I will be a self pay in Mexico and I'm so overwhelmed with the different Drs and hospitals / centers.

I've researched so much it all seems to run together now !!! Can some sleever's please give me some recommendations on dr's and locations and why you chose them.. I wanna get this done like yesterday but can't get past the continual research mode !!!

NewMe

I went to Obesity Control Center in TJ Mexico. My surgeon is Dr. Ariel Ortiz. AWESOME STAFF AND PERFECT SURGEON. I WILL be 2 yrs post op March 17th. No problems

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Girl yes, Dr. Ariel Ortiz is the best

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I had my surgery with Dr. Ariel Ortiz at Obesity Control Center in Tijuana just over 6 years ago. My daughter is a gastroenterologist and he was specifically recommended to her by colleagues in the bariatric field. He was a world renown, cutting edge surgeon even then. I had a great experience, easy recovery and zero complications. As a nurse myself, I know the difference between quality healthcare and substandard, cut-rate care. Would recommend him and OCC to anyone interested in WLS.

Couldn't agree more. Dr O is simply the BEST

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@ Dairymary I have read good things about Dr Ortiz but wasn't sure which Ortiz it was as there are two in Mexico. Thanks for clearing that up for me

NewMe

Dr Ariel Ortiz is who I used 2 yrs ago. The best...

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You can add Dr. Armando Joya to your list for $5000.

I choose him because he has a Facebook page, and there are a few Youtubers who have documented their journeys. He doesn't aggressively promote himself... I communicate directly with his nutritionist. I also didn't like the idea of driving across the border. For around the same price, I can go enjoy recovering in Puerto Vallarta.

I had surgery with Dr. Illan and worked through BariatricPal Team MX. One of the best choices I have made in my life. Dr. Illan is one of the best bariatric surgeons in Mexico. And the surgical staff, doctors and nurses are attentive and care. The valets also make sure you have everything you need and are taken well care of. If you have a companion with you, the valets will make sure they are taken care of. They will take them out for food, or pick it up for them. They are never alone. I brought my daughter with me and I didn't have to worry about a thing. I spent 3 days in the hospital (Oasis Hospital of Hope), then spent two days at Pueblo Amigo Hotel and Casino. I was given the liquids needed for my stay at the hotel. The valets also took us out to eat and we did some shopping as well, including going to the pharmacy. One valet (Garab) also went and bought a nice basket full of stuff for the doctors and nurses at the hospital that me and my surgery sisters wanted to give to them as a thank you for all they did for us. I have had zero complications and can email my nutritionist (Stacy) with any questions. I can also email or call Bill with any questions, and if he doesn't know the answer, he will find the answer out. And if I have a question for Dr. Illan, he will respond to it personally. My best surgery experience.

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Thanks vsgvega!
As for Mexico, I had a few reasons to choose it over having the surgery done in Japan. First, although bariatric surgery is done in Japan, there are very few surgeons who specialise in it, which isn't surprising considering only 3.5% of the population is considered obese (at 30 BMI). My experience with Japanese doctors isn't very positive - they rarely tell you anything, and you have to push for more information. For example, my cholesterol is kind of high, but most doctors I go to tell me "not to worry about it." I sometimes have pain/pressure that feels like a hernia in my stomach area, but when I expressed my concern about it to my gastroenterologist, he told me to eat less (while tracing over my breasts where the stomach was - not appropriate!). I had minor surgery just over a year ago, and while the surgery results were fine, the post-op experience in the hospital was not. Also, Asian people (in general) are more sensitive to pain medication than non-Asians, so the meds here are not very strong. For pain killers, we are often given the equivalent of baby aspirin (I had that after surgery, so did a friend of mine who had a C-section). OTC meds, like Tylenol, are much stronger and more effective than anything they give me here (which I have to import, since they don't sell it here, or if they do it's hard to find - a former doctor of mine always brings some back with him after he goes to Europe, since even as a doctor, he can't get it here). Some suffering is expected at all times - I feel bad for patients with chronic diseases who are in constant pain because the doctors here won't give them anything stronger.
Another reason is insurance - with insurance it probably would have cost me at least $7000, without it, at least $25,000. So the cost of my surgery + the flight will be slightly more than if I had stayed in Japan (with insurance). But even if my insurance covered it, I would be reluctant to have the surgery since nothing is private here - since health insurance is provided by the company you work for, they know everything about you. We do health checks every year, and the company gets those results. Any operations or other procedures I get done - they know about it. The lack of privacy here is appalling, and for years I refused to do the health checks for that reason, but they're free and worth the information I get from them. But I'm keeping this surgery secret (for now) - I want to be the one who determines who knows about it.
So basically I'm going to Mexico because I want to deal with people who speak English, have a surgeon who has loads of experience, keep the surgery private, and also because, by flying to the States, I can also pick up some items I will need post-op that I can't get here in Japan. Every doctor I asked did not seem concerned about flying post-op, and I will have compression stockings and will walk around a lot (easier in business class too). I will also stay in San Diego for 4 days after I am released, so I will be flying back to Japan a week after surgery, which I think will help with pain or other issues. I'm travelling by myself but I think I will be able to get help with my suitcase every step of the way (hotel, cab, airport).
Anyway, sorry for the long post - it was much longer than I expected it to be!

