July 10 with Dr. Joya - what to bring?

I have been lurking around for a while now but just wanted to see if anyone else was going to be in Puerto Vallarta with Dr. Joya. My husband's surgery is July 10. If all goes well with him, I will book mine later this year

So now we are trying to get a list together of what to bring... Any suggestions? (Other than Gas-X lol)

Also, how cautious do we need to be about drinking the water there? A bout of traveller's diarrhea would be the last thing we would need...

My surgery is also on July 10th! But in TJ. From what I have read, people say you really don't need much. I can't remember exactly what people said ( didnt have a date set yet so I wasn't memorizing those lists... haha) but I know you need comfy clothes (there is some swelling after surgery I hear) and I remember someone saying a heating pad was super helpful too. I have no idea what to tell you about the water but you can probably get bottled water once you get there.

Good luck to your husband! 

from what i understand they have walmart and even a costco/sams club not TOO far...

personally i wont be venturing past the ocean/immediate hotel area, and there is a little shop i believe i read they have bottled water, maybe a bit pricier than you like but....

 

google map the hotel if you think about it..and zoom on satellite view...you can see exactly how beautiful it is where you will be staying....its really neat :) and can even put urself right in the little roundabout by the hotel and pan around

realised i didnt really answer your question

 

in my research this is the kit i put together for myself:

neosporin ( i bought a tube, but i read the spray is amazing)

gas x STRIPS not chewables (i hear they are amazing plus u dont feel like inejesting much)

protein drink packets for water bottles (only 10 grams of protein, special k is supposed to make some but i couldnt find them here so i bought some packets at my local vitamin shoppe, im told they taste terrible..but i had to have SOMETHING, dr. joyas group recommends revival soy or something similar..should be in your patient packet u dl)

luggage should be WHEELIE, on your trip back if its something you need to put over head on the plane..have a stewardess do it)

 

light light light clothes....personally im taking stretchy pants and light flowy shirts, and a flowy gown....i plan to spend time recovering by the ocean i might take a swim suit (they are already loose on me, the ones from last year anyway) with a cover up i might take off if there is privacy so i can soak up some vitamin d :)

maybe some bouillon cubes in your purse? the resort restauraunt has broth ive read.....but personally im going to just get some water bottles from the little shop and call it good w/ my packets, one lady in her trip summary wrote she even went as far as to buy a little hot pad thing to heat her water with in the hotel room..im just not going to do all that myself

 

im reading the average cash to take is 50.00 in one 1.00 bills...for tipping people..any thing over that is up to you for purchases if you think you will get around that far, i believe all the warnings are if you use debit/credit card charges will end up being more than what you think they will be bc of the conversions etc

Awesome! Thank you so much for your helpful replies!!

Good to know that the hotel restaurant has broth. I think we will bring some sugar free jello and bouillon. Do you know if the rooms have mini fridges or if they are available? Was also thinking of bringing an electric kettle.

The hotel looks so amazing and we are pretty excited. Since I am not the one having surgery this time and my husband doesn't mind, I definitely plan on enjoying a margherita on the beach as we will be there on my birthday. That said, it will be sooo hot that I am not sure how much outdoor time we will be able to handle!

Wondering if there might be a movie theatre nearby...

