Only complaint so far.... It takes a while to get checked in at the hospital. We got here at 630 and just now are in the room getting settled. However when you think about it- there were 5 people here for dr Garcia and then there were several people here for other doctors as well- Cabrera was one and I heard a couple other names as well. However it gave us the chance to talk to a couple other patients so that was nice. The nurse has been great. Speaks really good English. Melissa speaks perfectly clear English and is very nice. I guess her and Samuel are brother and sister? Haven't confirmed that yet but that is what someone else told us. And Rosie and Melissa are going to be sister in laws and Samuels dad is one of the other drivers .... Again not positive but that's what someone said on the shuttle this morning.

Back to the hospital- it reminds us of a hospital back in the 70's or 80's. it does not look like a hospital from the outside at all. But even though it appears older, it seems to be fine so far. Once we finally got going- they did blood work first and then we went into the room. They took my wife and weighed her and then she got into a gown and into her bed. Some people that was flipped around but they do it all at some point. Then they did an EKG with an old school machine. We are now waiting for the IV to be started and get some "magic medicine" as Rosie called it. I guess they won't offer it but you can ask for it. We will be asking as we don't know when it will actually be my wife's turn. Ill keep updating throughout the day! Oh ya - we were asked to room with another patient- one we didn't want to say no because we didn't want them to bump us to another day and two we didn't want them to bump someone else so we said yes. That patient is only here for one night too. Luckily for us she is very nice!! Just adds to the adventure! Maybe we will regret that decision this evening! Lol. But for now we will just deal with it and know its all going to be ok!

new here to the forum, had my surgery in February (6wks post-op today). Good luck!

Yep Samuel and Melissa are siblings. When I went Samuel sr was our driver and talked about his kids

The wait for surgery has probably been the worst part.... We are being patient however and using the time to talk with the other patients. There are 5 on the floor that had surgery yesterday and they are out walking the halls. It's pretty cool. My wife is currently in the room across the hall talking to a couple others and getting all sorts of info. Everyone seems to be doing great. There is one patient that is pretty sick. She has been that way since she woke up. But everyone else is way better it seems.

We have no idea what time the surgery will be and the nurses don't seem to know either... Only frustrating part so far.

When I had surgery they told me it would be at 3pm but didn't go back until 5:30, knowing a time isn't necessarily good cause its not likely to be on time glad to hear you are connecting with other patients, that's what made my hospital stay easy. Keep us posted!

Tell your wife I am sending good vibes and I hope to meet you all When I get there. You all should be getting ready to leave the hospital when I am getting prepped for surgery! I am schedule for April 4th. Hope her recovery is uneventful and smooth.

She finally went in at about 4:45. I should hear from the nurses or doctors soon. It had been a very busy day and even though it seems overcrowded- there has not been a lack of care at all.... The staff here truly is amazing. The care these patients receive is head and shoulders above the care we receive in the states. I think the only time I have been taken care of at a level close to this is when I had our son and we were the only people on the floor having a baby. It sucked that it took until 430 to go in but everything else has been great. So for future sleevers and fellow supporters- be patient.

Both the anesthesiologist and dr.garcia came in to see my wife and like everyone else said- dr Garcia draws a little diagram about the incisions as well as the stomach part. He is very nice and it was comforting to talk to him before hand. 2 hospital internists came in to talk to us earlier as well as a nutritionist. They are all great. Also- it has been interesting as many people that work here have had the sleeve done.

Note to support people- I packed a bunch of snacks- packages things- like granola bars, crackers, etc. The food is not bad. I'm a picky eater- and it's not bad. I won't say it's great. But it's better then I expected. However here at Mi hospital the cafe closes at 400 so after that you are on your own. And you probably will not want to leave your person. And there isn't really anywhere to leave to go. One other supporter here said there was a gas station around the corner but I'm not a fan of walking, by myself, through the streets of Tijuana! So like I said- pack a few things for yourself or buy some before you come to the hospital. The food at the hotel is ok as well. My other supporter friend ordered the fajitas and was raving about them so I think when we get back ill try them. And the room service there is 24 hours so you are good. My wife hated the Popsicles at the hotel- but in the little store at the hotel they have some other sugar free Popsicles so we will be getting those when she wants some p D

ZZZ.

I got interrupted because she is out of surgery!!! She did great. What a relief. I feel like we have these milestones.... Finally got to the day of leaving to come down- check. Made our flights- check, made it across the border- check, made it to the hospital, check. Made it in and now OUT of surgery!

The phone they have here is great as well. I just called home. On our cell phones, besides the costs, there is a delay when u talk and I feel like my mother in law can't hear me that well so having that landline to use whenever we want to is great. My mother in law is not a real "I love you" person. She is a tough 5'1" Hispanic spitfire that shows her tough, aggressive, protective mama bear side most of the time- (unless she is with her grandchildren especially our new little guy) but when I called her and let her know her youngest child was out of surgery and perfectly fine- I could hear the relief in her voice and she cried she was so happy. She knew how important this was to my wife and as much as she wanted to fight her on coming down here, she supported her.

