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I'm Researching Bariatric Sleeve Plication Surgery In Mexico. Has any one had a good or bad Experince there. My Insurance will Not Pay For It In States. I Have High BP, Border Line Diab, Good & bad Chol Border Line. Nothing I do Helps. Bariatric Surgeon In States Say"s This Will Get A Lot Better With Surgery. My MD Thinks This Surgery Will Help Me.

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I had my sleeve plication in Mexico last July. Dr. Juan Corvala was the surgeon. One of very few last year that was plications. My experience was nothing short of fantastic. Of course there was s ome pain afterwards but that is to be expected with any surgery. The hospital (Hospital Angeles) in Tijuana was just as clean or cleaner than anything in the states. Completely up to date, lacking nothing. I myself 100% recommend going that route. I also was self pay. My surgery was 7,000.00. Would do it again.

I'm Researching Baraitric Surgery In Mexico. Has any one had a good or bad Experince there. My Insurance will Not Pay For It In States. I Have High BP, Border Line Diab, Good & bad Chol Border Line. Nothing I do Helps. Bariatric Surgeon In States Say"s This Will Get A Lot Better With Surgery. My MD Thinks This Surgery Will Help Me.

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I'm Researching Baraitric Surgery In Mexico. Has any one had a good or bad Experince there. My Insurance will Not Pay For It In States. I Have High BP, Border Line Diab, Good & bad Chol Border Line. Nothing I do Helps. Bariatric Surgeon In States Say"s This Will Get A Lot Better With Surgery. My MD Thinks This Surgery Will Help Me.

I had surgery with dr. verboonen in Cancun on 4/30. Overall I would recommend the experience. As IHave6Kids said, the place was nicer and cleaner than anything you would find in the states. The only thing that surprised me was the lack of English in the hospital. The doctors were the only ones who really spoke English. I was surprised, as we go to Mexico every year, and most people seem to know at least some English, but the nurses in the hospital did not for the most part. It was a minor inconvenience, but afterwards I wondered what would have happened if something had gone wrong and I was unable to communicate and tell them what I was feeling? I ended up being in Recovery for almost three hours due to a spike in BP, and as it was the doctors had left and I was really unable to communicate with the Recovery room nurses...luckily I was so out of it that I didn't really care until later. LOL.

Long story short-I think the docs and healthcare are great-just make sure you know a little Spanish. I saw someone suggest (after I had already had my surgery of course) writing some phrases on note cards and translating them into Spanish (use Google translator) before you go. They suggested phrases like "I'm in pain" or "I need to use the bathroom", etc...

Good luck!

CC

Edited to add: my surgery cost me $7,000 also, but that also included a pretty big hiatal hernia repair, which was $500 extra, and I upgraded to the "cream of the crop" hospital in Cancun, which was $1,000 over the other hospital. Both options were well worth it in my opinion. I have crappy insurance, and the hiatal hernia repair alone was going to cost me about $4500 her e in the US (deductible is huge!), so I look at it like I got my plication for $2500! hee-hee!

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I'm scheduled to have the plication on July 4th with Dr. Ariel Ortiz in Tijuana, Mexico. I did lots and lots of research and am very comfortable getting it done there. Dr. Ortiz is the pioneer doctor for the plication. I checked his references and it just so happened that he did a "project" (for lack of a better word) with Dr. Hargroder here in Baton Rouge, LA. Dr. Hargroder spoke very highly of him.

You can view the hospital and operating room on their webside obesitycontrolcenter.com . Everyone speaks perfect English. Cost is $7000. This includes a 5 star hotel, the surgery and transportation from the airport in San Diego to the hotel in Tijuana, from the hotel to the hospital then back to the hotel and on to the airport in San Diego again.

I really feel that I'm in the best hands possible. He's done over 300 plications to date.

