First let me start out by saying I am so happy I found out about Mexico and Dr Kelly!!!

I researched for a few months and picked Dr Kelly. I read all of these chat boards and watched every you tube video I could find on him or his patients. I think I made a very good choice. I went direct with him and emailed back and forth with Lora. She was pretty prompt in answering my questions and sent me all the info packets very quickly.

The day started early flying from Ohio to San Diego.Upon arrival I had a text from Alina, another one of Dr Kellys helpers. She took us to the hospital.

About the hospital, small but nice. It was clean and the cleaning ladies were in our room at least twice a day. We had a room by the street, a little noisy and stuffy. Many people said their rooms were too cold. Must not have made it all the way to our room. The cafeteria had Mexican food, my hubbies idea of Breakfast is eggs and bacon etc, not okra and tortillas....so pack some Protein bars or ask at the front desk for the fast food menus.

Upon arrival Alina went over the paper work. She is bilingual. The paperwork for the hospital is in Spanish. I had her read it over to me. They really need to get that in English. One of the orderlies took me into xray and get my blood work, then back at the room. I saw Dr Kelly and many of his staff came in asking questions. I took a copy of my blood work from my Dr for the anastesiologist (sp).I was supposed to have surgery around 3:30 but it was about 5:30 when they came and got me. I heard later something about another patient needed a hernia repair. That's ok. I would rather them take their time and not rush.

When taken into the operating room I moved over onto their table and they were playing Elton John music and a few were dancing around. I guess that's their way of getting siked up to perform. A few breaths from the mask and I was gone. I woke up a little later in my room. My hubby said they came in and flopped me on my bead and I was saying my mouth was dry. I do remember coughing and felt very nauseous and I remember from reading these boards that some had thrown up. I tried very hard not to do that and I didn't. After some good sleep I got up feeling pretty good.

Awww...no tv. Remember when the US changed their tv to all digital? Tijuana was going thru the same thing. I read in the news paper that 14,000 were without cable as they didn't have their boxes yet....the hospital being on the list. You have wireless internet there. Don't use the hospital wireless...use "ROOMS" and ask the orderly for the password. Make sure your ipads and ipods and iphones are updated with operating system 5.0 and above or you won't get to stream movies. Another thing that was funny is that going to a website everything changed to Spanish. Oh yeah, you can get the vertical sleeve ap for your phone and also a peso conversion ap will help.

The nurses came in to take vitals constantly. I quit taking the pain med early the next day in the iv as it made me tired and I didn't want to walk. Walking is critical. You can feel gas pains between your shoulder blades and when you start feeling them, take a gas x strip and get up and walk. I had such bad pain and didn't know what it was till the nurse explained it to me. About walking...you will meet many other people in the hallways. Leave your room door open so people can stop and chat. A few of the nurses speak very good English, a few none. You can still pretty much communicate. My ice chips kept melting. They had to waite for a kitchen person to get more. Sometimes it took a while,

Dr Kelly came in to see me again

The next morning was the day to leave to go to the hotel. Alina took us and another gal (dropping her off at the Marriott first) to Angeles Hospital to get a leak test. Apparently this hospital has state of the art equipment. The drink wasn't that bad and Alina had gum for me. Then off to Lucerna hotel. They have been getting ready for elections and had roads blocked off etc. Was a very crazy drive. Wish we would've had time to walk and see the street vendors. Was kind of like China town in NYC. We got a bag of band aids, antiseptic and 3 medications.

Lucerna was so nice and relaxing. Our room was very nice with a patio. The courtyard and pool was nice. Room service was great. Note...take something to measure with. They bring you this huge bowl of chicken broth....I mean huge bowl. Its also nice to have to measure juices etc. There was a volkswagon show going on Sunday morning so we walked across that round about to go to it. Lots of food cooking many cool old vw's. We don't see that many in Ohio for the salt in the winter. I felt very safe.There's also a 7/11 type store if you want a gatorade or something and a cute little restaurant that was supposed to have good broth but we didn't go. My hubby felt guilty eating in front of me. Up the road a few blocks was a mall but we didn't go.

Dr Kelly and his wife Cece came to see me the first night...I was in bed but that was ok. They also came the next day and we sat in the lobby and chatted for a while. They are nice people. I felt very comfortable with them.She asked later if she could take us shopping.We declined. I'm saving my money for new clothes. I sort of wished we just went to hang out.

Then Monday morning was time to leave. Cece came and took us across the boarder. She had a medical pass that saved so much time. If she didn't have that she said it would take 3 hrs...it took us about 20 minutes. Cece gave me a kiss before we left.

I got sore on the flight home, so at our layover I took a pain pill and by the time we finally got home I was ready for bed.

That's pretty much my story. It all went well. I would recommend it to anyone...in fact I have a friend thinking of it. Let me know if you have any questions. Everyone's stories are different..please do your own research and see what works best for you. This cost me $5200 plus a plane ticket.

Thanks for sharing your story. It sounds like you had a really great experience in Mexico!!

