Holly Martin 79

Well my story hasn't started yet. I am fat 5'4" 248lbs. But I will say I just returned from Tiajuana, Mexico with my mother-in-law, she had the gasteric sleeve. She is 60yrs old and was high risk she was 270lb 5'4" and had a recent heart surgery. I am a nurse and when she told me she was going to Tiajuana for wls I about fainted. I was thinking oh no you aren't not after all the heart stuff you had recently. She stated she knew the risks and was going period. I went with her, wondering if i should have clarified her end of life plans. But we arrived in San Diego Samuel Sr. picked us up we didn't wait and were not thinking we were "stuck" at the airport probably less than 5-10mins from landing we were picked up. He was friendly and took us to a very nice hotel. The beds were fantastic with 5 pillows each. The resturant is a 5 star I am sure and a little pricey. It doesn't matter if you are having surgery because your broth and popicles are free. The popicles are weird like frozen mango juice. I tasted hers and neither one of us cared for them. The next day we were driven to the hospital which is attached to a high end old folks home. The hotel is a block or two away from the beach, I walked there, also there is a resturant on the way that is FABULOUS!!! Remember I was the guest I could eat and I did! The hospital was clean and staff did have some English limitations, but if they could not understand they would grab someone that did. Drawbacks is that often I didn't know what medication was being given at what time, probably not unlike US hospitals but me being an RN I wanted to know. They gave my mom-in-law Ceftin daily and then a prescription for it to take home. Tramadol is the pain med they use and one of the girls getting it done the same day as her did not tolerate the med and once she stopped it she wasn't sick. Day 1 she rated pain about 1-2/10 day 2 was her "rough" day and pain was more like a 7/10 but remember she is 60 yrs old the younger the patient usually the faster they bounce back. The doctors were very good about spending time talking to their patients. Garcia and Luna were the mds that dealt with my mom-in-law and Luna was in the room every day for 10 or more minutes discussing the surgery, medications, what to expect and really being there for us to ask questions. They gave lovenox injections like you would in a US hospital, they provided compression hose which is what US hospitals recommend to prevent blood clots, and a inspriometer (a thing you suck in a lot of air and shows you progress to prevent pneumonia) what a US hospital would do. We just got back yesterday May 1, 2013. I already filled out paperwork to go back in a year to get it done. I never felt like I was in danger the streets are busy my biggest threat would be getting hit by a car vs any other issue. I walked to Walmart from the hotel it was about 1-2 miles up hill, coming back was easy it was all down hill. bring boullion cubes, protein powder and waterproof bandaids or tegaderm if you can to save you from having to just eating at the resturant. Only point of dislike was when we were discharged from the hospital apparently that weekend there was a conference at the hotel, a major soccer game and some festival and the hotel was completely booked and we had to wait for a room to open up and as tired as my mom-in-law was thankfully we had been buddy buddy with two other ladies having the surgery the same day and we were abe to stay in their room for the few hours we waited. The day we left we we taken to the airport by Samuel Jr. and had no issues. I recommend pack super light because at the hospital you can wear the gowns the whole stay and keep your clothes clean so you really just need 3 outfits. Bring plenty of underwear if you have any diarrhea and maybe a pad or two to prevent any accidents.

UPDATE!!!!! I have had the sleeve I just got back! My date was 3/28/14 I had the same experience as my mother-in-law but my surgery was a lot easier on me, I was walking within a few hours of having it done. I will say at 34 it makes a big difference vs 60 the age my mother in law was when she had her surgery. I packed light made travel nice. Things to pack extra undies, pads, GAS STRIPS, liquid Tylenol, and I was allergic to the tape they used so if you are sensitive bring a roll of your own. I am doing great!!!! I feel great!!! I have just used Tylenol for pain and I go back to work tomorrow. I have no regrets. Remember Dr. Garcia is not the cheapest but the difference of very little 400 or 500 dollars makes a HUGE difference. I am willing to share any and all experiences.