SOrry for the broken email I have two kids yelling and screaming in my ear as I type this but I wanted to reach out to let you know that it was the best decision I’ve made and I am thrilled that I chose Dr. A. I will be going back to Mexacali in August to get my check up and can’t wait to see them (and a also a little bit to show off how much weight I’ve lost) )
Best of luck to you and keep us posted. Feel free to message me if you’d like to chat further, I’m also happy to give you my phone number. You are a strong women for even considering this. Why not give yourself this gift, you deserve I’m sure otherwise you wouldn’t be here on this site!!
I dealt direct with Nina at Aceves practice, no coordinators. Set up my date, my airfare and got my passcards for my husband and me.
Mexicali is a very safe border town, crime stats are higher where I live than there.. Crossing the border into MX is fast & easy, there is a line to get out, but it also was easy.. no issue, just some waiting. Everything is faded in MX, the heat and sun do take a serious toll.. but nothing rusts, so some interesting car spotting. It is a working class factory town, so nothing fancy to be seen.. but the drive through the desert is beautiful.
Picked up at the airport in a comfy van with a couple other people getting surgery, driven straight to the hospital (yes, a real hospital.. small by big city standards, but fully functional in every way.. oh, and might I add, far cleaner and more organized than the one I spent time in here at home once!)
Tests ran at the hospital.. btw the tests and whatnot are by the emergency room, which can get busy. The floor you are kept on is quiet and not hectic. Driven to a nice hotel, had a good meal, took the couple pills I was given and had nothing by mouth after 10pm. Woke up, showered, back to the hospital.. more talking to the drs.. Dr A & Dr Campos, and one other Dr regarding my labs.. and waited for a couple hours until my turn was up.
It was explained that there was a possible option based on my vitals to use spinal anesthesia along with general.. I recall (some meds had already started kicking in at this point) that I was good to go on the epidural.. I’ve had a couple spinal taps, so knew what this would be like (nothing painful, just weird).. spinal went in, I went out..
Next thing, *plink* wide awake (without my glasses) in recovery.. feeling absolutely no pain. Listening to one of the other VSGers wake up moaning about pain.. hearing the nurses give him something by IV.. out again.. Woke up wheeling to my room.. post-anesthesia nausea set in big time (very intolerant to opiates.. I had hoped the epidural wouldn’t effect me this way, but unfortunately it did.) I was given meds to help with that, and with the other issue I apparently have with narcotics.. I can’t void my bladder.. When the epidural wore off- about 36hrs, so did all the other issues..
I was up walking the halls, just feeling like someone kicked me in the guts, no gas pain.. no real bad pain at all. This was my first surgery as an adult, and it was far more tolerable than I expected it to be. Pain was very well managed.. no pain pumps, so DO NOT be shy, if you feel like you need a dose ahead of schedule ask the nurse, they oblige you quickly. The worst pain I had was when my sucky vein in my hand decided to fail.. IVs do not last long in me.
Dr Aceves & Dr. Campos did rounds at least twice a day, and they do spend time with you if you have questions.. the hospital was very clean, the nurses mostly spoke English, night nurses did not- but my husband who stayed in my room used a laptop to translate and that worked very well on both sides.. I am (as is he) the type that NEEDs to know exactly what they are giving me before it goes in my arm.. I’ve had issues at a hospital here in my town where they kept trying to give me things I could not take, that were on my chart that the doc apparently was not reading.. that did not happen in MX. So both he and I are a nurses PITA patient.. but I am in charge of my body, sorry if that ticks off any nurses..
My husband ate at the cafeteria (proclaimed it has great food) and also at a taco cart a walk away from the hospital. He walked a couple miles to the local mall to see if there was anything worthy, not really.. but no safety issues.. he would walk day and night.. it’s a quiet town. As soon as my IV came out, I jumped in the shower (private room, comfy, and nice shower..) and proceeded to walk around in the sun outside the hospital.. it felt great.
Three nights later, we took off for home.. it was a long day of travel, but I only felt discomfort walking, and again- it just felt as if someone kicked me.. I just had to walk a tad slower than normal. I was on Toradol (strong NSAID) out of the hospital, and took it for about 3-4 days.. usually at night. The eating plan Dr. Aceves sends you home with is a tad lacking in finer detail. The overall macros are the same as LapSF’s plan, so I chose to read that.. though by the time I had surgery, I didn’t have any food questions.. Here’s the plan as it seems to be the best laid-out one available to date:
Long post, but short summary.. I wouldn’t hesitate to travel to an experienced surgeon with great stats, that practices in a real hospital.. yes, I fully checked Almater Hospital as well as the Drs.. all of that is pertinent and should be looked at.. My experience for traveling outside the country (other than Canada) for my first ever major surgery was spotless, and worked like a well maintained machine..
I feel this applies to any patient of any medical procedure done anywhere, but especially if you decide on medical tourism. UNDERSTAND what you are doing to your anatomy, your aftercare, all the potential risks long and short term.. investigate everything, the facilities, the doctors..everything. This should be done regardless of having it out of the country or three miles from home, and I’ve seen people post about their COE program and how badly it can suck, so that means NOTHING.. It is on you as the patient to do the research that goes double when your surgical team is not a cars drive away from you. Be smart, this is your life and or health on the line. Treat it with the seriousness it deserves.
Information post from: weightlosssurgery.proboards.com/
Posted by: Carla
I couldn’t agree more with joy777 on her review of Dr. Aceves and Almater Hospital in Mexicali, MX.
I had a virgin DS on June 2nd 2012 with Dr. Aceves who was assisted by Dr. Ungson, (supposedly the only vetted DS surgeon in Mexico) which by the way, they are very good friends.
My surgery went flawlessly. I couldn’t have asked for more.
Almater Hospital is a small private hospital and it is the best hospital I have ever been treated in. That is saying a lot, because I have had 12 different surgeries (not weight related) before my DS and I’ve been hospitalized for asthma attacks and pneumonia several times, so I am very well versed in hospital care, so to speak.
I know that all the weight loss surgery sites say that Dr. Ungson is the only vetted DS surgeon in Mexico and so you should not go to anyone else in that country to have the DS, but I can tell you that Dr. Aceves is very well qualified, talented and skilled for the DS. I spoke to him about this before I left and asked him what he thought about it. His response was very humble and honest. He said that Dr. Ungson has told him that he can do this surgery on his own, without Dr. Ungson’s assistance, but Dr. Aceves said he prefers to be safe. He prefers to have Dr. Ungson assist with his DS surgeries because he likes to have the expert hands and experience there to assist him, just in case. So, this is why Dr. Ungson is on Dr. Aceves’s DS surgical team.
I personally think that his response showed what a conscientious, honest & caring surgeon he is.
I was so completely happy with the level of care, the cleanliness of the hospital and the entire experience, that I will probably be looking to return to Mexicali for any other medical treatment that I may need in the future.
I most definately recommend Dr. Aceves to anyone for any weight loss surgery. He is a super cut above any other surgeon I have had to deal with.
Thank you Dr. Aceves and your entire team, plus Almater hospital. I am forever in your debt.
Carla