• Name: Mary Robinson
• Age: 53
• Surgery: Gastric Sleeve
• Surgery date: June 5th, 2012
• Testimonial date: August 27th, 2012
• Surgeon: Dr. Mario Almanza

Two days following my decision to have Gastric Sleeve, national news casts exploited what I thought was the biggest selling point, A CURE FOR TYPE TWO DIABETES. Although, I had already committed to surgery, I now wanted the surgery more than ever, but my nature is to be a skeptic. The news cast put my skepticism to rest. My twenty two year old daughter and I both scheduled surgery on the same day. We had ran the reviews and as far as we could tell Dr. Almanza and Tijuana MX was where we wanted to go. A decision that has been by far the best decision of my entire life and my daughter would say the same.

Today, I received the results of my three month lab work with a perfect 6.9 A1C (I am now taking 80 only units of lantus per day) down from a whopping 9.8 A1C (I was taking 220 units of lantus, 2000 mg of metformin and enough novalog to kill a horse). This great news along with the 47 pounds lighter for me and 59 pounds for my daughter began with the fact Jerusalem Hospital offered such a great program. The clinic was spotless, the surgery team was phenomenal, the care was of the utmost, the hotel was second to none, the safety was first class and the drivers were our lifeline. Having surgery with a group unbeknown to each other and leaving the clinic with new family members was by far an experience only God could have planned.

Has the journey been perfect? Absolutely not, but has it been worth the flair-ups, ABSOLUTELY YES! From my daughter's after surgery shoulder gas pains, to the very few times I ate too fast or did not chew and lost all that went down, its priceless to the difference in the way we feel and look.

Yet, there are emotional tribulations to overcome like "What do you do with your friends when you no longer care to dine with the best of them?" or "How wasteful is it to throw away far more than you ate?'' and of course, "Do I have to hurt for just a few moments because I overfilled my stomach?" But with all that being said, the surgery itself never once hurt in any way. Our stomachs were never sore, never felt any pain from the removal and only felt the few sensations any stitch can make.

We walked ourselves into the operating room and low and behold we walked ourselves out of the operating room and straight up a flight of steps. Our healing process has varied between us, but overall no complaints. I have continued with eating a little something every two hours, she has stuck to three meals a day, but both of us no longer crave, gorge or grieve over food and drink.

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* This is an actual testimonial, however, your results may vary. For more information, please read our Testimonial Disclaimer and Risks of Surgery.