I was sleeved by Dr. Hector Perez in Cancun on January 25. I admit that I was nervous since there isn't much information about him out there. When we arrived in Cancun, my husband and I were picked up at the airport (outside - don't let the tour people hold you inside too long). Mario was waiting right in front of the door with a sign with my name. He and Lupita (the driver) welcomed us warmly and drove us to the B2B Hotel. For some reason the hotel couldn't find our reservation but I didn't care - I just gave them my credit card and decided to figure it out later (I wasn't able to reach my coordinator on my cell phone). I did email her when we got to the room. Before she was able to get things figured out on her end, the front desk found out that it was entered on a different date (didn't have to pay for the room). They were very nice and apologetic - no big deal. My husband and I walked around the area to find food - there is a mall nearby with a lot of choices. We settled on Taco Maramar for tuna steaks (delicious). The waiter spoke English pretty well which helped us out. For dinner we ate at Mood, across the street from the hotel. I didn't eat anything after 8:30 and stopped liquids by 9:30.
On the morning of surgery we were picked up out front by Abraham, the owner of the transportation comany. He was so kind and spoke fluent English. When we got close to the hospital, Abraham pointed out different restaurants and places to shop to Lee. He told him what types of food the places had and what to expect from each one. Lee said 100% Natural was the best (by the way, Lee does not like Mexican food in the States - fell in love with it in Cancun).
At the hospital (a surgical center, really), I checked in with the receptionist. She didn't speak a lot of English but enough to help me through the paperwork. Then the nurse walked us upstairs to my room (there is an elevator if you need one). Once in my room I changed to a surgical gown and pre-op began. Keep in mind this is not the United States so pre-op is super easy. I had an i.v. started in my hand and my temperature and blood pressure taken by the nurse. The x-ray tech brought in a portable x-ray and took a picture of my chest. A doctor came in next with a cardboard box. I admit I was a little freaked out by this. It was actually an older ekg machine. Instead of the sticky electrodes, he used suction cup style electrodes and a paper print-out. That was cool but it made me start wondering about the surgical facility. The anesthesist came in next - she is a very nice woman and asked me questions about surgery history, when I last ate, etc (normal questions). When she left, Dr. Perez came in and introduced himself, talked about the procedure and said we'd start soon. Not long after, a nurse walked (yes, walked) me to surgery. I am happy to report that the surgical room is very modern (they even used sticky electrodes for the procedure lol). I remember getting settled on the table, and being asked if I was ready.
The next thing I remember was an annoying pain in my back. I am positive it was the pillow I was on but was still too drugged to tell them so I went back to sleep. They woke me up to put some blood pressure medicine under my tongue (the worst tasting crap I have ever had - I still shiver when I think about it). Then I was awakened and walked (yes, walked) back to my room.
I slept a lot that day but when I was awake, I didn't hurt much. The worst was the gas pain in my left shoulder (normal). I was monitored often (bp and temp) and given pain medicine and antibiotics often (or it seemed that way to me). I was walking that evening and that, along with a couple of GasX strips (which Dr. Perez was glad I had) helped eleviate the gas pain. I was able to sleep on my right side and kind of on my left side (the drain was on the left). It helped with the pain in my back. I'm not saying I never had gas pain even with the drugs but the more I walked, the less it got.
I showered on Day 2 - it felt wonderful! Still no liquids except what they gave me through the i.v. until late in the day when I was able to let ice melt in my mouth. I had 4 ice cubes. No pain to speak of (probably because they were still giving me the pain meds in my i.v.). I walked and was able to get in and out of bed by myself (my stomach just felt sore like an intense abs workout). The staff checked on me a LOT throughout the day. By the way, they do have some t.v. channels in English so you can watch if you want. That night I slept so well that when the nurses came to do their stuff I would open my eyes, see it was them and go back to sleep.
Day 3 - In the morning I had to drink the dye for the leak test. I will be honest - it is nasty (but not as bad as the blood pressure medicine). It was so blue it reminded me of the old Tidy Bowl commercials. lol Then I took a shower and dressed in my street clothes. After a while, I went with Dr. Perez down to the x-ray room (walked and took the elevator). It was a cool machine that was able to move around my body to get different angles of my new, very small, stomach (he took about 80% of it!). Dr. Perez also showed me how much room was in my new stomach (I swallowed something and watched it fill up my stomach on the x-ray). Pretty cool.
Back upstairs to my room. Dr. Perez came to take out my drain. It was very unconfortable for me. However, I think it was also giving me some of the pain I felt previously. A nurse (male) put fresh dressings on my wounds then Dr. Perez came back to give me discharge instructions. He gave me Gatorade, V-8 Splash, a gel medicine I have to sip 3 times a day and pain medicine (I haven't used any of them). I was instructed to have only those liquids (I could have other juices) and Water for the that day and the next. He would email me with a soft foods diet to begin on Tuesday. You could have knocked me over with a feather! Two days of liquids???? I have read 1 - 2 WEEKS of liquids! But hey, he is the expert. Then Abraham was waiting downstairs for us and we were able to leave.
Abraham took us to the ferry as we decided to spend my recovery time on Isla Mujeres. Again, he was very sweet and we were able to make arrangements to be picked up on Thursday to go back to the airport (he charged us $30 for that which is very reasonable for a private car).
I thought Sunday and Monday would be difficult and I would spend most of my time in my room or on the beach resting. Not so. We walked the property and hung out on the beach while we waited for our room to be ready. We walked to town (about 1/2 mile or a little more) so Lee could eat dinner. It did not bother me one iota that I couldn't eat. Honest. I had my bottled Water and didn't feel hungry or deprived at all. He felt guilty but kept eating and telling me how delicious everything was.
Monday we spent the early morning on the beach relaxing and reading (and drinking Gatorade). We walked to town and Lee ate lunch and we shopped. We walked further this time - probably around 2 miles total. Again, I didn't feel hungry or deprived. I got an email from Dr. Perez with my instructions for the next 3-4 weeks.
Tuesday I had mashed banana for lunch and when we went to dinner I had two very small meatballs. I mashed the heck out of them and still chewed them 20 times before swallowing. They were delicious! I am not having any problems with the soft diet and haven't had problems with any type of food yet. I do feel sometimes like my stomach is cramping and it is a little painful but discovered if I take 1 GasX strip it goes away pretty quickly. Depending on the food - not all of them cause this. And I have not felt sick at all.
So I am one week out and have lost 6 pounds. My incisions are healing nicely and I can start putting Vitimin Eoil on them today (except the drainage area - I have to wait until Sunday).
I have had many different types of surgeries over the years and I can honestly say this is the easiest all-around beginning to end I have ever experienced. I would happily and confidently send my family and friends to have surgery with Dr. Perez and his staff. I am so excited start my new life and wish all of you the best of luck in your endeavors.
After giving it much thought, and driving myself nuts with so many Doctor's to choose from in Mexico. I finally choose to have my surgery with Dr. Perez in Cancun. My surgery will be on March 9th.
It really was a tough decision, but since I am in Florida traveling to San Diego was like such a hassle. I really didn't want to spend all those hours traveling with connecting flights, and then crossing the border to Tijuana. Good luck to you too on your upcoming surgery!
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