I had my sleeve done at Mexicali Baratric Center. Nina and Karla the patient facilitators are absolutely amazing!!! http://www.mexicalibariatric.com/home/

Dr Ungston in Mexicali with the Mexicali Bariatric Center is very good and does many many revisions.

http://www.mexicalibariatric.com/weight-loss-revision-surgery/

I guess no one knows, so I'll take a stab. Board Certified is a way to say that a surgeon has met some kind of criteria or qualifications. It's like having a medical license but beyond that. I think you have to take exams, "boards" and pass them to become board certified. I would never recommend someone visit a doctor who is not board certified but to be honest, I didn't even go to the board websites and check my surgeon so I could have been fooled. 

The "surgeon of excellence" thing is (in theory) a designation that is based on numerous factors like the surgeon's experience level, complication rate, number of surgeries performed, quality of their facilities, etc. They have to meet a high standard for all these things and even have a site-inspection to be deemed a surgeon of excellence, or alternately, the entire practice can be called a surgical center of excellence.

Now, there are probably some less legit designations that others. There are probably some that all a surgeon has to do is pay a large fee and he'll get a stamp of approval. But in the USA if you go to a "bariatric center of surgical excellence" (there are usually only a couple per state) you can be sure they have met some strict criteria. And I'm sure internationally this exists too.

Hope this helps... I'd definitely check into it more if you have doubts about the accreditation of your surgeon. 

Congratulations! The only thing you might not like in August is the heat! I was so glad to get it done in March and not have to deal with the heat. I mean, the hospital is air  conditioned of course but even just walking in and out to the van... I'm a real wuss when it comes to heat and humidity.

I have been back from Mexico for 10 days now and doing great. No complications, pain, or nausea. I would highly recommend Dr. Alvarez and as a self-pay, the price was a lot less than I could find in the US and I think the care was even better. 

If anyone is looking for a Mexican doctor who does only sleeves or band to sleeve revisions, check him out at endobariatric.com. I'd be happy to talk about my personal experience too.