Mexico & Self-Pay Weight Loss Surgery

I was sleeved March 13 th by Dr. F Gonzalez at Mi Doctor and had a very good experience. My question is when can I eat a peice of talapia fish , it is very soft I have been on these shakes so lonh they all taste the same YUCH! This is a pic of Dr. F Gonzalez an me at Mi Doctor.

Hey all, Got a nice little nap in and decided to just type this up and post it. Sorry if its a little long winded Hey all just wanted to post my sleeve experience. I was sleeved March 11th with Dr. Garcia at MiDoctor through Ready 4 a Change. I have lost 13lbs in the first week I know a great deal have had wonderful experiences and mine for the most part was ok, but far from wonderful. The majority of my issues with the experience were with the coordinators and the nurses on staff at MiDoctor, and well the hospital building itself. Instead of going into a play by play of things I will just organize things into subjects. Coordinators: The coordinators at r…

I emailed my local surgeon's office to tell them that I have decided not to fight insurance or wait any longer. I have decided to go to MX. I knew they would try to talk me out of it. He emails me back saying he supports my choice blah blah blah but i really need to thank about this more. Well I leave 3/6 so its not really much to THINK about at this point! However this is what he put in his last line of the email. Now this is really what bothers me. What if i do have a complication!? Are the Dr's Here just going to refuse to give me care!? I don't think I need follow ups except for my blood work which my PCP can do right? Now I am scared YET AGAIN...

I'm at the Marriott in Tijuana right now! Been here for about 5 hours now. Does anyone else think the chicken broth at the hotel tastes like Chinese fried rice?

I hopped off the plane at L.A.X. With a dream and my cardigan Welcome to the land of fame excess, Am I gonna fit in? Jumped in the cab Here I am for the first time Look to my right and I see the Hollywood sign This is all so crazy Everybody seems so famous Amanda Rae

I have been doing my research on a few drs in Tijuana and I'm currently just confused in who to go with. Anyone ever dealt with Ron at MBC? I keep seeing everyone saying Christy:/ and has anyone had dr lllan as their surgeon? I heard he is cheap! Just curious on who's best for the price. Oh and here's my stats. Age: 21 Weight: 327 Height: 5'4" BMI: 56 Also has anyone had a bad experience with Almanza? I am speaking to them to but I don't like the whole recovery house thing...

I fly in on saturday march 16 and have surgery the same day with dr. Illan. I am going alone so my nerves is starting to take over and tell me im crazy for doing this. Fear is starting to set in and im getting cold feet

Arrived in San Diego safe and sound! Looking for away to kill time... Tomorrow begins that giant leap towards a New Life, sleeved! Amanda Rae

I was sleeved on Monday 11/14 by Dr. Garcia at Mi Doctor Hospital. This man is WONDERFUL! Dr Garcia, his GI specialist, his internist, surgical team, and nurses are a wonderful team! They are very caring, you will not have a question left unanswered. He is not well known and does not advertise...so...I'm going to put this man on the map! (He is well known in Mexico, but not yet in the USA) He needs his success stories to advertise for him! He has never had a leak, nor lost a patient. He is very professional and caring. Two nights in an actual hospital with 24 hour nursing staff is ideal! I never once had to call for a nurse, they checked on me ALL the time! I was orig…

Has anyone had their surgery performed by Dr. Ortiz (he works with Dr. Alejandro Lopez)? I know I have read at least one post from someone who had Dr. Ortiz assist Dr. Lopez with their surgery, but I don't think I've seen any posts from people who've had Dr. Ortiz as the lead surgeon. Dr. Lopez is my first choice, but I don't yet know if he will be in TJ on the day I'm having my surgery (since he splits his time between TJ and PV), so I may have to go with Dr. Ortiz. If anyone has had any experience with him, could you share your thoughts on how it went?

I am planning to go as soon as $$ comes together. How was your stay?

