scoleski

You won't be sorry. Best care I have ever received! From the pick up at the air port in San Diego to the drop off 5 days later. Everyone was very kind and caring. The people at the Marriot Hotel treated all of us like royalty. Made us feel welcomed and special. I had heard a lot of stories about Tijuana. Most of it was good. They lived up to their reputation and then some. I would highly recommend the Obesity Control Center and Tijuana.

It has been one year and three months since making this life changing decision and I couldn't be happier. I have lost a total of 105 pounds and have been plateaued for over two months now. I have reached the top end of my goal set by Dr. Miranda. I wear a size 12 jeans or a Medium top. I am happy with my success! I still don't eat bread, pasta or rice. No pop or anything carbonated, or drinking with a straw. Periodically, I enjoy a small bowl of doritos. I love that I can have just the one small bowl and not the whole bag. I feel so much more in control. Food is no longer controlling me. I still struggle with trying to get enough water in me. It has been difficult for others around me. My dad loved to feed me. Food is his love language. Now he doesn't know what to do except hand me a bottle of water. My husband and I have had to find other ways to celebrate holidays and mile stones. We enjoy the challenge. Eating out has become simple and cheap. We share meals and take home leftovers to create something new the next day. If you are sitting on the fence regarding this surgery...jump off! Get your life back! Thank you Dr. Ortiz and Obesity Control Center!

It has been a roller coaster ride these past few months. 84 pounds lost as of this morning. And feeling great! My size 16 clothes are now baggy. Time to look for size 14. For the Christmas holidays, my family and I (9 of us) went to Florida and Disney. I walked and walked; shopped for a new wardrobe; played with my grand kids in the Gulf of Mexico; enjoyed the family time in the pool at our villa; even ate out with my hubby! The restaurants were very accommodating. I explained to the manager about my surgery and had no problems sharing a meal or paying the child's price at the buffet. I went up in the balloon at Downtown Disney! I went on the rides in the Parks! I enjoyed having my picture taken! I even lost 8 pounds over the holidays. This surgery is the best thing I have ever done for myself. I have my life back. I only wish I had done it sooner!

I followed the diet outlined by the OCC and paid strict attention to the No bread, pasta or rice. No pop or junk food. These foods have to be resolved in your brain to be gone forever. I figured they never helped me in the first 50 years so I welcome the change. After the clear liquid phase, I made sure to have drinkable yogurt for breakfast, my protein drinks for lunch and popsicles on hand for when I needed that something extra. Soups, especially creamy veggie ones and creamy chicken! Really helps fill the sleeve. One can was good for a few meals. Make sure to eat every few hours. When I started on soft foods, I cooked my veggies until they were soft and mashed them. No lumps. Fish was the easiest meat to start with as it is quite flaky. A little tartar sauce and mashed up fish and it tasted yummy. I slowly added chicken and then ground beef.

Here it is three months later and I feel wonderful! I have lost a total of 70 pounds so far. The non-scale victories are what really count, though. Trying on clothes that I never thought I would ever fit into. Being able to have a good night's sleep and wake up totally refreshed and ready to start each day. Being able to walk around a store and not be out of breath or worn out. But the best NSV? Having my hubby think I'm hot again! There is no amount of money worth that! Have to get rid of the excess skin, though! But all in due time. So, for an update...no more meds, no more CPAP, no more buying my clothes from OMAR the tent maker. No more riding the cart in Walmart. No more napping during the day. My house is actually getting clean! I have been able to get into places I could never get into before! And clean it out! Tomorrow, I have a date to hit the gym! I live on a military base and that has always been the one place I never wanted to show up at. Alone or in a group, I always felt like I was the one that people would be staring at, thinking I was just wasting my time and taking up their space. Now, I don't care what they think. I just want to get on an elliptical and work out. I have to get moving! My weight has hit a stall and with winter settling in I have to get to a gym to get moving. It's too hard to walk in the snow and ice. In less than three weeks, my family and I are all going to Florida for the holidays. We are going to be going to Disney World, as well as the Kennedy Space Center and Gatorland. I have to get in some walking now, to build up my stamina or those grandchildren will be putting me to bed early and we can't have that!! I want to keep up! I can hardly wait for this trip. We have been planning it since March of this year! In case anyone is wondering, there has been absolutely no complications. No set backs. I am so happy I found the Obesity Control Center! The only thing I would change if I could is that I would have done this sooner! Here's to the last 40 pounds.

