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Mexico Experience |  |
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Check out Almater
Hospital where I had my surgery
 After one night, we checked out of the hotel in Calexico and went straight into Mexico. What a culture shock I had!  I was driving, and Curtis (boyfriend) was "navigating"-he was no help. Besides him telling me when someone was about to hit me, he was no help at all haha. Seriously, the minute you get to the border crossing, all the signs are in Spanish. Nothing in English. You don't know which lane to get in.  (Some lanes are for claiming fruits and other things). Luckily I was in the right lane to begin with. (hint: stay to the left)  Once crossing through, it is like you are in another world. If you have never been to another country, you are definitely in for a shock. When you are used to driving down the road, you naturally read signs, even if you think you don't. Once here, you become illiterate.  You now know what it is like to be illiterate. You cant tell what things are because even the pictures don't look like anything you have ever seen.  Nina, gave us directions that were fantastic. (She is Dr. Aceves Patient Coordinator and she is SOO NICE!!) She gave us things to look for, a statue of a man on a horse, a shopping mall. 
 The only thing I made a mistake of was she wrote and told me to stay to the right, I thought she meant the whole time.  Note in the above picture, the statue of a man on a horse on the left hand side The hotel ended up being on the left so I had to do some fancy maneuvering but I didn't do anything the other drivers didn't do! That is another thing. In Calexico they have "Mexican insurance¨. We decided to take a chance and not get it because our money was getting low. Now I wish we had! It seems like every car over here has a dent or two and no wonder! They drive like maniacs! I thought California drivers were bad haha!  Oh yeah, here is a picture of my last diet Dr. Pepper. WAHHH!!
I must admit, I was in such bad culture shock, that when we got up to the room I freaked out. For one thing, I gave the receptionist a hundred dollar bill to pay for the $91 hotel room. She gave me back change in Pesos. It was a 50 pesos bill, and 3 coins that had "10 pesos¨ on them. The bell boy helped us with our things and I didn't know what to tip him, so I tipped the $50 pesos bill. Now I realize I think I tipped him $8. So here is a tip! Learn the exchange rate and learn it well! Here at this hotel, a burger and fries cost 69 pesos. So I am up in the room, and starting to cry because I realize Curtis will not be able to get along with out knowing someone that speaks English, and I started to panic because I couldn't call out using the hotel phone. I couldn't reach Nina, I tried the hospital, but I eventually was able to call my grandpa. I gave him the 800 number and asked him to call Nina and have her call me. So he did. Nina called me and calmed me down. She talked to me calmly and I felt much better. So after that, we decided to get out and go back across to Calexico so we could go to walmart (something we should have done BEFORE leaving the US) and get something to eat. Even though Nina said it would be ok to eat at the restaurants in Mexicali, we still felt like a fish out of water and felt a lot more comfortable on the US side. So this is what we headed out to do but boy did we get lost! We headed back the way we had come but all of a sudden it dead ended!! We couldn't get back across the border and again panic struck me. What if I can't get back out? I had made the mistake of not turning RIGHT at the man on the horse. But I saw where other cars were heading so I followed them and figured out the road back out. If you ever find yourself trying to get out of Mexicali, remember to go to the road to the right after the man on the horse statue, Then make a left and go straight until you reach the border.You will know the border because you will see all the cars going one direction (left)and a tall fence. When you do turn left, get over to the right as soon as you can. Believe me when I tell you if you dont, you will get even more lost than before! We did this the first time and ended up on the wrong road but we tried again and this time stayed to the right and got in the long traffic lanes to get out to the US. Be warned here:! There are several Mexicans that will try and get you to buy things, or donate money in these lanes! Try not to hit them as you are driving, there will also be small children here. The adults are sitting in the shade while the children work the cars. I thought this was totally outrageous but again, I tried not to judge these people. Also, Nina told me not to drink the water, and even the residents of Mexicali do not drink the water. But our hotel, the Fiesta Inn, says the water is potable. I still didnt want to take any chances so we have bottled water and lots of it. But ice? The ice machines are on every floor and I still haven't found out if it is edible. I will ask later. My cousin was able to reach me on my cell phone which was a shock because I couldnt call out on it. I couldnt even figure out how to use the hotel phone to call out. (Even a mexico number). But my cousin from New York was able to reach me. (God I am going to hate it when I get that bill! The roaming!?) So here I set, the night before my surgery, and I am typing to try and write down everything that happened to me so that I can share it with others that will be going through the same experience. What I would do different? I would definitely bring a English to Spanish dictionary, and these are some of the things I would have learned: Can I drink the water here? Can I eat the ice here? What is the exchange rate? How much is that? I need help with the luggage Can you give me directions to a restaurant ( store, walmart, etc)? Can you help me dial this telephone number? How can I access the internet with my laptop?