DR MARTE IS TOP OF THE LINE - I AM A NEW WOMAN. TT, MR, LIPO, BBL!

UUUGHHHHH!!!

Realself is misbehaving and uploaded none of my photos or videos from the previous post, so I am going to try this ONE MORE TIME.

ADDENDUM
You know you loved your stay and fell in love with the people when, upon your departure date you cry. By day 14, I was so very ready to get home to my family, and sleep in my own bed, and eat my own food, but this in no way took away from the love and admiration that had grown between the staff and myself.

All of these ladies were great! Not only were there personalities top notch, but you have to admire those who wipe your butt and clean your whooohaaa when you are in pain and cant even reach your nether parts. Yes, it is their job, but they did it with love and with no complaint.

One special note about Nicole, the house mother. One day, I was leaving the RH to go to the dentist (review on the dentist coming soon). Fearing that I would miss lunch and be hungry, Dona Nicole had a stroke of psychic compassion and packed me a lunch. Tortilla chips, HOMEMADE guacamole, and a bottle of water. Now I say psychic because how this women figured out that guacamole is one of my favorite foods of all time, is still a mystery to me. I am just glad she followed her mind. And true to her thinking, the wait and hours spent at the dentists found me starving. That guacamole treat hit the spot!!

Ok, I will stop here, before I end up writing a whole additional review. But you all get the picture.... Lozania RH will always hold a special place in my heart.

Finger crossed that the photo upload this time. If not... Sorry! I tried!

Upon leaving CECEIPLER, I was taken back to my recovery house, Lozania.
This is the recovery home that is included in Dr. Marte's package. I spent one night there, before surgery and I was very please at what I found on arrival.
The house is in a typical, middle class, Caribbean neighborhood. I atmosphere felt very safe. The recovery home is located on the second floor of a duplex home. The first thing I notices about the home is that was EXTREMELY CLEAN. Over the course of my two week stay, I saw the workers hard at work to keep the place sanitary and spotless.
Upon my return to the RH after surgery, the steps were a challenge. I got dizzy when I got to the top ( which is not unusual post op andpost anesthesia), but the those nurses where on it. They flung my big tail into recliner, flipped the AC on high, turned on the fan and gave me something to drink to hydrate and stabilize me. 5 minutes later, I was fine and they settled me in. Below are my thoughts on the recovery house experience.
CLEANLINESS
I cannot say enough about how clean they kept the place. I was in a private room with a private bath, and they were both cleaned every single day. I was provided fresh wash cloths everyday, soap, and toothpaste. Along with arranging and organizing my personal things and making the bed. It was on par with hotel service.
THE STAFF
Employed at Lozania are two domestics, 2 nurses, 2 medical interns moonlighting as nurses.
Dona Nicole - In American terms, she would be considered the "Big Momma" of the house. She serves as a domestic and she runs a tight ship. She has her cleaning and cooking schedule down to a science. By day 2, she realized I love tea. Each day after found me waking up to a cup of hot tea. She is a great cook, and I LOVED her baked chicken wings, habichuelas (red beans), rice, and avocado on the side. Anything I wanted, she made sure my needs were met. She speaks no English, but she will make sure your needs are met.
Yessica - Weekday, Daytime Nurse. Very sweet. She would collect everyone's faja's in the morning, wash them, and put us back in them when they were dry. She has a special place in my heart, because when I got constipated from the pain meds and thought I was really going to die, she sprang into action, called the pharmacy for a STAT delivery of fleet enema. She took one for the team and stuck her finger in a place no one wants too, to help remove the impacted ball of poop, that was blocking the rest of my stool to come out. I was shaking, sweating, crying, and straining, and through all of this she kept calm and did he thing until I passed the ball and had a bowel movement. She wins a goal medal for that act of valor. LOL She would also sing, and dance to entertain us. She is very very funny, and speaks English.
Balbina - Weekday Night Nurse. The most beautifully impressive Afro I have ever seen! She is a sweet, soft spoken girl, but full of fire under the surface. A very good nurse, who made sure we got our night meds, and took care of our woes through the night hours. She also dances salsa very well! Speaks and reads in English.
Santa - Evening Domestic. A very sweet young girl. A medical intern. She does the evening cooking and cleaning, and is also very thorough. She cannot speak english, but her bright smile needs no translation.
Katherine - Weekend Daytime Nurse. She is a medical intern, and a very smart and cute girl. She has willing personality and knows her stuff. I enjoyed talking with her and looked forward to her working on the weekends.
Carmen - Weekend Night Nurse. Also a medical intern. A great conversationalists, and the sweetest, happiest personality you will ever meet. She is the type of person, if you don't like her, then you don't like yourself!
Daisy - Owner. Very nice. Shy, soft spoken, and quiet... but open. If youshould have any concerns, feel free to talk to her about anything. She will address your concerns and make sure you are comfortable. One night, she treated the 4 patients in the house to Chili's take out. That was a very kind gesture on her part and we were very grateful.
THE FOOD
Please understand, that this is not a vacation. So you have to approach the food with an open mind. They serve a lot of typical Dominican/ Caribbean fare. Meat, rice, and beans. If this is not your cup of tea, speak up so Daisy can get you what you need. But please make requests in reason. If you are Philly, please dont expect cheesesteak. If you are Jamaican, you are NOT getting jerk chicken. If you are Italian, please dont show up thinking you are getting home made gonocci every night. Remember that you are in their country. Be open minded, communicate well as to what your needs may be, and BRING SNACKS. I took a huge bag of snacks and ate not one thing. My, and all of the other patients, our appetites were severely diminished after surgery, so you wont be eating much anyway.
OVERALL
I would recommend Lozania recovery house. The cleanliness, skill and kindness of the nurses, and the willingness of the owner to meet the patient's needs were impressive, and I would return.

