Mexico & Self-Pay Weight Loss Surgery

Hi I am just looking for people who have used Dr. Joya and can tell me their experience

Sooo ready to start the beginning of my new life! On a scale of 1-10 I'm a solid TEN. How about you? My surgery is November 1st with Dr. Louisianna Valensuela @ Mi Doctor ...staying at The Marriott. How about you?

Dr. Ramos Kelly's practice followed up with me today to see what I had decided in terms of where/when to be sleeved. I had made other plans, but told them I would like their contact info to pass on. I told them I was surprised that someone could get surgery from Dr. Kelly at Angeles as very recently the only option had been the less well known Hospital Nova. I also asked them for clarification on whom to contact and at what number. It's my impression that patients now have a choice of being operated on by Dr. Kelly at either NOVA or Angeles Hospital, with Angeles costing a little more. Anyway- I received a clarifying email from Dr. Kelly today and here are the highlight…

I was sleeved on May 10th 2012 by Dr Ramos Kelly. At the time the coordinator was Omar, who was fantastic. I wanted to get back in touch with Dr Kelly or his coordinator if anyone has an email address to contact him please! I don't get on here very often, so would be great if you emailed me at NJsharon@hotmail.com. Thank you!

Sitting at the airport with my wife.. getting so nervous! Its only an hour flight to san diego from sacramento, and then viva la mexico! Tomorrow its chop chop chop!

MySurgeryOptions.com is offering a September special for sleeve surgery with Dr. Illan. Book your surgery now, to take place during the month of September for only $4,300!! If you are ready to have your surgery in September, please visit http://www.MySurgeryOptions.com or pm me for more information. Again, in order to qualify for this special rate, you must not have already booked your surgery. And, you must have your surgery during the month of September. MySurgeryOptions.com is owned and operated by the founder of Vertical Sleeve Talk, Alex.

Hi there, I am interested in going to Mexico for VSG and was leaning toward Dr. Alvarez. I read there is a State Department warning to avoid all non-essential travel to Piedras Negras as of July 2013. While I am not a timid traveler, State Department warnings do have some credence. Can anyone tell me (who has been there recently - after the disruptions which began this summer) what they think of the safety in the city and the safety of the trip? It seems there have been some large gun battles in the streets in broad daylight...Thanks for letting me know your experiences.

Has anyone purchased this book I keep seeing being advertised on this site? If so, does it contain any good nutritional information?

Me... 19 days Til Halloween, which is the day We drive to TJ. Surgery on Nov 1st. How many days do you have left? Sooo excited and ready!!!

This is a stupid question I know but do you need a passport to go to Tijuana ??

I am a school teacher and I have a flex benefit plan. In January I will have 2500 dollars on my Visa card. I wanted to use this to pay for some of my surgery and I would way out of pocket for the remaining amount. Has anyone used their benefits to help pay for their surgery?

Never really had this pre op so not sure the best way to handle it but its terrible!

Only 2 more weeks until mexicali! Abyone esle going?

I guess I am still on soft foods/pureed stage. I am not very creative so have been drinking my protein shakes for majority of the protein and then mostly eggs. I added some spinach to them and I have been feeding off the ones I made for a few days now! Thankfully I never really feel hunger, only feel emptiness but trying to get more creative with my meals so I am getting more variety. Taking some ideas from everyone. Thanks!!

:wub: November 6th will be one year.Hard to belive.But I did it.Wish I knew how to post pitchers. I"m so glad for this site.A place to say I DID IT with out people looking at you and saying well you had the surgery. Its still work. I feel great and thats all that matters. My husband had it done also and has also lost 80#s yea.

All these last minute questions. It occurs to me I don't have alot of detail questions answered. Do we bring vitamins for post op, does anyone know?

Just booked with A lighter Me, surgery 22nd November with Dr. Ortiz! So excited to start this journey. I will be going alone so any sleeve buddies welcome.

I am a December sleever! Surgery scheduled for dec. 4 in excited and worried like everyone else but I will be traveling alone because I am not telling anyone in my family. Any advise would be GREATLY appreciated!!!!

My boyfriend is having surgery in Mexico and will be flying into San Diego. He needs to arrive in San Diego by 11am. I don't fly much and when I do I'm not really on a time schedule, so I need help with this. When I look up flights (we are flying Southwest), I imagine obviously the departing flight time is MY time, duh, (Nashville, Central time), but the ARRIVAL time, are they listing the arrival time in San Diego time or in my own Central time? I hope someone can help with this silly issue!!! But it is pretty important for me to know when booking flights with Southwest. I really appreciate if someone can help with this!!!

