On my way!

I am so excited right now, even though I am just at the beginning of this process. I went to an orientation with Dr. Patterson's associate, Dr. Huong (Portland, Oregon) and was very impressed with their facilities and Dr. Huong's presentation. Ideally, I would love to be their patient, but unfortunately, as a self-pay patient, I just cannot see spending $24,000 for my surgery with them when I can get the same results in Tiajuana with Dr. Ortiz for about $9000. So, I am now in the process of doing the following: 1) Scheduling a surgery date with Dr. Ortiz 2) Arranging my finances 3) Convincing my sister, an RN, and my mother that it is safe to go to Mexico for the procedure 4) Convincing my husband that I really do need to do something this "drastic" (His words...) 5) Then convincing him that Mexico is a viable option for this procedure I know it sounds like a lot to do, but as insensitive as it may sound, I am less concerned about #3,4,&5 than I should be. I have done my research, and I know what I'm doing here, so they are all just going to have to get on board the best they can. I have no idea how long it takes to get in with Dr. Ortiz, but I am hoping for a late March or April date (perhaps a little overly optimistic with that date, but I'm hoping! Thanks for all the info. You guys are great! Marcie P.S. I ALSO NEED TO LOCATE SOMEONE LOCALLY WHO CAN PERFORM MY FILLS AND PROVIDE AFTERCARE. ANY SUGGESTIONS???? (reposted from LapBand board)

Marcie - I'm going March 10th to Ensenada (70 mi south of San Diego) with Dr. Aguirre. I've not heard anything about Dr. Ortiz, but it certainly makes more sense to go south of the border with some of us self-pays who don't have enough to stay local. Hopefully you will get a good date with Dr. Ortiz. I do know there was someone who just cancelled their March 30th date with Dr. Aguirre if you are interested in seeing him. He also has an apartment he just set up for the patients to stay in afterwards and a nurse checks in every day on the patients. I'm way down in Medford so I can't help with the self-pay info, but I think Lisa Wolman is from Portland so you might check with her on that. She saw Dr. Aguirre. Good luck! Dina

Thanks Dina! As much as I would love to pop in for surgery at the end of the month, I have to get time off from work, and finish convincing my family that this is right for me. Also, I want my sis, who is an RN, to go with me--so we have to arrange that. I am shooting for April! Good luck with your pre-op process Marcie P.S. Who are you planning to see for your aftercare and fills?