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Dr. Aceves, Mexicali, and Me!
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Now that my adventures in Sleeve Travel are over, and I'm home and rested I'd like to share my experience with you. I will do my best to stay on topic and give as many details and I can.
LAX: I arrived in LA to visit some friends with my mom and have a mini-preop vaca. Being on a preop diet surrounded by people eating and drinking can make you a little grumpy. I will say though, it allowed me to locate the best Caesar salad within a 50 mile radius. That would be Bubba Gumps, btw, at City Walk in Universal Studios.
San Diego: We went to San Diego a day early to try and sightsee and prolong the visit. By this time I was a bit short tempered. The anxiety and stress of what was coming was getting to me, as was hunger, and I opted out of some the "togetherness" in SD for a little alone/down time.
San Diego to Mexicali: We met Ernesto at the airport, Terminal One, and were loaded in the roomy crossover SUV. There were 3 rows so we were two to a row. This is where I met me Sleeve Sister, Rachel, and her stepmom Marlyn. The "moms" hit it off right away, as did Rachel and I, which worked out perfectly for all of us. We cruised on our way. My only pet peeve with the ride had ABSOLUTELY nothing to do MBC. Another patient sort of took over the van, speaking in a manner that gave the impression she was staff and there to coach us along the way. A pep talk/be prepared for a lifestyle change thing. She didn't say she was staff, but it came across that way. I was not the only one who noticed this. Also, some of the advice she gave wasn't the most sound. Once it became apparent she wasn't staff, I altered my listening ear to politely tolerant. I was raised to be respectful to my elders.
Mexicali - Preop testing: We arrived at Almater Hospital and were greeted very warmly by Yolanda. We went in to get our blood drawn right away. One stick and all done. After that we were taken to a vacant patient room to wait to meet the team. In comes Dr. Campos. First I need to get this out of the way... Dr. Campos is very easy on the eyes. They ALL are. Dr. Campos and Ernesto are also sleeve patients. Dr. Campos is also a great speaker who keeps it real. He gave a great analogy about how weight loss is a like a table with four legs. The Sleeve surgery makes up two of the legs. The 3rd leg is fueling our body with the right foods. The fourth leg is exercise. Take out any other legs and the table loses its stability. He let us know that by the second day we should feel up to finding ourselves a couple of Mexican boyfriends. Then he backtracked and asked if we ladies were married. We said yes, but I pointed out that what happens in Mexico, stays in Mexico.
He let us know that once we were done with pre-testing and at the hotel we were free ti indulge in a final big meal with a two margarita max. He addressed any questions we had at that moment. Then I went to get my chest X-Ray and back to the room... Next came the anesthesiologist. Now, anesthesia, for those familiar with my previous posts, is my phobia. BIG time. We were seating on a comf couch and chairs. The anesthesiologist sat at the edge of the bed, directly in front of us. I liked that. He was there. With us. Taking care of us. He outlined the process of anesthetizing us. He reiterated the final big meal and 2 margarita max. Then he asked for questions. My hand shot straight up. You know I had questions. I explained my phobia and fear of never waking up. He didn't laugh or mock me (which a coordinator for another surgeon did). He did not make light of it. He outlined exactly how they go about making sure that doesn't happen. So my next question was as to whether it had every happened to him. He gave a very direct and honest answer. He said that in 25 years of being an anesthesiologist it had happened 5 times. Each of the 5 times were patients suffering from violent trauma like gun shot wounds or some such. It had never happened during an elective surgery. Next came Dr. Aceves. Now, I caught a glimpse of Dr. Aceves while getting ready to do my chest X-Ray and I won't lie. I was like seeing a celebrity. It may sound silly, but that's what it felt like. Dr. Aceves gave a very similar reality check talk about how to properly use your sleeve. He outlined our surgery day and recovery. Stressed the importance of following the postop diet. He fielded any questions and was very patient and did not rush us. He confirmed, along with Yolanda, the final big meal and 2 margarita max. I thought they were teasing, and I was hungry but terrified to deviate from the rules. We had our EKG's done next. The EKG machine was older, but they use the state of the art EKG machine during surgery. We were given an oral antibiotic and an Ativan and were instructed to take it at bedtime or b4 10PM Whichever came first.
Mexicali-Hotel Lucerna: Ernesto got us all checked into our rooms. The Hotel Lucerna is lovely. Set up like a villa. We went to our rooms and settled in and then met up with our Sleeve companions to talk important business. food. The restaurants were not open yet in the hotel so we chatted with the concierge about what was good. He said there was some tasty Chinese a couple of blocks down. So we went walking. We found the Chinese restaurant but then saw a steakhouse. You cannot go wrong with a steakhouse, right? Ha! It was not bad, but it was different, and I would not have preferred my last big meal to be a buffalo steak. Just sayin'. I limited myself to one margarita and trekked back to the hotel. We stopped at the casino and Rachel and her mom lingered. I changed into my swimsuit and coverup and went to relax and lounge at the pool. The Water was brisk so I sat on the edge with my feet and legs in the water. Rachel and her mom came back and we visited some more. The general consensus is that were all tuckered out. Went back to our rooms. Showered and continued to unwind. I am not much a of a "pill" person and the Ativan was elective. I did, however, decide to take it.
