Phase Two liquids...yay!

Yesterday was my official first day to try the second phase of our diet, any liquids. Unfortunately,  I have yet to find a low calorie, sugar free protien drink that I can stand. I can't do sugar free. That is the hardest part of this whole procedure for me. They say drink sugar free juice, popsicles, pudding...anything with aspartame gives me MAJOR migraines. Stevia and Splenda just taste terrible. Agave nectar is is just another form of high fructose...

So I decided I will not do sugar free. I will cut down on natural sugar, use brown sugar, or use coconut sugar. I will not do the shakes that are filled with all these chemicals. It makes no sense to me. So, I am off to find a better whey protein than Isopure no carb, lol.

That said yesterday started pretty bad. All I had was Gatorade. All day until about 4 pm. Then I cried because my kids got McDonald's and I was starving for food. I desperately nibble on a skinless nugget. It went down okay. But later on I went to an Arabic restaurant.  They make a really good lentil soup that they will blend for you. I took two sips. Someone ordered a hummus and I took tiny bites of that. Before I knew it I actually finished half an order of hummus! I was thrilled. Hummus is so good for you. It is high in protein and lowfat.

Today my goal is to drink less Gatorade. Intake more protein and calories. I'll keep you folks posted. ;-)

6 day Post Op

Today was a good day, thank God. I think I'm downing too much Gatorade instead of Water. I can't stand the taste of water right now and I can't make myself add the fake sweeteners either. I made myself some oatmeal in water, blended it with a little skim milk, whey protein (unflavored), and added a little sugar and sugar free maple syrup. It was delish. I had that for lunch as well. For dinner I went to an Arabic restaurant and they blended their lentil soup for me. Both myself and the baby like that. I even topped it off with a teensy bit of garlic sauce. I am excited about adding more variety.

Still haven't gone the protein shake route. We'll see how that goes, lol. 

Addicted much?

I have a MAJOR food addiction. It hit me when 6 days post-op I found myself sucking on popcorn and spitting it out. I never realized how much I associate food with love, comfort, and carino (as we say in Spanish). Any emotional hiccup in my life I would turn to food. The sad thing is I passed this on to my kids. But I also realized it was passed on to me from my parents as well. Whenever I would be upset I would take my kids out to eat. Literally spend hundreds on take out. Now it is physically impossible for me to stuff myself like before but the urge to reward my kids with food remains.

So far since my surgery my family has taken my kids out to eat multiple times to reward them and I just sit back and watch. Thinking to myself....this is wrong. My kids eating this much junk is wrong. But , God willing, this will now change.

I couldn't control my nafs, Arabic for desires, with food so this sleeve is meant to PHYSICALLY stop me. It hope it's positive effects will ripple through my family and make a change.

Post-Op days uno, dos, y tres

The worst pain about this procedure is the gas that is stuck in your gut. If you ever watch a video of a gastric sleeve procedure you can see that they fill your stomach with gas in order to improve visibility. It hurt so bad that I thought to myself...wtf did I just do?!  But hey, you can't go back in time so you gotta roll with the punches. 

My suggestion is to walk as much as possible and BRING your Gas X strips because they are sheisty with those. It also helped to get slapped on the back like a baby getting burped. 

I lived on the Otter Pops and chicken broth offered by hotel. I know they say sugar free Popsicles and juices on paper but the stuff they offered was NOT sugar free. I was even offered Mango juice, a major no-no in my culture for people with weak stomachs. You should also get some Gatorade from nearby Oxxo store to stay hydrated.

Walking is your best friend. i walked along Avenida Revolucion in order to forget my pain. They have great little shops with souvenirs and leather goods. Tattoo parlors and cafes line the side streets. My favorite was Cafe Bona! It had nice items made by local artists and pretty good coffee according to my friend. I got to sit on their couch and nurse my son while watching Sweeney Todd. I LOVE the rock and roll feel of Tijuana.

There is a pharmacy two blocks away and a really nice department store one block away. In case you needed to get some shopping done. 

But really prepare yourself for the worst the first three days post op....

Surgery Day!

We drove to the clinic and I was whisked into the prep room. I was the first to go. The nurse, a female this time, was very brisk and to the point in regards to what she wanted me to do. Doctor Almanza came in. He explained the procedure and what I was to expect. We discussed my concerns with nursing and even tailored a pain management plan that would allow me to feed my baby just one day post op. Yay. He even switch my antibiotics to breast feeding friendly ones. 

My biggest fear going into the OR was not pain or not knowing what to expect. It was the fear of leaving my four kids and baby boy behind. The same brisk nurse saw me start to cry. She very generically said in English that everything would be okay because the doctor does this all the time. But when I explained in Spanish my true fear and I mention my children, a softness came over her and she said " Put your trust in God. We, even us at the hospital, are in His hands." She said this and I looked to my left where I saw a large picture of the Dome of the Rock, the third most holiest place for Muslims located in Jerusalem, plastered on the wall. It was comforting.

