So, I've talked with Bariatric Pal MX one day and was feeling excited to try to be able to get the roux e y Gastric Bypass. But then happiness turned to sadness when I asked my family members if either of them could go with me to Mexico. They were like "no you shouldn't go, it's dangerous in Mexico that's like going to Iraq for your surgery." My grandmother, friend, and primary care doctor all agree that I don't need surgery. I REALLY wish somebody was on my side because it's hard going through all this without nobody to be a support.I just want to cry. I'm 5'4 and weigh 280.2 with a frame in between small and medium but I have small feet and hands. It's like I lose weight and gain weight VERY quickly and i'm tired of it. I feel like NOBODY wants to listen to my reasons of why I REALLY want weight loss surgery. I've been at this for more than 10 plus years of trying lose weight because I've been unsuccessful in EVERY single diet I have did, including the current diet I'm on only with just curbing my appetite and doing a lot of exercise. The main reason I want weight loss surgery so I could get my foot fixed because I've been having problems with it from a prior injury and want to be thinner to make sure I don't injure myself again after my foot surgery. I REALLY wish somebody would care and I just feel so alone in this.

I wonder if the issue is Mexico more than WLS.... What if you were going to a bariatric center of excellence at a top hospital? Your BMI would qualify you for surgery under any US insurance plan that covers WLS and any top notch bariatric program would accept you as a patient. I know my own family and friends would have hated that idea of Mexico. But the local hospital 10 minutes away and I had their total support!

I would personally only have resorted to Mexico if it were my last and only option...and I'd have had a lot of fears about it. No, Tijuana is not a particularly safe place. You can get a good operation there, they have the surgeons and facilities set up for it...but what about complications and after-care? The first weeks after surgery and all the way through the first month, there are ample opportunities to have issues arise, where you may need to get seen immediately. If you can't do that back home in the States, then that's a big problem. It could end up being a fatal problem. So you would need to make sure you have a way to address any post-op complications when you're back home, because you're only going to be in the hospital for a couple of days, and then you're out.

I totally get why the family would be concerned about Mexico as a solution, but if you are not insured or can't get it otherwise, it doesn't leave you with a lot of options. You would just have to hope for the best possible outcome and follow every single instruction to the letter, to make sure you didn't do anything to jeopardize the outcome.

I would personally only have resorted to Mexico if it were my last and only option...and I'd have had a lot of fears about it. No, Tijuana is not a particularly safe place. You can get a good operation there, they have the surgeons and facilities set up for it...but what about complications and after-care? The first weeks after surgery and all the way through the first month, there are ample opportunities to have issues arise, where you may need to get seen immediately. If you can't do that back home in the States, then that's a big problem. It could end up being a fatal problem. So you would need to make sure you have a way to address any post-op complications when you're back home, because you're only going to be in the hospital for a couple of days, and then you're out.

I totally get why the family would be concerned about Mexico as a solution, but if you are not insured or can't get it otherwise, it doesn't leave you with a lot of options. You would just have to hope for the best possible outcome and follow every single instruction to the letter, to make sure you didn't do anything to jeopardize the outcome.

Would an american hospital not treat a patient with complications post surgery, regardless of where the original surgery is done? that seems strange to me.

It's this kind of criticism that made me decide to tell only the people I had to tell. No one needs all that negative pressure from well-meaning family and friends. Something about the idea troubles them. That is their problem. Do whatever it takes, It's your life, your health, and well-being. Be polite, listen to their views. Smile and say I love you. Trying to make them see your side is probably futile anyway. You have to take charge and do what you know you must do. Don't let anyone stop you. You deserve to be healthy and happy. God bless you and good luck!

Here is what I would do: tell the family members that you are going to do it, and wouldn't they want to come with you to make sure you are safe? They'll feel guilty and it will go your way. They are trying to push you, via fear, to not do the surgery. If it was my family, I would sure as hell go, even if I didn't want them to do it, just so I could help.

that's my 2 cents!

See if you can self-refer to a bariatric surgeon in your health care plan and get an appointment directly. I made the mistake of going through my primary care doctor to request the surgery and it was denied, so I went to Mexico and had the surgery with dr. Ponce de leon. I followed up with a bariatric surgeon in my health care plan (Kaiser Permanente) and when I had the appointment she said she has no idea why my request for coverage for it was denied, that she would have approved it! Darn! I could have saved $5000. Dr. Ponce de Leon took a video of the surgery which I gave to my follow up surgeon here and she said it was obvious he knew what he was doing and everything looked great. She checked my incisions and drain area and said they were perfect, and she was very impressed that I didn't need a 4th incision for the liver retractor. She said I must have done well on the preop diet and as far as she could see the surgery was as good as any. She also said she had four other patients that week alone who also went to Mexico for their surgery but followed up with her, and that it's becoming much more common.

Anyway, I did have a serious, life threatening and very rare complication with blood clots in the veins between my intestine and liver (mesenteric and portal vein thrombosis) which for gastric sleeve has a 40% fatality rate, but it happens in a tiny fraction of all complications which are less than 1%. It was like a 1 in 10000 chance that I got it. Good medical care at an emergency room and hospital when my complication appeared three weeks after surgery was crucial. I am fine now, 4 months later, but I could have died. However I am still glad I had the surgery. Without it I had a 100% chance of deadly complications with the knee, hip, and back pain, diabetes, heart disease, etc.