My surgery is scheduled for Nov. 21st. I will be arriving on Nov. 20th. I am going alone so would love to meet up with other that are going. I will be having band to sleeve revision surgery.

Had my surgery yesterday around 5. Did my leak test this morning. All is fine. I was given Gatorade this afternoon. It tasted sooo good after having fasted for so long for the surgery. Looking forward to starting the rest of my journey. Next post will be a long one detailing my experience here in Mexico for those who have not yet been through this.

So i have pretty much narrowed my choice down to Dr. illan fraijo and dr. garcia. I have read good things about both. Any suggestions??

Is it indoors or outdoors? Anyone know what the weather is like there towards the end of this month? I was planning on bringing a bathing suit and spending some time in the pool the night before surgery. Is that realistic at this time of year? (In 13 days)

Hey! I made it here without needing Ativan. Lol. My surgeon will be starting at 11:30 but not sure which patient goes first. Makes it so much better that we see people from yesterday and they look great! I might still be a nervous wreck though.

I had my surgery in the states and paid an arm and a leg out of pocket. My boyfriend wants to have the surgery and I am almost certain I will have him go with Dr Illan! I have already been in touch with Omar, who seems great.. First, how is his name spelled? Is it ILLAN or IIIan (with three i's). I ask because when I google him I have a hard time finding him. I would love to hear of others experiences with this surgeon and their entire experience. Going to Mexico is very scary for me, but my boyfriend needs this surgery very badly and we can't afford it in the states. Good reviews/bad reviews/your experience....all welcome!!!! Thank you!!!

Had VSG in July with Dr. Garcia now I'm in Mexico again with my husband who is having surgery today at Mi Doctor. Will be in Mexico until Monday and staying at the Marriott. Anyone else here?

One of the biggest concerns I have about taking my boyfriend to get sleeved by Dr Illan is his surgical technique/expertise. I am 9 months post out from my sleeve and can eat quite a bit. I want to make sure he has great restriction. Have any Dr Illan patients here made it to goal?

I everyone, I'm having my sleeve on Thursday with Dr. F. Garcia. I want to make sure I tip the driver and others appropriately. It's been awhile since I travelled to MX, so want to see what others tipped, on average? Thanks! I'm getting sooo excited!!!!

On October 10 2012 I started my new life path and it def has been a hard one weight loss was great but so many things in life changed it wasn't funny infection and separating from my wife. I hope this year is better than the last. My sw 451 and weight as of today 241. 210lbs later def feel different. I went from 56 pants to as 36-38 and shirts 5-6x to 1-2x lost one shoe size. Went from taking 5 blood pressure pills and 2 diuretics to none and blood work perfect.

I'm trying to get this figured out. I want a peel while there. It's less expensive and I already have to be off work, so it sounds like a good plan. There was one lady here who had one done through the OCC center but I've had zero luck contacting them/ getting a response. For those who've bad it done there... Who did u use? How much did it cost? Did u do it before or after surgery? What was the experience and results??? Thanks :-)

I started a FB page for November sleevers and received several private messages requesting to be added. Somehow my email dropped these messages before I could add these people. SO far we have 12 people and we are all getting along great. If you would like to join please send me a private message with your email and address and I will surely add you to this great group.

I am going to TJ at The Jerusalem Hospital on Dec 5 and having gastric sleeve on Dec 6. Is anyone else sleeving on this day?? Also should I have any concerns. I am excited and ready to begin this new journey of my life but a little anxious... has anyone had the sleeve in MX with Almanza....

Hi everyone, just an update that I officially got sleeved yesterday with Dr. Illan at florence hospital. I've had a great experience so far and I would highly recommend him to anyone! Omar his coordinator is the best also, very personalized, even took my wife to breakfast this morning to get her out of the hospital for a while. You can check him out at bajabariatrics.com.

I'm 20 days pre op ...hoping there will be some good nutritional and vitamin counceling in Mex but so far my pre op paperwork just says children's chewables, calcium and iron. That's the extent of the details. I've looked at so many posts about what people are taking post op and I've come to the conclusion that No two sleevers are taking the same supplements. So I'm uncertain... How much of what is good or too much etc. what are YOU taking post op and how often do u get labwork done and is everything looking good for you?