                                         

                                                               Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem 

    

Day before surgery and Hospital Ticuan

We were picked up from the airport in a fairly nice shuttle. It was myself, my friend, my hubby, and his friend. Our driver was friendly but quiet. Hotel Ticuan was very nice. We actually didn't expect it to be as nice. The rooms were spacious. You can share with another patient or pay extra to be alone.

This is a picture of a double suite

We stayed in the lobby with about ten other patients as our "patient coordinator" let us know that we were to have our blood drawn and EKG's that day. After that we had the night off and surgery would happen somewhere between 8 am or 12 pm. 

Hotel lobby

A young man in white uniform came to draw my blood. He was shocked when I spoke Spanish with him. He led me to a corridor behind the lobby and up a narrow staircase to a small room. There he drew two tubes of my precious blood via PLUNGER. I was surprised. Most times this method of drawing occurs with the elderlyor infants due to the fact that their veins collapse more easily. But nevertheless, he followed all the correct protocol and it was painless. He even drew from my husband's hand painlessly.

Two vials of blood lighter we hit the restaurant to sample some broth. That was all we could eat before surgery. Their broth was delicious. None of the canned crap they give you in American hospitals....mmm I could imagine the chicken feet simmering in the pot.  A little lime and a little sriracha and we were good to go. We had two bowls each, lol. 

I went to my room with my friend who offered to watch my son while I had this procedure done and the hubby went to his quarters. We were watching tv when the EKG guy came. By the way, they have many channels including English and some Rated R stuff so be careful. So the EKG guy seemed a little off. Maybe he was curious about me being covered and speaking Spanish. I don't know but I was glad I had another lady there with me. 

We planned to catch a movie at Cinepolis Plaza Rios but alas we were toast. 

Beds were good but man do their pillows SUCK. Seriously, if you can bring your own. You have been warned.

Tijuana!?

At first the thought of getting anything surgical done in Tijuana was terrifying. I mean with all the negative press and stories of missing body parts you hear. I really needed both my kidneys. Not to mention the fear of getting kidnapped. I was leaving my four kids at home in Texas and taking my 7 month old. I didn't want to be on YouTube! But fear aside my hubby and I figured that Mexican medical tourism is a big source of income for Tijuana. I am sure the police (who are oddly enough are your biggest harassers) and drug lords must have some sort of agreement set up. I also spoke Spanish so that would help. But I wore a head scarf...ummm they would probably think I was a fashionable nun, lol. 

 We chose Hospital Jerusalem to get our procedure done. Trust me, we did the research. We saw the good, the bad, and the ugly  regarding the hospital....which isn't a hospital. It is more like a clinic. It is located in the Centro Centro of Tijuana. Perfectly good place. The clinic is nestled in a strip mall next to Office Depot and a cleaning supplies company. This was a comfort to me because It meant the clinic would never be without cleaning supplies therefore it would always be clean. I was right. It was fresh smelling and looked very nice. Dr. Almanza was very nice and thorough. His English was very good. There staff was very friendly but not all spoke english. The hotel you recover in is also very nice. I knew three other people that recommended Hospital Jerusalem and it fit perfectly in our budget. You also get a $500 discount if you go with a group of 3 or more :-)

Why?

When I initially told my close circle of friends about my plans to get sleeved Their reaction was exactly what I expected. First they asked why. To them I was skinny enough to lose the weight the good old fashion way. Then they were concerned ( I was getting sleeved in Tijuana). Then they said they were against it but would pray for me anyway :-) A very Muslim reaction, "we may not agree but we will pray anyways".  My parents on the other hand were thrilled. My mom has been wanting me to get a lap band or bypass for years. My dad...well lets just say he thought this was gonna be the perfect way to "keep my man". 

I am a 32 year old Muslim Latina mother of five. I have been happily married for almost 14 years, thank God. Both my husband and I weigh over 500 pounds together. the idea of getting sleeved came as a happy surprise. After hitting a slump in our marriage, my lovely hubby came to me one day and suggested the idea. My initial thought was "wait, is this guy trying to get skinny so he can upgrade me?". You can't blame me for thinking this, after all I was raised on the Latino ideology that if you do not look good enough, cook good enough, or do not take care of your home good enough, your husband will leave you....ten kids or not. But there was a sparkle of sincere hope in his eyes. A glimmer that read that this procedure would be a reset button to new life for the both of us. For our children.  So the decision was made. We were to get sleeved in Tijuana on the 20th of May.