(this thread started in "My Secret Lapband")

A lot of my Anglo friends hear "Mexico surgery" and picture a Pancho Villa imitator swigging a bottle of tequila, strapping patients to the back of a donkey, and wielding a rusty machete -- before taking a siesta in the shade of a giant cactus while a rogue Chihuahua lifts his leg. And if I happen to mention that the operation was less expensive than at a US hospital . . . well, let's just say it doesn't help.

I have nothing but praise for my Mexican surgeon, his staff, and the hospital where I received my band. Most people who make derogatory comments about Mexico haven't been there, and certainly haven't experienced the health-care system. They're probably well-meaning, just worried -- and uninformed.

If Mexican president Vicente Fox discovers that US bandsters could become public relations spokespeople for Mexican health care, we'll probably see charter planes flying to surgical centers.

I 150% agree with you I loved my Mexico experience!!! I have NEVER recieved such good care in the us. What people picture is so different than what it is. How many hospitals do you see here have hard wood floors and a walk in shower?? And out the window you see beautiful mountins with the sunset rising over them each morning. People that say things dont know any better and are quite frankly ignorent to the mexican health care system. But at least now all the people that gave me a hard time about going I tell then how it really was. GREAT. My fiencee also was so impressed and tells everyone.

Yeah, but...you guys and I all went to Rumbaut. And there ARE some doctors working in places not far from the ones Zoe describes.

Lurkers!!! If you are researching, be thorough! I've read comments here which have alerted me to the fact that some people think that ALL Mexican doctors and hospitals are somehow alike. People have posted stuff like "I'm going to Doctor A at the little clinic in Sleepy Village, so I really want to know how it goes for you, with Doctor B in the high rise university hospital in City Center, because I need some reassurance." As though one had anything to do with the other.

There are also very rustic facilites, very far from big city hospitals, in Mexico. People need to be careful not to generalize, either positively or negatively. Kinda like asking "What's it like to live in New York?" There are many, many answers to that question!

I didn't have a problem with Mexico. I was treated very kindly at the Oasis of Hope. Sure, it wasn't the pristine, white & chrome surgical rooms like we have here - with filtered air and everyone being as serious as a heart attack, but they were all masked and gloved... but they were very, very kind.

I went to a second facility in TJ to have my port removed. The lobby looked more like the DMV than a hospital. If memory serves me well, there was not a door on the surgery room, which meant people were walking by. I didn't think much of it at the time, but afterwards I was warned that an open environment with people walking and kicking around dust is an invitation for bacteria. I can't confirm that, but it's what I've been told.

But I think of the surgeries that were done in mud puddles on battlefields with bombs exploding in pouring tropical rain, and then having surgery at the DMV didn't seem so bad.

I liked the Oasis of Hope too. It may not have been as modern looking as some of our local U.S. hospitals but I thought guest comfort was considered more. I was the only patient in my room, they had a queen size bed in my room for my brother, we had cable and a nice view, and we were able to use their internet and computers in the cafeteria. The staff was nice and everything seemed clean and tidy. Last year I had to spend about 4 months in local hospitals when my father in law and mother in law had major health issues and nothing was as nice or as comfortable. My father in law always had roommates, there was no place for any of us to sleep unless it was a hard chair, there were nice nurses and staff but there were several not very nice ones too. I would have chosen the hospital in Tijuana any day over the ones in town here in Oregon. Not that I really like hospitals at all though. I hate being stuck in them. Teresa

Hey Sue and DeLarla, your points are well taken. I initially wrote in response to what I saw as ill-informed prejudice against anything south of the border. But you're both right -- all facilities, not to mention all doctors, are not equal. DeLarla, I've watched too many M*A*S*H reruns and I loved your comment about battlefield surgery.

Prospective bandsters, listen to the ladies and do your homework. Remember that even though the surgery fee may be lower than in the US, you'll have to add transportation, lodging, and meals to the cost of your operation in Mexico.

I might as well mention that most Mexican citizens can't afford access to the high-quality private facilities like Monterrey's Hospital San José.

Teresa, thank you for your helpful comments. Anyone else have a story about your family or friends' reaction to your Mexican surgery?

If the surgery in Las Vegas was a few thousand more, I'd have done it locally. But it was around $23,000 here compared to $7,500 in Mexico - big difference! You also have to keep in mind that Mexican doctors have been placing bands for nearly a decade, while it's only been approved in the US for under 3 years (according to the information that's been passed around to me.) So the Mexican doctors have loads more experience.

