I am just beyond sick with trying to figure out who to go to in Mexico. I have liked everything I have read about certain doctors but I am also only approved for $6700 in financing and have to pay the rest out of pocket. How did you select your doctor and what was your COMPLETE experience like?

Honesty only please!

I just had surgery yesterday with Dr. Kelly and I have no pain and 24 hr of nausea then I feel good now. They were super nice here and $5500 plus airfare.

I chose Dr. Garcia. He is $5000 and my experience was absolutely great. My surgery was on May 7th and I have done great. I would do it all over again. I did my research and have heard not one bad thing from his patients.

I had surgery May 10 with Dr. Ponce De Leon. My whole experience including my surgery is on my YouTube videos you are welcome to watch them. I loved my experience and would highly recommend him and his team! Cost was $5500 plus flight cost, I spent less than $6000 total including souvenirs and tips. I chose Dr. Ponce because of his experience level, he has taught many surgeons such as Dr. Kelly and Dr. Almanza on doing the sleeve and has done surgeries in many surgeons, doctors and medical staff in Mexico. Feel free to message me if you have any questions. Good luck in your journey!

I had Dr Ariel Ortiz (4/24/12) and never had any pain or gas problems. The facility was great My only complaint is that when I got to San Diego it took a while to get picked up from the airport.. Ortiz was more expensive than the others but his facility is a Center of Excellence, which means they have to meet the same standards of care as the US Centers of Excellence. I too struggled with choosing..but I wasn't just going to go with the cheapest when it was something as serious as surgey. A lot of people on these boards have had success with other places too, so maybe they are not all that different from each other. All I know is it turned out great for me! Good luck to you!

Thanks everyone....It's interesting. I was quoted over $8000 for Dr. Garcia. I have not spoken to anyone from Ponce De Leon or Ortiz as of yet. I don't care if I have to spend more. My husband and I agree that it's about experience, etc, not price. Also I should add....I have a lap band so I am looking for someone that has experience with revisions.

After months of research I'm going with Dr Francisco Gonzalez. He's with BajaMed Group. I don't want the experience of being herded through like cattle being tagged. I'm sure this is going to piss people off with me saying that. Google him. His records and achievements speak for themselves. No, your not going to see his name plastered up on here BC he doesn't pay all of the tons of money on advertising and supporting these forums to promote his name. He doesn't need to. Period. I'm paying 6300 and have been on touch with my surgeons from the get-go. I'm also vlogging my entire experience at YouTube.com/shesstrangelynormal. Ultimately, if u wanna stand in line all day like cattle being tagged, go with someone else and pay 4500-5000. That's not for me. Ugh

I'm going with Dr. Alvarez. He's a bit more , 8750, but he's also done 4200 sleeves and I just went to his seminar today and I really think he is amazing! I feel I couldn't have chosen anyone better.

It is overwhelming & you really have to do your research & then go with your gut. There are many good drs in Mexico.

I decided in the end to go with Dr Kelly & I am so happy I did. Cost was $5500 plus airfare.

He is an amazing Dr, had my surgery completed in 41 minutes, no gas pains whatsover, just some mild nausea the first 24 hours.

The team is also great & make your whole trip enjoyable. I went alone & was never nervous there, they made me feel like a part of the family!

If you have questions you can PM me. I also have a blog of my experience: http://njsharonjourney.blogspot.com/

If you wish to contact Dr Kelly's team, you can contact Omar at wls-clinic@hotmail.com or call 619-395-5347.

I chose Dr. Kelly also, I had surgery on Tuesday and leave TJ this morning. When I got here there was a girl that was leaving that had a revision and she looked amazing. Her revision was supposedly a tough one but she seemed to be at the same place as the rest of us 3 days out. I had no pain and very little nausea, I stopped taking the pain mess and anti nausea meds at day two. There were 5 of us done over the period of time that I was here and all have had the same experience.

I chose Dr Kelly bc I felt comfortable with all of the phone conversations we had prior, he has American credentials that my own physicians checked out, he does not work with the brokers, I did not have to send any money before hand. Those were my main reasons, everyone's is going to be different.

If you speak to Dr. Kelly remember that he does not work with brokers so if you are contacted besides anyone but Omar then you are not actually talking to Dr Kelly. The brokers are playing not so fair.

I agree with Sherlee. I am going to Dr Kelly on June 14 and am very excited. He quit working with the brokers/coordinators for many reasons. He doesn't advertise on here either and is 100% word of mouth.

If you haven't talked to him or Omar, I'd suggest starting there. That's ultimately what sold me... My interaction with him and his team! It wasn't about money at all for me! And I still picked him. I didn't know that Sherlee's own doc checked Dr Kelly out but that just adds more confidence to my decision!