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I'm scheduled to have the plication on July 4th with Dr. Ariel Ortiz in Tijuana, Mexico. I did lots and lots of research and am very comfortable getting it done there. Dr. Ortiz is the pioneer doctor for the plication. I checked his references and it just so happened that he did a "project" (for lack of a better word) with Dr. Hargroder here in Baton Rouge, LA. Dr. Hargroder spoke very highly of him.

You can view the hospital and operating room on their webside obesitycontrolcenter.com . Everyone speaks perfect English. Cost is $7000. This includes a 5 star hotel, the surgery and transportation from the airport in San Diego to the hotel in Tijuana, from the hotel to the hospital then back to the hotel and on to the airport in San Diego again.

I really feel that I'm in the best hands possible. He's done over 300 plications to date.

Not wanting to dissuade you, as I had mine done in Mexico and would do it again, but I would be prepared for them to speak less than perfect English. I went to the Gallenia in Cancun...it was beautiful, like a resort, upscale and clean. The contact person was Canadian, so of course she spoke perfect English (and Spanish). The doctors spoke pretty good English, but only 1 of the nurses, including the recovery room team where I had an issue and spent 3 hours post-surgery, spoke good English. I have had 4 years of Spanish in high school and College, but that was 20 years ago and I was in pain post surgery...it took everything I could muster to reach back in the cobwebs of my brain and find phrases and words to try to communicate what I was feeling. All night long it was the same thing. The nurses were absolutely wonderful in their demeanor and manner-sweet as could be-I really felt cared about! The communication barrier was just a surprise to me. We go to Mexico almost every year, and whether we are at the resorts or traveling through the central Yucatan region, most people speak some English, so I was certainly expecting the medical staff to speak passable English. Additionally, the websites of the doctors that do the surgery at Gallenia (there are several of them) all advertise the medical staff as speaking perfect English.

Again, please do not think I am dissuading you...I LOVE Mexico, had an overall good experience with my surgery, couldn't be happier with the expertise of my doctor (he's one of the leaders in the field, and I felt more comfortable with him rather than going with most of the US doctors), was very happy with the medical skill of the nurses and hospital team, and would think about having another surgery there. Next time though I would brush up on my Spanish, make sure I knew key phrases (I'm having pain in my ......, I need.........., etc) and be a little more aware that the communication was going to have to come more than 50% from me once the doctor and contacts are gone in the evening. I was the last person of the day, and didn't get out of recovery until almost 9pm, so that made it a little worse in that all the day people (docs) were gone...if I had had it earlier I think that it might have gone smoother, as English speaking people would have been around during my recovery time and during the initial time of pain and my complications in recovery.

Going to Mexico was really about the only option I felt I had. I would recommend it...just be prepared. Good luck, I don't think you will regret the plication!

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I'm scheduled to have the plication on July 4th with Dr. Ariel Ortiz in Tijuana, Mexico. I did lots and lots of research and am very comfortable getting it done there. Dr. Ortiz is the pioneer doctor for the plication. I checked his references and it just so happened that he did a "project" (for lack of a better word) with Dr. Hargroder here in Baton Rouge, LA. Dr. Hargroder spoke very highly of him.

You can view the hospital and operating room on their webside obesitycontrolcenter.com . Everyone speaks perfect English. Cost is $7000. This includes a 5 star hotel, the surgery and transportation from the airport in San Diego to the hotel in Tijuana, from the hotel to the hospital then back to the hotel and on to the airport in San Diego again.

I really feel that I'm in the best hands possible. He's done over 300 plications to date.

I had plication surgery on May 12th with Dr. Ortiz. You will like him and his staff. Very clean and very professional.

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I'm Researching Baraitric Surgery In Mexico. Has any one had a good or bad Experince there. My Insurance will Not Pay For It In States. I Have High BP, Border Line Diab, Good & bad Chol Border Line. Nothing I do Helps. Bariatric Surgeon In States Say"s This Will Get A Lot Better With Surgery. My MD Thinks This Surgery Will Help Me.

