Armywife29

Good luck LuLu! And man Dr. Luna is SO good looking, OMG! He just left my hotel room after taking out my staples...I'm feeling awesome today. Went to Walmart, and doing well with fluids. Wishing you a speedy recovery!

You're not coming to the Marriott right? Aren't you doing same day surgery?

Yes, my mom is in the hospital room with me. She has her own bed, and has had no problems at all sleeping. I do recommend ear plugs and a sleeping mask if you are a light sleeper. The hospital isn't noisy, but the traffic outside in the morning is, lots of honking horns and such. There is a window above the room door which lets in a good bit of light, I had no trouble sleeping but I can see how it would bother someone who likes it very dark to sleep.

She has been having some AMAZING meals at the cafe downstairs in the hospital. Yesterday she had a grilled chicken sandwich, potato salad, chips and a soda for $8.75. This morning she had scrambled eggs, ham, has browns, coffee and orange juice. And this evening she got stir fry chicken and vegetables over rice and a side salad. She said it was delicious, and she is a picky eater!

This might sound gross but I have a photo of my removed stomach that Dr. Garcia took for me...if anyone is interested PM me you email address and I will forward it to you . It's not really disgusting...more shocking really!

So here are some more details...and I had to laugh at loud at all my typos in the first post, haha! I forgot to add that last night they brought me some sleeping medicine by request, I think you have to ask for it, they don't just bring it. It knocked me out...but it also gave me my first experience of the foamies. I guess I had to learn what a sip really is...when people say sip they literally mean like a tiny baby kitten. Was didn't vomit, but sure felt like I could. I had the same experience when I brushed my teeth this morning, even tough I didn't swallow anything. Started foaming really badly and then got some strong hiccups. I did the upper GI earlier this morning which wasn't bad at all. You drink this clear sweet stuff. Don't be worried about it. If you can't finish the whole cup that's okay! Came back upstairs and have been doing laps in the wing ever 90 minutes. Come back to my rom and do breathing exercise and then take a nap . Quite the life, haha! They gave me ice chips around 1:30 which felt so Good on my dry tounge. And the heparin shot, which you barely feel, the needle is very tiny! They also give you levaquin through your IV to stave off any chance of infection. A few minutes ago they brought me three medicine cups of liquid (yeah!). One blue Gatorade, one iced tea, and one apple juice. I've only made it through about half of the Gatorade and I feel full. The nurse says that good, and just take my time with them. At this rate I will probably drink them all night! I really can't say enough about how pleased I am with the care here. Everyone is SO nice. And if you need anything they come right in. I will be honest though, I am very friendly and polite too, so that might be helping as well. There hasn't been too much of a language barrier so far with any of the nurses, although some do speak much better English that others (my day nurse and I just finished a lengthy chat about our love of the show Glee if that gives you any indication ) My mom was also telling my dad how impressed she is with the care...she was very nervous initially. Speaking of phone calls...ach nurse station has a phone you can use anytime to make international calls. There is also an 800 number for the hospital that your friends and family can call and will be transferred to your room. Wifi is working great and I have been face timing multiple times a day with my husband and son back home. I'll be doing the blue dye test at 6 pm tonight and then drain comes out shortly there after. I will continue adding details as time goes on! Glad this helping everyone. Also user MikeRoss is here with me and he is doing great! He is on the 4th floor and I am n the 3rd, but they took me upstairs to check n m since he is traveling alone. He said "this whole surgery wasn't nearly as bad as he expected" and he to is very pleased with his care so far.

