Fernando Garcia Bariatric Surgeon M.D.

I know three people who had surgery here - my mom, myself and a friend's daughter (NOW DECEASED).

- My mom had surgery at 58. She had previous abdominal surgery. They did not take this into consideration and processed her through their surgery mill.

She ended up going to the ER a week after surgery as they had pulled her drain too quickly and she spontaneously started gushing blood and fluid from her abdomen.

Had they tailored her care to her actual needs, this obviously wouldn't have happened.

So budget for a $20,000 ER trip just in case!

- I had surgery at 27. I was healthy, no previous conditions, no complications from the surgery. I did, however, have very poor pain management.

- My friend's daughter immediately had complications, extreme pain, etc after surgery. It was clear something was very wrong from the outset.

After months of living hell, they did a 6 hour exploratory surgery stateside through a 12 inch incision down the front of her abdomen. Her stomach was in her intestines and her jejunum was upside down.

After almost two years of living hell, my friend's daughter DIED at 32. When she passed, she weighed 80 pounds. She is survived by her two young children, husband, parents and grandparents.

This beautiful, radiant girl passed away from multiple organ failure and malnutrition. Despite wanting desperately to be healthy and thrive the surgery so destroyed her body that she starved to death.

I don't know where to begin really, I was very upset and emotional after my experience with him. I had a very long detailed review written up but kept putting off posting it because I didn't feel I could even deal with thinking about it more. I will say when I researched him I saw a few negative reviews but they always disappeared and since I was determined to get the surgery I went ahead full steam telling myself the negatives must've been flukes and I was sure I wouldn't be one. Clearly that was not the case however and I so badly regret having him do my surgery. I was lied to, and myself and another patient caught some very upsetting things going on just before the surgery in the operating room and after. Honestly I'm still scarred and too upset to retype it all. I just couldn't handle the guilt of not putting out a warning any longer and having someone else suffer from my silence. Do I still believe in the sleeve itself? Absolutely, great tool, and with a different provider and better experience I wouldn't experience extreme anxiety attacks even thinking about it or what happened. Please thoroughly research, after the surgery the Mexico transportation driver kept mentioning alot of people had no clue when it came to him that people tend to seek out the positive reviews and I found that horrifying that even the driver knows alot more negative stuff than most are aware of.

I had the single incision gastric sleeve done just thee days ago by Dr Garcia. I am so pleased how professional everyone is. First I'll start out with the hotel. It is very comfortable, nice, and the staff are so supportive to the patients who come in.
The doctors and nurses are so well organized and constantly making rounds to patients. Dr Garcia visited his patients before and after surgery. Honestly, the staff blew my mind how great they were at their job. Far better care then the nurses back home. There was three other ladies that day who got the traditional gastric sleeve and I never heard anything negative. The rooms were above standard and comfortable with everything you need during your stay. Thank you Tijuana Baratrics for a successful experience!

I can't say enough good things about Dr. Garcia, his staff at Tijuana Bariatrics, and all the nurses and doctors at Hospital CER. I was nervous about travelling to Mexico to have my surgery but was put at ease as soon as we arrived at the facility. CER is modern, clean and comfortable. I was taken care of every minute of every day (and night). The surgery was much less painful than I thought it would be and except for a bit of nausea the first night (which they controlled with medication), my recovery was very easy. My incisions are small and healing nicely. I would highly recommend this surgeon to anyone considering travelling to Mexico for surgery. I had a great experience overall!

I only saw and visited with Doctor Garcia one time and that was minutes before my surgery. He was very soft spoken and direct. Asked if I had any questions and that was it. But I have to say, because of his expertise and professionalism, I never had a second of anxiety or discomfort after surgery. His entire team, from Ready4aChange Alma and Eduardo, nurses at Florence Hospital to his Assistant surgeon Doctor Velazco, made my WLS a success.

Dr. Fernando Garcia is a wonderful surgeon. Very gentle, little to no bruising. Tomorrow will be one week since my surgery and my incisions almost completely healed, even where the drain tube was. Dr. Garcia has a wonderful bedside manner, very soft spoken and caring. I highly recommend him. In fact, my mom and my daughter are both saving money to have the procedure done and they will both be requesting Dr. Garcia.

On August 5, 2013, I went to Dr Garcia for a revision surgery from sleeve to gastric bypass (RNY). Dr Garcia, Dr Velazco & his entire staff were awesome & very attentive. The hospital was very clean & a close walk to the beach.
I'm 4 days away from my 6 month post op date - I was 259 lbs when I started this journey & I'm 169 pounds now. I've lost 90 pounds in under 6 months! I have 44 more to go to goal.
I can't say enough good things about Dr Garcia & his staff... Being a paramedic, I was skeptical of having surgery in Mexico. After this experience, I can't recommend it strongly enough!
My ONLY regret was that I waited so long to have it done!

Don't wait!
Start living NOW!

Hi, new here. Im interested in going to Tijuana Mexico and I am in process getting a clearance from my Pc. I am looking to do this May 27 with Dr. Ismeal Cabrera Garcia Im completely new to this and Im nervous. I would be traveling alone. Can someone tell if if they had him as a surgeon (gastric sleeve) . Im 40 5'6 and weigh 213. I really want to do this, but im scared. Please tell me i:m going to be ok,Thanks for any advise

My husband Mike had gastric bypass surgery with Dr. Garcia on Sept 7, 2012. Everything went great, good, simple hospital, nice nurses, excellent care and doctors. Spent some time afterwards in san diego, can only recommend that. Only minus was that the accompanying person had to sleep on a stretcher or a chair, the rooms are too small for 2 good beds. Otherwise everything is perfect. Mike lost 60 lbs since then, no complications at all.
Christine Sauer( see my profile, I had RNY too) and Mike Rafuse, Halifax, NS

My highest weight was 344lbs. I had lapband surgery & had a few minor complications. I decided on having revision surgery & came across a few doctors. I researched but didn't like any of them until I came across Dr. Garcia. I was treated with respect & care when I made my appointment to have my revision surgery & once I arrived I was treated with respect, love & care. I arrived at 284lbs the day before surgery & now 1yr later 1/11/13 I am down 75lbs.
I am so pleased I decided to go with Dr. Garcia. He did a great job with my revision from lapband to sleeve. I documented my entire journey on youtube while in Mexico & this last year as well. Youtube.com/msmook1979. Having my revision surgery saved my life & was the best decision I ever made! Now its my 1yr surgiversary I am 209lbs. Boom!!!

MsMook1979
See my previous review I posted 2/17/12