Hello Community!!

[sweetviolet]

Good luck to you too, kayvon..

[sweetviolet]

What a nice little group we re slowly gathering! To take along: bsic personal care stuff, lip balme, slid o shoes, light clothing, lap top and extension cord, good book, sun screen, gas x strips ( don't know what they are but need to get some), walking shoes should we feel like getting out, light nightie... other thoughts?

Hi BCmomabear, if you're gonna be sleeved laporoscopically, then you'll be needing the gas x strips.. during the surgery, the doctor will insert some gas into your body. But some of us are lucky enough, and don't suffer from the gas/wind/burping/hiccups..

[BCmomabear]

I have never heard of them in Canada. Do you think I can get them at the airport?

[Ninalinda2012]

Hi BC, I was thinking pretty much the same as yo to take. Also i have seen so many video on YouTube that makes me wonder if it is necessary to bring so many stuff...just as you are packed is how i m planing to go, couple of comfy pants, they cannot be tight, t-shirts, flip flops and running shoes for the airport mostly...maybe i should just go with my flip flops

I didn't know what Gas-X was but went to the pharmacy and found it, so i bought that already and the laxatives....i bought the Crystal Light drinks to try them and are really good, a bit sweet, but just have to put more water.

Is so hard for me now to eat less these days :P as I have a BMI higher than 40 and in the instruction says that a person with such BMI should start the diet before...hum

We'll see how all goes.

[Ninalinda2012]

Sweetviolet, how are you feeling now? is being almost a 100 days? have you gotten used to the lifestyle change?

[Ninalinda2012]

Hello Kayvon, all the best to you too...if you are going to the recovery house, we will see each other, the same with BC
Hopefully we do

[ChaiDi]

