Each person must make their own healthcare decisions. If you do not feel you are being served by a particular doctor or set of healthcare practitioners, it is your right as a medical consumer to change them. If it means changing jobs, then again, it is your decision, it is your health that determines what decision you will make. You can always get another job, can you get another life? For less than the cost of a new car, you can have the surgery that saves your life and/or makes it worth living going forward. It all comes down to what you want to do? Do you want to control your life, your health, your destiny? Research everything, discuss everything, go to surgical seminars. In any given year, there are at least 4 in the Seattle area. They are all different, with different rules for patients and insurance companies.

Remember, the insurance company would rather pay for your stroke, heart attack, or pulmonary embolism (because one of them might kill you, then they would have no more responsibility), so the more obstacles they put in your path, the less surgeries they will have to pay for. Also remember, your insurance dollar is being spent on strokes, heart attacks and pulmonary embolisms too. Do you want it to pay for yours, or someone else's?

Go to a bariatric physician in the United States, and research the one you go to thoroughly--talk to former patients, get his or her statistics on patients, attend a support group meeting for the surgery you are contemplating. Once you start doing research, it will become apparent that the easiest surgery on the patient is sleeve gastrectomy.

Personally, having had a sleeve gastrectomy by a Cadillac doctor, in a Cadillac country, here are the reasons I NEVER even thought about going to a foreign country for surgery:

1. Everybody in the process, doctor, nurses, hospital personnel and support people all speak English and I have already met all of them.

2. The banking laws in the United States are known; your mo Each person must make their own healthcare decisions. If you do not feel you are being served by a particular doctor or set of healthcare practitioners, it is your right as a medical consumer to change them. If it means changing jobs, then again, it is your decision, it is your health that determines what decision you will make. You can always get another job, can you get another life? For less than the cost of a new car, you can have the surgery that saves your life and/or makes it worth living going forward. It all comes down to what you want to do? Do you want to control your life, your health, your destiny? Research everything, discuss everything, go to surgical seminars. In any given year, there are at least 4 in the Seattle area. They are all different, with different rules for patients and insurance companies.

Remember, the insurance company would rather pay for your stroke, heart attack, or pulmonary embolism (because one of them might kill you, then they would have no more responsibility), so the more obstacles they put in your path, the less surgeries they will have to pay for. But remember, your insurance dollar is being spent on strokes, heart attacks and pulmonary embolisms too. Do you want it to pay for yours, or someone elses?

Go to a bariatric physician in the United States, and research the one you go to thoroughly--talk to former patients, get his or her statistics on patients, attend a support group meeting for the surgery you are contemplating. Once you start doing research, it will become apparent that the easiest surgery on the patient is sleeve gastrectomy.

Personally, having had a sleeve gastrectomy by a Cadillac doctor, in a Cadillac country, here are the reasons I NEVER even thought about going to a foreign country for surgery:

1. Everybody in the process, doctor, nurses, hospital personnel and support people all speak English.

2. The banking laws in the United States are known; your money does not need to be converted or transported in cash.

3. There is no better quality care than the United States. People from all over the world come here for care.

4. If anything goes wrong, you have the court system of the United States to bring suit or appeal.

Why go anywhere else?

Sounds to me like Wasa is just right about everything and I was wrong not to travel to Mexico for surgry!

Actually, I never wrote that everyone has to travel to MX for surgery. What I wrote is that we all need to find what is right for us and do it.

I will tell you that I'm getting a little tired of posters coming here pushing your doctor to the point that we had to delete a thread from an employee advertising on the boards. Doctors are free to contact the owner of the forum and pay for advertising but what his staff person did was breaking the rules. She came here for the mere purpose of adverting your surgeon. Her thread was deleted. This is a support board for patients, not a place for free advertising.

Then another person comes along and starts this thread with just a ridiculous post about traveling out of the country for surgery and it was beyond silly with silly and inaccurate information.

Then you come along, same doctor... and tell us how wonderful your doctor is because he does the same exact thing as the better doctors that people travel to see such as Mac's doc, Cirangle and my doc, Aceves. You guys are pushing this "travel" thing and "no doctor is good unless they are in the US" routine a little too far. You need to understand that we all like our surgeons, that's why we chose them. Traveling for surgery it absolutely fine and perhaps safer in some ways. The farther you travel the more the doc tends to keep you in a hospital.

