Considering Mexico any experiences or advice
Hi there. MY husband had VSG with Dr. Joya in Puerto Vallarta in May of this year. Excellent experience. We chose Dr. Joya because we personally know others who have gone to him and also had good experiences. We booked directly through his website - first contact was with his co-ordinator Gerald. Gerald was timely and always replied to my every e-mail. Everything - the pick up at the airport, the awesome hotel, the also awesome hospital - from start to finish - everything was exactly as promised. We felt extremely safe while in Mexico - I actually walked out the street on my own a few times to the drug store and little market. Dr. Joya's prices are most costly than some of the other surgeons in Mexico - $6500.00 for VSG. That included everything except our airfare and a few misc taxis. We chose to go down a day early and paid an extra $100 for that night in the hotel - MORE THAN WORTH IT - the hotel is so amazing. Ivan had a smooth surgery and uneventful recovery - minimal pain - and from what I read these days - Dr. Joya does not even use sutures now - he is using skin glue. We met up with a few other people from Canada who were also down at the same time as us. One lady was on her own - a lot of people do go on their own with no problems. Not everyone can take the time or afford to go with their spouse/loved one. I recommend you read the Mexico message boards. There are lots of posts there about peoples experiences. And there are lots of options to go with different doctors. I find that the main reason people are getting turned off from some of the doctors in Mexico is the lack of consistent and timely communication, changing of hospitals and hotels AFTER arrangements have been made. You really have to read, read, read and make an informed decision. Would I recommend paying the extra $2000.00 to go to Dr. Joya. ABSOLUTELY!!!. But that's just my opinion. We flew down from St. John's to Newark - overnighted there and then directly to Peurto Vallarta. We lucked in and our airfare for both of us was under $1800.00 return total. United Airlines. Feel free to private message me if you have any other specific questions. The other thing I forgot to mention was - when we decided we were going to go down - I called Gerald and gave him a week that would be good for us - it was only 3 weeks later and no problem. Booked in. So that was great to get the surgery done in a time frame that worked for us - from what I see and read - generally people are able to book in time frames that work for them. Take care and good luck!
Mary
Weight loss is going well - average of 3 to 4 lbs a week. No issues - just learning to work with the new stomach - small frequent meals and being compliant with Dr. Joyas post op diet and vitamin/supplement plan. I took his stitches out- I'm a nurse. Our family doctor was on board and aware before we went down so it has been no trouble to get his labs checked since surgery.
