Rocky1

We used dr Valenzuela with MBC and she is great. We had an awesome experience. We check out today to head home.

I had my surgery in the states, but went with a friend to TJ and he had his surgery with Dr Garcia. Overall it was very positive experience. Dr Garcia is very soft-spoken, speaks ok english, and seems like a very competent surgeon. There is a female doctor that is on his staff who was excellent. She had a gastric bypass done a few years ago and has done very well. She speaks excellent english and is very good at explaining what you need to know. There were also 2 doctors, one of which was always there, who spoke excellent english and helped out with any questions/issues.
I was also very impressed with the plan they give you regarding post-op diet, procedures, etc. The hospital is a bit older and some of their equipment is older - for example the EKG machine. Sanitation and medical protocols were ok, but definitely behind American standards. They are definitely focused on bariatric surgery. The day my friend had surgery, there were a total of 6 gastric sleeves being done - 3 by Garcia and 3 by 2 other doctors. The hospital does other types of surgery, but they said 75%+ of their patients were gastric sleeves. Hospital only has about 15 rooms, all of which are private. Very laid back.
As the guest, the accommodations were nice. Fairly comfy bed in the room for you to use. Walmart - 5 minute walk. Excellent mexican food that delivers to the hospital. Starbucks, KFC, Dairy Queen, Carls Jr all within 5 minute walk. Beach 2 blocks away although the staff member did caution about being very careful if I went down there. TV with maybe a dozen english channels.
Package deal with hotel makes that part very easy as well. Staff at hotel has lots of bariatric patients and has necessary accommodations. We walked down to the shopping center/Cinepolis and saw a movie. Nice walk and good distraction.
Overall I thought it was a well-run operation. I'd think twice if I was a higher-risk patient. I'm not sure they'd be able to handle complications as well as other hospitals.

I didn't go anywhere at night, but I did walk around the area of the hotel during the day time the day after my surgery. It didn't seem sketchy to me. There's a Walmart and an Applebees in a plaza just up the hill from the hotel. Seemed pretty normal.
The lack of english TV channels was a little annoying, but I knew about that in advance from reading other peoples' experiences, so I had downloaded a bunch of shows from my DVR to my laptop before traveling and just hooked my laptop up to the TV with an HDMI cable and watched all the shows I'd saved on my hard drive. Ironically, I watched about 15 episodes of Chopped (a cooking show) while only being able to eat about two teaspoons of broth and Jello.

@@Shell88, I have two suggestions:
First, make sure they will use a longer blood pressure cuff. The small ones can really hurt.
Second, request your pain meds be given by IV rather than a pill. Sometimes it's really hard to take in enough liquid to wash them down.
Just remember that you put lot of thought into this already, you are doing this for your health, are doing the right thing and are making a good decision.

@#58
SCARS ARE not issue with most men but are issues with this man. hence the issue. we area all individual.
what brings me to your website? scars! you have weight loss surgery, you will have scars from skin removal due to excessive weight loss. Most men, in my experiences, have HUGE issue with scars. Scars = no sex. however small, hence the post to what to expect. Men want perfect women, slim, NO wrinkles, white straight teeth, blemish free completion, long legs, slim waist. You do not have it? FORGET SEX. again, my humble experience, had it all except small scar and it s over now. I accept.
What!??!?! Don't tell that to my husband! He's had sex with me at 165 pounds and at 270 pounds. He's had sex with me 2 weeks post skin removal surgery while I was literally still wearing my full body compression garment! He's had sex with me when I've been sick with a head cold and had snot practically pouring out of my nose. He's had sex with me when I've been in sexy lingerie. He's had sex with me when I've been wearing a ratty t-shirt and sweatpants. He had sex with me when I was 22 and he has sex with me now that I'm almost 36. He's had sex with me with short hair and with long hair. He's had sex with me when I had a cast on my arm from a broken elbow. He's had sex with me when I've been sore and tired from a work out and I've literally said "I want to have sex, but I can't move. Will you do all the work?"
If your man wants a perfect woman, he can keep dreaming! Marriage is the long haul. Sickness and health. If your husband can't love you and be attracted to you through your whole life, then why bother with him? I need sex in my life. Barring some sort of illness or injury that would physically prevent my husband from having sex with me, I would not settle for anything less.

