Hello everyone, I am going to tell everyone all about it, this will be long:

I am on the plane right now as we speak on my lap top leaving Monterrey Mexico. I must say everything went quite smoothley. Lets start from the beginning...

We left my house at 5 am for the air port I wasent to nervous at that point felt pretty good I guess a little jittery I didnt know what to expect. The trip seemed long on the way there it always does. When we arrived in Monterrey I was quite impressed with how easy it was to find my driver. He was holding up a sign that said my name in big clear writing. It was not the confussion that I have experienced in other countries that begins as soon as you get to the airport. Actually the entire trip there was almost no confussion at all. Dr. Rumbaut staff and everyone you come in contact with that knows your there to see doctor Rumbaut know exactly the routine. So we got in the cab there was a little T.V in the cab it was very clean. Everything was very clean. I didnt see one place that wasent or one piece of trash out of place. The people in Monterrey are friendly and take alot of pride in what they do. Everywhere we went people were cleaning or painting making it just look perfect. So we went to Dr. Gonzalis' office that was in a very nice building. This was just for some minimal pre-op tests. I will say his office is a bit out of date that is the only place you will see anything out of date there. A nice young girl was there to run some test then you meet with the doctor. In and out not to much time. We were a bit hungry at that point I would recommend bringing some snacks cause when you get off the plain you go strait to his office. Then I left there went to The Hampton Inn for about an hour or two then Dr. Rumbaut wanted to meet me. The Hampton inn by the way was great! Very clean friendly staff. Again First class people. The Hamption Inn will take you anywhere you need to go and all your appts. with Dr. Rumbaut or any place you wish. We went to Dr. Rumbaut's new office it was only two days old. It was great so modern and nice. Loved the decor. As I expected from what I researched (in which I did alot of) he was just as I thought. I felt as though I had known him before. We talked about the band what to expect he showed me a band and he told me what to expect the following day. I also meet Doralisa who was great, very nice!

From there my fience and I went to Applebes for Dinner. You would have thought I would have ordered a entree with lots of bread and really something "good". But I didnt cause I had sicked myself up for getting sick of food. And Dr. Rumbaut had told me, "its not your last meal your gonna eat again, so dont feel like that."

The next morning We got up at 6:00am for a 7:00 appt. at the hospital for my surgery. THE ONLY CONFUSSION this whole trip was my credit cards. I had called ahead of time to make sure they knew I was going to be in Mexico. And still dont you know two of the three credit cards were denyed. Now remind you I am in for surgery at 8:00am. So I was so worried. I had a Doctor with me that works with Dr. Rumbaut and I cant remember his name but he was great. It took me an hour to get all the credit card info straitened out. And when calling credit cards custoner service numbers there at 800 numbers that dont work from mexico. So make sure you have a international number on every card you would be paying with!! Once that was all squared away I had so much nerves with that situation I wasent worried about the surgery. Thank god I was the only surgery that day other wise there would have been problems I was an hour late from all that. The two days before me they did 5 bands on monday and 6 on tuesday. It was a blessing for sure. Everything happens for a reason. I did lots of little prayers on this trip those always help, probably why everything went so smoothley. Anyways, once I got up to surgery everything went pretty fast from there they put the Iv right in and from there you dont normally remember much. Felt good like margarittas and I remember the doctor asking me if I wanted margarittas or tiquilla or something like that. I said, "sure" I very vagley remember crawling onto another table in the O.R. But barley. Its better that way. When I woke up I am not going to lie I was in pain. I woke up in the recovery room and I remember doing the "one eye." You know one eye open one eye closed. Still to groggy to open the other one but I wanted to tell them, "yo tengo medwelle in mi estomigo." thats a good phrase to remember. They were on it. The nurses are great they will keep you as comfortable as possible. If you know you are going to have your surgery why not get one of those little learn spanish tapes or something. My step mother is dominican and alot of my friends speek spanish so thats how I know but you dont have to speek it to go to mexico to have your surgery. Alot of people speek english. But knowing a few words here and there with some pointing and hand motions goes a long way.

However I was in quite a bit of pain that first day of surgery the next day was 75% better already then the next day was 100% better. I shaved my own leggs even the day after surgery. However I still needed help getting up from sitting. Thats where having somethere with you comes it. That is great I would recommend it for sure. First day or two I couldnt wipe myself eather..... what a thought.