Hi Shell39! Not yet. I am going back to Curves this month. I have been waiting for two months to be up. I know I don't have to wait that long, but I am feeling weak at times and I want to make a commitment to the program. I have done some hiking and lots of walking. I'm getting geared up for the machines at Curves! One more week to go and I'm there!

Thank you Michele for your encouraging words. I have been playing in the kitchen lately. Just discovered that I can have spagetti squash instead of pasta and zucchini manicotti is to die for! Why did we ever eat pasta? So delicious! I have been enjoying "The World According to Eggface". It's a blog by a woman who also had weight loss surgery and she was a cook so she now cooks for us! Quite inspiring!

You will do fine, Donna! Don't be scared, dear. They are very professional and caring! Hugs!!

This month has been eye opening to say the least. I have had to face head hunger quite a few times and learned what foods are trigger foods and why I feel the need to eat when I'm not hungry. One of my biggest problems was how much I hate being alone. Every time I am alone, I want to eat. More than once I found myself standing in front of an open fridge and knowing I couldn't eat anything from inside, I realized why I was standing there. I was trying to fill the emptiness. Only now, of course, I can't. I like my day busy and full of friends and family. I have to learn to live with myself, and accept that there will be times I will be alone and I don't have to fill up on food. I have had to face head hunger of junk food, too. Went into Walmart a few times and shortly afterwards I craved chips. Every time. Staying out of the stores unless I really need something can help with this one. No window shopping. I haven't been tempted to cheat much, but when the constipation got really bad last week I was tempted to go to Dairy Queen. I know how that reacted before on me and was wanting relief. I didn't allow any kind of reasoning to sway me, though. No Dairy Queen! I was proud of even the little wins like this one! I grocery shopped a couple of times and bought only what was on my list. No junk food and no food that are not on the safe list. I truly felt empowered! And trying new recipes mostly from "The World According to Eggface". The blog author also had weight loss surgery and she is a chef. She blogs her recipes for the rest of us who have had surgery and need to find a healthy way to eat and not make more than we need to. Awesome recipes! My hubby did the math last night and told me I was half way to my goal already. What?? I had to redo it. I only got into my size 18 clothes this week, and they are already loose. I have a few items of size 16 and may have to shop soon! But you know what I am hating to shop for the most? Bras. I wish I could just get a sports bra and be comfortable! I must add here that I am feeling wonderful! Not sluggish or tired and drained. Arthritis has quieted down. Not much flaring up there. Blood Pressure has returned to normal. Even FM still behaving. Off most of my meds now. Still no CPAP machine. I'm loving this new found freedom!

Saw my doctor this week and gave him the surgical report. He was surprised that I went all the way to Mexico and paid out of pocket for it. I told him that I was serious. Doc's wife, Lee, was happy that I went and told me it was time to get a new bra! Haha. So, this week I have to bra shop. Something cheap. Just to get me through. I also had to retire the size 20 clothes! Now in size 18! I am out of the 20's!! Whoohoo! And I now have to retire all my size 7 shoes. Back into size 6. The mushy pureed food is okay. I'm getting used to trying to eating again. The fish is great! Do you believe I actually said that? It's amazing how good food tastes after not eating carbs. Its hard to get used to not drinking with my meals, though. Having to wait an hour seems like forever.

Today marks three weeks after surgery. The most important thing about today? I get to start real food! I had two tablespoons of oatmeal for breakfast. I had some pureed pears for lunch...MMmmmm. Food tastes good again. The learning to eat properly begins. Wow! Full comes quick! I weighed in this morning and I'm down a total of 40 pounds since all this began back in June! My strength is returning. My knee no longer gives out when I walk anymore. What I find truly funny is when someone sees me that hasn't seen me in a while, they look at me and say, "something is different about you.." Then they compliment my hair. Haha. I just say thanks. My clothes are starting to bag again. I just fit into the Lady Antebellum tshirt Bill bought me at the CMT Music Festival in August. Loving that! I did have a rather rushed appointment with Doc today, and he re wrote my script for blood work according to what the surgeon needs him to test. Pretty much everything he tests every three months anyway.

You will do it Shell39!! Your second chance has already starting. The first step was admitting the truth. Next, booking the appointment. I'm happy for you and hope I can hear more as you progress closer and closer to your OCC date. My eyes have been opened since my surgery and I am seeing things in a whole new light. Food is no longer my friend. It is only fuel for this body. Nothing else. Good luck!!

One month after my surgery and I'm down 45 pounds already! Loving my sleeve!

