Dr. Aceves - departure/arrival dates; info

[BlackBerryJuice 349]

Hey guys, I am starting to look at booking my flight and I'm having trouble with getting my e-mails answered by them, so I decided to just consult other Aceves sleevers. First off, can someone clarify the day/time I will be arriving and leaving? My surgery's on the 9th of August, so I understand I need to arrive on the 8th to get the labwork done, but how early? The earliest arrival time for San Diego that I can find from my city is 11:10 am. Am I going to have to fly in on the 7th and spend the night at the hotel?

Also, along the same lines, what day and what time should I schedule my returning flight, if my surgery's on the 9th? Would that be the 12th? Do they want you to leave in the morning or evening?

Last but not least, the only e-mail I've got from them so far was a list of what to bring to the hospital. Would someone be so kind as to send me the rest? Please post here if you can, and I'll PM you my e-mail address.

Thanks!

[3636millie 3]

You may want to re-send your e-mail. I think Dr. Aceves and his staff usually take a week a month off as he travels to precept other surgeons doing the bariatric surgeries. This may have been the week he takes off.

Also, we have been having a few earthquakes here lately. Sometimes the cables for the internet go down with even the slightest tremblers. Mexicali isn't that far away from where I live (Yuma, AZ) and it is usually closer to the epicenter. Just a thought.

You could always call them also. They have a toll free number listed on their web site.

You are gonna love the sleeve!!!! Keep us updated.

[Oregondaisy 2,021]

They pick you up to leave for the airport at 7 am. I think my flight to return home was at 1 pm.

As far as going, I am pretty sure if you arrive as early as 11 am, you can be picked up at the airport and not have to spend the night.

Milllie gave you good advice. Just call them! They are great about answering questions.

Edited July 6, 2010 by Oregondaisy

[momof3girls 0]

I just left yesterday and they were all going on vacation for a week.

Nina said my flight needed to be in by 11 on day of arrival. Oregondaisy is right that they picked us up at the hospital at 7am. We crossed the border in record time but it can often take a few hours. I think Nina suggested flights after 1230. My flight was at 130 and I had to wait around the airport forever. It was kind of miserable. There was a Canadian traveling in our group and she did come down the day before pre-ops and spent the night again in San Diego again they day we returned.

I agree you should call Nina. You can't bother her. She is a doll and very busy and likely misses some emails/calls, etc. She will hold your hand via the phone. Take advantage of it.

[brittu 42]

My flight got in a little after 11 and they were great about waiting for me. I took a carry on so I'd be fast. It turned out the other patient that had arrived early had to go to FedEx so they left and came back for me. It all worked out. I suspect a couple of minutes isn't a huge deal. Meant my husband could take me to the airport on his way to work vs. having to take a shuttle at 4am.

[Garyb_58 1]

They told me to have flight in before 11:AM on the day of arrival and

flight out after 2:PM on the day for departure.

We waited on another person on the day of arrival for more than an hour

so they will work with you. On the day of departure we arrived at the

airport before noon and I was able to catch an earlier flight home. But the

three hour flight turned into a seven hour flight due to weather problems.

Just let them know, they will work with you.

Good luck

[BlackBerryJuice 349]

Thanks. I've actually had a lot of issues communicating with them. On average, I have to send 2 or 3 e-mails/voicemails if I want to get any sort of reply. I e-mailed them about the flights a few days ago, waited 2 days for a response - nothing; so I called and left a voicemail; today I had 2 missed calls in the am, so I figured it was from them. I call them and they said they received neither my e-mail NOR my voicemail from yesterday, so the missed calls weren't from them, either. They said they were gonna respond to my e-mail and there's still nothing. This is the 3rd time I've had this problem, it's getting quite frustrating, to say the least. As you can imagine, I don't wanna be in a situation where someone doesn't pick me up at the airport despite my e-mailing and calling like 5 times.

[brittu 42]

Sorry to hear about the communication issues. My experience over a year of communicating with them was different - I got an email reply within 24 hours and Nina was almost always at her desk. Hopefully it's just a fluke, maybe related to their time away from the office. My guess is that things will all get sorted out and you'll have the same great surgical experience so many of us have had with the Aceves team.

[BlackBerryJuice 349]

Cool, I will start corresponding with Nina from now on, until now it was with someone else.

[Bob_350lbs 105]

mexico is having terrible problems with drug wars, murders daily in the street, i hope you are safe down there...maybe they drive an armored van..or the drug dealers leave Aceves business alone, buena suerta.

[brittu 42]

Huh? I'm not sure where you're getting your information from. Mexicali is one of the safest cities in Mexico. Their homicide rate, for example, is identical to that of Witchita, Kansas. Kidnappings and bank robberies and other violent crimes are very rare. Because it's a border city there are drug seizures at the border just like any other border city - not much different than Blaine Washington a few hours north of me.

It's a city of 700,000 that looks pretty similar to any other southwestern town. There were strip malls everywhere. Neither the hotel nor Dr. Aceves office had a problem suggesting we walk to a Chinese restaurant a couple of blocks away. I saw no evidence of police drug or gang activity and plenty of families and average people out and about.

Mexicali has lots of agriculture but it's also home to a large number of assembly plants and food processing factories. It's actually considered one of the most prosperous cities in Mexico. Law enforcement and government families from other cities nearby actually raise their families there.

The hospital wasn't surrounded by guards or otherwise showing any concern about the threat of violence or crime. Mexicali isn't Juarez or Tijuana.