Hi everyone! New here! I'm looking into having VSG (hopefully sometime this year) in Louisiana. I'm looking for any info you guys may have about self-pay in Louisiana or surrounding states: costs, doctors, hospitals, any information/ suggestions really. Thanks!

Dr Rodriguez

I am going on November 7th to Tijuana for Vertical Sleeve with Elias Ortiz at Mi Doctor. Is anyone else going on this date or around this time? Looking for buddies!

My wife will be traveling with me to mexico.. I am nervous about the fact that they do not recognize same sex marriage, therefore if anything were to happen to me medically, would she be able to make medical decisions for me?? Anyone else in this situation?

I currently have Kaiser as my insurance and am about to start the Options class in order to have the surgery done. Problem is, I am also in the process of a divorce and on my soon to be ex-husbands insurance. I am hoping I can complete the class and the surgery before our divorce is final and insurance runs out. I am thinking I have a good 6-8 months (fingers crossed before everything gets squared away. Our divorce process has taken over a year and a half and I am KICKING myself that I didn't start this process sooner. My insurance covers the sleeve 100% with no c-pay. Would not have cost me a dime! Anyways, if the insurance runs out before the surgery, i have money sa…

I have decided to have the vertical sleeve done in Mexico. I am now trying to decide between 2 doctors. Dr. Fernando Garcia and Dr. Ariel Ortiz. Can you share your experiences of each doctor with me? I would greatly appreciate it! Thanks!

Anyone else getting sleeved in TJ on or around the 18th?

Someone mentioned it here and I can't find that post. She said she bought one in TJ and it helped her back out of TJ faster. Anyone know where we get these? At hotel?

I am pursuing surgery in Mexico mid November 2013 (next month). I have to buy a new individual health insurance policy on my state's exchange as soon as possible to start on January 1, 2014. My state is not going to cover bariatric surgery with exchange policies, but I did find out that our exchange policies will cover revisions to weight loss surgery if they are needed to correct a life-threatening condition. A big boasting point of the various "exchange" policies and ACA in general is that pre-existing conditions can no longer be excluded from insurance coverage. I thought it stood to reason that if they HAVE to take me starting January 1 and if I JUST HAPPENED to…

Just curious who feels weird just doing a post op the morning of surgery? I mean u see what a pain is to go through insurance in the states but also worried what they might need to know something about you and don't in Mexico? Hard to do the research all on your own, but grateful it's not taking over your life like with surgeon, nutritionist, psychological ect. Wish there could just be a middle ground?

Hi I was sleeved yesterday around 10 am with Dr. Alvarez in Piedras Negras, Mexico. I was out of recovery and up and walking my 11:30 am. Crazy I know. I felt like I had done 800 sit ups. After walking a few laps I only had pain on my left side felt like a pulled muscle. I could not believe how great I felt. I even had to ask the doctor are you sure you took my stomach out. It's now 2am (the next day). Just got up to walk again for the 9th time . No gas pain and the left pain is hardly felt now. I am in a full hospital and the care has been great. I brought my mom along and Jesus (my go to English speaking guy) is great. My mother was hungry and he has no problem leaving …

I have a friend that just had surgery 2 days ago and she is at the Marriott right now. Are there any sleeves that are at the Marriott right now? She would sure love some company. ThAnks Josie

Surgery date: 2-16-13 Dr. Garcia Starting weight 232 Goal weight 155 Current weight 155......... Soooooo Happy ......this feels awesome!

This is my luggage all packed and ready for my Mexico sleeve adventure with Dr Illan. It's been laying there since last Wednesday but I never got to Mexico. My house/pet sitter had a family emergency and so I had to cancel. I was so bummed I haven't even been back to this forum until now. I would have been sleeved last Saturday and coming home tomorrow. To make matters worse I can't even re-book straight away. I'm becoming a US Citizen next week and cannot leave the country without a US Passport so it's going to be another 2-3 weeks. I know I sound whiny but I had worked myself up to this for several weeks, I had been on a liquid diet for a week too so this just …

Ok, went to the store and bought the following for the trip, anything I am missing? : gas X strips, hidden wallet for passport/money to wear for the trip, small pillow, some extra bandages and antiseptic spray (for trip home?), travel toiletries, baby wipes, loose pajamas for hotel. I already have an extension cord/Ipad/phone/laptop type stuff. I think I am just going to pack enough for a carry on and one small string bag for the plane.

Surgery at OCC on Oct 11...anyone else going on same?