My Mexicali Experience

[PABR463 4]

To begin with I had a BMI of 40.4, so I was on a one-week Protein only low-carb diet. Very doable! Took measurements, pictures and bought a few things to drink for my return.

Please don't eat after 6:00 a.m. on the day of your pre-op testing!

Arrival in San Diego was a smooth process. The weekend driver (Frederico) was standing there just where they said he'd be with my name on a sign. We picked up one more couple then loaded up and headed to Mexicali which is about a 90 minute drive.

Frederico took us directly to the hospital for our pre-op testing. We were met at Hospital Almater by Yolanda who was extremely helpful. I was given a shot of heparin in the tummy (didn't feel it), an EKG, chest x-ray and gave a urine sample. Yolanda gave us a sleeping pill and an antibiotic to take that evening along with some paperwork to be filled out and returned the next morning. I paid for my surgery and was on my way. All of this seemed to be really quick. After our testing Frederico took us on a tour of the city showing us points of interest. We went to a huge pharmacy and bought some extra meds for our trip home. Frederico was really great at the pharmacy because no one spoke English. I bought two more boxes of the pain meds Dr. Aceves sends you home with but haven't needed them at all.

Frederico checked us into the hotel, we tipped him and said our goodbyes. I had my last meal before surgery. I had a delicious Pasta dish and took my antibiotic with bottled Water the hotel restaurant serves (water at the hospital is also bottled).

Next morning at 7:00 a.m. Ernesto picked us up at took us to the hospital. I was assigned my room (number 24) and we settled in. Rooms are nice, mine had a couch and a chair that reclined. Private bath was very adequate. The shower had a seat in it and a hand held shower spray (that first shower after surgery is a little bit of heaven). The anesthesiologist came in to get acquainted and talked about his part in my surgery, any and all concerns were answered. Sergio (so sweet) an operating room nurse came in and introduced himself and assured me he'd take great care of me. Last but not least Drs. Aceves and Campos came into my room and talked about the procedure. Very thorough instructions and what I had to do when I returned home in order to be successful. I got a little chill pill and was taken to the surgical suite where my IV was put in (best one I've ever had placed, one stick).

I know I received a spinal but don't remember anything about it.

LIGHTS OUT!!!

My surgery was around 11:00 a.m., when I woke up the clock said 12:00 noon. I was in no pain at all. The nurse asked me if I could wiggle my toes and I did, moments later she asked if I could lift my legs and I did. Was back in my room at 2:00 p.m. I felt fine and was walking the halls later that afternoon. I was so hydrated I never once used my lip balm. Doctors in and out the rest of the day. I had a sleeping pill that night and had a good nights sleep, was able to go back to sleep each time someone came in to check vitals.

Second day, more walking in the halls, still feeling good considering...nurse brought in four very small cups (like a pill cup) of apple juice that was very dark purple, took my time and drank each one down, this is to check for a leak in your drain bag. Later I got a tray with chamomile tea, apple juice and gatorade. The apple juice was so sweet I heaved three times but felt OK once I put a cool cloth on my face. No more apple juice for me, now I received cherry kool-aid. That evening the nurse took out the IV leaving just the port. SO much better not to drag around that IV stand for walking and showering.

Day 3 I woke up still feeling well. Today I got cherry kool-aid, hot lemon tea and gatorade .No way could I drink all that liquid but I did manage to get all my tea down and some of the kool-aid. Dr. Campos took me to radiology for my x-ray. There was a larger cup of liquid to drink before the test. It didn't taste bad to me. My husband and I got to see my new sleeve and the liquid going down into it.

The best part....NO LEAKS!!!!!

Later that day, in the early afternoon and evening I got a bowl of chicken broth that was so delicious I did manage to get all that down, I didn't want to leave a drop. Ha!

Day 4, time to say our goodbyes and be ready to leave at 7:00 a.m. Hugs from the staff then we were on our way. The stop at the border was quite short that particular day so we got to the airport in plenty of time for our flight home. Got home that night at 8:30 p.m. and after traveling all day I still felt really good. I would like to add this....if you can possibly swing first-class tickets do so. It's so worth it. I was so much more comfortable.