I had surgery on May 12th with Dr. Ortiz. Did not have any english problems at all. I would go back to Dr. Ortiz and would recommend him and his professional staff.

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I'm scheduled to have the plication on July 4th with Dr. Ariel Ortiz in Tijuana, Mexico. I did lots and lots of research and am very comfortable getting it done there. Dr. Ortiz is the pioneer doctor for the plication. I checked his references and it just so happened that he did a "project" (for lack of a better word) with Dr. Hargroder here in Baton Rouge, LA. Dr. Hargroder spoke very highly of him.

You can view the hospital and operating room on their webside obesitycontrolcenter.com . Everyone speaks perfect English. Cost is $7000. This includes a 5 star hotel, the surgery and transportation from the airport in San Diego to the hotel in Tijuana, from the hotel to the hospital then back to the hotel and on to the airport in San Diego again.

I really feel that I'm in the best hands possible. He's done over 300 plications to date.

Dr. Ortiz is a good surgeon but he is not the pioneer surgeon for plication - where are you getting that information? Has it been suppoted by the IFSO?Dr. Lopez Corvala who is on staff at Hospital Angeles has performed more than 250 plications beginning in December 2009 and based on that experience is considered by far to be the most experienced surgeon in the world regarding plication. Not sure where the 300 comes from but I assure you - it's not correct, there is a typo there. Lopez Corvala invited by the Cleveland Clinic's head of bariatrics to present a special session on his plication findings at the recent IFSO meeting. After Dr. Lopez Corvala, the most experienced surgeon for plication is in Brazil.

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I had my sleeve plication in Mexico last July. Dr. Juan Corvala was the surgeon. One of very few last year that was plications. My experience was nothing short of fantastic. Of course there was s ome pain afterwards but that is to be expected with any surgery. The hospital (Hospital Angeles) in Tijuana was just as clean or cleaner than anything in the states. Completely up to date, lacking nothing. I myself 100% recommend going that route. I also was self pay. My surgery was 7,000.00. Would do it again.

Hi, I had my surgery May 30, 2011. Dr Corvala was my surgeon also in Tijuana. The hospital and staff were all great. I am having pain on my left side still and I lose my breath very easily which is strange as I never did before. So far I have lost 15 pounds, unsure if that is good or bad.

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Hi, I had my surgery May 30, 2011. Dr Corvala was my surgeon also in Tijuana. The hospital and staff were all great. I am having pain on my left side still and I lose my breath very easily which is strange as I never did before. So far I have lost 15 pounds, unsure if that is good or bad.

The pain on the left side is normal...my doc described it as "your stomach trying to uncurl itself". My pains quit abruptly around the two week mark. Not sure about the losing your breath part, maybe you should contact your doc. Could it be that you are just weak and tired from the liquid diet? Either way, I would ask your doc. I am 5+ weeks out and have lost just at 20 lbs since the surgery, so 15lbs in less than two weeks is a lot! Congrats!

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I was banded in Mexico in 2003 (early band times) and was very successful- but due to pouch stretch am moving to plication with Dr. Ortiez in July. I like his client/staff as I don't have to worry about needing to speak spanish and I have been going there for a long time and know the folks and that helps alot. My comfort level is really high with OC. I say do your research - figure out what is best for you based on your weight loss goals and input from the docs.

