VSG with Dr. Lopez in Tijuana - My Experience (Long Post)
I had the Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy with Dr. Alejandro Lopez (Specialized Bariatrics $4200) on Saturday, March 22, 2014. I live close to San Diego, so I drove down and parked in a lot near the airport. Victor, the driver, called the day before and confirmed the time I wanted to be picked up. Victor said that particular day was extremely busy with many back and forth trips across the border. He picked up my friend and I in our parking lot and drove over to the airport where we waited for another patient and her husband to arrive (our wait was probably an hour). Crossing the border was pretty easy, but traffic in Tijuana was crazy and chaotic.
After crossing the border, the Marriott hotel was probably a 15-minute drive in heavy traffic. The hotel was a typical mid-level Marriott with friendly staff. Tatiana, our patient coordinator, gave us instructions for staying at the hotel and some paperwork to fill out (brief medical hx…). Chicken broth, Jell-O (they were out of popsicles), and 2 bottles of water were provided free of charge. Guests could eat at the hotel restaurant with us at a 15% discount. Tatiana and Nissi, another patient coordinator, were available by phone in case we needed anything. There is a small shop that sells water, Tylenol, antacids, etc. just off the lobby. Our room faced a busy street and traffic noise kept me awake until 2am.
We were told to be down in the lobby at 10am the next day to leave for the hospital. I surmised that there was a problem with the passenger van that was supposed to pick us up because after about 30 minutes of waiting, a Marriott van took our group to the hospital. Once at the hospital we turned in our paperwork, waited in a hallway with several other patients and their guests. There was some camaraderie while we waited. Hospital Mi Doctor is fairly small and it seems that many patients were there for bariatric surgery. Our group, which consisted of a woman and her husband, a woman and her father, and me and my friend, were all having surgery on Saturday with Dr. Lopez. I can’t tell you much about the others, except that Dr. Lopez wasn’t their surgeon and their company asked patients to share a room. Our group had private rooms with extra beds for our guests.
Before going to our rooms, our blood work was done and we were weighed. A short time after arriving to my room, around 1pm, a friendly nurse who spoke minimal English administered my EKG. By this time, the floor nurse had given me a hospital robe to wear. Like at the hotel, my room faced a busy street and traffic noise made it difficult to go to sleep at night. One of the OR nurses, Fatima, came to my room to discuss the surgery and answer any questions I had (her English was very good). She had all of my vital information stored in her phone. I was told the surgery would be later in the evening, so I settled in to wait. However, an orderly came to pick me up around 3pm and wheeled me to the OR.
In the OR, I was introduced to Carlos, a slight young man who was the recovery nurse. He was very kind and friendly and had just the right kind of personality to put me at ease. As I lay waiting in the OR bed, Dr. Lopez came over to introduce himself and ask if I had any questions. He had a friendly, but reserved, demeanor. He indicated that my wait would be about 40 minutes and reassured me that everything would go smoothly. While waiting, Dr. Lopez’s previous patient was brought out of the OR. As I watched her groggily trying to wake up from surgery, I was relieved to see that Carlos treated her with kindness and dignity while she was in this vulnerable state.
I ended up waiting for surgery for over an hour. Shortly before, the anesthesiologist introduced herself and asked me some questions about allergies, previous surgeries, etc. She was also very kind and spoke good English. I was wheeled into the operating room and, for a short time, I was in there alone with the anesthesiologist and we chatted briefly. This is all I remember until I woke up around 10:30 that night in my room. My friend indicated that I had just been brought up. Honestly, the only thing I remember about that night is an urgent need to go to the bathroom, being not willing to use a bedpan, and my friend and a nurse helping me to the bathroom. Another patient later complained that she was in recovery for 6 hours and no one told her husband what was happening. I do find it a bit disconcerting that I was put under around 4:45pm for an operation that takes about 90 minutes and I didn’t start to wake up until about 10:30 in the evening. Nevertheless, I came out of the operation with no serious problems.
