I'll tell you what - 5pm couldn't get there soon enough that first day after surgery. The driver had told us to be in the hotel lobby at 5pm for our ride back to the "hospital" for pain meds and IV fluids. Little by little I got to meet and talk to the other people that had been operated on the same day as me. We were from all over the country, from Miami to Syracuse, NY and all points in between. Most of the patients looked to be far worse off than me, vomiting very frequently and looking even more miserable than I felt.
When 5pm came and went, we were all feeling irritated. We had gone all day long without any meds or nursing care and I think all of us were ready for some relief. A little after 5:30 the driver showed up. Unfortunately, we were told that our loved ones could not go with us. It was upsetting to many, especially the wife (I will call her Maria) who demanded to come with her husband for any treatments he would get. The driver was angry and they went back and forth arguing while the rest of us sat in the van waiting to just leave and get our meds. Finally the driver agreed to let the wife come with us. Maria became our advocate. She asked many questions and got better care for many of us than we might have gotten without her. I thanked her many times for persevering and trying so hard to help us all. I think she sensed how horrible the nursing situation was for all of us and she had compassion that the nursing staff so dearly lacked.
The roads to and from the hospital were deplorable. I understand that the finances of Mexico are very different from the USA, but oh my gosh! The van was bouncing around like crazy for the 15 minutes it took to get to the hospital and the 30+ minutes it took to get back to the hotel (because of the street system). Everyone took turns moaning and making quiet crying out noises as we bounced all over that van to finally get to the hospital. The driver took us to the hospital/clinic a few doors down from where we had surgery that is used primarily for the plastic surgery. We were lead up a narrow flight of stairs (just what a patient that just had abdominal surgery wants to do...NOT) to a cramped room where we were given recliners that couldn't even open fully because there was not enough room. They hooked a bag of saline solution to our IVs in our hands and proceeded to redress our wounds, empty our drains and administer the 1cc of Morphine. My incisions had been covered with adhesive tape without any gauze or anything between the tape and my wounds, so when the nurse yanked the tape, it hurt pretty bad. I asked for him to put gauze on and he agreed, thankfully. We were told that we would not be getting morphine, but some other pain medication, which frankly did nothing for any of us. I was glad to get the IV fluids since I was unable to swallow much, but that and the wound dressing was about all we got out of that. The nurse then told us he would be injecting antibiotics. He asked if any of us were allergic to Penicillin and then injected. As he gave me my dose, I remembered my Grandmother becoming allergic to Penicillin later in life, and I felt a little panicked by the 5cc injection of it, but I seemed ok. Once we were all finished, we were loaded very unceremoniously back onto the van for the hotel.
By the time we got back, my arms were kind of itchy and I noticed my cheeks were hot. I looked in the mirror to find a welt under each eye. About that time, I found welts running up my right arm and I got a little concerned. Penicillin and I no longer get along! I watched the welts and put a cold compress on them throughout and tried not to worry my son, but I was pretty concerned. It seemed like the reaction was just working it's way up both arms very quickly. My forearms swelled and were hot to the touch. The skin actually felt burned!
I slept about 3 hours that next night and had to get up and walk several times in the night, but the gas at least felt as though it was starting to move lower in my belly. The pain was still really awful, but more tolerable.
The driver told us to be in the lobby by 9am the next morning for our x-ray. We were given Barium to drink, and we were told to start drinking it at 7am in order to get it all in by 9am. I have had Barium in the USA before for tests and it's not pleasurable, but it's something that you can get down and keep down. There was NO flavoring of any kind in the bottle were given in Mexico. The taste was so bad that most were throwing it up constantly. It was NOT fun.
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