melanieleigh

There is a total gastric plication board on this site, check it out. I am writing from my hospital bed in Mexicali where Dr. Abril and his team just performed the plication surgery on me. I have only need the equivilant to Motrin for my pain. I was a HUGE worry wort and they call me the FBI patient because I dug and dug and never stopped asked questions about EVERYTHING. I highly recommend using Dr. Abril and his team. They are young, in their mid thirties, they are fresh and on the cutting edge of this surgery. He uses a man named Omar as a patient coordinator, if you contact him you will immidiatly know what being treated right feels like. I am so happy I got this done and I am not suffering any major pain or discomfort. This is day 2 after surgery and I want to go out shopping!! I jokingly accused my doctor of faking the surgery, because I feel no pain and so little discomfort. Come to Mexicali, you will be so pleased.

I am so sorry you are at a stall. Don't think about it as a stall, think about it as your body taking a break and gearing up for the major change, that is going to happen. good luck!

Hello everyone, I am typing from my hospital bed in Mexicali. I just had the plication done by Dr. Abril. I feel great. I still do not have pain, just discomfort. I am finally able to sip some tea and juice, with a teaspoon! It is really agonizing, but I knew this was coming. I really thank you all for support. I am still a newbie to this forum and I find myself checking in a lot. I wish there were more of us, plication patients, that were here to tell their stories, good bad or otherwise. I would say another great doctor to add to the list of good guys is Dr. Abril. The hospital he works out of is a small but VERY cozy friendly place. Santa Catalina is the name of the hospital, Check it out!! Thanks again.

I only had vomiting right after waking up, but nothing since. My pain is almost non existant. I would hate to have such a good experience and you have a terrible one. Not all patients are the same. I was scared shitless before and the Dr. was like, don't even have it done if you are this nervous because you will make yourself sick, but now I can't believe I was so scared. The Doc says you can never tell who is gonna be okay and who is going to have a hard time with it. That is fair, I think. I wish both of you the best of luck and that you both feel as great as I do. Ciao!!

I just had my plication done yesterday in Mexicali by Dr. Abril. His patient coordinator is Omar Dipp and I NEVER felt like I was being sold this surgery. I have recieved the best of care. This hospital is privately owned by Omar's family, his mother runs the hospital and his uncle is the gastrointestinal Dr. here. The whole package was 5500$ this includes four nights in Mexicali, two in the hospital and two in a hotel, the best hotel. The staff is the most gentle and caring nurses, some speak a little english some not at all and some very well. I never had a problem with communicaton though. Omar is the Director of Tourism for Mexicali and his family has been here forever. Dr Abril and his team are young, in their mid thirties, and they are fresh and well educated. I was a severe worry wort. They call me the FBI patient because I dug and dug and asked all kinds of crazy questions and challenged them all the way to the operating room. I feel so silly for all of that now. I was teasing my doctor tonite that he didn't even do the surgery because I have to pain, only mild discomfort and some vomiting due to the aneshesia, but only right after surgery, NOT any more. Please dig like and FBI agent. Most of all go with who ever makes you feel the most comfortable. I did not like feeling like I was being pushed or "sold" the surgery. I found that with Dr. Rod. Nice, but pushy. Take care and good luck.

I made it!! I am in Mexicali, Mexico one hour away from my plication procedure with Dr. Rafael Abril. I am so very pleased. The hospital is small and privatley owned. Very clean, very nice. I am calm and feel secure about this now. finally!! I was such a worry wort. I will re post after I wake up and let you all know how it went. If anyone is looking for surgery and is afraid of Mexico, like me...chill out, they really are great down here!!

Surgery was GREAT!! I saw my doc this morning and accused him of not even doing surgery. My body is not sore, I do not hurt anywhere other than my incision sites. I was nasuas after coming out of anesthesia, but that is totally normal. He said my stomach was very very large and had to plicate it three times, he said normal is two times. My throat hurts from the tube, but not bad. I can suck on ice until later today, then sips of water. The nurses are wonderful, the doctors team was fabulous. I am so grateful, worth every penny. Ciao!!!

In the beginning of my search I was leaning towards Dr Rod as well. I spoke with Deborah, very nice woman, but I felt pushed by her. I really wanted GPS and she was pushing me to VSG, I have trust issues so I figured it was because the sleeve costs more and the doctor makes more money. I too need to lose 100+ lbs and the doctor I found, Dr. Abril ,says that type of weight loss is possible with GPS if you are dedicated and exercise and work the tool. It is the people who want the weight to come off with minimal participation that aren't sucessful.

