At Mi Doctor Hospital!

Left the hotel around 9:30 this morning and met Cassie and her family, who I "met" on www.verticalsleevetalk.com.

We got checked into the hospital, got bloodwork drawn, then got settled into my room. Karen came & did an EKG on me, then gave me an IV. She was super sweet, spoke some English, but it was "muy divertido" (very fun) trying to communicate with my limited Spanish and her limited English :)

I got anti-inflammatories, antibiotics, anti-nausea & antacids in my IV and then I got really tired. I tried to nap a bit....wifi is currently down, so I feel very disconnected. Hopefully it will be back up soon.

Caliente Dog Track and Casino

After eating, we tried to waste some time relaxing in the room. Then we decided that we needed to get out & explore a little.

After talking to the concierge, we decided to walk about 10 minutes or so down the road (very busy, crazy road) to the dog track & casino.

I've spent plenty of time in casinos, including casinos in Canada, The Bahamas and cruise ships. But never before a Mexican casino lol. Everything was in Spanish and my Spanish skills are very elementary. It was so confusing! Wasn't entirely sure how much I was spending or winning, but I had some fun on a $20 bill lol.

We waited around about 30 minutes for a dog race, but needed to go back to the hotel to FaceTime Louis & the boys.

The walk to and from the casino was interesting to say the least. Cars going very fast, very close by! And a very small sidewalk to walk on very close to the cars. A little scary to say the least lol. And we had to cross the road lol, that was especially stressful!

Overall though, had a pretty good evening.

Dinner at the Marriott

My mom ordered red chicken enchiladas which tasted okay. I'm on clear liquids only, but since I'm in Mexico, I decided to take a bite, chew it up & spit it out. Gross, I know, but I wanted to taste it!

She also ordered cheese casserole which was just a bowl of grease & melted cheese. Blech lol. The salsa was kind of bland but pretty spicy. The bill came to $16 including tip and she didn't eat most of it. The prices on the menu are in Mexican pesos, so in pesos the total was around $189.

My chicken broth was okay, it tasted like chicken broth. HOWEVER the mango popsicle was GROSS. It tasted furry and icky. My mom concurred lol.

I was a little miffed that I was coming all the way to Mexico & couldn't try the food (I like to try new things), but really not impressed with any of the food yet! I'm glad I'm not missing anything.

In Tijuana!

Our flight got in a little early and I called Samuel, the driver. He just pulled up right as we walked outside. We hopped in and sped off to Tijuana!

Samuel was very nice and crossing over into Mexico was super easy, you just drive right through. Check in at the hotel was also quick and easy.

Everything has been great so far, no problems and no concerns... Looking forward to surgery tomorrow.

My Background

I started looking into weight loss surgery just over ten years ago. Just after our oldest, Jacob was born in 2001. I've been somewhat over weight my whole life & it was very hard to control during/after pregnancy. Having diabetes since I was 13 definitely didn't help.

Anyway, insurance denied me so I temporarily moved on and eventually had another baby despite severe PCOS) via injectables and intrauterine insemination in 2005. Had the same weight problem and again, applied for the surgery and got denied.

At this point, I started reading a lot about surgery in Mexico on obesity help.com. I was a little leery. Eventually though, I read enough first-hand accounts to set my mind at ease.

Last year, I made a plan to have the surgery spring of 2012 and I made it happen, one way or another. I chose Dr. Garcia and he is currently charging $5,000 for everything including ground transportation, 3 nights at the Marriott Tijuana, and 2 nights at Mi Doctor Hospital.

So here I am! Surgery is tomorrow and I'm hoping for a great result. My mom is with me since my husband Louis doesn't have any more vacation (we're taking the boys to New York this summer).

I've been garage saling some and have picked up a whole wardrobe in sizes 6-16 so I don't have to spend a bunch of money on clothes I won't wear long.

Airport pic

On the way to Mexico!

Got up around 2:30am this morning to head to the airport. Parked with a Groupon at Holiday Inn, then got shuttled to the airport. Flight to Salt Lake City was uneventful and now just waiting for flight to San Diego, a 3 hour layover. Yuck. Anxious to get this show on the road.