I wanted to share my experience as well , I am recently new here! (Sorry this is long)

I just came back home from my surgery with Dr.Garcia in tijuana, I was also in between those 2 companies , but finally decided to go with Ready 4 A change because of Alma, she is one of the coordinators for that company. I felt safe talking about the process of going into Tijuana for surgery, everything that she explained to me and my expectations were 100% meet.

First day that I arrive to the airport- I received a phone call from Samuel when i was barely getting out of the airplane, He told me that once i was out side he was going to be there in a white van waiting for me, and he did. Immediately after I got in the van I felt safe, all of my worries just went away since he seemed as a very trust able person. ( And he was) He took me to the marriott in tijuana, and went with me to check me into the hotel , and he told me that Rosie(Patient coordinator) was coming to meet me in my room . FYI the marriott was absolutely comfortable! Rosie was there on time and she answered all of my questions and told me at what time i needed to be ready for my surgery next morning. At this time I was surprise by the customer service I was getting . not even back home, so all of my worries went away. I new i had made the right decision for me.

Day of surgery.- I was taken to Mi doctor hospital in the morning by the hotel Shuttle, very professional and clean! I was escorted to the 3rd floor by Melissa ( Patient coordinator) and explained the different paperwork that I needed to fill up to enter the hospital floor. After that she explained what was happening during that day , all of the doctors that were going to be in my room to check on me before surgery and that ease my mind. she stood with me until I had no more questions and i was more relax. I meet with a lot of doctors like melissa told me, dr.velasco, dr.garfia, dr.cabrera and dr.garccia sorry if i mis spelled your names! they were all just great! even the nurses, they all took really good care of me, since I was coming by my self. I meet other patients that were also getting sleeved by Dr.Garcia.

After surgery- I was still nauseated but feeling a lot better that the night before, and like one of the coordinators told me , it only gets better, and it was true. I followed my instructions of walking ALOT and it help with the pain and the nausea. Dr's were there to check me through my stay. and of course i did a lot of sleeping that day.lol

Discharge- Dr.velasco came in the morning to check on me, and discharged me out of the hospital, she went over the diet with me, explained how to take my medicine, and gave me a goody bags as they call it , with my medicine , gatorades and water along with a copy of all of my medical records. Melissa then took my to the 1st floor to wait for our shuttle (me and other patients) and explained to us that anything that we needed to call her or Rosie, and she put her business cards in the bag as well as a phone list of all of the doctors. That ease my mind once again because I felt that I could get in touch with any of them if I needed them. she took a picture of us. and we were taken back to the Marriott.

Marriott- I check in with out any trouble, order my chicken broth ( on the house) and stayed at my room , Rosie called me to check on me and told me she was going to visit me at my room , she got there and we just talked for about an hour about my experience, and how amazed I was with the customer service I was receiving from the company. She left, and Melissa called me later that day to check on me. At no point I felt like they left me all by myself I even needed some medicine for one of my family members back home and they were kind enough to take me to buy it.

Next day- yeiii, Samuel pick me up at the marriott to take me to the airport. I arrived home feeling like I didnt have any surgery.

Overall - I can recommend enough READY 4A CHANGE company to anyone getting it done in Tijuana, it was a fantastic experience! from Alma, to the dr's and coordinators , to Samuel (Transportation). You feel like you are in a family environment.

So sorry if this is too long! but It would probably help those who are nervous like I was.

I am going to use R4achange and Dr. Garcia. I just recieved the email from R4 requesting me to fill out the Health Form. How long is the process from here till surgery?

 

Thanks' date='

Jenny[/quote']

 

For me it took about 1day just because I don't have medication that I take or sleep apnea or diabetes I am just over weight

Amazon13 I'm sorry to let you know I am NOT confused I know exactly what I'm saying

Besides your grammatical errors, it does not make sense. You obviously do not understand what my posts have been about..........................sorry for you..................best of luck with your surgery.

Besides your grammatical errors' date=' it does not make sense. You obviously do not understand what my posts have been about..........................sorry for you..................best of luck with your surgery.[/quote']

I clearly understand you. Dr Garcia is awesome however the coordinators did not live up to their reputation in your experience. The doctor and coordinators are two different aspects for how your overall experience went:)

I was just sleeved with dr Garcia a few days ago. I used ready4achange as my coordinators and am very pleased with the service I've received so far.

As for follow-up, I'll have to report on that later, once I'm home and recouping, but so far they've gone above the call of duty. I have no reason to expect nothing less on the follow-up.

I was just sleeved with dr Garcia a few days ago. I used ready4achange as my coordinators and am very pleased with the service I've received so far.

As for follow-up' date=' I'll have to report on that later, once I'm home and recouping, but so far they've gone above the call of duty. I have no reason to expect nothing less on the follow-up.[/quote']

 

That's great news please let me know how things go I will be sleeved 2/2013 will use ready 4achange too

I was just sleeved with dr Garcia a few days ago. I used ready4achange as my coordinators and am very pleased with the service I've received so far.

As for follow-up' date=' I'll have to report on that later, once I'm home and recouping, but so far they've gone above the call of duty. I have no reason to expect nothing less on the follow-up.[/quote']

That's fantastic. My date is November 14th with dr Garcia....I'm soooo nervous

Okay another question for all you po-op Dr. Garcia sleevers. Incisions... Did they use desolvable stitches on you, regular stitches that have to be taken out, or did they use Dermabond. I was just wondering because I work in Afghanistan and would not be able to get the stitches out until about two months after. If you guys could help I would appreciate it.

Thank you!!

Dr Garcia uses staples. He removes them and the drain before leaving the hospital. After removal of the staples he just covers the little incisions with a brown slim tape, to be removed in five days. I do have one little stitch were my drain tube was but I'm guessing its dissolvable of not just wait till the sore heals up and cut the little bugger.

