Mexico bariatric center

[Edward12 9]

This is my review of mexico bariatric center

Cliff notes: I would absolutely recommend them.

Dr. Lousinana Valenzualla A++++

MBC hospital facility B+ not the fanciest but clean.

MBC nursing staff A++++ very nice and attentive

This review is long and detailed.

I am a late 40's male about 5'11and over the course of the last year my weight balloned to 255. Enough to the point where life just wasnt as fullfulling as it used to be. My weight was definately limiting me.

I had a friend have the gastric sleeve surgery at MBC about 5 years ago and she had zero complications and lost around 140lbs. She reached her goal weight. She highly recommended MBC.

3 years ago i actually scheduled the surgery with MBC but then i made the big mistake of getting on the internet and only looked for horror stories about what could go wrong. 2 weeks later i was so scared i chickened out and cancelled my surgery. Giant mistake on my part.

So in april of this year i decided to go through with surgery. One of the hardest parts of making this decision is bringing up the subject with your spouse. I eventually got the nerve to talk to her about it and she was wonderfully supportive. That should not have suprised me. So i made the decision and sceduled the surgery for June 11th and bought my airfare. But i made one other important decision and that was to get off the internet and stop reading about complication and stop playing the "what if this goes wrong game".

My bmi was around 34 so i only had to do a 1 week preop diet. In those 7 days of all liquids i lost no joke 20lbs. I went to my surgery on June 11th at 235lbs. Was it hard to be on an all liquid diet for 7 days, not as hard as living with the shame of obesity i have felt all my life.

Mexico bariateic center had there driver call me the night before my flight and confirm the flight info and my pickup time. When i arrived in San Diego i called the driver and he showed up promply in an unmarked white chevy van. The van was just a passenger van nothing fancy at all but it was clean and the driver drove responsibly. He took me straight to my hotel.

The hotel in my opinion was 5 stars. Very very nice. Probably one of the nicest hotels i have ever stayed in. Rooms were huge. The place had a lounge in the lobby that served all kinds of broths. A+ place. I was told that i would be picked up at 730 the next morning to go to the hospital.

The next morning i went down to the lobby at 715. There was a very nice unmarked van waiting for me and 1 other patient. The driver was well dressed, friendly, helpful and pretty funny. He took us straight to the hospital where he escorted us into the building and brought our bags in for us. We checked in and waited in the lobby for about an hour for a nurse to come get us. Apperently some of the patients that were checking out were slow and that was the cause of the delay.

Eventually a nurse came down and escorted both of us up to our rooms. On a 1-10 scale i would give me room a 7. It was clean but no frills. Small tv, older style medical bed. Just dont expect any fancy room when you go. This isnt a vacation. My room was located right infront on the nurses station. That i thought was a good thing.

So they told me to put on a gown and compression socks and then promptly did a 12 lead ekg on me that came back normal. I asked what time my surgery would be and she said within an hour. Here we go I thought.

Before the surgery happened and after the ekg i met with 2 doctors the first one came in and asked me all the screening questions i had already filled out. He was thorough. He spoke good english, he was polite and was able to answer any of my questions. The second doctor to come in was my surgeon Dr. Lousiana Valenzuella. She was very kind and professional. I told her that i had gallstones and that i wanted her to take my gallbladder out to if it looked like it wouldnt be too complicated. She in own words told me it wouldnt be a problem. She answered all of my questions and then left to prep for my surgery.

20 minutes later a nurse arrived with a wheelchair and i was off to the OR which is on the 4th floor i think. I was wheeled into to the OR which was clean and a buzz from all the people ready and prepping for my surgery. I laid down on the table and the anathesioligist quickly introduced himself and said he was giving me something to relax and that is all i remember of that. Out like a light.

