Suggestions for anyone traveling to MX for surgery.

I had the DS done last week by Dr. Lopez and just wanted to pass on some info.  There were several of us all there for surgery (mostly the sleeve) and we all noticed that the pain meds that they give you are NOT as strong as what they give in the US.  I had a really hard time "getting ahead" of the pain.  I know the DS is a major surgery, but once I got home and took some Lortab and make much more progress!

Also, they do not serve food while you are in the hospital. No regularly scheduled food trays, even of broth.  I wasn't really hungry, but some of the girls were, and you can't get it till out of the hospital. 

Other than that, the experience was good, and the language barrier wasn't really too bad.

I have a prescription for Lortab..I'm wondering if I could take it down there?  I'll have to ask. 

They don't serve you ANY broth at the hospital?  So they just do the leak test and send you back to the hotel room?

HI: DEAR

I HAVE BEEN READING MOST OF YOUR POST, FIRST LET ME TELL YOU THAT AM GLAD YOU ARE BACK HOME AND THAT EVERYTHING WENT WELL FOR YOU. MY NAME IS MELISSA AM FROM COLOMBIA AM 25 YEARS OLD MY WEIGHT IS 270 MY HEIGHT IS 5,5. WELL THE REASON AND TELLING YOU THIS IS BECAUSE I LIKE TO KNOW IF YOU DON'T MIND TELLING ABOUT YOUR EXPERIENCE IN MEXICO WITH DR.LOPEZ. I HAVE NJ MEDICAID BUT I DON'T KNOW IF THEY ARE GOING TO APPROVE BECAUSE MY ONLY HEALTH PROBLEM IS THAT AM OVER WEIGHT SO AM THINKING IN PLAN B WHICH IS MEXICO THE MOST IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR ME WILL BE THE MONEY BECAUSE I NEED TO STAR SAVING TO SEE IF MAYBE I COULD GO NEXT BY THE END OF NEXT YEAR IF LUCKY. WELL DEPENDING ON MY INSURANCE DECISION I PRAY TO GOD THEY APPROVE ME BECAUSE  FOR ME WILL BE VERY HARD TO COME WITH LOTS OF MONEY. I HAVE MANY QUESTION FOR YOU THANK YOU.  

I was surprised that they didn't serve anything to my step-mom.  I got apple juice and jello the night before we were discharged, but that was it...it wasn't even measured out, which I was also surprised about.  I noticed that the hospital was a lot more relaxed about everything...not really sanitation like most people would think, but about things like our medications - I take a thyroid pill that I had to continue to take and they would just come in and remind me to take it.  In the US, they would have seized my medication and tossed it, demanding that I only use the medication they give me.  I appreciated not being treated like a prisoner.

If you have Lortab...TAKE IT WITH YOU!  Hopefully you won't need it, but best to at least have it with you,  Christina, they finally brought me Jello after I asked about 10 times, but it is NOT something they keep on hand.  Of course then I felt really bad when I couldn't eat it.  They didn't have anything to offer to the family members there, so if you have family going with you I suggest  having them pack some snacks to take along. In regard to the leak test -  hold you breath...that stuff is NASTY!!!  But the test is necessary, so you have no choice, and if you puke, you do it all over again.  It was the worst part for me cause I was so nauseous. 

Mexico was worth it to me, simply because I could NOT have afforded to do this as a self-pay in the US.  There are differences, but it was clean, and the docs all seemed very knowledgeable about the surgery.Obviously if money wasn't an issue, I would have done it in the US, but I didn't have that luxury.

1. HOW DO YOU IF DR.LOPEZ REALLY DID THE DS AND JUST THE VGS?

2.WAS HIS STAFF NICE AND HELP FULL?

3.DO YOU KNOW HOW MANY DS HAVE HE DONE?

4. WAS YOUR DS OPEN ?

5. THE MILLION DOLLARS QUESTION HOW MUCH DID HE CHARGE YOU?

6. HOW MUCH MONEY  WOULD NEED IN TOTAL? INCLUDING HOTEL,MEDICINE, ETC.?

7. HOW WOULD YOU RATED DR. LOPEZ IN SCALE 1 TO 5?

1. As with any Dr., you would actually have to go to a different hospital after the surgery to get a scan to see exactly what was done.  However, I know that a girl there had the VSG the same day I had my DS, and my pain/recovery was much more intense, so I think that was a pretty good indication.  The doc just kept telling me that my pain was because my surgery was so much more serious.

2. Everyone was very nice and helpful.  There was only one nurse that I felt that I had a language barrier with, so not bad at all!

3. If I remember correctly he has done 500+ DS

4. No, it was laproscopic

5. Total cost $7500, included everything except airfare. (3days at the hospital, 2 days at the Marriott)

6.  The only thing I paid was a $30 tip to Abraham (the driver/care coordinator) plus I bought an extra bottle of Tramadol for pain that was $50.  This was not something I had to have, and should have just brought my own from home.

7. Overall I would rate the Dr. a 5.  Good bedside manner, good followup while in MX, Very knowledgable.

Thank you for your suggestions. I am having a revision - band to sleeve with Dr. Fernando Garcia at Mi Doctor Hospital in Tijuana in 3 days. I haven't heard about not getting food but I did hear that one should bring Gas X Strips and chapstick. I guess snacks for the support person makes sense, although there is a cafeteria in the hospital and I did go to their website and it looked good. My revision surgery with  round trip transportation from San Diego, 3 nights at the Marriott, 2 nights at the hospital with all meds and tests is $6050.( I am paying $500 extra because my BMI is over 50 and $500 extra because of the revision and $350 extra for an upper GI and endoscopy day of surgery). I am staying an additional 2 nights at the Marriott at $68 per night because I want to make sure I am really good before getting back on the plane to fly home. Very reasonable pricing. And so far the service has been great! 

Heather, there is a cafeteria/diner in the hospital but it is not open a lot, even during the hours they have posted.  It is just different than what you get in the US. I would just plan on taking some snack just in case.

I was done by Dr. Kelly in TJ Mexico in November and I must say I didn't experience any pain. We got our pain and anti nausea medications by our IV the first 2 days and were then given oral medications to take to the hotel. I never needed them. I now wish I had asked what we were given in our IV's.

Our 2 days in the hospital we were only given ice chips. I wasn't hungry.I think they do this for the healing process and because of a potential leak although we had our first leak test in the OR. After our leak test on day 3 we were allowed to have broth.