Mexico? All the Basics Please: Success and Problem Stories, etc.

[UpandAtom 126]

Hi Everyone,

Been lurking for a little while. Actually joined some time back but rarely post.

I am looking for any and all folks who have had surgery in Mexico to weigh in and help me out. Here's a little background: I am 48 yo, 6', 365 with a high of 380. My health is deteriorating, particularly knees, hips and ankles. I had a knee replacement 1 year ago and have not healed properly due to weight. I have sleep apnea, high blood pressure and variable high everything else. If I am "good" for a while, my numbers fall into line, but they quickly swing the other way when I am not. I am always short of breath, can not run, jog and have difficulty with stairs. I can not climb or descend stairs without a handrail.

My insurance specifically precludes ANY type of weight loss surgery, drugs or treatment. I am at wits end and desperately want to be able to hike, canoe and ride a bike again. I want my kids to look at me like a regular person and not be embarrassed (they are 16 and 13). I want to feel good. So, I am looking at self pay for VSG here in the states, or in Mexico with Dr. A. (Good Dr. A).

Here are my biggest concerns:

1-Complications. How are they handled and what about follow up care. If I have issues after coming home (like infection, bleeding, dumping, severe reflux, etc.) how do I receive the care I'll need if my insurance will not cover it. Has anyone had problems? How were they addressed?

2-Was the experience clean and safe? Did anyone have problems due to lack of sanitation or lack of follow up care?

3-How did you convince your family to support you even though they are aghast at going to Mexico for surgery?

4-generally looking for detailed experiences both good and bad.

Please help guide a scared and deperate newbie.

Thanks!

["Henry" 109]

Hello UpandAtom,

I recommend that you also join our Facebook Support Groups. There you can get feedback for hundreds of patients that have already had surgery with Dr. Altamirano in Tijuana.

BariatricPal Surgery Deals Group

Dr. Carlos Altamirano Support Group

If you have any question you are welcome to contact me.

[JamieLogical 8,684]

I've had surgery in Mexico twice and both times I was very impressed with the level of care I received. The facilities I went to and surgeons I used were top-notch and they took amazing care of me. They were very thorough pre and post-op and I could not recommend them more strongly. Mexico gets a bad rap from the uneducated and ignorant. But the truth is that there are world class surgeons there. The competition really does drive up the quality as long as you aren't always just looking for the cheapest option. Think about it, these surgeons all rely on word-of-mouth and the reviews of their patients to attract new patients. It is in their best interest to provide extremely positive experiences. In the US, you maybe have one or two options for local surgeons? Where is the motivation for them to do their best when they are the only option available?

As for follow-up care, I met with my PCP prior to leaving for Mexico. She ordered regular blood tests for me post-op to make sure I wasn't developing any deficiencies. Those were all covered by my insurance, because the orders were coming from my PCP. I had also contacted my insurance company prior to surgery to make sure that if I did develop a leak or infection once I was home, I would be covered if I went to the ER. They assured me that I would be. You should definitely talk to your insurance company to make sure that's the case for you. They basically explained that even though they wouldn't cover the surgery itself, any complications from the surgery would be just like complications from any other elective behavior. If I were a smoker, they would cover my lung cancer treatment, even though it was MY choice to smoke. If I fell off the roof while cleaning the gutters, they would cover my broken bones, even though it was MY choice to get up on the roof in the first place.

As for how to convince your family, you may not be able to. I am well known to make VERY well-researched decisions, so most of my family trusted that I had done my due diligence and was making a smart choice. But some people are just opposed to surgery outside the US. They are convinced your organs will be harvested and you'll wake up in a bathtub full of ice or whatever. There's no changing those people's minds. They will refuse to acknowledge that THOUSANDS of people travel to Mexico and have successful surgeries every week. As long as you do your research, you can be confident that you will be safe and well cared for. Whether or not you can convince others of that is really up to THEM, not you.

["Henry" 109]

Thank for your comments JamieLogical.

[get_thinner 0]

I'm getting my surgery next month on the 19th and so far the people at the Obesity Control Center in Tijuana.

Not nervous about anything, just wondering how soon after the surgery you went back to work? I have a desk job and I'm thinking it wont be much of an issue going back to work after 5 days.

