who's gone and had a good experience in mexico?

[kansasgirl 96]

Seriously considering surgery in mexico but i need to hear back from more people and hear about your experiences. I have to self pay and 5500 is alot more affordable than 12000. So please tell me what doctors you used how you came across the information, Please and thanks.

[Foxbins 625]

I chose Dr. Aceves due to his surgical expertise. My surgery was 8750, so maybe more than you want to pay, but I stayed in the hospital for three nights and the nurses checked on me every hour. I saw Dr. Aceves or Dr. Campos at least once daily, and I had no pain, no vomiting and no complications. There's a bunch of threads about him on this forum, and I'm sure more of his patients will chime in.

[ToDream 18]

I had Dr Almanza and had a really good experience. I did not stay in the recovery house though so YMMV as I don't have any feedback for that. There's full details on my blog (noted in my signature) with Tags for surgery.

[Disney 20]

I used Dr. Aceves also. I cannot say enough good things about him. My VSG surgery in Mexicali was the best surgical experience I have had to date. He is more than $5500 but you get a full hospital with ER and 3 nights there in the hospital and as Foxbins said, the Dr's come around to see you often. I got visited 3 times a day. Experience counts, too.

There are 1 or 2 on this board that don't like it when Dr. Aceves' patients sing his praises and have even accused us of being paid. I can assure you I have not been paid. When I have a good experience and someone ASKS for information, I am just happy to share. But whataya gonna do? There are negative nellys everywhere you go. Maybe they are just mad they spent more and did not get any better care, and with a probably less experienced surgeon. Who knows?

Just do your research on ALL of the Drs and make an informed decision. That is what I did. I read about every Dr I could and made my decision accordingly.

Good luck to you!

[KellyL 173]

I had a wonderful experience with Dr Kelly in Mexico. He is very experienced as a bariatric surgeon, and also has trauma training. I had 2 full nights in the Florence Hospital, and the price also includes 2 nights in a very nice hotel. The cost was $5500. Dr Kelly and Trish even visit you at the hotel. I had discomfort from the gas immediately after surgery, but no pain with the sleeve itself. I had no nausea or throwing up. They administered meds thru my IV for pain, acid, gas elimination, and antibiotics. After the drain removal and leak test on day 3 I felt good, had no trouble walking around, and had no pain or problems drinking gatorade and eating Jello and chicken broth. I am so grateful to Dr Kelly for an easy surgery and speedy recovery. Good luck on your decision!

[Oregondaisy 2,021]

There is a reason that Dr. Aceves patients are so happy. Anyone who would like me to send them some background information about his credentials, just pm me.

It was posted in the doctor section, but I haven't been there in a long time to see if it got buried.

[Nichelle 21]

I had a fantastic experience in Tijuana, MX. I had surgery with Dr. Ramos Kelly. My experience was very similar to KellyL. Thanks kelly for doing all the hard work and typing it up so nicely. Honestly Dr. Kelly was fantastic the staff was great. The experience was fantastic. The pain in minimal, although I will through in that first out of surgery there is some pain, but it was well managed after that. The experience is what you read it will be like, great! It's hard to believe at times and its okay to be leary. I'm sure we all went through this I know I did. If you've done your research and know this is right for you and now you are just deciding if this is real or not. Go for it!!!

[Mick78 1]

I had Dr. Ramos Kelly in Tijuana and I have nothing but good things to say. My experiences are pretty much identical to KellyL and her comments. Dr. Kelly is very compassionate, kind, caring, and maybe those all kind of mean the same thing but it can not be over stated how good and professional this doctor is. He came to my hotel room and made sure I was okay, and Trish is so very helpful. I wish I went to Mexico a lot sooner then I did, but I'm glad I manned up and finally went. Like I tell my wife, it takes huge balls to get major surgery done in a third world country. Forget about the what if's and man up. For me I was considering almanza and aceves, but what I liked about Kelly compared to the other doctors was his educational background in the U.S.A. I could go on forever about how good Dr. Kelly and his staff is but I don't want to seem like a salesman, good luck with your decision.

