HI all,

Just returned from gastric sleeve surgery in Tijuana, Mexico with Dr. Mario Almanza. I only met the Dr one time. He thoroughly explained the operation and then posed for photo ops with each patient. Never saw or heard him after that morning. However, the hospital was in excellent condition, almost new. The staff was professional, courteous, supportive and nice. I had a few travel hiccups, but overall I believe the opportunity was exceptional and would recommend both Dr and hospital.

HI all,
Just returned from gastric sleeve surgery in Tijuana, Mexico with Dr. Mario Almanza. I only met the Dr one time. He thoroughly explained the operation and then posed for photo ops with each patient. Never saw or heard him after that morning. However, the hospital was in excellent condition, almost new. The staff was professional, courteous, supportive and nice. I had a few travel hiccups, but overall I believe the opportunity was exceptional and would recommend both Dr and hospital.

My surgery is with Dr. Almanza April 8th. I've had 3 friends have surgery with him. He's in surgery every day, Mon -Fri. He's in very high demand. Glad to hear you had a positive experience. Might I ask what the hiccups were? I just want to be prepared.

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My travel problems were with Southwest, nothing to do with the surgery center. But I wasn't prepared for them so I was overly anxious and nervous about the whole situation. We had plane problems when we went to leave the terminal which grounded the plane. Then we had to end of switching planes about 3 hours later. This made me late arriving in San Diego so I missed the last van to Tijuana. I had to spend the night in San Diego. It took me over 2 hours to find a hotel and I didn't really have the extra money to spend on that. But in the end, I caught the van in the morning and surgery went on as planned.

On 1/3/2019 at 10:31 PM, Lisa Adair said:

My surgery is with Dr. Almanza April 8th. I've had 3 friends have surgery with him. He's in surgery every day, Mon -Fri. He's in very high demand. Glad to hear you had a positive experience. Might I ask what the hiccups were? I just want to be prepared.

Sent from my SM-N950U using BariatricPal App

Did you have any issues post-op (like infection)? Did you have this done at Grand View?

19 minutes ago, dabbadoo00 said:

Did you have any issues post-op (like infection)? Did you have this done at Grand View?

No infections or problems!!! Yes, Grand View!!

Truly no problems. Great experience!!

Awesome! Thank u

On 1/15/2019 at 8:57 PM, dabbadoo00 said:

Awesome! Thank u

You're very welcome. I recently heard of some information regarding Grand View. I am not sure if it is true or just rumors. Someone was talking about infections and other things happening at the hospital. I did not experience any of this. One person had to go back into surgery because her pouch was too restricted, but I was not aware of any other issues with patients. You do have to be self-supportive through, they do not coddle you. Bring someone with you for help. I also like the fact that all meds were given twice a day by IV. Like I said, good experience and no regrets.

11 minutes ago, swatkins4 said:

You're very welcome. I recently heard of some information regarding Grand View. I am not sure if it is true or just rumors. Someone was talking about infections and other things happening at the hospital. I did not experience any of this. One person had to go back into surgery because her pouch was too restricted, but I was not aware of any other issues with patients. You do have to be self-supportive through, they do not coddle you. Bring someone with you for help. I also like the fact that all meds were given twice a day by IV. Like I said, good experience and no regrets.

Definitely not rumors, that info has been released by the CDC: https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/notices/alert/drug-resistant-infections-mexico

Yes. I saw the CDC Travel Advisory as well. There was a NY Times article about it as well. While I am skeptical of these types of reports. After all, people leave or are infected in US hospitals frequently. My mother-in-law got a MRSA type infection which was highly contagious during/after back surgery. Talk about exposure! The only reason I became suspious was the all the medical staff dressed in Haz-Mat like suits when entering her room after diagnosis. I asked about the infection after she told me. I then complained about the risk everyone, mostly elderly visitors had been exposed to. 2 days later, they posted a small warning sign by her door and set out a pile of gowns for visitors. Yet they continued to wear the space suits! The CDC never publishes reports about individual hospitals here! I'm not saying, not to take heed, I'm just saying...….