| I just got back from Mexico, where Dr. Arturo Rodriguez performed the gastric sleeve surgery for me. (Warning… long post coming up!)Four years ago tomorrow, I had the Lap-Band surgery with Dr. Rodriguez.For a variety of reasons, the band didn’t work for me. I did manage to lose
about 40 pounds with the Lap-Band surgery, so the surgery was not
a failure, but I never did get good restriction. It seemed like I ran into
roadblock after roadblock, and I had a heck of a time trying to get good
follow up care in my community. My life changed over the past 4 years,
making it impossible for me to travel and be away from home to do fills,
so follow up care in Mexico wasn’t an option for me. I recently became
a midwife, attending women at homebirths, so taking time away from my
clients is not something I can do easily. Finally, a couple of months ago,
I decided to have my band removed and have the gastric sleeve done.
My best friend and I traveled to Mexico together and, of course, received
top quality service from Dr. Rodriguez and his staff. Once we got to the
hotel, we had a quick meal and a few margaritas before I had to begin my
pre-operative fast.
The next morning, the driver picked us up at the hotel and took us to Hospital
San Pedro. I had been there before for my Lap-Band surgery and my port
relocation surgery, so it was a familiar place for me. Shortly after I arrived,
the nurses took me back for my IV, weight check, vitals, labs, etc. Oh, and
by the way, since I work in the medical field, I took great note of their attention
to cleanliness and clean technique — no worries there (in case anyone
wonders about that). After the nurses were done, the anesthesiologist came
to visit me, as did Dr. Rodriguez. Next, I was wheeled into the operating room.
I got on the operating table, and the anesthesiologist put a mask over me.
The next thing I remember is waking up in recovery afterwards. I was SORE
and groggy, and I thought, “what have I done???”
Dr. Rodriguez had to work really hard on me during my surgery. De-banding
is not an easy task, and there were a lot of adhesions he had to remove. Also,
since I was previously banded, Dr. Rodriguez was very careful to make sure I
didn’t have any erosion, which could have caused life-threatening complications.
He also took extra care to be sure that the staple line in my stomach was
reinforced by sutures, and shot blue dye through my stomach to be sure
that there were no leaks. I am so thankful for Dr. Rodriguez’s skill as a surgeon.
I have trusted him with my life twice now, and I truly believe he is an outstanding
doctor. I would recommend him to anyone considering gastric surgery.
HE IS THE BEST!!!
Dr. Rodriguez had arranged for my friend and me to stay at the big suite at San
Pedro, which, by the way, happens to be a birthing room where they do
water births — my kind of place! The room had two hospital beds, two sofas,
several chairs, a kitchen, and a bathroom. It was extremely comfortable and lovely.
I am so thankful to Dr. Rodriguez for arranging for us to stay there!!!
OK, I’m being totally honest… the first day was hell. My throat was sore from
the tube being in there during the surgery. I threw up several times, was in pain,
and was really worried that I had made a bad decision. My back and arms
hurt a lot from being on the surgical table. I could barely move. Every movement
felt like torture. The pain meds gave me a horrible headache.
Second day was better, but it was still rough. I was throwing up less often and
was drinking sips of water. Still very sore, but doing better. On the third day,
Dr. Rodriguez was concerned about my difficulties with drinking, so he arranged
for me to have a barium swallow to make sure there wasn’t an obstruction.
Everything checked out OK, so he sent me to the hotel to recuperate. Day 4 was
spent just sipping water and Riopan, and there was no more throwing up. Late
that day, Dr. Rodriguez met us at the hospital to have my drain removed. THAT
was a really weird feeling! Once the drain was out, my soreness improved greatly.
One thing I found REALLY helpful in getting liquids down was I got some honey
straws. I discovered by accident that these work really well. If you have trouble
getting liquids down, it helps to just swallow, swallow, swallow until it moves down.
Well, with the honey straws, you have to work really hard to suck the honey out,
and that action, combined with the swallowing of the little bits of honey, works really
well in propelling the food downward. If you’re getting gastric sleeve surgery,
I suggest picking up a box of these to take with you to Mexico. My friend found
some at the plaza in Monterrey, but I’ve seen them at Target in the tea section
here in the US.
Day 5, we left the hotel and headed home. My advice to anyone traveling after
this procedure – GET A WHEELCHAIR! If you have a wheelchair, you will breeze
through customs and security and life will be a whole lot easier for you.
I’ve been home now for three days and I feel much better. I am able to drink about
60 ounces of water a day now, which is about half of what I used to drink, but it is
improving daily. I am not as sore as I was, but I’m still hurting a bit. My surgical
wounds are healing nicely, and I’m starting to feel more “normal” again. I’ve lost
12 pounds in this first week, which is also pretty cool. I’ve been drinking Vitamin Water,
chicken broth, and Italian ices. Dr. Rodriguez says I am to have clear liquids for 3 weeks,
and then full liquids for 3 months. Most people would think that would be hard,
but so far, I have absolutely no desire for food and do not feel hungry at all. I have
to really force myself to drink enough to stay hydrated, so that’s my toughest
work at the moment.
Anyway, I hope to hear more from people who have had the Gastric Sleeve.
I hope this post is helpful to any of you out there thinking about having it done.
Blessings,
Kim Pekin
Midwife
Purcellville, VA
www.gentlehomebirth.com |
21/08/09
I am Kim’s friend who accompanied her on her trip to Monterrey, Mexico for her de-banding and gastric sleeve procedures.
I was so impressed with Dr. Rodriguez, the hospital staff, the hospital facility, and Kim’s overall treatment that I was seeking more information and just came across Kim’s post. I wanted to share with you all my experiences surrounding her procedure. (Warning: another long post, hey there’s a reason we’ve been best friends for over 20 years!)