How are you doing now?? I'd love to hear an update!!!

On 4/4/2017 at 1:38 PM, Gigiheart said:

How are you doing now?? I'd love to hear an update!!!

Great! Tomorrow will be my two-month surgiversary (wow, that's the first time I've written that). I've lost 50 pounds so far from my highest weight, almost 29 pounds since surgery (first time I've written that too). It doesn't seem like much compared to others, but I don't really compare myself to others, just myself. I haven't been this low a weight since 2012! I've gone through a few stalls already (currently in one) but I don't let them bother me. That said, I haven't been tracking like I should so I will be getting back to that to see if it helps. One problem I have, which isn't really a problem, is that I have no restriction. I never have, not even from day 1 post-op. To be fair, it does take me a while to eat or drink, but even after a month out 1/2 cup to a full cup of food is no problem for me (of course, getting close to a cup can be very filling). I have no aversions to any food, which is why I am very strict about not even sampling a little bit a trigger food for me (like chocolate or fried food). Luckily though, I don't have any cravings, and I don't long for any particular food or drink.

I've recently been going through my closet and my 12 (!) storage containers of clothes - I've gone from a 3x/24 in pants to a definite 1x/20, and some brands I can get into an 18 or X. Tops I'm already down to an 18/16 or L size, and I'm down a band/cup size for my bra. Shoes are the biggest win - I've been a size 8 most of my life, but the last 2-4 years I've had to wear wide size 9's because of swelling in my feet and fat. But I can now toss those big shoes because I can fit into all of my old shoes. That makes me happier than anything else! Tomorrow I'll do all my official measurements to see how far I've come that way.

Anyway, back on track, all the women in my life (friends and co-workers) have definitely noticed the change (I haven't seen most of them in 2 months since we were on vacation) and they have made really positive comments to me (I've still told no one about the surgery, just focusing on the high protein, low carb diet, which is also true - lost 23 pounds in 3 weeks pre-surgery that way). None of the men I know have said anything to me, which makes me wonder if they've noticed, or if they are just reluctant to comment about a woman's weight to her face (even something positive).

I don't have any suggestions for which to choose but I can tell you where not to use!! First let me explain how we got to where we went. My hubby had a Lap Band for 13 years, he did lose 100#'s. But he still weighed over 400#'s (in fact 465#'s) So it malfunctioned, so he needed to see another Surgeon. So they were going to remove his Band and revise him to a RNY. Once they got in there the band had eroded into his liver. They removed his band and his Gallbladder but couldn't do his revision. That was 2013. He got so sick (he almost died) he was sick for 9 months and 3 of them he doesn't even remember. After he was well he decided to presue his WLS. But he had his diabetes out of control. So OREGON HEALTH AND SCIENCE UNIVERSITY and they wanted him to lose 20#'s and get his A1C down to a 7. He could lose the weight but then his blood sugar would jump up, or he could get his blood sugar down but not his weight. He found out that he has Cancer in his kidney. Time was going by fast. So off to Juarez Mexico. He went thru the BELITE WEIGHT LOSS. DON'T GO THRU THEM!!! It isn't like they advertise!! First off they tell you to bring your own washclothes. We were told that we would have a SUITE, not I slept on a hard window ledge. The nurses didn't wash their hands ever only one nurse used hand santizer. They didn't wear gloves ever. When they got into his surgery, they couldn't do his RNY because his whole right side was solid scar tissue. So they did a SLEEVE. So the cost was less for the Sleeve and when they gave us a refund they said because of his surgery being diffcult they didn't give us back near amount of the money. We didn't get discharge papers and when I ask for the follow up papers she told me that the RNY and the Sleeve had the same guidelines. I had a RNY and they are similar but not the same. Our experence wasn't the best for sure. Now I'm not saying the Surgeon wasn't good but he started early in the morning and came into see my husband around 9pm. Just beware. That site is NOT the one to go thru.