[kemo46 82]

I had my surgery with Dr. Almanza on 5-25-2011. It was a great experience and would recommend him in a minute. The surgery is done in a clinic, not a hospital but that is how they keep the costs down. It is very clean and there is no substitute for experience. He does about 145 of these surgeries a month and that made me feel very comfortable. It is not fancy but they treat you very well. The recovery house is a little loud and crowded but again, they take good care of you and you get your meds when you need them. They had a special for 4,500.00 total for everything. If you are interested, PM me and I will send you my coordinator's information. The coordinator is very important in this process, they are the ones that answers all of our silly questions before and well after surgery ( surgeon will also). Good communication is the key and I feel I have the best coordinator, she has been great. I still bug her with questions. Good luck on your decision.

[kekerene 35]

I am here in Mexicali as we speak. I had lap band removed and revision to a sleeve by Dr. Aceves. I was up and walking the halls right out of recovery. Doctors, staff, and hospital are awesome. They come in my room at least 2 times a day to clean the bathroom and mop the floors. It is super clean here. I feel great and I get to go home tomorrow, yay

[Rootman 1,101]

Had it done at Jerusalem Hospital in TJ MX last December. It went fine. The place was small and didn't do the blood work or imaging on site so we had to go out to other places to have them done. Jerusalem Clinic is in a strip mall and pretty cramped and has no outside windows to speak of in any of the rooms, it was very clean but a bit noisy most of the time. The staff is courteous and professional and I experience NO problems at all. They don't put on a lot of the "dog and pony show" that you might be used to with USA medical sites, it is what it is, a simple medical clinic designed and staffed to do bariatric surgeries and cosmetic procedures onle.

Also, you would have to put your trust in the extended Mexican medical community if any complications arise during your stay.

One issue that may crop up is would your medical insurance (if you have any) would cover any complications that may arise later once you return home. You would also have little to NO recourse in regards to malpractice if something should arise as the MX laws are nowhere near as patient oriented as the US laws are. I would hazard a guess that 1/3 to 1/2 of what you pay in the US goes towards malpractice insurance coverage. The staff is also paid considerably less too, so that lowers cost, they still make a good living because the cost of living is so much lower in MX than the US.

I have insurance but did not want to get a bypass - which is what my insurance pushes you to get. I also did not want to wait 4-6 months to get the surgery, I was having dreadful health issues and feeling pretty crappy because of them. I also feared I would get discouraged or pissed off jumping through all the hoops that my insurance makes you go through. I wanted to do something NOW.

I came across the Jerusalem clinic doing online research. I looked at a few US sites that had prices as low as $15,000 and a few MX sites with a low of the Jerusalem clinic for $5000. I had cash left to me when my mother passed away a few years ago so I used it. I contacted them mid November and had the surgery Dec 6th 2010.

It is relatively safe, although ANYONE and EVERY site has it's issues and there are people that have problems and I would image there has been some horror stories. Go with your gut and what you feel you can trust.

We all wish you well.

[MoreThanAPrettyFace 0]

Another happy patient of Dr. Aceves! I had an outstanding experience from beginning to end. Do your research, experience and complications count! I would send any family member to Dr. Aceves and go back in a heartbeat.

[sarsar 824]

I also had a great experience with Dr. Aceves.

As everyone says, you have to do your research and decide what you feel is best for you!

[kansasgirl 96]

Thanks for all your valuable information. I'm definetly doing my research but your input has tremeandously helped my decision. Now i have to find the money to get this done. I'm tired of the battle and ready to really live my life. I beleive i will be looking into going to Tijuana as flights are pretty cheap from San Diego. Wish someone in my family had left me some cash would make this alot easier.

How about recover time how long till you were able to go back to work? I work two jobs.. and need to be able to come back fairly quick... ??

[Griselda 7]

Everyone's recovery is different, but I went down with two other board members and we were all up and around by the third day. I was able to go shopping for hours, walk around the city, pretty much do everything but eat. (That was the hardest part since the food looked soooo good, but I did have great soups). I had my surgery on a Monday and was back at work the following Monday. (I do have a mainly 'desk' job, however, so that would depend on what you do).