All went well. Dr. Aceves and Dr. Compas are both great. They pay a lot of attention and I never saw a doctor so often when I was in a hospital before.

The surgery went smoothly. I was up and about a few hours later and felt pretty good. A little wobbly, but good.

During the night my i.v. ifiltrated and started pouring out all over the bed and into my arm instead of the vein. They fussed with it all night but it did not improve, just deprived me of sleep. In the morning they tried to start another one in the other arm. They were not being successful so I made them stop and said I would speak to the doctor.

When Dr. Campos came in he said I was drinking well enough and did not need it. Woohoo.

Day two was the worst. The gas would just not dissipate no matter now much I walked. I was also under longer than expected because they found a hernia and repaired it too.

That night I took my first pain med and some sleeping meds because I really needed the rest after the prior night, but that is all the pain meds I've needed.

Yesterday I passed the last of the leak tests (the stuff didn't taste as bad as I was warned.) Then they brought me the Soup. I liked it so much better after all of the sweet stuff, plus the warmth felt better than the cold going down.

Today I'm able to drink as much as I want. So I don't think I will have much trouble getting my fluids in.

The only down side is the nurses. I kept hearing about how wonderful they were, but when I was there most didn't speak a word of English. Not that they weren't nice, but communication was a problem. They did what you asked for but not much more.

Today the trip home was a nightmare. I got to the airport in San Diego and paid extra to move my flight to an earlier time. San Diego being San Diego it was socked in with fog. My flight circled the airport for an hour and then ran out of fuel so they sent it to another airport to be refueled. Before it came back I watched my original flight leave (I didn't have enough time to get it switched again before it left.) The terminal was freezing cold, so by the time I got to my house I was exhausted.

Thanks for all of your support. It really saw me through this. There were no surprises.

Now, now. My hiatal hernia was repaired as part of my operation for no additional costs. :laugh: I think it's a self-pay thing because I've never heard of a self-pay patient in any country getting charged more. Who knows if you have insurance paying for it...

I don't know...I got some initial paperwork from another Dr. in Mexico and it said that if I had a hernia there would be additional $500 charged to me. I am self-pay. That was not Dr. Aceves, but another, so I am pretty sure that everyone does not repair it for free.

My lapband surgeon, didn't charge extra. But, they charge a good price to start with, so I'm sure it helps cover any surprises.

500, seems like a minimal fee for the time to take care of things.

I thought so too until I was talking to Dr. Aceves nurse and she said it is all of one stitch and very easy to do...I immediately changed my mind on $500 being reasonable!

I don't think I'd go to a doc who charged extra. I mean, if even the USA docs don't charge for it....

I didn't have any trouble with the nurses speaking English. Lucy and Sergio speak great English and the other nurses that took care of me spoke enough to talk to me when I needed. There may have been one time when the nurse went and got someone who spoke better Engish than she did. She understood me, but she felt more compfortable getting someone else who spoke better English to respond to me.

I am glad you're home Rosebud, and on the road to recovery. I found the 10 days on clears the hardest of anything, but I did drink the Isopure to get the Protein. I liked the fruit punch flavor. Once you move to fulls, there is much more of a variety of things you can have.

In the middle of the night when things went sour with the IV the nurse did not speak a word of English and the other nurse on duty didn't either. In the morning the nurse spoke a little.

OMG...Not to sound all doomsday because I am excited to go, but that freaks the crap out of me! I don't want anyone giving me meds, or checking on me that I can't communicate with! Scary stuff that!

Wow, it sounds like you had a bit of a rough time! Congrats on being home and hopefully through the worst of it! I am a bit worried about the gas as I am a huge baby when it comes to pain, so long as there is pain meds though I think I will be okay. That sucks the nurses don't speak English so well, that makes me a bit nervous, I thought everyone spoke and understood well. Oh well. I hope everything from here out goes wonderful for you!!!

