My trip to Visit Dr. in Mexico

Hi Guys: Here are the details of my trip to Hermosillo to visit Dr. Ungson and the CIMA hospital where he does surgery. We came back to quite a bit of damage from the hurricane. It has taken us some time to get the yard cleaned, the downed tree cut and hawled away. We still are missing half of our roof. I had power when others didn't so my house has been full of friends and family that needed a place to stay until power came back on. We are keeping our fingers crossed about the new hurricane that is moving this way. Anyway, now about the trip. I'm going to give you a lot of little details, airline and hotel prices. A friend of mine, who is a surgical nurse and I flew from Orlando to Albuquerque and then to Tucson, Arizona. Southwest Airlines has specials all the time and it was $99 each way. I don't think $200 is bad to pay for round trip airline fares. The key is to book 2 or more weeks in advance or get one of their promotional packages. Here is Southwest's web site. They DO NOT list with Orbits or Travelocity but fly all over the country. www.southwest.com Oh yes, let me tell you about Southwest's policy on obese fliers. They will ask you to buy an additional seat if they think you will crowd someone else. But, if the plane isn't completely booked, you can call an 800 number and they will give you your money back. I always get the extra seat anyway because I'm tall and wide and just don't fit into a single seat very well. When you make your reservation on line, put one seat in your name. On the other seat, put your last name and a dash and "Extra Seat" We spent the night in Tucson at an AmeriSuits right near the airport. We were delayed because of bad weather in the area, but they were very gracious about us coming in after midnight. We had a 2-room suite with two king beds. Very nice and the next morning, they put out a wonderful breakfast. Not just the usual bagel or doughnut, but get this: Scrambled eggs, sausage, cereals, English muffins, toast, pastries, fruits, juice, a waffle maker with hot syrup, and coffee. All of this for only $35.00 per night. I was impressed and will certainly stay with them again. Do not book this hotel through Hotels.com. They will charge you about $55.00 per night. Use this phone number to book the room yourself. (520) 295-0405. Ask for the "Cyberdeal". We picked up our car from Dollar and got upgraded to a Dodge Caravan Van. This worked out great for luggage and I will certainly go this route again when I have my surgery. It was nice to have plenty of room and to have a seat to sprawl out in. Whatever you do, be sure to tell them you are taking the car into Mexico. You have to buy Mexican insurance for $25.00 per day. If you don't, you could be jailed in you have an accident in Mexico. We left Tucson on highway 19 South and drove about 45 miles south to Nogales with no problems. In Nogales, get on highway 15 and go south. About 15 miles south of Nogales you come will to the official border crossing. You have to fill out paperwork for each person and for the car you are driving. Then you go to another building and they make copies of you car paperwork and your driver licenses or passport if you have one. Then you go to another building and get your car pass and a sticker for your windshield. If you are only going to stay in the Hermosillo area, go to the line marked "Sonora only" If you are going to travel around Mexico, go to the other line and complete more paperwork. It's a pain, but only takes ½ hour and then you are on your way. Note: you can stay in Mexico for 7 days for free. After that there is a fee of $21.00. Note: You can change money at this border crossing. They will gladly take dollars and convert them at a rate of 10 Pesos per dollar. This conversion rate is not quite as good as you can get later, but you should have some local money with you. We tried to cash traveler checks at a bank in Nogales, but they would only give us back dollars, not local money. We tried to cash traveler checks several places and were declined. Wal-Mart wouldn't take traveler checks, but there is a little bank inside Wal-Mart and they cashed them with no problem. The road from Nogales to Hermosillo is a 4 lane divided highway. You can make good time and the drive is pleasant. About 150 miles. Just keep a lookout for animals, kids, etc. You will from time to time see a sign that looks like a speed bump. It is exactly that and they are very rough - go slow. There are two tollbooths between Nogales and Hermosillo. You will pay 52 Pesos at one and 17 Pesos at the other. There are several gas stations along the way. I'm not sure about whether they have bathrooms or not. Note: The conversion rate right now is about 11.4 Pesos per American dollar. Hermosillo is a very clean, safe