Hello and Welcome! So, you want to know about Tijuana and Dr. Almanza and Jerusalem Hospital. I was sleeved there last November. Here's my story: Hubby and I flew into San Diego the night before and stayed in a hotel across from the bay. Early Thursday morning we took a cab back to the airport and met up with 6 other people scheduled to have surgery that same day! It was fun having others to chat with who were there for the same reason and it took a LOT of the anxious feelings away. A van from Jerusalem Hospital picked us all up and drove us across the border so there were absolutely no problems getting in. We drove right to the "clinic". Don't expect a Hospital like you would find in the U.S. because it's VERY small and in a sort of strip mall! ha! However, it is immacualtely clean(we all had to put on those blue booties just to walk in the front door) and the staff was very kind and most of them spoke enough English that it wasn't a problem if you don't speak Spanish. After checking us all in they took us one by one and drew a blood sample, then we went "upstairs" to the "office" and signed the paperwork, then into another room for an EKG. Once all that was completed we were shown to a "room" and got into a hospital gown. They came in and wrapped our legs with ace bandages - their form of compression stockings I believe and a nurse started an IV. It took not more than 30-45 minutes then Dr. Almanza came in and introduced himself and they took a picture of him with his arm around you. I happened to be the lucky one to go first that day! woo-hoo! I walked myself into the surgery room and stepped up onto a step stool and laid down on the bed. I remember "talking" to one of the nurses - I told her her makeup was gorgeous - because it was, but before I could hardly get the words out I was OUT! I think they put the anesthesia in the IV. Next thing I knew I woke up back in the little hospital room. They told me I woke up after the surgery and walked myself to the recovery room and then walked myself back to my room and that I had even talked to them during all this but I have no memory of any of that until I truly woke up back in my room. I was told the actual surgery took about 45 minutes. My abdomen felt like someone had punched me - hard! But the pain was NOTHING like I had been expecting and I guess everyone reacts differently but I really did not have the "horrible" gas pains that I've read others suffered with. Yes, there was gas, but mine just wasn't horrible. I was very sleepy though and they let my husband in to give me a kiss and then I slept off and on the rest of the day and through most of the night. They gave me pain meds through the IV so no swallowing was needed. The next morning early I took myself to the bathroom pushing my IV and stopped by the door of another lady's room and we chatted a few minutes. Mid-morning they removed the IV and took off the leg wraps and we were allowed to get dressed in the "baggy, comfortable" clothing we were all told to bring. You will have a drain that is left in for about 2 days. It's not all that uncomfortable but it's kind of "icky" because YOU have to empty it once you go to the "guest house" or the hotel. If you have someone with you (my hubby) you stay downtown in a GORGEOUS hotel and there is a restaurant that is fully prepared to serve you tea and hot broth, etc. since they cater to a lot of sleeve patients. At the guest house they have a nurse on duty and a cook for your food (I say food lightly - because it's broth and popsicles, etc.) and she also prepares food for the hospital staff since they are all kept so busy all day every day. Each time we had to have our IV checked, or something injected via IV, the van would come pick us up and take us to the hospital and then back to either the guest house or the hotel. Be sure to take some chewable (or the kind that is a sheet that dissolves on your tongue) gas-X or some such with you. I would wake up in the night with gas pain and need to get up and take a gas-x and walk for 15 minutes or so that first few days - day and night. After the second day - if you're doing OK - and almost everyone was up and about most of the day - they will take you in the van to go shopping or to a movie, etc. I actually walked across the street from the hotel with my husband and we went to a restaurant. He ate a regular meal and I just sipped the broth off a bowl of soup but it felt so good to be out and about and I was amazed that I felt so good (even though it still hurt a little) and that I had the energy to go with him! On Saturday they picked us up and we all went and had our drains removed. Some said it hurt, but for some reason mine wasn't really pain so much as pressure and I got right up and was walking around again. For me the very worst part of the entire trip was on Saturday when they drove us to have the leak test. You have to drink a paper cup of "purple" liquid which tasted yukky and was more to drink at one time than I had had up to then, then once you got there and were standing in front of the x-ray machine they gave you another paper cup of a clear liquid that sort of smelled like clorox - ha! It also tasted pretty yukky and I had a really hard time getting it down. Apparently I swallowed enough that they could get their photo so they let me go. If you want a picture of your "sleeve" be sure to have cash with you - I think it was $20.00, but nearly everyone bought one. After that they drove us back to where we were staying and Sunday morning they picked us all up again and drove us back across the border in the van. They have "special privileges" at the border since they do this every day and for so many people. We had to stop and show our passports but they sent us through an "express" line and it didn't take very long compared to the huge long lines of other cars waiting to cross into the U.S. They dropped us off at the San Diego airport. Some of us were flying home that day and others had opted to stay and play tourist a day or two. I really was not having much pain and was able to walk without being too tired or hurting so I browsed a couple of airport shops while we waited. Hubby and I got home Sunday evening and he left for Asia Monday morning and I got up and got dressed and went to wrok at my secretarial job! I worked the entire day and never looked back! Now to give you a few other bits of information...one of the men that had surgery the same day I did, his wife was an OB/GYN in the U.S. and she accompanied him and she told us she was allowed to watch his surgery through the glass windows of the operating room doors. They also stayed at the hotel so we got to chat frequently. She told us that the operating room was state of the art and that Dr. Almanza was a true perfectionist. She said she was prepared to call her husbands surgery off if she had any doubts about anything along the way but he also got along fabulously and her glowing report truly made my hubby and I feel more at ease. This has hands down been the best thing I've ever done for myself! Literally within 2 weeks I had cut my blood pressure medicine in half, stopped taking pain medication off and on all day for fibromyalgia symptoms, the swelling had all gone out of my feet and ankles from what the Dr.'s had told me was the beginning of congestive heart failure, and I stopped huffing and puffing just getting myself ready for work in the mornings! I'm half-way to my goal, wearing clothes I never thought I'd ever get into again, and getting tons of compliments from family and co-workers. The very best for me though is that I absolutely feel healthier! Now having said all that...as wonderful as the sleeve is...it's not magic! You still have to follow the diet and work at losing. I've discovered that this is very much a head game. You will see someone eating a donut and your head will want one and try to convince you that "just one" won't hurt anything, or you'll go out to eat with family or friends and everything on the menu will make your mouth water. It's OK to order a good healthy meal knowing you'll only be able to eat a few bites. I do and then I know I'll have yummy leftovers to take in my lunch for 2 or 3 days! My biggest challenge is exercising. As a secretary I mostly sit for 9 hours a day and I have about a 45 minute commute each way which equals more sitting. I know I need to get this part figured out because I'm currently in a stall and I KNOW why...but again it's a head game so I have to convince myself to move more during the day and go for walks at home at night or get on the treadmill before getting ready in the morning. Well, this turned into almost a book, but I hope it will help you to feel more at ease with your decision to have the sleeve and with Jerusalem Hospital and Dr. Almanza. If you think of other questions, please don't hesitate to email/message me and I'll be happy to tell you whatever I can. Good luck and YOU GO GIRL!!! WE'RE WORTH IT!!!

