Hello, I am considering the gastric sleeve or lap band. Has anyone used Dr. Joya? I am soooooo terrified! Any help?? Thanks

I was banded by Dr. Joya on January 5th. There were 2 other women from the US there with me at that time.

I am satisfied with the service provided and felt I was taken care of medically. Of course, I am only 5 days post op, so I can't say much about my results. I can say that I felt Dr. Joya provided what he said he would provide. Let me know your specific questions and I will try to answer them...

Good luck with your decision making process!

Another thing about Dr. Joya, is that for $8000 it included the airfare. I haven't seen another price that included the airfare so I think it is extremely reasonable.

And he flew me back to the US first class. I think I was a lot more comfortable in first class than I would have been economy class. I would not have thought to do this on my own either, so I am glad that he made the reservations.

I was banded on January 5 with Susan! in PV by Dr. Joya. I also felt that this was a good choice. He is one of the most experienced drs with wl surgery. His fee was acceptable and doable, although I am left with a loan. I encourage you to research your docs, for their experience with the sleeve. Also, PV is beautiful and hotels are inexpensive if you chose to stay an extra day or two. Of course, this is not a deciding factor of which doc you use (I hope.) Good luck with your journey.

Lisa

Hello....I'm considering this Dr., but in your reply you kinda sound as if his services were only mediocore. Now after a few months have gone by, what are your feelings about the Dr. and the facilities. And if its not too personal, may I ask how much you paid.

I was banded by Dr. Joya on January 5th. There were 2 other women from the US there with me at that time.

I am satisfied with the service provided and felt I was taken care of medically. Of course, I am only 5 days post op, so I can't say much about my results. I can say that I felt Dr. Joya provided what he said he would provide. Let me know your specific questions and I will try to answer them...

Good luck with your decision making process!

I paid $8000 for my surgery, including air fare and hotel.

I felt that I got what I paid for in terms of medical care and service. I thought the hospital was fine, the nursing staff was fine, the surgery was fine. I felt safe and cared for in the hospital. The hotel was really nice and I had my surgery at the same time as 2 other Americans which was also really nice. I really really appreciated being flown back by Dr. Joya first class, because I know I was much more comfortable flying that way and I would not have thought of it myself. I had a fever right after flying, and contacted Dr. Joya's staff and they got back to me straight away. So I feel if you contact them, they will get back to you immediately.

I am probably an extreme case in that I flew in at 3pm, had surgery 6pm Friday, left for the US at 9am Sunday. I spent almost no time in Mexico and I travelled alone. I also went back to work at 8am on Monday morning in a job that requires me to be on my foot and moving all day.

I am very independent and I feel like I was able to "take care of myself" medically afterwards. For example, the stitches are supposed to dissolve, and they did for the most part but I did have to take a couple out myself.

Where I think things may be lacking in terms of service with Dr. Joya is both the pre-op and post-op education. I have found this site to be extremely valuable and providing all the information I have felt I needed, both before and after. Dr. Joya has a yahoo forum but it is not nearly as informative or as large as this one.

My thing is, if you are paying $8000 total, I don't think you should expect the same thing as those paying $10,000 not including airfare (in Mexico) or $16,000 here. I felt the Dr. Joya put the effort in where it counted for me, which was the hospital, surgery, nursing care. I also really appreciated the first class flight.

If you want someone to hold your hand from beginning to end, then I don't really think Dr. Joya is for you. If you feel like you have some savvy with taking care of yourself, if you feel like you are going to take the responsibility to educate yourself pre and post op, if you don't like a bunch of hoops then I think going to Mexico and using Dr. Joya is great.

In the U.S. you have to meet with nutritionists several times, have a ton of different work ups (for sleep apnea, etc.), prove you have been on medically supervised diets. I didn't want to do that, plus I have no co-morbidities and my BMI is like 32 so I couldn't have gotten surgery in the US anyway.

I had my first fill about a week ago. I have lost about a pound a week, which is the expected amount. I also have not been the best patient in the world. I didn't do a great job on the pre-op diet, I had trouble staying on liquids the whole time, I had to learn the hard way about PBs... So I have lost about 8lbs in 8 weeks. I am totally fine with how I am doing.

I feel like my incisions have healed nicely, my fill went fine and the doctor found my port with no problem, my scars are clean looking and I feel like I have an alright amount of restriction with a lot more room to go.

I hope this answers your questions. I wouldn't call Dr. Joya's services mediocre but I also wouldn't say that they are going to hold your hand from beginning to end. I would rate my experience an 8/10 overall and my sister is thinking about the surgery and I would recommend Dr. Joya to my sister.

Good luck with your decision too.

Dear Bigtime,

I agree with supergenius. I think that my experience with Dr. Joya was more than mediocore. Like Supergenius, I traveled alone. This was fine with me as many of my questions were answered in advance, like who to look for at the airport and how would I get to the hospital. I researched the surgery for approximately 3 years before making my final decision to go through with it. I was impressed with the cleanliness of the facilities and with being set up in a private room. The total was $8000, no catches. They were straight forward with answering my questions regarding what would increase costs. I think that if you don't ask the questions though, you might not get all of the information. I don't necessarily believe that Dr. Joya or his staff are being negligent, just their way of doing things. I never had a problem having a question answered though. I always take it upon myself to gather info on my own and try not to depend on a practioner to provide it all. Proactive, if you know what I mean. The doctor I went to for my fill provided me with much more in depth information regarding aftercare and now wants me to meet with a MD nutritionist. He also would like me to attend a monthly support group. He discussed bringing ppl to their best rates of personal success sing all of these tools. Since I was a self pay though and my insurance company will not pay for aftercare, I have to consider what I can afford. I find that this forum has been very informative. Dr. Joya did provide a good example of a diet following surgery and had a handbook that was able to answer many of my questions. I am one that does not like to be coddled over though and this made my experience with Dr. Joya more pleasurable. The nurses were attentive, but not annoying. Sorry nurses out there! Just my style. I also found Dr. Joya to be very caring and gentle. My scars are also healing nicely and they are clean. I definately recommend Dr. Joya and would choose him again before considering another doctor. Hope this helps with your decision. :nervous

-I also prefer this forum to the yahoo forum, but did like that forum to learn more information about Dr. Joya and his reputation. I recommended checking out that forum for more direct questions about this particular doctor. You can find a link on his webpage if you have not already discovered it.

Hey Hpygrl,

I finally know your handle on here!

One thing I will add about going to Mexico, is even if you go alone, it was really nice to be with other bandsters there. Being with two other people was really helpful to me, probably even more so than having someone there to "take care of me." I am more about camraderie than being fawned over.

Thanks for all the info...It helps a great deal in making my decision.

BT

Hey, let us know who you end up going with, when you are being banded and all that....

:girl_hug:

I was banded by Dr. Joya on 11-7-2006. I totally recommend him. I hade a great experience and would do it all over again. Since my surgery I have lost 42lbs.