I think it's always a good idea to check the facts before scaring people with these kinds of comments.

[Bob_350lbs 105]

They just want your American $$ - I guess you don't watch the news much, the USA issued a travel advisory after the drug lords started ambushing people in the streets, a Mexican-American couple from Texas, who work at the Embassy were shot dead about 6 mos ago and it made the US issue the travel warning. But, I understand how you feel, the prices can't be beat and Aceves is a great doctor, so the drug lords probably know better than to mess with his business. Your just going in and out with a Mexican escort driving you, so it's probably safer and Aceves' name is plaster on the side of the van, right? I live in CA, so we are more aware of the border problems and drug problems with Mexico, that's all. Up in WA, it's pretty mellow, people are more affluent, probably have very little if any Hispanic population. Here you have to speak Spanish to get a job, 80% of Santa Ana is Hispanic, there are truly sanctuary towns. At my job, if the border patrol is out and they are making routing traffic stops, the illegal mothers canx the children's appts so they won't get sent back to Mexico. If you can't speak fluent Spanish, my employer will not hire you anymore, because it costs too much to pay for interpreters. If you don't live in a border state, you probably are too far removed to understand the impact it has on the schools, healthcare, roads, and other public services..and because medical marijuana is legal now in CA, the Mexicans are having wars in Mexico over territory in their own country. I think they won't mess you with a patient of Dr. Aceves thought, he probably has paid them off to keep the americans coming down for surgery. I don't blame him, his gov't is more corrupt than ours is. Just venting, don't take this personal, it's not about you, it about how the illegals have ruined our states educational and healthcare system with their anchor babies, they way they undermined the working class people who are citizens who did it the right way, paying taxes, and so forth. God bless, it's a huge mess here, our state is bankrupt now, maybe Mexico is the answer for affordable healthcare, but only if you have money to pay for it - so in a way, jobs are being taken way from american doctors too, not just the working class, and there are drug wars going on big time in Mexico, a high ranking official was murdered, a governor, because he got in the way, police are corrupt, Mexicans don't even go outside for fear of being shot. It is the truth.

Edited July 8, 2010 by Steph_123

[momof3girls 0]

Wow. I never get involved in spitting matches on this website but this one is just so upsetting, Steph I just have to say something. I lived in a border town for over 4 years, (Tucson, Arizona) and I just got back from Mexicali, Mexico last week. I think you need to research Mexicali and then you will understand that the issues to which you speak are not present in that town. Your words aren't very helpful to people doing research on Dr. Aceves and unless you have met him and been to Mexicali, I would keep your "opinions" to the border towns and surgeons you personally know. As to Mexicali and Dr. Aceves you are flat out wrong.

I am blonde, blue eyed and totally American looking and felt more then comfortable walking the very safe streets of Mexicali. Would I do that in Juarez? Absolutely not. But Mexicali, you betcha.

[BlackBerryJuice 349]

Wow. I never get involved in spitting matches on this website but this one is just so upsetting, Steph I just have to say something. I lived in a border town for over 4 years, (Tucson, Arizona) and I just got back from Mexicali, Mexico last week. I think you need to research Mexicali and then you will understand that the issues to which you speak are not present in that town. Your words aren't very helpful to people doing research on Dr. Aceves and unless you have met him and been to Mexicali, I would keep your "opinions" to the border towns and surgeons you personally know. As to Mexicali and Dr. Aceves you are flat out wrong.

I am blonde, blue eyed and totally American looking and felt more then comfortable walking the very safe streets of Mexicali. Would I do that in Juarez? Absolutely not. But Mexicali, you betcha.

Ha, I myself am from one of these "dangerous" countries and have almost never felt unsafe either when I lived there or when I go home to visit family. On the contrary, Ive been carjackef and held up at gunpoint when I lived in the "safe" US. I've lived in a city where I was afraid to go our alone at 3 pm - someone was murdered over $10 a few blocks from where I lived in the US! I dont listen to any of these horror stories. My own country has one of these travel advisories against it and it's a total crock. It's much more dangerous on Detroit or Baltimore than there!

[1MP4Life 2]

Bladkberryjuice: Just to let you know, I was Dr. Aceves' last surgery on the 6th of July, then all of his staff was taking the rest of the week off, I think the next surgery from him is not scheduled until next monday, so that is probably why you are having difficulty reaching anyone.

As for safety, I was just there earlier this week and my husband and I are both military police officers (I'm retired he is still active) from the Army. Neither one of us felt the least bit uneasy or unsafe while walking around the blocks of the hospital in Mexicali, and believe me, we both know what uneasy and unsafe feels like in a foreign city. It is like any other city in the WORLD, there are neighborhoods that are okay, and there are neighborhoods you do not want to be in, and the Almater Hospital (as of earlier this week) does not seem to be a terribly dangerous place. That being said, I would not make my self vulerable by walking around alone, or with flashy expensive jewelry on, or even too late at night, but I woundn't do any of those things in my nice safe U.S., Washington state city either. Mexicali is not on the U.S. State Departments travel advisory states, but because my husband is active duty he had to get special permission to cross the border. His antiterrorism officer was not at all worried about Mexicali, but told him most other large border towns would be off limits to him. Just throwing in my opionion about safety, I won't even comment on the politics of illegals in the country because it has absolutly no bearing on VSG surgery.

Good luck with your surgery Blackberryjuice, please feel free to ask me any questions about my experience with Dr. Aceves and his staff.