After all is said and done, I will have probably spent at least $7,000-$8,000 on this surgery. Plus, I had to wait about 9 months from when I decided to have it, to get it done. I should have just gone to Mexico. I could have gotten it for about the same out-of-pocket cost AND gotten a more experienced surgeon. Now, I'm not knocking my surgeon, she's great and I love her to death. But the fact is, she hasn't done that many bands, compared to a lot of the Mexican docs.

So, I think that if I ever have to have anything else done (elective, anyway), I'm going to Mexico.

To add to my original post without going to the trouble of editing it:

I am an advocate of people going to Mexico, as long as they do their research. I see so many people on this site that decide to go to Mexico for surgery and just seem to pick a surgeon out of a phone book, or based solely on price, or because a friend of theirs had a decent experience. And they pick bad surgeons. They don't research the surgeon thoroughly. But, I guess you could also say that about a lot of people having surgery in the US.

I have been a Mexico advocate since my experience there. I am amazed at the prejudice I sometimes see from people who have never been or done research on this option.

Dr. Rumbaut was amazing ..it was so wonderful to be banded by someone who has a band. I would do it again in a heartbeat.

Agreed.

I busted my back side doing research and digging up dirt on every possibly doc I had on my list. For banding the very two best surgeons are Aceves and Rumbaut. I'd go to either for bariatric surgery.

what about a LBL? i heard it is best to "go local" for that one since it is so invasive...

thoughts??

what about a LBL? i heard it is best to "go local" for that one since it is so invasive...

thoughts??

Two of the Mexican plastic surgeons I have met said that they don't do "medical tourism" meaning, you have to stay there for at least a week in case of complications and such. If complications are going to happen they usually happen within days of surgery.

My band doc suggests Soberanes (sp?) in TJ for LBLs. I have the name and number of his coordinator if you are interested in general info. I've talked to her quite a bit. She's an RN and very matter of fact yet kind.

I don't believe I need a LBL so I'm not going that route, just a TT and maybe a BL w/implants.

I think it would be okay if you go to a Mexican doc for that procedure. There are quite a few that this is all they do and in Mexico they tend to keep you in the hospital longer than they do in the US. That's a plus because w/plastic surgery the mortality is much higher than something such as a band.

Two of the Mexican plastic surgeons I have met said that they don't do "medical tourism" meaning, you have to stay there for at least a week in case of complications and such. If complications are going to happen they usually happen within days of surgery.

My band doc suggests Soberanes (sp?) in TJ for LBLs. I have the name and number of his coordinator if you are interested in general info. I've talked to her quite a bit. She's an RN and very matter of fact yet kind.

I don't believe I need a LBL so I'm not going that route, just a TT and maybe a BL w/implants.

I think it would be okay if you go to a Mexican doc for that procedure. There are quite a few that this is all they do and in Mexico they tend to keep you in the hospital longer than they do in the US. That's a plus because w/plastic surgery the mortality is much higher than something such as a band.

M:

I thought of you tonight..lol. We met with a couple who are looking to buy our business. Through my book keeper (who referred them to us) I found out that both of these people were banded locally. The banded husbands comment to my book Keeper was, "The gal you are telling me about went to Mexico? (meaning me) That is just crazy and irresponsible". I was still excited about meeting them because I dont know any locals that are banded. They come to the house and they are BOTH as overweight as any before pic. They have been banded 2 years. He wishes he would have got RNY. So they were two not so sterling U.S. examples...who complained about the aftercare they did not receive at their U.S. bariatric clinic. I felt bad for both of them (insurance paid for both of their surgeries) but I thought it was funny to be the one almost at goal (in a year) and be called irresponsible by them.

