Hi All,

I know there are many people on the board trying to find an ex-US surgeon (I was one of those people). I must say I did feel a bit weird not having my blood work or test run prior to going to Mexico (my date is Nov 7th) so I went to my PCP and she ordered a slew of blood test, I had gotten my results and scripts for medicine/vitamins to take.

With that being said I am going through Ready4Achange so I emailed alma my results along with my script to ask if it is ok that I take the medications and when should I stop taking them (if at all) before the surgery. She forwarded my question along to Dr.Garcia and his medical staff within a short time I had received feedback from one of the doctors and less than 12 hours later from Dr.Garcia. This just makes me feel so much more comfortable with my decision, just knowing that pre-op I am able to get answers in a timely fashion and from the Dr. himself just speaks in volumes to me as to how I will be treated after surgery.

Just thought I would share!!!

OMG I can't wait to be sleeved.. I am anxiously counting down the days!

That is awesome ladies!!!! I just booked my airfare today and now just super excited.. I am turning it into a vacation too haha. I call it my surg-a-cation So now I am looking for things to do in CA.

I would love to hear from you ladies once your good and able to communicate to share your experiences!

Good luck and I'll meet ya'll on the losers bench.

Is that the earliest time you could book your surgery with garcia. I am thinking of changing surgeons but was originally set for surgery nov 1st. Do you think that date is possible if I change to garcia.

I'm going through alma at Ready4Achange too. She's been able to answer all the questions I've had so far.

She is great!!!

Is that the earliest time you could book your surgery with garcia. I am thinking of changing surgeons but was originally set for surgery nov 1st. Do you think that date is possible if I change to garcia.

I am sure earlier maybe available as I am the one who picked my own date. If you aren't working with a coordinator you can try reaching out to alma she is with Ready4Achange she is the person I speak with. Her email address is alma@Ready4Achange.com

Please let me know how it goes if you do decide to switch

I actually have decided to make the switch. I have done a lot of research on both kelly and garcia but ended up deciding on kelly mainly baised on the many detailed threads of members experience with him. I was planning to book with kelly on nov 1st. I have been very busy the last month with work and was unable to come on the forums. I did not know that garcia had a special of 4500 going on. The 1000 savings is worth it to me considering I was going back and fourth between which surgeon to choose. If garcia had this price before I would have chosen him first.

I actually just got off the phone with alma about 10 min ago. They do have a date availble for me. I still have to get approved, was already approved with kelly.

I had the Sleeve surgery about 3 weeks ago with Dr.Garcia and I also used Alma as a coordinator, and i have to say I had the best experience. They even contacted me 2 days ago to see how was I doing after surgery.

I actually have decided to make the switch. I have done a lot of research on both kelly and garcia but ended up deciding on kelly mainly baised on the many detailed threads of members experience with him. I was planning to book with kelly on nov 1st. I have been very busy the last month with work and was unable to come on the forums. I did not know that garcia had a special of 4500 going on. The 1000 savings is worth it to me considering I was going back and fourth between which surgeon to choose. If garcia had this price before I would have chosen him first.

I actually just got off the phone with alma about 10 min ago. They do have a date availble for me. I still have to get approved, was already approved with kelly.

I totally understand, any bit of $$ saved is great and it is especially great since Dr.Garcia is someone you were interested in

It didn't take long for me to hear back from Alma regarding if I was approved or not I just remember filling out that long form haha.

I am glad your date was available, that is awesome! Is it still the Nov 1st date or did you move it to something sooner?

Yes still planning for nov1 but I have to double check my schedule. I did not know that garcia offers 5 nights in his package. I had planned to fly into SD early morning and have surgery same day with kelly. She told me garcia prefers to have patients fly in the night before for a total of 5 nights and have tests and surgery next day.

I went with successfully slimmer to book with dr Garcia. I was originally scheduled with dr Almanza. Both the coordinators there had their surgeries with Dr Almanza without issue, but had no problem scheduling me with Dr Garcia instead when I said I would be more comfortable in a hospital setting for the first couple days.

They are very nice and get back to me quickly with answers to all my questions. Only thing I wonder about is the pre op diet. I was told only 5 days for Almanza and also 5 days for Garcia. My BMI is 43.7.

I just wonder if anyone going through alma has been told 5 days. I am thinking I may try to do the full 2 weeks anyway. They sent me paperwork with a 14 day diet, but said only do the last 5 days. I don't want to get there and have some need to cancel or postpone it.

This is what the paper work I have says, but I am going to start around 2 1/2 weeks before just to be on the safe side and I am only going to do liquids.

START THIS DIET 7-14 DAYS PRIOR TO SURGERY

Use any prepared canned or powdered Protein drink. You may purchase these in any health food store or many grocery stores. Please be sure it contains at least 15 grams of protein per serving.

1 Protein Drink at Breakfast

1 protein drink at lunch

Dinner: salad with Protein (chicken, fish, egg, etc), small amount of low fat dressing, or fat free dressing or olive oil and vinegar.

1 protein drink in the evening if needed

You may also take 1 Metamucil capsule per day if needed for hunger.

Start this phase 3 days before surgery: Take a laxative (any laxative that you usually use). Take only Clear Liquids after that. This consists of broth, Jell-o, sugar-free juice, any clear liquid

You may have nothing to eat or drink after the midnight preceding surgery or 8 hours prior to your surgery. If you are a Same Day Surgery arrive with an empty stomach. If you are coming in a day prior you may have dinner but nothing after midnight

Also from reading around it seems the higher the BMI the longer your on the pre-op

Even though my bmi was 39, i opted to do the 2 week pre-op diet as well. I cheated during the two weeks, cause it was super hard, but I used the fact that I didnt have to do it for two weeks as an excuse I did fairly well though.. went from 216 to 209....

good luck, Dr. Garcia is the best!

Thanks. I don't hear much on here about the company I booked through, so I have no idea what to expect. I know they said they do not do much site seeing stuff, but the driver may be available.

I have no idea if there will be visits at the hotel or Gatorade/ Water or extra gauze provided. Though, if I didn't know that some companies provided that, I wouldn't expect it.

I guess I have more questions to ask. I am so glad to have so many people to ask questions of.

Thanks. I don't hear much on here about the company I booked through' date=' so I have no idea what to expect. I know they said they do not do much site seeing stuff, but the driver may be available.

I have no idea if there will be visits at the hotel or Gatorade/ Water or extra gauze provided. Though, if I didn't know that some companies provided that, I wouldn't expect it.

I guess I have more questions to ask. I am so glad to have so many people to ask questions of.[/quote']

What company are u using?

Successfully Slimmer. Most of the posts I see when I search them are from 2010.