As part of the laparoscopic procedure, carbon dioxide is blown into the patient’s’ stomach, thus giving room for the surgeon to operate. Because of the gas, patients were instructed to walk as much as possible to facilitate ridding the gas in our system. This gas can cause chest, shoulder, and neck pain for a few days. I experienced some pain in my shoulder and neck despite walking the hall (a very small hallway-back and forth-boring) consistently while I was in the hospital. The day after surgery, Dr. Lopez came to check on me with a fellow doctor. He explained that he had to repair hiatal hernia during the operation. Apparently, this is common in obese patients. As a matter of fact, the 2 other surgery patients in my group also had hernias repaired.
During my 2-day hospital stay, I was given pain medicine, antibiotics, anti-nausea, and acid reflux medicine intravenously. I also had four incisions in my upper abdomen area and a drain on my left side. Nurses changed the dressings while I was in the hospital. The drain was a pain and it leaked onto my underwear and clothes occasionally. I didn’t experience much pain in my stomach or nausea, but I felt pain (probably 6/7 out of 10 on the pain scale) when swallowing and experienced painful acid reflux. I was told that this was common due to my repaired hernia, but the other 2 patients in my group did not report any pain when swallowing (side note: this pain has since gone away 10 days post op).The next day I was taken to x-ray for my leak test. I was instructed to stand against the machine and drink 3 gulps of a nasty tasting liquid. I was facing the monitor, so I watched the liquid move down my esophagus and into my much smaller stomach. No leaks!
The rest of my hospital stay was uneventful. Most of the nurses spoke fair to good English, but it was nice to have my friend who is a native Spanish speaker available to clarify. Through most of the stay, I was given small cups of ice, but nothing else, which was fine because I could barely tolerate the ice. On Monday morning following the surgery, I was allowed to drink juice or Gatorade. I was released and driven back to the hotel around 11:00am. I checked in and was given a quiet room on the 1st floor. Monday afternoon and evening was relaxing. I ate a little broth and drank some water (the third day after surgery, I was able to drink about 50 oz of liquid).
Dr. Sanchez, who visited me in the hospital with Dr. Lopez, and Fatima, the OR nurse came to my room on Monday to check on me. Fatima helped me change my dressings. On Tuesday morning I walked about ½ mile to and from the local grocery store with my friend (Walmart is across the street from this grocery store) and bought some Vitamin Water Zero and cough drops (acid reflux had begun to irritate my throat). Dr. Sanchez stopped by again on Tuesday night to remove my drain, which, surprisingly, didn’t hurt. Since I didn’t have an early flight to catch, I chose to take the second shuttle back to San Diego.
Before we left the hospital, Dr. Lopez’s patients were given green bags that contained a disk of our leak test with a note (explanation of why we were in Tijuana in Spanish – presumably to help us get through the border) and medicines (1 weeks worth of antibiotics, pain medicine (which I never took), and a Mexican version of Maalox. We were instructed to keep our green bags out so the border agents could examine them. Before heading to the states, our driver gave us a little tour of Tijuana. He took us through some nice neighborhoods, showed us the massive former home of a notorious gangster (now occupied by a politician), and took us to a couple of souvenir shops, where I significantly overpaid for t-shirts for my niece and nephew.
The trip back through the border to the US was very slow. One of our Canadian passengers got tagged for secondary customs because she crossed 2 international borders within 21 days. She indicated that she should have let her embassy know where she was going and why and it may not have happened. However, her father didn’t get tagged, so maybe it’s just a crapshoot. Our driver indicated that he had only gone through secondary customs once before. Nevertheless, we didn’t spend long there, as we had an understanding border agent who passed us through within 30 minutes. However, 2 passengers had a flight leaving at 3:10pm and we got them there with barely an hour to spare. Once back in the states, I met up with another friend, who flew in to help me recover. I didn’t do much relaxing, though, because I felt pretty good. Instead we did some touristy activities that involved a lot of walking. I probably overdid it given the fact that I wasn’t ingesting many calories. I did get a little light-headed a couple of times, but sitting down and relaxing for a few minutes helped.
