I want to thank all of you for taking time out of your day to post as you have. Lots of good info in here, most good, some concerning. I was about 1 day from booking with Dr. Garcia in Tijuana until I read the one lady’s post form Seattle I think in which she stated that the Dr. was not bad, but the nurses and facility at Mi hospital were not so good.

I pulled Hospital MI up on Google Maps and while the building itself seemed fine and new, the location around it, not so much and the empty lot next to it was full of trash. Not sure if it is still like that. On the other hand, I have read several positive reviews on the staff and hospital as well. Thus is the internet, we can read 100 good things, but the one bad thing is what we fixate on. That having been said, we chose Dr. Zapata in Monterrey, MX.

I have heard many good things about Dr. Zapata, but mostly on sites that in one way or another he has affiliations with. I am a skeptic by nature, so I always wonder would the site post a negative review, I assume not. The wife and I will be having surgery the same day, looking for feedback on anyone that has used this doctor. Any concerns with Ready4Change? Any concerns with going into Monterrey? Any tips? Anyone have any real issue 1-5 years post op?

My concern is since this procedure is somewhat new, with no real long-term data; I don’t want to end up having many complications in the future. The wife and I definitely have to so something, both of our BMI's are right around 43. I am 320 and she is around 270. It’s really my fault; I have really fattened her up over the years with my bad habits.

Any advice will be greatly appreciated, very nervous about doing this, not really for myself. Her parents are coming with us; I am concerned for their safety in Monterrey while I am in the hospital, concerned about complications for the wife, in short, really just worried about them.

Thanks,

My husband and I both had our surgeries on Dec 8 2011 with Dr. Ramos-Kelly at the Hospital MI in Tijuana. We went together, with no one else. We called it a "date-surgery" and had a great time over the course of 5 days. No issues, we thought the hospital was just fine (though small), the staff were great and Dr. Kelly was the best. No complications, we were well taken care of medically, and had no problems in the hotel (Pueblo Amigo). We also went shopping on our own on our last day there. We have talked about this issue many times over the past 7 weeks and feel that having the surgery done at the same time was the best decision for us. Your body, diet and mind are going to go through great changes and it is great to have someone who can relate directly. We understand exactly how each other feels, and the changes have already greatly impacted our entire family (3 kids, ages 10, 12, 15) in several positive ways. Hubby has lost around 65 pounds, and I have lost 43.

I cannot speak for the safety of the Monterrey area, but hope you will have your inlaws brings lots of things to do during your stay. Pre-surgery, we were both kept very busy with pre-op tests, labs, MD visits, etc. Post-op, it was meds, sleep, pee, walk for 2 days. Hope the inlaws won't be expecting good company from you and your wife because you will be busy recuperating. Maybe you could research some touristy things for them to do during your post op period. Personally, it would have driven me crazy to have someone there 'watching me sleep'.

Unfortunately, no long term advise, but so far so good. I really feel like the lady from Seattle posted the totally negative post did Dr. Garcia/Hospital Mi no favors. I can't believe that her and I went to the same facility...maybe her expectations were too high? Not sure where she has received care anywhere in the US, but our medical care in TJ was far superior to any I have had here in the US...guess she was having a bad day? Good luck on your journey.

Thanks for your info Nacy6021? Anyone in here been to Monterrey? I was looking at having the inlaws stay at a Holiday Inn Express about 4 miles away. It looks like the hospital and Hosptal Christus Mugerza Sur are located in the South of the city, the hotel is about 5 miles from the hospital, pulled everything up on Google Earth, looks nice and safe, anyone have any experiences with this hispital, hotel or area?

Well we are almost 24 hours post op, actually around 18 to be accurate. One more day at the hospital, then one back at the hotel. So far everything has been nice. I will give a full detailed report in the next few days, to tired to type that much. One question I have is how long does it take until you feel some normal. Meaning little to no discomgort?

