Mexicali Bariatric Center Bariatric Center

Dr Aceves is great. I know i made the right decision to have the VSG surgery with Dr Aceves. I have been toying with WLS for the past 4 years since my best friend had RNY. I would seesaw back and forth, disguisted with my weight but fearful of the surgery. Thank God i finally made the decision and had my surgery on July 13th,( my belly button birthday). Since the surgery I have seen the fruits of my hard work in therapy and in
my relations come to fruition. I have more confidence, stand up for myself, take care of myself, buying myself things that i deserve when i would not before eg. new pair of
awesome sunglasses that were $70.
Initially i was a little bitchy and was wearning my emotions on my sleeve. Now i listen to people and clearly tell them when i disagree with them, when in the past I would take it on as shame, guilt or my responsiblity. I am really putting Zac first now in all areas of my life. I love my
sleeve "it Rocks" Thank you to all Dr Aceves staff who were so awesome.
What happens: Dr Aceves staff will pick you up from the San Diego airport and drive you to the hospital.
You will have all your preop tests on that day, chest xray, labwork and ekg. You will then meet with the coordinator, pay the $$ and then the driver will take you to the hotel (which is fabulous) You will have a great dinner that night, there are 3 restaurants in the hotel ( i had italian yum) and you can not eat after 10pm. You will be given an adivan (sleeping pill) and an antibiotic to take that night.
Next day driver meets you in the lobby of hotel at 7am. you go to the hospital approx 8 mins away from hotel. check into your room, meet with internist that checks out your preop tests from the day before, meet with anestiologist and then meet with Dr Aceves and Dr Campos. They are great. Dr A spends approx 30-40 minutes discussion the surgery etc, eating habits moving forward...great guy..gentle and kind

then you have surgery that am... they totally knock you out.. i came out of surgery not knowing i had surgery...
will be taken to your room, will wake up in a few hours and be walking around chatting. its amazing. they give you a morphine spinal block that deadens the pain for a day during the operation. No fluids until the next day. You could rince your mouth out with water. You will have your iv in until the next day. and you will have a drain (completly contained) to drain off fluids from the surgery area, that comes off your last day in the hospital.

Day 2 is tough, i woke up with really bad shoulder pain from the gas they inject to inflate your stomach to operate. they gave me a shot of something in my IV and I slept for a few hours.

when i woke up i had this grape juice to drink. it is a food color dye to test to make sure there are no leaks. tasted good.
Once they confirmed no leaks then they took out the iv and started giving you chicken broth, apple juice and camimile tea.

Day 3
take xray images of your stomach while you drink a barium type substance.

Day 4, released from hosp around 10 am.

overall, only pain was day 2. had a hard time getting in and out of bed but for the most part it was fine,,,and i am a crybaby when it comes to not feeling well. I also had my gallbladder taken out and the Dr repaire an iadle hernia while he was in there for no additonal costs. the gall bladder was 2k additional.

My first impression was that the doctor was nice but not the rave my niece led me to believe. However, that changed as our conversation progressed. He was very thorough and laid it on the line, that this was a life style change and not magic. It involved learning how to eat properly for maximum results. I also later found him to be very sensitive to my needs to the point that he even gave me a massage! He answerd all my questions and took time to make sure my daughter Charla,(who accompanied me) was there to hear everything. If she wasn't around he would talk to me and then come back to talk to her. The staff was very nice and friendly. There was really nothing that I did not like about the Dr. or his staff, to include the cleaning staff. My aftercare has been fine. Any questions I have are answered with-in a reasonable time through e-mail. I can call but prefer e-mail. The aftercare program involves how to care for you incisions, your diet, pain medication, nexium, and all of you medical records for you doctor at home. I really don't recall talking about the risk of the surgery. On a 1 - 10 scale, I would rate Dr. Aceves a 10. This last question is a no brainer. Of course surgical compentence is most important. But in order to have an excellent experience in such a trying time you need both competence and a good bedside manner!

I had my surgery on June 10th with Dr. Aceves. I opted to have the sleeve. My family was extremely against me going to Mexico for it (even though it is literally 2 minutes from the border). They thought of all kinds of things that could happen to me, and could not conceive that a surgeon in Mexico could compare to one here. I would like to let everyone that reads this know that not only did Dr. Aceves and his staff meet my expectations going down there, they went far beyond them. Every single member of Dr. Aceves staff is wonderful. The nurses at the hospital are professional and always there to help you, they also never failed to be smiling and generally seem to love their job and care about the patients. Dr. Aceves, and Dr. Campos (his assistant for sleeve surgeries) are wonderful! They checked on me often and gently teased me to try and make things light in the hospital room. (I am a huge wuss with needles and needless to say everyone in the hospital knew of me) I have had many follow ups since leaving the hospital both in e-mails and phone calls from Dr. Campos. I would never EVER choose another Dr. or facility for my friends and family. I already have 2 family members that have changed their opinions about going to Mexico for surgery since I have come back and are currently looking into also getting the sleeve done by Dr. Aceves. Lastly I would like to let everyone know and thank Renee, one of the nurses I call regularly that works for Dr. Aceves. She is always patient with me, and never rushes through a conversation. She makes you feel as though you are the only one in the world and reminds you everytime you get off the phone to please call right away if I have even a small question and she will always be here to answer, she even says she will be upset with you if you don't. She wants to help and answer your questions. It is more then a job for her, she even checked in on me at the hospital to make sure I was well. I can't tell you how impressed I have been throughout this entire process, the hospital was great, the staff professional, and the Dr.'s and nurses a dream! If you have any questions at all feel free to contact me!

