Jayburn

in Tijuana, used by Dr. Kuri and associates? Also the Hotel Palacio Azteca? Your views and feedback appreciated.

We are home now(2nd day) and Tracy is progressing every day. Not much pain, tomorrow she'll leave the all clear liquid diet behind and go to the next eating stage. She's done two 15 minute walks today and plans to embark on a third. Her incision is clean and mending. Dr. Kuri is indeed, a skilled surgeon and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend his services. His staff and fellow physicians are capable and friendly. I wanted to mention in the above notes that the phones in the hotel rooms do not enable you to contact outside calling card services such as my ATT International. For that you have to find a phone boot and if you don't understand the language you won't get very far. The small kiosk in the lobby sells Mexican phone cards for $5. but I assume you'd have to respond to directions to use them also. We ended up e-mailing. Along with the computers in the business center, there is wireless Broadband in the lobby and the fifth floor, so a laptop would come in handy for communication for the escorts at least. I also recommend that you bring some sort of Spanish translating device. The hotel staff does not speak English and it was embarrassing to me not to be able to communicate with them. Looking around me I realized tha we Americans tend to think that everyone should know our language, but don't do such a good job of learning other languages ourselves.. so patience would be a very nice virtue to offer others. Except for one rather bitch barmaid who obviously hates Americans the rest of the hotel and hospital staff were very friendly and helpful.. And this will be the last time I will post... I intend to help Tracy join this board. She is a little puter impaired so lessons on how to sign up will be part of her recreation this week while she stays with us. Good luck to all of you. Yes, you will transform your body... with the help of the band - and a lot of discipline to boot. I think these forums will help keep you going through thick to thin.....

Hi all, Well I am experiencing first hand the Kuric -Tijuana experience and wanted to share the last two days with you. I am using the computer in the business center of the lovely Palaciia Azteca hotel. · $3.00 per hour charge.It is one short block away to the hospital which is clean and orderly. Recently it was modernized and the bathroom in my daughter´s room is a tiled delight. The neighborhood appears to be safe. I don´t feel jeopardized when I go back and forth and I am paranoid. My daughter Tracy and I (Jean) arrived here on Tuesday after spending Monday night in an airport hotel. We were picked up along with Terri from Oregon and her daughter Katie and taken to Tijuana by the clinics driver, Miguel. First stop was at a squeaky clean laboratory in a modern building for urine and blood testing. Then to another facility for an EKG, finally to the hotel. We had lunch around the pool, the others went for a walk and came back with a pedicure and a haircut. A light dinner in the dining room )THE LAST MEAL for Tracy / Terrri) then attended a meeting in the hotel´s business center with Dr. Kuri. At this time, he brought a simulated stomach and a band and displayed exactily how it is placed and how it is filled. More easilly grasped than when seeing it as a page in a book and a very informative session, including the rationale that they must adapt in order to succeed. The band is a tool, not the magic solution. I have been very anxious for my daughter Tracy and her decision to do this. And very anxious about it being done in Mexico which is not known for it´s sanitary conditions. By the time operation time came this morning, my fears were mostly gone, but I had in my bag sanitary wipes and a sniffy pouch ' a cotton ball soaked in eucalyptus oil ' a trick used in Australian hospitals to ward off staph. I wish I had brought gloves because they do not seem to use them in this hospital. Tracy requested them several times and because the staff does not speak much English they were able to escape her request. But this afternoon when the nurse came in to take out her catheteer she had on rubber gloves so perhaps they listened anyway. Also, there is no bottled Water at the hospital so I ran back and got some from the hotel so that when she is allowed to have some, it won´t be from the tap. Terri was given ice chips and I worried about that. We have all avoided ice, non bottled water, salads, raw vegetables and even fruit. Not a problem , the food is great in the hotel and there is plenty of other things to eat. Soups are awesome and the shrimp cocktail unlike anything ýou´ve seen. The hotel staff does not offer a lot of English, there are no clocks in the rooms, so bring a travel alarm because no one called us for the wake up this morning at 5.30 am. Terri & Tracy had a few unpleasant hours, had pain medication via IV, and snoozed half the afternoon. They are awake now and moving around hauling their IV´s behind them. They will come back to the hotel tomorrow morning sometime after seeing Dr. Kuri as long as they are progressing satisfactorily. Optimists, they are hoping to visit a shopping street fair called the Revolution. There is also a big fiesta downtown to honor Mexican Independance day. We might take a tour to be able to see the scope of the city. It is poor and shabby but the areas I´ve seen are not as bad as some parts of North Philadelphia or Atlantic City. The tour is $70 for four people and lasts for 3 hours..I asked the desk for the information. We met Denise Danci and her Daughter Kiana who left today for home. Kiana was feeling very good the day after surgery. Today she was a little under the weather , probably over did it yesterday. Betty from Virginia joined us for dinner last night, she is having her surgery tomorrow morning. We fly home to NJ on Friday .

Hi All - As a concerned mom, I've been trying to research all and everythng re: Mexico and the surgery itself. As well as the surgeon and facility. My 40+ daughter and I are leaving Monday for San Diego, she'll have her op on the 14th, recuperate on the 15th and fly home to New Jersey on the 16th. Will she be able to handle all of this so soon? I am concerned about sanitation in the operating room and post op with her incision. Her doctor is Pedro Kuri and I haven't read anything bad about him, but it bothers me that most accounts focus on his personality. We Yanks suffer from a lack of bedside manner here in the states so I can see it would be most impressive. I am reassured of one thing, she will be under care of a local physician here in NJ for fills and post op care. Two different people emailed to reassure me about Mexican doctors, but then they both mentioned that they were able to observe an operation and I find that rather unsanitary in itself, no? The doctors in these accounts were Kuri and another one from a different clinic, I forget which one. Can anyone tell me what the area surrounding the hospital and hotel is like? Is it safe and clean..? All responses will be so welcomed.. I am having a hard time with this.. Jayburn

I have been on the self help group discussions, but in the long run, all the info centers on one's personal experience . What would be the source to find out the more serious stuff that happens in Mexico by Mexican surgeons? Mortality rate for one, infections, etc.