There are pros and cons to traveling vs. local. As long as you guys keep pushing how it is only good to have surgery locally then you are going to have to realize that we are going to challenge you on that.

You found what works for you, we found what works for us. To imply that your journey is better because your doctor is local... it doesn't wash over here. We look for stats, experience, track records, reputation AND the issues you guys are discussing. We want it all.

I think you will find that the more invasive the surgery the more digging people do for research. We know what we are/were looking for in a surgeon, that's okay. We have the right.

Once again, we all need to find what works for us. But please do not claim that you somehow have a better program because you choose to stay locally. You really don't know what other doctors are offering.

I am also tired of the bigotry some folks show. If they are in the US they are surely better than doctors outside of the country. I have news for folks, there are great docs all over the world and they aren't all flocking to the US to practice their trade. They stay in their home country.

According to your surgeon's profile he has done 0 sleeves. My doctor has done over 600.

Your surgeon has done 300 lap bypass, mine has done over 500.

Your surgeon has done 1025 bands, mine has done over 2200.

I considered these kinds of issues when I was researching, not just what his address is.

Did you ever consider that perhaps those who travel out of the country do MORE research because they are out of the country? It's insulting when someone comes here and makes it sound as though they have a better doctor because they are local. You did your research, we did ours. You went to the doc of your choice, we went to the doc of our choice. Sometimes that is local, sometimes it's not.

Local does NOT mean better skilled, more experience, and better stats.

You know this is the first time I have ever posted to ANY site for any reason! I know nothing about anyone else pushing any doctor for ANY reason. If you will reread my post I was not piushing ANYTHING! I was just stating what worked for me! I did NOT criticise anyone for finding what works for them. To me it just feels like you think we are dumb for employing US doctors, US staff, and doing our part for the US economy. I never said my doctor was any better than any other, just great for me! Your choise is just that your choice! Don't knock me for mine! If this is the kind of "SUPPORT" a person recieves on this site I'm not sure I want to come back! You sure know how to welcome a newcomer. THANKS

You know this is the first time I have ever posted to ANY site for any reason! I know nothing about anyone else pushing any doctor for ANY reason. If you will reread my post I was not piushing ANYTHING! I was just stating what worked for me! I did NOT criticise anyone for finding what works for them. To me it just feels like you think we are dumb for employing US doctors, US staff, and doing our part for the US economy. I never said my doctor was any better than any other, just great for me! Your choise is just that your choice! Don't knock me for mine! If this is the kind of "SUPPORT" a person recieves on this site I'm not sure I want to come back! You sure know how to welcome a newcomer. THANKS

Well, you weren't exactly complementary when you wrote in a thread about leaving the country for surgery:

There is no abandoning of a patient.

Considering the topic of this thread, how should we take this?

I can't imagine traveling thousands of miles after surgry! What kind of follow-up care comes with doctors in another country? Mine couldn't be any better!!

Does that say, "Congrats to you for doing your research!"? Doesn't sound like it to me.

And when I tell you that I get the same thing as you do with my doctor and I tell you we all need to do what is right for us you respond:

Sounds to me like Wasa is just right about everything and I was wrong not to travel to Mexico for surgry!

In order to receive support you have to offer something other than insults to those that didn't make the same choices as you.

Again, we all have to do what is right for us. If that is local or traveling it does not matter. It is a matter of doing what is right for us.

The comment I made about abandoning a patient came form personal experience. I have found that to interact with a "Right Fighter" is useless. I sorry. I thought I had found a good site. I thought that when I read the drules about this site that there wouldn't be any unpleasent interactions. I was wrong. I spent a sleepless night and feel terrible. Now, I'll shake it off, go for a walk and go about my day.

The comment I made about abandoning a patient came form personal experience. I have found that to interact with a "Right Fighter" is useless. I sorry. I thought I had found a good site. I thought that when I read the drules about this site that there wouldn't be any unpleasent interactions. I was wrong. I spent a sleepless night and feel terrible. Now, I'll shake it off, go for a walk and go about my day.

I am truly and sincerely sorry that a post on a message board upset you to the point that you had a sleepless night and need to go for a walk to shake it off. Honestly, I really am sorry.

