- Name: Radonna Riddle
- Age: 48
- Surgery: Gastric Sleeve
- Surgery date: June 10th, 2012
- Testimonial date: June 28th, 2012
- Surgeon: Dr. Mario Almanza
I arrived in San Diego on June the 9th and was a little scared about the whole procedure and about being all a lone in a foreign country. The next morning I met several other people who were there also to have the same surgery as I was. We introduced ourselves to each other and told each other why we were there which was very helpful. We waited and were picked up by a van, once we were in the van and on our way to Mexico I became nervous and scared again, but the drive of the van was very caring and went out of his way to talk with me and to re assure me that the doctor and the people at the hospital were very good and that I had nothing to worry about which made me feel a little better because he did have to but he did because he, I believe, really cared about the fact that I was scared. We arrived at the hospital and yes it was located in a shopping mall, but it was very clean and the receptionist was very friendly. We met the director of the Hospital, Dr Betancourt and were able to ask him alot of questions and he was more than happy to answer anything we asked of him. He explained everything that would be going on and then we were taken upstairs one by one to have our IVs placed and to do our EKGs. After our EKGs, we then met with Dr. Almanza and again we were able to ask him a lot of questions and he was more than welling to answer them and through his actions we were all put at ease. Then we were called one by one to go into surgery, I was the third one to go and as I entered the surgical room, I observed that it was very clean and I was introduced to the anesthesiologist. My surgery went great and I was taken upstairs to the hospital recovery room to stay the night. The next day we went to the recovery house and I was roomed up with one of the other girls that come with me in the van, which really made it great for me since I was alone. I felt great went walking, spent time talking with the staff and looking around. The next day we went and had Xrays done to ensure that there was no leaking from our staples and we returned home, later that day we went shopping and returned back to the recovery house. The nurses at the recovery house observed us and were right there on site if we needed them throughout our stay. I left Mexico on the 13th and flew back home and I have been home for nearly 3 weeks and I have had no problems, as we were all given both pre and post op instructions and I have been following those instruction and very thing has been doing great. I would recomment this procedure to anyone who wants to live their life healthy and be able to do the things they enjoy. I would also recommend Jerusalem Hospital and its staff as they appeared to be a very caring group of people. My experience was awesome and if the good lord is welling and the creek dont rise I will be returning after I have lost all of my weight to have a Mommy Make over.
