I finally did it. I got sleeved yesterday. I flew all the way over the ocean to Mexico Tijuana to have my procedure done by dr. jaime Ponce de leon Palomares in the Int Hospital.
Ill try do breakdown my journey up to this moment (Excusez moi mon French, English is not my primary language. Neither is French :-) )
Transportion.
Like i said a had to fly in cause i don't live in the USA. Beautiful country though i vacation here as much as possible. I flew into San Diego and got picked up by the Drs. driver, named Sandra. She got there a little late, but i kept my cool. She is a happy chatty girl, so if you ever get to have a ride with her, you will surely not get bored. The drive from San Diego to Tijuana takes about 20 minutes.
Clinic/hospital
My surgery was performed at INT Hospital. Please do not be alarmed by the size of the establishment. It is not a large facility but squeeky clean. The nurses are such a doll, they check up on you like constantly. Every 20 minutes someone is knocking on my door to check my stats or the drain or give me my medication. They genuinely seem to care about their patients. when i got there, they checked me in, i had to sign all kind of waivers and give my emergency contacts, after that i was off to the labs to take blood. Every turned out ok, with the exception of my blood pressure. it was very high (which surprised me cause i really had no sign or inconvenience at all, but again i hardly go to my gp so god knows how long i have been walking around with my elevated blood pressure. They gave me meds to regulate it, and told my as soon as i got home i had to pay my doctor a visit to have it monitored. But they assured me it will get most probably regulate when my weight drops.
ponce de leon
He is a very kind man, he only speaks Spanish though so for the ones that don't speak Spanish this may be a language barrier, he explained the procedure to me and took his time to answer my questions. Why did i choose him? I spend a lot of time researching, he comes highly acclaimed by his peers, he has a good record and teaches other surgeons, just google his name and tijuana, and his results should come right up. I was hesitant between him and Cordoba, i choose Ponce because of the prices. I paid 4700 USd for the procedure, with meds , 2 nights at the clinic and 1 night at the hotel. After that his assistant came by, very jolly man, great smile he answered all my questions again, took a selfie with me and sped of the prepare for surgery. After that the internest/lab doctor give me ok for the procedure so off i went to the surgery room
Surgery
they got my a surgery robe with my big behind hanging out, very embarrassing, but again, all is fair in war, love and surgery land. they hooked me up to my IV and rolled me to surgery waiting room. when i got there a man just came out and was crying like a new born baby which scared me a little bit.. but again, women are much stronger than men so i know i got this.. :-)
The anaestatist came by to greet, very jolly, singing and cracking jokes, he explained the procedure again and promised me to not let me die on the operating table. He hook me up with a tranquilizer, after that i dozed off. they woke me up and i had to walk like 10 steps to the surgery room, they put me on a surgical bed with my arms spread like our savior Jesus christ and after that i remember nothing. I woke up in the recovery room feeling extraordinary well, only very sleepy. After a while they rolled my bed to my room and since then I've been here, sleeping, walking a lot to get rid of these gasses, with a very empty stomach i havent eaten in nearly 4 days. Im only allowed to sip on ice. Ponce de Leon and his assistant check up on my daily and explained they took a good 80% of my stomach. Tomorrow the will perform a leak test. and if everything goes will i can move to the hotel. The nurses keep coming in to check on me and to make sure im comfortable, all this with a genuine smile. They really seem to enjoy their work. I have nothing but praise for their job. I had my first shower today. it was heavens.
i got my diet for the next 30 days, it seems im only allowed to drink Water, broth, yogurt, Premier Protein shakes and juices.. no wonder i will lose weight :-).
i alse got a cd rom with my surgery video on it, but i have a MAC so i can't insert it in my computer. hopefully i can watch it tomorrow in the hotel
Greetings
Had gastric sleeve surgery in June of 2016. Was 389 at the time of surgery. All time high weight was 470 pounds in February of 2015. Now down to 170 and hoping to maintain at this weight. Included some before and after pics. Still have the pants from the before pic and can literally fit my entire body into one pant leg.
hi all, my surgery date is september 28th. i had a 1 week prep op diet consisting of yogurt and lean meats.. im going to mexico with dr jaime Ponce de leon.
hi all, my surgery date is september 28th. i had a 1 week prep op diet consisting of yogurt and lean meats.. im going to mexico with dr jaime Ponce de leon.
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