The day is over and I said my goodbyes to my co-workers and boss for the next 5 weeks! My surgery weekend is finally here!! woohoo!

Tomorrow we fly to El Paso, cross the border into Juarez and arrive at Star Medica Hospital! I cant wait to meet Dr. Rod and his team and join you all on the LOSER'S BENCH come Saturday morning!!!!

hugs & kisses!

Wow, how exciting! Wishing you well for a super speedy recovery!

HUGS!

Oh wow, congrats!!! I know you're so excited and happy. I hope you have a really easy surgery and speedy recovery! Please update us as soon as you feel up to it. Take Care!

Woohoo I am excited for you! Safe travel and speedy recovery!!!

Thank you for the well wishes ladies! I am praying for the same thing and will keep you all updated as much as possible!!! I am so excited that I can hardly stand it!

hi everyone! just wanted to check in and let you all know how things are going.....

first of all, Juarez IS NOT scary. My husband and I just went walking around the mall area (at night) and it is just like any other city near a mall. I think they drive faster here though! LOL As long as you arent trafficing drugs and pissing off the drug cartel, there isnt anything to worry about.

The hospital is NICE and CLEAN! My room is bigger than some hotel rooms we have stayed at! I will post our pics once we get back to Houston.

The language barriet is trying at times but you figure it out! We now know how they feel when they cant understand english! It is very awkward cuz I dont want to sound like a Texas redneck speaking spanish! LOL

As soon as you get to the hospital they have everything ready for you and it has been flawless so far! I have had my xray, ekg, bp, lab work and another bp and temp done in less than 4 hours!!! My husband is impressed and that says alot!! Trust me!

My nerves are starting to get to me but I am trying to keep my eye on the prize! My health and energy!!

Tomorrow morning they will come in and hook me up to the IV (we figured that one out using sign language!!) and sometime in the morning I will have surgery. yay!

I will keep you posted on how everything goes!!!

Wishing you all the best! THANK YOU SO MUCH! for the update. It really calms my nerves reading your updates. Now I can't wait to be there next month!

Wishing you a speedy recovery after surgery this morning! Do you think I should bring a pillow? I keep hearing that from people that have been to Star Medica. Thanks girly.

Thanks jewel!

Yes! Most definitely bring a pillow and wash cloths. Other than that, all has been fantastic! My turn for surgery is in an hour...the anticipation is killing me!

Something else I suggest...if your cell phone is capable, download the google translation app. It has come in handy for us because it has the voice option.

See y'all on the other side in a bit!!!

Alrighty then, pillow ...check, translator app ...check :smile1:...Hope all is well!...you're probably SLEEVED by now Yay!!!!

Yes! I was sleeved at 1pm today and everything has been great! They keep an IV in you full of liquids and happy juice! :smile1:

I have a little bit of gassy feelings everyonce in a while but I get up and walk and it helps so much. Cant drink anything for the first 24 hrs but you can swish Water in your mouth and spit it out. I have found that chewing on a wet rag, although not very pretty, helps tremendously! the drain bag isnt as bad as i was thinking it would be. Whew!

So far so good! the care here is excellent so far! :smile1: will post more later!

So good to hear that you are doing great and that the care is excellent. I made my husband read your blog so he would stop worrying lol. Looking forward to your next update! Hope you are getting enough rest. On a scale of 1 to 10 how bad is the pain / Thanks girly!

Well, we got home after a delayed flight at 7pm. The flight from El Paso to Houston was uneventful.

I am pretty sore only where the drain was on the left side. Bending over and twisting are not on my "favorite things to do" list!

I got to see my new tummy on xray and they even give you a copy of it! since i was a revision patient (one month out) i have a small pouch that will straighten out with time then my little banana. Dr. Rod uses a 32f bougie and over sews the staple line. You get a report with all the details.

I have to say that everyone was very nice and accommodating to me and my husband. Whatever he needed, they got it for him. I said this in my previous post but want to stress this again, the language barrier can be trying sometimes but Google Translate saved us and helped us through getting what we needed. My husband even used it when he went and ate outside the hospital!

Dr. Rodriguez is a dream! and he smells so good! He is very understanding and will sit and talk to you about anything and everything. We never felt rushed or like we were not important. His son is also a doctor at Star Medica! He is a cutie too!

I will be getting together a blog soon and will post it for those of you that are interested in my journey or have questions about Dr. Rodriguez, BeLiteWeight, or Star Medica.

I do want to mention that Sergio and his team are awesome! Tip them well!!! They are full of information and do not mind sharing it with you! Ask him to bring you by the restaurant for some of the chicken broth on your ride home! It is $5 and is to die for!!! Make sure you have time to do this!!

Talk to you all soon!!

Amy

So good to hear your doing so well. Your attitude will make you succeed with this, your like me - there is no point in poking holes in every little thing - just go along for the ride. Good for you Amy, keep us posted.

Glenda

You know I have started learning Spanish actually lol. And I got the app. Sergio is the driver ...? SO HAPPY YOU MADE IT BACK SAFE AND SOUND!! Dr. Rod sounds really kind on the phone too. My plan is to touch base with him once a week till I get down there.

Congrats for making it to the losers' bench!!!

Looking forward to your blog

Thank you for all your help answering questions. I'm going in April and I'm so excited!!

Got the passport all taken care!! Yeah!!!