( Key for us nerds!!) Does this hotel have free high speed internet? Is there anyone here that speaks good english? That is all I can think of for now. I sure wish I was more fluent in Spanish! It would have made my time here go a lot easier and a lot less stress!  March 1, 2005 280lbs (on Dr. Aceves Scale! Ugh) This is the day of my surgery. I am nervous, very nervous. Last night Curtis and I talked about what he should do if something went wrong. I hated to talk about it but we needed to, just in case. I called my two boys and talked to them. JJ (age 13) asked me why I had to have it done in Mexico. I think he must have looked it up or something. Zach was trying to tell me about having two biscuits (Age 11, Autistic). I don't know what he was trying to tell me except he loves bisquits!! Sometimes he is in his own little world and I am not invited!! So here I am sitting in the hotel room at 6:13 AM typing this out. I cant have anything to drink or eat. I got up at 5:55 because Nina said that I could have something to drink until 6am and then nothing by mouth. So I got up to have some water. This hotel bed is terrible. Very hard and flat. I snored all night and kept Curtis awake. He kept telling me to turn over. I can¡¦t wait to lose some of this weight and not snore any more. I started snoring when I hit 250lbs. Thats also when my back started hurting in the mornings. I am in a size 24-26 shirt and a size 22-24 pants. I weigh 277lbs. My short term goal is to reach 230lbs by July 1st. 4 months, 40 lbs, I think that is realistic. Of course after reading a lot of peoples profiles, I know that I might go through not feeling restricted, having to wait to afford a fill, and possibly the fills not working correctly too. So I know I must have patience if I dont reach my short term goal. But it sure would be nice if I was one of those people that lose without the fill and then need a fill, get one and it works, and continue losing. WOW that would be nice. When I first started researching WLS I was not sure I wanted the Lapband because I didn¡¦t know if I wanted to mess with "Fills¨ and "unfills¨ and "Sweet spots¨. I just wanted to have the surgery, and start losing weight. But then I started reading all the complications of the RNY and the terrible things people were going through, and even the weight gain after 18 months. So I decided the lapband because the worse complication was the band slipping and having to have a revision, but nothing seriously life threatening. Also I liked the fact that if I started to gain back some weight, I could just have a fill! My aunt and my cousin both had the RNY. My aunt had hers back in the 80s and my Cousin had hers in the mid 90s. Both have gained back weight. My cousin went in for a revision and lost 40lbs but has not lost the rest. She also had another procedure because the first RNY was seriously messed up and they had to fix it just so she could have normal functioning. Anyway, I felt that I could deal with the "fills¨ and "unfills¨ after comparing the two. Money wise, this surgery will be setting me back $8200 here in Mexico. If I lived closer, the fills are free for one year. It took me two years to figure out how I was going to afford this surgery. Finally I had a credit company offer me $4000. I turned them down for the first 2 months until I realized that with my Tax return of $4500, I could afford this surgery! So I accept the credit companies offer, they actually gave me $4500, so in all I had $9000 to work with. Which turns out I wish I had more. The drive down here, the gas, the hotel, the food. I have $300 to get back on. I was so excited about leaving that we left probably two days sooner then we should have. So that cost in hotel room and food. So if I were to tell someone else what to do? Bring at least an extra $1000. That way you should have enough for a fill when you get back home and you can set it aside until you are ready. I will have to recoup from this trip PLUS find the money for a fill in 3 or 4 weeks. Not cool. I did not tell my job the truth about having WLS. I didnt want them to know I was having WLS because of the atmosphere I work in. Mostly men, and quite a few immature ones at that except my boss. I did tell them I was having a "surgery" and received 2 weeks paid vacation and this after only being full time for 3 months?! So it all has worked out so far. My friends and family knew I was coming to Mexico for WLS. Some I wish I would not have told, and some were more understanding or knowledgeable. 
Here is a pic of me now! Just look at that double chin! And see there in my right hand, a cigarette! That is a no no now. After 15 years I quit smoking so I could have this surgery. BTW, I am busting a move in that picture. See the grey shirt? One of my favorite over size shirts to hide all this fat. Here is a back shot:  See how even the oversize shirt catches on my ass and hangs there without my knowledge? It tucks into my back fat and I don¡¦t have a clue as I am walking down the street or anywhere. YUCK! I just cannot wait for that shirt or any shirt to hang straight down like God intended it! Ok, I have passed 45 minutes of time, and I still have 2 hours before Nina comes to get me in the lobby. Is chewing gum against the rules? It's not like I am eating anything right? March 7, 2005 Well, I finally had a minute to write about the “rest of the story” in Mexico We met Nina around 9am in the morning in the hotel Lobby. We then followed her to the hospital. Once we got there, the nurses got right down to business. They weighed me and measured my height, and got me into the hospital gown. Then the blood work and IV began. To tell you about how much the nurses really care, the first nurse could not get my IV in and instead of trying and making it hurt worse, she got someone else right away. Unfortunately, they got it in my right hand so that made it difficult throughout my hospital stay for me to grab things, wipe my you-know-what, and all that. 
