shereebarb

i had my sleeve there 8/31 with Dr. Garcia. Absolutely no regrets. You do not leave your stuff at the hotel, you will be bringing it with you to the hospital, and will get a new reservation/room after you leave the hospital. If your support person does not wish to stay in your room with you, I would imagine they would be responsible for their own hotel room. Please feel safe in Mi Doctor and with Dr. Garcia. He and his whole staff are top notch. You are definitely in good hands, and they welcome any calls or concerns you have after you get back home as well. i have emailed Dr. Garcia a few times and have spoken with Dr. Velasco on the phone.

Yes, you have nothing to worry about....I just returned last week myself. I did go with my husband, but would not have felt unsafe without him. It is also so great you will have a buddy having surgery the same day because even though my hubby was there, we made some great friends while there. Another lady with her husband, she had surgery same day as me and our hubbys totally hit it off and hung out and her and I hit it off too. When we returned to the Marriott, we relaxed by the pool together, went shopping together and had so much fun!
We have kept in touch and I am sure we will for a long time.....we just really clicked and it was GREAT! So, I hope this is the same for you.....making a great friend on this journey is definitely a plus!

So, I am sitting in the airport, Day 4 post op, waiting to catch my last flight home. Reflecting on the past 5 days has been amazing. I used Janese at "a lighter me.com" who was fantastic! I got to San Diego and immediately Samuel, the driver called me and picked me up. He showed my some cool ships in San Diego and then we headed to Mexico. Once I got checked into the hotel, the pre-op diet was driving me crazy, so I decided to get busy and check out Tijuana. I walked to Walmart and a local grocery store and never felt unsafe whatsoever. And I was alone!! When I checked into the hotel, Eduardo, my on site coordinator was there and helped me, then he called me again that night to check on me and arrange medical pick up to the hospital the next morning.
SURGERY DAY: August 9. I got up and made my way to the shuttle that took me and another patient to the hospital. We got there, filled out some paperwork, had blookwork done and then waited! I got into my room and was a given a gown. Then a staffer came and did and EKG on me. Dr. Valesco (sp?) was there to support me and answer a lot of my questions. Then the anesthestist came in and told me what he would do and what to expect, then Dr. Garcia came in, told me surgery would be in about twenty minutes and explained the procedure to me and gave me a chance to anser questions. I walked into the OR, laid on the table, and then woke up in the recovery room! The rest of the first day was a bit of a blur, but Dr. Garcia did call my family back home in Canada and update them. I slept and walked a little the rest of the day. I had bad nausea post op, but the nurses were awesome to give me medicine the moment I needed it. I had some gas pains, but to me, the nausua and dry heaving was worse. Dr Garcia also updated about surgery. He told me because I did so well on the pre-op diet that my liver was very small and he only needed 3 incisions to complete the procedure! I asked to see my stomach, but they had thrown it away.
AUGUST 10: Walking and resting. I was given everything I needed at the hospital to take care of myself and spent the day getting my energy back up and walking. AUGUST 11: Discharge to the hotel (and I totally felt ready to go!). I checked back into the hotel and Eduardo came by to check on me and take care of everything I needed. I wandered around the hotel, the pool and had free broth and popsicles from the restaurant in the hotel. It was great. That night, Dr. Lopez, another surgeon came to check on my with Eduardo as well. Awesome service!! AUGUST 12 was pretty much the same except I spent even more time by the pool. Eduardo was great to come by again and coordinate the next day to get to the hospital. So that brings me to now. We had a quick trip through the border and everything was pretty uneventful.
Things I didn't do but wish I had: brought gas x strips, they really do help, or make your breathe better, either of which is good, I wish I would have brought more of my own broth mix and tea bags, and been so darn scared! My only frustrations were with nailing down a surgery time. I kept asking so I could update my family, but no one seemed to be able to tell me, and then one night at the hospital, there was a fiesta outside our window which apparently doesn't happen very often, but kept me up til the wee hours of morning. I had met another patient on this forum and having contacts when you are there alone can be awesome, help you beat the boredom and give you someone to talk to!
Overall, I would do again in a heartbeat. I can feel my relationship with food changing already and I can't wait to get to use my sleeve more and more to become the person I feel that I should look like! If you have any questions or want to know more, please feel free to message me!

Morning all ...last night was rough. I was laying flat in the bed and my incision on the right side was hurting. I guess it doesnt like laying flat, i was too far over and I had a lot of trouble getting up. Took 3 trys of my bf helping me. I finally got to the bathroom and the nausea hit me. Thank god my mom filled my script for the "ondansetron". My bf ran the pills into me. I popped one in my mouth, got up..rushed to bed, he got me the trashcan and a cool rag for my head and i went back to sleep. Woke up around 4 or 5 and took another one, still felt crappy....and finally got up at 815....took another one for precaution sake. Not sure what happened. I haven't really been nauseous. Still having the gas pains in the tummy but they are getting better. My legs feel crampy. I wonder if im dehydrated. I feel like im fitting in as much Isopure and Water as I can. My sleeve is only so big! I have yet to finish a whole bottle of it, but im getting cl
oser. I have my post Op visit tomorrow afternoon...and i think weds or thurs I can add in milk based things (creamed Soup, soy milk, Protein shakes) That will be good. Decided last night to go to the food store website and add stuff to the cart, turns out they will do the shopping for you for 10 dollars and you just pick it up!! That will save me a lot of stress walking around in the store seeing all the yummy foods that i can't have any more. So, I saved my list

Okay so the good part...Today I weighed in at 253.8. My first goal was taking off 25 lbs from my highest. Today.... I am 26.6 lbs down from my highest (280.4 on july 11th). I am down 10.2 since surgery day (wednesday)

Yesterday I said goodbye 280s, 270s, 260s...hopefully tomorrow I'll be saying goodbye 250's

Have a great day everyone!!

I realize I am extremely late to this party, but nothing like a grand entrance, right?? I will be sleeved August 31 in Tijuana with Dr. Garcia. I am so excited for all of us

I realize I am extremely late to this party, but nothing like a grand entrance, right?? I will be sleeved August 31 in Tijuana with Dr. Garcia. I am so excited for all of us

I am having mine with Almanza.

i am scheduled for June 5. I just hope my passport will hurry up and get here!