My experience - Dr Lopez - Puerto Vallarta

[deedadumble 1,033]

I appreciated the postings with detailed experiences the most before I had surgery, so here's my take on things. Overall, I had a really good and easy experience. I have had 5 surgeries in the past: an extremely painful C-section, a low pain hysterectomy, a very low pain laproscopy/uterine ablation, and 2 knee surgeries. I'm pretty tolerant of pain, but I don't ever try to push it. If I need pain pills/shots I get them. I would rank this very close to the laparoscopy/ablation for pain. All my pain levels except right after surgery were less than a 3, but I kept on top of getting pain meds. Right after surgery, when I woke up I had some pain and just asked for pain meds and they were there in a second giving me something. It was about a 5, but could tell it was progressing. It didn't last more than a few minutes after the pain meds.

Before arrival: Check with your cell phone company to see if they have a Mexico plan. Check with your bank to see if you can use ATM in Mexico (most can't), if not, bring cash. You can exchange for pesos at the hotel desk. Everywhere I went accepted dollars, so no real need to exchange.

Arrival: Heading out of the airport keep tunnel vision and don't pay attention to the people there trying to get you to try tequila or give you a ride. Your ride will be in the next room towards the right side. There will be people there that insist that you are on their list. Keep walking and look for sign with your name on it. They will take you to a small room where you will wait a minute or two for the driver. Ana Karen will probably not be there to meet you, but she will be staying at the hotel, so if you want to see her, just give her a call. She is very sweet and will help you with anything that you need. Dr. Lopez also stays at the hotel.

Hotel: The hotel is pretty nice. The pool is heated and there is a hot tub. You won't be able to get in it after surgery, so take advantage before.

Getting around: Taxi service is cheap, but the roads are very bumpy. I took a ride downtown after surgery and it did me in for the rest of the day. A shorter ride to the pier would have been better.

Food: The broth at the hotel is good. One version I got was amazing, but couldn't figure out how to get it again. You can order from room service or at Champions. You could probably order from the restaurant by the pool, but I didn't try because I wasn't hungry. They don't have popsicles or Jello (or any that we could find), so I did without. We did get a wonderful orange juice and mango smoothie (ice and orange and mango juice) from the bar the last day. It was a nice change.

Hospital: The hospital was the nicest hospital I've ever been in. There is a couch in the room that your guest can sleep on. It's ok on the comfort scale. It was new and all the equipment was new. All the nurses are new and pretty young. They aren't the best at starting IVs, but I have really hard veins to find. My sister (ER nurse for 30 years) helped the nurse find a good vein after I bent the first one while sleeping. There is an odd mix of new technology and new hospital, but some older practices. They have alcohol in a metal container with cotton balls instead of individual alcohol wipes. They used ace bandages as leg compression instead of the automated inflated leg compressors that our hospitals use. I didn't see anything like that though that would increase risk in the operation.

After surgery: The best advice I got was to walk, walk, walk. Every time I woke up after surgery I would get up and walk. The first time just a little bit down the hallway, and a little bit further every time. Even throughout the night. I woke up every hour or two and got up and walked. I had very little gas pain. I would also advise burping as much as you can to get rid of it. I took a heating pad, but never needed it. I would still take it if I had to do it over, because you never know. I had a bit of nausea the second time I woke up after surgery. I could feel it starting and immediately rang for the nurse to get some meds. It didn't come back. Dr. Lopez gives you the option the day after surgery to stay another night or go to the hotel. I asked Karen if most people go to the hotel after one night and she said yes. I planned for 2 nights in the hospital so I didn't have enough clothes to wear, but I just wore stuff twice... no biggie! I had a pair of loose pajama shorts that I wore in the hospital under my gown. The drain and tube is cumbersome, but bearable. The doctor will leave it in until you're at the hotel. It didn't hurt to take it out, just felt weird.

Things I'm glad I brought: carmex!, pajama shorts, Water flavors (mio, crystal light, etc)

Things I brought but didn't need: Heating pad, ear plugs (the hospital was quiet), sleep mask, sore throat drops

Things I wish I brought: Tylenol (sometimes needed a little bit of pain relief, but took the prescription from the hospital), more powders?utm_source=BariatricPal&utm_medium=Affiliate&utm_campaign=CommentLink" target="_ad" data-id="1" >unjury Protein broth mix, unflavored Unjury (could have mixed it in with the mango smoothie), bandaids (for the port incision)

Doctors: My sister (ER RN for 30 years) was extremely impressed by the hospital and the doctors (she wanted to take Edgar, the anesthesiologist home with her... you will too!). Dr. Lopez is very good. I was extremely happy with my choice to go through him and to have it done in Puerto Vallarta.

Results: my surgery was 1/17/13. Including the preop diet, I've lost 31 lbs. My BMI was 38 before surgery and is down to 33. Loss is slowing down the last two weeks, but hoping to increase my exercise levels soon.

I am already so glad I made this decision. Looking forward to a healthier 2013.

[celine 12]

Thank you for sharing your experience! I think your wheight loss is very good , i dont think this is a slow loss! I am getting my sleeve on april 24. You exprerience hepl me a lot because i am still scary and nervous .

Céline

[Decembersleever 154]

sounds like you had a wonderful experience - thanks for sharing

[pantala 125]

I'm glad to hear your experience was such a good one. I strongly considered Dr. Lopez and PV, (though finally settled on Dr. Garcia). Nice to know I would have had a good experience there as well. Sounds like you're doing fine! Stay the course....

[Diane22 44]

Thank you SO MUCH for this detailed account. Very reassuring.

[deedadumble 1,033]

Thank you SO MUCH for this detailed account. Very reassuring.

Thanks! My loss is up to 70 pounds now. Still very thankful to have my sleeve.