I am now sleeved as of 01/24/11 YEAH!  First off let me start off by saying that this surgery is  a hard one. Some people breeze thru it but it was hard on me. I just started feeling normal on day 4. My sleeve buddy went thru with no problem's I was so jealous! N-E-WAYS I flew into San Diego on Sunday and got there about 10am. My check in time at the hampton inn wasn't till 4. Thank God they had a room for me at 1 and let me in early I was jet lagged. My room was really nice. San Diego was so laid back on that day. It was sunny people were out walking around it was just beautiful. I was starving due to my 10 day liquid diet and felt like it was hard to find food. There were alot of restaurants behind the hotel but I just needed some broth and in walking distance. Once my sleeve buddy made it we ended up going to one of those restaurants and had a delicious garlic tomato soup with garlic toast and meatballs we had to put aside, That night at the hampton inn was hell there was a train behind it that kept me in and out of sleep till about 1am. Monday morning caught shuttle back to airport and driver picked us up in about 20 minutes after waiting in a comfortable caddy (cadillac), We went off to give blood and then to the clinic that was in a strip mall. I had already read that so that was no suprise. The place was very clean you could smell the freshness in the air. It was very cold also but once we did our paperwork passed our ekg and bloodwork was okay they put us in a very small warm room. I changed into my ass out gown and the nurse wrapped my legs and put in an iv that hurt like heck! Dr. Almanza came in and talked to me and my sleeve buddy with a translator but we pretty much understood Almanza. He then took my sleeve buddy in for surgery and I took a nap and was awaken by the nurse telling me it was my turn, I walked across the hall got on the table and was out. I need to shorten this up so I will fast forward. Tuesday went to recovery house man these people are so darn nice and see to your every need. They have yogurt, ice pops gatorade broth anything you may need after surgery. It is very comfortable but cold at the recovery house but they do have space heaters. I wish I would have took some long sleeves and one light jacket. Some people from other parts of the wold was enjoying the weather because they were used to snow this time of the year. We took our barrium swallow test on Wednesday got a copy of it went back to clinic for doctor to check out and back to recovery house we went. We didin't actually see the doctor the driver took them to him and we left. It would have been nice if at that point we could have seen him to address any issues or concerns. I guess there was no need since we were all fine. We went back to recovery house and there was an outing but I didn't go I wasn't feeling up to it. Thursday morning it was my turn to go home we only waited an hour to cross the border and crossing the border was quite the experience. They were selling all kinds of stuff. I still wish I could have ate a burrtto one of the peddlers was selling out of those hot food carts. I bet it was the bomb. That's the big girl in me I'm still fighting her ass. I'm only four/five days out so she is very much so still with me. Well this is my experience. It was both good and bad. Almanza and his team were wonderful but the recovery is hard but they made me as comfortable as possible.

Congrats on your surgery and welcome to the bench. I am glad you had a good experience! Heres to a healthy recovery and achieving all of your goals!

Kim

Thanks Kim! I am so excited to be on this journey as a post-op now!

Welcome to the bench! You're experience was pretty much exactly like mine,except i felt great starting on day 2. Glad you are feeling better and ,girl,it only gets better!
H

Yay, glad to hear everything went good.  I was so jealous, my husband was fed all the time.  he had yummy food down there and i had juice and chicken broth.  In my experience its hard in the beginning learning this new way of eating but the rewards are so great.  Im glad your doing great and if you have any questions or anything pm.  jen

so glad that you had a good experience. Everybody heals at a different rate; just listen to your body and you will be fine!

Thanks for all the well wishes guys! I am already falling in love with my sleeve thru pain and all! I feel like I'm losing but I won't confirm that until tomorrow when I go back to work and get on the scale!

I want t osay big congrats on your surgery. Since reading your post I am now researching Mexico procedure as well. I was wanting to know what more did you have to pay for outside of your procedure cost. So I'll know how much to save for?

Sorry for taking so long to respond. I'm having computer issues. I'm doing just fine since surgery. So far still no complications. I'm still learning to use my tool efficiently and trying to get in all my protein, water and vitamins.

Looks like you are doing pretty well! Your experience sounds just like mine while there. I felt better by day 2 tho, thank goodness cause that gas was hard! Congrts on kicking butt and losing 34 lbs!