First let me say that Dr Garcia did exactly as I asked and that was not to be restricted too tightly as I want to lose no more than 50 lbs and so far I have had ZERO problems with my sleeve. He was a joy and very pleasant. And the anesthesiologist was amazing!!! I felt ZERO pain and remembered absloutely nothing lol! YEEESSS!!! Dr. Garcia and his staff deserves recognition because I couldnt find very much on him during my research but his their liason/patient coordinator alma put me in touchh with some of his previous patients who were equally ecstatic about Dr Garcia. Alma is absolutely wonderful as well and always handles your emails and phone calls in a very timely fashion...very quickly actually.

My sister and I actually underwent this journey together and decided after leaving the hospital to stay on the San Diego side and Alma took care of everything for us after the dr cleared us so we only stayed one night in Hotel Ticuan which I must say was a veeerrry nice hotel with excellent LOOKING food!!! lol! Could only look at it! Dont get the chicken broth though... yuck...no flavor but the Tortilla Soup was to die for!!!

Our entire stay there felt completely safe and I was NEVER in any pain for any length of time because the nurses were so very attentive and were adamant about making sure that we were not in any pain and kept the pain meds coming...they all gave explicable care!!! I was sooooo pleasantly surprised to realize that the pain was so minimal that I felt almost completely normal when leaving the hospital lol!! I actually do not need a whole other week of work off!!! Im ready to eat thats for sure but I know in due time it will be ok.

Once again, I can not say enough about the excellent care we received and not to mention Dr. Garcia's skill is not to be denied. He listens and knows what he is doing!!! ! would like to thank his whole staff for such a wonderful experience and Hector, our driver was absolutely wonderful. He was always on time or early in fact and even took us on the scenic route to the hotel so that we could get to see a little bit of San Diego before leaving and I would be an advocate for anyone who is interested in this procedure with Dr. Garcia and hisstaff. I am sure once I continue to heal that it can only get better from here!!! 6 days down and I have already lost 9 lbs!!! I am 5'4 and starting weight was 180 and bmi was 30.9.

Thanks Tootsie!! See my review as well! Miss you sis!

Hello I am going to Mexico to and Dr Almanza is doing my surgery on Dec 10, I beleive your dr is in with mine. I fly into San Deigo Friday Dec 9 I am staying and extra day in San Deigo after my surgery also, any suggestion on what to do? I thought about the zoo I heard it is suppose to be the best. chris

Hi great choice! I would just say make sure to bring your laptop and a prepaid phone if u dont want want to run up a huge bill on your regular cell in Mexico. The hospital has wi-fi. We didnt get out and go to the zoo or anything but Im sure you will feel up to it because believe it or not...once leaving the hospital u will feel great at least that was the case with the three of us that had surgery on the same day. Also, Dr. Garcia will customize your sleeve for you meaning if u dont want to be sleeved to the highest restriction just talk to him about the amount of weight you want to lose and he doesnt speak alot of english but good enough to communicate effectively. Oh and my last suggestion would be to brush up on your spanish if you dont know it already because most of the nurses speak very little english but somehow we communicate and they will take very good care of you.

Thats all I can think of right now. Best of luck to you!

Congrats and welcome to the LOSERS bench!

hi tootsiejuice, glad to hear you had such a great experience. i too was sleeved by dr. garcia and his team on nov 1 and my experience was amazing as well. other than my pre-existing reflux issues flaring up a bit, i had no pain from my sleeve. i would recommend him in a heartbeat!

What was the name of the hospital where you had your surgery with Dr. Garcia? One coordinator contacted me and when I said I wanted Dr.Kelly she said Dr. Garcia is cheaper and just as good even does the surgery in the same hospital with Dr.Kelly? I know Dr.Almanza does his surgeries in a clinic and not in an actual hospital is this the case with Dr.Garcia if they are on the same team?

Congrats and welcome to the LOSERS bench!

Thanks ATLGirl feels good to be on the bench lol!

