julielle

I not only had my sleeve done in Mexico, I also had a thigh lift, arm lift, breast lift and augmentation, and a lower body lift done there earlier this year. Some differences, I don't have a bariatric doctor/surgeon following my care, my primary physician orders my bloodwork etc but she is not a specialist in bariatric surgery so I have to do the research myself and tell her what i need. When I came back home after my plastic surgery I took out all my stitches myself. It took me 2 days Yet if something had happened, no ER would have turned me away, they HAVE to look after you. I think she just meant that a bariatric surgeon or a plastic surgeon might not want to take you on as their patient but you will STILL get care in case of emergencies.

My before and after: Before, 302 pounds, size 28, after 150 pounds, size 8.

I had surgery with Dr Ponce last year on November 8th, so I guess today is my 11 month anniversary. BEST DECISION EVER! Everything went well, and I'm down 130 pounds since surgery, 20 pounds to go to goal. From 303 pounds to 172 pounds, from a size 24-26 to a size 12. I'm ecstatic! I just make sure to get all my protein in and I've been seeing a personal trainer for 6 months, I'm in the best shape of my life!

That sounds like a regular day to me! Well except for the 12 hours part. A lot of lazy days I just do 3 premier protein shakes in a day, that makes my day below 500 cals and 90 protein. Works well for me, I don't mind a liquid diet. I find getting enough protein without shakes to be a serious chore.

I'm 6 months post op from my surgery and I have a before and current picture to show On the left was a day or two post surgery (pic taken with surgeon Dr Jaime Ponce de Leon in Tijuana with coordinator Trish), and on the right was me in the backyard today on my way to my daughter's Mother's Day Tea at school. I'm down 89 pounds since surgery day, Weighed 303 on Nov 8th and weigh 214.3 today. I still have a ways to go, but I feel great and this was without a doubt the best decision ever. I am no longer in pain just walking to the corner of the street. I'm walking 10 000 + steps per day, and doing weight training at the gym with a personal trainer 2-3 times per week. I never would have done that before. I'm even thinking of picking up Karate Wouldn't that be something! I'm more confident too, I don't shy away when someone talks to me. Here are some size stats too: Since surgery I've lost: 1.5 inches on my neck, 2.25 inches on my bicep, 1.5 inches forearm, 8 inches chest, 8.5 inches waist, 10 inches hips, 7.25 inches thigh, and 2.75 inches on my calf. I'm 5'6" and fitting into a loose 18 or a 16. I still have really big hips though so it's still hard to find clothing that fits right! I aim for 90 to 120 grams of protein per day.

On the day after my surgery I had a weird rash on my face, still don't know what causes it, I've had it once at home too so I don't think it's anything from Mexico. It went from my throat up to my forehead but not in the area of the eyes so I had areas of clear skin for about an inch around my eyes and everything else was reddish and bumpy. I looked like some weird panda. It went away on it's own after a few hours, no clue. I did get a horrible rash from the surgical tape too. Even from the bandaid I put on the incision under my bra line. Which is strange because never before have I ever had reactions to surgical tape or bandaids, but in both cases the areas stayed red for weeks and weeks. I forget when it went away but i'm pretty sure it took longer than a month. You could clearly see the outlines of the tapes.

My surgery would have been free if I had been willing to wait 2-7 years to have it, seriously who knows what the waiting period is now in my province. So I paid out of pocket to go to Mexico and had my surgery scheduled for 3 weeks after I placed the initial call. And that 3 weeks was only because I had to book my plane tickets 3 weeks out to get a good rate, I could have booked that week had I wanted to. No big hoops to jump through, no months of consultations.

Ummm she had a client in Mexico depending on her and she was on a PLANE? So you just take the money and then don't offer the support? I'd have a HUGE problem with that. You depend on your coordinators, and for them to just abandon you like that is irresponsible.

I think that's normal that SOME stitches don't get absorbed and work their way out. I had a few of my stitches do that - the wound would be healing, then something would start poking under the scab with some pus and then i'd have a half inch blue stitch that I could just pull out. I freaked out about it and looked it up online and I think I read something like a lot of people reject about 10% of the stitches, the body doesn't absorb them and spits them out as foreign. Not ALL my stitches worked their way out, only a few, so that made sense to me. (they were all internal stitches, I didn't have any external ones, just steristrips).

This thread is nearly a year old, Amy has already gone to Mexico and had the surgery

I stayed at the Lucerna which was VERY nice, I'm not sure about the Marriot as my surgeon doesn't use that one

How many nights are you in the hospital with Dr Aceves? I was 2 nights in the hospital and 1 night in the hotel with Dr Ponce, and I was so ready to go to the hotel when I went, I hate hospitals I really wouldn't have needed a 3rd night in the hospital. I'm sure a big part of the difference in price IS the hospital cost though, different hospitals charge different amounts for OR time/nurses etc, and it's possible that in the city he's in these things just cost more money than in Tijuana. That may also account for the difference in price with Dr Ponce and the doctors at Mi Doctor, maybe INT hospital is a bit more expensive?

There's walking and then there's WALKING. Have you seen how huge some terminals are, when you have to get on a bus at gate whatever and then go to another terminal, walk through the whole thing etc, worried that you're going to miss your connection? The wheelchair was a real blessing. And I'm one who walked walked walked at the hospital, and yes once they got me to my gate I walked walked walked at the gate too, but at least at the gate I was already where I needed to be and there were chairs to sit down on when I needed to.

No response from Trish? I found that Facebook was the best way to get in contact with her, have you tried that?

I didn't use a wheelchair in San Diego as there was no line for security and it took about 15 minutes all in to check in and pass security. I did have wheelchair assistance in Denver and Montreal, which I can highly recommend since the gates can be far apart, with wheelchair assistance I was able to ride on those little carts they have riding around the airport and quickly got to my gate. When I got to my gate they had me sit in the handicapped section right beside the door and when boarding started they let me on right away. (I had assigned seats though so that wasn't a huge deal). In Montreal, they were waiting for me with a wheelchair and being in a wheelchair made going through customs so much easier, they went to a special line and it was straight to the front for me. The flight itself really wasn't that bad, but I do highly recommend calling your airline and telling them you'll be needing wheelchair assitance on your return flight.

I used Dr Jaime Ponce de Leon (through his coordinator Trish) and it was a great experience, Trish was fantastic and the care at the hospital was top notch. I have zero regrets!

Yes I am the one that wrote that, I was OK at the hospital but right when I got to the hotel I had diarrhea, and then after at home I've been taking a stool softener as a preventative measure.

I was doing yogurt for 3 days before surgery, I hardly ate anything. Didn't eat anything at all the night before my surgery.