ricolifts

Late September I decided I wanted to do the gastric sleeve. My brother had a buddy that just got one and I needed a change in my life from a weight standpoint. at my heaviest I was 409 probably and i was 385 at the time and not getting anywhwere fast. Essentially i decided I wasn't going to be able to do all of this on my own without some sort of stick driving me forward. MY company didn't cover me from an insurance standpoint and I couldn't afford 17k out of pocket. My decision was a Tiajana Doctor named Ariel Ortiz. If you want to know why let me tell you There is a doctor down there killing people from that news story they talked about board certification. Ariel Ortiz was a Spokes Person on "The Doctors" and On Opra where he was featured for doing surgery on a 13 year old gir. He was the ONLY Board certified surgeon i could find in Tiajuana. As well as having certs in US. But from that standpoint i felt safer than going with any of the others out there. I drove to Tiajuana it was a nice hotel they put you up in the Marriot. My cousin went with we got in at midnight The communication up to this point was minimal How much do you weight great you have lose this much to get the surgery. So at 6:15 am you hop in a van and from here its like a guided tour. Meet the nutritionist Fill out this paperwork Meet the cardiologist Fill out this paperwork There were 6 of us at the start People are disapearing throughout the morning going for their surgeries. So at some point I was the last man standing. They take you to the room say put on this gown. They walk in Hook up my IV and say drink this silly juice. YOu start to relax and the doctor walks in your room. He is very personable and cracks some jokes with you then he runs off and i didn't see him again, although i did hear he stopped by and talked to my cousin. Next they run you into the ER. You lay on this table that opens your arms and legs and they give you the good stuff and in 10 seconds your out. about 1 hour to 1.5 hours go by before you start to wake up. Man that was wierd. You wake up they shift you to another bed and wheel you to your room From here it was my job to walk thats how it was explained to me. If you want to get better faster walk. So all i did that day was Walk and sleep and walk and sleep. I would hear one persons IV squeeking around and I would jump up and walk and talk to them. Surgery day was the hardest Only because of the gas pains My incisions didn't hurt one bit. Your chest hurts and your back and you just feel lost pretty much all day. The next day you feel a lot better That day there is a casino around the hotel so we walked to it. Up hill about .5 miles hung out there saw the greyhound races. Played some craps walked to the mall and back to the hotel to pass out. I slept a lot. Then back up put my feet in the Jacuzzi and back up to the room to pass out. The hill took it all out of me. The Second day was better I was pretty good all day. Took a walk in downtown Tiajuana probably got in 3 miles. It has both areas of culture and areas of trash. But it was fun to walk and look and entertaining. We then went back to the room i took a nap and the rest of the day was dedicated to the dog races and the casino. The lack of food was hard in a city with such food culture but i could get chicken broth even at the casino. The third day was the leak test I tell ya they had us in and out of there so fast my head spun. Basically you drink something while they xray you and pow they say you look good have a good life I still have contact with the nutritionist and i loved the experience. But this is a no hand holding zone. Thanks for reading my story.

I would ask in a unique thread only thing I know is that if I looked up all the docs in tj Ariel Ortiz is the only 1 with true certs. Sent from my SM-G935T using BariatricPal mobile app Also obesity help . Com has a lot of doctor reviews Sent from my SM-G935T using BariatricPal mobile app

I was too. Do your research it helps take away the nerves Sent from my SM-G935T using BariatricPal mobile app

Looking for people who have had good and bad experiences. What doc did you use? What complications did you have etc... Sent from my SM-G935T using the BariatricPal App

Wow @ Thanks for the detailed reply. I have a few hundred questions. What is the plan going forward With the doctor? Like I know if i got it locally there is a 2 week checkup a 1 month check up a 2 month and a 6 month. How did you research the doctor Outside of here before you went? My problem is getting comfortable with the concept of Mexico and being so far from any emergency help . But my procedure is out of pocket etc So I will be going to TJ or Cancun not sure. Other questions are, How long did you have to take off work? and How long do you have to be by the surgeon?