Dr Garcia uses staples. He removes them and the drain before leaving the hospital. After removal of the staples he just covers the little incisions with a brown slim tape, to be removed in five days. I do have one little stitch were my drain tube was but I'm guessing its dissolvable of not just wait till the sore heals up and cut the little bugger.

Thanks muffintop!!!I read on OH that a lady had surgery in Mx and said she had to have stitches removed, and I started to panic ...So glad I got people in the know!! Thanks again!!!

I didn't have any stitches or staples. Just open incisions. that had gauze pads on them. One stitch on the drain incision but she cut it when she took out the drain before I left the hospital. That was in April of this year.

I didn't have any stitches or staples. Just open incisions. that had gauze pads on them. One stitch on the drain incision but she cut it when she took out the drain before I left the hospital. That was in April of this year.

I wonder why the differnce in staples and no staples are either of you revisions maybe that has something to do with it?

Mine was not a revision.

Mine was not a revision.

Me neither

Hey everyone! I also had surgery with Dr Garcia recently...i was sleeved on Sat Oct 27th. I am back at the Marriott 3 days post op and im feeling really good, actually.

I will admit, the day of surgery was rough for me--I was feeling like :oh crap, what have I done? That next day, however, I felt 75% better, and by yesterday, I was feeling pretty damn good. I was really impressed by the care I received at the hospital. I must admit, I was THE ONLY patient there for 2 days...but all the nurses were very attentive to my minor discomfort and how I was progressing. So, I speak a little spanish--very little, but enough--so I was not feeling a communication barrier at all. There was a framed paper that had any pertinent or useful communication translations that was always available, although I never needed to use it.

That had me walking pretty soon after surgery and Ill admit, I felt like I was a character on the walking dead! I was just tired and a little nauseated but then I lied down and went to sleep. They brought me the phone a few times to call my mom during that first day, and I think she even called and they brought me the phone again. There were doctors and nurses checking on me pretty much every couple hours and I always had a little push button thing to call the nurse.

I only puked twice..not a big deal..i thought I was gonna bust my stitches, but, nope! Everything was fine! Next morning I did the first fluoroscopy test--yuck, but not gross enough to puke on the spot--then shortly after, I had the blue dye test (Gatorade with some bitterness) it was like half a small Dixie cup, and that was ok cuz I could drink it over a few minutes, not all at once.They really want to keep us hydrated,so every few hours, you get a new bag of saline, and a few syringes of pain meds, nausea meds, something to get our bowels going, and something they called gastric protection? Then on the second day, a small bag of antibiotics. I think I got that twice it 3 times. They also give you a little injection in the pooch area (women, you know--the kangaroo pooch, I've called it). I only remember getting that twice and it stings a little but not bad enough to b***h about. After they pushed all the syringes of stuff, i would feel a little bit of discomfort in my chest--more like pressure-- then it would go away and the pain meds would kick in. I tried to walk as much as i could. I did have that darn left shoulder pain. Gas, they say...it was uncomfortable, but more annoying than downright painful. It did get better and by the end of day two, gone. I felt that my pain was managed very well. The last steps were taking out the drain, IV, and staples. Dr Garcia's team only just started using the staples to close the incisions. Muffintop explained it perfectly (above posts) and I did not feel pain as they removed them. Honestly, my incisions look almost healed--that's how great they look. I would bet that after a week or two, they'll be almost invisible. The drain felt a bit strange coming out, not painful at all, but I was glad to have it out, as well as the IV. So i guess i got lucky: i had only one IV during surgery, and recovery. My arm and hand were a bit swollen, although i think that's normal considering how many fluids they pump in, but my IV wasn't painful. I could feel a coldness with the saline, and a slight sting with the pain meds but nothing big. I have REALLY bad veins, and I was SOOOO nervous about that aspect, but once again, their work was impressive from my account. I know this is really long, but these are the posts I found most helpful before i chose to have surgery. This was my experience with Dr Garcia and his team. I saw Dr Garcia 3 times, Dra. Valazco at least 3 times, and 3 other Drs that I cannot recall their names, but all were VERY nice, attentive, and asked me questions and gave instructions for a healthy recovery. I must say, from a healthcare professional's perspective, my care was superb! I have no doubts that this was the best way for me to go. So, as others have mentioned, the care received at Mi Doctor is and should be separate from the coordinators care. I'll post my experience with ready4Achange on another thread (spoiler alert! : I was really impressed with the service and support I have received from ready4Achange).

Thanks for reading, and good luck to all who are trying to make the choice to have surgery and who to go with. :-)

I forgot to add this:

**Before leaving the hospital, I was given a goodie bag with Gatorade, bottled water, sublingual pain meds, antibiotics, bottle of antacid, lip balm, gauze pads, tape, and a list of all the doctors and coordinators names, phone numbers, and email addresses. Also a packet that explained the diet information, all my lab results, a surgery report, and the fluoroscopy results: Dra Velazco was the one who went over everything given to me, and all of this stuff was from 'Ready4AChange'. I think the other patients from 'A Lighter Me' received a similar goodie bag with the same stuff, but I'm not sure exactly what was included...

Feel free to PM me if anyone has any ?'s. Good luck!

 

I wonder why the differnce in staples and no staples are either of you revisions maybe that has something to do with it?

 

I was told they just began using the staples...before they were using dissolvables and/or dermabond.

They take the staples out at the 2nd day--easy, painless, with a thin tan tape that stays on for AT LEAST 5 days, then we can peel off the tape.

Im on day 3, and my incisions (I have 2 and a drain spot) appear healed. They aren't swollen, no oozing so far, no pain. I was even able to sleep on my side last night(yay!).