[BCmomabear]

Wow, than you for sharing. It is great to hear your story. It's intresting how many people comment upon the strip mall. My hsband owns a small business in a strip mall and deals with the same stigma. However, once people come in they are so impressed with how great it looks. Being in a strip mall reduces overhead greatly. If we can run a business successfully with a lower overhead, that's just a good business decision.

It sounds like the Jerusalem hospital has what it needs to perform this relatively simple laproscopic sugery. I especially like the part about the OBGYN's comments. She knows how it should be done. My surgery is scheduled for Wednesday. Your posting in much needed and appreciated to help me be more excited and less nervous about the whole thing. Thank you! Tricia

[Godismyeverything]

Welcome and congrats on the new you!

[Ninalinda2012]

Hello and Welcome! So, you want to know about Tijuana and Dr. Almanza and Jerusalem Hospital. I was sleeved there last November. Here's my story: Hubby and I flew into San Diego the night before and stayed in a hotel across from the bay. Early Thursday morning we took a cab back to the airport and met up with 6 other people scheduled to have surgery that same day! It was fun having others to chat with who were there for the same reason and it took a LOT of the anxious feelings away. A van from Jerusalem Hospital picked us all up and drove us across the border so there were absolutely no problems getting in. We drove right to the "clinic". Don't expect a Hospital like you would find in the U.S. because it's VERY small and in a sort of strip mall! ha! However, it is immacualtely clean(we all had to put on those blue booties just to walk in the front door) and the staff was very kind and most of them spoke enough English that it wasn't a problem if you don't speak Spanish. After checking us all in they took us one by one and drew a blood sample, then we went "upstairs" to the "office" and signed the paperwork, then into another room for an EKG. Once all that was completed we were shown to a "room" and got into a hospital gown. They came in and wrapped our legs with ace bandages - their form of compression stockings I believe and a nurse started an IV. It took not more than 30-45 minutes then Dr. Almanza came in and introduced himself and they took a picture of him with his arm around you. I happened to be the lucky one to go first that day! woo-hoo! I walked myself into the surgery room and stepped up onto a step stool and laid down on the bed. I remember "talking" to one of the nurses - I told her her makeup was gorgeous - because it was, but before I could hardly get the words out I was OUT! I think they put the anesthesia in the IV. Next thing I knew I woke up back in the little hospital room. They told me I woke up after the surgery and walked myself to the recovery room and then walked myself back to my room and that I had even talked to them during all this but I have no memory of any of that until I truly woke up back in my room. I was told the actual surgery took about 45 minutes. My abdomen felt like someone had punched me - hard! But the pain was NOTHING like I had been expecting and I guess everyone reacts differently but I really did not have the "horrible" gas pains that I've read others suffered with. Yes, there was gas, but mine just wasn't horrible. I was very sleepy though and they let my husband in to give me a kiss and then I slept off and on the rest of the day and through most of the night. They gave me pain meds through the IV so no swallowing was needed. The next morning early I took myself to the bathroom pushing my IV and stopped by the door of another lady's room and we chatted a few minutes. Mid-morning they removed the IV and took off the leg wraps and we were allowed to get dressed in the "baggy, comfortable" clothing we were all told to bring. You will have a drain that is left in for about 2 days. It's not all that uncomfortable but it's kind of "icky" because YOU have to empty it once you go to the "guest house" or the hotel. If you have someone with you (my hubby) you stay downtown in a GORGEOUS hotel and there is a restaurant that is fully prepared to serve you tea and hot broth, etc. since they cater to a lot of sleeve patients. At the guest house they have a nurse on duty and a cook for your food (I say food lightly - because it's broth and popsicles, etc.) and she also prepares food for the hospital staff since they are all kept so busy all day every day. Each time we had to have our IV checked, or something injected via IV, the van would come pick us up and take us to the hospital and then back to either the guest house or the hotel. Be sure to take some chewable (or the kind that is a sheet that dissolves on your tongue) gas-X or some such with you. I would wake up in the night with gas pain and need to get up and take a gas-x and walk for 15 minutes or