Rocky1 from what I am told he does but the cost is no longer $5900 and is now $7500

Remember - your surgeon isn't just "punishing you" for your sugars being high, even though it may feel that way at times. There have been multiple studies done, but high blood sugars put you at higher risk for infection and you will definitely heal a lot slower. A1C is a look at the past 3 months. I agree with what someone else said - if you've made all those changes and your sugars are still in the 200 range, you need to see an endocrinologist.

Cost is always part of the decision making process depending on max budget. But I think the point was the difference between $4500 and $6500 one needs to be sure they weight the factors of total safety at every Level and potential complication against the $2000 difference. No, not everyone has another $2000 but is the lower cost equipped to save your life at any given moment on any given part of your body and organ within minutes with state of art equipment 24/7. Also... if the quality at $6500 is the same or better then those charging $15000 - $23000 that's pretty much a no brainer, and further a $2000 difference verses a $12000 difference is...well...not in the same ballpark to compare...

If the alleged statements are even true, that's a .0002% complication rate when the overall complication rate across the board is 1% I think..or is it 2% depending on laparoscopic procedure? Then his complication rate is a huge anomaly and highly unlikely in the best possible way, given the actual rates of complication that occur today. If I knew that beforehand, I would feel even more confident with my choice in Dr Corvala.
I think that is comparable to saying only one person died at Hospital X in 2014. That hospital had 10,000 patients in 2014. Wow, that would be some accomplishment, almost impossible. Not in this field and only IMHO. No need to attack

I did not say cost was not anything. If mexico did not have hospital angeles I would be heading to texas. Cost is one of many factors.

Over 10000 laproscopic surgeries over 30 years and three alleged unsubstantiated deaths...I will gladly take those odds if that is all you can come up with.

That is nothing more than unsubstantiated rumors. I also only found one post. Anyone can post anything on these forums,

Here was my packing list from when I had my surgery back in September:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/11I51ulCBco9cimQj882eV1KfMWodyiIO6X4gNaLpDDc/edit?usp=sharing

As of this morning, I weight 189.8 pounds. I cannot tell you how much joy I felt over seeing this number. For me this was bigger than getting under 200, because I've actually managed to get below 200 several times in the past 5 years or so, but this is only the second time I've gotten under 190!
The moment was especially sweet because at last week's weigh-in (I "officially" weigh on Mondays) I was at 191.8 and all week I had actually gone up, seeing 192.2 and 192.4 every morning, so I was expecting to maintain this week, at best. But, nope! There it was this morning! 189.8. I even did my trick where I re-weigh myself holding a bunch of heavy stuff, then weigh myself again without the heavy stuff to make sure it's accurate. And it was!
The last time I was in the 180's was just after my plastic surgery back in August, 2011. I had lost 90 pounds "on my own" in 2010/2011 and had plastic surgery in August of 2011 to remove my excess skin. I had a Tummy Tuck with muscle repair and breast lift with augmentation. At the time of my surgery, I weighed 180. Unfortunately, I had some post-op complications (Fluid build-up in my lower back) that drastically limited my mobility. I started regaining weight fairly quickly and while I've gained and lost and gained and lost since then, I had never gotten back under 190.
I am so excited to be back here!

Both my health plans don't cover bariatric surgery. My state doesn't mandate bariatric coverage. As a result I am looking at going with Corvala at hospital angeles in Tijuana. If I have post op complications I believe my two health plans won't cover post op complications. Does anyone know of separate insurance policies I could buy that would cover post op elective surgery complications for vsg,

I would be terrified to have surgery in the US for that price. Would make me really wonder what corners they were cutting to keep the price that low. Hell, that's $3000 less than I paid in Mexico! I don't think I'd even be comfortable going to a Mexican surgeon for that price.

I've got neck/back issues and both my surgeon and PCP OK'd NSAIDS and even steroids (which also cause ulcers) as long as I took a PPI at the same time. Also gave me the option of taking sucralfate if I had to be on NSAIDS for extended periods of time.
It's all about risk vs benefits and protecting your GI tract. In fact, my surgeon sends his VSG patients home with an NSAID to take immediately postop because the benefit of reducing surgical inflammation outweighs the risk of ulcers when used short term.