That's my story folks. I hope in some small way it will help someone else. I know I always enjoyed reading about someone else's experience picking up information along the way.

Thanks for reading. I know it's long.

Take good care.

Patti:biggrin0:

P.S. I got in my 64 ounces of liquid yesterday (four days post-op).

[Donna4545 13]

Congrats on your successful surgery! I'm glad to hear you had those two leak tests--it tells me that what they're doing in Mexico is comparable to the standard in the U.S. I hope your next weeks are smooth. I have a blog for newbies that has some good mushies recipes on it (I'll be adding more soon) that might be useful. You can find it at Gastric Sleeve Foodie. If you have a blog let me know and I will link to it. It think somebody should have a VSG blog to help newbies who are thinking about/are going to Mexico for their surgery. I had mine done in the US so I'm useless on answering questions like that lol.

[lmmore 0]

Congrats on a wonderful surgical experience! Good for you. Keep following the directions and you will be thin in no time! Good for you! I have heard great things about Dr. Aceves, I have been trying to talk a friend of mine into going there, but she is afraid of going out of country. I think I will send her your post for encouragement.

[BonnieJuneE 5]

Congrats! and THANK YOU! I love reading about all of the little details. Some people just leave them out and it truly helps when people like yourself add them in. Especially since you went to Dr. A. I can't wait to have my surgery done with him and stories like yours help me know I have 100% made the right decision. Thanks again and Good luck on your journey! Cant wait for updates! :cool0:

[BlackBerryJuice 349]

Great, thanks for the post! Glad to hear everything went well - I'll be there in less than a week! Also relieved to hear that you were able to drink that much Fluid by day 4 - it's usually super-hot where I live in August, so I'm a bit concerned about getting dehydrated.

[sumthingwong 1]

The cliff notes version would have been nice..

[brittu 42]

With Dr. Aceves the Cliff Notes version reads like this:

• Easy trip to the hosptial from San Diego for the pre-op testing
  
• Nice night at the hotel
  
• Surgery quick and successful
  
• Fast and easy recovery
  
• Home safe and sound with no leaks.
  

That help? :-)

[sickofrollercoaster 7]

brittu, you hit it right on the head but thank you for the original poster to take the time to write the details, folks like myself really needed that when I was approaching my surgery! the more i knew the better i felt!

[LilMissDiva Irene 3,282]

Thank you so much!!!! I am seriously considering going to Dr. Aceves for my revision surgery. I won't lie, there is alot of apprehension simply for the fact this surgery will be out of the Country. However the more wonderful posts I see like this, the better it makes me feel. So... THANK YOU!!

And especially thank you for taking your time and being detailed. I prefer detail when I'm making such a huge decision. It's stories like this that clear the air and get me ever more ready!

[PABR463 4]

Thank you, this is exactly why I gave a detailed experience. Before I was sleeved I always looked for these kinds of posts. It gave me more of a perspective on what would happen from airport pickup back to airport delivery, and everything in between.

Patti

[shrinkinggrl 0]

I agree w/ the previous poster. When you are pre-op and nervous about how things will go, you WANT as much detail as you can get. I've read this post about 8 times since deciding on the sleeve!

[BlackBerryJuice 349]

Absolutely! I caved in and told my mom about the surgery today - didn't want to worry her, but then decided it was best if she knew. I'm sending her the link to this post so she has an idea of what I'll be going through 2 days from today (Perin!).

[brittu 42]

I have to agree, I love the long and detailed postings. They really helped me decided what I wanted to do and which doctor. I just thought the request for a cliff notes version was funny - I couldn't tell if the poster was serious or just joking. For me I wouldn't have gotten much out of the cliff notes version - it's just "went, did, came home". So I felt compelled to give the poster what they asked for and summarize it for them. Hope no one took offense :-).

[grits 0]

Great narrative of your experience with Dr. Aceves! Thank you for taking the time to share the small details. I booked my flights tonight for sleeve surgery with Dr. Aceves on August 28! I feel like I know what to expect now and that helps to calm my jitters!