Here I am IV and all! I swear I really do look better with make up! No...really...  Here is the adorable hospital room I stayed in for 2 and ½ days.  A quick look down the VERY CLEAN hall. Several people came in and out, like the anesthesiologist and some other guy that I can’t figure out who he was. They all asked me questions, and gave me answers to mine. They did the EKG which I think was the only thing I was embarrassed about since Nina and Curtis had to leave the room and I wasn’t sure what was about to happen but I guessed the machine they brought in was the EKG. The male nurse with a female nurse put all those suction cup thingy’s on me and my darn boobs were in the way (as usual) and the male nurse had to heft them up to get to a spot underneath. It was a little embarrassing but they handled themselves well and made sure to cover me up afterwards. After a little more waiting, Dr. Aceves came in. I forgot to mention that he had met us in the parking lot of the hospital when we first arrived so I had already met him! My first impression of the doctor was a single “play boy” type. I think it was the gold chain and the little bit of chest hair showing. Once he began talking, that first impression was gone and he then reminded me of a very caring person. Anyway, when he came in the room, he proceeded to tell me all my tests were normal, he told me I had gained a little weight and joked with me about the “great road trip”. He told me my surgery would be at 1pm. So from then on it was just a waiting game. 
Nina my Patient Coordinator!! Nina waited in the room with Curtis and I the WHOLE TIME!! I really gained a lot of respect for her as she told us about herself and her culture. Oh, and while we waited, Nina got the hospital staff to change out my bed because the first one was old fashioned with the crank handles and it was up to high and I knew I would have problems getting in and out. So she got them to give me a new “Fandangled” one with electric head and knees. I thought that was very nice of her.  Here is a “Surprise shot” as she walked in the room that Curtis snapped. Well, before I knew it, they were coming in to get me around 1:45pm if I remember right (I won’t swear by the time, but I do know it was past 1pm). I was very nervous but I made it all right to the OR. Once in there, there was more bustle then in the US OR rooms I think. Or maybe I just noticed more. The anesthesiologist was there and was cracking jokes to make me feel better. Something about the nurse in there being his lover. He was quite funny. He then asked me to tell him when I felt like I had drank 2 margaritas, 3, 4 and so on. I forgot to tell him and finally said “I think I am full” lol. The last thing I remember was his kind eyes looking into mine and saying “I promise you will not feel a thing”. The next thing I remember was noise and lots of it. I heard a lot of chatter coming from the women in the recovery room. TO be honest, I was not happy about waking up to all that. I am a light sleeper ya know! ;-) Honestly though, I think if I were to suggest anything to Nina and Dr. Aceves it would be to tell the people in the recovery room to PLEASEEEE be quiet and PLEASE turn off your cell phones. It was nerve wracking and I could tell they were text messaging each other back and forth and laughing and dropping things. Of course I was in and out of this drugged state but I was NOT asleep. I could hear everything and I wanted to sit up and say “HEY< someone is trying to sleep over here!!”. So yeah, that would have been my only negative experience as far as the staff at the hospital. I could tell they were becoming concerned about me because I was not “recovering”. I wasn’t coming out of the anesthesia too well. I don’t think I made it back to my room until 6pm. I know that caused Curtis to worry. I think the anesthesiologist gave me too much go-go juice if you know what I mean. From this point on I was very sick from the anesthesia and pain medicine. I don’t remember a bunch except that every time the nurse came in to give me the two shots into my IV, I watched to see which one it was causing me to throw up. She put one shot in, I felt nothing. Then here came the next and no sooner had she emptied the plunger did I get that watery mouth nauseous feeling and I would be gagging. I was so scared because the doctor had said that vomiting was a no-no but what could I do? And it felt weird because nothing was coming up and I had this knot/alien in the center of my chest. Every time I heaved I thought that knot/alien was going to jump out. So throughout my first day and second day, I was totally out of it. I can remember trying to talk to the nurses and Dr. Aceves and my eyes would be rolling back in my head. They would think I was sleeping but I was in that dazed/dizzy/nauseous state. I was NOT getting any rest, believe me. Finally I was able to ask and see if they could change my pain meds and they did. That helped a lot and I could feel myself getting better. But let me tell you, something that I would probably never say to anyone : That first night and the next day, I was in so much pain from the dry heaves that I thought I was dying. I regretted the whole thing. I worried that each time I tried to vomit that my band would slip and secretly I wished it would so they would have to go back in and then I would just tell them to take the whole damn thing out. Yes I did think that. I thought I was going to die so far from home and how stupid was I to do this just because of a little weight? Curtis loved me just the way I was, why oh why did I do this? So there, you got to see/hear/read the honest feelings I had. But as you know, fear was talking. I was so afraid.
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