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    • LeighaTR

      I am new here today... and only two weeks out from my sleeve surgery on the 23rd. I am amazed I have kept my calories down to 467 today so far... that leaves me almost 750 left for dinner and maybe a snack. This is going to be tough for two weeks... but I have to believe I can do it!
      · 0 replies
      1. This update has no replies.
    • Doughgurl

      Hey everyone. I'm new here so I thought I should introduce myself. I am 53y/o and am scheduled for Gastric Bypass on June 25th, 2025. I'm located in San Antonio, Texas. I will be having my surgery in Tiajuana Mexico. I've wanted this for years, but I always had insurance where bariatric procedures were excluded. Finally I am able to afford to pay out of pocket.  I can't wait to get started, and I hope I'm prepared for the initial period of "hell". I know what I have signed up for, but I'm sure the good to come will out way the temporary period of discomfort and feelings of regret. I'd love to find people to talk to who have been through the same procedure or experience before. So I look forward to meeting you all. Hope you have a great week!
      · 2 replies
      1. Selina333

        I'm so happy for you! You are about to change your life. I was so glad to get the sleeve done in Dec. I didn't have feelings of regret overall. And I'm down almost 60 lbs. I do feel a little sad at restaurants. I can barely eat half a kid's meal. I get adults meals often because kid ones don't have the same offerings at times. Then I feel obligated to eat on that until it's gone and that can be days. So the restaurant thing isn't great for me. All the rest is fine by me! I love feeling full with very little. I do wish I could drink when eating. And will sip at the end. Just a strong habit to stop. But I'm working on it! You will do fine! Just keep focused on your desire to be different. Not better or worse. But different. I am happy both ways but my low back doesn't like me that heavy. So I listened (also my feet!). LOL! Update us on your journey! I'm not far from you. I'm in Houston. Good luck and I hope it all goes smoothly! Would love to see pics of the town you go to for this. I've never been there. Neat you will be traveling for this! Enjoy the journey. Take it one day at a time. Sometimes a few hours at a time. Follow all recommendations as best you can. 💗

      2. Doughgurl

        Thank you so much for your well wishes. I am hoping that everything goes easy for me as well. We don't eat out much as it is, so it wont be too bad in that department. Thankfully. Also, I hear you regarding your back and feet!! I'd like to add knees to the list. Killing me as we speak! I'm only 5' so the weight has to go. Too short to carry all this weight. Menopause really did a doosey on me. (😶lol) My daughter also lives in Houston. with her Husband and my 5 grand-littles. I grew up in Beaumont, so I know Houston well, I will be sure to keep in touch and update you on my journey. I may need some advice in the future, or just motivation. Thank You so much for reaching out, I was hoping to connect with someone in the community. I really appreciate it. 💜

    • Alisa_S

      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
      · 1 reply
      1. LeighaTR

        I hope your surgery on Wednesday goes well. You will be able to do all sorts of new things as you find your new normal after surgery. I don't know this from experience yet, but I am seeing a lot of positive things from people who have had it done. Best of luck!

    • Alisa_S

      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
      · 1 reply
      1. summerseeker

        Life as a big person had limited my life to what I knew I could manage to do each day. That was eat. I hadn't anything else to look forward to. So my eating choices were the best I could dream up. I planned the cooking in managable lots in my head and filled my day with and around it.

        Now I have a whole new big, bigger, biggest, best days ever. I am out there with those skinny people doing stuff i could never have dreamt of. Food is now an after thought. It doesn't consume my day. I still enjoy the good home cooked food but I eat smaller portions. I leave food on my plate when I am full. I can no longer hear my mother's voice saying eat it all up, ther are starving children in Africa who would want that!

        I still cook for family feasts, I love cooking. I still do holidays but I have changed from the All inclusive drinking and eating everything everyday kind to Self catering accommodation. This gives me the choice of cooking or eating out as I choose. I rarely drink anymore as I usually travel alone now and I feel I need to keep aware of my surroundings.

        I don't know at what point my life expanded, was it when I lost 100 pounds? Was it when I left my walking stick at home ? Was it when I said yes to an outing instead of finding an excuse to stay home ? i look back at my last five years and wonder how loosing weight has made such a difference. Be ready to amaze yourself.

        BTW, the liquid diet sucks, one more day and you are over the worst. You can do it.

    • CaseyP1011

      Officially here for a long time, not just a good time💪
      · 0 replies
      1. This update has no replies.
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