What did your travel companion do?

Hello All,
I've mostly been lurking on this forum and another site similar to this one. I'm scheduled to have surgery on 6-30  in TJ Mexico and have a few questions:

1. What did your travel companion do while you were in recovery for the 2 days?
2. How easy will it be for my husband to get to and from San Diego/border during the days I'm in recovery? (My husband wants to do some site seeing in San Diego both days).
3. Will my cell phone work in TJ (AT&T)
4. Any advise/ideas for my husband (I'm worried that he will be bored to death as he is a busy body).   Any advise would be GREATLY appreciated!   Smiles~Melissa

My sister went with me and she didn't do much, stayed with me, watched tv and ate.

It's not that easy for your husband to go back and forth as sometimes it takes up to 4 hours to cross the border.

Your cell phone most likely won't work unless you call ahead and get the international settings on it.

Don't mean to be rude, but you will be having major surgery and it might be a good idea for him to be close by in case of an emergency. If something was to happen, it'll take a while for him to get to TJ.....there'll be plenty of time for sight seeing or vacations later. Youn don't know how you'll feel and might need his assistance with something as insignificant as getting dressed, going to the bathroom or putting on your shoes. I would say, hold on and see how you feel before scheduling any sightseeing.

Good luck to you and I'm sure you'll do great!

Liz

I was very lucky as when I had my surgery, I was up and going to the bathroom all nite by myself. The next day I was walking, walking, walking but there were also some that had so much gas and could barely move. My sister did have to help me tie one of shoes.

I'm 2 months out and my whole journey has been a great one, wish the same for you!!!

You're just a few day away!!!

Liz

a friend of mine who is a Physical Therapist came with me but there wasn't anything for her to do. mostly she read, playing online and ate the incredibly good food in the hospital's restaurant (you really couldn't call it a cafeteria, like a hospital in this country would have). she was amazed at what a nice hospital it was, don't know what she was expecting!

My mom read A LOT. I was ready to throw her books out the window! lol. During the first two days, she would help me get out of bed, shower, walk with me, GET me to walk, etc. She also went to the cafeteria to eat all her meals.

I understand having a busy body hubby. Me too. I would pick nap time for him to go AWOL and be there the rest of the time for you.

There should be an icon on your phone that lets you call AT&T and you can ask about Mexico calls, my plan was a little high so I used Skype on my laptop and phone to call or message home. It was great to hear my kids so often throughout the day and we could leave messages if the other was not online.

Bring movies, magazines, whatever to pass the time. Laptop, etc.
It will be over before you know it.
Good luck.

Hi Melissa!

I'll try to answer your questions the best I can:

1.  My husband was my companion when I had my surgery.  I am so glad he was there!  He helped me keep my balance when I had to walk the halls post-surgery, helped me remember things I wanted to ask the Dr next time we saw him, he helped me get in and out of bed, and hand me stuff that was just out of reach (newly post-op it hurts to use your tummy muscles even to sit up/lean in bed.)  He enjoyed the chance to catch up on his rest, too!  I'm glad that whenever he ate, he did it in the cafeteria.

2.  I had my surgery in Juarez, so I can't tell you anything about TJ.  It can take a long time to cross the boarder, though, so it's not like he'll just be just be running over to San Diego for a quick trip while you nap.  I would think that if he's going to be your companion while you are having major surgery, he should stay with you.  I'd (TRY to) politely ask him to please wait and explore San Diego some time when you can both go and enjoy it together.

3.  I don't know if your cell will work or not.  My son put Skype on my laptop before I left, and we were able to "visit" right from my hospital bed!  That was so awesome!  I could update my family often, and that helped them to worry a little less.  (And, I didn't have to worry about any phone charges when I got back.)

4.  My husband and I took a lot of little things along to keep busy.  We took a deck of cards, crossword puzzles, word search, Sudoku (Sp?) puzzles, we played games on the computer, read magazines and books, and watched TV.  (at the hospital I was at, there were a few channels in English)  Also, if you have Netflix you can watch movies instantly on your computer.  (That's something we didn't think of at the time.)  The time will pass quicker than you think.

Best of luck to you with your surgery, and the rest of your weight loss journey!

Take care!

Tina

1. What did your travel companion do while you were in recovery for the 2 days?
When my daughter had surgery i was there for the morning hours to see her up shower move around abit sip sip sip... then in the afternoons I took a taxi to the border walked across (much quicker than driving) visited friends in SD and returned around 7pm ish...

2. How easy will it be for my husband to get to and from San Diego/border during the days I'm in recovery? (My husband wants to do some site seeing in San Diego both days).  Border Crssing was very easy walking thru... I do have to say that one of the 3 days I did have a long 45+ min wait to get across, other days were a breeze.. I think it had alot to do with time of day
3. Will my cell phone work in TJ (AT&T) - I have heard that ATT charges a TON for international calls... however I had no problems with my phone there.. Verizon is still kinda expensive!
4. Any advise/ideas for my husband (I'm worried that he will be bored to death as he is a busy body).   Any advise would be GREATLY appreciated!  for the hubby I advise bringing books, puzzles, computer, etc to keep busy just in case he might be more nervous than he thinks and not really want to leave you... There are usually loads of people to visit with from all walks of life!

Hope this help!