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Personal Comments
Back a few months ago, my father was watching television and he saw a
story about Al Roker. He was so impressed with the weight loss success
that he told me I should h! ave the surgery done. He also said that he
would pay for it. At first, I said, there is no way I can do this. I
would have to give up too much. For the next few months it kept
nagging at me. The offer my father made forced me to look into myself.
I came to some serious realizations. The biggest one being that I
realized I no longer wanted food to be the focus of my life. Suddenly
I felt that I wanted to get the surgery more than anything. I started
by getting on the internet. My search began by doing a key word search
on AOL. The word I used were "weight loss surgery"! At this
time! , I did not know that weight loss surgery is formally known as
bariatr ic surgery. Once I ran across the word bariatric surgery, I
had no trouble getting a lot of information. My search led me to a web
site called obesityhelp.com. It was here that I truly became inspired
to make this surgery a reality. All of the people on this web site
were changing their lives completely by losing the weight. My first
phone call was to my insurance company. I have Kaiser Permanen! te
insurance. Needless to say battling them to cover this was totally
fruitless. Of all the stories I had read on obesityhelp.com-there was
not one single person with Kaiser Permenante insurance. I remembered
that my father did say he would pay for it-so I started calling local
doctors in the Atlanta area myself. What I found was that it was
astronomically expensive and a long wait time. I did not want to wait.
I am the type of person in that when I decide to do something want to
do it right then.
Surgeon Info:
Alberto
Aceves MD (Mexicali, )
Luckily I received an email from Dr. Alberto Aceves' assistant Nina.
In the email, Nina ! was very nice and very personal. She told me
that I could have a lap band placed on my stomach for $8200. This
was about a third of the cost in the United States. What was even
better is that the lap band could be placed laproscopically. Another
advantage is that it can be removed if it had to be so even though
it is meant to permanent-if it had to be removed-it could be. It was
the second we! ek of October and I knew I was going to have to go
back to work soon. I was running out of time and I had to get this
done!!! I spoke to my father and told him how bad I wanted to do it.
At first he had some reservations with me going to Mexico. I admit I
did too-but chances make champions and I have always adopted the
mentality that if it is my time to go then it is my time to go. I
emailed Nina and asked her when she could schedule my surgery. She
emailed me back that same day informing me that my surgery was
scheduled for Monday October 20, 2003. At this point, I could hardly
believe! that in 2 short weeks my life would be forever changed. For
the next 2 weeks I received some positive insight as well as plenty
of negativity. here were comments like "Mexico is a dirty third
world country." Then this comment-"You can't even drink
the water in Mexico but you are going to go have surgery." My
sister who is very close to me and whom I love very held the most
opposition to me going. She actually got very upset with me a begged
me not to go. It wa! s then that I let everybody know that there was
absolutely nothing anyone could do to stop me. My mind was made up.
On Friday October 17, 2003-California here I come. We landed in San
Diego in the morning and did a tour of Pacific Cost Highway to enjoy
one last weekend of "food freedom." At 6AM on Monday we
departed for Mexico. I was not as nervous ad I thought I would be. I
kept thinking if I could just get down to Mexico I know I will be
okay. Nina was waiting for me at the McDonalds right on the border.
Mind you, at this point I had not spoken to Nina and I did not know
what she looke! d like either. She greeted me and then I followed
her through the border into Mexicali. surprisingly, Almater Hospital
is literally 2 miles from the border-so I did not even really feel
like I was in another country. When we arrived at the hospital Dr.
Aceves was waiting for us. For some reason, I immediately felt very
comfortable around both Nina and Dr. Aceves. . The great thing is
that ! everything was done in the same day. They started pre-op
around 9 am. I met with the cardiologist, a counselor, and an
anastheseologist. The did the blood work and an EKG that same
morning. The last thing I did before they started was speak to a
counselor by the name of Edith Salazar. I just want to say that I
think she is a wonderful person and a wonderful counselor. She
completely calmed me and was very soothing to me shortly before I
went into the OR. The surgery lasted about 1-2 hours, and I stayed
in the recovery room for a few hours . I was back in my hospital
room in the early eveni! ng hours. Within an hour of returning to my
room-I was up and down goi ng to the bathroom with little or no
pain. This continued throughout the night and into the next day. One
thing that was very odd is the amount of time spent and attention
put on you. I felt like I was the First Lady or somebody very
special. I am 27 years old and I can say that as long as I have been
alive-no group of medical professional have ever been this kind and
caring. I left the ! hospital in the early afternoon of Tuesday
10/21/03 and I returned back to San Diego and caught a flight back
to Atlanta the next day. The plane trip back was the worst part
because I felt very nauseated and was experiencing a lot of hunger
pains. Honestly the first 2 weeks were pretty difficult. It is
difficult learning to eat to live instead of living to eat!!!! You
are on a very strict diet of liquids and broths. For someone who
loves food so much this was the hardest part to go through. You
really have to understand that food can no longer be a source of
comfort, instead it will become st! rictly a source of nourishment.
You cannot be concerned with eating something that tastes good-you
can give that up. You will have to eat what you are told to eat
because nourishment is one of the basic essentials for life to
continue. You must come around to this way of thinking. After about
2 weeks of this you get used to it. Then it is not so bad. Today is
11/29/03, it has been a l! ittle over a month since my surgery. I
have lost almost 30 lbs. At Tha nksgiving I was able to eat about 1
bite of everything. But I was okay with that. I did not feel bad at
all. In fact, it felt great to still be able to have a little good
food and continue to loose the weight. The best part of Thanksgiving
this year was the chair I sat in. Oddly enough, every chair in my
parents home has arm rests on them. I sat down and something did not
feel right. I got up and sat back down again. It was then I realized
just after 30lbs of weight loss I can fir in those chairs and they
don't hurt me anymor! e. I had to get up and sit down several times
to get the full affect. My clothes fit very loosely on me lately and
they are feeling much more comfortable. I feel like my life is
slowly changing drastically. Friday July 2, 2004 Well I started this
way back in November and never finished. I am now up 85lbs total
loss in just 8 months. Words cannot express the difference it has
made in my life. I am no longer a prisoner to obesity!!! What is
even better i! s that my 2 older sisters are both getting their
surgery done. I feel that I have motivated and inspired many
people-at least that is what they say!!!!! I won't say that I have
not been faced with a little "haterism" from some
people-but that comes along with it. I am free to do whatever I want
to do and know that my weight will not stop me anymore. In April of
this year-a few short months ago I went to Six Flags amusement park.
It felt great to sit confidently in the seats knowing that I will
fit!!! Often times people ask me if I could go back would I still do
and tell them "most definitely" the! only thing I would do
differently is I would have went to see Dr. Aceves much sooner. It
has definitely been an experience for me. If anyone ever needs to
talk to someone who has had the surgery please tell them to call me.
I would love to help anyone considering taking this journey
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