So ready to get this show on the road. I should've been about 3 weeks out already, but a major snow storm crushed that dream! Anyway, it looks like mother nature is cooperating this week and things will be clear to fly on Wednesday. So nervous. Excited. Today is my last day at work until the 25th and I feel so rushed to get things done. I have a full day of appointments and errands tomorrow as well. How are all the other sleevers for this week feeling???

Okay Amy I took your idea about the personal thread, what a great idea. Ok well I got my pedi today with a friend of mine and it really helped me to relax. I didn't get the neon color I had talked about because my friend has breast cancer that went with me so I got the breast cancer pink on my toes for her. Then we spent the rest of the day together and it was great until I got ready to leave. She is the strongest person I know and has been through so much in her life but when she hugged me good bye she started to cry and then I started to cry. I told her I would be fine and not to worry and that I would be back before here next Chemo treatment. That was the first emotion…

Well, I'm off! Alarm went off promptly at 3am, but i was pretty much up at 2. I got through security without the complementary anal cavity search. Yay! For those keeping track, I'm doing the same-day travel and surgery so I'll post as much about that part of the experience as possible. Part of having surgery same-day is that I have to wear compression socks on the way to Mexico to avoid clots. So, with a nod to Amytug, I share with you a little self-portrait of my own. Said in my best Austin powers villain voice... " I'm dead sexy!" Btw. Dr Fernando Garcia at mihospital.

I know some of us had pre op dreams/nightmares. Anyone have any post op? I dreamt last night that I gulped water-oh the horror! Lol

Hello, I'm Rebecca and I live in New Zealand. I was thinking of going to India for mine but have since read A LOT of North Americans go to Mexico (I was born in Toronto) so I've changed my mind and going through "alighterme.com" I am going to pay for a friend to come with me but I think cancun or PV look nicer then tijauana but everyone I've heard of goes there? I want her to have a nice time while I'm in the hospital or napping once back at the hotel. It costs a little more but she's doing me a huge favour and taking time off work. Has anyone got any story's of other places in Mexico? Thank you dde0a

How are you feeling? You've been on my mind and I was just wondering how recovery is going. Worst parts, so far? ~Kat

Im flying out next Thursday, surgery friday! Im so scared and the what ifs are going through my mind!

Hi, I'm excited to be going to Mexico to get my surgery the next Monday. I was just wondering if anyone has had a negative reaction from the primary doctor about going to Mexico. I was wondering will my insurance still cover me because I went outside of the US to have the surgery. Thanks, Tim

I had my surgery March 13th byDr Fernando Garcia, he is the greatest surgeon! I felt safe in his hands during the surgery.The hardest thing to deal with was the darn drain.Right now I am downstairs in the marriot in the computer room. I highly recommend Dr Garcia. Also recommend staying at the marriot in tijuana they treat you like royalty here. :wub:

Husband and I are flying out tomorrow! Making a last run to walmart today and spending time with my babies. Have a 3 hour drive to Atl airport, 3 hour flight to texas, and then will be picked up and taken to Juarez hospital. My emotions are running the gambit right now! So much so that I don't even know if that last sentence is correct in any way! Haha! Just please keep me in your thoughts and prayers. Taking our laptop so I hope to be able to post updates as they have wifi in the hosptial. I don't think my phone is going to work bc we are pre-paid (not on a plan) and it doesn't work out of country.

I had my surgery March 13th byDr Fernando Garcia, he is the greatest surgeon! I felt safe in his hands during the surgery.The hardest thing to deal with was the darn drain.Right now I am downstairs in the marriot in the computer room. I highly recommend Dr Garcia. Also recommend staying at the marriot in tijuana they treat you like royalty here. :wub:

I had my surgery March 13th byDr Fernando Garcia, he is the greatest surgeon! I felt safe in his hands during the surgery.The hardest thing to deal with was the darn drain.Right now I am downstairs in the marriot in the computer room. I highly recommend Dr Garcia. Also recommend staying at the marriot in tijuana they treat you like royalty here. :wub:

Well, I have officially set my surgery date with Dr. Fernando Garcia through ready4achange with Alma. My surgery date is April 11. I put my deposit down and all, getting ready to make flight plans. This is all becoming so real! Anyone else going to Dr. Garcia in Tijuana around the same date? My starting height/weight is 5-10, 335 lbs, at a BMI of 49.5. Hope to be done quite a bit during pre-op though!