Wonderful! My daughter and I are one month out and we are both doing very well, too! No regrets here either! Happy for you both!!

It's two weeks today since I had my surgery. I know I shouldn't feel hunger, but for some reason, I do. To the point of wanting to throw up. Maybe it's just head hunger? I went back to work today and passed a lot of Tim Horton's and fast food places that I ate at before. Especially between my school runs. First time I actually missed my coffee. Haven't had one in a month, and today, I missed it. A lot of my hidden eating was on my school run. I would purchase things and hide them in my vehicle to have during my breaks. I think part of today's problem came from the old habit of eating when I was alone. I was back in my old life style, my old job, but had made the decision to give it all up for this surgery. Give it up for life. No more breads, junk foods, pop. Maybe today was a bit of testing me and my body was really wanting to go back to it's old ways. I am really going to have to fight those old demons off. Those old demons were good friends of mine once upon a time. I don't need friends like that.

As days go by, the thoughts of what I will be able to do increase. There are some things I had totally forgotten about. Besides my stamina increasing and clothing going down in size, there is also the fun of bowling again! Being able to breath has started me thinking of all the things I had given up. I started curves in June to have to stop after three weeks. The FM reared it's ugly head and pulled me under, not to mention the fact that I was constantly out of breath. I think I will give that a second chance. Start out slow and build up to the two circuits. Maybe a few dates out bowling. Mini Golf. Biking. Oh, how I have missed biking. And walking. Hmmm... I may need new shoes... shopping time! LOL Did I mention that none of my shoes fit? It's funny, but one of the first places I lose weight is my feet. I'm down to a size 6 again. Most of my shoes are a 7. But now, maybe some fun ones? Maybe borrow some from my youngest daughter? HA! That would be a switch! Can you see me in a pair of Iron Fist 4 inch heels? With blood dripping from growling wolf teeth on the toes? Oh yeah! Not! But it makes me giggle anyway. I'd probably kill myself. It would make for a fun photo shoot, though! I think I've talked myself into it. Another item to add to the 'to-do when I reach my goal' list. I am going to check out the really cool shoes, just for fun! Betsey Johnson, here I come!

I went to the closet this morning to look for something to wear and nothing fit. The dress I wore to my brother's wedding just last month - too big. I started to go through the tops and one by one they were folded and put in a basket. Some items I hadn't even worn yet. Others only barely. I finally found a t-shirt that is loose by fitting better than all the rest and a pair of Capri pants I haven't worn in 5 years or more. Gone are all my 24's and 22's and some of my 20's. All 4x and 3x and 2x! Surgery was only 12 days ago and I know I have been dropping weight daily but I never expected this! My hubby went into the attic and brought down three rubber maid boxes containing my smaller clothes. Sizes 20, 18 and a few 16. Wonder what I'll find in there? It's kind of fun to open them up and see what I thought was so important to hang on to all these years. Scary, too! The first place I want to shop at? La Vie en Rose! I want to buy pretty unmentionables from them! Ha ha! I have never been able to fit into pretty unmentionables from anywhere! I have ogled that store envying the cute little sleep sets, etc. for years and dreamed of being able to fit into something from there! One day, I told myself. One day. Do you know what else I like? The handkerchief dresses! So adorable! It's exciting to know that soon I can shop again... only not from Omar the Tent Maker! Well, off to go through the rest of the boxes and see if I can some kind of wardrobe out of them for the next few weeks anyway.

Week one is past and the clear liquid diet now has become full liquid. No real hunger, just some head hunger every now and then. Especially when a commercial comes on with something really tasty. It doesn't last long, though. I really don't want to eat anything. It's kind of weird. I never thought I could feel this way. The creamy soups have added some flavour to my diet. Finally! And drinkable yogurts help. Still quite a few weeks to go before solid food but I know my stomach has to heal, so it's all good. It's all a learning process. i have to learn how to eat properly this time. One of things I have learned is not to drink liquids with my meals. That flushes your food through you system and then you don't know when you have had enough to eat. It actually helps you to overeat. If I'm thirsty, suck on an ice cube, but wait at least 30 minutes to an hour before drinking. Carbonated drinks are a thing of the past now. They make your stomach swell! So do bread, pasta and rice. Makes sense. They swell in water. No longer necessary! I am excited about this new phase. And I am learning a lot. I can do this!