:P

Once those couple days were over I was fine. Lets doing great now once that gas pain passes your so much better. The incisions are sore but nothing crazy. I do find myself holding my port one a bit. I get nervous when im out in public that someone is going to bump into it. It just being peronoid though. My over all opinion was Dr. Rumbaut is amazing and monterrey mexico is not what people expect when you hear mexico. If you can just get past the reaction people are goign to give you when they hear thats where your going for your banding than you are sure to have a wonderful experience just like I did. Thanks so much to everyone for all the support. I DID IT!!! :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :

Congrats on your banding! Thanks for sharing your experience with us. I love reading everyone's experiences, it will make things more understanding for when I go. Good Luck and keep us posted on your progress.

Betty

Glad everything went so well. Isn't that pain medicine great, even though it doesn't take it all away. Hope you are feeling better each day.

I am soooo disappointed that we won't have any pics of your husband shaving your legs. I'm sure you can send us pics of other experiences along the way. Welcome to the banded side.

Is this our little Andrea talking? Wow, what a great experience! I am so proud of you and so happy that everything went so smoothly! This is what we would hope for every bandster - stateside or abroad! Please take care of yourself and don't "overdo". That's easy to do sometimes when you feel so good. Keep drinking that water! Yeah, you're a Bandster!

Congratulations! It only gets better from here. Each day you'll feel a little less sore, the incisions will start to heal, your energy will return. Glad to hear everything went so well. Welcome to the newly banded club!

I was so excited to hear from you guys, like a second family. I like being your "little andrea" Reminds me of how my family treats me cause im the youngest. I am right now making a soup with chicken broth and carrots and little bit of celery and herbs. oh and scallions. I am going to over cook it then put it in the blender. I figured this way it will cut down on sodium. I am not to much of a cook so we will see how it goes. I make a great home made chicken noodle soup that kirk (my fience loves). So I am basically doing the same thing just without the chicken. canned soup does have alot of sodium. Has anyone tried the atkins fugesicle bars.? They have like 11 grams of fat, 113 calories, 12 carb's but only 2 net carbs, and 5 fiber. Do you guys think these are good? or not?

I ate regular sugarfree fudgcicles. I think they have fewer calories and less fat, but I don't remember. I alternated between those and popcicles and sure enjoyed them.

Great to hear you're home and doing well, Andrea!! So glad you had a great experience. Dr. Rumbaut is much revered !! I hear he's a keeper!

Good luck! Keep us posted!

Healthy Choice fudgcicle bars are the best I think. So nice to hear from you Andrea! I am so glad everything went well. Do

take it a bit easy though. Teresa:)

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!

Congrats Andrea...

Glad to hear everything went well and you are home safe..

Andrea, I "love" the Blue Bunny "Sweet Freedom" Fudge Lites (at Walmart). They have 70 calories for TWO bars.

The only thing that I've liked of Atkins is their "Advantage" shakes, 170 cal. can. They're good if you're in a hurry and don't have time to mix a Protein drink. You can blend in a fresh banana and frozen fruits (just like w/a protein shake). Their other things seem to taste pretty awful and they're very expensive. Don't do like I did and buy "bulk quantities" if you're not sure you'll like something. Atkins "Creamy Cinnamon Buns" Protein Bars sounded so good! YUK!! Major bad investment!

Your Soup sounds yummy and comforting! Take care!

Congratulations and welcome back!! I hope your recovery proceeds smoothly and uneventfully.

Congratulations!!!! So glad it all went so well, and thanks for sharing!

Congratulations Andrea. So glad to hear that you had a smoothe surgical experience. It was just like that for me, too.

Take care and follow the re-feeding schedule as directed, and you will do great.

Hey guys I am doing ok with this liquid thing. Realizing it really just takes a little to fill me up. I hung out with my sister yesterday and she kept saying, "I just cant believe it you usto always be hungry all the time now I feel like the pig." It was funny. I feel good other than my port incision that is still sore and I am sposto work tomorrow I probably will go I only have a few clients. Just wonder how I am gonna feel when I am shampooing them. that might hurt my side. But well see I have lost weight for sure I didnt weight myself before I went on my home scale that I regret. Cause whatever weight I lost in mexico I cant count. Can someone tell me how to post my weight/loss/goal like you guys have?

Andrea, isn't it wonderful to not be able to finish something? You are doing so great!! Now be prepared, that feeling will probably go away as you heal so you will probably start getting hungry before your first fill. However Teresa has never had a fill and lost over 62 pounds!How long are you supposed to stay on liquids, pureed foods, then to solids? Please follow YOUR dr. instructions.

To post your stats: go to top of your screen...to "User CP", then to "Edit Profile", then to "Signature" (after your name, dr. info., band date, etc, next blank line enter: beginning weight/current weight/goal. Then click "Submit Modifications" (at the bottom). Then as your weight changes, you just go in and redo your "current weight".

I'm so proud of you!