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July 23rd same day surgery dr Garcia at Florence.

I am July 23rd at Florence hospital with Garcia

July 23rd florence hospital, dr Garcia Same day surgery

I will be Having same day surgery July 23 at Florence with Dr.Garcia... Anyone else going to be there then? My wife had hers done about 3 months ago at mi hospital with Garcia and is doing amazing. She will be coming with me as well. She had met a few people that were going to be there at the same time as her on here so thought I would try too!!

After following my wife on her journey, I have decided to become a sleever myself! July 23rd, dr Garcia at Florence. I am really excited. My wife has done so well and I am looking at it As a lifestyle change for both of us! Now we can both eat the same the rest of our lives! Not to mention being so much healthier and not overweight! July can't come soon enough!

My wife did great last night! Drank all her liquids all night and actually slept a bit. She showered this morning and I can't believe how great she looks. Doesn't look at all like she had surgery. We are just waiting for her to get her bandages changed, drain out and iv out and we should get to leave soon. In my opinion- the better you do on the preop diet the better you will do after surgery. My wife only needed to do diet for 7 days but she decided to do it for 14 and then only needed to do Clear Liquids for one day but she did 3 and we both really think that it helps so much in the post op! One girl down the hall from us said she didn't really do the preop diet at all and only stopped eating 12 hours before and she was very sick after her surgery. Nausea and vomiting all night and pretty sore.... So as tough as it is... Stick to that diet cause it makes a huge difference it seems. Just an observation. I am not a doctor and I am sure there are people that have done fine not doing it. Just seems to be the common factor. We will be getting out soon. Yesterday they gave us the folder with the post op diet stuff. Today when we leave we will get a bag of stuff with medications and everything else we need. We are excited to get back to the comfy bed at the Marriott and will probably head out to do a little shopping today!

They have it at the Ley store around the corner. No prescription needed.

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!

It went really well. My wife was having a hard time sleeping comfortably so we asked for some medicine. They have her a very small amount of liquid to drink. No idea what it was. It was gross and made her nauseas. They said it was because she still has gas in her new little tummy so it was normal. She burped had some nausea medicine thru the iv and was sound asleep within minutes. She slept for a couple hours and then would have to pee.... That's how she is normally after surgery- she doesn't sleep and pees a lot. So every 2 hours we got up, peed, and walked. We got our roommate up and she walked with us too. My wife feels great today. Showered, dressing change, clean clothes, Etc. she is walking a lot which is really helping too. Support person note- I finally found a meal I really liked. Breakfast in the cafe downstairs is really good. Fresh fruit, fresh made omelette, potatoes and toast. It was really good. All for like $6 US. It was good. The nurses last night were just as good as the day and evening shift. They let you get some sleep too.... Lights turned down in halls and they were very quiet. My wife had an issue with her iv and they fixed it while She slept. They are having us move rooms which is no big deal at all... Right across the hall and now I will have a bed instead of a recliner thing and our roommates husband can stay the night tonight. When you are here there is a nurse. Her name is Sam. She is great. She will be having the surgery herself at the end of the month so if you are coming then you will miss her. But otherwise- she is a day shift nurse with light colored hair. She is awesome. We all love her. That's it for now. We did the first leak test and it went fine. My wife said it was gross but not that big of deal. You drink a small cup of contrast mixed with Water. She will be starting her trio of liquids in a couple hours- tea, Gatorade, and apple juice.

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!

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!!

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.

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.

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!

We are up and ready to go off to the hospital! Last night my wife got to meet a couple other sleevers she had met online and it was so great. It was nice to sit and talk about their common stories and things they have felt and gone through. I think she was has met some lifeline friends! The broth was a little tasteless she said so we added a half a bouillon cube to it and it was much better. The Popsicles are homemade we think and she wasn't a huge fan as they were peach flavor and she hates peach. We did bring our water enhanced and we added that to her water bottles last night. I washed out one of the plastic garbage cans real good and put her water on ice and it was much better. Other than that we ha a relaxing afternoon in the sun by the pool and then went to bed early so we could be up and ready to go this morning. There are about 10 channels in English on the tv here.... Better than I thought. Yes the hotel is next to a busy road but traffic completely died down last night and we didn't hear anything. It's starting to pick up now but it's not that bad.