jjinWA

The girls did not need the pain meds cuz they were not having any serious pain issues. They did not need nausea meds cuz they were not have any of those issues. As for the antibiotics, we just felt more comfortable taking drugs that go through FDA. Again I am sure the drugs they offer were totally fine. For us the comfort level was to take drugs the we knew were acceptable in the U.S. Certainly not something that everyone has to do. I just wish we would have saved the $180 and forgone buying them in the first place. Other then antibiotics we purchased when we got back home, we didn't require anything else. Later, My youngest daughter started taking Nexium daily for acid reflux, but her insurance pays for that so that is a big help. Everyone needs to evaluate their own circumstances and do their research. Then go with what meets your own personal comfort level. Being the fact that the oldest daughter is a nurse practitioner I am sure we were were more cautious then necessary.

My surgery was 6/17 too! I feel like a new woman. I am amazed at how much energy I have. I have lost 70 lbs. Fifteen more to goal to reach 140. Not in a rush to get there. Just sticking with the program and limiting calories and carbs! I am wearing size 6 petite pants (I am only 5') and Medium tops. Never never never dreamed I would ever get into that size! Because I am so short my BMI is still showing me as 'obese!' Go figure. Oh well, I am happy about the way I look and feel. My doctor says 140-150 should be my goal weight regardless to BMI guidelines. I am 60 years old so don't need to get into size 0!

My daughters had the same surgery date (Dec8th). One ordered the shakes and supplements from OCC for pre-op diet. The other one did premier shakes. Both lost about the same amount of weight required for preop. Not sure if occ gets a kick back but regardless they do not require you order the stuff from them.

In the end we tossed the drugs in the garbage before we headed out from the Marriott. We did not recognize the drug names and just preferred to get what we needed when we got back home. I am sure they were fine but my daughter is a nurse practitioner and felt more comfortable with drugs she was familiar with.

We paid for meds with the credit card. No additional fee for using CC for meds to take home with us BUT meds were higher then was originally quoted to us though by only $20. Nothing major but be aware of what they put on your CC. They did not tell us about the increase until after they ran the charge through the CC. I was not too pleased about that. Increase was small so I did not make a big deal about it but they should have told us about the increase BEFORE they ran it through our credit card.

We paid deposit with paypal and paid remainder (final) payment with a cashier's check when we arrived.

I love love love all the various posts discussing surgeries in Mexico! I had my surgery in the US but my daughters did not have ins that approved sleeve surgery so we went to Mexico and both had their sleeve surgery on Dec 8th. I thank all the qualified surgeons in Mexico for giving us an affordable option. This surgery has been a god given gift for my daughters and for me! Good luck to all if you who have scheduled upcoming surgeries in Mexico!!!!

We meet at Panara's in the Tacoma Mall once a month. We met up last night. The group is getting larger each month! Love it! Next meeting is scheduled for March 11th, same place, at 7:00 pm.

I can't speak about Angeles hospital or that dr. Because my daughters had their surgery at OCC with dr. Ortiz and his team. So I will give my feedback based on my perspective. You have to do your research and apply the info based on you.. Your health, beliefs, etc. YES, take in the feedback from this site as there are many of us who have had surgery in Mexico. There are many good surgeons there. I had my surgery in the US so I was able to compare apples to apples between the two locations. My stay in the US was overnight. My daughters' stay in the the OCC was overnight. That is where the common comparison ends, unfortunately. Nothing major at OCC but the staff capability and services were limited. Drawing blood and IVs were an ordeal for them. No extra pillows or blankets and no monitoring of water intake or output had me concerned. My stay in the surgical center in the US was much more in line with what I would expect from a hospital stay. With that said, I did have confidence in the surgeon team. I say team because I am not convinced dr. Ortiz does all the surgeries each day. We had 6 patients having surgery the day my daughters were there. The last two were well after 2:00 pm. 3 of the companions, including me, headed over to Applebee's for a late lunch.... And was surprised to see Dr Ortiz drive out of the underground parking lot when one of the companions' wife was actually in surgery at that same moment! Hmmmm? But as we discussed this issue over lunch we all agreed that dr. Ortiz may be more the marketing dude and most importantly his surgical team appeared to be every bit as capable. So we let it go and did not worry about it. I cannot confirm it was him driving off, but it sure looked like him and he was in a high end high cost vehicle that you would not see often in TJ and the guy was coming out of the OCC garage. Just saying it looked like him for sure! Anyway, research the capabilities of the entire team and staff. They are very important parts of your surgical experience. From the anesthesia dr to the person drawing blood and putting in your IV. They are all very important roles. We had 4 infiltrated IVs out of 6 that day. Worrisome to say the least. Would I recommend OCC and Dr. Ortiz. Probably, but not without giving reference to the concerns I have about our experience overall. As I have said previously, nothing really serious but there could be improvements for sure. We did sit down with Dr. Ortiz on our last day and discuss our concerns with him. He was pleasant to visit with and seemed to take in the information and did say he would address the issues.. Especially the concern that the staff person trying to draw blood did not have gloves on! He was attentive to the fact that my oldest daughter is a nurse practitioner and so he understood her concerns were valid. I cannot say if they have had any improvements since we were there on Dec 8th. But i can say based on our experience one night was all I would want to stay there! Ha. I understand the concerns of many here who want a longer stay. Again each person needs to do their own research and do what feels best for them. If you prefer Dr Ortiz, ask the OCC center to accommodate your request for a longer stay. They probably could work out an arrangement so that you can have Ortiz as your surgeon AND stay in OCC for 4 days.

