I live in Southern Arizona, about 40 miles from the border with Sonora, Mexico. I am looking for any recommendations for Mexican doctors and hospitals that carry out the lap-band procedure in Sonora, Mexico.

:help:

Heather Crawford.

I live in Southern Arizona, about 40 miles from the border with Sonora, Mexico. I am looking for any recommendations for Mexican doctors and hospitals that carry out the lap-band procedure in Sonora, Mexico.

:help:

Heather Crawford.

Is that the Nogales area? I live in Phoenix and the closest experienced surgeon I know of is Aceves in Mexicali. It's about 50 miles west of Yuma.

There is a guy in Nogales that does a few bands but he is not very experienced and he (nor his staff) speak English. Dr. Prado.

There is also a doc that I won't even give you his name. He's done five bands and has a 100% erosion stat. :cry

hi crawford,ive been checking into doc in mex and all ive been getting is good things ,i talk to one and he was great .

thats all ive been getting is good things..good hospital,everything ive check on has been great.

good luck.barbaratoo@yahoo.com

hi crawford,ive been checking into doc in mex and all ive been getting is good things ,i talk to one and he was great .

thats all ive been getting is good things..good hospital,everything ive check on has been great.

good luck.barbaratoo@yahoo.com

In Sonora? Who is it? I didn't think there were many but maybe I don't know what area Sonora covers.

Thank you, yes it is near to Nogales. Did you go to Dr.Aceves for your banding? How was your experience--and are you glad you had it done. I'm a bit nervous about the Mexico location -and the procedure!

The Nogales doctor and the other guy sound TOO scary!!!!!

Thank you, yes it is near to Nogales. Did you go to Dr.Aceves for your banding? How was your experience--and are you glad you had it done. I'm a bit nervous about the Mexico location -and the procedure!

The Nogales doctor and the other guy sound TOO scary!!!!!

I am quite sure I don't know all the docs in the Nogales area but the two that I do know I wouldn't go to. Prado just isn't very experienced, his true love is endo surgery but he does a few bands. The other guys... freaky. Nice guy, bad surgeon.

I'm biased because Dr. Aceves did my surgery but I really like him. I' going to copy and paste something I wrote in an email because I'm lazy. :confused:

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I can tell you about Dr. Aceves but you need to know up front that I am biased since he is my doc. And you really can't believe anything I say either because you don't know if I am a patient coordinator. I'm not, but you don't know that. So anything I say you need to verify for yourself.

I really like him. He is a very sweet and compassionate man. I felt kinda weird having to go to Mexico to have them fix my problem of stuffing my face and being unable to stop. It was just kind of embarrassing for me. He put me at ease right away. The whole staff did.

Mexicali is great. The thing I like about it is that for a border town it's really not bad at all. I walk around at night by myself and have no worries. In many Mexican cities you really have to worry about the Mexican police. Example, when I go to Nogales (I do volunteer work there) if I had a problem or question I would approach ANYONE on the street before I would a policeman. Police officers there are not like they are here. They typically have an 8th grade education and make less than minimum wage. They are quite poor. They steal money from tourists. In Mexicali it is essentially a Medical Tourism town. They keep it up because if they don't, nobody will want to go there. There really isn't anything great to do. No beaches, etc. Just medical stuff. So if they don't treat Americans well, they won't have a great deal of business and they depend on us.

Policeman are paid fair wages, stealing from tourists is not permitted, every other police car says, "Tourist Police" and it is my understanding that those police officers speak English and will help tourists.

The hospital is very pretty. It's not beautiful on the outside, just a regular building but the inside is very pretty. All the rooms are private, private bath, etc. There is a couch or pull out bed in all rooms if you have someone go with you.

Dr. A is a bit conservative. Actually, he is overly conservative. Most in the US do the surgery and send you home as soon as you wake up. In Mexico it is standard to spend one night in the hospital and one night in a hotel and then you go home. Dr. A feels we have more risk for complications due to weight alone and he requires two nights in the hospital vs. hotel.

He is a proctor surgeon for Inamed, he's done 1500 or 1600 bands, I forget which. But the really cool part of Dr. Aceves is that when other docs throughout the country can't handle a case because it is too tricky (such as a complicated revision) the other docs send the patient to him. Actually, they send the tricky and difficult cases to either Aceves or Rumbaut. To be honest, they are both quite good and either would be a good doctor for you.

I don't really know how many bypasses, revisions, and sleeves he's done, but he does quite a few.

Fills... free for life from the docs BUT... the hospital charges for the radiologist and xray room and that is $75 give or take a couple of dollars for the exchange rate.

I love his staff. If you are at all interested in getting info I would email Nina directly. She's the person that is in charge over there. She runs the show. She's a doll, I think you would like her. Her email address is:

nina_eguia@yahoo.com

She can give you more details. I know that since J&J is giving the docs a break on the cost of the band they are passing on the savings to the patients but I don't know exact fees. She can give that all to you. They usually charge $8200, I got it for $7800 last December. They were running a special. Nobody wants to be banded over the holidays ;o) so they give people a bit of a break, I assume because business is so slow throughout Christmas and New Year. But if you are banded before 1/1/08 it is a much better break with the J&J discount. I *think* it is around $7300 but don't hold me to that. I'm not positive.