Good luck!!

What Deb and Sherlee are saying is exactly why I am also going to Dr Kelly on June 14th. I am so confident and excited to make this change! I chose Dr Kelly and there has never once been a doubt in my mind that I have made the right decision! Deb and I are 16 days away from leaving for Tijuana and Im pretty sure I can say for the both of us that we are super confident we made the right choice!

I went to Dr. Gracia as well. Alma was my coordinator with ready 4 a change it was 5000 plus airfare. My experience was wonderful. I had a reaction to the antithesis but otherwise all was good staff and care at hospital was amazing!!!!

I am also a Dr. Kelly patient! I was sleeved on May 14, 2012 and now, 13 days post-op. My BMI was high (in the mid-50s) which added a bit of cost to my surgery for extra OR time and anesthetic time. If your BMI is 49 or lower it is $5500 plus airfare. If your BMI is higher than 49, it is $6000 plus airfare. I was told to start a liquid diet 2 weeks prior to surgery to shrink my liver and make the surgery safer and less traumatic. I lost 11 lbs on this diet, but it wasn't enough to bring my BMI down below 49. Dr. Kelly's team was really rooting for me though, to bring my BMI down so I didn't have to pay the extra $500!

I had a fantastic experience with Dr. Kelly and his team. His assistant Omar is very prompt in answering questions and Dr. Kelly spent 45 min on the phone with me answering a lot of detailed questions prior to my making my decision. As well, I have an anaphylactic allergy to latex which can complicate things. They were totally on top of this the whole way, from pre-op testing to my surgery to my care post-op in the hospital and the hotel. That was VERY important to me and it didn't cost me anything extra and really put my mind at ease.

I saw Dr. Kelly and Omar several times a day while in hospital (admitted on Monday, surgery same day, discharged Wed. morning) and at least once per day until I came home on Saturday. He even accompanied me across the border as he had a meeting that same morning in southern California. I spent a lot of time with his wife Cecey who took me shopping, sight-seeing and out for lunch (hmmmm, broth!). His practice involves his family and you are made to feel welcome as a member of his family. It really is amazing!

I know how difficult it is to make this decision (I was in your shoes just a short time ago!), but ask as many questions as you possibly can, read as much as you can online from this forum and others to get the best picture of each of your short-list choices. Eventually one will "rise to the top" in your mind. And you will have the satisfaction of knowing you did everything you could to arrive at your decision.

My personal surgical experience was outstanding. I have not taken pain meds nor nausea meds since the 2nd day after surgery. My incisions are TINY and healing remarkably well. I can sleep on my sides since day 5 and have never vomited. In the beginning I had "cramps" when drinking and it scared me as it was very painful, but they went away after about 7-8 days post-op. I thought I had a leak! But it is just due to the stomach being so swollen and sore. I can now drink without any pain and in larger mouthfuls (no more sip sip sipping!) Of course, I still don't "chug" my liquids, but I can drink fairly close to my normal way and much faster than last week.

I did have some issues with intense diarrhea, but I finally figured out it was probably due to the antibiotics. I bought some Probiotics (Bio-K) and it's cleared that right up!

The biggest challenge has been head hunger and missing chewing. For me it's been 4 weeks without chewing, which feels like a lifetime! But I'm down 22 lbs and the chewing is coming back soon. So worth it!

Good luck with your decision and if you have any questions, feel free to private message me!

Thanks everyone....It's interesting. I was quoted over $8000 for Dr. Garcia. I have not spoken to anyone from Ponce De Leon or Ortiz as of yet. I don't care if I have to spend more. My husband and I agree that it's about experience, etc, not price. Also I should add....I have a lap band so I am looking for someone that has experience with revisions.

Who didd you talk to? Are you sure it was for Dr. Fernando Garcia? Go to obesitysolutionsinternational.com it should get you in touch with the correct people and it does state $5000 on the website. I just had my surgery and it was $5000.

My wife and I were both sleeved on May 15th by Dr. Fernando Garcia in Tijuana. We were at Mi Doctors hospital and because we both had the surgery, our cost was $4800 a piece. That includes hospital stay (which was the best care I've ever had in a hospital), surgery (did not have ANY complications to date), hotel stay for 3 nights (Marriot was very nice and had great service) and transportation (the driver, Samual Jr, was right on time and a great dude).

From what I have seen on this forum, everyone loves the doctor they chose. So what that tells me is that they are all good and are all qualified! So my advice is to choose one that you are most comfortable with, for whatever reason, and don't second guess your decision. I'm sure you will be in great hands wherever you go.

It's an easy surgery to recover from. I went back to work 6 days after and could have gone back 3 days after.