Hey everyone! I just wanted to update everyone on my experience so far. I know on the roll call there were some questions about the Marriott, so I will start there. We arrived on 1/21 and everyone was very helpful, I DID opt to give them my credit card number to hold for incidentals, but I believe this was optional. My total bill for the first night was $27, and that included Internet for my mom (the complimentary code is only good for me device, and I wanted her to be able to use her iPad as well), my moms room service Breakfast ($13) of an omelet, fruit plate, toast, coffee, and orange juice, and my mom buying a soda from the mini bar later that night. I didn't think $27 was unreasonable for all that. Make sure to bring lots of $1 & $5 for tipping bell man, room service, and drivers. I tipped the drivers $5 per trip and bell man $3, room service tips obviously depend on the amount of your bill. We were instructed to be in the lobby at 10:15 am on 1/22 to go to the hospital (MiDoctor). The shuttle was very punctual and it only took us about 5-7 minutes to get there. Once inside we came to the third floor administration to turn in paperwork and were brought to our rooms. I used Ready 4 a Change and Melissa was waiting for us as soon as we got here. She is adorable and EVERYONE has been so friendly and helpful! The only bad thing was that they couldn't get my IV in...and tried twice which hurt like hell. But Dr. velasco said they would just do it in the ERnafter I was put to sleep (fine by me!). The phlebotomist who took my blood draw was VERY good. I barely felt the stick. And she wore latex gloves the entire time. All of the nurses have been wearing gloves and using the hand sanitizer at the nurses station, I have seen them use is before entering each room. Dr. Cabrera was awesome! So warm and friendly...and good looking, great personality! We walked me through everything regarding anesthesia. Dr. Garcia and Dr. Champos were more amazing then I could have hoped for. They were both soooo nice and patient. Dr. Champos speaks slightly better English, but I had no trouble at all understanding Dr. Garcia. They took me in for surgery at 3pm and I was back in my room by 5pm, after spending a while in OR recovery. It took a while for the grogginess from the anesthesia to wear off and I had a good bit of gas sitting in my chest between my breasts that was REALLY uncomfortable. Felt like an elephant was sitting there. I walked the wing twice last night which really helped! I started burping gas up almost immediately. And today I have very little to no gas pain. One this I have noticed is that the nurses here are very respectful. My assigned night nurse Dania was quiet as a mouse when she came in throughout the night to changensalinenbags and pain meds. She quietly asked me ow I was doing sodas not to wake my mom or disturb me too much from my sleepiness. I really appreciated it. I also was able to make it the bathroom to pee on my own several times through the night, which I took as a good sign. I woke up early this morning (7ish) and am feeling really really good. No pain really at all. Took a long walk around the wing and am now settled back in bed. Think I might take a nap and then they are going to come help me shower. Looks like I will be doing the upper GI later today and then they will start me on ice chips as lngmas that comes back clear! I will be sure to keep everyone posted through this thread as the week progresses! Lauren

You just pay for items that you use out of the fridge, 2 bottles of Water a day are free and sodas are $2. So not terrible...the alcohol is pricey, but we don't drink . When I get released from the hospital we are going to go to Walmart to get stuff so it will be cheaper. I plan on picking up a few extra gatorades and my mom will get Snacks and drinks. We could have walked there today...but we were EXHAUSTED and practically collapsed in the hotel beds for 3 hour naps.

I checked in this morning and so far so good. I did have to pay an extra $8 for WiFi log on for my mom, the included code you get is only good for one iPad/computer to log on. It wasn't a big deal for me, but can see how the misrepresentation of "wifi included" would definitely annoy others. The room service has been very attentive, we had them stock the in room refrigerator with waters and soda (for my mom). Haven't tried the Popsicles since Rosie told me not to have one tonight, I will definitely be trying some post op though! The broth downstairs was pretty good too. Guess we will see how things go when it is time to check out . Checking in to the hospital tomorrow! The hotel is very nice though, incredibly clean and the beds are very comfortable! The bathroom is super nice

Is en route to San Diego! I cannot believe this is actually happening! Had to be up at 0330 EST for our 5am flight. My mom is with me since TJ is restricted for military personnel right now, but that's okay. Looking forward to meetin my sleeve brother MikeRoss when we get picked up by Samuel at the airport! Will keep everyone updated as I am able . Send me lots of good healing dust for post op!