What was the name of the hospital where you had your surgery with Dr. Garcia? One coordinator contacted me and when I said I wanted Dr.Kelly she said Dr. Garcia is cheaper and just as good even does the surgery in the same hospital with Dr.Kelly? I know Dr.Almanza does his surgeries in a clinic and not in an actual hospital is this the case with Dr.Garcia if they are on the same team?

Hi, In Tijuana, Dr. Fernando Garciaworks out of Hospital Mi Doctor and it is a very small lil hospital almost clinic-like in my opinion but very clean and comfortable. Its a new hospital so they are still expanding. Hmmm, one thing I neglected to mention...the first night I was there which was on Sat...I dont know if there is a club underneath the hospital or next door but the music was VERY loud where my room was and a bit annoying lol! It was just the one night though. Dr. Garcia I must say is very good at what he does and his anesthioligist is THE truth...I woke up and it was all over...no sickness or anything and that almost NEVER happens to me because I have always been extremely sick after the anesthesia. I would recommend him in a heartbeat and I bet Dr. Garcia will be raising his prices soon once everyone finds out that he is just as good as the other well known doctors so in this case IMHO cheaper doesnt mean worse. Best wishes to you! Go with your gut and I know you will be fine!

Hi bturner,

The name of the hospital was Mi Hospitalia...something like that. It was a clinic. It didn't have a whole lot of rooms but was clean and staffed 24 hours. I'm not sure if there was a team of doctors. I only saw one and that was Dr. Garcia. He was great. I am 14 days out and I haven't had any problems that were related to anything he did. I've been a bit dehydrated, and going through the normal things that I'm sure you've read about. My sister and I and another lady were there on the same day to do the same surgery and we all are doing well. I keep in touch with the other lady as well. We all have lost 18lbs or more in the first two weeks, no leaks or complications. HTH!

Hello I am going to Mexico to and Dr Almanza is doing my surgery on Dec 10, I beleive your dr is in with mine. I fly into San Deigo Friday Dec 9 I am staying and extra day in San Deigo after my surgery also, any suggestion on what to do? I thought about the zoo I heard it is suppose to be the best. chris

Today is the day of your surgery and I hop you are doing well! Please come back and update us on how you are doing.

Ohh...by the way...I don't' know anything about the San Diego area. I just tried to focus on staying well so I didn't venture out much before I left!

Blessings!

What was the name of the hospital where you had your surgery with Dr. Garcia? One coordinator contacted me and when I said I wanted Dr.Kelly she said Dr. Garcia is cheaper and just as good even does the surgery in the same hospital with Dr.Kelly? I know Dr.Almanza does his surgeries in a clinic and not in an actual hospital is this the case with Dr.Garcia if they are on the same team?

Hey, bturner0385!!! It sounds like you spoke with alma. One of the places Dr.Garcia works from is a hospital called Mi Doctor. Dr. Ponce works over at the clinic with Almanza as well as at INT. Alma is so good at getting back you if she is not available. I think I am going to go with Garcia...I'm still doin my research but It's lookin like him.

"my sister and i actually underwent this journey together"

TootiesJuice, & gettingtohappy - i could tell you were sisters, you just look so alike Those smiles are a giveaway

It must be so nice to do this journey with a friend, but being your sister too, how great is that

Luck to both of you

kathy

DOS 12/15/11

Awww thank you Kathy!!! Yes me and Toosiejuice are sisters and very close. It was great to go through this with a sister, one who happens to be my best friend. We are doing well...it's so cool to actually call up someone you know at anytime and say "hey is your so and so feeling so and so?" We were in rooms facing each other in the hospital and shared time together in the hotel before we flew our separate ways on the last day! We hadn't seen each other in a while so it was really great.

We hope you are doing well too,

Blessings!

Hey everybody I am the other lady that had the surgery the same day as the sisters. I am doing great except for heartburn after I eat. Dr. Garcia and his staff are great. I felt no pain and actually went back to work the day after I got home. I do get tired fast but I think that is because I dont eat much because of the heartburn.

I am also a very satisfied client of Dr Garcia's. My surgery was Dec 5. The staff and the surgical team are super. I also talked to Dr Garcia about having a bit larger sleeve, being a light weight with 65-70 lbs to lose. I have had no problem with restriction but you sure know when you have hit the full mark!