The staff of the Marriott are fabulous! The manager of the restaurant actually had the chef make fresh watermelon Popsicles as I wasn't very keen on the papaya ones. Most of the waiters knew to bring a water glass with your apple juice and bottle of water so you could mix it. The front desk helped us read the medicine bottle's instructions. The manager of the hotel even typed out a map and instructions in Spanish so I could give it to the taxi driver. We ended up with a really nice young man who could speak english and knew the area we wanted to see. He took us there and waited for us and then gave us a lovely tour of Tijuana on the return trip. We made sure to over tip him!

Flying is safe. We only brought carry on luggage on wheels, and told the ticket agent we had recently had surgery. They allowed us to board a little earlier so we wouldn't get bumped around. Make sure you bring loose clothing.

The beginning of a new journey. After more than a year of indecisiveness I finally decided to give myself a second chance at life. Six weeks shy of fifty years old and I decided to have Gastric Sleeve Surgery. Why? I'm tired. I'm tired of people not looking at me when they speak to me. I'm tired of being out of breath all the time. I'm tired of always sitting on the sidelines watching everyone else have fun. I want to play with my grandchildren. I want to be able to sing, even off key, without losing my breath. I want to be able to shop again! I did my homework and found an amazing clinic in Tijuana, Mexico that specialized in obesity. Booked my appointment, filled out all the forms, started the pre-op diet and on Monday, August 22nd of 2011, I flew to San Diego with my two daughters along for support. We were picked up at the airport by a driver sent by the clinic and driven to the Marriott Hotel in Tijuana. At midnight my 12 hour fast began; had a good night's sleep and the driver picked us up at 7am and drove us to the clinic. Cleanest, most beautiful clinic I have ever experienced! And everyone spoke English. My surgery was first out of five scheduled for that day. I was a little scared of the unknown but more excited to be given an opportunity to start over. Starting weight on the day of surgery - 237.5lbs. Already down 10 lbs. since I booked the surgery! A few hours later, upon awakening in my private room, my daughter informs me that the doctor had to repair a Hiatal Hernia before he could do the sleeve. I had no idea about the hernia, or that it was more than likely the cause of my sleep apnea and shortness of breath. I was up and walking as soon as I could. The more you walk, the faster you get rid of the gas and the better you get. By Wednesday at noon, I was released and taken back to our hotel where we started looking things up to see and do. We went to a local shopping center, the Hippodromo and just window shopped. Eventually bought a few colours of nail polish and went back to the hotel for Mani's and Pedi's. Every day we returned to the clinic for a check up. I still had a drain on my side so they could tell if anything changed on the inside. It was cleaned and dressing changed each day b y the sweetest and most gentle nurse ever. Thursday, we went to the beach - Playas de Tijuana and the taxi driver refused to leave us there. He stayed and watched over us as we played in the surf and sand taking lots of pictures and videos. We had never seen the Pacific Ocean before! So strong! And the smell was marvelous! How we missed living close to the ocean. Further down the beach we came to the border and saw the double fence that started in the ocean and crawled out and up and across to the Gulf of Mexico. With cameras and lights, border patrols and helicopters swooping overhead, it sure looked surreal. First time ever seeing a Bull Fighting Ring, too. Huge stadium! And round! The locals make fruit popsicles at home and sell them on the beach the next day to make money. Very tasty! Thank goodness it is on my clear diet! Our kind driver gave us a tour of the area, answering our questions and taking us through a different part of Tijuana. Friday the drain comes out! Yea! Had to drink a barium solution and got to see my new stomach on the screen. It did hurt coming out but felt so much better after it was gone! Got a clean bill of health and the okay to return back home. Given strict rules on taking care of myself and how to learn to eat all over again. And a big hug from the nurse and the clinic director. I am going to miss them. We traveled to another part of the city - Revolucion Ave. to check out the shops and hopefully pick up some trinkets. That was not fun. No trinkets to be found and every shop keeper followed us wherever we went trying to convince us to buy their products. After making it only one block, we jumped in the first cab we saw and scooted back to our hotel! Never doing that again. We then wandered off to our favorite mall a couple short blocks away. Much more relaxing. A band playing upstairs filled the air with a taste of Mexican music then an old Eagles song and more Spanish songs! Saturday, we started our trip back home. Took awhile to cross back into the States but no problems crossing. At the San Diego airport the only hiccup we encountered was my youngest daughter had her peanut butter taken away. It couldn't go on the plane as part of her carry on. Oh well. Guess it was a lethal weapon? Home shortly after midnight, safe and sound and on my way with the beginning of my new life!