About a month ago I visited Kim in Virginia–about 3 months post-op. She looks GREAT! Her weight loss is going well and very smoothly. She’s eating normal food in her right proportions and getting periodic exercise outside of her busy schedule as a midwife. The added bonus side effect of the surgery is that her husband has lost weight, too, and the family is eating more healthy calories and better proportions, as well.
Kim has always been a healthy person (no co-morbidities), despite her weight, which has come and gone over the years, but had come and stayed…and brought relatives over the past decade with the births of her beautiful children (my Godchildren). As anyone who is overweight can tell you, the hardest part about being overweight is decrease in mobility, whether you just don’t feel like it or it is difficult and/or painful. If memory serves correctly, Kim is down 80lbs now (40 from the lap band and 40 from the sleeve–just three months later). She takes the house stairs now like they are nothing and the weight loss has given her extra energy and mobility which helps her assist women in bringing their children into this world. It is awesome to see so many wonderful developments in my friend’s life.
Okay, a few words about the trip and surgery experience…
My first bit of advice is to take someone with you. Don’t go alone. Just as with hospital visits in the States, having an advocate and care giver with you for the duration is very important.
As Kim pointed out in her post, getting a wheelchair at the airport, both down and back, is a GREAT help. Tuck your pride away, and take the chair. You’ll zoom through customs…or you can skip the chair and stand in line for 30-45 min. minimum.
The driver, who was so nice, met us as the airport. He spoke decent English, was a wonderful man–a grandfather, and most importantly was a safe and excellent driver. He transported us to and from the airport and the hospital and hotel during our stay.
We stayed overnight at the Marriott San Geronimo the first night and two nights following Kim’s surgery. It was lovely, and since Dr. Rodriguez frequently has guests/patients stay there, the hotel staff was familiar with the driver and the routine. There is always at least one person at the front desk who speaks English, and they will do currency exchange there.
The San Pedro Hospital is small and personal. I found it to be clean, pretty efficient and well-run–meeting or exceeding American hospital standards. The large birthing suite we were in was like a small apartment–with two beds (far exceeding American hospital standard). Clearly they think about birth and families WAY differently than US docs and hospitals. It was cool! Thanks, again, Dr. R. for making such nice arrangements for us!
Dr. Rodriguez and the nursing staff were very attentive (exceeding American hospital standards by far). Some, but not all of the nursing staff spoke at least some English. Although they give patients a glossary sheet with important medical words in Spanish, it would be more helpful to have the entire nursing staff at least somewhat bilingual–at least in the terms on the sheet. Dr. Rodriguez and his administrative assistant speak English fluently. I know this because of the LONG conversations we had with him.
Yes, to my complete amazement, Dr. R. and his assistant actually spend time talking with his patients and not just about medicine. He knows about their families and interests. He actually CARES about his patients and their lives. Kim was not another surgery for him. She was not even just a patient. To Dr. R. Kim is a person, with a life, and he seems pleased to be a part of improving their life. Heck they even had a patient reunion/get together in Monterrey earlier this month, just so he could catch with them and they could meet others who’ve had the procedures and their families! Is this guy for real? There was no condescension, chastising, blaming, shaming, etc. about her weight and body, just straight forward discussion and hope for a new start. Honestly I’ve never seen anything like it in my life–not even from my small-town docs in Wyoming. American medicine has gotten way too clinical, statistical, financial, impersonal. Ahh, the things we could re-learn from Mexicans.
Another thing, Dr. R. takes the health of his patients very seriously. If there is the slightest hint of something not being right, he addresses it swiftly. It is my understanding he has never lost a patient. If anything he is overly cautious, which I think is the best way to go. With Kim, because she had the Lap-band in place, he took extra precautions to ensure doing the Gastric Sleeve surgery at that time would be safe and that the GS surgery would be successful then and into the future by adding additional sutures and dye testing for leaks before closing her up.
As Kim stated, when she was having ongoing difficulties swallowing, he scheduled a barium swallow and real-time x-ray at another facility (there was almost no wait time to get in–will wonders never cease?!?). In his normal hospitality, Dr. R. met us at the facility, sat and visited with us beforehand and invited me along to the procedure. During the procedure he explained to me the images I was seeing on the screen of Kim’s “innards” (hee hee, a little Wyoming humor). It was cool and very interesting. I could see how it all worked. As it turned out, all was well. Kim’s body was just taking its time in adjusting.
It is also my understanding from Dr. R. that Kim experienced more pain because she had two procedures done (de-banding and the GS). Patients who just have one of them experience less pain and faster recovery. Makes sense.
How good is Dr. R.? Kim told me he was one of the consulting doctors to the US Food and Drug Administration on admitting the Lap-band procedure to be used in the U.S. I don’t doubt it. This guy is good. Very good. I can’t recommend him more highly.
During his rounds Dr. R. brought along his assistant and a different pretty woman. Turns out those pretty women all were patients of his who had had a procedure. They were all happy and healthy. The last one I met was from Texas. She, of course, raved about Dr. R. and was planning to be at the December reunion. Unfortunately I couldn’t make it. I would have loved to have seen Dr. R. and his staff again and to have met all those men and women to help celebrate their new lives.
Truly Dr. R. and his team at The Bariatric are changing lives one highly skilled, affordable procedure at a time.
Thanks, Doc!
Susan
Wyoming
I’m looking to get yourself a multivitamin. I’m needing to obtain a liquid vitamin. Is there a excellent item or far better location to buy them from. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Did you find it difficult to drink anything after day post op. I am having the hardest time sipping water and brother. It goes down, but it hurt like heck. I mean, is it normal after only 2 days. I am starting to worry. Then it feels crampy like when you have food posion or something.