Our Trip To Ensenada~

Jun 15, 2010

My husband and I have returned after both having our RNY's done a day apart. I'm happy to report we are both doing very well and didn't have a single complication (unless you count his dinosaur farts a complication =). It was an amazing and eye opening experience for us thus far and we are so excited to continue our weight loss adventure together. Now, a little bit about our journey...

We arrived in San Diego at midday on June 3rd. Martin, the regular driver, met us in the lobby and escorted us to the SUV. He chatted at great length with us and showed us some interesting sights as we drove down to Ensenada. Though he drove a little fast on the cliffside roads he was always in full control of the car and was being passed by other traffic (maybe cliffs just scare me more then others).

Once we got to Ensenada, he drove us around the town to get us orientated. He took us by the condo we would be staying at post-op, the hospital itself which is 7 blocks away, the downtown area which is about the same and pointed out a few good places to have our last meal. Finally, he drove us back to the condo so we could relax until our appointment that evening with Dr. Aguirre.

When we met Dr Aguirre he was very warm and personable. We asked him all the questions we had stored up and he patiently and honestly answered every one. He has performed over 1,000 RNY since 1987  and has had 3 deaths (the hospital in N.H. we were going to go to had 400 RNY over 3 Dr's and had 3 deaths as well). He did open rather then laproscopic because he can see what he is doing so much better and sews you up by hand rather then by staple gun. There isn't a staple in either my husband or myself including our incision. He also has a less then 1% leak rate because of this (the N.H. hospital in comparison reports 3-5%). He talked to us about our medical histories, felt our tummies and gave us directions for the next morning.

That night we went down to a place called Mahi Mahi (Martin recommended it highly) where I had crab claws in drawn butter and a cup of fish chowder. Sam had 1 of every taco they made (it wasn't a menu item but they made it for him anyway). The food was excellent and we went back to the condo excited and nervous but happy too.

Friday morning I headed to the hospital. A small swarm of nurses buzzed over me drawing blood and hooking me up to the EKG machine. When they were done they hooked my iv's into the place they drew the blood so I only ever got *****ed once. Then the doctors started visiting me. First the Anesthesiologist came by and talked to me a bit and patted my hand and discussed medications I might be allergic to and past surgeries. Then the ass't Dr. came by to introduce himself and chat a bit. Then came Dr Aguirre to let me know all was ready and the tests came back fine and off I went.

I was awake when they wheeled me into the surgery room and I craned my neck around as best I could to assure myself it was clean and modern. It was both. I remember these two huge multi-light things on cranes coming out of the ceiling being pivotted towards me and then next thing I knew they were trying to get me off the gurney and back into my bed. No count down or warning I was just out like a light. Sneaky...

That day is for the most part a blur. I didn't have a lot of pain just some discomfort. I wasn't hungry or thirsty but I was tired and wanted to just sleep. By the next morning, Saturday, when it was Sam's turn to be wheeled in I was much more awake and aware. His leaving my side with me out of commission to go into surgery of his own was scary for those two hours because you realize if something happens you cannot do anything to help. Luckily...well, I guess luck had nothing to do with it... Thankfully, the Dr's are all so skilled everything was just fine with my Sam. He came back groggy and out of it but safe and sound. That day they also took out my I.V. which I was not sad to lose and I never even had a bruise.

The next day was Sunday I was doing even better and I was walking around quite a bit. Sam was walking some as well but he had some lower back pain and a small bit of nausea. We watched quite a lot of TV that day in our room (they let us stay in the surgery prep room the entire 3 days we were there so we could be together) and napped when we got tired. We were tired a lot because they checked on us constantly and Sam and I are both such light sleepers that every hour when they'd come in to check this or that we'd wake up as soon as that first foot would hit the floor. This is also the day they took out the drain and I was more then happy to see that gone. It made me feel icky but I knew it was important. If I could have though I would have given it a good kick on the way out.

Monday midday we were released to the condo. Martin picked us up at the hopital and drive us to our temporary home. It's a nice little apartment with typical spanish touches like brick archways and tile floors. It's very neat and clean and has oversized chairs (for oversized tushies) and a comfy loveseat in the living room. The kitchen is full of dishes and pots/pans and silverware to use during your stay and has a nice little kitchen table that we played a TON of cards on. It also has a nice sized bathroom and a bedroom with a queen and a single bed as well as the tv.

