DR. JOYA AND SAN XAVIOR MARINER HOSPITAL
Topic: DR. JOYA AND SAN XAVIOR MARINER HOSPITAL The good, bad, and ugly. The bed at the San Mariner Hospital was an electric bariatric Stryker bed. Which is a high quality hospital bed used in the USA. The mattress in the bed that I was in was in need of replacement. It sunk in around where your butt would be placed when you lay down. Something you would expect from a mattress that a lot of obese people have used. The recliner in the room was leaning a little to the left. I have a back injury so I am hypersenstive to chairs or beds that are uneven. However, my husband said he could tell by looking at it that the bed was sunken and the chair was leaning to the left some. Uneven surfaces induce back spasms in me. This is why I am hyper alert to my envrioment.
The couch in the hospital room let out into a bed for my husband. He said it slept like you would expect from a fold up couch. So don't expect a lot of comfort there. It was nice visually and had an even sitting surface. It was back friendly for me, so I liked it. The couch in my sister-in-laws room was the same.
Oh, and I would purchase extra pain meds and antibiotics. Both my sister in law and myself ended up with an infection at one or two of our incision sites. We have no idea why. The same thing can happen if you have the surgery in the States. I could not get in to see my primary care doctor for 4 days so the extra pain/antibiotics would have helped. AFTER I finshed my antibiotics from Mexico, I ended up being on Bactrim and Cipro an extra 10 days. One of these antibiotics keeps bacteria from growing, and the other antibiotic kills any bacteria that has already grown. Note, you will only receive Cipro in Mexico. My PCD put me on that combo (Cipro and Bactrim) after I had an infection.
Post surgery nausea got my sister -and -law and myself and was very bad. Not FUN. The pain was not as bad as the nausea. For anyone who did not follow the no eating rules before surgery, I fell sorry for them, because I can't imagine how much worse it would have been had something actually came out. Pain wise, the surgery was very do-able. Discomfort from the beds was worse than the surgery pain. But the nausea just really stands out. They pump you with a lot of IV fluids so when you wake up you have to use the bathroom. Let me tell you the first three times getting up was very hard and hurt. They have bed pans, but I could not use it, it hurt my butt to lay on it and rolling over getting it under me caused just as much pain as if I actually got up. I did pee on the bed trying to get up and go once. When I set at the edge of the bed, I was gagging as if I was going to throw up from the nausea, the gagging and coughing put enough pressure on my bladder that I wet all over the bed. It was awlful but of course I survived. But I guess you can understand now why I keep stressing how much the nausea got to me.
I am 5 foot 5 and 230 pounds and Dr. Joya used the Inamed Lapband VG which is generally for patients with BMI > 45. My BMI is like 38. I've been meaning to call and ask why we both got the large band. I would think it would cause more slippage. My brother-in-law who was about 450 pounds recieved the VG band. My sister-in-law who had surgery with me, I think her BMI was about 45 roughly. I'm not positive... but I am positive she recieved the VG band also. When I find out why he used that size band on us, I will follow up with a post.
