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It was a bumpy ride but well worth it!
I left Baltimore/Washington airport on a Wednesday bound for San Diego. We
started out by having mechanical problems with our plane that delayed us coming into Atlanta, GA and we missed our layover
flight. Delta put us up in a hotel for the night and back on the plane the next morning for San Diego. We got
into San Diego at about 10:30 in the morning. My sister and I then grabbed a taxi to take us to the Mexican border ($55
including tip). We then walked across the border into Tiajuana. This is definitely not something I would recommend
to anyone. Tiajuana is a very shady place and I didn't feel comfortable lugging all of my luggage and walking
2 blocks to the bus station which was next to impossible to find as I don't speak or read spanish and all the signs were in
spanish. I got hassled by countless taxi drivers and people wanting to know where we were going, not to mention people
begging and wanting you to buy stuff from them.
As my sister and I were walking around trying to find the bus station, a man in a
nice shirt and tie asked us if were going to Ensenada. We said yes and he told us he would take us to the bus.
I didn't feel comfortable with this as he wanted very badly to take our luggage. I REALLY started to feel uncomfortable
as he walked us into an alley behind several abandoned buildings. Luckily, we came out of the alley, and saw the bus
to Ensenada. We breathed a sigh of relief.
The bus. What can I say about the bus. Looks like a Greyhound on the
outside, smells like a latrine on the inside. Not a pleasant ride to Ensenada as they have all the windows taped shut
and you can't crack one. But we got there in one piece. We then checked into our hotel and went to meet Dr. Aguirre
for my pre-op visit. I phoned him and he told me to meet him at his hospital, Cardiomed. Well between the taxi
driver, my spanish and wrong address, I ended up wandering around downtown Ensenada for about 45 minutes until Dr. Aguirre
found us and loaded us into this Ford Expedition. Inside were a woman, Laurie and her husband Mike. They were
from Oregon and she was just being released from the hospital. Let me just say that Mike and Laurie were a trip and
I thank her from the bottom of my heart! I talked to her in depth that night about the surgery and the hospital and
she put my last doubts to rest. THANK YOU LAURIE! Plus she was a super sweet girl!
I don't remember much about the day of surgery but here goes. I arrived at
Cardiomed at 7am. My IV line had been set the day before so they just plugged me into a saline IV. Several nurses
came in and out, changed into a gown, had my legs wrapped with gauze and waited. Dr. Gomez, the anesthesiologist came
in then and told me that after surgery, if I needed pain meds to just tell the nurses.... TEQUILA!! Then he gave me
a little something to relax... which pretty much put me out. I do slightly remember walking to the operating room and
saw that it looked just like an American operating room and then I was gone. The next thing I remember was Dr. Aguirre
waking me up to tell me that everything had gone wonderfully and that I should sleep. My sister was in the room and
never having seen someone come out of surgery, was a little scared. I remember hearing her crying and being very cold
and shaking. Dr. Aguirre sets an epidural which causes the shaking. My body was basically going into shock which
caused my coldness. They brought in a heater and piled covers on top of me to get me situated then off the dreamland
I went.
The next day was MUCH better. I woke up to my sister coming in and then I had
my catheter removed. I will tell you that when you come out of surgery, you will have a drain coming out from below
your tummy and one out of your side. One is to drain fluid, the other is to drain the bile from your old stomach that
you won't be using anymore. This was one of the most disgusting things I have ever seen. My sister referred to
it as the vile bile bag. And boy was it ever.
After my catheter was removed, I was told to get up and shower. The nurse was
there, every step of the way, helping me get out of bed and shower. There was a seat in the shower and they have a hose
attached to the shower head that you can put on yourself while the nurse scrubs you down. Forget any pride you had cause
it will go out the window at this very moment! After I showered and got to brush my hair... I FELT SOOOOO GOOD.
I was ready to take on the world. But... alas... back to my bed and was told to talk every hour to hour and a half.
As I was resting, Laurie and her husband Mike, who Laurie had her surgery 3 days before me, came in to visit. She looked
fabulous! She was having a little pain and came for a pain shot but I was still on IV pain meds and feelin fine!
We had a great conversation and they they went shopping.
The next two days were pretty boring. I laid in bed and tried to sleep as much
as I could. On the third day after surgery, Dr. Aguirre came in and I was ready to go home. He was going to keep
me another day, but after looking at me, my chart and talking to my sister, he decided to discharge me to my luxury hotel.
Dr. Aguirre has a special arrangement with the Hotel Coral, a 5 star hotel. I am so glad I recovered there. The
view was amazing, the staff was incredible, the beds were comfortable and Dr. Aguirre even came to visit me with Dr. Gomez
the day after I was discharged and gave me a pain shot. How cool was that?!?!?
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| The view from our balcony! Isn't it gorgeous! |
I will say that both Laurie and I had problems sleeping in the bed our
first night there. We found out later that we both slept on the couch as it felt better to be slightly in a sitting
position, rather than laying. Laying flat just hurt!
The Tuesday after my surgery, 5 days post op, was my last day in Ensenada.
My sister and I went shopping in downtown Ensenada where I bought souveneirs for my mother and husband. Also a thing
or two for myself. *grin* The prices are GREAT! I bought my husband a marble chess board, regular sized
board, for $25. Can't beat that. After returning to the hotel, we grabbed the hotel shuttle to San Diego Airport
at 1pm. By the time we got through customs and got to the airport, it was 4pm. Our flight wasn't until 10 that
night. So I sat in the airport, talking to everyone on my cell phone because it didn't work in Mexico and I only called
my husband and mother to let them know what was going on. I had voicemails from all of my crazy friends that had had
the surgery already and chatted with all them. Then we grabbed our flight and arrived back at BWI at 8:30 in the
morning on Wednesday, 5/7/03. I have never been so glad to be home in my entire life!
And that was my surgery story. No complications. No problems. Thank
you for everything Dr. Aguirre, Dr. Gomez and all of your wonderful nurses!
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