so that first few days - day and night. After the second day - if you're doing OK - and almost everyone was up and about most of the day - they will take you in the van to go shopping or to a movie, etc. I actually walked across the street from the hotel with my husband and we went to a restaurant. He ate a regular meal and I just sipped the broth off a bowl of soup but it felt so good to be out and about and I was amazed that I felt so good (even though it still hurt a little) and that I had the energy to go with him! On Saturday they picked us up and we all went and had our drains removed. Some said it hurt, but for some reason mine wasn't really pain so much as pressure and I got right up and was walking around again. For me the very worst part of the entire trip was on Saturday when they drove us to have the leak test. You have to drink a paper cup of "purple" liquid which tasted yukky and was more to drink at one time than I had had up to then, then once you got there and were standing in front of the x-ray machine they gave you another paper cup of a clear liquid that sort of smelled like clorox - ha! It also tasted pretty yukky and I had a really hard time getting it down. Apparently I swallowed enough that they could get their photo so they let me go. If you want a picture of your "sleeve" be sure to have cash with you - I think it was $20.00, but nearly everyone bought one. After that they drove us back to where we were staying and Sunday morning they picked us all up again and drove us back across the border in the van. They have "special privileges" at the border since they do this every day and for so many people. We had to stop and show our passports but they sent us through an "express" line and it didn't take very long compared to the huge long lines of other cars waiting to cross into the U.S. They dropped us off at the San Diego airport. Some of us were flying home that day and others had opted to stay and play tourist a day or two. I really was not having much pain and was able to walk without being too tired or hurting so I browsed a couple of airport shops while we waited. Hubby and I got home Sunday evening and he left for Asia Monday morning and I got up and got dressed and went to wrok at my secretarial job! I worked the entire day and never looked back! Now to give you a few other bits of information...one of the men that had surgery the same day I did, his wife was an OB/GYN in the U.S. and she accompanied him and she told us she was allowed to watch his surgery through the glass windows of the operating room doors. They also stayed at the hotel so we got to chat frequently. She told us that the operating room was state of the art and that Dr. Almanza was a true perfectionist. She said she was prepared to call her husbands surgery off if she had any doubts about anything along the way but he also got along fabulously and her glowing report truly made my hubby and I feel more at ease. This has hands down been the best thing I've ever done for myself! Literally within 2 weeks I had cut my blood pressure medicine in half, stopped taking pain medication off and on all day for fibromyalgia symptoms, the swelling had all gone out of my feet and ankles from what the Dr.'s had told me was the beginning of congestive heart failure, and I stopped huffing and puffing just getting myself ready for work in the mornings! I'm half-way to my goal, wearing clothes I never thought I'd ever get into again, and getting tons of compliments from family and co-workers. The very best for me though is that I absolutely feel healthier! Now having said all that...as wonderful as the sleeve is...it's not magic! You still have to follow the diet and work at losing. I've discovered that this is very much a head game. You will see someone eating a donut and your head will want one and try to convince you that "just one" won't hurt anything, or you'll go out to eat with family or friends and everything on the menu will make your mouth water. It's OK to order a good healthy meal knowing you'll only be able to eat a few bites. I do and then I know I'll have yummy leftovers to take in my lunch for 2 or 3 days! My biggest challenge is exercising. As a secretary I mostly sit for 9 hours a day and I have about a 45 minute commute each way which equals more sitting. I know I need to get this part figured out because I'm currently in a stall and I KNOW why...but again it's a head game so I have to convince myself to move more during the day and go for walks at home at night or get on the treadmill before getting ready in the morning. Well, this turned into almost a book, but I hope it will help you to feel more at ease with your decision to have the sleeve and with Jerusalem Hospital and Dr. Almanza. If you think of other questions, please don't hesitate to email/message me and I'll be happy to tell you whatever I can. Good luck and YOU GO GIRL!!! WE'RE WORTH IT!!!

