MelissaN

I decided in March or 2010 to pursue the LapBand surgery. I have to confess that I was in TOTAL denial of my fatness. My mother-in-law sent us pictures that they had taken during Christmas and I was completely in SHOCK to see just how huge I was. I mean, seriously... One day I'll show people the picture, but until then-- no way! But, trust me... It was DISGUSTING.I immediately scheduled myself and my husband to attend a conference about the surgery here in Mobile, Alabama-- I was horrified to find out the day before the seminar that our family insurance covers NO FORM of bariatric surgery. They'll cover the orthopedists, the endocrinologists, the fertility specialists, the cardiologists, and every other doctor that I could ever possibly need to see because of my obesity. Seems LapBand would just be cheaper. But, I digress. ...I attended the seminar and was told that the LapBand surgery here in my home city was not ONLY $25,000, it was also obviously a surgery that the surgeons just weren't very comfortable with.So, since our Blue Cross Blue Shield didn't cover the surgery, I began to research self pay options from the surgery-- the quote I got from our local surgeons was big, but... I've go to say it wasn't too "out there" compared to most of the other quotes I found here in the States. Then, I grudgingly began to research the options South of the Border. Because I had been looking at a lot of weight loss blogs, I knew of a couple of Mexican doctors who people online recommended-- namely, Dr. Rumbaut and Dr. Zapata. My husband told me NO WAY was I going to have surgery in Mexico. Being the stubborn person I am, I continued my research and also got price quotes from their patient coordinators. Both were considerably less-- Dr. R being about $8000 and Dr. Z running around $7000 (with a "Tuesday Special" of $6300). Then there was the issue of my still nursing 6 month old son, the fact that we didn't have passports, that we needed to get plane tickets, etc. Eventually, thanks to Dr. Zapata's patient coordinator Alma, we got everything sorted out and I was scheduled for surgery on May 11. We would fly into Mexico on the 10th and then fly back to Mobile on the 13th. Easy peasy. :) Dr. Zapata even gave me a different antibiotic so that my son was able to nurse throughout the procedure. It was a great experience. ...On Monday, we flew out of Mobile and into Houston. From Houston, we flew directly into Monterrey Mexico where we were picked up at the airport by Santos, a driver for Dr. Zapata's scheduling company Ready 4 a Change. The only glitch I saw in this process was that Santos was picking up myself, my husband and my 7 month old son (my 3 year old daughter stayed here with her grandmama)-- as well as 2 other patients who had flown in from Pennsylvania. Which meant there was nowhere to put my son's infant carseat. So, we grudgingly wedged Calvin in his carseat into the back middle on my husband's lap. I was very uncomfortable with this to begin with, then when I found out that people drive like MANIACS in Mexico, I was even more on edge. We went from the airport directly to Dr. Zapata's clinic. Let me say that his freaked me out. It's kinda in a grungy little alleyway and I was totally twitchy when we stopped in front of the building. As we walked in, though, it really was a nice office-- plus it wasn't the hospital where I would be banded, simply the office where he worked day to day. We met with him and I made arrangements for a different antibiotic as my son still nurses and has no clue how to take a bottle. Dr. Z was very kind and my husband was impressed with him, saying that he looked "smart". Apparently, that's Aaron's seal of approval. :)...After that, we were taken to our hotel- again very nice. Banding is a different process in Mexico, I guess as I was not on a "pre-op" diet. My husband and I went across the street to an authentic Mexican buffet called "Los Generales". It was very tasty and getting a taste of real live Mexican food was pretty fun. Everyone around us kept saying, "Oh! Los Ocos!" Apparently, my son has amazing eyes-- I'm not biased at all! Then we went back to the hotel for a good night's rest as we wouldn't be picked up to be taken to CIMA (the hospital) until 1 (my surgery was scheduled for 4pm)....That next day, we were picked up from the hotel at 12:20 and taken to CIMA and checked into a room immediately, which was great. My husband and son didn't have to wait in the waiting room while I had my pre op  testing and surgery. All of my testing, actually, was done in my hospital room. My blood was drawn, my IV started, my EKG performed... Again... Easy Peasy! We were a little off schedule and I wasn't taken back for surgery until almost 5pm. Which was fine. My son learned to crawl that day so we were pretty entertained. When I was taken back, I met with the anesthesiologist who told me that I was going to be given something to relax me-- it wouldn't put me to sleep, but it was equal to about 2 shots of good tequila. LOL I don't drink, but I took his word for it. Then, they wheeled me into the operating room. He told me to take 10 deep breaths... 1... 2......I woke up in my room with my son nursing. LOL That general anesthesia is good stuff. When I was coherent (apperently I had been awake and asked for my son when I was brought back to my room-- I just don't remember that) I was aware that my throat hurt from my tube and that m y port incision hurt like HECK! But, I was still so tired and semi-out of it that I dozed off. By the time I woke up again, my throat really was feeling better. I felt a tiny rough spot on one of my front teeth-- apparently, I bit down when they were pulling my tube and I got a slight chip on my tooth. It's not noticeable, but I must've been really mad at that tube! My son was asleep at this time, so I decided to walk up and down the hallways to ward off gas pains. It worked, I think... I haven't had much of an issue with gas!...The next day, I was discharged around 1 and rested a bit at the hotel. Then, my hubby and I took my son for a walk around the mall that was connected to the hotel by a large walkway over the road. That was fun. At this point, I still hadn't eaten or drunk anything except a few ice chips here and there. The food smells from the food court, I was expecting to drive me into a feeding frenzy. They totally didn't. Instead, it actually kinda made me nauseated. Which was kinda nice. I mean, at least I didn't try to mug a Mexican couple for their burgers or whatever, ya know? We found a GNC and purchased a couple of protein shakes for me. Many patients of Dr. Z's are on clear liquids right after surgery, but I was an exception as I'm a breastfeeding mom. I needed the protein shakes to keep up my milk quantity and quality during the recovery period....We flew back to Mobile the next morning-- Santos picked us up from the hotel at 5:30am for our 7am flight. I won't lie... Traveling only 2 days post op was rough, but I managed the 2 1 hour flights and lived to tell the tale! As of right now, it's Saturday and I'm only 4 days out from surgery and down 8 pounds. So... I'm thrilled and would recommend this to ANYONE!