I am leaving Monday morning the 10th of January to Mexicali Mexico to have the GPS done by Dr. Rafael Abril. I am very excited and nervous. It takes a lot to research and research some more. I am a worrier and have trust issues so for me it was really hard. The people here are very kind and compassionate and informed. I am always impressed with Dr. Watkins and the way he communicates here in this forum. His patients all seem very very happy. He is in Cinn. OH. and charges 9900 for the GPS. Dr. Corvala also has a lot of patients who speak very highly of him and his staff, I think he charges 7500 or 8000, not sure. Dr. Ortiz is another big name, I do not know what he charges. My reasons for choosing Dr. Abril was that he worked with Dr. Corvala and learned from him, and he only charges 5500. Money was really a bottom line for me. If you can avoid it, money should not be a bottom line. I feel good about my decision now. I have never ever felt like I was being "sold" this surgery. The patient coordinator I work with has been in contact with me DAILY, I am pretty high maintenance, with all the questions and freak outs I have. The Dr. himself has spent a lot of time on the phone with me answering any and all technical questions I have had. I feel well taken care of already and I haven't even gotten there yet. It is true what the others say, you have to find the Dr. who you feel comfortable with, because your state of mind is what helps you stay healthy. Hope I helped.

who was your doctor? and are you reading reviews on this site? i am getting the procedure done in a week and if you have found a site where people are sharing negative results, well then, please share that info...it may help the rest of us.

Hello all, Let me start by saying thank you all who respond to my ramblings. I never thought I would use an online forum like this, now I have come to rely on all of your posts. I NEED HELP!! I am day 1 of my pre op sugar free liquid diet. UGGG and it's only day 1. I dont know how to cook dinner without tasting the food...there went my liquid diet! I am preparing and I taste everything for tasty-ness, you know what I mean? I am not even thinking about it and then I realize, holy crap, I am eating... If I am making the salad, I taste a piece or two to check my dressing, which is always a lemon, olive oil, herb blend, but I HAVE to know if the blend is balanced. The same goes for when I make mashed potatoes, or rice or Pasta sauce or a number of other dishes I make from scratch. How do I know if the food I am feeding the family is yummy if I dont try it first? Seriously. lol HELP!! The pre-op diet is to shrink my liver. I was told when your BMI is very high, as mine is 45, then it is important to try to shrink the liver before surgery. I want to do this right so bad. Thanks again for all your kindness and support.

Okay, my confidence is wavering. I am going to Mexico, I am having surgery. I am using a young doctor that isn't a big name guy. I want so badly to be free. I want so badly, maybe I am making a bad choice because I feel so desperate. I dream at night of what it would be like to have the old me back. I hurt all the time, my knees, my back, my joints. It is hard to walk because it hurts, any exersice hurts. My husband loves me I know, but I can't remember the last time he touched my face and told me I was pretty. I used to get hit on all of the time, not now. I know it sounds petty. I know I should want to change for a better reason than looks. Not that I am a beauty queen. I wasn't a hag though, until now. I am scared. Did I pick the right doctor for the right reason, or just the one I could afford. I don't have health insurance and I has to beg borrow and steal (practically) to get the money for this young doctor. But I am scared, scared that I am going to lose more than money. Or, will I. What if I let my fear stand in my way of something that could work out just fine. I used to be very strung out on meth. I have six years clean. I went back to school three years ago to a community college and graduated, now I am at a CSU working on my English degree. I have had three years of therapy. I put on all this weight after I stopped using. Inside I am a free me, a healed me, a clean and competent me. But outside I am a sloth. I want the two to match. I want to be naked in front of my mirror and not cringe. I want to make love without all the fat in the way. I want to make love for more than 10 minutes without being exhausted. I want one chin. I did this to my self and sometimes I feel like the weight is my punishment, like a scarlet letter around my neck. Sometimes I feel like it keeps me safe, because before the weight I made foolish rash decisions. I am scared of changing, and not changing. If anyone knows how to check out the reputation of a doctor in mexico, will you please let me know. So far no one in this site has used Dr. Rafael Abril. Thanks.

I love your post thank you so much for being so complete

So good to know thank you very much. The doctor I am using worked with and learned from Dr. Corvala, so I am feeling confident he is a good doc. The only thing that I don't like is that he does not use the endoflip, but I spoke with him for like an hour on the phone and he explained that by following the protocols that Corvala created he feels confident with his results. My weight is 270 with a BMI of 45 soooo I don't think I will lose weight as easily as you. Congratulations on your success. I do love food, I love to cook really good food and feeding my family is so fun and tasty, I am missing it already. I dont know how I will cook for anyone without tasting everything as I go. I am going to join a group here where I live for fat people to learn better habits. Thanks again!