If you absolutely can't get coverage with your current insurance, I do recommend Dr. Ponce de Leon's surgery in Tijuana. You CAN go alone!!!! I went with my husband but really he just whined about the couch he had to sleep on and it was a pain in the butt to get him out to get his own food (you won't be eating and you won't be hungry) and in retrospect I wish I would have gone alone. For the same price as other surgeons, if you go through BariatricPal you get someone to pick you up in San Diego at the airport, someone who speaks English to be your companion all day every day when you are in the hospital to not only translate for you but keep you company, and then when you are ready to go to the recovery house which is a condo - VERY NICE! - you are there recovering with several other patients to talk to, dine with, hang out with along with a concierge to take you around for walks or cab ride to the shopping areas. Our guy was so great, he helped me negotiate a good price on some souvenirs and picked up stuff for us and hung out to keep us company. In fact we are facebook friends now! Nurses are there to check on you and the doctor and nutritionist comes by as well, for days 2-4. They drive you back to the airport across the border to the airport and follow up regularly by email in the following days and weeks. Dr. Ponce doesn't speak English but he is extremely well regarded as one of the top surgeons. The other doc with him does and it's never a problem. I used google translator on my phone to do any other translating I needed but I felt completely cared for and never lonely or overwhelmed.

I would be sure to follow up with good medical care when you return and go to the emergency room if you feel like something is wrong after surgery because you could have a very rare complication. Other than that, I think you should do what you want to do and other people who are detractors and discouraging can mind their own business. I told my parents (in their 70's) that I was going to Tijuana just for a vacation, not about any surgery, and they flew into a panic saying I was going to get killed and why would I ever visit such a horrible place. They don't know what it's like now, they are acting from fear and racism. There are good doctors all over the world and with the way it's set up with Dr. Ponce de Leon, you will feel totally comfortable, safe, happy. And thin!

I was a bit smaller than you when I had WLS 11+ years ago.

Dr. Esquerra at Mexicali Bariatric is well thought of.

Why are you going to Mexico I agree on the Mexico thing but get the surgery in the states and screw them I have family like that too so I waited tell the day before to get the surgery to tell them.

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Mexico has many skilled and experienced surgeons as well as world class facilities. It is ignorant to say that "going to Mexico for surgery is like going to Iraq". I can't speak to the conditions in Iraq nor the quality of medical care available there, but I can attest that I received excellent care in Mexico both times I've been there for surgery (once for plastics and once for VSG). For my plastics I can promise I received MUCH better care than I would have in the US. I had nurses tending to me 24/7 for two full weeks post-op. In the US, I would have been sent home a day or two post-op and left to fend for myself or had to depend on loved ones for embarrassing tasks like using the toilet and showering.

Are there hacks performing surgeries in Mexico? Of course there are. Just like there are here in the US. But if one does their research and due diligence, it's not hard to find well qualified surgeons and to go to Mexico for surgery with full peace of mind.

PS: To the OP, only YOU can decide if surgery is what is best for you. As for a travel companion, I went to Mexico twice for surgery by myself. There will be other patients there for you to bond with and socialize with. Having a friend or family member there would actually probably put more stress on you, since you would feel obligated to keep them entertained instead of only worrying about yourself.

If you wanted , do it. My family doesn't agree whit my surgery but they don't live on my body. So I take the oportunity and did it. Go fot it girl!

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Do they think that no you don't need surgery or just don't want you to go to Mexico to do it? Both
Do you not have insurance to have it covered here or do you just not want to have to wait to have it done here? I tried to get it done here but my doctor won't give me another referral because I originally had an approval but then I turned 26 years old and got cut off my father's insurance and cannot seem to get another referral from my doctor again.

By the way, I've been at this for a while now and I'm just frustrated with it.

If it means anything to you, we as members of BariatricPal, have your back. Too bad we can't be there in person for you. It would be awesome if there was a nation wide advocacy program for those who do not have support from their friends and family - even system to offer a PCP referral to qualified patients.

My heart goes out to you and I hope you get the help and support you need.

I wish I had the means to come help you I definitely would be there. Even if they all say you can do it by yourself I feel like everyone just needs someone to be there to hold your hand and keep you from worrying too much. Just to have someone to listen with you when they are giving you so much information it gets a little hard to remember everything. Good Luck I hope everything works out for you!!

I weighted 209 the highest and bmi 37 and I felt I needed the surgery cause I was on yoyo and after my pregnancies gained a lot and was almost impossible to lose the extra weight! I tried all the different diets, exercise, different dietitians, juicing, running, diets pills and what ever you imagine, I tried and lost few pounds and regained doubles! When I decided to do the gastric bypass my Gp supported me at 100% and ive got accepted by the hospital within 6 months of my application! I am a Canadian and did it in Canada, i didn't loose as much or as fast as others loosing here but up to know which is 18 months, I lost 55 pounds and presently at 155 and still need to lose another 20lb and working really hard on it and getting there slowly! I am vey happy of my decision and enjoying my new life style and I look great and feel great! If you feel you want to do it, do it no matter what! It's your life and you are in control! Be brave and Good luck!

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