We would try and go out to the park that is half a block south of the condo everyday to get in some good exercise. It's a lovely, flower filled park so it's an enjoyable place to be. The first day we were there we just stayed in the condo and lounged and played cards (it was my water day) but the days after that all had some kind of walk involved. That first day Martin ran to a local grocery for us and got us lots of food that we could eat. Crackers, water, potatoes to mash, some bananas/apples/pears, yogurt, milk, creamed soups and broths and toast. On Wednesday when Sam was finally at the food stage and we were both feeling super good we walked about 4 blocks to a grocery store and got a few more things to supplement what Martin got us. We took a taxi back though because we didn't want to carry groceries that far.

Oh, I forgot to mention, Tuesday night we had a knock on the door and it was Dr Aguirre just checking on us post-op. He came in, felt our pulses, asked and answered a few questions then poked around at the food we had to give everything the O.K. I cannot begin to tell you how reassuring it was to have a Dr. care enough to drop in and check on us. I can tell you the Dr's in N.H. would NOT have done so.

On Thursday Martin came by to see how we were doing and since we were both doing so well he asked us if we wanted to do some sight seeing. We did so he took us all over Ensenada to get a good look at the city. We went into a lovely cliffside neighborhood with gorgeous homes and views, we toured an old hotel once visited by the likes of Al Capone and Clark Gable to name a few. We walked all over that hotel and the gardens and took lots of pictures. Next he drove us along the beach boulevard and then to a Mexican Flea market to scope out some cool trinkets to bring home and finally to a tortilla making factory which was really cool. We even got to sample a small bit of freshly made and hot tortilla that a woman sprinkled salt on before wrapping and handing to us. It was a great day =).

Friday and Saturday we just enjoyed walking around the park and town, playing cards, and watching tv. We both felt really good and would do most things we could have done prior to surgery so long as it didn't involve lifting or (like going to the beach) sand in your incision. Sadly, before surgery I could not walk a mile and could not do it now so we ended up not seeing much of the downtown shopping areas. We could have asked Martin to take us but I think my husband was secretly glad I didn't get down there to spend more money ;).

On Sunday Martin picked us up and drove us back to San Diego. Our plane departed Monday at 11am but we figured it would be better to be at the airport when we wake up Monday to make the day easier on us and it was a good plan. It would have been a much harder day if we had added a 2 hour border cross and a 2 hour drive to the 8 hour flight travel time.

So now we're home and we feel great! This morning we both weighed ourselves and were shocked that we have each lost 17 lbs in 10 days. Neither of us has been hungry once and we are very careful to still eat 3x a day about 1/3rd a cup of food each time. We're a little bad abou****er consumption but we're trying our best to get the ounces in.

Before I close I wanted to add a little anecdotal note. When we were on the plane flying home (we booked first class for comfort reasons) they served these wonder smelling lunches which we could not have and it didn't bother us. So we ordered one of those little fruit plates that has a bit of cheese (we skipped it) three strawberries, a slice of melon and four crackers. I had 2 strawberries and 1 cracker. Sam had 2 crackers and the slice of melon. We were full. Then this WONDERFUL odor of warmed chocolate chip cookie wafted our way. We saw the steward passing out cookies the size and shape of a large brownie. It smelled so great. And the thought of eatting one made both of us feel icky. I wouldn't have put that cookie in my mouth for the world. Which is funny... because if I had been on that plane and just dieting I would not only have had one of those normal lunches (rationalizing that I had paid first class prices so would be foolish to not eat the meal) and that brownie/cookie had come out I would have eaten mine and any of my husband's I could wheedle away. I would have rationalized that with "Well, I'm stuck on this airplane for 5 and a half hours so I should eat when it's offered". Thank god for RNY!!!! Not only do I not cheat I have no wish/want/desire to do so. I cannot sabotage myself ;).

Lastly, and if you've read this far you must be bored at work, I just wanted to say if you are looking for a surgeon then please, please consider Dr. Aguirre. You're not going to see a little flashing ad of his to draw your eye but the care you receive is bar none. The cost for both of our surgeries was 14,000 (vs the 70,000 the N.H. place wanted) but I can honestly tell you that if my mother decided to have this surgery (and she needs it) and her insurance covered it 100% I would beg her to pay the 7,500 and go to Dr Aguirre instead. I cannot express enough how wonderful he, his team of nurses, and his co-dr's are. We were treated with the kind of care you wish you were treated with. If anyone would like his personnal email please PM me and I will send it to you. He gives that to his patients as well as his home phone number and cell number incase you ever need to get in touch. His care truly defines "Above and Beyond".

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