Ok, I have more time and I feel better, so I figured I would give an overall view of my experience. A few things to be desired, but overall very impressed with the level of service and medical attention that my wife and I have received. I truly feel that it meets, if not exceeds in some areas of what we would have gotten in the US.

We came down to Monterrey on Wednesday 2/15/2012 and were met at the airport by a driver (don’t remember name) and he took us to the area medical district. In this area we were taken to 3 different areas for test. First area for blood work, second area for an ultra-sound and the last are was actually to Dr. Zapata’s office to meet with a cardiologist for a heart exam.

This is one area that I though could be a bit better. I think this was a last minute change, I was under the impression that all the test would be done the same day as the surgery and the test done at the hospital. There was nothing wrong with anything or quality of the test just did not seem to be well organized. At one point we were waiting out on the sidewalk (15 minutes) in public waiting for a ride. This made us a bit nervous to not have anyone with us, nervous just because we were foreigners and in Mexico. Nothing happened; we were fine, I am sure that we were just being paranoid.

The three locations in which the test were done were in older building, clean and well kept, but aged. Once again the service and attention were great. I have no complaints, other than at this stage I started to question my decision on Dr. Zapata and Monterrey.

We met with Dr. Zapata later that night and after meeting with him, my wife, her parents and I no longer had any doubts that we made the right decision with Dr. Zapata and Monterrey. How gave us as much of his time as we wanted to answer all of the question we had. Very nice doctor, seems to go out of his way to make his patients comfortable,

The next day was the day of the surgery. No complaints here. The anesthesiologist was great; actually I woke up asking how much longer the wait was going to be for my surgery to learn that it was done. I stayed in the recovery room for around 2 hours I believe, and then off to my room. I wanted to walk immediately, as well as get something to drink, driest mouth I have ever had. They did not want me to walk at that point and Water / ice chips were not allowed until after a leak test, which was the next day. I was able to rinse my mouth with water though.

About 2 hours later my wife is brought up to the hospital room. She had a different reaction to the surgery. While I woke up in almost no pain, she had mild pain. While she was sleepy and slept most of that day, I was awake, wide awake at times.

We are about 5 hours away from being discharged and she is pretty much pain free, while I am still have some gas pains. None of the pain has been bad though; I would describe it more as discomfort. The hospital has been great, the doctors and nurses have been great as well. At time there have been communication issues as I do not speak Spanish and most of the nurses do not speak English. This was a minimal problem though, there was always someone available that could speak English and translate if need be.

To be honest, I was really impressed by their professionalism, dress and care to what I would have received in the US. I feel much more like a person here, whereas in the US I think I would have felt more like a number. I cannot speak for the success of the operation on if it was right for us as it is too early to tell, I am sure it is, but only being 2 days post op, that would be a premature statement.

I can say this, if you are considering Dr. Zapata and Monterrey and have concerns about anything don't. Very pleased with all aspects, like I said there are a few areas that could be changed to cater to the American business, but that aside, all was good. My biggest complaint would be some of the forms were in Spanish, would have been nice to have them in English.

I was originally going to with Dr. Garcia in TJ; I saw one bad review, along with it being a border town and decided to come here. It was around $3k more expensive, but figured when it came to my health price should not be my first shopping point. It says that Dr. Zapata has performed over 1400 gastric sleeve surgeries and he works in a JCI Hospital. Nice hospital by the way. Christian Murgara SUR. Hope this helps someone as many of your comments help my wife and I get here.

Thank you so much for your review.

I wanted to give everyone a quick update, so far everything has been great. I started at around 325 and my wife around 270. we had our sleeve surgery on 2/16/2012. I am currently 173 pounds and the wife is at 170 pounds. I am 20 pounds under my target weight and she still wants to lose another 20. So far I have lost about 150 and she has lost about 100.

Funny problem to have, but I dont want to lose anymore. Never thought I would have that problem. The first three months or so was a challange, still had the mindset to eat. Now its no big deal, used to it. Need to work out more, lost a lot of my muscle mass.