Surgery in Mexico

Hi, I've never posted before...will try to keep it short. I am a self-pay and recently found out the surgery is much cheaper in Mexico. My husband is really AGAINST me going there. He thinks I'm nuts for all the research I am doing on the net and also for applying for financing at obesityloan.com. He says it is all a scam and that even the hospitals in Mexico probably don't exist. Can anyone give me some firsthand information about their experience? I'm also worried about aftercare if I have the surgery in Mexico; what if some sort of complication happened, then what? If I don't go to Mexico, my second choice would be Dr. Kemmerling in Green Bay, WI. I am hoping that as a self-pay he would give me a discount but don't have that information yet. I am scheduled to go to one of his seminars at the end of the month. Thanks in advance for any advice/info you can give. Autumn P.S. Posted this on the regular board and was told to cross post here. Hope I can get some advice. Yesterday morning I filled out form for TheBariatrics- Dr. Arturo Rodriguez. Have not heard back from them yet. Anyone have any experience there they would like to share? THANKS!

Hello Autumn, I understand your husband is against mexico, its a scary thought if you were to just go and not research it. My suggestion to you is to read a lot of the profiles here on the south of the border roster, especially latrisha nickle's profile. I have read thru and thru here and found it very helpful. This has made me decide that I will go to mexico and probably will get better care there then some of these doctors in the U.S. I am also comfortable in knowing that I have researched my doctor, how many in the U.S. can say they know everything about their surgeon? My surgery is scheduled for Nov. 25 with Dr. Aguirre. He is a wonderful surgeon and their response time is so prompt. So far I have been impressed with their service. Good Luck on your journey!!! Maybe after you've read enough of the profiles you should print some out and let your husband read them. It might ease his mind. P.s. my profile is not up to date but I promise more updates in the future. --S.

I'm one of Dr. Aguirre's patients too. Go to his forum and read all the profiles. Dr. A is the best!

Hi Autumn Welcome to the cool board. Anyway this whole site is the bomb. I went to Dr. Aceves in Mexicali and he is just the best. I had the nices of the time and the hospital he uses has the nurses with the most gentel touch, totally a relaxing trip, well with the exception that surgery is still surgery. I was so skeptical in the beginning. I thought that maybe this was all a hoax, maybe I would be ripped off, or worse yet get killed. I strongly believed that all the feedback and posts were by people that worked for these doctors. It was so unreal to hear about doctors that do not have god complexes, that are honestly nice and caring. Well I knew that all was as I read when I met my surgeron Dr. Aceves. He was nice and caring, answered all my questions, showed me the lapband he would use along with the serial number. All went well with my surgeries and I am so thrilled to having done it. I was also so happy that I was able to stay at the hospital for the duration of my stay, instead of a hotel, this way I had 24/7 support if necessary. In the end Dr. Aceves even gave me his cell number in case of any problems, what a doctor. Anyway there are several great doctors in mexico and some I would avoid. Do your reseach, ask questions and do not fear. Most doctors have more experience in lap-band in mexico than here. The toughest part is the psycological, getting over having surgery in a country where you would not drink the water at. The physical part is really easy. If you are interested in Dr. Aceves you can visit his site at www.mexicoband.com or his yahoo forum at http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/Dr-Aceves-bandsters/ Good luck with your decision and let me know if I can help you with anything. ttfn Sari

Hi Autumn, I went to Dr Aguirre, my husband watched the surgery. We both were thrilled with the surgery and the care in Mexico. You have nothing to worry about. The only possible downfall is the aftercare, but hey, I didn't need anything....just the routine bloodwork etc. Read, Read, and get your husband to read the profiles. http://www.obesityhelp.com/morbidobesity/forums/?ID=A-1045621205 Good Luck Dot

I just returned from surgery in Mexico with Dr Aguirre. I would say that my biggest concern (from this vantage point) is the lack of monitoring after the surgery. My son has had many surgeries and they monitored him almost too much. But they cheaked his temp, bp etc every hour. I think they checked me once the whole time I was in the hospital. I had no monitors after surgery and you go right from surgery to your room. Luckily, I had no complications and am a week out today. Yesterday we spent the whole day walking around Universal Studios and I was fine. Just my two cents. Anne

Hi Autumn, I have never posted anything before but this whole site has helped us so much I thought I should share my experience. My husband had surgery with Dr. Aguirre last Friday. I stayed the entire time with him in the hospital and I would rate the aftercare as excellent. Way better than our experiences in the States. There were only 2 patients in there and there was always 2 nurses so it's like having your own personal nurse. His b/p, temp., sugar (he is diabetic) were checked often. For the first day he was hooked up to blood oxygen level, and heartrate machine. They did deep breathing exercises with him and really took care of him well. We are still here in Ensenada and will stay until he has staples and gastric tube removed on Sat. There have been no complications. Dr. Aguirre and his assistant Rosella have answered every question and really taken care of our every need. Hope this helps in your search for what is right for you.

