2+ Years Out New Pictures and Hit My Goal!! Thank you Dr. Quinones!!!!
I had a total NSV this morning, I was tracking my body measurements, prepping for my former PT to send me a work out routine from hell to help me tone my body up, and realized I FINALLY made it...I don't know how the hell it happened but I am stoked!!! FINALLY hit my 145 lbs goal...which means that this is the very FIRST birthday I will spend with my son...since his birth where I am officially considered in the normal BMI range...not by much...but by God I will take this victory!!!!
SO SO SO!!! Happy right now...I def need the toning, but I thought THIS day would never get here!!!
FYI, the green dress in the photos I am wearing is the same green dress from my before photo...whoop whoop...I was also too excited to put on makeup and take a straight picture apparently lol!!!! God bless you Dr. Sergio Quinones, my PT Ryan, and the support team that got me here...on some cloud 9 right now!
I hate the way photo uploads work on here, so here is a link to the gallery, the new photos are the ones in the leopard printed dress, the green dress...and ESPECIALLY the before and after of me wearing that same Green dress...from 235 to 145 BABY!!!!! Whoop Whoop!!!
http://www.obesityhelp.com/photos/album/179667/
So happy for u making a this fulfilling journey. Just about to start mine and I do so appreciate your posts on Mexico surgery. I hope I can do as well as you. Again, congrats and thanks,diane
You are so welcome! Who are you having surgery with? When are you scheduled, I loved having my surgery in TJ, best decision ever, and their follow up support was off the charts. There are a number of great surgeons down there. I like making posts about MX because I know people have such stigmas about the place...it really is nothing like what people think. If you have any questions before or after your surgery feel free to add me as a friend, I would be happy to answer them. Best wishes on your surgery!
Congratulations smdh39! I just began navigating this forum today and your posts have been soooo incredibly helpful and inspirational to me. Thank you so much for your contributions.
I note that you're a bit OCD with researching (as I hope most people would be) and I was wondering what your top Dr. picks were that you feel I should research as well. I'd be tempted to just blindly copy you to a tee since we seem similar in that manner, but.. would like to research myself. I just need a starting point. I've heard Dr. Kelly? Dr. Lopez (and his wife team)? Dr. Quinones? Dr. "Rod" Rodriguez (although I think there are a TON of Dr. Rodriguez's so that makes me nervous)... I'm just looking for a starting point and find out how many vsg surgeries each one has performed, if they offer single incision (SPIDER) surgeries.. what their stats are.. etc. And then cost, of course. I'm willing to pay more to ensure safety and the best care. Hubby isn't sold on the idea of surgery in Mexico and says I should do it locally. But that will cost a minimum of $19,800...
I've been researching like crazy.
Also, may I ask how tall you are? Sounds like we're the same starting weight. I'm 232-233 on my at home scale. The scales elsewhere are generally meaner and put me at 235-236. I'm 5'7", maybe 5'7.5"
Thanks again!
You are so welcome, I am glad they help some. My top 3 surgeons that ended up on my more in detailed research list were Dr. Almanza, Dr. Alvarez, and Dr. Quinones. My starting weight was 235 lbs, and I am 5'4. I had actually booked with Dr. Almanza initially, but after further research into the booking agency, how their office operated, and the number of patients they were willing to in a single day, I decided to not go with him.
I liked a number of things about Dr. Alvarez, but in the end, Dr. Quinones training a credentials are what won me over with him. I had a long history with upper GI issues, so I requested to speak to the doctors still on my list so that I could ask them questions about the surgery and it's affects on people with my type of history. When I talked to Dr. Q, I knew he was the right choice for me, he was like a surgical savant, and he had that quality about him when I spoke to him over the phone that you could tell he had a true passion for helping bariatric patients, and a deep love for surgery.
When I researched his credentials, I found that he had had held a number of prominent positions throughout his career, such as Chief of general surgery, Chief of surgical interns, Proctor Certification from Johnson and Johnson, he was thoroughly trained in general, baratric, and trauma surgery, so I felt he could handle any issues should a complication arise. He actually teaches at the medical college other surgeons how to perform these surgeries, and also held a position on the Mexican arbitration board, which is the Mexico equivalent of the US Medical Malpractice review board. He also performed surgeries for Hospital Angeles, which is where his office is located, and maintains operating privileges at many operating facilities...to have operating privileges at multiple locations you have to be reviewed and given the privileges from each location you wish to hold privileges at. I really liked the fact that he had been reviewed and cleared to operate at a number of different places.
In the end, after my research, talking with Dr. Q, working with his pre and post op care staff, it just felt right for me, but I commend you for wanting to research to find what is right for you, I think everyone should.
As far as the single incision surgery goes I researched that as well, I opted to not go that route for a few reasons, but if you research the technology enough, you find that it was based of the original DaVinci technology, Spider is sort of DaVinci 2.0, DaVinci was the coolest in technology when it first came out, but it had limitations on articulation and instrumentation.
The spider technology improved upon this, but what many people who don't bother to research the technology properly don't realize is that even though it is called single incision, when being used on a bariatric patient, you still may require more than one incision, the spider incision is larger, to accommodate the equipment...and there are still a few bugs to be worked out with the articulation. Also, if a person is heavy and carries the weight in their abdomen, they is a chance that if the belly hangs to low the Spider technology cannot be used on them, and they end up having to have multi-incision anyway.
There is now a 3rd generation of technology hitting the market that is supposed to improve the problems seen with the Spider...but one thing I will tell you to research is if you are really wanting the single incision, make sure that if the doctors you are researching say they use the spider, request pictures of the equipment, when i was researching I found that some off them that offered the Spider, were not actually using the actual spider technology at all, they were using a canula method, which, don't get me wrong, it is still considered a single incision method, but I believe that if you are being sold on the Spider technology, they they had better have it.
As far as your husband not being sold on the idea of Mexico, I can honestly tell you that when i had my surgery there, I had better care than many of the surgeries I have had in the states, and the post operative team that works with Dr. Q has been amazing. They have done everything from translate my medical records, to insuring my got my surgical DVD (Back when I had surgery 2+ years ago they had to mail you the surgical DVD, now you can bring a flash drive down there and have it before you leave MX)...anyway, I loved the entire experience in TJ, I had never been out of the country before I had that surgery, but honestly, had it not been for the big welcome to Mexico sign, I would have never known we left San Diego, it all looked the same to me.
I have been back to Mexico a few times for various procedures, so I have seen a good deal of the various facilities they use, I ALWAYS...because I am a geek, take a particular interest in any technology they use that I have not seen. I know there are a lot of stigmas when people think of have surgery abroad, but when I went to Mexico for my dental work, I had emax crowns done, and they had an emax milling machine where I could watch the crowns being made while I was in the office...it was killer technology. They also had a like 4D dental ex-ray machine...funny thing I live in a medium sized southern town at the moment, and I kid you not, I just saw a dentist office a few months ago, advertising they just now got the 4D technology, and that they were the only office with in 100 miles that had one...it made me chuckle because I am thinking to myself, all these stigmas with have work done in Mexico, and my town JUST NOW got the technology that was used on my a long time a go..lol, oh the irony.
Anyway, I hope this helps you out some, if you have any more questions feel free to ask. Sorry I didn't get back to you sooner, my laptop crashed and I just got the new one in a few days ago...it had windows 8 installed on it, so I have been busy tweeking that system so I can actually work on it.
Good luck on your research!