So my understanding is that I'll be provided with chicken broth and two waters per day... How exactly do I get my broth and waters?

Hi all, I was sleeved by Dr. Aceves in Mexicali, Mexico in 2011. My best friend was just sleeved last week at a hospital in Seattle, WA (VIrginia Mason) and I was there with her from the time she checked in for surgery to the time she was discharged (I did go home for 8 hours to sleep at night, but the rest of the time I was at the hospital with her). I noticed a lot of differences between what it's like to have surgery here vs. Mexico. I'm not here to flog my blog, but it is a pretty LONG post, so I put it up on my blog rather than here. Here's a link if you're interested. http://curvygirlwellness.blogspot.com/2013/03/weight-loss-surgery-in-mexico-vs-usa.htm …

Hey everyone, I just wanted to share a story with everyone that might help others be more open with talking about getting WLS done. I will admit that I have not told everyone I come across that I am planning on getting it done in May but I have told everyone that is close to me. By profession I am a hair stylist so I have clients that over time have become friends and I have told a handful of them what I am getting ready to do, not only because it doesn’t bother me to share but also because they want to know why I am taking a short leave. This story really revolves around one of my clients. We'll call her Marie. Marie has four kids, three of which have had their own set…

My flight arrived at San Diego Airport 20 minutes early and Victor was already there to meet me. I just went to baggage claim and called him. He told me to go outside and read the location sign letter so he could find me. When we were on the way, the told me he was not taking me to the Marriott and instead he was taking me straight to the hospital. They told me at the hospital I was scheduled for 6AM surgery so I should get all my testing done that night and be ready to go in for surgery early. The phlebotomist was able to get my blood drawn very easily and then I had my ekg. I met with the internist for the hospital and he took my health history again and reviewed m…

Is anyone getting sleeved with Dr Alvarez Easter weekend?

I am scheduled for my surgery on the 19th with Dr. Lopez in Tijuana. Nervous and excited for Tuesday to get here. Any advice from fellow sleevers for items to take and what my husband can expect? Anyone else be there at this time?

hi...everyone i am offically sleeved by dr alvarez. I am going to give you a little details before i forget them I met rosie the van driver in san antonio, tx for the the ride to the us side eagle pass for the evening the ride was just about 2.5 and I was the only pax, i did see one couple come back in so they must have been staying the night for their flight the next day. (laquinta inn airport san antonio) at any rate rosie had to do something for a few minutes and I waited for 15 minutes and then we were off to the holiday inn express on the us side in eagle pass. I had a good time talking to rosie and she told me all about her city in mexico since i was interested i…

For the first time in my life, with the full support of my husband, I am doing something for ME and only ME! To reflect on why I am doing this and what this means for me, I am going to do a video diary up until I leave and while I am in Mexico. I would love to record my thoughts and maybe even continue doing the diaries for my children to see someday. I know this will start a new journey in life for me and what better way to capture it than by video. I have complete faith in God that I will come out of surgery successfully, so this is not a "record a video in case I die" kind of thing, LOL! I sincerely believe I will be fine. I just want to document this, just for me.

Hey there! I want to start a thread of sleevers who are going to Mexico in October. I have found a couple people who have their surgeries scheduled and it's really nice to be in contact with others who may be there around the same time. I'm going to Tijuana for surgery with Dr Garcia October 27. I'll be staying at the Marriott for 3 nights total with 2 days at Mi Doctor hospital for the actual surgery and recovery. If there are others going to Mexico , but not in October, feel free to post also: I've found it so helpful to find others in the same boat as myself... I'll make a list if there are enough people to generate one. Good luck! We're gonna rock this thing

I'm up and ready, waiting for miss Rosie to pick us up

Ive heard some good stories about Cancun .. All good except the front lobby gives u a fright and makes you want to run away & the hospital beds are super uncomfortable .... I would like some good / bad details about PV please ????