So after exhausting myself with online research and many phone calls and lots of e-mails...I found my guy!! Yeah!! Dr. Abril in Mexicali. The only other Dr. I liked as well was Dr. Watkins in Cinci, but the cost overall was to much. I am only a few hours drive from Mexicali vs. a very expensive plane trip to Ohio, if anything should go wrong. I feel confident that all of my needs will be met. I am open to any last minute advice from any of you though. I go mid January...yippee!!

I am want to have the Plication surgery. I have contacted two different Drs. in TJ Mexico. Both women have sent me extensive e-mails about the procedure. One is Dr. Rodriquez and the other is Dr. Ortiz. Now I have read ALOT of you have gone to, or are going to Dr. Watkins? in Ohio. I see him posting and am very impressed with his level of commitment, most Drs. seem to stuck up to chat with us regular folks. However, I cannot afford to self pay in the U.S. soooo off to Mexico I go. I have heard some say Dr. Cavales? HOW TO CHOOSE THE RIGHT DR.!! Does anyone know who the first one to do the plication surgery was? Maybe that could indicate who is the best. I don’t want to pick the Dr. by which one has the best web site, that would be like voting for the most attractive politician. HELP!!

In my search of Mexico docs doing plication I also found Dr. Abril. He studied under or with Dr. Corvala, who a lot of you seem to really like a lot. Has anyone gone to him and had a good bad or otherwise experience?

I also wanted to ask you all if anyone has felt unsafe in Mexico as an American? When I asked my mom and my sister to come with me they both said “Hell NO, they are shooting and kidnapping Americans there right now, your crazy!!!” So if my family comes do they have to stay hiding in a hotel room? Would it be safe for them to tour around and shop or whatever?

Since I posted about safety in Mexico I found some chat boards about the topic and from what I gathered Mexicali is much safer than Tj or Juarez. My good friends husband is a U.S. Marshall and he is totally against Americans going into Mexico right now. I live in a rural community 2 hours north of San Fran. Calif. so crime is almost non existent here. I want to find the best and most safest place to go for my surgery. I think I am finally settling on Dr. Abril. UNLESS anyone knows reasons why I shouldn’t.

maybe it was all a hoax, someone just messing with you guys. Maybe she is fine, just wanted attention. Maybe not even her, maybe just a prankster. Who is gonna be in all kinds of serious life threatening pain and chat on a board for advice? At least I hope that is what it is, I would rather think some one was pulling a prank than think someone is really very sick.

Thank you, thank you so much!! I don’t want to choose cheapest for cheapest sake, but money is a big factor of course. My BMI is 45, do you think the plication surgery is sufficient because the lady on the phone for Dr. Rodriquez said I would be happier with the sleeve. I don’t want to have my stomach cut out, but I also don’t ever want to have to go back for another surgery because the first one failed. What do you think?

thank you all so very much, I can feel more comfortable now, getting advice from ppl who dont have anythig to gain from me is worth its weight in gold. Thanks again.

Thank you, I have trust issues and I feel like I am someones commission or quota, going through this process I don't know if I am being led to a particular surgery because they make more money or if they truly care that it is the right one for me. I will check out Dr. W. I am VERY impressed at how frequently he communicates here. Very nice and good for business too I suppose, what ever the motive I like it. Thanks again.

I am thinking about Dr. Rod also. I want plication but the lady on the phone who is helping me said I would like the sleeve better. Is that because my BMI is higher its 45? I am afraid of the sleeve and the possiblitly of leaks and other problems I have heard of. I have not heard of any of these problems with the plication. I am new to this forum I think it is so great how you all are so nice to each other. Dr. Ortiz is the other Dr. I am looking at. Does anyone know him, good/bad?

I have never, ever, posted in this type of atmosphere. So please pardon any ignorance on my part. I want to have the Plication procedure done, but the women from Dr. Rodriguez office in TJ Mexico said I would be happier with the sleeve. Would I ? The plication is where they fold the stomach in and suture it up and it creates a band effect. It is new, less expensive than the sleeve, no cutting away of the stomach and no leakage issues. Has anyone had this done? Does anyone who has the sleeve wish they had done a different procedure, and if so, which one? I am totally excited about having WLS done, and I feel mentally and emotionally ready for the change. I have not always been obese, never really was overweight until five years ago, then I got depressed, like seriously. Never was a depressed person before that either. So depression and coupled with Ben and Jerry’s and A LOT of fast food, I turned into a someone who was like a junkie for food. CRAZY. Now I am altogether better, but the struggle with my mental health, left a gift behind, 150 pound gift!!! so enough about me....PLEASE tell me about the surgery and pass on any sage advice you can give a virgin. LOL