Follow up?

Hi!

I've booked my surgery date with Dr. Ortiz in Mexico, and just saw my own doctor today, who coincidentally told me that I was rejected by the MB doctor because of a too high BMI.

She mentioned that she's not trained to do follow ups on bariatric surgery, and really didnt know where I could get that here.

What do the other Mexican surgery patients do in this case?

I'm so excited, scared, happy, sad....I can't believe I'm doing this!!

Patti

Your doctor just has to make sure you have bloodwork done every 3 months to check all your vitamin and minerals.  You should also see a dietician or nutritionist.  Your doctor can refer you to a dietician.  I see one at the hospital in Selkirk. There really isn't a lot of follow up required other than that.

Thanks for the info!  I thought that may be the case but my doctor kind of put the fear into me.  She said that surgeons tend to only follow up on their own surgical patients, and don't usually take on another surgeon's patient.  What about the endoscope?  Did you all go down to Mexico to get it done at the 6 month mark?  ( I think that's what the info sheet said...not sure though)

I have never had an endoscope, Dr. Ponce did a leak test on me after surgery. Unless you are having problems you shouldn't need one. I have no follow up with my surgeon. But I know how to reach him if there are problems. The doctors here try to scare you away from out of country surgeries. Mine did, but I am glad I ignored her. Lol

I had surgery with Dr. Ortiz and there was never any mention of an endoscopy at any point that I'm aware of. There would be no need to do this procedure unless you had some sort of problem that needed to be investigated.  No one can be expected to hop on a plane to Mexico if you have any kind of issue. You would be treated by a local physician. A local surgeon may not want to interfere with another local surgeon's patient, but that isn't the case if you go to Mexico. 

Yeah, really, as long as you have no complications, or pain, are feeling well and eating right, your doctor just needs to do regular bloodwork every 3 months for the first year. What surgery are you having and when?? Have your doctor see you a few weeks after surgery to check to make sure you are healing properly. She should then check you again a month later and do bloodwork then for the first time. If Mexico doesn't give you a follow up diet which also tells you what vitamins you need to be taking, then go on this forum..girls here will tell you. Make sure you Have chewable pills ready for when you get home and take the chewable for at least a month. You will need Multi vitamin, Calcium and Vitamin D for sure along with protein powder. It will be hard to get your protein in after surgery, so get UNFLAVOURED (beneprotein, you can get at a few places like the Tache pharmacy or online at well.ca) and add it to anything you can like in your yogurt, in your coffee, in cream of wheat or oatmeal, cottage cheese, soups, etc. If you don't keep up with your protein, you may start to loose your hair. Hope this helped. Barb C. , BCwaiting

What if (God forbid) there are complications once I'm back home?  I guess I would just go to emergency?  I'm having the sleeve surgery with Dr. Ortiz on January 16th.  I have a friend who is a 3rd year medical student who I'm bringing with me so I'll feel less stressed with her around post-op.  

Thanks so much for the tip on the protein!  

Are you having your surgery in BC?  I lived in Courtenay for 4 years and had my first consult with a Dr. in Victoria, but ended up moving away before I could go further.

Congrats! I also went to Dr. Ortiz. I had the best surgery experience of anyone I've read on here. I had a VSG and had absolutely no pain at all and felt really well by the following day. I hope you'll have as good an experience as I did.

You will get a calendar from Dr. Miranda (the nutritionist at OCC) that will tell you what you can eat at what stage and she'll tell you about the vitamins, etc. You can e-mail her with any questions before-hand and you're supposed to have a phone consultation with her at some point before your surgery.

The OCC website has a bit of information about what blood tests to have your doctor order and when. Other than that, there really isn't any particular follow-up needed, as others mentioned. 

One piece of advice -- plan to go back to San Diego the day before your flight. It takes FOREVER to get through the border and the money for a hotel for a night is worth the peace of mind knowing you will not miss your flight, which happened to one lady who travelled back to San Diego with us.  

Hi Dianne,

Thanks for the reply!  I already spoke to Dr. Miranda and have started my pre-surgery weight loss.  I have to lose 15-20 MINIMUM to reduce the fat around the organs.  I started Visalus shakes 1-2 times per day with one small meal and salads.  I've lost 6 pounds so far, which is amazing to me.  I guess when I'd try things before I'd lose interest quickly, but now I have my eye on the bigger prize!

Great advice about going back to San Diego the day before the flight.  I sure don't need that extra stress.  I'm already worried about getting there with 2 short stopovers.  Fingers crossed for no storms on Jan. 15th!!

I can't believe I'm doing this!!!!!!

Hi Patti 

Aren't Visalus shakes really expensive? You can use any type of protein shake with low carbohydrates. You can buy protein powder nearly anywhere that you can mix with water or milk (Superstore, Walmart, Costco, drug stores, stores where they sell sports supplements). Popeyes will mix samples for you of ones you might want to buy there.  Costco has premade Premier Protein Shakes that have really high protein. They are less than $2 each if I recall correctly. I've also gone to Muscles by Myers in Myers Pharmacy. They're quite helpful there.

I lost 34 lb before my surgery by following a plan much like yours (although I didn't do the "good" suppers! I ate whatever I wanted in the evenings and on weekends until the last two weeks).  You will probably lose more than I did! I steadily lost weight, but I knew I could never stick with a plan like that really long-term either. I started Sept 12 and had surgery Feb 6.

Good luck!