I woke up in my room a few hours later and my thoat was just a little sore and my stomach had a touch of discomfort but really overall i felt way better then expected. The nurse promptly came into me room and gave me some pain meds and anti nausea meds. I went back to sleep. When i woke up the second time i felt pretty good. It was time to do some walking. When i got up to walk i felt great. Really no gas pains. My stomach was a little sore from the incisions and drain but not bad at all.

I spent 2 nights in the hospital. The nurses came onschedule to change my iv bag, give me meds, and change me dressing. The nurses were great and very attentive to my needs. Long story short the recovery was way easier then i thought it was gonna be. Your result may be different but those were mine. Before i was discharged on day 3 i met again with Dr. Valenzuala. She tild me the sugery went perfect, that my liver had shrunk frim my preop diet as intended and that she removed my gallbladder without complication. She also told me she used a 34 fr bougie on me and that i would be skinny very soon. I kinda giggled when she said that. I would definately 100% recommend Dr. Valenzoula based on how good i felt after the surgery.

On the day i was discharged they took all the patient being discharged and brought them to the lobby. Karla went over all the discharge instructions thourghly. She gave us helpful tips on what medications to get at the pharmacy. Karla was great. I would describe her as the mama bear who does her best at herding cats. She looks out for everyone at the same time trying to keep everyone moving in the right direction on time.

From there we all went to the pharmacy together to fill our perscriptions. I think i spent 135 us at the pharmacy. Then the driver took me to the hotel and got me a room for just a few hours were i could rest till my flight.

When i got home i was 142 lbs. I had actually gained 7 lbs after surgery. Easily explained though. They gave me a ton of iv fluids well i was there to keep me hydrated. Those extra 7 lbs came off in like a day and a half. By the end of Clear Liquids week i was down to 229lbs. Clear liquids week was tough, i felt pretty weak. I took lots of naps. I was very carefull to keep my incisions clean and bandaged up. I had very little pain or nausea. That was a win.

I moved on to thick liquid week which included Protein Shakes. I felt way stronger. My incisions were healing nicely. Thick liquid weeks wasnt that bad and at the end of that week i was down to 223.

I am currently on puree week. I still feel good. I walk 3 miles every morning. I dont lift anything heavy. My incisions a nearly fully healed. I can tell my stomach is small because when i try to eat anything i can on take about 3 bites before i start to feel full. Past 5 bites it can cause some discomfort. That is the tool you will use going forward is my thought.

Tips for anyone considering using MBC

1. Just do it, dont get on the internet and look for reasons not to. You will end up scaring yourself and backing out. Sure there is a very low complication risk leaks, blood clots, gerd. Accept it and move on.

2. Follow the preop diet and doctor instructions to a T.

3. Walk and stay hydrated

Thats all i got folks. Good luck. I will answer question. Save any negative comments cause i just dont care.

[Candace76 211]

Congratulations on your surgery. Thank you for giving us your story. It is helpful to hear different experiences with weight loss surgery. Good luck as you continue to progress through the different stages of your weight loss experience. 😊

[ColieCallwell 128]

If it's not too invasive for me to ask, how much did you spend in total? Travel, surgery, etc.?

Sent from my SM-N976V using BariatricPal mobile app

[Edward12 9]

Best estimate is right around 6k. That includes flight, sleeve, and gallbladder removal.

[Edward12 9]

5 month update

I am now down to 190 lbs. 65lb in 5 months. I feel great and am back doing all the things i live to do. Zero complications. I still walk alot and keep my food portions small. I dont have quite the discomfort i had after eating like i did in the beginning. I say just do it. Like everybody else says, i wish i would have done this 10 years ago.

[vikingbeast 985]

@Edward12, do you remember what hotel you were put up at? Was it the Hotel Ticuán on 8th between Ave. Revolución and Ave. Constitución?

Asking because others have asked about the hotel, I know Tijuana very well, and want to be able to reassure people (it's a VERY nice hotel).

Edited November 9, 2021 by vikingbeast

[chad2rad 491]

This was really helpful.