I met dr Luke on his team. His name I think was janine Luke. I had Dr Vibreel for anethesiologist and Dr Corvala did a great job very little pain at all accept gas and seems to have done an excellent job not only in surgery but in pre-op and post-op care through the entire medical staff. Diligent about monitoring blood pressure temp IVs. They are waiting until 48 hrs to Xray for leaks so tonight at 5pm. I've been to quite a few hospitals from east to west coast and I would say the management and care is equal if not greater.big have always felt a lot of pain in my I've catheter but not this one. Even the way they secure it is better then I've experienced. There are about 6 nuses and managing floor doctors each day. The only challenge was one time a nurse changing my fluids didn't speak any English and I asked her to send in someone that did since she was adding a new painkiller and I didn't want anymore especially if no nausea medicine.they had an interpreter here yesterday as well. I know some Spanish and most nurses and staff know english. Equal care if not better. You are in the field and will know this at a more technical level. If they are doing anything differently it HSS gotten past me. The good difference is the staff us friendlier and more patient

Glad to hear all went well with ur surgery! Did you bring gas-x strips? Did they help? I have my surgery March 6 with Dr Corvala and am anxious to get it done. I'll be following ur posts, get some rest. I'm also from the Savannah area.

I am feeling well. Yesterday wasn't easy the day after surgery. I was one of the lucky few that got bad gas pains. The others on my floor didn't have a hard time with that. This place is incredible. Angeles is a full all encompassing hospital that feels like a spa. I have lots of pics and will write a journal with them. Great nurse staff, doctors and care all around. I might even get my teeth done while here...need a bunch of work..any questions just ask.

Hi,
I'm looking to say Hi to others making the trip and surgery on or around Feb 19th with Dr Corvala or Angeles Hospital? Please touch base if you are. Would love to say Hi.
Thanks!

Rubygirl: I am just trying to get information and share ideas so that I can make an informed well thoughtout decision regarding who my TJ surgeo will be. I have nothing against Dr. Ortiz have seriously considered using him based on posts on this forum thread. Certainly if you don't like what I write, feel free not to read my posts.

@tashaharris the doctor is good, but I think I risked more than I should have. It's a clinic and not a big hospital. I was very uncomfortable after surgery and in a lot of pain. I don't think they gave me strong enough pain medication. The bed was like sleeping on a kinder mat. The nurses didn't automatically wear gloves, so I was kinda nervous about their the sterilization process (or perhaps lack thereof? Shouldn't they know basic safety process like always wear gloves?).
Also, the way they stitched me back up was not pretty. My regular doctor here made a comment that it wasn't the best - like old school techniques perhaps. They also use clear stitching so getting them removed here was difficult, since my doc couldn't see them well. Luckily she got all of them and I didn't have any problem afterward.
Overall, I survived, without any post-op complications (no infection), so I'm happy with that! :-)
I hope I didn't scare you too much. The doctor is really nice and thorough, the nurses are very sweet, the driver that picked us up in San Diego named Joel was awesome! And you'll meet a lady named Veronica who is like a liaison, she's great too.
Let me know if you have any other questions!

Kindle I'm glad the surgery went well for you with ortiz at OCC and it appears that is the case with the vast majority of patients that have gone to occ. I have just read enough posts on this site were people aren't feeling well three or four days post op that I feel more comfortable staying in a real hospital. I am feel okay right after post op and then when they would discharge me and I would get back to the Marriot I could start developing complications. In the rare case that I come down with complications or just don't feel well I like the thought of being in a hospital where nurses and doctors could take care of me. Right now hospital angeles will let me stay one night pre op as long as i check in at or after 6:00 and four nights post op. I think they want me to stay in the hospital at least three nights post op and it will be my option to stay in the hospital on the fourth night or check into the hotel(camino real). I will most likely stay there all four nights in case I develop some type of post op complication. If for some reason I'm really not feeling well I'm sure they would let me stay longer but I'm guessing I may may have to pay for additional nights at some point. Similar to Rocky, I just feel more comfortable staying in the hospital given that I will be there all alone with no one to take care of me in a foreign country. Staying in the hospital doesn;t guarentee there won't be complications or something serious might happen. On these posts I have seen on extremely rare occassions in 2008 and 2011 where two patients unfortunately passed away having weight loss surgery at Hospital Angeles; however, I believe that staying at the hospital helps to reduce the risk of something seriously happening and if it does hospital angeles is much better equiped to handle the issue versus the TJ Marriot. TIme is of the essence in those type of situations. I would be very comfortable with having ortiz do my procedure. I'm just not comfortable with the occ standard setup of one night in the hospital and then four nights in the hotel.

@@freddie8_8 We all have to make our own decision for ourselves based on our own comfort level. If staying 4 nights in the hospital puts your mind at ease, then that is what you should do! There's no "right" or "wrong" answer here, there is only what is "right" or "wrong" for YOU.