I especially enjoy Dr. Kelly/Florence Oasis and Lucerna stories, because that's where I have planned to have my surgery on July 15th! I can hardly wait! I want to do it tomorrow instead, LOL. Thank you SO much for sharing your very detailed account. May I ask what the Lucerna provides you? Do you get broth once or twice a day? How many water bottles will you get per day (if any)? Does the hospital send you off with any other supplies (ie, Gatorade or jello)? Were you able to access free wifi at the Lucerna, as well? It sounds like you really enjoyed your stay there - anything particularly stand out? Did you get toiletries in the room? Hair dryer? Ok, I know you are still recovering from your sleeve, so I had better stop with the questions, LOL. I am SO happy for you that you are doing well and wish you continued good luck on your weight loss journey. One thing that Lora (his personal coordinator) said to me that really stood out when I asked how emergencies are handled - she said that of the 600 or so patient's that they have done so far this year, there have been no emergencies. Yay for that!

I'll answer some questions for you. This is why I posted to help others.

Lucerna is so relaxing. It was being at a resort. It is so beautifully landscaped. You get shampoo soap and all that, hairdryer....

You get 1 bowl of broth per day and how ever many popsicles you want. The bowl is huge. Maybe take something to measure. I told Dr Kelly that was overkill and a waste. You can eat very little. There is room service but I didn't see jello and gatorade but there is an7/11 type store across from Florence hospital and the Lucerna where you can purchase it. They put 2 bottles of water in your room every day. It has free wifi and if you need to print return boarding passes there is a few computer terminals you can use and print them out behind the check in counter.

Dr Kelly only does 2 surgeries a day. He also takes you to Hospital Angelse with state of the art leak test.

I felt so good the day after. Dr Kelly and his wife Cece are so down to earth people you don't feel intimidated. Let me tell you, there are a lot of good lookind Drs at Florence. One of the nurses named Fatima looked just like my granddaughter so I thought she was a little special. And she talked good English. Let me know if you have any more questions.

Oh, i was out weeding the flower beds today...just a little and walked the dog

Look into unjury products..I bought a bunch....chicken soup, no flavor and syntrax nector has sample packets you can purchase. My faves are Choc latte, Choc truffle and cookies and cream. I used them before surgery and mixed with almond milk and ice makes a nice milk shake....oh yeah...don't forget a magic bullitt.

I am going to Tijuana from sc to be sleeved by Dr. Ariel Ortiz on July 2nd. Is anyone else going that day? Super excited and hoping to meet someone that will be going the same time as me.

I am going to Tijuana from sc to be sleeved by Dr. Ariel Ortiz on July 2nd. Is anyone else going that day? Super excited and hoping to meet someone that will be going the same time as me.

My surgery is with Dr Ortiz on the 1st so I'll be leaving when you're coming in. I can't wait!

I am going to Tijuana from sc to be sleeved by Dr. Ariel Ortiz on July 2nd. Is anyone else going that day?

I'm scheduled for surgery with Dr. Garcia at florence hospital on July 2nd. I'm travelling on my own, and would love to keep in touch! I am staying at the Marriot and because I have Lupus and don't fight infections super-well, I'll be staying for seven days after my surgery.

My surgery is with Dr Ortiz on the 1st so I'll be leaving when you're coming in. I can't wait!

I'm scheduled on the 1st too! see you then! 24 days to go!!!!

I'm scheduled on the 1st too! see you then! 24 days to go!!!!

I'll see you in van on the way to the center! I'm the middle aged fat lady traveling with her mother ; )

I'm scheduled for surgery with Dr. Garcia at florence hospital on July 2nd. I'm travelling on my own' date=' and would love to keep in touch! I am staying at the Marriot and because I have Lupus and don't fight infections super-well, I'll be staying for seven days after my surgery.[/quote']

I'm having a revision on the 1st so I'll be at the Marriott until the 6th. My mother is nice enough to come with me, you can hang out with us!

I'm the middle aged fat lady traveling with her mother ; )

I'm also a middle aged fat lady...this could get confusing!

I'll see you in van on the way to the center! I'm the middle aged fat lady traveling with her mother ; )

Tomore- LoL! I will be the fat lady traveling with her tall, lean, skinny husband.(puke)

You all crack me up!!! I was so happy getting off the plane at home. No more seat belt extensions for me!!!!I'm 9 days post op...gotta say the liquids are very hard. I was aloud to add milk yesterday so i have added silk almond milk, a lot less calories than milk and more calcium and no gmo (genetically modified organisms) I mix that with a scoop of Syntrax cookies and cream and it fills me up really nice. I still can not get 64 oz of liquids, lucky if I get 32. I'm down 20 pounds since a week pre op. I can't wait till our 4th of july picnic so I can have a bite of something

Glad to hear you're doing well.

I think I'm more worried about flying and having to ask for a seat belt extender than the surgery. I barely got the it buckled without one last time I flew. On the flight home, I didn't buckle it and I know the flight attendant didn't believe me when I told her it was. But I recently saw the movie Flight so I won't go without one this time!