city. The roads are good but there is a lot of traffic. We drove through the city and found the Colonial Hotel on the main road we came in on (Highway 15). The hotel was very clean and comfortable. They have different rates packages depending on how long you are going to stay. It's about $65.00 per night. You get one free breakfast with the room each day. If you have someone with you, you will have to buy another breakfast. The rooms are well air-conditioned, with cable TV and a bath. Most rooms have a view of hills or mountains from the window. Most of the TV is in Spanish, but there is usually CNN or a movie in English most of the time. Note: The hotel has an agreement with the CIMA hospital. They will give you a voucher to have stamped by the hospital. It gives you a good discount on your room at the hotel. Dr. Ungson can book the rooms for you if you wish. There is a small, nice restaurant on the grounds. Breakfast cost between 35 to 50 Pesos, Lunch is between 50 to 80 Pesos and Dinner is between 50 to 100 Pesos. Of course, you could spend a lot more. The food was good. Refried beans come with most dishes. We don't speak Spanish, so navigating the menu was a challenge. Note: The city is full of restaurants. A lot of them are chains like McDonalds, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Etc. Beef is produced in the area. You can get local steaks at the Fiesta or at the Sonora Steaks restaurant. We went out one night for steaks at the Fiesta and paid 150 Pesos for a nice T-bone. If you go to the Fiesta, be sure to get the right restaurant. They have two of them and one is only light fare. Note: there appear to be no detailed maps of Hermosillo, even though it is the capital of Sonora. I was able to get a map from a hotel that had one made up for their customers. If anyone wants a copy, email me at [email protected] and I'll send you a copy. Remember, no one speaks Engli****'s not easy to get directions. We called Dr. Ungson when we got to our rooms, and arranged to meet him later that afternoon in his office in the hospital He is very busy and has been recently appointed the medical director of the hospital. Dr. Ungson took time to talk to us, and get my rather lurid surgical history. He is willing to do the DS on me even though I will probably have lots of adhesions. (I previously had the old type of Ileo-Jejunal Bypass and had it reversed years ago). He was very mater of fact about the problems we might run into, but I am fully convinced he will deal with those problems should they arise. My friend the nurse came away very impressed with Dr. Ungson. He is kind, caring and willing to listen to you and to answer questions you may have. He reviewed some medical info I had brought with me and told me he though I should do well with the surgery. The next morning, we met Dr. Ungson at the CIMA hospital and made the rounds. What a beautiful hospital, clean, neat, modern and friendly. The place was immaculate and everyone was very friendly. The equipment is very modern. The rooms are private and very nice. Dr. Ungson's fee includes the hospital room. But, if you are going to bring family or friends with you, you can have a suite for about $100 dollars per day more. The suits are beautiful with balconies, and a large room next to your hospital room where your family can spend time. There are comfortable couches and a large table. I've got friends ad family coming with me when I have my surgery in September, so I'll probably opt for this larger room. Close to the hospital are a Super Wal-Mart, a SAM's club and a Home Depot. They are great to browse through. Everyone is very friendly, but remember, NO ONE speaks English in these stores. Wal-Mart has the full grocery store and you could very easily buy food to take to your room if you don't want to eat out. Very much like our Wal-Marts in the US. We bought a disposable ice chest for a couple dollars and kept it in the room so we could have cold drinks when we wanted them. Tara from the American consulate was out of town while we were there, but we are going to try to contact her and see if she knows of any Condo, timeshare or other rooms with a kitchenette that my family could stay in. Note: It is very hot so dress accordingly. Take sunglasses, loose fitting clothes and comfy shoes. All the buildings are air- conditioned. Just remember to drink a lot of liquids. Bottled water is everywhere. Be safe and drink it. Don't drink tap water. Dr. Ungson explained that they use an epidural pain block for pain control. This is very much like some women have when they have a baby. A needle with a fine tube is inserted into the spine and then the needle is removed leaving the fine tube behind for the medicine. It is connected to a PCA or Patient Controlled Analgesic device so you