In summary, I had my surgery in the early evening of Saturday, March 22, stayed in the hospital for 2 nights, was released on Monday morning, stayed at the local Marriott for 2 nights, and left Tijuana early Wednesday afternoon. I went back to work on the following Monday with no pain or discomfort. Despite the limited calories, my energy level has been good. I’m following the doctor’s orders and waiting 2 months before engaging in moderate-strenuous activities at the gym. In the meantime, I will continue to walk everyday. As far as getting enough protein and water, I am working hard to fulfill my requirements with protein shakes, chicken broth, Gatorade, Vitamin Water Zero, sugar free popsicles, and sugar free Jell-O. I still have head hunger at night after I lay down for bed. My stomach also rumbles a great deal, and this, combined with acid reflux seems to mimic stomach hunger. Late at night eating has always been my biggest downfall and it seems I’m still suffering from the psychological effects of this, but I’m hopeful that this dissipates after I begin to eat solid foods. I visited my PCP on Friday after I returned home. She ordered blood work for mid-April and indicated that she’ll have me do blood work every 3 months for the next year.
For those of you who decide on Specialized Bariatrics, here is some advice and information (some of what I was told prior to going did not turn out to be true).
I was told that I would have to pay a fee at the hotel for Wi-Fi. This is not true. Wi-Fi is free of charge for up to 3 devices.
I was told that my guest may not be able to stay with me at the hospital, and if this turned out to be the case, then I would have to pay $100/night for my guest to stay at the Marriott. Although the hospital ended up accommodating us, the patient coordinator indicated that Specialized Bariatrics would pick up the tab if our guests wanted to stay at the hotel.
I was told that I would be charged an additional $1000 if the doctor repaired a hernia during my surgery. This fee ended up being $500.
I was told to bring gauze and tape to change my dressings at the hotel and for a couple of weeks after. To be more specific, you need gauze to clean your wounds, antibiotic ointment, and gauze to dress your wounds. The little ½ inch wide tape I bought did not work well, so one of the nurses gave me a small role of 3-inch wide medical tape (paper). This is the best tape to use. I ran out and could not find it in stores (I tried Rite Aid, Wal-Mart, and Target). However, you can buy it on Amazon.
I only saw Dr. Lopez for 2 brief periods just before surgery and the following day. However, Dr. Sanchez and Nurse Fatima, were available to answer questions. Dr. Lopez does several surgeries a day. I think he performed 7 or 8 on the day I had surgery. So understand that Dr. Lopez will do the surgery, but other doctors and nurses on his team will provide information pre-surgery and follow-up care post-surgery.
It was wonderful to have a friend with me. She helped a great deal and her presence was comforting (for example, it was nice to know that she was in the room when I took my shower just in case I got light-headed or fainted--thank goodness that didn’t happen). The fact that she spoke fluent Spanish helped a couple of times when there was a communication breakdown between the nurses and me. I can’t attest to the availability of the coordinators since I didn’t really need their help. Another patient came alone and seemed to do fine.
Bring about $20 in ones to tip your drivers and hotel staff.
There is a mall (very Americanized) not far from the hotel and a Wal-Mart within walking distance. You don’t need to exchange American dollars for pesos. Tijuana merchants accept American dollars. Be advised that the Wal-Mart pharmacy gave my friend pesos as change when she paid with American dollars and told her that this was store policy when she asked for American dollars. At a later point, she questioned another Wal-Mart cashier about this policy and the cashier said that it wasn’t true.
For the most part, prices at the stores in Tijuana were no cheaper than similar stores in the US.
Some other items patients found useful: lip balm, Gas-X, your own pillow
My phone company (Verizon) charged .50 for texts sent, .05 for texts received, and .99/min for calls. I was not able to send a text to multiple people, nor could I send a long text without receiving a failure message. The hospital (Mi Doctor) has free Wi-Fi. I know this is a long message. Even so, I probably left out some details. I hope this helps anyone considering VSG with Dr. Lopez.
Thank you for your long post about your experience!!! I have my VSG scheduled with Dr. Lopez on April 18 in Puerto Vallarta. The information you provided was very useful. I'm flying down from Canada and bringing pesos with me. How much did you tip the driver in $US? I have no idea how much to tip him/her.
I'm glad to hear that your surgery went well and best of luck with the rest of your recovery process :-) I hope your acid reflux/tummy issues go away soon.
Thank you so much for your detailed post! I am scheduled for the sleeve on June 19th in Tijuana with Dr. Lopez. How was the hospital sanitation and equipment? I saw a post where someone raved over the Puerto Vierta facility was beyond clean. I was just wondering about the TiJuana facilities. Thanks again for the information you provided. It was very informative.
