- Name: Lisa Adair
- Age: 46
- Surgery: Gastric Sleeve
- Surgery date: April 8th, 2019
- Testimonial date: May 13th, 2019
- Surgeon: Dr. Mario Almanza
I am 5 weeks out of surgery and down 35 lbs. But let's talk about the experience, because that's what you're all wondering about anyway First: at this time, I know that there is currently a hospital being built that Dr. A will work out of, but at the time of my surgery we were in the ObesityGoodbye hospital. It was cleaner and nicer than ANY hospital I have been in in the States or Europe. Everyone was friendly and professional. There ARE some different standards that we may not be used to. For instance, convalescing in a hotel is different. However, the hotel was nice and very, very clean. I mean, there wasn't one leaf out of place on the grounds. The rooms were sparsely decorated but very clean. The restaurant was nice and the front desk people were friendly. The nurses were all very friendly. The procedure was clearly explained to us by Dr. A. He was friendly and professional and used terms and language his patients could understand. The surgical nurses and anesthesiologist were warm and comforting. Please do not have any worry of "going to Mexico" for your procedure. Everything was top notch. As for the procedure, like I said, I am down 35 lbs and I feel great. I was in a LITTLE bit of pain directly after the procedure, but as soon as they started the pain meds once I got into my recovery room, I felt no more pain. Even once they stopped the pain meds, my abdomen felt like maybe I had done 1,000 situps, but that's it. The nurses checked my bandages and incisions at least twice per day on the first couple of days and then at least once per day after that. Culturally, Mexico is much more relaxed and laid back than us Type A personality Americans. I like to call it a "Miñana attitude". Be flexible and know that things typically won't happen at the time they say it will. (My procedure was supposed to be at 8am, but didn't happen until 6 or 7pm. Our driver was almost always an hour a two late. Stuff like that. It didn't really matter to me... I know it was going to happen... but it just made it hard for my travel partner to plan anything because we never really knew when things were going to happen. Could be at 10am when they said it would happen ...cold be at noon when the driver finally shows up - that would really be my only complaint - which will be eliminated when Dr. A is in his new hospital and everything is in one place) But like I said, be flexible, go with the flow, know that you WILL be taken care of and things will happen. One recommendation: If you're flying into San Deigo and your flight is more than 4 hours, if you can break up your flight into two flights with a slight layover, (on your way home) you will feel A LOT better. This gives you a chance to get off the cramped airplane and walk around a little bit. I flew in from Nashville. On the way home, we had a 1 hour layover in Austin. It was perfect. The more walking you can do post-op, the better you will feel. Choose Dr. A for your procedure. I promise, you will be happy - both with the procedure and with Dr. A. He's the best!!!