I'm posting this on the orginial post as well, but wanted to start a new thread for those that might have missed the original post. Here is the RECAP of dates for those headed to TJ for VSG so far for 2013. There are several who have dates for THIS WEEK, so I am hoping you guys post your experiences here as well. I think I got everyone that added their dates to the original thread, if I missed you please let me know. Peppy234- 1/16 BigePC- 1/17 MrsReady2BSLeeve- 1/17 Icon23- 1/17 ArmyWife29- 1/22 MikeRoss- 1/22 LuLu1513- 1/25 SexyBack517- 2/5 Kortolano- 2/8 Tessies- 2/8 DIamondEyed- 2/15 AmyTug- 2/18 SRS82781- 2/18 ShrinkyThinks- 2/18 ByeByeFatGirl- 2/19 JeniM73- 2/22 Michipita83- 2/25 SweetTee- 2/26 UnzippingtheFatSuit- 2/26 Iwilliams65- 2/27 NurseGhana- 2/27 Fletcherette-3/4 KJ806852- 3/4 Rohler1520- 3/6 Jesser- 3/8 SerendipityHappens- 3/13 AmandaRaeLeo- 3/18 LaserSkinGirl- 3/22

Hey Kari! You posted in a great place . This particular thread is all of he people who have gone or are going to MiDoctor Hospital this year. You may want to use he "search" feature at the top of this page and also at ObesityHelp.com to search for Dr. Almanza. Select "forums" for search location and you should pull up lots of info. I chose Dr. Garcia because of his incredibly low complication rates (much lower than my even my local. Surgeon). I admittedly had a very had time choosing between him, Dr. Aceves and Dr. G Alvarez, who are all VERY good. The only info I can offer on Dr. Almanza is that the original coordinating company I was using (Successfully Slimmer) said that they were no longer using him/recommending him because he is trying to do too many surgeries per day (5+) and that is 7 days a week. However, I know there are also a lot of positive stories about him as well. Just DO YOUR RESEARCH. This is crucial when planning ANY surgery either domestic or abroad. You can check back here around 1/23 for my own personal account which I fully intend on posting . Hope this helps!

Great news JoJo! Glad all is well! I'm right behind you...starting my pre-op diet next Wednesday

Lulu we should totally try and link up at the hotel when you arrive on the 24th! I will still be at the Marriott on the 25th too

Thanks Kim! I really appreciate your feedback and reassurance! Do you mind telling me who your coordinator company was? Was your experience with them also good?

I'm doing an extra night in San Diego before flying home too. I'm an east coaster and had a VERY hard time finding flights that didn't leave until after 11am, so my mom and I decided to take our time and just fly back the following morning. We are staying at the Hampton Inn and using Ready 4 A Change's corporate ID for a special rate there is a free shuttle to the airport for us the morning!

Thought we could do a roll call for upcoming 2013 surgeries at MiDoctor Hospital in TJ. I figured it could help us link up while we are in TJ. I am with Dr. Garcia on 1/22 and will arrive at the Marriott on 1/21. I'm going through Ready 4 a Change. Also if any past patients want to chime in, I'm sure we'd all love to hear about your progress! Lauren Age: 29 HT: 5'4 CW: 221 GW: 140

I'm going to MiDoctor. I am SO excited! Just a little backstory (I am mainly on the ObesityHelp VSG forum) but I am a military dependent on Tricare Prime and was accepted and completed the entire bariatric pathway...went in for my surgeon consult and was told by the guy that I wasnt sick enough for surgery (BMI of 38, pre diabetic, hypertension-not medicated yet, extremely high cholesterol). It was devastating, so I told him I wasn't going to wait around to get "sick enough.". And here I am . I feel 150% confident in my decision and honestly believe that I will have a better surgery and hospital experience than I would have at the military treatment facility. The surgeon I met had only done about 100 sleeves and uses a larger size boughie too.

I'm on January 22 with Dr. Garcia in TJ

Has anyone used the company to schedule their surgery? Christi has been VERY attentive in responding to my initial email inquiry about possible scheduling surgery through them with Dr. Fernando Garcia. So far I am strongly leaning towards using them but was hoping to find someone who had used them before. Through reading threads on this forum I do know there was at leat one person who did, which is what had the, contacting them in the first place. Any thoughts? Thanks n advance for your help!