So the company A lighter me is a pretty good company... the driver (remy) who picked my husband and I up from the hospital was fantastic and was actually awesome at reassuring my husband and I.  The hotel is fantastic.  They put me on a floor specifically for people coming for medical tourism, so the rooms really catered to that (chairs in the shower, arm rests on the toilets, ect) and was clean and beautiful.

I ended up having to get my bloodwork and ekg done the morning of my surgery because my flight had arrived too late the night before.  The lady who took my bloodwork didn't speak any english but she was really nice.  Everything was very clean.  All the needles ect were all pre packaged and opened in front of me.

The hospital is small, clean, and nice enough if a little out dated. I haven't had surgery prior to this one, but the OR looked high tech enough.  My 2 biggest negative issues with my hospital stay were that certain nurses didn't speak any english for one... the language barrier did leave me a little uncomfortable, and unfortunately, my iv bag did run dry a couple times and I had to ask a nurse for a new one.  It happened 2 times out of the 2.5 days i was in the hospital.  I understand that this happens sometimes, but again, this was my first time having surgery or anything like that, so that did freak me out.  Some people from my group said they had issues with their nurses pushing iv meds a little too fast, but i didn't experience this at all. (just want to give you all the info)

Other than that my hospital stay was really good.  My nurses were all fantastic, and I was checked in on by a team of doctors multiple times throughout the day.  I was the last surgery of the day so it was evening by the time I came around.

I stayed at the hospital for 2 nights...which was important to me... some places you go, you go straight back to a hotel to recover.  During that time, you get your leak test ect.  I was checked on regularly to have my bandages changed, drains removed, ect.  My surgeon was fantastic and I actually have him added on Facebook.  I have had questions for him since my surgery and have sent him my bloodwork to look at.  I really like that 7 months later he is still available when i have questions or concerns.

The hospital has another company doing surgeries out of it also, so the nurses are kept pretty busy, but the nice thing is that A lighter me has a nurse working for them also.  She checked in on me while i was in the hospital, and again while i was at the hotel.

Also.... I still have all my organs.  The only thing I left in Mexico was the majority of my stomach!  hahaha.

Seriously though thats the good and the bad.  I'm not gonna say my experience was perfect, but it was pretty positive. If I could go back, I would probably still go with Dr Ortiz.  Him and his staff definitely helped me feel as comfortable as i could in such a weird situation.

Let me know if you have any specific questions

Also - If you do end up going with ALM....dont buy your medications from the pharmacy they take you too... its cheaper to go to walmart or elsewhere... I wish I had known that. lol.

He is still one of the main few I'm looking at. It would be a huge help to have the nitty gritty details as that is where the convincing my family comes into play.

Thanks!

Hey,

I can't speak for Dr. Kelly, as I didn't see him, but I was sleeved by Dr Elias Ortiz (There are 2 Dr. Ortiz's in tijuana) on May 17th, and was really happy with the care I received. If you have specific questions about the company, the process, the hospital, ect, feel free to ask.  I would be happy to give you the lowdown of the care I received from A lighter me - I just don't want to take the time to type out all the nitty gritty details if you're not considering him anymore! lol

So after two days in the hospital I finally got to be able to come to the hotel room. The first day was a little rough from the gas that I was feeling. As they say, walk walk walk. The second day was a little easier than the first day, still a little gas but not as bad. When i was to going to be released the nurse gave me some kind of purple liquid to check for leaks, it tasted like water, and wasn't so bad. I also got my Barium test, doc said that everything looked good and I was able to get the drain out. It felt kinda different but did not hurt. I guess you could say that the sensation was different that's all but no pain.

Now I am just resting and relaxing at the hotel. I fell the gas a lot less than yesterday, but now I have heartburn but was told that is pretty normal, so besides that fell pretty good.

So glad that I decided to go through this still feel a little icky but it will go away in time.

So thanks to my Doctor in a few months I will be a different person that my kids will be able to play with so excited for my new journey in life.

I went with my husband to Florence hospital in Tijuana.

We used Medical Tourism - Dr. Gonzalez. He has been doing it since 96 with over 4k procedures. Spoke excellent English.

We had no issues in Mexico. The medical tourism industry is huge in Tijuana - the Grand Tijuana hotel has a floor dedicated to surgical care and is attached to essentially a mall of medical offices. 

Comb these sites for doctors. The hospital was a little shifty looking on the outside but modern on the inside. We were cared for by no less than 4 people around the clock. 

More laid back and personal than  my care here in the US.