I'm sorry I haven't kept up on my blog. Here's an update of what has happened since my LBL at Cosmed in October 2008 and my last entry in January 2009. I have pretty much stayed the same weight. I have my band adjusted for maintaining my weight. I haven't lost any weight since I had my LBL, but maybe I'm 10 pounds heavier. My weight goes with the season here in the Midwest. When I'm exercising, my weight goes down, when winter hits, I gain some. OK, now to the LBL. As I was saying in previous en
It's been more than a couple months since my LBL, If you remember,, Dr. Martinez pulled .5cc's out of my band the day before my LBL. I've really missed the restriction and gained 15 lbs during recovery. Today I made a trip up to Oak Brook Illinois to Synchrony Health and had a band adjustment. They added .3cc's and we'll see if this will put me back on the weight loss track. I know that I had .5cc's pulled in October,, but I didn't want to take the full .5cc's at one fill. I remember I may have
It's been 2 months since my surgery,, as promised I'm posting new pictures. I merged three pictures together (pre-op, 10 day post-op and 2 month post-op) so you can see the difference. The healing process has been slow. They say it takes anywhere from 2 to 6 months or longer,, I believe them. LOL. I still have little aches and pains, depends how I move or stretch. The front of my stomach and the tops of my legs are still numb and swollen, but I can tell its getting less numb and swollen as time
It's been 4 weeks since my LBL surgery. Not much has changed, the healing process is very slow. I have been cutting and pulling stitches as my incision heals. I had to ask for help on a few of the stitches, my good friend and biking buddy used to be a nurse, she had to use her medical skills to remove several of my stitches that my wife couldn't get. It helped to share a bottle of white zin as we did this, it made it fun and she did a great job. I still have a couple stitches left in my incisio
Here are my 2 day pre-op and 10 day post-op pictures. I have a lot of swelling in the post-op pictures, so it's hard to tell what my results are going to be. They say it will take months for the swelling to go down. I'll add newer post-op pictures as time goes.
Pre-op,,,,,,,,,,,,, 10 days Post-op,,,,,,,,, Pre-op,,,,,,,,, 10days Post-op
It's Thursday, November 6th. I had an issue develope concerning a small lump at the top of my left leg/groin crease. It's about the size of a small jaw breaker. I called Dr. Quiroz and he said it was common to have a drainage issue in the lymphoid in that area and not to mess with it, it should go down on its own over time. He decided I needed to pull the right tube out and reassemble the suction reservoir to do only one tube. I disassembled the tubing and pulled the right drainage tube, it slid
It's Monday,, November 3rd, I went back to work today and tested the waters. I retired young, a couple years back, from the trucking industry. I took this little part time job working at our county court house. I only work 15 to 20 hours a week. It's sort of like a hobby job. LOL. I had to go buy a new pair of pants to go with my suit coat. With being swollen and bruised really good, I had to buy a pair that was 2 sizes larger than what I worn before surgery. My biggest concern was hiding the dr
It's been 10 days since my LBL, My body still feels like I've been run over by a truck,, I can say it's not as bad as those first few days after my surgery, but, it's a slow recovery. The tops of my legs are still numb and tingly. My belly button is still leaking,, it leaks the same fluid that is draining from my tubes, kind of a light red colored water. I'm keeping my new button cleaned out and watching it like a hawk,, they say the belly button is one of the hot spots for infection after surge
It's a big day,, Today I head home. Staying a week in Mexico laying around a recovery house gets boring. It wasn't that I didn't like where I was or who was there with me, I was just ready to leave. I met some nice people while staying there. The staff at RBTS was very caring and loving. The girls that were there while I was there were very socialble. Kind of an everyone that's there is in the same boat as you thing. My last day was long. Breakfast at the RBTS and saying my goodbyes, then off to
Hi everyone,, Tuesday was an exciding day,, everyone that was staying at RBTS went into town and visited Cosmed Clinic for their post op check ups. I'm telling you,, when you've been sitting and laying around for the last week,, this will make your day. LOL. Dr. Quiroz said everyone was doing fine. This would be my last visit before I head home on Wednesday. Dr. Quiroz gave me instructions on how to pull the drainage tubes and when the stitches come out. We have to email him with a record of ho
I hate to tell you guys,, there just hasn't been much going on here at RBTS. I'm just sitting around on my butt trying to recover from the LBL. OH,, here's one thing,, My "New" belly button won't stop leaking, for some strange reason its leaking the same fluid that's running out my drainage tubes and into the holding bulb. The nurse here at RBTS is going to try to figure out a way to stop the flow. They say the belly button is the hardest thing to stop from being infected and it needs to stay dr
