Tijuana

Antonio and I flew into San Diego. The first victory came when I realized that I had lost enough weight during the preop diet that I didn’t need a seat belt extender! It was so delicious to be able snap the seat belt without having to add the extender!

When we arrived, we got a text from our driver. She was very sweet. Salma. Because we had a driver and we were entering Mexico for surgery, we were able to sail through the lanes at the Border. I remember feeling overwhelmed when I saw the big Mexican flag. It is so beautiful.

Whenever we drove, I tried to take pictures of the city. I loved the colors, the grafitti, the art. She dropped us off at the Marriott Hotel. We checked in to our room, than we got a message to come downstairs to go get preop testing done. They took us in a shuttle bus to the clinic to get an EKG, blood work drawn, and than to another clinic to get a Cat Scan. I asked why all the testing. They explained that in order to do the surgery with less risk, they wanted to understand our conditions. If we had heart problems, they would approach things differently. If we had damage to our lungs from covid, they would approach things differently.

My blood work came back a few days later. All my numbers were perfect. That felt good!

After all the testing, Antonio and I enjoyed a swim in the pool and a soak in the jacuzzi. I knew I wouldn’t be able to go after surgery, so I wanted to have some fun in water beforehand. Antonio ordered delicious food at the hotel restaurant. I ate popsicles and broth. It was delicious! All my “food” was free. The hotel and all the drivers were included in the surgery package.

The next morning, we went to the clinic for the surgery. I have notoriously difficult veins. The last IV I had was last year when I got surgery to remove my gall bladder. They had to put the IV in my hand. This time, they used an ultraviolet doohicky and found a spot on my left forearm. They got it the first time. Miracle!

I’ll talk about life after surgery in my next post.