Thanks

[Yaberhoo 358]

1-Complications. How are they handled and what about follow up care. If I have issues after coming home (like infection, bleeding, dumping, severe reflux, etc.) how do I receive the care I'll need if my insurance will not cover it. Has anyone had problems? How were they addressed?

2-Was the experience clean and safe? Did anyone have problems due to lack of sanitation or lack of follow up care?

3-How did you convince your family to support you even though they are aghast at going to Mexico for surgery?

4-generally looking for detailed experiences both good and bad.

Please help guide a scared and deperate newbie.

Thanks!

Hi. I had surgery in Tijuana on Oct 22nd and had a great time. I can answer your questions in regards to the company I went through.

1. Before surgery you are introduced to your follow up care nurse. She emails an introduction as well as the what to expect information so you are armed with it before surgery. She also emails my weekly food limitations as I move through the recovery. I had a slight fever 100.2 a week after surgery. I emailed her and she checked up with me four or five times a day until the fever broke. Low grade fever is very common after major surgery.

The company has a very active Facebook page wherein everyone from the management, nurses, surgeons, drivers, EVERYONE, is on it. That was the main reason why I chose them. I got to speak with dozens of current and former patients, everyone was constantly posting pictures of the hospital, staff, rooms, etc. Any questions are answered within minutes either on Facebook or emailing the nurse.

2. The hospital was very clean. The staff was caring and professional. They were on the ball with medications and immediately at my bedside if I needed them. I took a friend with me (companions stay with you in the hospital room and in the hotel during recovery days). She was very impressed with the staff. I never felt worried due to professionalism or hygiene.

3. I would recommend it to my closest family. The stay is six days, 5 nights. My friend was with me every moment except while I was in surgery and recovery. They had drivers that would take us anywhere we wanted to go. The hotel was beautiful and comfortable with an on call nurse on hand during the day to do bandage swaps, check blood pressure. The first night is at the hotel after preop blood tests and check in. The next morning you are picked up from the hotel and taken to the hospital for surgery. You spend surgery night and the next night in the hospital. Day 4 you are released and taken back to the hotel. We were taken shopping by the drivers for both fun stuff and to the pharmacy for anything you wanted (Prilosec was really cheap down there), homemade ice cream at a local ice cream shop, and broth at a favorite taco stand. One more full day and night of recovery at the hotel. The sixth day the drivers drove us back to San Diego to the airport. Easy peasy.

I had no bad experiences in Tijuana. Everyone was very attentive and caring. I would absolutely recommend them. They also have a plastic surgeon and dentist with the company for those who want other procedures done. I know a few who had dental work on the first day before surgery, others had botox, etc. I plan to go back when I need to lose some of my excess skin.

I went to A Lighter Me.

Edited December 5, 2015 by Yaberhoo

[JamieLogical 8,684]

I'm getting my surgery next month on the 19th and so far the people at the Obesity Control Center in Tijuana.

Not nervous about anything, just wondering how soon after the surgery you went back to work? I have a desk job and I'm thinking it wont be much of an issue going back to work after 5 days.

Thanks

Everyone is different. I have a desk job too. I went back to work 15 days post-op and it was still rough. My main issue was fatigue. I was so tired by the end of the day that I just went to bed as soon as I got home from work for the first week or so. I didn't really turn corner until I was on soft foods at 17 days post-op. Since you are going through OCC, you will probably have the same food stages as me, so you might have the same problem of lack of energy until you move up to soft foods and get more calories in.

[Proud2BMe 1,016]

Hi Everyone,

Been lurking for a little while. Actually joined some time back but rarely post.

I am looking for any and all folks who have had surgery in Mexico to weigh in and help me out. Here's a little background: I am 48 yo, 6', 365 with a high of 380. My health is deteriorating, particularly knees, hips and ankles. I had a knee replacement 1 year ago and have not healed properly due to weight. I have sleep apnea, high blood pressure and variable high everything else. If I am "good" for a while, my numbers fall into line, but they quickly swing the other way when I am not. I am always short of breath, can not run, jog and have difficulty with stairs. I can not climb or descend stairs without a handrail.

My insurance specifically precludes ANY type of weight loss surgery, drugs or treatment. I am at wits end and desperately want to be able to hike, canoe and ride a bike again. I want my kids to look at me like a regular person and not be embarrassed (they are 16 and 13). I want to feel good. So, I am looking at self pay for VSG here in the states, or in Mexico with Dr. A. (Good Dr. A).