I agree, and that's why I made my choice: $11,000 for one of the most experienced surgeons anywhere vs. $15,000 for one of his local students (considered one of the better guys here in town). Even so, the cost difference between my two "finalists" is half the difference between the Chicago surgeon and DeLarla's local doc -- but maybe you get tickets to Cirque de Soleil at the Vegas hospital, and a chance to meet Wayne Newton.

All this makes me wonder if there are a lot of bandsters who have travelled not across the border but to a different part of the US for their surgery based on cost and/or the doctor's expertise. That's another thread waiting to be started.

Zoe, my girlfriend in Vegas flew to Utah to have her tubes untied because of the whopping price difference.

No, the local doctors don't even give you tickets to a Vegas show. It's a meat market! There were only 3 band doctors here. Fisher & Adkinson were a team - then the third is Teng. But I just saw a commercial that there's a 3rd guy with Fisher & Adkinson now. So looks like we have 4 weightloss docs in Vegas.

Fisher's practice requires a mandatory seminar before they'll even talk to you about surgery. I attended the 3 hr seminar, where they compared Lapband to Bypass and gave all the pros and cons. It's a meat market - there were a couple hundred desperate people at that seminar (and it's held regularly so thousands want surgery and the numbers are growing.)

I just have to jump in here and say that I have never recieved better care, or been in a cleaner or more modern facility than the San Jose Hospital in Monterrey. It was every bit as nice as any I've seen. My experience in MX trumped all others here in the states. Don't get me wrong, I love my country, and we are blessed with the best healthcare one could want, that is if the physicians are of the mind to render it! That is another issue.

The point that I want to make is that Dr. Rumbaut and his team went out of their way to show compassion and concern to me at a time when I needed it. For that I will always be grateful.

Was I apprehensive about going there for surgery, well yeah! But my fears were unfounded, and in fact I recieved excellent care. This has been a public service announcement!

I wish I could meet this Dr. Rumbauh. All I hear is good things. Where is Monterey, anyway (in comparison to TJ?) Do you fly into Mexico, or into San Diego?

oops

YOU JUST MISSED HIM at Kuri's Bandster Bash at Rosarito. At least he was scheduled to go.

Aviasca Airlianes (not Avianca) has had direct flights from Las Vegas and Los Angeles. Although it's way cheaper flying out of Tijuana. Aviasca is kind of Mexico's version of JetBlue.

The first time we went, we had airline family benefits on the Star Alliance, so we went on Mexicana, via Mexico City. Not gonna do that again. We were in the so-called business class, and all I can tell you is that you can take the caballero out of the campo, but you can't take the campo out of the caballero...if you get my drift. And I was SO freshly banded and they were so drunk and kept kicking my seat, but at a discount, it's inappropriate to complain...so I just hated them all quietly and wished them an eternity in an alcohol-free zone.

Rumbaut is of Cuban heritage. He was born in Venezuela, but then his family moved to the US when he was a kid and he went to junior high in Ohio. Then the moved to Mexico. He's a nice guy. He sent me to his endodontist. She's a teeny little pony-tailed lady who said, "Jooo know...I knew Rrrroberto when he was fat and poorrrr, and I know him tin and rrrrich. He's da same pair-son."

And she was rrrright.

Think flying into Houston or San Antonio and then a really long drive. It's Monterrey...the third largest city in Mexico. http://www.mexperience.com/guide/majorcity/monterrey.htm

And he's a cutie:

http://www.obesitylapbandsurgery.com/teamdiaz.html

Sue, can you say that again like you're talking to a 6 year old? Am I hearing you correctly, that I can fly into San Antonio then take a long drive to Montery? My best friends live in San Antonio, and we owe them a visit. How long of a drive are you talking about? I doubt I'll ever go there because I'm not sure if I'll ever get a new port. If I can hold on to my "occasional" restriction, then the thought of another surgery can sit way in the back of my mind. My incision is a bitch. It's not too bad, but it bothers me every day. There's a hard cyst under the skin, and today the wound was actually hardened over for about an hour, then it started leaking again. I've showed it to enough doctors that weren't concerned, so I'm just sticking with my instincts and believing it will eventually go away. But I sure like everything I hear about Rumbauh and would like to know all my options. Thanks!

Y si, el es muy guapo!

Great story, Sue! DeLarla, if you want to contact Rumbaut, try e-mail, so you won't have to pay long-distance tolls: rrumbaut@gastricband.com. Count me as a big Rumbaut fan. (This is not a paid announcement!)