• Name: Linda
• Age: 64
• Surgery: Gastric Sleeve
• Surgery date: March 15th, 2014
• Testimonial date: July 11th, 2014
• Surgeon: Dr. Almanza

Well I just jumped in with both feet to get my surgery. I had been toying with the idea for a couple of years but thought it was waaaaaaayyyyyyy out of my price range. One of my clients told me she had had this procedure done the year before and told me the site to go to. Being a spur of the moment decision maker I booked the very next available surgery date. That was two weeks away. I booked my flight (confirm you are returning five days later in the same month). I wanted to return leaving on the first flight in the morning requiring me to be at the airport @ 4:00 in the morning so I had to stay an extra night. I chose to stay at the Red Roof Inn (small room, bathroom, bed and internet) and had the hospital van drop me off right there. There was only two of us crossing the boarder and she had lots of time before her flight left so we could do that. (make sure you have your passport) The lady I was travelling with just had her drivers licence and it was a bit of a curfuffle at the boarder crossing.
Remember that if you are travelling AirCanada that the carrier in the States is United Airlines which is in a completely different terminal. So far I have lost 38 pounds. I still have a bit of a problem defining the portion size (3 to 4 tablespoons) because the food tastes so good. I now can eat anything I want just much smaller portions of it. I can even see an indentation at my waist. Yippie. In a year I will be returning with my client friend to each have the mommy makover surgery. I hope to have lost 80 lbs by then. Remember to bring lots and lots of rolaids.
About the hospital - if you have trouble sleeping I suggest bringing a machine to play soft music because it can get quite noisy and you will be sleeping day and night. The blanket they had went from one side of a single bed to the other. When a very large person gets into bed it is like putting a face cloth on your shoulder. Had I known I could have brought one of the fleece blankets I have at home. The staff speak Spanish(imagine that hey) but luckily my room mate spoke Spanish and translated for me. There was a few that spoke English but the shifts change so it was not always English speeking.
The Hotel- Was wonderful. They reserve the 6th floor for us and there is a room set up with a doctor and nurses and free juice and popsicles only a few doors away. You will get coupons for free broth for all three days. The weather was not as hot as I thought it was going to be. If you just bring comfy stretch pants, regular tops and maybe a thin wind breaker your set. I saw some of the inhabitants wearing ski jackets.
You are going to need a hat for waiting for the van at the airport. I parked my wheelchair right under the F sign.