Thank you so much, the details are perfect, is putting me more at ease....I am counting my days!!! so hard just to be on liquids!!!
I didn't understand a lot about the drain thing, but i least i will be prepared knowing there is a task i have to do :P

And yes, we are priceless

[Ninalinda2012]

Hello and Welcome! So, you want to know about Tijuana and Dr. Almanza and Jerusalem Hospital. I was sleeved there last November. Here's my story: Hubby and I flew into San Diego the night before and stayed in a hotel across from the bay. Early Thursday morning we took a cab back to the airport and met up with 6 other people scheduled to have surgery that same day! It was fun having others to chat with who were there for the same reason and it took a LOT of the anxious feelings away. A van from Jerusalem Hospital picked us all up and drove us across the border so there were absolutely no problems getting in. We drove right to the "clinic". Don't expect a Hospital like you would find in the U.S. because it's VERY small and in a sort of strip mall! ha! However, it is immacualtely clean(we all had to put on those blue booties just to walk in the front door) and the staff was very kind and most of them spoke enough English that it wasn't a problem if you don't speak Spanish. After checking us all in they took us one by one and drew a blood sample, then we went "upstairs" to the "office" and signed the paperwork, then into another room for an EKG. Once all that was completed we were shown to a "room" and got into a hospital gown. They came in and wrapped our legs with ace bandages - their form of compression stockings I believe and a nurse started an IV. It took not more than 30-45 minutes then Dr. Almanza came in and introduced himself and they took a picture of him with his arm around you. I happened to be the lucky one to go first that day! woo-hoo! I walked myself into the surgery room and stepped up onto a step stool and laid down on the bed. I remember "talking" to one of the nurses - I told her her makeup was gorgeous - because it was, but before I could hardly get the words out I was OUT! I think they put the anesthesia in the IV. Next thing I knew I woke up back in the little hospital room. They told me I woke up after the surgery and walked myself to the recovery room and then walked myself back to my room and that I had even talked to them during all this but I have no memory of any of that until I truly woke up back in my room. I was told the actual surgery took about 45 minutes. My abdomen felt like someone had punched me - hard! But the pain was NOTHING like I had been expecting and I guess everyone reacts differently but I really did not have the "horrible" gas pains that I've read others suffered with. Yes, there was gas, but mine just wasn't horrible. I was very sleepy though and they let my husband in to give me a kiss and then I slept off and on the rest of the day and through most of the night. They gave me pain meds through the IV so no swallowing was needed. The next morning early I took myself to the bathroom pushing my IV and stopped by the door of another lady's room and we chatted a few minutes. Mid-morning they removed the IV and took off the leg wraps and we were allowed to get dressed in the "baggy, comfortable" clothing we were all told to bring. You will have a drain that is left in for about 2 days. It's not all that uncomfortable but it's kind of "icky" because YOU have to empty it once you go to the "guest house" or the hotel. If you have someone with you (my hubby) you stay downtown in a GORGEOUS hotel and there is a restaurant that is fully prepared to serve you tea and hot broth, etc. since they cater to a lot of sleeve patients. At the guest house they have a nurse on duty and a cook for your food (I say food lightly - because it's broth and popsicles, etc.) and she also prepares food for the hospital staff since they are all kept so busy all day every day. Each time we had to have our IV checked, or something injected via IV, the van would come pick us up and take us to the hospital and then back to either the guest house or the hotel. Be sure to take some chewable (or the kind that is a sheet that dissolves on your tongue) gas-X or some such with you. I would wake up in the night with gas pain and need to get up and take a gas-x and walk for 15 minutes or so that first few days - day and night. After the second day - if you're doing OK - and almost everyone was up and about most of the day - they will take you in the van to go shopping or to a movie, etc. I actually walked across the street from the hotel with my husband and we went to a restaurant. He ate a regular meal and I just sipped the broth off a bowl of soup but it felt so good to be out and about and I was amazed that