Giving the docs the money?????

Now I need to know from the experienced South of the Border patients, exactly what was the procedure in paying for the surgery? Do you send them the money ahead of time? By what means do you pay? What are typical expectations? How do you know you are not being scammed? I'm just so scared about another country and not knowing how things work! I'd love to hear your experieces. HELP! Kim M.

Kim, I had my surgery in Puerto Vallarta 4 weeks ago with Dr. Joya. I had to put 1000.00 in his bank account (at any Bank Of America branch) and bring a cashier's check to the hospital for the balance. You are given a receipt for the full amount along with your operative report, which you will need for your follow-up doc. Toots

Hi kim I too was nervous about going to another country at first. I had open RNY with Dr. Aguirre. May 31 of 05. The prodedure for payong at that time was with 2 different money orders. I paid them when I arrived in ensenada. 1 money order was for Dr. Aguirre in the amount of 7000.00. And the second was for the hospital in the name of marco antonio susarrey. This one was 2400.00. Things have changed slightly since then. My twin sister is currently in ensenada recovering from her surgery she had feb 7 of 06. I am here with her. She was asked to deposit 500.00 in a bank account in Dr. Aguirres name. This was to secure her surgery date. And than she had to pay the rest with two different money orders. One for 7300.00 for Dr. Aguirre and another for marco antonio susarrey, for the hospital. In the amount of 2400.00 as you can see, Dr. Aguirres price has gone up since last year. The 500.00 deposited in his account goes toward the surgery cost. His total cost is now 10200.00 including hospital cost. We also rented one of the apartments his duaghter has available for patients for 831.00. This is for 3 days of nursing care after release from the haspital and for 8 nights stay in the apartment. We also paid bambi, the driver, for transportation to and from ensenada and san diego. Bambi is a sweet heart of a man. And is very informative of the area. His charge was 350.00 so altogether we paid 11381.00. With both our airfair tickets from anchorage alaska that was another 1200.00. And than shopping money.We spent less than 13500.00 for this surgery and trip. This is a pretty good deal. Please, do research your surgeon. And know for sure what kind of surgery you want for yourself. Waether it is RNY, or band, or open or laproscopic. There are advantages and disavantages to all procedures. There are some drs that come highly recomended in mexico. Dr. Aguirre being one of them. I went to him and so did my twin sister now. Others are Dr. Joya, and Dr. Raumbant. I wish you the best in your search. I recomend contacting each of these places and finding out their payment procedure. It could be different for each one. And reading the profiles for each of these drs and patients will help you tremendously. Email many of them if you can. There are many on this sight who will be very helpful to you. Cindy

Girl! Would you get an up to date picture of yourself on that profile of yours! I wanna see how sexy you've gotten! Cheers! Lorraine

Hi Kim I had surgery with Dr Rumbaut last month. I was required to send a check in the amount of $500.00 as a deposit to hold the surgery date. When I arrived in Monterrey, I met with the surgeon and paid the additional money in the form of 2 cashiers checks. One for $9000 and one for $5100. This covered the surgeon fees, hospital OR and 2 nights in the hospital, anasthesologist, medications and meeting with the dieticican and nutritionist. My additional cost was airfare from Florida to Monterrey and 8 mights in a hotel. Bridget

Hi Bridget,Thank you for your response. I hope you are doing well!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'd like to ask a few other questions? How much was the 8 nights in a hotel? Can you suggest somewhere? How did you get from the airport to the hotel and hospital? Did you have open or lap? Were you pleased with Dr. Rumbaut? thanks-KimM.

Thanks Kim, I am doing wonderful. As of today I have lost a total of 40 pounds. I haven't weighed this little since before I had my daughter 4.5 years ago! The hotel was $87.00/day. That included all taxes and fees. We stayed 2 nights before the surgery, checked out for the 2 nights stay in the hospital (the hotel stored our luggage and belongings while we we in the hospital-free) and then stayed an additional 6 nights. The hotel we stayed at was the Hampton Inn, just minutes from the hospital. I believe all Dr Rumbaut's patients stay there. They have a free shuttle service to and from all your medical appointments. Your fees for the surgery also include pre scheduled shuttle from the airport to the hotel the day you arrive pre scheduled shuttle from the hotel back to the airport the day you depart. This is all free. Dr Rumbaut pays for it. I forgot to mention this was included in the cost of the surgery. I also forgot to mention the pre-op tests are all included as well. Blood work, an EKG, Xrays and a medical exam. I know, without a glimmer of a doubt, that I chose the best surgeon. I never once had doubts or second thoughts. He was very professional and knowledgable. The OR was state of the art. Everything was perfect. We had lap RNY. I say 'we' because my husband went with me and had the same surgery the same day. He's lost over 50 pounds so far. We're both tremendously pleased with the experiance. If you want more detailed info, you can email Dr Rumbaut's US patient coordinator, Cathy Pickren. Her email is [email protected] If you have any other questions for me, I will be more than happy to answer them. Bridget

I put 1000 in his account here and then took a cashiers check for the rest. When you put the 1000 down, they give you a date and plan ticket information. It was great!! Well not paying, but it was easy!! Jen

Hi Kim! I had Dr. Rumbaut 8 months ago. I agree with the last post, he's the best! So far from what I've seen, he is the most expensive, but I truly believe you get what you pay for! Of course money is always an issue, as we are all self pay. I checked into his references and professional accomplishments (as well as other docs) but Dr. Rumbaut kept coming to the top of the list for me. With Dr. Rumbaut, he arranges all the transportation once you are in Monterrey. You will get off the plane and the driver will be holding up a sign with your name on it, waiting to bring you to the Hampton Inn. Once at the hotel, you only need to check with the front desk to reserve the free shuttle to bring you to all your appointments. You will have a fax waiting for you at the hotel with the times, etc of your pre-op appointments. It goes quite smoothly. You will be taken care of from the time you get there until the time you leave. I wish you the best of luck with your surgery! Do not worry, you will not be scammed with Dr. Rumbaut, Dr. Joya or Dr. Aguirre in any way. They are all good surgeons with very good reputations. Unfortunately, I have no information on other docs, for the 3 years I've been lurking on this board, those three docs are the most talked about. Good luck! Bonnie lap rny 6/3/05 264/168/165

I went with Dr. Sanchez in Monterrey. It was $8,000 and included everything. I had to take a cashiers check and paid when I got there.