Hello Everyone,

Sorry for the slow update, but I have been busy recovering.

The day of my surgery went well. I was taken to CECEIPLER by the driver at the recovery house. All of my pre-op information was taken by the sweetheart Dr. Carla Santiago, who was the hospitalist doc on duty. When you go to the hospital, please bring your passport and driver's license. This makes it easier for them to write your records when they can easily read you name and address, which are often foreign to them, as Spanish speakers.

Dr Santiago then took all of vital signs. After this pre-op session was completed, she took me to the 3rd floor to my hospital room. It was in this room that was told to take a shower, and then change into my hospital gown, cap, and booties. I also put on my compression stocking at this time. I am not sure if the hospital gives you compression stocking, or not, because I had my own.

A few minutes later, Dr Laura Castillo, the anesthesiologist came to take my medical history and speak with me. Ladies, please know what foods or medications you are allergic too. Also, be honest about what medications, prescription and OTC, and any drug or alcohols use. This information, conveyed to the anesthesiologist could mean the difference between life and death when you are on the table. The anesthesiologist will also discuss the type of anesthesia you will be getting at that time.

Once Dr Castillo was finished , an orderly came and took me to another floor, where I was put into a pre op holding area. After waiting for a few minutes, Dr Marte came and spoke with me. He asked me did I want a big butt. LOL. I laughed at his question. I told him my butt was big enough, and I just needed him to smooth out the dimples and shape it a little bit. He then took photos of my front, sides, and the back. Lastly, he marked me up to see where he would work his nip tuck magic. He asked me did I have any last minute questions, to which I responded, "No". He told me he would see me soon and left.

Soon after, Dr Castillo arrived with her assistant, and this is where the "Pin the IV on the patient" game began. In the US, when no one else has been able to get an IV line on me, it was anesthesia who they would call to come and stick me. Well Dr Castillo said I was one of the most difficult cases she had ever seen concerning IV access. But she got me on the first try! I was sooo relieved, because being a human pin cushion is no fun.

Once I had IV access, she injected some versed (liquid version of "the blue pill") into my IV and they rolled me into the OR... this is when things went fuzzy and I fell asleep.

The next thing I remember is waking up during the surgery. I was not fully awake but more in a dream like state. I saw the assistant, and he told them I was awake. I saw Dr Marte's face appear above mine, He smiled, and then I fell back to sleep.

I slightly remember them turning me over on the operating table and putting me into my faja, but I was so drowsy and out of it, I did not care and fell back to sleep.

My next memory was of me being rolled back to my room, transferred from the stretcher to the bed, and the nurse putting the SCD (compression machine to prevent clots) on my legs. Once again, I was too sleepy and drowsy to care, and I fell back to sleep.

When I woke up, it was later that evening. I was serious PAIN. The nurse gave me pain medicine in my IV and I was then comfy enough to text my family and tell them I was ok.

Just a heads up.... You are not given Narcotic medications post op. They give what is called an NSAID, which cuts down on the inflammation that causes pain. It helps, and is effective enough when one is still full of anesthesia, but once that anesthesia wears off..... it helps, but there is still pain. Try to bring pain meds from your doctor at home or request the pain pump from Dr Marte. This device, which does have narcotic medications, delivers small doses of narcotic pain meds at regular intervals to keep the patient comfortable. It costs $200 for 2 day use.

My over night nurse arrived around 7pm. I acquired her from Bilngual nursing services, run by Dennise Lara @Ddlara on Instagram. I pretty much slept through the night and only woke up when the nurse came to change my IV fluids or to give me pain medicine.

The next morning, I was given a brothy soup, a piece of toast and some jello. Shortly after, The nurse helped me out of bed, and I walked around the room. I was in pain, but it felt good to get up and move my muscles.

Dr Marte came to check on me a short time later, and give me my prescriptions for the medication that I would take at the recovery house. He is so kind. He told me if I needed him for him anything, to just call him. I thanked him, and got dressed, chatted with the nurses in Spanish and waited for the driver to come.

I survived the surgery, easy peasy....... but the hard part, recovery, was yet to come. I will write a separate post on do's, don's, ups, down, joys, and pains of the recovery process.