Read all the posts here about surgeons in Mexico. You will find a great deal of information based on personal experiances. I had surgery (sleeve) in the US which was approved by my ins co. However my daughters were not as lucky and both received denials from their ins. Companies. So we chose a surgeon in Mexico and they both had their surgeries (sleeve) on Dec 8th. They are both doing great and progressing very well. Mexico is a very viable option for those of us that do not have ins approval and who cannot finance via self pay here in the US. For us the dollars compare between $28000 to $6000. It was clear to us that Mexico was the only option for my girls. Never been sorry we made that choice. Do your research, make your surgeon selection, and move forward to setting a surgery date. You will love being on the other side and joining the rest of us on the losers bench! ???? Your support will be all of us that have experience with the Mexico surgery. We will be here for you. And you are never really alone there because there is always multiple surgeries scheduled each day. You will quickly make friends with your fellow comrades!

Frank, I hope your lady comes to her senses before it is too late! You are on a long journey to better place and hopefully your new lifestyle will become even more attractive to her then before!!!!

Yeah! Good luck! Let us know how you are doing. You are in good hands! Surgeon and his team are great.

Ha! He said he specializes in marketing. ????. Tell him to quit talking and get on with the surgeries. You want to get on with this. Hehee. Seriously, he is great and will explain away any concerns you may have. Good luck!

Reminder to all WLS people, both pre and post op, living around Tacoma area. There is a planned meetup at Panara's in the Tacoma Mall on January 14th at 7 pm. All are welcome. It is a nice way to meet with those of us with common lifestyles!

How many are scheduled? We were lucky, my daughters were first and second that day. They were well on the mend walking the hallway by the time the last one went into surgery. Hang in there. Your wait is almost over. By tonight you will be sleeping like a baby!

Yeah! I am soooo happy your day is here. Day 1 of your new life! Good luck!????????????

My daughter is traveling this week. She got a Drs order to carry premier protein shakes. No issues. They let her bring them on board.

Another hint, you may find helpful if you do not speak Spanish, is to type up what you want to order at the counter, such as I did at Starbucks (near Walmart), and convert it to Spanish before you go. They have a great outside seating area and serve hot green tea which was wonderful for patients having had surgery. I was able to order my grande mocha, nonfat, no whip, 1 pump chocolate with no trouble. Ha! Sitting outside in the wonderful warm weather drinking my mocha and the girls drinking their hot green tea was wonderful break from the hotel room! So relaxing!