M:

I thought of you tonight..lol. We met with a couple who are looking to buy our business. Through my book keeper (who referred them to us) I found out that both of these people were banded locally. The banded husbands comment to my book Keeper was, "The gal you are telling me about went to Mexico? (meaning me) That is just crazy and irresponsible". I was still excited about meeting them because I dont know any locals that are banded. They come to the house and they are BOTH as overweight as any before pic. They have been banded 2 years. He wishes he would have got RNY. So they were two not so sterling U.S. examples...who complained about the aftercare they did not receive at their U.S. bariatric clinic. I felt bad for both of them (insurance paid for both of their surgeries) but I thought it was funny to be the one almost at goal (in a year) and be called irresponsible by them.

Did you guys get down to reality at all or was the topic of Mexico even discussed?

You know, every single time I go to Mexico I am embarrassed by some ignorant idiot that doesn't know how to behave in public let alone how to represent their home country while in the country of another. They are insulting, childish, uninformed, ignorant, and not having the least desire to learn a bloody thing when it comes to truth.

But yours is even better... two shining examples of US bariatric medical care! HA!

Did you guys get down to reality at all or was the topic of Mexico even discussed?

You know, every single time I go to Mexico I am embarrassed by some ignorant idiot that doesn't know how to behave in public let alone how to represent their home country while in the country of another. They are insulting, childish, uninformed, ignorant, and not having the least desire to learn a bloody thing when it comes to truth.

But yours is even better... two shining examples of US bariatric medical care! HA!

We talked for a minute or two and they were shocked when I told them the hospital in Monterrey was cleaner and more high tec than the one in our town. Thats a common reaction that I get...everyone pictures third world conditions and so we must be getting operated on in a mud hut somewhere and the doc is using a bread bag twisty tie as a lap band.

and the doc is using a bread bag twisty tie as a lap band.

LMAO!!! ...

My band doc suggests Soberanes (sp?) in TJ for LBLs. I have the name and number of his coordinator if you are interested in general info. I've talked to her quite a bit. She's an RN and very matter of fact yet kind.

ok ... you are going to call me an ignorant American ... but, TJ - how safe is it there? would i want to spend 1+ weeks there w/ my DH and possibly DD ??

i think i need to drop to about 199 before i even start thinking about the LBL... **sigh** so much more to go.

... and so we must be getting operated on in a mud hut somewhere and the doc is using a bread bag twisty tie as a lap band.

OMZ! I actually LOL in real time reading that one! Can I steal it someday?

ok ... you are going to call me an ignorant American ... but, TJ - how safe is it there? would i want to spend 1+ weeks there w/ my DH and possibly DD ??

i think i need to drop to about 199 before i even start thinking about the LBL... **sigh** so much more to go.

You are gonna make me get hammered here by everyone.

No, I wouldn't go to TJ for surgery. I figure the Mexican gov't doesn't have their army stationed there for no reason when they claim TJ is one of the most dangerous cities in Mexico.

(Watch, I'm gonna get yelled at now)

With that said, I've yet to hear of a patient being harmed. I do have a friend that won't go there anymore because the policemen keep stealing her money but that is why I went to Mexicali. It's quite a bit different. They pay policemen actual living wages vs. less than minimum wage such as TJ, the crime is much less, they have tourist police that are in marked "tourist police" cars for we idiots that have horrible Spanish skills and personally I have no problem walking in Mexicali alone at night. And I do.

The plastic surgeon I *really* want is Alejandro Crespo in TJ but it was location that bothered me. Besides, if I go to the creep in Mexicali (he's good, just arrogant) then it's also driving distance for me.

Your question isn't ignorant in the least. When I talk about the idiot Americans I'm referring to those that go to Mexico for banding and then tell the Mexican staff "wetback" jokes. Or scream and swear at them the day after surgery because they want real GD food and not this watery slop.

One girl stood in the hallway and screamed at the top of her lungs because she wanted surgery and wanted to mail the doc a check after her procedure when she got home, she "forgot" the cashiers check. Then there are the fist fights between Americans because they wanted some stupid thing and another wouldn't give it to them.

Really, it's just like the US hospitals but I'm embarrassed by it in Mexico. I mean, com'on.... how stupid and idiotic do you have to be to think a Mexican nurse and MD will laugh at wetback jokes? There is too little class and manners.

It's really embarrassing.