pamharmonphd

So, I had my VSG surgery in Cancun with Dr. Hector Perez Corzo. It was very easy-Medical Tourism took care of all my connections to hotel and to the clinic. The first night's hotel was clean and simple which suited me fine. The clinic seemed small, but obviously did more than gastric sleeve procedures for tourists! The first night there was a mother and baby across the hall from me:-) People at the clinic were kind and efficient. The nurses did not speak English, but they assigned me a patient care coordinator that I could call whenever I needed translation. Also, there was WIFI, so I was able to use Google translate and the nurses were very patient with that. I have to admit, I am a nurse and have been a nursing instructor for most of my career so I have some medical background. Deep Vein Thrombosis prevention consisted of gauze wrapping of the calves. Very cost efficient and less medication used (no Heparin). The nurses were proficient at IV starts which I appreciated because I hate needles! All of the Dr's. spoke English which was very reassuring. There was quite a bit of wait time for my surgery and I'm here to report, I was hungry!! It was a great thing to get the surgery started and it went off without a hitch. Dr. Corzo was very pleased with the size of my liver:-) Waking up in recovery, I had a lot of pain. The nurses were reluctant to give pain medication which turned into a theme over the next 2 days. That is my only complaint. Perhaps the pain is "Normal" but really, there is no reason to experience it!! We had this argument time and again. (of course is normal to have pain when you've had your stomach all but removed, duh. Its not normal to have to feel it when there are so many wonderful pain relievers from which to choose). I met some nice sleever tourists while I was there and that was a bonus. When my time to check out came, I went to a nice resort for 4 days where I could sit by the beach and pool and recover. It was totally non-stress. No hunger. Now that is a feeling I have never experienced:-) By the third day, I felt well enough to take a tour to Chichen Itza. It was a great day. I did get pretty tired, but wow-the ruins were really worth it. I'm writing this 2 weeks out. I have lost 20 lbs. since starting my liver shrinkage diet and have had no hunger whatsoever. I am so happy that I did this! I can't wait to get back to my old self again. So, I do recommend Cancun. One thing I suggest is if you go to the Victoria Clinic, be sure to negotiate your pain relief needs ahead of time. Dr. Corzo is very concerned about over medication, but there has to be a balance between concern and comfort, IMHO.

I am so happy to hear that it is possible to get through the post-op without all the extra visits. My surgery is on January 8th in Cancun.