I believe the number of J&J bands they have at this price is limited so I would contact Nina now and verify if what I am telling you is correct. I could be way off. Most of the Mexican docs are passing on the savings to patients. I have yet to see a US doc pass on the savings they are getting. LOL

If you want me to send you the "hospital experience" part of my journal I am happy to do so. It tells exactly what it is like getting surgery in Mexico. At that time we were encouraged to journal our band journey. To be honest, I quit doing it after the hospital experience. But if you want to read it I'm happy to send it to you.

He sends you home with everything you need, meds, xrays, copies of all your labs, the films from your barium swallow done after surgery, etc.

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Just a suggestion but in my sig there is a link to a thread on how to research Mexican surgeons. Call several of the more popular docs and see what you find. Post #2 of that link is a checklist you can print off. Print one for each doc that you call and that will help keep you organized. You'll forget how one does things vs. another and that page will help keep info straight.

BTW... yes, I'm glad I got my band. Best decision I ever made. There is a whole new world out there after WLS. I forgot how different life is for a less heavy person.

:)I am being banded by Dr.Aceves on the 16th of Nov. and am so excited. I went to the hospital and had a tour a couple of weeks ago....very impressive!! I was also able to talk to some of the patients that had the surgery the day before and meet some patients there for fills....I heard no bad from these patients.

Thank you . I wish you all the bestfor your surgery. I think I have narrowed my choices to Dr Aceves or Dr.Rodriegez. I think that the Admin. side might be better with Dr Aceves's staff, but El Paso/Juarez is nearer for refills if I can't find a doctor in Tucson/Phoenix to do them.

Let me know how you get on-----Good Luck and thanks!

He is a proctor surgeon for Inamed, he's done 1500 or 1600 bands, I forget which. But the really cool part of Dr. Aceves is that when other docs throughout the country can't handle a case because it is too tricky (such as a complicated revision) the other docs send the patient to him. Actually, they send the tricky and difficult cases to either Aceves or Rumbaut.

When I contacted Allergen/Inamed, Dr. Aceves was not on their list of proctors. Dr. Rumbaut was mentioned but not Dr. Aceves. They also did not say anything about sending difficult cases to him either. I'm not saying that makes him a bad surgeon, but if Dr. Aceves is claiming to be something he is not, I don't think that is right!

When I contacted Allergen/Inamed, Dr. Aceves was not on their list of proctors. Dr. Rumbaut was mentioned but not Dr. Aceves. They also did not say anything about sending difficult cases to him either. I'm not saying that makes him a bad surgeon, but if Dr. Aceves is claiming to be something he is not, I don't think that is right!

Do more research.

Dr. Aceves has been a proctor surgeon for Inamed for a number of years. As for the the tricky procedures, ask the docs who they refer to. Inamed doesn't refer patients to anyone when their case is complicated. So you'll have to go to the source.

And yes, even with one post you can get the same info as others.

Dr. Aceves and Dr. Rumbaut are excellent surgeons, either one can do a fantastic job for just about anyone.

Thank you . I wish you all the bestfor your surgery. I think I have narrowed my choices to Dr Aceves or Dr.Rodriegez. I think that the Admin. side might be better with Dr Aceves's staff, but El Paso/Juarez is nearer for refills if I can't find a doctor in Tucson/Phoenix to do them.

Let me know how you get on-----Good Luck and thanks!

Crawford:

I had a great experience in TJ with my surgeon, he is great! If you are looking for follow-up in Phoenix I know he's setting up a fill center there within 2 more months.

I have two 'medical questions'--- I would appreciate comments---advice--suggestions etc.

1 Does the remainder of the stomach,below the lapband retain blood flow and remain healthy, I assume it does, but just want to check?

2 What problem will there be with excess skin? I need to shed 70 lbs. Will plastic surgery be inevitable, or do the "stretch mark" creams help to prevent the need for surgery, along with exercise?

Finally, once the weight is lost, can there be a sensible relaxation in the stringent diet restrictions,e.g the occasional small piece of say, birthday cake or a square of chocolate, or is it restricted eating for life?

I really want to do this as I hate being fat, My husband is not so sure, butI am a very young 63!!!!

I have two 'medical questions'--- I would appreciate comments---advice--suggestions etc.

1 Does the remainder of the stomach,below the lapband retain blood flow and remain healthy, I assume it does, but just want to check?

2 What problem will there be with excess skin? I need to shed 70 lbs. Will plastic surgery be inevitable, or do the "stretch mark" creams help to prevent the need for surgery, along with exercise?

Finally, once the weight is lost, can there be a sensible relaxation in the stringent diet restrictions,e.g the occasional small piece of say, birthday cake or a square of chocolate, or is it restricted eating for life?

I really want to do this as I hate being fat, My husband is not so sure, butI am a very young 63!!!!

1. The section of the stomach below the lapband remains in perfect working order. It isn't affected by the band at all.

2. That just depends on you and the elasticity of your skin. From what I've seen, it varies from person to person. Some people get away without needing PS, other people need it badly.

3. The beauty of the lap-band is that you can still indulge yourself every once in a while. If you have a giant craving for cake or chocolate, you can have cake or chocolate.

What can anyone tell me about Dr.Rodriegez and the Hospital Angeles,Juarez?{near El Paso,over the border into Mexico}. Ican't find info.on this facility on the Belite site. Thanks.

Do more research.

Dr. Aceves has been a proctor surgeon for Inamed for a number of years.

Do more research?! I called Allergan and they told me that doctor is NOT one of their proctors. Are you saying they are lying or they don't know who their own proctors are?