop then even if I think I should have a little more. Otherwise, it's back to being uncomfortable for 10 minutes or so.

My incisions are healing nicely and 90% of the surgical glue has flaked off or been picked off. I don't think I'll have much scarring when all is said and done which is nice. The main incision just to the side of the belly button feels slightly tender or a pulling sort of feeling on occasion if I twist and move in a certain direction, like when rolling over and repositioning in bed. If I do heavy work it gets sore after a while.

Speaking of heavy work, I am the typical nurse who doesn't listen well to instructions. I absolutely love, love, love to cut my grass and do yardwork. We finally had rain and the grass is growing again - so of course at 8 days post-op I went out and cut grass for an hour, weed whacked, edged the driveway and sidewalk, and swept up all the clippings. The next day I went and raked the dead grass out of my mom's lawn and started putting down some topsoil to replant. I'll be repeating the above this weekend.

It was definitely taxing to do all of this, but it felt SO good to be active like a regular person. I was tired of feeling weak. I really enjoyed it and I made sure to drink regularly throughout everything.

So everything is great except for one thing (and here's the TMI section) - constipation :( Not much in somehow = nothing out. I'm not sure how that equation works, but I can tell you that going 8 days between trips to the bathroom two times in a row is not a happy thing. I'm now mixing Miralax in prune juice and hoping this will be the ticket. We'll see. Now people can have no doubt that I'm full of it!!!

I have to take measurements this evening still, so I'll post measurement changes next week. I have to find my "before" measurements as they're hiding somewhere in my office. Your job as readers next week is to yell at me if my post doesn't talk about how I've been exercising a lot more :)

Hi Everyone! I thought I'd wait until I hit the one week post-op mark to post, but I'm needing a break from work so this seems like the perfect time. First, let's have a drum roll for the best part of the whole post............

235 Highest Weight
212 August 1st-Day One of Preop Diet
197 Day Before Surgery (last preop weight)
191.2 September 16th - Six Days Post Op

Down 20.8 lbs since 8/1 (47 days)
Down 5.8 lbs since surgery weight

Interestingly, I signed on to the MyChart record my physician office/hospital record today out of curiosity to double check my weight history. My lowest weight at a visit was almost exactly 3 years ago on 9/18/12 when I weighed in at 183lbs. I recall clearly that I hit 180 just after that on my home scale, but then things went back the other direction. I'm so excited that I'll hit a weight below 180 in the next month. My very, very, very biggest celebration will be when I hit 174 lbs. I weighed 175 lbs. at the hospital the day after I delivered my daughter on March 1, 1992. Being below that weight will be so significant for me I can't even explain.

I feel today is the first day I'm really doing great since surgery. I've been feeling weak and very tired, but today hasn't been anywhere near as bad. I went 8 days without a bowel movement, but today that problem is solved. I haven't had any nausea or heartburn, and today I've been able to return to taking all of my routine medications - even my one pill that's gianormous for a pre-op stomach.

I think I'm a bit outside the usual range for postop sleeve patients. I'm finding I can drink 8 ounce of liquid over an hour without a problem. My kids yogurt 3.7 ounce pouch goes down over 15 minutes without any trouble. I've even been having small sips when I eat here and there without any trouble. I know I'm not 'supposed' to be trying to do that, but it happened inadvertently and I noticed there doesn't seem to be any issue. I certainly don't intend to be chugging fluids, but I'm very happy to have a sip here and there if I feel thirsty while I am eating something. Honestly, that was the very last reason that kept me from deciding to have the surgery for a while. I did not like the idea of not being able to have a swallow of liquid if my mouth felt a little dry from something I was eating.

I'm feeling very lucky to being having such great results both on the scale and with my intake, as I know things are usually more difficult in the first few weeks. I'm working hard not to 'push' too much as I can see where that would be tempting. My goal is to get in enough liquids and calories to stay healthy, not feel weak, and to maintain a reasonable pace for weight loss.

Next, I want to work on bumping up my activity level. Endurance is definitely going to be the stumbling block, but hopefully that will build quickly. My favorite form of exercise is cutting my grass, and we finally have had the weather to allow it to turn green and grow again. It's killing me to not run outside and work in the yard yet! My abdomen/incisions do feel well enough to tackle something like mowing as there isn't bending or lifting involved, but I'll hold off at least another day ;)

I want to take a minute to say how wonderful it was to have had the chance to take this journey with my dear friend Christy. Being able to have surgery at the same time (particularly since we were out of the country) was so much better than doing this alone, and I never would have had the courage to make the choice if it weren't for her inspiration. Her sister came with us to be the medical support person, and she was wonderful. If you aren't fortunate enough to have support in the way of family and friends, please do reach out to people on realself (and I also recommend the VSG group on MyFitnessPal). There are so many caring people who are happy to help each other out. I'm blessed to have all of the above in my life!

?I PROMISE pictures with the next post. I really think it will be helpful to do weekly photos for my own benefit to help see the changes. I'm already getting those weird situations where I see a part of myself in the mirror and don't recognize it.

I hope you're all staying healthy and treating yourselves well!