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Hello All,

I'm very new to this but looking to soak up as much information as I can retain in regards to the gastric sleeve.. I have watched hundreds of You Tube videos and very concern with some of those videos with discussions of price gouging .

I am looking for the reviews on Dr's , Hospitals, Hotels and Pricing ..ex: does the quotes include the dr,s pay or will that be a different payment? Any information provided will be greatly appreciated

Need as much information as possible!

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I'll be doing self-pay in Mexico this February. It's pretty competitive, so most prices are within the same range ($4000-$7000) and usually includes all of the costs (doctor, hospital, tests, hotel, transport, etc.). The differences in price are usually a combination of the reputation/experience of the surgeon (and the number of surgeries he/she does in a day), the hospital and hotels used, and possibly the post-op care (the amount of prescription meds you get, compression stockings, etc.).

Once you narrow down your range of possibilities I think it will be easy to focus on and ask questions about the doctors you are most interested in.

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I used Trinity Medical in Tijuana. I couldn't have been treated better. My wife and I felt like family. My price was towards the lower end of the range mentioned above but the care was amazing. We were picked up in San Diego in a Mercedes van. Taken for food in Tijuana. Asked if we wanted to go to the hotel (4 star), shopping or explore. We went down the coastline, learned a lot about the culture, economy and people of Mexico. A new appreciation was had as a result. We had some more food at a nice open air restaurant over looking the ocean. The next day was surgery and they sent the nurse, not just a driver, to pick us up. The surgery included everything. All tests, anesthesia, meds, everything! They even asked my wife what she would like to eat and they sent a member of the staff to go to town and get whatever my wife ordered. There was no charge for any of these meals. The next day we were back in the hotel and the owner of the company was going to get a massage and offer to take my wife. She accepted and I snooze and walked. We were then taken into town to go shopping. Whatever we bought was on us. On our final day we went to do a leak test and the nurse took me for some awesome chicken broth. After all was done I was presented with my complete medical records, in English. We were then taken across the border and back to the airport.

Literally the only thing that cost us anything else was the jewelry that my wife bought.

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I will be going to Dr. Joya in Puerto Vallarta next month. It is $5000 for everything but the flight. I liked the idea of Puerto Vallarta because I don't have to drive across the U.S. border, I also got lucky with a non stop flight home.

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I booked myself through Dr. Joya's nutritionist Nathalie. There is a quick form to fill out on the website.

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@I'm Changing 4 Me

I'm so sorry that I didn't see your question sooner! Mauricio Gutierez was my surgeon.

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I had surgery in Tijuana by Dr Lopez Corvala. Everything was included except for the flights & the experience was great! They picked us up in San Diego, drove us straight to the hospital & I met the concierge who walked me through all the tests until I met with the Drs team in my room. I was in the operating room in less than 2 hours upon arriving and I was totally happy with that as I had done a lot of emailing and questions before. They kept me there and my partner was able to go out and get food with very little issues (google translator was a big help, Im told!) Everything was incredibly clean and the staff was better than any experience Ive had here in the states. My price was $6500 but I did have to buy my meds to take back home...that was around $100.

One draw back...you're on your own once you leave other than emails and phone calls. I don't have a gastric dr here so Ive been lucky to have my gen Practitioner check my Vitamins and keep an eye on me. There are no after care visits and check ins and there are no in person support groups here. I've been lucky to find this and other websites with support groups to ask my 11ty billion questions and share frustrations with. I think for surgical tourism you have to be super self aware and committed to following your plans to make it work. If you need accountability, find a way to make it possible because there will be no dr check ins and nutritionist appointments as compared with most surgeries in the US.

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