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?

I hate the 'my doctor is better than your doctor' wars that goes on in boards like this.

I behooves you to research your physician to the best of your ability. After that it comes down to your comfort zone.

There are many fine doctors out there, not just one.

I hate the 'my doctor is better than your doctor' wars that goes on in boards like this.

I behooves you to research your physician to the best of your ability. After that it comes down to your comfort zone.

There are many fine doctors out there, not just one.

It really isn't a matter of "my doctor is better than your doctor," it is more along the lines that you CAN have quality and safe surgery even though a doctor is not local. There are fantastic surgeons all over the world. The good surgeons do not all live in the US, there are great doctors everywhere.

The good surgeons do not all live in the US, there are great doctors everywhere.

And the good surgeons in the US often have patients who travel all over to use them. So the same issues -- how are you going to get follow-up care and what kind of relationship do you want to have with your surgeon -- exist even when you use a US doctor.

For me, staying local was important. But the doctor also had to meet my standards. I was lucky that I live in an area with several surgeons who have been doing the sleeve since pretty much day one. I even had a choice of programs. So I was able to get what I wanted and stay local.

But, if I had not had these choices locally, I would definitely have looked outside my region. Yes, after care would be an issue. But not an insurmountable one. My surgeon does a lot of after care over the phone, for example, and I get support online and there are local support groups not affiliated with any surgeon I could go to.

So I just don't believe that you have to stay in the US to get good care and that you have to stay local. Sometimes staying local is a bad idea, in fact, if there are no experienced sleeve surgeons in your area.

For ME, the decision to go to Mexico AND stay local was easy. My MEXICAN doctor is just a few minutes down the road, and just across the border. This is not always an OPTION for most people, however, and I can certainly understand why someone would look for a LOCAL doctor. I, too, wanted to point out that not all of the GOOD doctors reside in the US. There are PLENTY in Mexico, you just have to be careful who you see. The same can be said for AMERICAN doctors. There was nothing in my post about my doctor being better than anyone else's. I just wanted to point out that there were good doctors available OUTSIDE of the US.

For ME, the decision to go to Mexico AND stay local was easy. My MEXICAN doctor is just a few minutes down the road, and just across the border. This is not always an OPTION for most people, however, and I can certainly understand why someone would look for a LOCAL doctor. I, too, wanted to point out that not all of the GOOD doctors reside in the US. There are PLENTY in Mexico, you just have to be careful who you see. The same can be said for AMERICAN doctors. There was nothing in my post about my doctor being better than anyone else's. I just wanted to point out that there were good doctors available OUTSIDE of the US.

Well said! There are good and bad surgeons everywhere and that's why we've got to research before placing ourselves in the hands of these people.

I wouldn't go to Mexico for surgery, mainly because I know there are a number of doctors in the US who do the sleeve for about the same price as if I were to fly to Mexico, including the one I'm going to. So there's really no reason at all for me to leave the country for the sleeve. By the time you add in travel costs, it's not any more inexpensive. Plus there is still that language barrier that is possible with some of the nurses.

I don't think the Mexican surgeons are somehow less qualified though. You'll find good and bad ones all over the world.

Who in the states does the sleeve for the same cost as the Mexican doctors? I can't even imagine this. I had a esophagram in preparation for lap-band surgery at my local hospital, and was billed by three different entities! Are you talking just the surgeon's charges? Or all labs, radiology, anesthesia, nursing etc.??? I just want to know who in the states does all this (VSG) for under $10,000

Who in the states does the sleeve for the same cost as the Mexican doctors? I can't even imagine this. I had a esophagram in preparation for lap-band surgery at my local hospital, and was billed by three different entities! Are you talking just the surgeon's charges? Or all labs, radiology, anesthesia, nursing etc.??? I just want to know who in the states does all this (VSG) for under $10,000

Even lower. My doc is starting a promotion right now, for a sleeve it is $8750 and that includes everything except airfare. The states can't beat the prices or match the services. No way can a doctor in the US provide surgery, anesthesia, 3 nights in the hospital, leak tests, everything for $8750.

I had to chime in here, not becuase I went to Mexico (which I did) but because I'm Canadian. So as a Canadian, going to the US is going to a foriegn country and using foreign doctors and currency, etc... So if I'm going to a foriegn country anyways (because I couldn't find a Canadian doc to do it) then why would I pay double to the foreign American doctor?

I did research American, Mexican, Indian and Spanish doctors, to me they are all 'foreign'. I settled on the Mexican.

Bren

Even lower. My doc is starting a promotion right now, for a sleeve it is $8750 and that includes everything except airfare. The states can't beat the prices or match the services. No way can a doctor in the US provide surgery, anesthesia, 3 nights in the hospital, leak tests, everything for $8750.

Well, dang it. I missed it by two weeks! I could have used that break.

Well, dang it. I missed it by two weeks! I could have used that break.

I don't know the details, I could be wrong but I think it has to be in the month of July. Again, nobody quote me on this, I'm not sure.

There are a number of "Low End" surgeons here in the states that will perform the operation at near the cost of what Mexico's BEST surgeons will charge, but as it has been stated elsewhere, you get what you pay for. I have seen American doctors who advertise prices somewhere in the range of $12,000 US, but there are no bells and whistles. You have to pay for your own transportation and accomodations. With the Mexican doctors, usually accomodations and sometimes airfare is included in the price. With the American doctors who advertise the same price, you are lucky to get just the surgery, and a DAY in the hospital. After that, you are expected to go home (or somewhere else) after the surgery. These doctors have an "assembly line" mentality where they bring them in, cut, and send them out. You get very little in support from these doctors, or so I have heard. Once you are done, you are on your own. Now that is little different from having your surgery done outside of your geographical area, except that with the Mexican surgeons, you have better quality care when you are THERE.

I hope that this answers some of your questions.

Hugh

There is at least one, maybe two, US surgeons who do the sleeve on an out-patient basis. You don't even get overnight in the hospital -- you go to a nearby hotel. The price of the hotel is included, but I would want to be in the hospital after having most of my stomach cut off.

I don't know the details, I could be wrong but I think it has to be in the month of July. Again, nobody quote me on this, I'm not sure.

Well it wasn't in the month of June; however, the difference I paid isn't that much that I would have put the surgery off until July.

There is at least one, maybe two, US surgeons who do the sleeve on an out-patient basis. You don't even get overnight in the hospital -- you go to a nearby hotel. The price of the hotel is included, but I would want to be in the hospital after having most of my stomach cut off.

I'm with you on that one - 100 percent!

There is at least one, maybe two, US surgeons who do the sleeve on an out-patient basis. You don't even get overnight in the hospital -- you go to a nearby hotel. The price of the hotel is included, but I would want to be in the hospital after having most of my stomach cut off.

I can't fathom how it could be safe to do a sleeve on an outpatient basis. I am all for saving money but not when it jeopardizes the patient's health.