Monday - Surgery Day: We were up early and met Ernesto in the lobby at 7AM. He took us back to Almater Hospital, which is a full service hospital running 24/7, 365 days a year. It has an ICU and ER. Babies are born there. This was a very big deal for me. I was 1st surgery. Dr. Aceves only does 2-3 a day. Rachel and were it. I was given my IV, my relaxing medicine, and taken away. The last thing I remember was them securing my right arm. Then I was gone. Then I was back. In recovery I sat up and communicated that I was going to vomit. Then I did vomit. It was a bloody mess. I expected that so it did not freak me out. I was given anti-nausea meds and then taken to my room. I vomited some more. Anesthesia effects me this way. I was not surprised. My BP was a bit high so I got meds for that too. I was visited by Dr. Campos and Dr. Aceves several times. I walked a bit. The nausea wore off for the most part that day.The most pain I had was my back and shoulders from the force of vomiting. Dr. Aceves came in to check on me and even massaged my back, shoulders, and neck.
Tuesday: My IV came out because it went through my vein and had infiltrated making my hand swell. No worries per Dr. Campos b/c they were doing my blue dye leak test and I would be on Clear liquids after that, provided no leaks. That blue sh*t is foul!!! It tastes like chewing aspirin. But, no leaks. Onto herbal tea, apple juice, water, and gatorade. It was a struggle to drink. Lots of gurgling and burp attempts. We walked outside more often than not. The weather was almost offensively beautiful to an Ohioan in March. Mid 80's to low 90's and a clear blue sky. There was a slight language barier with some of the nurses but it was easy to overcome. They helped me improve my Spanish and I helped them improve their English. We always got our messages across.
FYI: I did not have too much gas pains so I gave away most of my GasX strips to some very appreciative patients. We were encouraged to walk, sip, burp, and fart. Repeat. Rachel farted 1st. I was jealous. So, I pooped first.
Wednesday: Next came the barium swallow leak test. It was much better than the blue stuff. I saw my stomach which looked to be smaller than my esophagus. Dr. Aceves uses a 36 Bougie to those who are concerned about that detail. Wednesday we decided to walk to the mall. This may have been a mistake for me. It was about 2 miles and the heat of the day. We made it there an back but that night around 11PM my heart acted up. I went into SVT and then landed in A-Fib. The staff was all over it, even though I was starting to panic. They got me on the EKG and then the heart monitor. The ER doc came in. They notified Dr. Campos, who also came in from home.
Thursday: They got me back into sinus rhythm but did not discharge on Thursday like planned. I cried. This bummed me out a bit because I was pretty homesick but I appreciated their thoroughness. I walked and sipped. Burped and sharted. Rachel and her mom left and I made friend w/ a lapband patient, Jessica and her mom Dixie, another Sleeve patient I had chatted with, Canada (not her name, but her home. I kept forgetting her name.) She said she didn't mind being called Canada.
Friday: We left early Friday morning for San Diego. Crossing the border does take some time. Our flight to Denver was delayed. We walked around and waited. Then away we went. We landed in Denver during heavy winds, ahead of the blizzard. Waited for on final flight home to Ohio. Boarded and was ready to go. Then my heart started acting up. SVT. I couldn't get it to convert and was terrified of being in the air and it getting really bad. Right before take off I made them stop the plane. They taxied back to the runway and handed me off to the airprort medics. They got me converted w/ an IV heart med, the plane and our luggage left without us, and I was transported to the hospital. I cried. The blizzard had arrived. We spent the night in the hospital and was release early Saturday morning.
Saturday: I was deemed healthy and cleared to fly home. We arrived at the airport around 7AM with a flight scheduled for 11:15AM. Then came the delay. Due to the blizzard we were delayed until 1PM. Then came the cancelation. I cried. We had no clothes. My CPAP was in my luggage with flew on to Ohio the day before. The hotels were fully booked already. We stood in line forever in the terminal and were able to secure a flight to Pittsburgh, about 2 hours from home, that night at 8PM. The waiting allowed me to work myself into a panic, along with the help of well meaning medic, about flying with my heart acting up previously. I had decided to fly my hubby and daughter to Denver and drive home, the whole 21 hours. My mom, and a well placed call to my cardiologist talked me down and we left Denver around 9:45PM Mountain Time (another delay).
Sunday: We landed in Pittsburgh around 2:30AM EDT to see my hubby, my dad, and my middlest sister. We dropped my folks off, went home, I showered (1st time since Thursday nighy, and crashed into be around 5AM. I slept until 2PM.
Side note: The SVT and Afib are not new to me. I have SVT from time to time and can usually convert myself. I had Afib once b4 and converted at the hospital. I do not want anyone to worry this had anything to do with the care I received. Also, Almater Hospital was clean and very functional. The staff was kind and friendly. They cleaned my room a few times a day and even switched my bedding twice a day. They were prompt with call lights. I saw Dr. Aceves and Dr. Campos 3 - 4 times a day. I don't mean just in passing. I mean face to face touching base. If I added in passing it would be more like 6 - 7 times a day and they stopped to chat then too. They rememebered all of our names and the names of our Plus 1s too. I was a great experience that I would recommend to anyone looking to take this step. My mother the Mexico skeptic, 2nd only to my vocal father, said she was extremely impressed and if she was ever looking into WLS she would totally consider Dr. Aceves and the MBC crew.