I felt so good (even though it still hurt a little) and that I had the energy to go with him! On Saturday they picked us up and we all went and had our drains removed. Some said it hurt, but for some reason mine wasn't really pain so much as pressure and I got right up and was walking around again. For me the very worst part of the entire trip was on Saturday when they drove us to have the leak test. You have to drink a paper cup of "purple" liquid which tasted yukky and was more to drink at one time than I had had up to then, then once you got there and were standing in front of the x-ray machine they gave you another paper cup of a clear liquid that sort of smelled like clorox - ha! It also tasted pretty yukky and I had a really hard time getting it down. Apparently I swallowed enough that they could get their photo so they let me go. If you want a picture of your "sleeve" be sure to have cash with you - I think it was $20.00, but nearly everyone bought one. After that they drove us back to where we were staying and Sunday morning they picked us all up again and drove us back across the border in the van. They have "special privileges" at the border since they do this every day and for so many people. We had to stop and show our passports but they sent us through an "express" line and it didn't take very long compared to the huge long lines of other cars waiting to cross into the U.S. They dropped us off at the San Diego airport. Some of us were flying home that day and others had opted to stay and play tourist a day or two. I really was not having much pain and was able to walk without being too tired or hurting so I browsed a couple of airport shops while we waited. Hubby and I got home Sunday evening and he left for Asia Monday morning and I got up and got dressed and went to wrok at my secretarial job! I worked the entire day and never looked back! Now to give you a few other bits of information...one of the men that had surgery the same day I did, his wife was an OB/GYN in the U.S. and she accompanied him and she told us she was allowed to watch his surgery through the glass windows of the operating room doors. They also stayed at the hotel so we got to chat frequently. She told us that the operating room was state of the art and that Dr. Almanza was a true perfectionist. She said she was prepared to call her husbands surgery off if she had any doubts about anything along the way but he also got along fabulously and her glowing report truly made my hubby and I feel more at ease. This has hands down been the best thing I've ever done for myself! Literally within 2 weeks I had cut my blood pressure medicine in half, stopped taking pain medication off and on all day for fibromyalgia symptoms, the swelling had all gone out of my feet and ankles from what the Dr.'s had told me was the beginning of congestive heart failure, and I stopped huffing and puffing just getting myself ready for work in the mornings! I'm half-way to my goal, wearing clothes I never thought I'd ever get into again, and getting tons of compliments from family and co-workers. The very best for me though is that I absolutely feel healthier! Now having said all that...as wonderful as the sleeve is...it's not magic! You still have to follow the diet and work at losing. I've discovered that this is very much a head game. You will see someone eating a donut and your head will want one and try to convince you that "just one" won't hurt anything, or you'll go out to eat with family or friends and everything on the menu will make your mouth water. It's OK to order a good healthy meal knowing you'll only be able to eat a few bites. I do and then I know I'll have yummy leftovers to take in my lunch for 2 or 3 days! My biggest challenge is exercising. As a secretary I mostly sit for 9 hours a day and I have about a 45 minute commute each way which equals more sitting. I know I need to get this part figured out because I'm currently in a stall and I KNOW why...but again it's a head game so I have to convince myself to move more during the day and go for walks at home at night or get on the treadmill before getting ready in the morning. Well, this turned into almost a book, but I hope it will help you to feel more at ease with your decision to have the sleeve and with Jerusalem Hospital and Dr. Almanza. If you think of other questions, please don't hesitate to email/message me and I'll be happy to tell you whatever I can. Good luck and YOU GO GIRL!!! WE'RE WORTH IT!!!

Thank you so much, the details are perfect, is putting me more at ease....I am counting my days!!! so hard just to be on liquids!!!
I didn't understand a lot about the drain thing, but i least i will be prepared knowing there is a task i have to do :P

And yes, we are priceless