I decided that I would be more comfortable in the hospital, so I switched from Almanza and am going with Lopez (who I believe works with Garcia). Anyone have surgery with him? I haven't seen any reports one way or the other.

I am have my band to sleeve revision on Aug 15 th I need a buddy. I will traveling alone. Dr Lopez and Osuna

You will be fine. Good people will be looking out for you and you meet others and make good friends here. I have.

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I had a really good experience overall. I really liked the Dr Lopez, his wife (also a surgeon who assists him in the op room), and the rest of his staff. Here is some info about my experience:

We arrived at the San Diego airport and was picked up by a driver named Samuel. He was very friendly and loaded our bags for us and drove us to the Marriott about 15-20 mins away in Tijuana.

When we arrived at the hotel everyone greeted us, knew English, and they had our reservation booked already. The hotel was VERY nice! I was given a welcome packet and inside there was a letter from the clinic which stated I would get 3 free cups of broth, 2 free popsicles, and 2 free bottles of Water per day. Then we went to our room and took a long nap.

Someone named Jasmine who worked with the Dr stopped by and explained that we would be picked up the next morning at 7am with a group of other patients (who were also getting surgery done by Dr Lopez) by Samuel and brought to INT Hospital.

The next morning he was there 7am sharp and I got to meet and talk to the other patients on the way. We arrived at the hospital and it was very nice and clean. We were all put in our own rooms after just a couple minutes of arrival. I changed into a gown and did pre op testing, had an IV placed, and was told i would have surgery at 3 or 4 pm. The nurses at the hospital did not speak very good English, so it is helpful if you know a little bit of Spanish so you can communicate some of your basic needs easier. Still though, they were all very helpful and sweet. Dr Lopez came in and talked to me, asked if I had any questions, etc. Then they came early, at 12 pm they came to get me for surgery. I was put to sleep very quickly. I woke up from recovery after 4 hours. I have never had surgery, I woke up in a panic because I was extremely short of breath. After that I was brought to my room, given really good pain meds and a breathing treatment, and went back to sleep.

The next day I was taken for a leak test and X-ray. I got to see my sleeve but it was sort of hard to tell how big it was. I had no leaks.

I ended up getting a fever and I seemed to be in more pain than anyone else I came in with. They all left the hospital fairly soon but I stayed 3 nights. I also have asthma and was having a really hard time breathing. Dr Lopez checked on me every morning and sometimes in the evening to see how I was doing.

Btw, I never once felt unsafe being in Tijuana.

I suppose since I'm still recovering (only 10 days out) something could still go wrong with the sleeve but it's probably unlikely. I'm grateful I have no leaks and the sleeve seems to be doing its job. I am still having some breathing issues, and one of my incisions is taking forever to heal. It's the biggest one and right in the middle. They told me since there is more fat right there it is taking longer.

Hello-

I have asthma as well and am worried about problems with surgery. May I ask how bad is your asthma, and if you were taking any medications at the time of your surgery?? Right now my asthma is well controlled with my medications, but nonetheless I'm terribly worried! Any comments would be greatly appreciated! Thanks

Hello-

I have asthma as well and am worried about problems with surgery. May I ask how bad is your asthma, and if you were taking any medications at the time of your surgery?? Right now my asthma is well controlled with my medications, but nonetheless I'm terribly worried! Any comments would be greatly appreciated! Thanks

Generally my asthma isn't too bad but I had been having problems breathing deeply for a few months prior to surgery. I was using my inhaler a lot. I definitely hated life as soon as I woke up, I could not breathe. They weren't worried. When I got home they told me to blow up balloons. It took me a few weeks before I felt better.

wow...they weren't worried? No breathing treatment offered? Didn't they know you had asthma? Did you have your own inhaler to use? When my asthma is acting up I cough like crazy, no way would I want to be doing that right after surgery....yikes!

Yeah, they knew I had asthma. I had a lot of breathing treatments actually. They didn't act worried I should say; they said that it's a common occurrence after surgeries. I had my inhaler but it didn't help. I wasn't having any coughing fits or attacks, it was more like I just had to take short breaths because it hurt to breathe, I couldn't breathe deeply, and I was wheezing. It sucked, but all in all, I would do it again.

Has anyone unexpectantly needed a hernia repair? Wondering how Dr Lopez approaches this.

While I was there one of the ladies in another room said they found a hernia while doing her sleeve and he just repaired itat the same time.

What exactly is a hernia?