But please understand, those of us that went to Mexico or are planning on it have done a lot of research. We are forever getting snide remarks and stupid comments from those around us in real time that have no idea what they are talking about because they have never researched the topic. To repeatedly have to defend ourselves for going to a great surgeon with fantastic stats and a solid aftercare program... well, can you imagine how old it gets? Then to come to our support board and have it inferred that if we go to anyone that is not local we won't have a support system, we will be abandoned after surgery, or other posts that are dead wrong about having to change money to pesos and the banking systems... blah blah blah... it's not what a support group is all about. Shouldn't it be about truth?

You just can't come here and infer things that are inaccurate because we did not make the same choice as you and then be in a huff because we point out that you are not correct and explain in detail how our experience was pretty darn good, too AND we have the same thing as you for half the cost.

(Not referring to you specifically here) Do you have any idea how many people assume that because my doctor is in Mexico that he is a bad surgeon? Can you imagine the arrogance I hear when people make snide remarks about Mexican surgeons? Should I do nothing and respond with... nothing?

Nobody is knocking you for your choices, not a single person has done so. All we have done is to explain what we got in comparison to what you got and it's the same. I'm not really understanding why this upsets you so much. Now, if it is a known butcher... yeah, I get that! There are butchers in every country just like there are good surgeons in every country and we should warn one another about dangerous doctors, clinics, hospital, bariatric staff. That's part of support too.

The comment I made about abandoning a patient came form personal experience. I have found that to interact with a "Right Fighter" is useless. I sorry. I thought I had found a good site. I thought that when I read the drules about this site that there wouldn't be any unpleasent interactions. I was wrong. I spent a sleepless night and feel terrible. Now, I'll shake it off, go for a walk and go about my day.

BTW, where in the rules does it say that you will never have unpleasant interactions? If you consider someone disagreeing with your POV as unpleasant, you might want to brace yourself. Adults disagree, that's okay to agree to disagree. Not everyone is going to agree with everything you write, not everyone is going to agree with everything I write. It's how adults communicate.

I would LOVE to give my money for surgery in the U.S. and boost the U.S. economy but my choice was to pay out of pocket $25,000 (same day surgery) or go out of the U.S. and pay less than half. In THIS economy, I can't afford U.S. prices so I did my research and found a Mexican surgeon who taught many of the U.S. surgeons. I don't regret anything and had a great experience.

It's not all about the cost for surgery here in the states or in Mexico. It's about getting the nutritional help you'll need after surgery as well. Here in the States you can get the nutritional help you need for two years following surgery. They help you through emotional eating and all the other problems with eating that got you heavy in the first place. It's included in the price of the surgery. If you think you can have this surgery and never gain weight again your mistaken. I know because it started happening to me and if I didn't have the help from the Nutritionists afterwards, It would of all been in vain. You can only get that kind of help when you have your surgery here in the states. I had mine done by Dr. Peter Billing in Edmonds, WA and it came with 2 years of Nutritional counciling. Never go without it, it saves your life.

Yes, and here is some marketing stuff on the lapband.

ITS Reversible....LOL....yes, when it fails and screws you up, you can have it removed.

ITS ADJUSTABLE....well really just to get you to the spot the sleeve takes you to, and only to try and keep you at the spot the sleeve stays at all the time....LOL

ITS Less Invasive....well yes, but your body might not think it is less invasive. I guess that is why scar tissue develops?

Why do people insist on PBing marketing reasons for surgery choices of location, doctor, or type?

I mean does the average person really not know what they should and shouldn't eat? I practically, have taken all of the courses in college to be qualified as a nutritionist, and it really comes down to some pretty simple rules that we all live by or don't live by and are extremely well known.

Without a certification I could probably match information with any nutritionist out there regarding weight loss. That does not mean I followed it.

Boy is that true for me. I ate some peach cobbler for lunch today. Can't imagine anyone with any understanding of nutrition recommending it, but it was sure tasty!!!!! And even though I knew I shouldn't eat it, I did.

I guess, if I was really stupid enough to pretend it was a healthy fruit based food because it has peaches in it, then yes, I would need someone to straighten me out.

But I would like to think most aren't really that messed up?? Maybe they are?

It's not all about the cost for surgery here in the states or in Mexico. It's about getting the nutritional help you'll need after surgery as well. Here in the States you can get the nutritional help you need for two years following surgery. They help you through emotional eating and all the other problems with eating that got you heavy in the first place. It's included in the price of the surgery. If you think you can have this surgery and never gain weight again your mistaken. I know because it started happening to me and if I didn't have the help from the Nutritionists afterwards, It would of all been in vain. You can only get that kind of help when you have your surgery here in the states. I had mine done by Dr. Peter Billing in Edmonds, WA and it came with 2 years of Nutritional counciling. Never go without it, it saves your life.