Here are my biggest concerns:

1-Complications. How are they handled and what about follow up care. If I have issues after coming home (like infection, bleeding, dumping, severe reflux, etc.) how do I receive the care I'll need if my insurance will not cover it. Has anyone had problems? How were they addressed?

2-Was the experience clean and safe? Did anyone have problems due to lack of sanitation or lack of follow up care?

3-How did you convince your family to support you even though they are aghast at going to Mexico for surgery?

4-generally looking for detailed experiences both good and bad.

Please help guide a scared and deperate newbie.

Thanks!

1. Complications - I experienced none. By the way, "dumping syndrome" is not a complication. It's a desirable aspect of the surgery that will stop you from eating sugary foods and beverages. It's not so much associated with gastric sleeve but patients can have it at the beginning. When you return from the surgery you should already have a doctor lined up to have follow ups through. You can also go the ER if any emergency develops.

2. Clean and Safe? - Yes. Hospitals and clinics in Mexico are clean and safe. Someone once compared it to being in the hospital in the U.S in the 1990s. So if you were cool with going to the doctor or hospital back in the 1990s then you should be cool with it as well.

3. How did you convince your family? - I didn't. They saw after my results that I made the right choice. My family was against it and told me I was going to die. They were ignorant. I wasn't and had done my research. I suggest you do your research as well.

4. General Experience - All good. There was no real pain in the surgery. It just felt like I was punched in the stomach or had done a couple hundred crunches to where my muscles ached. No gas pain. The worst aspects of the surgery was waking up from anesthesia. I hate having to struggle to gain consciousness. The very worst aspect was when they removed the drain. That actually hurt. It caused my whole abdomen to cramp up and it was painful but only for a few seconds. Then it immediately subsided after the drain was out. Recovery was a breeze. The flight home was a bit of a struggle because I was only able to drink not even half of a bottle of Gatorade the entire day. So I had to walk very slow and was scared I was going to miss my connecting flight. I survived and made it home okay

[UpandAtom 126]

Wow thank you everyone! Great replies and you have given me a lot of hope.

[Susy101 2]

@@Yaberhoo who was your doctor?

[Kindle 8,667]

Ditto to most of what JamieLogical said. My PCP takes care of my followup bloodwork. Never needed any other postop care. And my surgeon has always been available for any questions I had along the way. However, My insurance excludes WLS including treating any postop complications, unless they are life threatening. Any major complications would have bankrupted me. But that was just one "con" in my decision to have surgery. I counteracted that with the "pro" of going to a world renown surgeon with a complication rate 1/10 that of US surgeons. I had 100% confidence in his skills as well as the quality of care provided at his Center of Excellence facility.

I actually had no problems convincing my family of the good care in Mexico. My aunt and uncle have been traveling to Mexico for dental and medical care for years. And after my US surgeon botched my gallbladder surgery last November (left me with an incisional hernia) I really wish I'd gone back to my Mexico for that surgery. Even with insurance covering it it's gonna cost me twice as much because I need a second surgery to repair my hernia and I've got a $5000 deductible.

[Yaberhoo 358]

@ My doctor was Dr. Elias Ortiz, A Lighter Me.

[Wonderkind 23]

What is the time from contact to surgery?

Do you need a full passport?

How long would I be there.(we have no babysitters so my dh would have to stay home from work the whole time)

[NurseRinaP 4]

I'm scheduled January 14 with Dr. Carlos Cano Altamirano in TJ. He does consults via Skype and is very informative, the Bariatric Pal staff have been awesome. I have no fear and cannot wait!! Dr. A had a FB group, join us!

[JamieLogical 8,684]

What is the time from contact to surgery?

Do you need a full passport?

How long would I be there.(we have no babysitters so my dh would have to stay home from work the whole time)

Scheduling the surgery depends on the surgeon and their availability. I would think you could get into most surgeons in under a month. Remember to allow time for a pre-op diet, though.\

You can use a passport card, because you are traveling over the land border from San Diego, not flying straight into Mexico.

I would say to allow for at least 3-4 days.You will likely arrive the day before surgery, have surgery that next day, spend that night in the hospital/surgical center, back to a hotel or recovery house the following day, then probably one more trip back to the hospital/clinic to have follow-up testing and your drains removed (if your surgeon uses drains).