Dr. Aceves' staff speak great English but the floor nurses, some do and some don't. But remember, they are in Mexico, that is their language. ;o) We are in their country, not the other way around.

Now, now. My hiatal hernia was repaired as part of my operation for no additional costs. I think it's a self-pay thing because I've never heard of a self-pay patient in any country getting charged more. Who knows if you have insurance paying for it...

Zapata and Almanza charge for hiatal hernia repairs. All US docs do if it is under insurance, not sure how much other doctors charge for self pay.

I don't think I'd go to a doc who charged extra. I mean, if even the USA docs don't charge for it....

Yeah, they do. They bleed the ins co's dry.

Dr. Aceves' staff speak great English but the floor nurses, some do and some don't. But remember, they are in Mexico, that is their language. ;o) We are in their country, not the other way around.

I understand that, but Aceves has such a thriving American business I thought he would have some nurses he either trained or were assigned to him. I was just surprised because everyone had told me in advance that they spoke enough English to communicate.

I'm not complaining. Other than the IV problem it was all good. I'm feeling great. It is hard to believe I had major surgery a few short days ago. Did I tell you about the beautiful Peacock Blue poop you get when you get home?

Edited June 2, 200917 yr by Rosebud2

I understand that, but Aceves has such a little surgery mill going on there I thought he would have some nurses he either trained or were assigned to him. I was just surprised because everyone had told me in advance that they spoke enough English to communicate.

I'm not complaining. Other than the IV problem it was all good. I'm feeling great. It is hard to believe I had major surgery a few short days ago. Did I tell you about the beautiful Peacock Blue poop you get when you get home?

He doesn't have a surgery mill, far from it. A surgery mill is someone who does like 10 bands a day or 10 sleeves a day. He limits his surgeries so he is far from a surgery mill. He has a large staff, they all speak English. I don't have a problem with people in Mexico speaking Spanish, it is us that needs to learn their language when in their country.

Dr. Aceves' staff speak great English but the floor nurses, some do and some don't. But remember, they are in Mexico, that is their language. ;o) We are in their country, not the other way around.

I understand that, however, in my room dealing with my meds....I want someone who can explain what they are giving me and why. As a nurse you know what everything going into your IV is, I will have no idea without someone who speaks English who can explain it. I am pretty sure that there are nurses somewhere in the hospital who can speak English, I am just going to do my best to ask that I get one. LOL Hopefully that will work!

I understand that, however, in my room dealing with my meds....I want someone who can explain what they are giving me and why. As a nurse you know what everything going into your IV is, I will have no idea without someone who speaks English who can explain it. I am pretty sure that there are nurses somewhere in the hospital who can speak English, I am just going to do my best to ask that I get one. LOL Hopefully that will work!

Perhaps you should learn some of the language before going there. ;o)

This is admittedly a sore spot for me. In my county we have a county hospital. Our county hospital was sued by the illegals here because they don't have someone to translate every stupid language of each person. The thinking was that mostly illegals go there (for their free medical care) and most of them do not speak English. So they sued the hospital and won. Every hospital has a service where they can get someone to translate on the phone but noooo, that wasn't good enough. They wanted people standing there translating for them. Do you have any idea how many languages there are? A TON. Now my tax dollars are going to translate so the illegals don't have to learn English or pay for their own medical care.

I feel the same way about when we go to Mexico. English is not their primary language and they shouldn't have to learn it. If they want to, great. But they shouldn't be required to speak our language in their place of employment in their own country. If they want to come here and work, by all means... they need to learn the primary language. But in their own country? Not so much, it is OUR responsibility to learn THEIR language. I understand what you are saying, I just think it should be the other way around.

Dr. Aceves can't be expected to make sure all the nurses in the hospital speak a language other than their own. His own staff? Sure. The hospital staff? Nawww.

Do you know that right here in the good old USA you often cannot get a job because you don't speak Spanish. Now why is the world is that allowed?