My life changed over the past 4 years,
making it impossible for me to travel and be away from home to do fills,
so follow up care in Mexico wasn’t an option for me. I recently became
a midwife, attending women at homebirths, so taking time away from my
clients is not something I can do easily. Finally, a couple of months ago,
I decided to have my band removed and have the gastric sleeve done.
My best friend and I traveled to Mexico together and, of course, received
top quality service from Dr. Rodriguez and his staff. Once we got to the
hotel, we had a quick meal and a few margaritas before I had to begin my
pre-operative fast.
The next morning, the driver picked us up at the hotel and took us to Hospital
San Pedro. I had been there before for my Lap-Band surgery and my port
relocation surgery, so it was a familiar place for me. Shortly after I arrived,
the nurses took me back for my IV, weight check, vitals, labs, etc. Oh, and
by the way, since I work in the medical field, I took great note of their attention
to cleanliness and clean technique — no worries there (in case anyone
wonders about that). After the nurses were done, the anesthesiologist came
to visit me, as did Dr. Rodriguez. Next, I was wheeled into the operating room.
I got on the operating table, and the anesthesiologist put a mask over me.
The next thing I remember is waking up in recovery afterwards. I was SORE
and groggy, and I thought, “what have I done???”
Dr. Rodriguez had to work really hard on me during my surgery. De-banding
is not an easy task, and there were a lot of adhesions he had to remove. Also,
since I was previously banded, Dr. Rodriguez was very careful to make sure I
didn’t have any erosion, which could have caused life-threatening complications.
He also took extra care to be sure that the staple line in my stomach was
reinforced by sutures, and shot blue dye through my stomach to be sure
that there were no leaks. I am so thankful for Dr. Rodriguez’s skill as a surgeon.
I have trusted him with my life twice now, and I truly believe he is an outstanding