Here we go again with Dr. Billing's patients and we can only have good care if we stay in the US.

I'm truly sorry that your $21,000 surgery only gives you 2 years of nutritional help.

I'm getting sick of these Dr. Billing's patients coming to the board claiming that the only way to get a good surgery is to stay in the US. This is a mantra that is growing old quickly.

Let's do a comparison of your doctor vs. my doctor in Mexico.

Experience:

Billings: 150 sleeves

My doctor: 600 sleeves

Staple line experience (lap bypass and sleeves):

Billings: 450 staple lines

My doctor: 1,100 staple lines

Nutritional support without added cost:

Billings: Covered for 2 years, then you pay.

My doctor: Lifetime at no charge.

Psych support:

Billings: I believe two years are included but I am not sure

My doctor: PhD available for life. No charge.

Hospitalization:

Billings: None, this major surgery is done on an outpatient basis. You wake up and they tell you to go home.

My doctor: Three nights in the hospital.

Cost:

Billings: $20,850

My doctor: $9500 total package cost.

Please explain to me again the benefit of staying in the US? Exactly what would I have received for an extra $11,350 that I would have paid had I gone to your doctor? Do you realize that two people could be sleeved with actual hospitalization in Mexico for the cost of one surgery on an outpatient basis with your own surgeon?

We disagree that the only way to get a good surgery and be successful is to stay in the US. I sincerely do not believe it is safe to have this particular procedure done on an outpatient basis. Something like 85% of leaks happen within the first 48 hours. If you would have had a leak it would have been discovered at home, not in a hospital.

I'm happy to keep pointing out the difference if that is what you wish.

Here in the States you can get the nutritional help you need for two years following surgery. They help you through emotional eating and all the other problems with eating that got you heavy in the first place. It's included in the price of the surgery.

Actually there are many, many programs in the US that do not include this sort of follow-up for any price. Many programs have no NUT on staff and some of the ones that do have no counselors. Some programs don't even have monthly support group meetings!

It's not US vs. Mexico. It's good programs vs. mediocre vs. bad. You can get all levels of programs in all countries.

I agree with MacMadame! We all choose what is best for us! I am glad you are happy with your choice as most all of us are happy with our choices!

WaSa: Way to go! I had MY sleeve done in Matamoros, Tamalipas, MX, and am quite satisfied with the doctor, hospital and the procedure. My wife used a CREDIT CARD to pay for my surgery, and no cash or check was involved. My experience was much like yours, with the exception that my SURGEON came and PRAYED for me after the surgery. I was OUT of it, but my wife was there, and he asked HER for permission to pray. He gathered up his STAFF, and they all prayed for my recovery while I was out due to the anesthesia. Now just have THAT done in a hospital in the US! Frankly, you would be LUCKY to even SEE your surgeon after the procedure was performed. I saw my surgeon several times a day, and his office was in the same HOSPITAL where he performed the surgeries. I suspect that when he did not have someone to visit with and talk to about Weight Loss Surgery, he was doing rounds and checking on his patients.

My wife and I paid $12 K for my surgery in Mexico, and we could have found it cheaper, but we decided to have it done in Matamoros instead of going ELSEWHERE in Mexico because we live just across the river from Matamoros, and I would be able to have regular follow up care with little to no cost to ME for traveling. The only downside I can see with having surgery done in Mexico is that you cannot SUE the doctor if there is something that is done wrong. Most doctors in Mexico will GLADLY try to FIX any problems, however, since their reputation is important to them. UNLIKE in the US, you can EASILY vote with your feet when it comes to surgery in Mexico, and while the PUBLIC hospitals in Mexico are DISMALLY poor in providing service, the PRIVATE hospitals are usually GREAT! Again, you get what you pay for, and the American dollar goes FAR in Mexico at this time. The private hospitals and doctors usually give EXCELLENT care. You DO have to be careful, though because JUST LIKE in the US, there ARE charlatans who work as doctors. This is why it is very important to RESEARCH your Mexican doctor before you go to get surgery. A Mexican doctor with a GREAT reputation is a wonder to have. I strongly suggest that anyone who has to PAY out of pocket, look to Mexico for their surgery!