Re: Scared of Mexico... (Kinda Long)

[Guest guest]

Hi Susie, I hope you don't mind me jumping in on this conversation. If all of us who have gone to Mexico had a quarter for every time we heard "Don't go to Mexico," we wouldn't have to wait for the lottery to be rich...lol. One thing you have to consider is who has been doing this procedure longer? I am doing my MA degree thesis on bariatric surgery, and everytime they talk about lapband it's been Europe, Australia and Mexico who have had this surgery the longest with the best records. It hasn't been that long ago since the US had their first FDA approved study on the Lap band, so American doctors are skeptical of the procedure, most will lean towards the RNY first before they decide on the lapband...because they are comfortable with what they know. As for Mexico, well there have been those stories but most of those stories come out of places where the surgery was NOT performed in a regular hospital like Almater. I was skeptical at first as well, after all this is my health we are talking about but as I did my research and talked to others here in this forum as well as on Obesityhelp.com, I was assured that I would be fine.

I had my surgery on Jan 27th this year, and I had gone alone for the surgery. When we first pulled up to the hospital, I was amazed at the size because it's not huge like the American ones, but once you step inside you will be amazed on how it looks. I thought I was in some fancy hotel and not a hospital, there was none of that hospital smell that we are all too familiar with, and the place is decked out to the 9's! I mean it really is a very beautiful hospital, and if you are worried about it being clean...rest assured, they have people who clean your room at least 3x's a day. I mean every time I turned around they were cleaning the hallways, or coming in and cleaning my room, it was absolutely amazing. As for the nurses well they were on top of things, you were never left on your own to fend for yourself like in some hospitals in the US. In fact, Dr.Aceves is probably in your room at least 3x just checking up on you, then there is and Yolanda and then the rest of the staff. When you get into the hospital you are greeted by Yolanda who will guide you through the hospital, paperwork and questions you may have; she is awesome and very caring person. Then you'll get your room, she'll go over the paperwork with you and then you'll meet and he'll explain the lapband to you and then Dr. Aceves comes in and he also chats with you about the lapband and any concerns you may have. Afterwards, they do some preliminary tests...nothing major, and you're free to go have lunch or walk around.

All the staff that will be there to help prep you for surgery are very nice, in fact I had no doubts whatsoever on the day of my surgery. I don't think I was even really nervous after having talked with all of them. All I remember being wheeled into the surgery room was they had music going, which was nice and I think it calmed my nerves down but everything in there was clean and state of the art equipment. They did the procedure exactly how I had seen it on this one website where the surgery was done in the US. The last thing I remember there, was they put the medicine in my IV which felt really soothing, like a warm bath and then they had the mask and asked me to breathe in...after I had breathed in about 2x's the doctor said, "Say goodnite," so I said "Goodnight" and that was it...the next thing I was in the recovery room...best sleep I've had in a long time! Anywho, everything went smoothly for me afterwards, the care I received was wonderful and I am looking forward to going back in a few weeks for my fill.

Sorry for being long but I thought I'd just give you a "brief" highlight...ha ha on the brief part!

Do your research and don't fret about what others will say, because there are plenty of us here that can vouch for the care you will receive by Dr. Aceves and his staff.

Good Luck!!

Kelli>> Dear Jenni:> > I am very interested to hear about your experience. I am very scared. I talked with my primary doctor and she says that she would be scared for me because she says that once I leave Mexico and return to the US side who will give me constant care. She says that someone has to follow my healing process and the US doctors will have no record as to what the Mexico doctor did to me. I told her I was tired of my health deteriorating and wanted to do this because I need this weight off. She told me to do more research before going to Mexico. She said I should be scared to go to Mexico. It is sad what people say about Mexico. thank you for your email.> > Susie> > > Scared of Mexico...> > > Susie,> I don't post too often on the message board but I do read the various postings every day. I wanted to respond to your posting about being scared of going to Mexico for surgery. Well, let me tell you...you will never receive better care from a doctor and his staff OR be in a cleaner hospital ANYWHERE in the United States. I promise you, it will absolutely blow your mind! I have never seen anything like it in my life and I have had 14 other surgeries and have been in at least 6 different hospitals in various cities around the South. NOTHING compares to the care I got at Almater...NOTHING! In fact, I'm sure I could find someone closer to do my fills because I live in Mobile, Alabama and Mexicali is extremely far away. BUT, I will pay whatever it costs me to fly out there because I KNOW I will get better care there than anywhere else I could possibly go. You could not go wrong by chosing Dr. Aceves and Almater Hospital. Don't worry what other people are saying...they are probably not speaking from first hand knowledge anyway. Have they ever been in a hospital in Mexico? I doubt it....> > Take care and email me if I can share anything else. I'll be glad to share about my surgery experience if you are interested.> > Jenni Currie> DOB 2/23/06> 231/214/145> > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------> > Use Photomail to share photos without annoying attachments.>