I am flying in Saturday morning for a same day surgery.

Did you breasts feel swollen, numb and freakishly large right after surgery? Mine are Lol I'm guessing its due to the gas. I just wasn't prepared for it. Also did you all wear a bra right away afterwards? I'm thinking it wouldn't be comfy right now

Any sleevies been to Dr. Almanza lately...does he still have the recovery house? Though I am scheduled with Dr. Garcia in Feb. I was greatly considering him at one point...but like others didnt like the thought of a recovery house amd traveling back and forth. I just dont hear much..just wondering is he still in business

Question for everyone that has gone to mexico for surgery. What do you do for any follow up visits? What do you do if you have any complications when you get home? Any help would be greatly appreciated Thanks Joe

Thinking of you today!! I hope all goes smoothly. ~Kat

Anyone being sleeved march 28th? I'd like to have a few people to talk to and experience this with:) 2 weeks from tomorrow!!! So excited and nervous! Surgeon: Dr. Illan March 28th, flying down early morning having surgery that afternoon. Flying from Dfw to San Diego-

Flew into Sandeigo, went straight to OCC hospital...got surgery at3pm....hardly any waiting. After surgery slept for a bit. Up a little in the night, just couldn't sleep. They have great movie channels now doctors says I am doing great and can go to the Marriiot, I even drank a whole capri sun with no problems OCC is beautiful and have wonderful peoplel!!!!!

My friend who hasn't worked in months thankfully just got a job. However that means she can't go to TJ with me next week for my surgery! Am I insane for doing this alone?

I'm traveling alone and will have my surgery done by Drs. Cabrera and Valenzuela.

Just got back to my room surgery went well. Besides some gas pains in my chest I feel ok yay for dr Garcia and his amazing team

I am using dr f garcia :wub:

My husband is getting sleeved by Dr. Ortiz on March 11 and he cant wait he is so excited! I on the other hand have been so nervous and worried lol typical wife I guess. Im just not ready to lose him and keep telling myself that the MX doctors have been doing these procedures longer than here in the US so what am I worrying about but oh well. I know all will go well and I have been reading all of the feedback and first hand experiences and boy has it helped me. Just curous to see who else is getting slee day and if you are going alone or with someone. Good luck to all you sleevers and thanks again for all the positive feedback

So, I have finally decided to have the sleeve done, only wish I knew about this years ago. I have tricare who do not cover sleeve kinda dumb, so I have to pay myself and it will be in mexico. Can I get some input regarding how to keep cost down? what to avoid ? and any info you would like to share. thank you all

Hi I have some questions for people who have already been sleeved by Dr garcia and worked with alma at ready for change....you can shed some light......? So far it's been a great experience! 1.Do you get some kind of aftercare package or info or a packet from them? And at what point does this take place??? 2. How do you know how many days to do the preop diet for? Does Alma call you at some point to tell you? I emailed her all this and waiting to here back -which she has been great but thought I would put it out there on here.... 3. When did you hand the money order over and who to? Just curious......surgery on April 2, and since its already March 10th --it's righ…

So, I'd like to hear your thoughts on this. Maybe tell me what you would do. Would you go to a Dr. that has a good reputation, good on price, but doesn't work in a hospital, and you don't really know what kind of service you would get from the coordinators because you have read mixed reviews (not that they are doing your surgery, but they do effect your experience) Or would you... Go to a Dr. With a impeccable reputation, stay in a hospital, but pay double what you would have with the other Dr. This dr has been doing the surgery for many more years so you feel a bit more at ease with him. So, would you go with the one Dr. Who is half the cost? Chances are thing…