My top choices right now are Dr. Cabrera or Dr. Valenzuela at Mexico Bariatric Center.

Does anyone have personal experience with either of these Dr.s that could give me feed back? Thanks!

I just had the vsg in Tijuana on 3/20-- I went with Trinity Medical... & had a great experience all around.

Finding so much great info here, thank you everyone.

I'm going with Dr Luis Cervantes at hospital Guadalajara in Tijuana. I've verified his credentials and the hospital is a full hospital not a clinic. Big things that I've learned so far is, choose the hospital first,verify the surgeons and that they are board certified in bariatric surgery. I regret not trying to contact the surgeons or hospital directly instead of using a coordinator to save some wasted commission $. But I talked to one of the staff today about my preop plans and she answered my questions. I. Scheduled in March and I wish I could do it sooner. Don't use dr Almanza or altamarino cano. They have lots of bad publicity.Sent from my QTAIR7 using the BariatricPal App

Every time a lie is repeated it's harder and harder to stop.

Dr. Almanza did my surgery, and it was so expert, my recovery has been twice as fast as expected. The entire experience with him and his staff was top notch, I've lost 25 pounds since surgery day, and the staff still checks on me by phone. Yes, I read all the so-called horror stories, but I'm a bit of a research in-depth kind of guy.....and I traced a few stories to disgruntled ex-employees, and actual fake news stories. Why him? He does so many, and there may have been a period where he did too many surgeries a day....and I made my coordinators swear he was currently doing no more than 4-5 a day, and there were 2 surgeons. He comes off a bit confident....but surgeons generally are. Nurses, they were great. Hotel nurses, also great. My chief criticism? Drinking cheap children's apple juice boxes and otter pops after surgery is cost cutting too far. I was miserable until I walked to a store in Tijuana and found G2. I was fine a few hours later.

I'm 8days post with dr illan in Tijuana and the entire process was amazing...would recommend anyone to go there!!

On 4/5/2017 at 8:06 AM, biginjapan said:

Great! Tomorrow will be my two-month surgiversary (wow, that's the first time I've written that). I've lost 50 pounds so far from my highest weight, almost 29 pounds since surgery (first time I've written that too). It doesn't seem like much compared to others, but I don't really compare myself to others, just myself. I haven't been this low a weight since 2012! I've gone through a few stalls already (currently in one) but I don't let them bother me. That said, I haven't been tracking like I should so I will be getting back to that to see if it helps. One problem I have, which isn't really a problem, is that I have no restriction. I never have, not even from day 1 post-op. To be fair, it does take me a while to eat or drink, but even after a month out 1/2 cup to a full cup of food is no problem for me (of course, getting close to a cup can be very filling). I have no aversions to any food, which is why I am very strict about not even sampling a little bit a trigger food for me (like chocolate or fried food). Luckily though, I don't have any cravings, and I don't long for any particular food or drink.

I've recently been going through my closet and my 12 (!) storage containers of clothes - I've gone from a 3x/24 in pants to a definite 1x/20, and some brands I can get into an 18 or X. Tops I'm already down to an 18/16 or L size, and I'm down a band/cup size for my bra. Shoes are the biggest win - I've been a size 8 most of my life, but the last 2-4 years I've had to wear wide size 9's because of swelling in my feet and fat. But I can now toss those big shoes because I can fit into all of my old shoes. That makes me happier than anything else! Tomorrow I'll do all my official measurements to see how far I've come that way.

Anyway, back on track, all the women in my life (friends and co-workers) have definitely noticed the change (I haven't seen most of them in 2 months since we were on vacation) and they have made really positive comments to me (I've still told no one about the surgery, just focusing on the high Protein, low carb diet, which is also true - lost 23 pounds in 3 weeks pre-surgery that way). None of the men I know have said anything to me, which makes me wonder if they've noticed, or if they are just reluctant to comment about a woman's weight to her face (even something positive).

What doctor did you end up using? I get my band removed July 20h and depending on the damage will also know how long i need to wait to revise to sleeve