Off to the next milestone! Sleep and walk. Sleep and walk. And walk some more! Hopefully no nausea. Tomorrow brings more walking, a leak test, and then some fluids!!

Tell her congrats! She is on the otherside now.

I'm glad the surgery went well. Praying for an uneventful recovery!

I am amazed at how well she is doing! And it is amazing to me how all of these patients are like their own family. I can say if you were in a position and had to come alone- it's actually ok. We have never met the people that are here now as patients. My wife had talked to some online. But that's it. And I feel like when we leave, we will be leaving our friends! It's weird. A couple people here are with people they know- their is a mother/daughter team and a niece/aunt team. All were sleeved. Our group (the 5 from our hotel) were split between 3 floors. One of ours is on the 2nd floor by herself. They will move her up to the third floor with all of us tomorrow I guess. The rest of our group is upstairs and we are with the group that got sleeved yesterday so getting their first hand experience is great. I love that we see them walking their laps and they stop and say hi and check on you and then when we are up walking we do the same. The one from yesterday's group that had real bad nausea is much betters now. There have been some people that were VERY sleepy afterwards and slept for quite a while and then there were some like my wife, that were wide away and ready to walk after. Some had nausea and some had none. Some have gas pressure/pain and some had none. So overall it really just varies it seems like.

Just be prepared to walk walk walk!

Update on the roommate thing.... It's not too bad. They finally brought me a bed (usually the support person sleeps in the other hospital bed in the room. On our lucky day they overbooked so we have a roommate). It's a recliner but its better then nothing. They did have the roommates husband go to the hotel for the night but he seemed perfectly fine with it. She had a different dr and Melissa- our coordinator fought for me to stay here and won she said. Sorry/ there's no way I'm going back to the hotel! Like I said- he seemed ok with it and I promised him I would make her walk.

Tips- nothing new other then don't plan on sleeping a lot as the support person. For one- I don't think the nurses stop or hospital quiet down really and two- everyone is up walking a lot I thought we would get all this sleep.... Not the case! But oh well! It's worth it!

You are a 10/10 support person and your wife is a VERY lucky woman!

Thanks for all the great updates. I've forwarded some onto my dad as he's worried about me traveling so far for surgery.

So thank you again for the time you're taking to let us know what to expect!

Rebecca

That was a very thorough update.....I'm glad that your wife is doing great

Thank you babe for updating everyone and being such a supportive partner!!!!! I feel great about this decision , blessed to have met sleeved friends and so excited for my new life to begin!!!! You will not regret it if you choose Garcia!!! There are many others I was considering but glad to have chose him!!!!

I'm with dr Garcia May 11!!!!! Glad you're doing well! Thanks guys ????

Day 2 is going great for us. My wife is a rock star. She has been drinking her fluids and walking and peeing like a champ! She has not been sleeping but she does lay down and rest at least.... Again- so happy with the nurses. They are not just good at what they are doing but they are really fun too. One thing I have still been noticing- dr garcias patients are treated differently then the other surgeons. His post op meds seem to be very consistent and timed perfectly. The only thing we have had to ask for us sleeping meds and that was our choice. One of our new friends did have to ask for nausea meds as she was much more nauseas then the rest but again- out of the norm. We have seen patients of the other doctor have to continuously ask for pain meds and nausea meds. With that said- my wife has not once complained of pain. She is absolutely sore, especially the drain incision. But she is not lying there in pain at all. She does have gas bubbles she can feel so she knows when she needs to get up and moving. One thing about this surgery.... You really have to be proactive. I think some people (especially those that are NOT getting the surgery who judge about it) think that this is an easy quick fix. It's not. It takes a lot of commitment and effort on the patient's part. They are expected to get up and walk within hours after having 70-80% of their stomachs removed. Then when they feel the least like drinking or eating anything they are expected to start drinking fluids. Then they have to eat a very restricted diet. Even when they can probably eat something that tastes better, they aren't supposed to. The surgery is a tool to help them, but its not easy!

One thing that has been a common theme for us is the comraderie amongst the other patients and support people. I feel more like we are at one of my kids tournaments and we are hanging out with the other parents we have known for years. It was like that with yesterday's group and now like that with our group. Often they all end up in the hallway walking their laps together. And all of us support people are just following them around. But making friends has made this experience all the better. Today I went with 2 of my support buddies to the grocery store around the corner called Ley.. It was like a super super Walmart. Fun to get out for an hour. We went and ate at the little outdoor taco bar in the parking lot area of the store. Being picky and scared to eat it I said no way. But after watching I thought what the hell. Ill try it. Best decision ever. The food was amazing. Fresh homemade tortillas (literally made while you sit there) fresh guacamole. I get to eat authentic Mexican food all the time. My father in law makes the best Beans you will ever eat and while this little places beans weren't quite as good- they were damn close. If you get the chance to get out- go there. It's amazing. If I get sick tonight ill let you know. also- I know it's weird to be putting food posts and pictures on a weight loss sight but as I originally said in my very first post- I want to write about my experience as a support person so they know what to do, where to go, and what to expect....

Off to hopefully get the wife to take a nap. She just got her meds and walked and drank some juice and did her breathing thing! Time to rest!