We were down in May - hubby had VSG with Dr. Joya. The hotel is AMAZING. There is a mini fridge in each room. As for a kettle - I just rinsed out the coffee maker really well - and ran water through that to have broth. I did bring packets of broth, Carnation Instant Breakfast etc. They place bottled water in your room everyday - and if you need more you can call the butler. But - given that you would probably tip him - I went out to the corner pharmacy and got bottled water cheap, also picked up some milk, juice and yogurt there. Right across from the pharmacy is a liquor store. Down the street within walking distance if you are well is a shopping mall and I THINK there is a cinema in there. There is a WalMart on the main drag - I didn't go - but a girl I met down there took a cab and went down. If you turn right when you leave the little street the hotel is on - there is an ATM a little way down - actually there was two - and we walked about 10-15mins to a store called MEGA. It is a large dept store - everything from deli foods to clothes. I picked up things like crackers and cheese, some nuts etc - for me to eat while staying in the hospital with hubby. I used BOTH my debit card and credit card down there with no issues.  As someone else said - a stack of US 1$ bills for tipping goes a long way. Local taxis prefer to be paid in Pesos - so that's why we hit the ATM. The taxi to the hospital, back to the hotel, and to the airport were at our expense. So make sure you have pesos for that. I think it was 60Pesos to get tot he hospital and 90pesos to get to the airport. There is a shopping plaza across the street from the hospital - there are 2 ATM's over there - as well as a currency exchange counter. A McDonalds is there - a few small coffee shops, a Subway - and more that I didn't explore. I went over twice - once to get some $$, and another time I picked up a McPollo  (McChicken) to eat. When someone is staying in the room with you in the hospital - there is a list on the bedside table of menu items available from the catering service and the times it's available and price. They bring it right to your room. I used the service both mornings for coffee x 2. I drove them nuts I think. I did have one meal through them - a fish fillett with rice and veggies - not sure what type of fi**** was but it was awesome. Enough for two meals for me. The nurses will bring bottled water, ice and juice. One thing I noticed was that they had no facecloths/washcloths at the hospital. So throw a few in your suitcase if you use them. I took WAAAY too much stuff to the hospital - I was encouraged to just take an overnight bag for us and they would leave the rest at the hotel locked up. But the am of surgery I wasn't up to going through and sorting through stuff - so I just took it all. We didn't take GasX - luckily Ivan had no issues with this. He was nauseated and urging the night of the surgery - but they gave him something for it and it settled right down. Hubby had no pain to speak of - but the nurses gave regular pain meds for the first day and 1/2 - without hubby asking. I guess it's their routine. The nurses were great and provided me with a pillow/blanket to make my bed up and also for towels etc when I wanted to shower. The hospital rooms are spacious and I thought I would never be able to sleep there - but I did. As I said - the hotel is amazing - even though they should be aware that you are a patient before your surgery and require broth etc - I found I had to make it clear that hubby was a patient of Dr. Joya's and required special dietary items. When I wanted something brought up via room service - I called the butler to put in the order for me - as I found if I called room service directly - there was usually a language barrier and the order got messed up. Which they promptly fixed - but I found going through the butler was easier. If you venture out on the beach - be prepared for beach vendors. They can be pretty persisitant. I though it was great because I did want to get a few souveniers and stuff. But some people find it very annoying. If you stay of the beach and just lounge by the pool areas - no problem. It will be warm - but we found there was always a breeze of the water and of course ac in the room. For your care of small incision following surgery - I took down some normal saline cleaning solution, small gauze squares and small adhesive bandaids - a bit bigger than regular bandaids. They don't give you anything like that once you are discharged from hospital. So I was mighty glad I had it. But, as I said - there is a pharmacy just outside the hotel. If I remember anything else - I will post later. 

Wow, Mary! Thank you so much for all of the helpful information. Great to know debit cards will work. Did you find your bank charged you a lot of fees? Was the food at the hotel expensive? I thought I had read that somewhere. And how is your husband doing now?

I cant see myself venturing around so much...I will be there alone....ill stick right to the hotel more than likely and im super happy to hear there will be water i wont have to venture out for! 

Ivan is 5 weeks post op today. Has lost 26lbs. He is not finding his  energy level to be what he would like. But - it will come back. He has an ER nurse for a wife - me. I told him before we went to Mexico that he probably was not going to like me for the next few months as I would be in nurse mode - and possibly *****y nurse mode if need be. He has no choice but the follow the plan. He is getting tired of the mashed/mushy food. I don't blame him. I did make a big casserole of cod au gratin - mashed the fish REALLY well first.  And he also has had Sheppards Pie a fair bit. He is not a smoothie kind of guy - and has not found any protein drinks he really likes. He will have an occasional low sugar Carnation Instant Breakfast. He likes skim milk and non fat yogurt. I have allowed him to havelow fat string cheese the last week or so. He is learning to eat in a new way. He always used to have water or juice with a meal and ate rather fast.

 

I did not find the meals at the hotel restaurant to be overly priced - just average. There is no gift shop or sundry shop or even a vending machine in the Hotel. I found that a bit odd. As I said I walked out to the pharmacy on the corner a few times - and after surgery I went on my own. And to the liquor store as well - just across from the pharmacy. I didn't feel unsafe at all. Of course I went in the day time - strolling around after dark on ones own is probably not a good idea wherever you are. If you are going on your own - I would suggest you get your prescription filled at the pharmacy in the lobby of the hospital before you go back to the hotel. Just to make things easier. My best friends daughter went down on her own = she was 22 at the time - no problems. We also met a lady from Saskatchewan who was down on her own as well.

 

I was just looking at my bank statement yesterday - I think I had around $5 in charges from using my credit/debit card while we were gone. But I expect it all depends what bank you deal with - so it would'nt hurt to check with your bank before you go. The hotel/resort is very quiet and peaceful and lovely. If any one has any more questions - feel free to ask!

Mary

 

Do b12 injections help with fatigue? i have been really tired on this pre-op diet this week, its either almost TOM (makes me super tired) or this diet, I wake up many times at night to go potty...I'm on liquids, and yogurt/jello only pre-op...so I'm up to my eyeballs if you know what I mean...lol

 

I'm going alone...I leave Sunday morning..op is Monday.....I probably wont leave the 2 buildings (amerimed and hotel) other than to get from one to the other, and go sit in the sun at the hotel.......I'm alone, becoming a bit timid about doing this alone. So that is probably how it is going to be. 

 

I havent even flown in over 13 years.....ugh!