Dr. Aceves and Dr. Campos go out of their way to make you feel comfortable, secure in your decision, and safe. I always felt they were there when I needed them, they checked on me several times a day, never let me lay there and hurt, answered all of my questions, and never acted rushed. Let me say I am an RN working in the states and many doctors I know could take a few lessons on etiquette and bedside manner from Dr. Aceves and Dr. Campos. Simply, I owe my new wonderful life to them. Thank you is not enough to say.

Dr. Ungson did a great job. I originally was scheduled to have a Duodenal Switch, but ended up having a Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy due to my having (unknown to me) Non-Alcoholic Cirrhosis of the Liver.rnrnHe even did a liver biopsy for me, which he did not have to do (and which my doctor back home states is the mark of an excellent surgeon).rnrnAlso, my doctor exclaims every single time that he sees my scar (I had an open surgery instead of lap) that Dr. Ungson did beautiful work sewing me back up.rnrnI felt that Dr. Ungson genuinely cared about me, but he did seem a bit \"hurried.\" I only met with him for a minute before surgery, and I saw him a few times in the hospital and at his clinic just before I flew home (where the drain tube and stitches were removed).rnrnHe speaks very good English. His assistant surgeon, Dr. Salas, is very warm and radiates compassion and empathy and has excellent English.rnrnHis assistant/office manager is Luz, and she also has almost flawless English and was the one who picked us up and dropped us off at the airport, and took us to and from the hospital. When I was discharged from the hospital, she even drove my boyfriend to a nearby WalMart so he could stock up on some food items, etc, that we might need for a few days.rnrnDr. Ungson has a private nurse, whose name is Lourdes, and she came to the hospital every day as well as the hotel after I was discharged. She is a beautiful person, inside and out, and an integral part of Dr. Ungson's team and my recovery.rnrnI will say that not all of the nurses and staff at the hospital can speak English, but this wasn't a problem for us because we brought along a laptop and would use Google Translator any time we needed to convey something. The nurses came to rely on it as well, coming into the room and making pantomimes with their fingers of typing. It made communicating much, much easier and much more effective.rnrnI do not hesitate to recommend Dr. Ungson and his team to anyone looking to have the DS or VSG.

The kindness, care, and compassion I received from Dr. Aceves and staff was second to none. I was surprised and delighted when I learned that the lap band surgery scheduled through the Mexicali Bariatric Center required an overnight hospital stay. Prior to scheduling my surgery, I had done quite a bit of research on this procedure as it is performed here in Arizona. The clinics I found in Arizona did this procedure in outpatient facilities! It was comforting to me and my loved ones that I would be under hospital observation the first 24 hours. I cannot thank Dr. Aceves and his staff enough. I am finally on my way to a permanent weight loss

my first impression was yeah right, I might not get this to work for me. but after time, he has been very helpful and always looking out for me. His office staff is very nice and very willing to help you out with everything. I did not like anything about him or his staff. Dr. Aceves emphasizes a lot of aftercare to make sure you are doing okay and also sends you e-mails. I would rate him a 10 as he is very well competent in what he does. His surgical competence and bedside manners are amazing. This is just my personal view of his staff and his personal experience with his staff.

Hi my name is Kimberly I am from Arizona in the year 2008 I had decided to do something about my weight and most importantly my health. I decided to research Gastric Bypass surgery that is when I came across Dr. Aceves sight on the internet. I did a great deal of research on the Bypass surgery and on what would soon become the best experience I have ever had with surgery. I have had a lot of surgery’s in my life this one by far exceeds all other experiences as far as the Dr. and the crew that took care of me during my stay at the Hospital where I had the procedure done. I experienced the best care ever not to mention the best bedside manner, and the cleanliness of the hospital. The whole team definitely went out of their way to make my stay as comfortable as possible. I highly recommend Dr. Aceves and his team. I have gone from 210 pounds to 140 pounds to date. I have also gone from a size 18-20 to a size 6 to date. I always tell anyone that asks me about my choice that to this day I do not regret having this surgery done. I would like to thank Dr. Aceves and his wonderful team for making this experience as pleasant as possible. Kimberly S.rn

I was very pleased with my experience in Mexicali. I would recommend him to anyone.

Excellent surgeon, very thorough pre-screening.rnPresented as professional and approachable, excellent bedside mannor. All staff were very helpful and if they couldn't understand English, they went and found someone who did.rnThere was nothing I liked least at all.rnAll future patients should not hide any of their medical history. The surgeon has handout in English that were detailed, you can always call and or e-mail the staff. All risks were explained in detail to the patients by him and the anthesiologist both.rnI would recommend him to my mother or daughter. Both surgical competence and bedside mannor were excellent.rnrn