can push a button when you have pain and you get a small amount of painkiller injected into the tube. Having the Epidural pain block is good for several reasons. They can give you a whole lot less anesthesia, which is good for obese people. Also, you have much better pain control and it doesn't make you groggy like regular shots of morphine would. Frankly, the thought of a needle being jabbed into my back made my skin crawl. But, my friend the nurse and the doctor said it wasn't very painful if done by a person who knows what they were doing. Yeah, Right. Like I believe in the tooth fairy. OK, I want to hear back from anyone who has had this done. What should one expect? Did it work well for you-? Were you able to get up and walk around with it-? How long did you have it in-? Is it painful- ? Come on guys, let me hear from you about this. My surgery is on September 7th. Early in the morning. The Dr. wants me to check in the afternoon before for some tests and then spend the night in the hospital. He said after the surgery, I would have an NG tube, a Foleys catheter, the epidural, an IV and 2 drains. The next day the NG tube and catheter will come out. Day 3 or 4 I can leave the hospital if doing well, otherwise leave day 5. I generally snap back pretty quickly after surgery, so expect to be out soon. I asked about the filter for blood clots. Dr. Ungson feels that if you don't have problems with blood clots, that it isn't necessary. Because of the storm in Florida, we decided to leave early and try to get home. We drove back to Tucson the next morning. Crossing the border took 2 ½ hours. What a nightmare. Is this the normal-? I have a question. After the DS surgery, has any one had a problem with finding a bathroom while you were trying to get home from Hermosillo-? Has anyone taken the bus either to or from Hermosillo-? Were there restrooms on the buss? Is this a problem one needs to worry about so soon after surgery-? Now about calling home. We had a terrible time because of the hurricane in Florida. Finally we were able to use our regular cell phone to call home. My cell phone provider (Cingular) told me my phone wouldn't work because it took a special type of phone to work in Mexico. They said I would have to have a special international service. They also said that I couldn't have the service because while I was out of country last year, I had one late payment. Can you believe they would do that after my being a "long term valued customer of 4 years". Well, it turned out they were wrong. The phone worked just fine and I could dial home by dialing 01, then the area code and then the number in the US. My family could also call me with no problems. I don't have time to fool with it now, but needless to say, I am canceling my Cingular service immediately after I get back from my surgery. I hate being jerked around. The AT&T calling card we purchased in the US would not work in Hermosillo. We went to Wal-Mart and bought a card for TELMEX. There are very modern phone at Wal-Mart and at the hospital that you can use. You just stick in the card and it tells you how much time you have left on the screen. Note: phone calls from the hotel are 50 cents local and almost a dollar per minute for long distance. If you are trying to dial a cell phone in Mexico, get with the front desk. There is a bunch of numbers you have to dial first. The Motel does not have Internet access in the rooms. You can go to the business office and they will let you use a computer to send E- mail. Up to one hour per day. Unfortunately, there are so many spy- ware programs and pop adds on the computer, that I never could get to the Internet to send or get mail. When I go back, I am going to offer to clean up that mess for them. Be careful if you travel with a laptop. Mine got the screen broken somewhere during the trip. If you end up with an extra evening in Tucson, take a ride out south of town to the new Desert Diamond Casino. Check at the front desk of the AmeriSuits. They have a coupon book that gets you some free cash for the slot machines and some good discounts at the Agave restaurant at the Casino. Don't bother going to the buffet. We looked at it and walked out. It looked pretty bad. The Agave restaurant, on the other hand, was quite nice and the food was good. I normally don't eat sweets, but even I had to have some of their bread pudding, and it was delicious. If you prefer not to drive, get directions from the hotel and go to the Cattle House not far from the hotel. Their steaks are quite good. Well, guys, I have really rambled, but I hope you learned a few facts along the way. If we can answer any other questions, please drop me a note. I'll soon to be on the loosing side. My surgery is scheduled for September 7th. Raymond Bechtel [email protected]