Dr. Aceves on August 6th

I'm going to Dr. Aceves for gastric sleeve and my surgery date is August 6th. Anyone else going to be there at that time?

No, but ill be there August 25th for my surgery! please keep me updated and I would love to hear your story after, im a little nervous! Good luck!

 I'm a little nervous, too, but mostly very excited. I'll be traveling there with my dad. So glad my parents are supportive. I will keep you posted on my experience. Go us! 

Hey there,

I guess I'm between you two...can't wait!  Good luck to you both

Thanks! And good luck to you, too. I'll try to post on here if I get the chance while I'm there. I'm starting the pre-op diet tomorrow. Not looking forward to the carb withdrawals, but I'm excited about this so HERE GOES!

The diet sucks eggs, but it's SO worth it! This is going to be the BEST thing you've ever done for yourself, I promise!

Yes, I'm a Dr Aceves fan. You're going to love Dr Campos, too.

One suggestion - take your iPod with bouncy music on it and walk more than I did. I know I'd have had less gas pain if I'd gotten off my bum more. (but not a single twinge past day 4)

Hi, everyone! Just checking in with a report from here in Mexicali. This will be a long one because I want to give everyone a good heads up of what to expect when you're here. 

All is going well so far. My dad travelled here with me and we are now in the hotel room ready for a good night's sleep so we can be back in the lobby at 7 am to head to the hospital for surgery. Eeeek!!!

We arrived at the San Diego airport at 10:00am. We packed light and didn't check any luggage, but we went to the baggage claim area anyway. The driver, wearing a blue shirt with the Mexicali Bariatric logo on it, found us at exactly 11:00. He was walking around with a paper with my name printed on it. There was one other couple (patient and her companion) getting a ride at the same time. The ride took about two hours and was perfectly comfortable in the well air-conditioned mini-van. San Diego's weather was nice in the upper 60s, then in Mexicali it was 111. Hot, hot, hot! The border crossing was completely uneventful.

We drove straight to the hospital to meet with Yolanda, our patient coordinator for the day. I think Yolanda is Nina's mom or something like that. Anyway. You give a urine sample, get some blood drawn, have a chest X-ray, an EKG, and then meet with Dr. Campos who talks to you about the procedure and long term success. He himself has the sleeve. He goes over all the stuff about how the sleeve is just a tool, they operate on your stomach not your head, so it's your job to change your eating habits so you can be long term successful. It was good to meet with him and bolstered all the good advice I've read on the forums. I think meeting with the doctor was especially good for my dad to see that this isn't some hokey operation.

Oh, and since you have to be fasting, only allowed water, for 6 hours prior to the blood draw and other tests, I highly recommend you follow their advice to bring a granola bar with you to eat while you're still at the hospital because I was starting to get reallllllly hungry.

Yolanda came after Dr. Campos was done speaking with us and she gave us our packets of various paperwork and information to look over and sign back at the hotel. She also gave us one antibiotic tablet and one antianxiety medication to take tonight to help us sleep and prep for surgery. Then she took our payments (I brought a cashier's check and that was extremely convenient). 

After that, we were driven to the hotel Lucerna, not within walking distance of the hospital. The rooms are nice and clean and the AC works well which is important to me right now. There is free wifi, a pool, the TV has channels in English, and two complementary bottles of water. You can purchase more water at the hotel bar. Remember to hydrate because it's so hot here and you can't drink anything after 10pm. 

We ate dinner at the restaurant Los Portales and it was really good. I had the tortilla soup and the tex-mex beef tenderloin and a Coke. I had to have the Coke in Mexico since it's so much better than in the US! Our meal came to $54.00, because my dad had a couple beers and we split a dessert. And it's convenient that we could pay in US dollars.

I suggest you and your guest, if you bring one, bring some snacks like granola bars and beef jerky because you'll find yourself needing a snack here and there on this pre-op day. For example, we got to the hotel room around 3:30, too early for dinner, so the snacks could tide us over until dinner. You're allowed to eat and drink like normal between leaving the pre-op tests at the hospital until 10 pm. What I have leftover is for my father to snack on while he's hanging around during my recovery days. Also, bring a refillable water bottle. There are water dispensers at the hospital so you don't have to keep buying bottles of water.

So that's my post for Day 1. I'll tr to post again as soon as I'm feeling up to it.  Can't wait to hear about your experiences in the few weeks!

I'm sleeved! Wow, can't believe it.

Got picked up at the hotel lobby at 7 on the dot and came straight to my room at the hospital to settle in. (Side note: the pill they give you for the night at the hotel makes sure you get a goooooood sleep. I felt like I was on a cloud. Haha.) Gave the paperwork over to Karla and changed into a big hospital gown. Then had the parade of doctors; the anestheseologist, one other doc (can't remember who), and then Dr. Aceves. All were pleasant and quick and efficient.

There were only two of us having surgery today and I went second (don't know how they choose who goes when, just up to the doc). Just hung out with my dad in my hospital room playing solitaire and watching TV until it was my turn.

They give you a pill to make you sleepy and mellow. Once it was my turn to be wheeled away things went fast. You get an IV and they inject an epidural so you're numb from the waist down, and in my opinion that was the the most painful part...which wasn't bad. Next thing I knew, I was in recovery. All together, my surgery was about 1.5-2 hours and recovery for about 2 hours.

Wheeled back to my room where I've been dozing off and on and watching the Olympics. Doing the breathing apparatus exercise once and hour, and walking a bit. I have a little dull pain where the drainage bag is, and some queaziness, but I'm quite pleased with how I feel. I mean, considering a good chunk of my stomach just got cut out!  

The room is nice and clean with a private bathroom. The staff has been great to my dad, too, and brought him a pillow, blanket, and bottled water. He ate his meals in the hospital cafeteria and said their food is pretty good (not that I could have any).  So, if you have a family member coming along with you, don't worry about them, they'll be comfortable. And I was thinking earlier that while it is nice to have my dad here, if I had come by myself, I would be totally fine, too. You typically have a staff member leading you around and there are always people nearby to help.

Thanks Lala285 for sharing your experience. So glad you're doing well. I will be seeing Dr Aceves on 8/30. It helps to know what to look forward to. I've never had an epidural but I guess there's a first time for everything. What did they give you for pain? I'm kind of a baby and loved my pain pump after my gall bladder surgery. Also, do/did you have a catheter? I've never had one of those either so I'm a little nervous about it.

Hi ladybuglv! Well, I'm now on day two and I must say today is harder. Both because my belly hurts more where the leak bag is attached (get that out tomorrow, woohoo!) and by mid-day today I finished my final IV bag and they've now given me liquids to drink on my own. It has been a process of trial and error to realize that I have to take the tiniest of sips because anything more makes my stomach hurt and gives me a wave of nausea. Dr. A said that will improve as I continue to sip and learn my limits.

I don't know what they gave for pain right after the surgery, if anything, and I haven't had to ask for anything. I've been having more issues with nausea than terrible pain. There is no morphine drip or anything like that. I think that's especially because they want you up and walking around as soon as possible because it helps to eliminate the gas they pumped into you during the surgery and aids the healing process. And you can't walk much if you're zonked out on pain meds. However, you could ask them for some, I'm sure. I did not have a catheter. I think they only give you one if you can't make yourself pee after the surgery. Sorry if this is TMI, but it was really hard to pee at first because I was still kind of numb down there. It was this weird sensation of knowing I had to pee, and wanting to be, yet I couldn't. But with some patience I finally went the second time and have been getting to normal now.

You'll do great!