I felt pretty good today and the owner of RBTS had to take a couple patients to Cosmed for their post op check ups,, I decide I was bored and went along for the ride. Little did I know,, once we got to Cosmed,, Dr Quiroz wanted to check my LBL while I was there. He told me everything looked good and most likely I wouldn't have to come to the office again before I leave unless something popped up. I chatted with all the girls in the office and Joyce the coordinator and said my good-byes since I m
Today is Friday,, my wife headed back home and I'll be here till next Wednesday. I'm feeling better every day. The girls here at Recovery by the Sea are really nice. There's 4 women here that had plastic surgery and I'm the only guy. 3 of them had LBL and one had a lot of lypo done. The girl that had the lypo is really sore. I think she had too much done in one visit. Another had the LBL and wanted to stay an extra week to have a face lift,, but Cosmed wouldn't do it. They were concerned over he
Things are getting better,, man,, am I sore from this surgery. I can really see the differance in my strength from the day of my surgery to now. The girls here at Recovery by the Sea are the best. I couldn't imagine trying to do my recovery on my own,, like at the Lucerna or a hotel close by. This LBL surgery is a tough one. You need TLC after surgery and "The" place to go to down here in Tijuana is Recovery by the Sea. RBTS is like having your Mom take care of you after you've hurt yourself. T
Hi Gang - sorry I haven't had a chance to get on until now. Surgery went well as far as I know--can't see anything yet because it's all bandaged up. Surgery took about 5 hours. I slept ok last night and everything was good until I went to get up first thing this morning and I got really nauseated. They put something in my IV and that seems to have taken care of it. The girls from the Recovery by the Sea picked me up around 11:00. We picked up my meds on the way...they know the places that will s
It's early Tuesday morning and I thought I'd add another post to my blog before I head over to Cosmed. I had dinner with my wife last night and I can tell you that by having the .5cc's removed from my band I hadn't ate like this for 2 years. It's amazing to notice what only .5cc's can do to you as far as restriction goes. I'll have to keep an eye on my food intake. I don't want my weight to start sneeking back up. After the LBL and I if can maintain my weight,, I'll be a happy camper and stay wi
Today I'm in Tijuana,, First stop was the OCC and a warm welcome from all the staff. They have added some new people and some have left,, So I got to meet the new and took pictures of the new people to post here at the forum. I'll do that when I get back home in a week. I did see that everyone is wearing uniforms now,, that's different from when I was last here in May. Today was Rene's birthday,, so there was a little party. My main concern was since I'm having a LBL tomorrow, I needed to talk t
It's the day before I leave,, Tomorrow I'll fly into San Diego and before noon I'll be at the OCC talking to Dr. Martinez about my band and if I need to have some saline removed. The LBL is the next day at the Cosmed Clinic and I'm most likely going to pull some saline out of my band. I don't want to be sitting at Recovery by the Sea after the LBL and have to deal with my eating. I'm also going to ask Dr. Martinez about relocating my port,, its sticking out alittle since I lost all that weight..
Well,, it's only 9 days away from my scheduled LBL at Cosmed. Several friends have asked why I wanted to do this,, like nobody see's me naked and just deal with it. But, I know all that stuff. To me,, it's all about me. When I look into the mirror, I'll always see a fat guy and I'll probably think that for a long time. Friends tell me that I look good and that I shouldn't loose any more weight, they tell me that I don't look like I need a LBL and are wondering WTF. But I hide it well,, under my
Well, with surgery being a little over a week away, one of the must do's before I get to Cosmed is to shave.. Since this is a lower body lift procedure,, we're talking a body shave. Last night I started out by using a regular electric hair trimmer and away I went. I started at my neck and went to my ankles. Being a guy,, It's just not something I'm used to. I had my loving wifes help on those hard to reach spots. OMG, now I look like the Thanksgiving Turkey sitting in the roaster,,,SORRY,, no pi
Things are moving along,, airfare is booked, lab tests are faxed in and a deposit check has been sent to Cosmed and Recovery by the Sea. I'm going over my mini list of stuff I must have, like passport, cash, you know, important stuff. Hey, I'm a guy,, as long as I have my passport, some cash and clean underware,, I'm good to go. I contacted Rene at the OCC and scheduled a band UNFILL. I'm waiting to here back from Dr. Quiroz to what he wants me to do concerning my band saline level. Right now I
After playing the insurance game and going to several local plastic surgeons for consultations, I've decided to go to the Cosmed Clinic and have Dr. Quiroz do my Lower Body Lift (LBL). Insurance providers, like the one I have,, which is United Health Care, have made it almost impossible to qualify for a front Tummy Tuck. A front TT is the only procedure they'll pay for, but it has to be a medical necessity. But they don't care, they keep denying. Being that I want the LBL or what they call in th
