On Surgery day we left our hotel and drove to the Border Station parking lot. My husband was with me so we were able to use his Handicap placard and park right up front. We felt much more secure as we were right in view of the booth were you entered, exited, and paid for your parking. The driver picked us up just outside the gate and there were 4 women already in the van. Two of them would be having surgery and the other two were their companions. We were driven to the “hospital” which we would call a small clinic in the US. It was nice enough and 3 stories tall. The entire ground floor was a lobby, an exam room and a consultation office and then double doors into the part that was used for the surgery and the patients. There were 3 patient rooms, each with their own full bathroom and I believe the largest room was meant to hold two patients if needed. Next to those was an office, then the recovery room and then the operating room. On the other side of the hall was an office, the nurses desk and behind them a supply closet. Going by the sign outside – upstairs would be Radiology, Obstetrics and other options I can not remember.
Across the street was an OXXO which I am told is just like our 7 Eleven stores. According to my husband the lay out is even the same. He made a few trips over there in the 3 days we stayed at the Clinic. He bought huge bottles of plain and flavored water there. I know he had an orange and a strawberry. He said they were all very good and one of the ladies raved about the strawberry flavor. I asked him if they were flat or carbonated because I will not be able to drink carbonated beverages for quite awhile. They were flat, however I was not allowed to drink water until late morning of the last day there and then I just had a tiny bit of plain water.
When we arrived at the Hospital I was out of the van first so I went in the front entrance and then into the next area but there was no one around. The driver came in with the rest of the people and took us through the next set of double doors and told me to go in to Patient room 2. We put down our bags and right away a nurse came in with a hospital gown for me, she instructed me to take off everything and gave me papers to sign. She showed me signature areas at the bottom of each page and then left. I told my husband to stay with me but he didn’t hear me and took off as soon as she had walked in. I quickly got undressed and I was only able to reach the neck tie of the huge gown. I sat down with the paperwork and it was mostly in Spanish. I wasn’t sure if I should fill in all the blanks where my name went and sign or not. My husband came back and tied me up good in the gown and then got the driver who said fill in everything you can. I filled and signed even though I could not read everything I was signing to, probably the first time in my life I have done that. The nurse was back pretty quickly to do my IV. I have always had trouble with having my blood taken. I have been in labs where they went from person to person trying to get my blood and then made me wait until they brought in a Dr from another practice to get the needle in. I have been poked and poked and then sent to another facility. No one ever gets my blood easily. The nurse had me pump and pump my fist and she patted and patted my arm but she was finally able to insert the needle with little pain. Obviously she made sure she had the vein good before she punctured me. I turned away as I saw she was ready to poke it in and I did know another nurse was there but I really felt that all they did was hook me up to the IV. It wasn’t too long before the Dr was there and talking to the other patients one by one. The first one was very quick, the second one asked him all kinds of questions that she would already have known the answer to if she had done any research. I was told it took 45 minutes. When he came to me we talked for a few minutes and he said he would do the surgery on the highest BMI patient first and so I would be second or third and then he said “See you in an hour”. I asked weren’t there going to be any tests on me and he said he had bloodwork for me. He went and checked and they had taken a couple of vials of blood while I was turned away. My husband said he had seen the vials but thought I was expecting more tests. Actually I was – in my research I had seen that other Drs in Mexico additionally did EKG’s and chest x-rays. I felt a little panicked because it seemed like they were just going on my word that I was healthy, and really, what do I know? After almost two hours we heard them come for the other girl. We sat there without anyone saying anything to us for hours but we could tell what was going on because the area is pretty small. Finally at about 5:30pm it seemed they were getting ready for me. The nurse had me put on a hair cap and foot coverings. The Dr came in and I asked him did he need a break before my surgery and he said no, he was just fine. A little later the nurse walked me down the hall to the Operating room. She had my IV pole which she passed off to another nurse once we were there. I could see the other two girls to my left, they were awake and wished me Good Luck. The nurse sat me on the Operating table and the anesthesiologist told me I was getting an Epidural and to bend forward. I’ve had an Epidural once before so I knew to lean and be still. He said “Very Good” and I could hardly feel the shot. They helped me lay back on the table and I was OUT.
The Dr came in and talked to my husband while I was still in the recovery room. He said my surgery had gone well and that I was the easiest and in the best shape of the 3 of us. He said he made my stomach small and I would lose lots of weight. My husband says I talked in the recovery room but never made any sense. I don’t remember being in a wheelchair coming back to my room, only being helped into bed.
At 1:15 am I woke up and walked the halls a little. On the support forums they always stress that walking is important. It helps with the gas and it helps you not get a blood clot. I know the night nurse asked how I was feeling and gave me some pain medication when I laid back down on the bed.
Gastric Sleeve 2013 