Tijuana Mexico safety
LOL - "y'alls"? Yep, she's from Dixie. 
I'm glad you decided to have someone go with you.
Even is something relatively benign happened (getting light-headed on the plane or even fainting), if you are alone there is no one to tell the crew what's going on with you.
Banded 10 years & maintaining my weight loss!! Any questions, message me.
Day one in Tijuana is over. I have surgery in two hours so here is the short version of my experience so far.
1. Met our driver at the airport with minor difficulty. The phones kept cutting out so I called my coordinator and we found each other with no problem. He was very, very nice and a good driver.
2. Hospital angeles is modern and impeccably clean. My patient coordinator met us right away. I was told the first night would be at a hotel but she had me admitted early for preop tests.
3. We met dr. Corvala literally five minutes after we got to the room. He is very professional, friendly and kind. Somewhat difficult to understand but I got most of what he was saying. His co-surgeon took most of my info and spoke perfect English. Also very friendly, kind, and reassuring.
4. All the tests were done quickly. I personally had an issue. I have very difficult veins and bring dehydrated from traveling made it worse. The ended up doing a minor procedure with local anesthetic to put a catheter in my chest (a picc line I think?) it's bothering my shoulder and wasn't a fun experience but necessary for an IV and blood tests.
5. The room is very nice and clean. The female nurses barely speak any English but it hasn't been an issue. There is usually someone around to help. Everyone is soooo nice and compassionate. There is an ATM for getting pesos near the cafeteria. My husband says the food is really good. It looked really good to me! Lol
That is it so far! Please pray for me to get through surgery ok. I'm an emotional wreck thinking about my kiddos. :(
**sorry so long! I have nothing better to do when im wide awake at 1am. Lol
Had my surgery this morning and it went perfectly well! Yay!!! I was so scared and had cried about it all night but thankfully I had no problems at all. Waking up, I did have some pain but was mostly just really out of it and kind of thrashed around trying to clear my head. I have not really had any pain at all. They stay on top of the medications (pain meds, nausea, anticoagulant, and antibiotic) I have walked the halls several times feeling better every time. No liquids by mouth for the first 24 hours so my mouth is really dry but I swoosh water and spit and also use biotene mouth spray. The only minor complaint is the gas pains that come and go in my chest and back from the CO2 they inflate the abdomen with. So walking and gas-x strips that dissolve in your mouth have helped a lot.
I can't reccomended this place highly enough. It's probably the nicest, cleanest hospital that my husband and I have ever been to. Secure gates and courtyard and several security guards walking around. It's sooo quiet! I have only noticed a few other patients in various places but I know many rooms are full. My surgeon even did the barium leak test in the operating room so I'm all set and no worries about leaks or swallowing the nasty stuff. I'm relieved to know this! He said the risk of leak is .5% and my coordinator said in her 5 years of working for the hospital hasn't had a single patient with a leak.
The cost was $6500. Five night hospital stay. We ended up with an extra $400 to do the picc line but my anesthesiologist said that is only the second time he had to do one for a pre op patient. It was totally necessary in my case so we are fine with it. So with flight tickets and all we have spent $7,900. It was $30,000+ for just the surgery and a two night stay locally. The only draw back to me of going to this place in Mexico is that I won't have any in person follow up appointments but my coordinator is very good with communication and I plan to follow up with a local doctor and probably nutrionist on my own.
I hope this is helpful for your decision making! :)
You're very welcome! Thank you for praying for me. I am the most fearful person I know. I have a phobia of flying and have never been out of the US. But I wanted a healthier body that I'm comfortable in so I conquered all my fears. I'm sure there will be difficult times of adjustment as I start drinking and eating but as of now I couldn't be more happy about this decision. :)
You're going to do just fine:) my daughter had her here in Alabama( her insurance pd for hers with no prob) she was at 275 and now down below 200. The first couple of weeks were really hard due to the fact that she was still on liquids but now... She goes goes goes looks amazing and feels amazing .. The only thing she had a little trouble with was hair loss but she went to the Dr and they put her on the right vitamins and her hair is as thick as ever. EEEEK YOU DID IT!
