Agonizing Decision Surgery At Home Vs Mexico

[becksnky 25]

I am trying to decide to have surgery at home in states for 14K vs mexico with Dr. Aceves for 8750K. Plus airfare with my companion etc will probably bring totally to close to 10k. My family wants me to stay in the states. My local doc is good but has less experience with sleeves than Dr Aceves and I would only get 1 night in the hospital vs 3 with Aceves. I am freaking out trying to make this decision. HELP

[icon23 273]

Have you tried looking through the Self-Pay & Mexico Vertical Sleeve Surgery forum? Many of us are or have struggled with the same sort of decision and you can read about that and also reviews of Dr. Aceves there. There are lots of threads in many forums about unsupportive friends/family members.

My bf wants me to stay in the States, but I can't afford it financially and I honestly don't feel like I can afford to wait any longer Healthwise, so I'm going to Mexico in March.

Good luck on your decision!

[Susan 2.0 278]

I am trying to decide to have surgery at home in states for 14K vs Mexico with Dr. Aceves for 8750K. Plus airfare with my companion etc will probably bring totally to close to 10k. My family wants me to stay in the states. My local doc is good but has less experience with sleeves than Dr Aceves and I would only get 1 night in the hospital vs 3 with Aceves. I am freaking out trying to make this decision. HELP

Retakk - don't let the number of nights in the hospital worry you. If you're that concerned, there is a Hilton Garden Inn right by Lake Norman Hospital where you could stay an extra couple of nights. Even better is that at the hotel you won't be woken up every couple of hours to be checked on. :-)

[becksnky 25]

Susan, Thank you so much for your post. You are very thoughtful to give me this info. Yes I have been struggling with this decision but getting there. Thanks again!!

[MG in SD 75]

I would so much rather stay at home if it wasn't too much of a financial hardship. But an experienced surgeon is the most important thing ever. I am sure you want the better, safer, shot at a successful surgery. If you think your local Dr is not as good then it should be no question. But if your local doc is good stay home. I only needed one night in the hospital after surgery but everyone is different. Tough one, but if it were me I would make it happen in the US.

[Sansa 39]

I was glad that I had 2 nights in the hospital to recuperate enough for the ride home. I certainly didn't feel like getting into a plane for a long ride home. However, the 3 nights with Aceve sounds reasonable to me. I would just recommend making sure that you are completely doped up on pain medication for the trip home. I can tell you that I sure was happy to be home in my own bed without doctors and nurses waking me up every hour though. I didn't get any sleep in the hospital.

I am 3 weeks out and am still debating about whether I am glad that I had the surgery or not. The surgery did not take away my hunger like I hoped that it would. I am hungry all of the time. The only thing that the surgery has done is diminished the amount of food that I can eat. I'm not sure that I would have had the surgery if I had to pay 14k just to diminish the amount of food that I can eat. The surgery was free for me though. I would probably be upset if I spent a lot of money on a surgery that hasn't, thus far, fulfilled its promises. In my case, I would probably be happier about having had a cheaper surgery with a more experienced doctor.

[jonesy8844 8]

I was sleeved in oct by dr aceves. It is a big decision to go that alternative route and it was hard for me as I am a nurse, but it came down to dr aceves qualifications, the facility, great reviews then cost. Oh and my mom who is a nurse, the greatest sceptic of all came with me. She now signs his praises. The quality of the facility and the preop visit was what won her over. Honestly, she would have dragged me back over the border if she didn't feel good about it. I'm so glad I had 3 days to deal with everything before traveling back. I had trouble with pain but I am one of the few as many have not. And it was mostly around the scope sight. After 5 days I was bad to my usual business. Why not a dr in my area? Frankly I went for dr aceves experience. Knowing surgeons well in my business, I'll go for experience and a good track record any day.