A MILLION questions... PLEASE HELP!!

AHHHHH!!!! I'm leaving to go to PV Mexico on Aug 9th for LB surgery with Dr Joya I'm coming from Canada and I don't have a passport, I also have several layovers in the USA...... I'm FREAKING out cause I don't have one (I have Drivers license, Birth Certificate) and I'm worried that this isn't enough and I'll be sent back!! I have been told by a few people that I don't need one yet, but I need more people telling me that it's okay. (It's not that I don't believe them, I'm just a worry wart) I was also wondering what else to pack? I know to pack light, and I have also been told to take my own food..... any suggestions?? I'm SOOOO SCARED to go through customs on my own, I have never flown and never been out of Canada.... do I tell them I'm there for surgery?? Is that Okay? should I lie and say I'm on vacation? foreign country, alone, never travelled, SURGERY!!! I'm CRAZY!! I'm also scared of the plane ride home on the second day after surgery... I have a LONG layover too!! Do you have to go through all the checks again during a layover?? do I have to get my own bags and put them in the new flight? Where do I go?!??! AHHHHH!!! It's sad that I'm WAY more worried about GETTING there than the ACTUAL surgery!! Airports are TOTALLY NEW to me! I'm gonna go and cry now.

You will be fine. Just act like you know what you are doing. I looked at the State Department Website and it said: Currently, Canadian citizens need proof of both their Identity and citizenship in order to apply for entry into the U.S. At present, this identification does not have to be a passport. The Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI) will require all travelers to the United States to have a valid passport by January 1, 2008, including U.S. and Canadian citizens, in accordance with a Congressionally mandated deadline. The passport requirement will be imposed on arrivals by air and sea in advance of January 1, 2008. This earlier deadline will be published in the Federal Register later this year, but we anticipate passports will be required for airport and seaport arrivals into the United States in early 2007. When I was in Mexico with my daughter the Mexican Border Security tried to tell her that she needed a passport but she just kind of kept following me. It was not a big deal at all. I traveled through the huge Houston International Airport 2 days after surgery and I was thankful that I had a wheelchair and a pusher courtesy of Continental Airlines. Let your airline know when you check-in to the airport for your return flight and I am sure they will have one waiting at each stage of your return journey. The pusher can also guide you through customs. Some of the international gates are huge so I think it is a good idea. Pack very light. I can't answer anything more specific about PV since I went somewhere else but all I needed was extra bottled water. Best of luck and I promise you will make it fine.

Hi Cassandra, Thank you sooo much for the information, you have put my mind at ease.... Just one more question about this.... "When I was in Mexico with my daughter the Mexican Border Security tried to tell her that she needed a passport but she just kind of kept following me" See, I'm afraid that since I'm in my 20's and I have tattoo's and stuff that they'll automatically stop me... I was thinking of dressing "nice" for the flight as to not arouse suspicision.....thoughts?

Dressing nice... not a bad idea. My husband has a tattoo, an earring, and a goatee...looks like a criminal ... and he ALWAYS gets stopped and frisked at airport security. Back in his younger, cleaner cut days, that never happened. I say go for it! Traci

Hi, Ryan. I had to go to Mexico twice for surgery and never had to show a passport... only a driver's license. The airlines take care of your bags when you change flights... not to worry. You're flying home the 2nd day after surgery?!?!?!?!? Are you sure that's OK? I flew home the 5th day after, with layovers like you, and ended up with a bowel obstruction, possibly due to all the sit down, stand up action. Can you stay a little longer? What does your surgeon say? Of course, I had my RNY done open, not LAP, so it may be different. Don't worry about anything but the surgery. You are your number one priority... not your bags, and not customs... that stuff will all work out on its own. Your not crazy, either, just dealing with a lot right now. I hope this helps. Take care! Traci

Hi Traci, Thanks for the info.... I'm having a lap-band done and that doctor CLAIMS that it's okay to fly so soon... it was a package deal that I guess they sell to everyone :P I'm nervous cause I would suspect that MOST patents are American and don't require a lay-over and a 5 hour flight., then another 2 hour one to get home!! Time will tell....I hope they give me pain meds for the flight!!

Ryan - First of all take a deep breath. I have been in and out of Mexico many times in the last 20 years. My Step-mother is Mexcian and we visit family over there all the time. I had my procedure w/Dr. Joya in march of this year and customs was no problem. Getting into mexico was easy, no one even raised an eyebrow at me. Comming home was easy also. The customs agent on reentry did lecture me about how the laws were changing and that by next year I would have to have a passport, but I think he was just lonley... I do not know how big you are, but I woul not worry about the flight or the layovers. The airlines will take care of you. Remember, flying is safer than driving... The layovers will be a great time for walking. Walk, Walk, Walk, Sip, Sip, Sip... That should be your new mantra. The Band has a much quicker recovery time than the RNY which is what I got done. But I met several people while I was recovering at the hotel who had the Band and were out of the Hospital in 1 day and flew home in 3 so I would not worry about that aspect of it. You have having a much less evasive procedure than what most of us got so your recovery and Pain will be different and since they are not re-aranging anything in there flying will be more comfortable for you than it was for us RNY'ers. I will say that I was cleared to come home 4 days early b/c I was healing so well but couldn't find a flight out of PV b/c I was there during spring break... So again, don't worry you will be in good hands. What to pack: You're only there for 3 days total 1 1/2 of which will be in the hospital so I wouldn't bother taking any food with you. You can stop at the supermarket while you are there and pick up some bottled water to keep in the hotel room with you, but I wouldn't waste the packing space taking your own for such a short trip. The soup only cost $360 pesos which works out to $3.60 american dollars so I don't know what that would be in Canadian money.

Thank you soooo much..... You used Dr. Joya?? How was he?? I just got an e-mail that Natalie doesn't pick you up at the airport anymore and they have a pre-paid taxi at the airport waiting for you.... another thing for me to stress about :P What was Dr.Joya like?

Dr. Joya was great. I did not have a whole lot of interaction with him. I met him before the surgery and then I saw him after and that was it. I mostly had interaction with his staff & other doctors. But he was nice careing and took the time to answer all of my questions.

Thanks for the info..... Gerald has been great so far...if everyone is as good as him, then I'm sure i'll be fine