erin2796 Posted June 20, 2008 Report Share Posted June 20, 2008 We arrived in San Diego around 9:35am, the driver was not there when we arrived to pick us up and we waited roughly 45 minutes and made 3 phone calls to get a hold of the driver. Be sure that you print out the surgery confirmation page with everyone's phone number and bring that with you on the trip just in case! Once the driver picked us up we headed across the boarder into TJ and straight to the OCC. This was lots of fun because we still had all of our luggage, it would have been nice to check into the hotel drop of our suitcases and then go to the center for testing but that was not how it worked out. The parking garage for OCC is very small and has a very steep entrance...It is amazing that they are able to manuver those vans into that garage but somehow they do. We took the elevator up to the second floor which was the OCC. The receptionish seemed pretty scattered, she did not appear to be organized at all and this was not very impressive to me. We went back to see Dr Jiminez and Dr Miranda then were brought back out into the lobby. We waited about 2 hours for our blood work to be done, the receptionist kept saying any minute but it never came. Finally we were so hungry we just asked if we could have our blood work drawn tomorrow before surgery so that we could get to the hotel and eat. Dr. Miranda was concerned about my surgery because I had only lost 2 lbs. She instructed me to have only a chicken breast and water for dinner..bummer! The driver picked us up again and we headed to the Lucerna hotel. Because we were arriving in a large group for surgery it appears that they had mixed up the room reservations, my room was in my friend's daughters name who was also having the surgery. It took about 20 minutes to clear that up and get settled in our rooms. My friend realized that she needed nail polish remover so we had to somehow get across the street to the drug store. The people in mexico are the CRAZIEST I have ever seen!!!!!!! I can only describe crossing the street in Mexico as playing the game Frogger, those of you that have been here know what I'm talking about! LOL! It took 4 stores and 4 street crossings to finally find the nail polish we needed... The next morning was surgery day, the driver picked us up at 7:30am and took us all to the center. They brought everyone back one by one, this took about an hour and a half to get everyone back. Once we were all in our rooms and had our paper thongs on....OMG those are so uncomfortable!!!! You definitley had the thong part right! Dr. Ortiz talked to the whole group of us at once! He is amazing and has a great sense of humor and bedside manner. We watched people coming in and out of surgery like it was nothing! The surgery only appeared to take him about 20 minutes. We would be in the middle of a surgery and Dr. Ortiz would be like "hold on guys I'll be right back I have to go do this surgery real quick!" soooooofunny. The night at the center was failry uneventful, mostly slept, ate otter pops, and drank water and capri sun, and lots of walking. You are encouraged to walk 15 minutes after surgery. We were discharged the next morning and given another shot of pain medicine, some nausea medicine, and pain medicine to take with us. We are laying in the hotel right now driking broth and waiting until 2pm when we all decided to head to Revolutionary Blvd... I'll add more about that later. As for the pain and discomfort, I have hiccups...deep hiccups which are uncomfortable and I have not had much burping or gas......We'll see how the remainder of the day plays out! Bye for now! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fat2nrml Posted June 20, 2008 Report Share Posted June 20, 2008 :lb9: :cheerleader: :lb10: :lb24: :yes: Glad to hear you're doing well!! And to all the newbies..... bring lots of reading material, there are usually long waits. Best wishes, Darlene Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sphynxmomma Posted June 20, 2008 Report Share Posted June 20, 2008 FUN!!!! It's all done! Congrats! The groups that had surgery on the same day as me were so awesome, it made a world of difference being around such fantastic people!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
my_friend_amber Posted June 20, 2008 Report Share Posted June 20, 2008 Congrats and welcome. Just think...the OCC and Tijuana road crossing...you've had an adventure! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest sdejong Posted June 20, 2008 Report Share Posted June 20, 2008 Erin Thank you for your candid blow by blow, with only 11 days to go this really puts my mind at ease.... I am so excited for you.... And even more excited that I only have 11 more days.... :lb12: I hope you continue to feel good during your recovery. shy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erin2796 Posted June 20, 2008 Author Report Share Posted June 20, 2008 I also wanted to add for those that have not been to TJ yet for there surgery, there is a waiter in the restraunt at the Lucerna that is INCREDIBLE! HIs name is Pedro and he had lapband surgery over 10 years ago by Dr. ortiz. He was so full of information and advice! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jann Posted June 20, 2008 Report Share Posted June 20, 2008 Thanks for sharing your experiences. Even though I've been there, done that, I really enjoy these posts the most. I had to keep reminding myself not to compare TJ to our system because of the more laid back cultural approach. I said before and I'll say again, it felt very production line to me with no personal service. I had no telephone conversations or emails with anybody prior to surgery with exception of the economic piece of the process and flight schedules. I never had more than a five minute conversation with anybody at OCC but Dr. So did stop by a few times. He really is just a nice man. I don't feel that I learned anything there and I'm glad I did my own research on what to expect, what to eat and post surgery expectations prior to going or I'd be lost right now no doubt. I would have expected some indepth conversation but it didn't happen. Having said that, as long as my band is healthy, I follow the guidelines and it works, I made the right decision. They've done their job now I have to do mine. I do believe Dr. O and his team are very competent surgeons and that they do probably set the gold standard for banding. Amazon just sent me Dr. O's book (had been ordered for two months). It's well written but I did notice that it completely contradicts what Dr. Miranda told me. I can only assume that OCC has changed some of their information since the initial writing and Dr. O did tell me he was rewriting it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kittycat Posted June 20, 2008 Report Share Posted June 20, 2008 Congrats Erin, you are doing great...glad you are doing well! Cathy > Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thesuse Posted June 21, 2008 Report Share Posted June 21, 2008 Thanks for the full report - it's so helpful and fun to read! I'm glad you're feeling pretty good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
julieburns Posted June 21, 2008 Report Share Posted June 21, 2008 Erin: Congratulations on now being on the other side. I do like your description and thanks for that nice long post. I like to relive my little trip down there through others who post like you did because it really was a life changing trip. tend to agree with Jann though and it did feel assemble line. I also agree it is a state of the art facility and all the care providers are top notch..no real complaints just not much personal time spent on just me. Which I must remember it's not always just about me but I can only wish. Anyway Erin enjoy you're time there and do go shopping if you feel like it. I didn't and wish I would have now in retrospect. Take care and have a great flight home. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lisalisapsl Posted June 21, 2008 Report Share Posted June 21, 2008 Yes Thank You for the report!! Sounds like an adventure to say the least!! I can't wait to go!! My friend decided to go with me and she is from Mechoacan MX. So I feel so much better.. Let us know more!! Thanks XO Lisa Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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