queenbec
Mexicali Day 1 - Preop
Feb 18, 2009
Today we flew to San Diego from Kansas City. We were fortunate enough to get a direct flight on Southwest. I was pretty nervous about it being a full flight, so we went ahead and bought an extra seat on the plane so we wouldn't have to worry about being smashed in with another passenger. Southwest has a pretty nice policy regarding "large sized passengers," where they will refund the money you paid for your extra seat if the flight is not oversold. We made it to San Diego and met Ernesto at the baggage claim area; he was waiting for us with a sign with Mark's name on it. He went and got the van, and loaded our luggage into the back. We drove to a motel and picked up another patient and her husband. We stopped at a convenience store to pick up drinks and snacks (and water for the pre-ops), and pee one more time before heading to Mexicali. The drive was very beautiful; the mountains, then desert, then farmland is so stark and striking. Mexicali itself looks like many other Mexican border towns; there are nice areas next to run-down areas. Lots of doctor's offices, surgery centers, dental centers, and pharmacies. We arrived at Almater Hospital, where the patients were whisked away for urine samples, blood samples, EKG's, and chest x-rays. Yolanda met with us and gave us a packet of paperwork to fill out before surgery tomorrow. Afterwards we met with Dr. Aceves, who spent lots of time explaining the procedure and how to be successful with it, and answered all our questions. Next, we were taken to the Hotel Lucerne, which on the outside is very beautiful - lots of marble, beautiful landscaping, pools and fountains. There are three restaurants on-site, so you don't have to go exploring to find a place to eat. We checked in to our rooms, which weren't so nice. My hubby and I have traveled extensively, and our room compared to your average Motel 6. The beds were very comfortable, but the room was very run-down, the shower door came off the track, the door didn't lock well, and there was a lot of clanging noise like there was a storage room on the other side of our room. The hotel doesn't have wireless internet but does have a business center where you can get online. Just beware that the keyboard is different from North American; things aren't where you expect them to be. The four of us went to dinner together; we went to the Italian restaurant to have one last pasta dinner. Unfortunately, the food was not very good, and was disappointing for a "last supper." The prices on the menu are in pesos, so it was fun ordering an entree for $140 (which is $10 USD). We got back to the room and completed the paperwork for Yolanda. Mark took his antibiotic and sleeping pill, and we went to bed. We were very tired, but also very anxious, so neither of us slept very well. Surgery tomorrow...
