jh5497

Good Luck!! I'm sure you will do awesome!

Wow! That's awesome!!

I was told to wait 4 weeks. Then my surgeon highly recommended swimming as exercise. It was hard to sit by the pool and read/tan, and not jump in, and I'm not generally someone who swims! I think because I couldn't, it made me want to!

I used Dr. Garcia, and he said that because I had shrunk my liver so well with the pre-op diet, he only needed to use 2 incisions and then I have another spot where my drain was.

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!

WOW!!! That's amazing!!!

You should have gotten an information package that had your post op diet in it, it should have info about exercise and stuff too. These boards are a great place to search too if you put in key words to the search bar at the top of the page. I have had all sorts of questions, but so have 100 others, and there are a lot of anwers out there!

I'm having surgery with Dr Garcia at Tijuana Hospital MI Doctor

I would get more fresh fruit/veggies (if you can have those) instead of 16 turkey pepperoni's a day.

I work in a mental health clinic and would strongly advise you to talk to you psychiatrist about stopping meds and having a plan in place should your OCD/anxious thoughts become overwhelming. I know some anti-psychotics can be given by injections. Talk to your psychiatrist, or even a psych nurse or pharmacist. They will know the options!

I use it and love it. My hairstylist recommended it when I was concerned a few years ago about my hair thinning (which in reality is still thick and curly), and she said it won't make hair grow back, but it'll prevent more from falling out. I also like the way it smells and makes my scalp tingle!

That's awesome to hear! I was hoping it would be a nice set up like that!

Thanks! I got it all figured out with my coordinator through "a lighter me" too! Sounds like you are managing okay through clear liquids -- my biggest fear pre-op! It's gonna be tough!! Congrats on the weight lost already! You are doing fantastic! I will be thinking about you tomorrow -- good luck!!

Heck yeah! I hope to be where you are after 2 months. But it's hard to guess where you should be because everyone's weight loss is so different! Trust your sleeve to do it's job and be proud of what you've lost already!

Yes, Janese is fantastic. I have her numbers as well. I actually emailed her with a payment question today and she didn't get back super fast like she usually does, so that makes sense she is out of town! Thanks!

Hahaha! I meant puss filled or oozing... apparently I write bad words! Hahahah!

With previous surgeries and working in a hospital I can tell you that -- itching means healing (as long as it isn't ***** or smelly or infected looking)!

I have been working with Janese too. There was another coordinator, Melissa and anothe named Rosie, and I thought they were on site! I have just assumed all this, so I have no idea if I'm right ot wrong. Good to know Janese will be there with us! Awesome!!

I'm not sure. But it would be nice to have people to recover with between naps! Haha. I chose Garcia because of the research I did. I liked that I he posted his licensing numbers online and I could easily cross reference his credentials. I am starting to worry now because I can't find the travel assistant info that I had previously found and I'm wondering what's going on. I told my family about my on site contact as that person and it's like she disappeared now! I'm just kinda trusting I'll be taken care of at this point. I started my pre-op on July 26, so I'm almost a week in and ten lbs down. I binged for two weeks before I started pre-op though! Just the thought of not having ice cream for so long was sad to me, so I had to have lots! Haha. I'm not finding pre-op too bad because it's simliar to the Ideal Protein diet that I tried earlier this year. I think clear liquids will be killer though!

Tijuana Marriott?

Are you going to Mi hospital with Dr. Lopez in TJ? If so, we will be there at the same time!

I know, we will barely miss each other! I will get to MX on August 8! I will be lurking and watching for your updates on here! Good Luck -- you will definitely be in my thoughts on Friday!

I went from 270 to 240 and could fit a smaller size, but my old pants were so snug before that I could still wear them too. When I got down to 235, my jeans would get lose after wearing them for 15 minutes. Every person's body is different, but it would definitely be disappointing to lose so much without getting a smaller size pants!

I have been wondering the exact same thing but I'm going alone, so I won't have anyone there to keep an eye on anything. I want to keep in touch with family back in Canada, so taking my laptop is a must for me!!! I'm not overly worried about it because I'm going to only take one travel bag and I guess I could keep a lock on it, but suitcase locks aren't exactly super secure. I hope someone who has gone to Hospital Mi has a great answer for us!

If I started the process again, I would take the first date offered because when that date went by, all I thought was "Huh, wouldn't it be nice to be getting sleeved today, instead, I'm waiting another month". I'm very inpatient though. I waited because although I was physically and mentally ready, the emotional preparedness to give up my food addiction and giving my family time to adjust to the fact I'm having surgery in Mexico was more important.