gastricsleever

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!

I was fortunate to be approved straight away

You are lucky! My insurance doesn't cover anything related to obesity, can you believe that? So I am going to be paying for the surgery myself. I have been saving money and as of right now I'm hoping to go to Mexico to have the surgery done in January.

Just a quick update. I had surgery January 23' date=' 2013. I weighed 274 and am 5 ft tall. Now, a little over 8 months out, I've lost 131 pounds and have 18 pounds to go to my goal! I weigh 143 right now. I'm really excited! I'm still not used to being smaller and I really don't see myself as being as small as I am until I see pictures! I feel great and have no health issues anymore! Love my sleeve! Here's a before/now pic .[/quote']

Mom2five- I am about your weight and planning on having the surgery as as well. Can I ask you, do you work out a lot? From your picture I doesn't look like you have any saggy skin issues?

Hi' date=' I also used Dr Fernando Garcia. I had my surgery on 9/13/13 and couldn't be any happier with the care from the entire staff. I paid 4700 total and that included 3 nights at the Marriott and 2 nights in the hospital. If your Bmi is over 50 or if they repair a hernia it is 500 additional. He is thru Ready 4 a Change. You won't be disappointed I promise. I have lost 40 lbs so far. Best of luck with your decision.[/quote']

That is awesome! 40lbs in less than a month! Thanks for the info, I will look into dr Garcia!

I started reading the forums and taking notes...Dr's name, hospital or clinic, time in hospital, hotel or recovery house, the towns safety, procedure, there are so many variables, leaks, deaths....I researched for about a month, scheduled surgery for 2 weeks out and started the liquid diet right away. Before I knew it I was home and now back on real food. I did learn it's better to schedule more than 2 weeks out if you have to fly, as in 2 weeks the prices for flights gets pretty steep.

I used Dr Kelly and was very pleased. I quit taking pain meds the next morning after surgery that's how well I felt. If you use Dr Kelly book directly with him!! You get the better hospital, leak test etc...and Cecy is a sweet heart.

What facility is Dr. Kelly in?

I spent several weeks reading through everything I could find on these forums. For me, the most consistently positive reviews coupled with the best price led me to Dr. Fernando Garcia. I made sure to talk to several of Dr. Garcia's former patients, including a couple from my home state. Everyone only had positive things to say. Once I felt confident with my choice of surgeon, I contacted the Ready4Achange website and they set everything up and answered all my questions.

I had my surgery in March and have zero regrets. Dr. Garcia and his entire team are awesome. Good luck to you.

***Oops. I just realized this was an old post. Lol. I'll leave my advice. Maybe it will help someone else.

Don't worry, I'm still reading the posts I still have not scheduled my surgery, waiting to save up the funds and I should be ready to go by January. Tim, how much did you pay for your surgery with Dr. Garcia?

Southern Oregon,

When did you have your surgery done? How has your weight loss been going?

Hoosier - I was considering getting some of the things done, just for that reason, do understand my health as it is now. I think I will move forward with some of the labs an appts at my local hospital just so I can establish my current health as well as a relationship with them so that after I have my surgery done, I can continue with the follow up plan. I'm going to move forward and do these things (I think):

- see my PCP and make him aware of my plans to have the surgery and have him write the letter of recommendation (he's the one that recommended it to me last March)

- nutrition consultation

- lab work & x rays

- support group attendance

Right now I am not planning on doing the psych consult. Not sure what the point of that is? And it's going to cost me $175 out of pocket! So I don't know that there is a benefit to that. The program coordinator also said I may have sleep apnea, since I snore so I may need a sleep study if I were to have the surgery there. I'm also debating about the EGD - it's probably going to be rather expensive as well! Who knows....I guess I'm just thinking out loud here...

Great information from Hoosier and Trixie - I never thought about the lanyard thing for the shower! Good to know!

Question: Did you have any tests or appointments before you went to Mexico? Like when you have the sleeve here in the US, they require a nutritionist appt, a psychiatrist appt and...I forget the other appt plus a bunch of labwork. Should I do that up here? Or not do any of that? The psychiatrist appt is $175!But I'm realizing, why do I need that stuff done since I'm not planning on having the surgery at my local hospital?

Thanks in advance!

I don't think I've taken a break from my computer yet in the past week! After LOTS of reading, I've got my choices down to 2 doctors - Dr. Quinones and Dr. Ariel Ortiz....more research to come!

Wow, thanks for the information! I'm looking into all the tips that you all gave me as we speak! Hoping to have the surgery in September, if all my savings and funds work out.

I have decided I'm willing to go to Mexico for the gastric sleeve surgery. i've done all my research and I honestly just cannot afford it in the US anywhere!

So...WHERE do you start?! How do you find a doctor or facility? Any tips would be greatly appreciated, I'd love to have this done before October, maybe in September, so I need to start doing my research. How did you pick yours? Any recommendations?

Thanks SOO much in advance! This group has been so helpful for me