LJCopeland

Send Message

Block

Add Friend

We left Tijuana this morning. I'm happy to be out of Tijuana, but mostly because I want that chapter of my life behind me. 

Everything seemed to be going so well when I left the hospital. I was happy to be in my hotel room and sipping my water and Gatorade. Then during the night - about 2 am I woke with a fever of 103, tachycardia, trouble breathing and diarrhea. I went back to the hospital and they put me on intervenous antibiotic and something to bring my fever down. I was ready to go back to the hotel by noon. The doctor said this was just a way for my body dealing with the trauma. (Or maybe I came into contact with some germs). 

I feel pretty good today. I have a crampy kind of pain near the site where the drain was. It comes and goes like a cramp you get when you're exercising.  My stomach hurts a little bit, but not anywhere neat what I expected considering they cut out 80% of it. I have some energy, and I wanted to walk, but my husband made me stop after a couple of blocks. I'm too fat for him to carry me back. 

I had my surgery on 10/31/2013.  I did have some complications, but thank God it wasn't anything they weren't prepared for. There were 3 blood vessels intertwined together in the layer of fat over my stomach. They had to cut through them in order to trim my stomach. They told my husband that this happens in approximately 1 out of 7 cases. 

I had more bleeding than the usual VSG patient due to the blood vessels that were cut. And then my normally low blood pressure skyrocketed. (198/109). They gave me a liquid medication for the high blood pressure and some medicine to speed up coagulation.  The great thing was that because of the complications 3 different doctors came to see me to check on me throughout the night. I felt very well taken care of. 

Despite those complications I had little pain. The pain I did experience was some cramping of my diaphragm. On day 2 that was virtually gone. 

Today is day 3. I was taken to my hotel room at about noon.  This is a very nice accommodation.  The Marriott in Tijuana. 

I can't say enough how happy I am that I made the decision to have WLS, and I'm even happier that I chose Mexico Bariatric Center to have it at. I feel like I got better care than I would have had in a US hospital. 

So, right now I'm doing my sipping. I can't wait to post my new weight down the road. 

I made my appointment today to have surgery with Dr. Louisiana Valenzuela.  I'm having it on Halloween.  When I called this morning, I was expecting something around the third week of November, but I asked for the quickest date I could get in, and I was told they had a cancelation for Halloween Day. 

When I called the Mexico Bariatric Center this morning I talked to Cindy.  She was really great.  She told me that Dr. Valenzuela did her surgery and her daughter's surgery on the same day.  She said she would do it the same all over again.  She set everything up for me in such a short time.  She called Dr. Valenzuela to make sure she looked at my medical information form, and then let me know when she got the green light from the doctor.

I am so excited!!  Thank goodness, my husband is on board.  He's been so great.  He asked me a couple times if I was confident about doing this and said he was behind me whatever I wanted to do.  Of course I'm a little cranky right now because I've been on a liquids-only diet today, and wasn't mentally prepared for it.  It's good though.  I'll adjust quickly, and I will never regret not having a "last meal".  I am going to be a normal size again!

Wish me luck!

I have been thinking about having bariatric surgery for years, and have considered all the options and decided almost a year ago that I want to have the VSG.   My husband has been very evasive whenever I've brought up the topic, so I've assumed that it scares him.  I put the question regarding my having surgery to him seriously twice, and have dropped it since not getting any meaningful responses.

Yesterday I got a call from one of the sources that I inquired with via the internet regarding weight loss surgery.  I told them that we have a lot going on and I'm not ready to set any dates yet.  When I got off the phone, my husband said that he thought now would be a great time, as we are in a transition period with our business anyway.

I asked him if he was serious, and he said absolutely.  Because my insurance excludes all weight loss procedures and therapy, we decided to find out how much it would cost.  I'd actually already looked into traveling to Mexico for surgery, so I suggested that we look into it.  By mid afternoon, he had picked out 2 or 3 surgeons in Mexico he felt comfortable with. 

I got scheduling dates from one already, and I am waiting for scheduling dates from another - hopefully today.  I plan on having the surgery before the end of November.

So here I go......I'm actually on my way to losing weight forever!