I Finally Got my Quotes for Surgery in the Dominican Republic~Dr.Manon!

So i'm started to realize my review is all over the place lol. But that's ok! Once I arrived at the recovery house I was taken to my room where I met my surgery buddy. After talking for a few minutes, she told me she had a surprise! My surprise was instead of having surgery on January 12th, I was not having surgery on January 11th, same day as her! I had previously asked about having my surgery date moved, but was told that the 11th was full. I was so surprised and nervous all at once! The next morning we both took a shower and prepared our bag for surgery. I will skip to the good stuff lol. Prior t arriving in DR I thought I was only having a tummy tummy, muscle repair and lipo to flanks. When it was FINALLY my time for surgery, Dr.Manon looked at me....marked me up and ASKED ME TO TURN AROUND. He asked me had I already had a bbl lol and said that he would add a little to my butt, lipo my back and thighs. I remember going into the surgery room and praying sooooooooo hard. I was scared....nervous...anxious all at once. I did wake during surgery and I was on my back......I heard the lipo machine, but I didnt feel anything, and then I was back out. The second time I woke up, I was on my back and they were putting my faja on. All I could do was pray and thank God I was alive. I didnt open my eyes either time.

After surgery they rolled me to like this waiting area in this room. I remember being cold and just waiting. I had the pain pump and for anyone having surgery, I highly recommend the pain pump. After awhile I was rolled to my room, where my surgery buddy was. We both were in the same room, thats the good part. The bad part is the nurses would not move the old bed and leave me in the bed I was in. I couldnt understand what they were saying, but they did say if I wanted to stay in that bed, I would have to go to another room. We had an overnight nurse, which we shared and I wanted to be in the same room!!! So they picked me up and moved me from that bed to the other bed, which was horrible!!!! While in the hospital my hemo dropped and I needed a blood transfusion. I felt horrible...weak....tired....all at the same time. Tuesday night after the horrible stay at the hospital, we were heading to the recovery house. The over night nurse was provided by the recovery house. Maria was awesome! We left the hospital Tuesday night and the driver came to get us. When we arrived at the recovery house, it felt soooooo good! They immediately started to take care of us and help us get clean and positioned in the bed.

I stayed at NewLife Recovery House. I was there a total of 17 days....we decided to stay so long with hopes of leaving without our drain. The recovery house was nice and the cooks and nurses were super nice! What i loved is that we each had our own call buttons for anything we needed, at least 1-3 nurses are there around the clock. The food was good, but more variety would have been great. We found ourselves ordering food often.The nurses gave us sponge baths and basically were there for everything. The cooks were amazing and friendly. Sweetest ladies!

Supplies- I would say I definitely overpacked. I didnt need as many clothes or robes as I brought. The must have items are pads, wipes, meds (strong), soap, snacks, gauze, tape, gloves, bug spray, 3 white camis, 2 white t-shirts, 2 maxi dresses, 1 gown.

When I arrived in DR....it was a complete culture shock! I had a surgery buddy, but she had an earlier flight, so I was completely alone. This was the one time in my life I was grateful for the 4 years of Spanish in high school and 2 years of Spanish in college. When I got off the plane....everyone was speaking Spanish and the signs were in Spanish as well. Oh not to mention, I still had to locate the carry on bag that has been giving me so many problems since I started my journey. I had to use the bathroom soooooooo bad! I was determined to find my way through the airport without asking for any help, so after a little wandering I found the bathroom. My next stop was finding the driver. As I traveled through the airport, my nerves became very bad. I had no intention on turning my phone off airplane mode, but I was completely lost or felt lost. I called my surgery buddy and she gave me instructions to help. I went and stood in line for the tourist card. I purchased my tourist card online prior to arrival, but honestly I cant say that saved me any time or frustration. I waited and waited and waited and finally was called to the counter. I gave the lady my passport, did finger prints and took pictures. She gave me the forms back (forms were given on the airplane for visiting guests). After I left her counter I passed another lady and gave her a form and then I was on my way. Thank God for my surgery buddy, so far so good, her instructions were working. After I left the lady, I was on my way to baggage. So when I got to the baggage area, it was a clusterfuck! There were guys standing there with carts asking me, in Spanish, if I needed help. Since I listened to my buddy, I told them no and went and grabbed my own cart....which cost me nothing!! So I got my large suitcase and I still couldn't find my carry on bag. I was beginning to go crazy again lol. Oh not to mention everyone is speaking to me, as if i fully understand what they are saying.....I guess I was looking crazy.....some man that worked at the airport signaled to me "that there were no more bags coming down the ramp". So after that I walked towards him, around the circle thing, and there it was.....MY BAG! I grabbed my bag and then had another check point to go through. This lady was checking to make sure that the paper you had matched your bag. After her....I was headed down the well known "runway"! I walked down the hallway and there I saw the driver holding MY NAME!!! It felt like Christmas!!! I was so happy to see my name....black letters on white paper made my day!!!! I waved....he waved....and it was the highlight of my day! Nepar (probably spelled wrong) spoke ENGLISH and was soooooo nice! We waited and another doll who was also staying at NewLife and her family met us. She was having surgery with Almonte. She traveled with her mom, dad, and son. Her mom had surgery with Almonte in 2015, so they came to support her. The three of us (mom, daughter and me) got in the van and we were on our way. They were dropped off at Cecip and then Nepar took me to the recovery house! Next review....arriving at recovery house.

It's been a a little over a month since I had surgery, so this is going to be a overall review of my experience. I will start with the flight...So I had a connecting flight from Georgia to NY to DR..... the night before I could not sleep at all. My surgery buddy and myself were on the phone and texting each other to go over last minute details. Do you know how it feels the night before Christmas....well that's how it felt the night before my flight left. I packed, re-packed, did some more organization, until I finally said I was done lol. I arrived at the airport about 2 hours before my first flight was suppose to leave.....that morning I had received a notification that the flight was a little behind....with that being said my first flight was about an hour behind. I was super nervous, because I had another flight to catch in NY. So let's talk about baggage....I had a book bag, a carry-on bag and a checked bag...which thank God, I didn't have to pay additional for. Now because the flight from GA to NY was a small plane and short flight....they offered to "check" my carry-on bag. I was like ....ok....no problem. When I finally arrived in NY....I had to wait for my carry-on bag....mind you my flight was behind and I had about 35 minutes to get from terminal 44 to terminal 22. I did request wheel chair service, but opted not to take it now, since I could walk. When I tell you i had to literally run from terminal 44 to terminal 22!!! I didn't even stop to use the bathroom. When I got to the terminal I was sweating, talking crazy and everything lol! They had already called last call for the flight 3 times...in English and Spanish! I was in a panic! So when I arrived at the terminal, I asked the representative if I was too late, he said no, scanned my ticket and passport and I boarded the flight to DR!!!! I was like 1 of 5 people left to board and the last few people were technicians for the airline. Soooooo before I left to head to the DR I had blood work done and I was aware my hemo was 12.4 I had come a long way from 8.1 in July 2015. On the flight from NY to DR I took 18 purabsorb on the flight. I was determined to get my hemo up! The flight was long to say the least. We were provided with a sandwich, soda and candy. My surgery buddy took a earlier flight, so I was alone which takes me to my next review......arrival in DR!