Banded March 19th - experience

[bdaterri]

So in general, my experience with the OCC was very good. Dr Ortiz was informative and charming, the other staff and nurses were very nice also and helped me to feel relaxed. Lucerna was okay... If you are used to 5 star hotels anywhere else in the world, this definitely was not. I would say it was about a 3 at the most but the staff were professional and helpful and the rooms were clean and secure. My only issues with the whole experience were mostly minor and are as follows:

When we checked into the hotel, we were not given any information regarding schedules for pre-op tests, surgery day etc, which would have been helpful. I guess I should have asked these questions before I left Bermuda but since it was a package, I was expecting that someone would call or visit me at the hotel with that information. Pre-op test day, we (my mother and I were both scheduled for surgery on the 19th) woke up early and while hanging out on our porch, saw Mrs. Ortiz collecting and dropping off other patients so I thought maybe she would call us or come to our room to let us know when we would need to be ready by so that she could take us to the center. Around 8am I tried calling the center but got a busy tone before I even completed dialling the number so for half an hour I thought I wasn't dialling correctly. Finally called front desk to ask what I was doing wrong and was told I couldn't call out because I had no credit on the room which was not a big deal since the front desk offered to dial for me and connect me. This took about half an hour for them to figure out but I finally got hold of the center at around 9am and they said they would send someone to collect us then. (For future patients, ask what times you should be ready to be collected each day before you get there!) I think it was Francisco that came to collect us soon after.

In the office there was a wait for all the pre-op tests, but I am used to waiting ages in a doctor's office so in comparison, it wasn't that bad, just maybe a little disorganised, but then again it was busy. We had all our tests done but the dentist check, which they said we would get the next day but I don't think we did (unless they did it while we were under during surgery..?). Francisco took us back to the hotel around 12pm and we had forgotten to ask what time we were getting collected the next day so he phoned the center to ask for us.

That was pretty much it in the way of minor issues. The main problem was our trip from the airport in San Diego to Lucerna:

After waiting at baggage claim for about half an hour for someone holding a sign with our name on it, I called the number for Francisco to see if he would be there soon. He was apparently not scheduled to pick us up but he said someone else would be there shortly and to look out for him (found out later that Francisco must not do pickups after 5pm). So about half hour after the call, a gentleman did come for us but did not speak much English (or just chose not to speak much to us). I tried to make conversation and he said we were collecting another person at Terminal 1. The person turned out to be two pretty young Mexican girls but yet they had no luggage so I'm not too sure what the deal was with them. After they hopped into the van, I heard them giving the driver directions in spanish and I knew we weren't going straight to the hotel, but the driver didn't tell us where we were going or that we would be making a stop. So after a drive towards the docks and a barren area, and then a turn down an alley into a housing neighborhood, one of the girls told the driver where to stop and she got out of the van and ran into a run-down looking house next to a fenced basketball court with barbed wire around the top (like prison fencing!). My mom and I were scared at that point but we had the best faith we could because the OCC would not let an incriminating driver pick us up I'm sure! However, later we joked that we were worried our organs were about to be snatched or that she was stopping to pick up a delivery of drugs... Anyway, the girl must have just stopped for her overnight stuff and we got to the hotel okay (the girls must have gotten dropped off somewhere else after - maybe they were related to the driver?). But it was still a bit worrying at first.

Oh, and I had a problem coming back over the border at the end of the trip because they thought I should have an I-94 slip to get back into the states but really it's only EU passports that need one, regular Bermuda passports do not! It took the border patrol an hour to confirm this even though I told them so!

Other than that, everything was great. The surgery facilities were top notch and clean, for those worried about surgeries in (or even travelling to) Mexico. I even brushed my teeth with hotel water and I'm still alive and not sick (didn't swallow any of course!) And I still have my organs, which I am grateful for =D>

[jetdeck]

Teri,

The transportation seems to really be an issue lately...I think that is unacceptable that you were driven into a situation like that.

Hope you have a great recovery.

SJ