Ha! Yes the popsicles provided are not so good! I agree, a quick trip to Walmart the night before surgery is highly recommended. The only kind at Walmart we could find were not frozen. No worries though, as we asked for a fridge and microwave to be delivered to our room ( no charge ) and they quickly froze in the small freezer compartment. The hotel does provide broth at no extra charge and the broth was delicious. Obviously eating it slow and in small amounts was necessary, but with the microwave we were able to heat up the broth at will. 2 small bottles of water are provided each day, at no charge, as well. Again not enough for you and your companion. So we supplemented with water purchased at Walmart. Having been in Mexico many times I can only highly recommend that you drink Only the bottled water there and NOT the tap water. Purified tap water is not always available at the various establishments and therefore too unreliable to take the risk. We walked to Walmart every day. Yes traffic is a nightmare. We walked up the hill and around the curve and crossed on the side road and Not on the main road. We had no issues crossing there as the traffic was minimal there. Keep in mind Mexico drivers do not watch for pedestrians. You must watch for them! Very different then here in the US. Even if you are in a cross walk, or walking properly at a stop light, wait for all traffic to stop before you start to cross. And stay clear of the edge of the side walk while waiting to cross. Drivers cut corners and drive at break neck speeds! Ha. Taxis drive by frequently and you can hail a cab at any moment if you wish to forgo the exercise. ???? I also purchased food for the room, since I was a companion and needed to eat more then my daughters who had the surgery. The hotel food is very pricy. I ate at Applebee's on the corner by the OCC facility. Menus are in English (subtitles) so I had no problem ordering and the food was very good. If you use your credit card no worries about having pesos on hand. If you use cash they will take US dollars but your change will be in pesos. And trust me, the conversion rate from US dollars to pesos is certainly not in your favor at the establishments. You are better off going with Mexico currency, pesos exchanged at your bank or Atm, before you head to the restaurants or wherever. The exchange rates at the bank/ATMs are more in line with the current peso to US dollar exchange rate for that day. Enjoy you trip to Mexico. TJ has a lot to offer, including great weather this time of year. Best of luck to all of you that have upcoming surgeries scheduled. The OCC surgical team and staff are great!

All of you that have provided support, feedback and advice regarding my daughter's acid reflux....thank you so much! All the info has been very helpful and we are following your advice sincerely! I have said many prayers hoping that this issues is in fact on,y temporary. Hearing you say that it will get better in a few more weeks really is encouraging to hear for sure!!!! We are trying different products to see what works best, and yes I do agree, eating a few bites (2 or 3 bites) is the most she will test her tummy for now. Plenty of time to get in more food as her tummy heals. For now, yes her focus is not to get dehydrated. I did not heed that warning as well and ended up in the ER with an IV in my arm. So we do watch that carefully. I have researched a bit to find some natural alternatives for acid reflux. Not sure I can attach this pic, but if it works, others may find this info helful. Thanks again everyone for all your help and kind words. So very much appreciated.

She has been limiting her food intake to a few sips of creamed soups or broth, and 2 or 3 ozs of protein drink. Tried Apple juice but that did not go down well either. All cause pain in the chest and she gets flushed and hot in the face. Nothing food wise is liking her very much. She has tried mashed potatoes and gravy, and introduced oatmeal this morning ( very soupy with milk). Same reaction but at least she is getting a bit more food in. For those of you that has suffered from this acid reflux thing, does it get better over time? She started nexium today. Zantac did nothing for her. Should she just power through the pain and eat anyway? I am concerned she is not going to recover from this surgery if she does not get in enough nutrition in her body. She has stopped ant iron supplements some time ago thinking that may be causing issues.

One thing I noticed today .... When she is eating any kind of creamed soups, broth, or protein drinks (right now that is all she is trying to eat besides water) she will very flushed in the face and neck and will get very warm in that area. Strange. Is that part of the acid reflux syndrome?

I have to say I never in my wildest dreams thought I would fit into a size 6 Petite pair of jeans, but yup, went shopping and 8's were too big. Amazing though.. My BMI still says I am Obese at 31.5! Makes no sense to me! Who sets these numbers! I have to go from obese to overweight before I am normal range! Really, is normal a size zero for heaven's sake! I am a grandma (age60) wearing size 6. Couldn't be happier and I will just ignore the BMI stats!

I was at 160 going into the Christmas holiday season. I went up a pound or two but have gotten back down to 160 today. So basically I did enjoy all the goodies in Very very limited portions and then settled back into my regular diet after Christmas. Trust me, I am happy with that. Years before I would have gained 10 lbs and never gotten it off! I know I have to weigh ever day. If I go up I know I have to be more diligent in my food choices that day. I have just joined the Y so now my hopes are to tone up a bit and lose my last 10 lbs to reach my next goal. Then on to the next goal! Love my sleeve!

Yes, I keep telling myself that.... They are only 3 weeks out! It does take time to heal and everyone is different. I can't expect both girls to progress exactly the same. I was one of the lucky ones-never had the reflux issue. We are taking baby steps with introducing puréed foods and hoping for the best. Zantac works but makes her nauseous. My other daughter (the one who is breezing through post op!) wrote her a script for nexium. Hoping that works better. Kindle we will try contacting Dr So. Thanks for the advice everyone. You are all helping to alleviate my fears! I want her to be happy and healthy. Guess that's what all mothers want. :-)