Oh, the doctor and staff were all friendly. The hospital was clean and organized. The operating rooms looked standard to what I have seen in the US. I use to be a transplant coordinator and have seen 100's of operating rooms. I was very disapointed that I was put under before I was rolled into the OR. This did raise a small red flag to me, I wanted to see what their lap equipment looked like, their sterile field, camera/lap tower/monitors ect. (Then again, you can think too much into things, but I also don't want to turn a blind eye just because I was desperate for the surgery) I worked in an OR as a laproscopic coordinator for over a year. Anyway, that sorta worried after I awaken, but that may just be how they do it there. In Nashville, our patients was wide awake or lightly sedated until after they were situated on the OR table. At the Krystal hotel, (which is a few blocks from the hospital, walking distance with a sidewalk) they will supply you with two foam (for queen size bed) about 2 inches each, I suggest doubling them and folding them over so you are laying on 4 layers. But remember, you have to ask for the foam at the Krystal. The beds there are EXTREMELY STIFF. House keeping had no idea what I was asking for, but when I called the front desk, they did. So when you check in, ask for one then. If I had to do it over again, I would have brought my twin size memory foam mattress, It would have been the best investment for helping me sleep and worth the packing space. You might think it is not worth the trouble but to me, I would have rather have had the sleep!!! I am miserable without sleep. Or ask for more foam at the front desk if they will give it to you or go across the street at Wal-mart and buy a foam mattress if they have it. I did not look when I was there (at Walmart) and it did not occur to me to do that until after I got back home. But I was dreaming of memory foam while I was there BIG TIME. Memory foam also helped me sleep better once I got home. I was sleeping on my side and belly faster than my sister-in-law and that is mainly due to the memory foam mattress. She was stuck sleeping on her back and hated it. On a very good note. The AC in our rooms worked perfect. I was lucky enough to get an ocean view which was very nice. My sister-in-law got a garden view. We stayed at the Grand Maya water park, golf and spa several days before the surgery which is a top rate resort and the rooms were over $800.00 US dollars a night. I still enjoyed the Krystal Resort more and it was much cheaper. I liked it more because it had a home feeling due to the lovely court yard landscaping around the resort and the wide cobble stone sidewalks with trees that over lapped the sidewalk in places. It was also closer to town and across the street basically from the hospital and Walmart. Oh I suggest you walk as much as you can. Remember that antibiotics can make you hyper senstive to the sunlight so you will be at risk for getting sun burns. So slather on sun screen and wear a hat.
Oh, and if you wear band-aids for over a week, you might be at high risk to develop band-aid rash..... leave your shirt off when you can and remove bandages to let the wounds (incisions) air dry. The band aid rash does not hurt but will give you very dry skin when it heals. You can switch to paper tape and a 4x4 nonstick pads. My second week post op, I was still leaking but needed to let air get to the sites. When I had to wear a shirt, I put a panty liner inside my shirt. It just stuck to my shirt and when It touched the incision area it would absorb the leakage. I also had stitches that was visiable on the outside which was different from what my op note stated and I had a few internal stiches that showed a few cm from the surface of the skin. Yep, they poked thru. The stiches that were visiable on the outside were removed a week post op with a sterile scalpe and pick ups. After they were removed my skin felt so much better (there was not many of them but enough to bug the heck out of me and itch). It is 3 weeks post op now and I am very happy with how my skin is healing. I think the scars will be smaller than the scars I have on my shoulder from my lap shoulder surgery from just a few years ago. So that is promising.
Bring a handful of broth chicken/beef broth cubes, cup warmer and cup to set on the cup warmer (to warm your broth/hot tea). The broth cubes I got at the Walmart in Mexico tasted different than the ones we have here in the US. Oh, I would have also packed my own 20 oz thermos to put my ice water in. Oh, one more thing, I wish I had put a plastic bag on my belly, then a pillow case or shirt, then a bag of ice to help reduce the swelling. If someone uses a bag of ice on their swollen area, please never place it directly on the skin. You need a moister barrier and never leave it there more than 20 mins at a time. It is a good idea to put a pillow case around the ice bag so the ice does not quick cool the skin too fast. This will be the best way due to you want the coldness from the ice bag to slowly change the skins tempature. The moister barrier is needed in order to not damage the suture/incision site.
If you have any questions or concerns feel free to ask the staff or Dr. Joya to explain things to you. I'm sure they have a reason why they do things the way they do them so don't let my text frighten you. I would do it all over again.... just with me bringing a few more items << smile >>
I hope this data helps others.
My sister-in-law and I went to Mexico together and both had the surgery Aug 30th 2007. She has lost more weight than I have, but she has also taken a lot longer to recover. This is most likly due to a higher BMI and she has diabeties. On a very good note, she went from taking 6 insulin shots a day down to PRN (as needed) per what her blood sugar level is. THAT IS AMAZING!!!!! So of course I want to Thank Dr. Joya over and over again for taking us on as patients. Two days ago I was eating a Healthy Choice Pizza and was about half way finished when I had a funky feeling and started to spit alot and felt full and like I was blocked down inside my stomach. This was the first time I felt this way. The excess spitting resulted in regurge of part of the pizza I ate. The pain went away a min later. But let me tell ya, I don't want to repeat it. Those sutle my body gave me, I will be listening to with respect in the future.