My name is Tim Hewitt. I am a pastor and a post op patient of Dr Aguirre in Ensenada Mexico. There is nothing bad I can say about the Mexico experience. I would mention that when you first cross the boarder into Mexico you will realize that you are not in "kansas" anymore. But I really want you to understand my perspective about my surgeon. he performs 3 surgeries a week. Therefore the hospital also recieves those same patients. The fee of my surgeon was 2900 and the hospital was 6900. Consider that is 452,000 dollars a year for the doc. The hospital is over 1,000,000. They will do absolutly everything to ensure that americans will feel comfortable comming there for surgery. They realize this forum alone is about 90% of their WLS billing and all it wold take is one bad experience to ruin the whole thing. I have never been pampered more or taken care of better in my whole life. American healthcare could learn a lot from these folks. I was treated like family. The doctor is considered one of the best in the world. As far as your husband's concerns there is nothing to fear at least with my doc. You don't give him a dime until the day before surgery. He tells you all of the risks upfront. If there are any problems with the surgery he will go in and fix them at no charge (hospital stay is not included). But he cannot afford for people to have things go wrong as it would dry up his bussiness. True accountability in medicine I am seeing a surgeon here in Fla also considered one of the best. He is a family friend and I do my monthly visits with him which are little more than a weigh in and a quick discussion about where I am at and where I should be. It is quickly becomming not worth it to go. I am looking at letting him see me at 6 months for blood work but these monthlies seem foolish I live in Fla and our entire trip surgery included along with private transportation to and from Sandiago and airfare was 10,000 total.

Hi Autumn! I know I am a little late to this question, but I am also a patient of Dr. Aguirre. I had surgery of 2/20/04 and have had absolutely NO PROBLEMS. I had no nausea, no pain (only a slight discomfort from the staples), no problems eating anything. My 79 year old mother went with me to Ensenada for the surgery and though I was convinced I had made the right choice, she had qualms until the moment she met Dr. A. After talking with him, she realized that he was not only a skilled surgeon, but a wonderful person and she had no fears about trusting him to operate on her 55 year old "baby girl." Just this morning, I received a note from Fred Patterson who is now on his way to Mexico for surgery tomorrow with Dr. A. He had an appointment with his cardiologist for a stress test and an echocardiogram yesterday - just to make sure things were all a-ok, and his cardiologist said that he had heard of Dr. Aguirre and that he has a reputation as being one of the best in the world currently performing this surgery. Pretty high praise and well deserved in my opinion!!! I would reiterate what others have said - read, read, read profiles of Dr. A's patients (or any other dr. you choose)!!!! Ask questions. After you read profiles, e-mail people and ask specific questions. If you find someone in your area who has used a specific doctor, ask if you can meet them and pick their brain. You'll be able to go into your surgery sure that you have made the right decision. Also, be sure you know what to expect post-op. That way, if anything isn't normal, you'll know it. I must say though, that I know of very few of Dr. Aguirre's patients who had any problems at all after surgery. If you have questions I can help you with, please feel free to email me. Charlotte Herron Dr. Aguirre - 2/20/04 269/165/140?

Hi Autumn, I just read your post, I hope I can be of help. If you are thinking about the Lap Band surgery I can whole heartedly recommend Dr. Aceves, he is in Mexicali, Mexico. www.mexicolapband.com I went to have surgery with him last year and I can tell you that I was pleasently surprised with the experience I had with him and his wonderful staff. I know that they also do the Lap RNY but I didn't choose that surgery, I felt the Lap Band was the right decision for me, and have confirmed this over this last year. The post op care with the Lap Band is not as complicated as with the RNY, what is really important is that you find a fill doctor in the US if you don't want to go back to mexico for your fills. Nina, Dr. Aceves assistant helps you find a doctor for your fills. I flew back home after surgery and only took 1 week off for recovery, I can say that even that week wasn't totally necessary I was doing all kind of things with out any problem. Recovery time was an issue because I have small kids and can't take too much time off! My family supported me in my decision but I have read many stories where family memebers are against them coming to Mexico. I can recommend that they talk to people who have been there to get their feedback. good luck !!! Sandy lap band-dr aceves