CanuckGirl

I had surgery on Friday and spent the night in the hospital. Saturday night in the TJ hotel and left very early Sunday morning for a long flight home. I think the Doctors prefer if you stick around an extra day but it's not necessary. I felt great on Saturday, the day following surgery but not so hot Sunday morning. I think the drugs were affecting me on Saturday and wore off by Sunday. Since you live in SD I'm sure you're fine to go home a couple days after surgery. But my advice is to ask the doctors - they know best.

The pain is minimal. I've had worse menstrual cramps. It's more of a tenderness than pain - feels like you did dozens of sit ups the day before.

The clinic will prescribe you some drugs for reflux and gas as well as a few pain killers. They fill them for you before you leave the clinic. The only thing I wish I brought was some dried soup mix for the flight home. It was a long travel day and soup on the plane would have been nice. They didn't serve anything I could really consume - tea was it. Good luck. Once you're actually at the clinic all your worries will fade. Things are going really well for me. I'm down 14lbs in 2.5 weeks. The scars are almost invisible and I feel great. A little reflux every now and then but otherwise I don't even feel like I had surgery (other than not eating as much).

Dr Ortiz did my surgery and he's great. The entire staff was great. Don't be nervous, it was really a snap. I had never been to TJ so I didn't know what to expect. The hospital is only a couple blocks from the border in the nice part of town. The hospital is very nice. Once I met the first doctor I felt completely comfortable. I met band patients on the shuttle who were returning for fills and asked a lot of questions. Everyone has nothing but positive things to say. My imagination was far scarier than the experience. I did everything to research the surgery, doctor, hospital and city. I even google street viewed the hospital to make sure it was legit. So yes, I too was nervous. Two days before I flew to SD I realized how ridiculous it was to give in to fears. I quickly became excited for the surgery - started thinking about all the positives. Research as much as you can. Knowledge will ease your mind.

Here's something I posted last week in a different section. Just in case you didn't see it. Sorry if I'm repeating myself: I went down on Oct 28 with the intention of getting banded. After meeting with the doctors I seriously considered the plication. I was fortunate enough to have my laptop with me so I could research it that evening. The next morning I decided to go with the gastric plication. There wasn't much information available so I read about patients who had the gastric sleeve to find out what to expect. My decision came down to this: 1. You get the great results of gastric sleeve without actually cutting your stomach (plication is much less intrusive) 2. I didn't have to return for fills - traveling from Canada this was a bonus 3. I was always uncomfortable with the thought of a foreign object in my body - especially one you can feel on the surface 4. If I understand correctly, with the band it's much harder to swallow foods but with plication it limits the amount of food you can have in your stomach. This suits me better. 5. Like the band, it's totally reversible. It sounds like several people are removing their band and replacing it with plication. As far as recovery, I'm on day three and feeling fine. I had surgery on Friday and just slept a lot afterwards. Saturday I felt great, I think I was still high on the drugs. But Sunday morning I felt like I was hit by a truck. My eyes were puffy, I felt a bit of pain and discomfort, I had a headache and my vision was slightly blurry. The long flight home wasn't fun. It's now Monday morning and I'm feeling much better. I'll try to keep everyone posted on my progress because I know there's not much info on plication. I know I appreciated as much info as I could get before my surgery.

Hi Dwayne, I'm here for whatever insights and advice you may need. I'm from Calgary and can sympathize with some of you concerns - probably starting with "Am I really traveling to Tijuana for surgery". It's not nearly as scary as it sounds. The entire staff and experience was great. I'm on day 13 and moving towards more substantial foods. Every time I even try to overeat just a bit (one more bite) I feel it instantly. I can't imagine how anyone can cheat this procedure. Having said that, I wish I was losing weight just a bit faster. I lost ten very quickly and the last two pounds came off slow. This isn't unusual for me. I've been on very low calorie diets in the past and the weight just doesn't seem to shed. But in the past I'd get very frustrated and think "why bother dieting, I'm not losing weight" and go back to my old ways. This won't happen with plication and hopefully the pounds continue to come off. I heard about an acquaintance who traveled to Mexico for gastric surgery and I started to look into it. It was never an option for me because it seemed to invasive and radical. After reading about lap band this seemed like a feasible solution. I probably researched for two hours every night for 6 weeks. Dr Ortiz has the best reputation and it doesn't hurt that he appeared on Oprah and The Doctors. I searched for every worse case scenario I could find. A lot of the issues people were having seemed to be because of lack of discipline. (I know that's not the case with everyone who is having post op issues) But I felt that I'm in reasonably good health and my BMI isn't as high as some so this was a safe option. And to my surprise there was a better option, plication, which doesn't have issues with slippage and fills. I switched to Plication the day before my surgery after talking to the doctors. This seemed so sudden after my countless hours of lap band research. Thankfully I had a lap top with me and could do some research the night before surgery. As I mentioned to you earlier, there's not a ton of info on patients with the procedure but I expected results of gastric sleeve patients to be a good measure. Let me know if you have any other questions. Happy to help.

I was a bit tender for a few days. Lifting my carry on luggage did hurt a bit. I'd recommend taking a couple of days off from heaving lifting. I was able to return to normal life the day I got home. It's been ten days and it doesn't feel like I ever had surgery. I was shocked at how quickly my scars healed. I have to be very aware of my eating and drinking because I continually forget I had the surgery - I feel so great. But don't worry, your stomach will remind you not to overeat. I'm very pleased with the plication.

I believe the surgery is fairly new and only a few surgeons in the US are doing it. There was a study in Brazil done that you can search for online. I had the surgery ten days ago. I feel full on very small amounts of food. I'm sure if someone chooses to overeat their stomach will stretch. It's a tool, not magic. As far as long term effects (health risks) of the surgery - it seems the least invasive of all options. No cutting of the stomach, no foreign object in my body and it's reversible. Because I couldn't find long term weight success stories on plication, I researched/read about gastric sleeve patients and their success and/or complications. Plication has the same results (a stomach one third the size) but without the cutting. I also researched the sleeve for food/diet advice. Like any of the surgeries, the actual procedure is only half the battle and the other half is you making it succeed.

The pain is minimal. I flew for four hours then connected and took another hour flight. It feels like you've done a hundred sit ups the day before - so just a little tender. I had the surgery ten days ago and so far it's been great. No pain and my tiny scars are almost gone. The surgery was no worse than a root canal. My BMI wasn't that high and I'm in good health. This may contribute to a quick recovery. Each person may be different.

If CDN doctors are charging thousands I suggest a weekend in Vegas. Get filled, get tanned and take in a show.

I agree completely. The care I received at OCC was wonderful and I couldn't have asked for better doctors and nurses. My only criticism is, I wish they consulted patients before making the journey down to TJ as to which procedure will work for them. I'm sure most patients like myself spent endless hours doing research, watching videos, reading blogs and forums to make an informed decision. This isn't something to take lightly. Changing your choice of procedure once in TJ can be overwhelming mixed with anxiety. I suggest OCC consult with patients before they make the trip. Suggest the right procedure for each patient. It is kinda bizarre that I chose my procedure from a 'pull down menu'. If you're like me, you want to know everything (good and bad) and be mentally prepared for the procedure and life afterwards.