I need help with making a decision - Warning: Long Post

Hi everyone,

I have lost all of my weight and am now looking into plastic surgery.  I will need BL/BA, TT and maybe face lift.  Not sure about a full blown LBL but will let the surgeon decide. 
I have had a previous TT 10 years ago when I lost weight before and then regained and more and now have lost again, only this time, I am using my tool and have not strayed from my weight of 145.  I have about 10 pounds of loose skin and that will get me under my personal  goal weight.  I was really lucky to be a light weight (due to lapband revision to GB) so I lost my weight quickly and although still a bit early out, am maintaining my weight very well.  I finally have seen the light and have learned to stop putting "crap" into my mouth. 

Ok, now on to the questions.  Can anyone tell me if they narrowed down their lists to Sauceda or Quiroz?  And, what made your decision to one over the other? 

Also, what type of anesthesia do they both use?  I thought I understood that Sauceda uses "twilight" IV meds vs. gas.  Is that true of Dr. Q? 

How about facilities, both state of the art, both have hospital back up for complications? I thought I understood that both docs use their own clinics.  Do either utilize hospitals?  

Aftercare?  Post surgery, where did you go?  Hotel or recovery house?  Merits of both?

Here is one that I have not heard about.  Payment at time of surgery in person or wired?  Money order or cash?

Sauceda has a "package" where if you spend over a certain amount you also get airfare and hotel included.  Do you pay up front and then he refunds or is that just deducted from the total?

Fortunately, I speak Spanish so language is not any form of barrier for me.  I will feel comfortable at either hospital/clinic but what about TJ?  I have not been to that border town and lately I have been hearing about border problems (violence, robbery, kidnapping of Americans)  I know better than to stray off the usual tourist paths but are there problems in those areas as well?  I kind of doubt it but need to ask.  
 
Finally, quality of work.  Anyone not happy with scar lines, aftercare, complications and resolution? 

Thanks to you all.  I value your opinions and hope you will respond.  Apparently, I have been a very good girl this year as my Santa husband is buying me a new body for Christmas!!   What more could a girl ask?   : )

Thanks again.

Lisa

Hi Robin,

The substance that my PS used to flatten my scars was a steroid based injectable.  This may help with the scars from Dr. Q.  It really burns with the injection but in a few months my scars were flat and white.  Hope that helps a bit. 

Happy Holidays,

Lisa

Hi Robin,

Thank you so much for your reply.  I am sorry I haven't responded but I just got home from the Cleveland Clinic with a complication.  I apparently was dehydrated and had gastritis.  They spent the last two days trying to diagnose what was up and so I was out of pocket for the last few days.  All is well now and I am feeling much better.  Turns out that Pepcid and I don't agree.  I am now on Carafate and that seems to be working better. 

Anyway, back to Dr. Q.  I am so sorry to hear about the issues with your arm lift.  After researching a bit more, I am not as certain that Dr. Q is the doc for me.  It sounds like for the bigger surgeries like LBL he is fine but for his "finer stitch" work that he may not be as good as some others.  I will have to go back and look but I believe I have read that others have had similar experiences.  Not sure why he i**** or miss as others seem to really like the quality of his work.  My biggest concern about Dr. S. was the anesthesia but that may be standard operating procedure and I will continue to investigate. 

I will say that I had a TT here in the US several years ago and for the first 6 months my scar lines looked horrible.  My plastic surgeon ended up injecting them with something that flattened and seemed to shrink the scars lines and ultimately they looked great.  Maybe a PS here can correct the scar line without reopening.   I will try to find out what the substance was that was injected and forward that info on to you.   

I will keep you in the loop with regards to any info I find out about Dr. S. for your future use.

Take care and keep in touch.

: )

Lisa

I have had two surgeries with Dr. Quiroz.  The man broke my heart.  I don't have much more to say than that right now but my photos speak volumes I think.

http://psjourneys.com/index.php?name=coppermine&cat=15154

Hi Gracies,

Sorry I didn't get back to you sooner.  With the holidays, I barely have time to breathe! 

PSjourneys has not been working for me for a while.  I re-registered again today but so far no response from the website so I can not view your photos through that site.   Please send them to me with a PM, if you feel comfortable. 

I am so sorry that your experience was not good and hope that any mistakes can be revised with a different surgeon. 

I will keep trying to get on psjourneys to view your before and afters. 

Take care.

Lisa

Oh I didn't realize you couldn't see my pics unless you had an account over there.  I sure wish I knew what the problem was with that site.  I posted a message telling people that there were people here (and elsewhere obviously) who could not register.  That site has been SO SLOW lately and I'm sure the fact that people can't seem to register is part of the problem.  No one has answered my post over there yet.  Oh well.  It's such a shame because that site was SO helpful to me when I was researching my options for plastics.  I never would have made it through without the good friends I found over there.  I hate that others can't have that as well.


I guess I will have to move my photos over here so people can see them if they want to. 

I went ahead and uploaded some of my photos here if anyone wants to see them.

HI Gracies,

I am just getting back to the computer after the holidays and have reviewed your pics.  This "Doctor" needs to be outed in a big way.   OH members have supported this guy and so does OH itself by allowing him to advertise his "services" on the boards.  OH needs to look at these pictures, and alert others about the possible outcome that you experienced. 

There is no excuse for this type of malpractice whether it is US or Mexico or anywhere and this guy needs to be held accountable.  Without the word of mouth that this site provides him, he would see a serious drop in patients signing up.  Let me rephrase that, WITH  the word of mouth that this site can provide, he WILL see a serious drop in patients.  I am so willing to take up the cause but of course, I need your permission.  I would be thrilled to post comments and your pictures on every possible forum on this site and any others that exist outside this site to ensure that no one has to go through what you have. 

You have no idea how close I was to signing up with this guy.  He needs to be stopped now before he maims any others.  

Before I bring you to tears, I do believe that what he has done can be reversed and with added surgery, you will be much happier.  I also understand that you have shelled out thousands of dollars that cannot ever be recovered and that subsequent surgeries will also be out of pocket.  But I guess what I am trying to say is that this situation is not permanent if you don't want it to be but then that is more money too! 

Please know that I am so sorry that you have had this experience and I hope you will allow me to alert others with my big mouth ( and keyboard!)  In the meantime, I hope the moderators see this post and if not I would love to forward it to them.  They have a responsibility to protect us as best they can and once they are aware of what has happened here, I would hope they would do the responsible thing and refuse his advertising dollars and alert any others who may be interested in using him as their choice for surgeon.

Please let me know if you will let me take up this battle.  I sooooo want to make sure that this butcher gets his.   Thank you for posting what you have as already you have saved one other from your same fate, and that person is me.

: )

Lisa