I have heard a lot of good things on here about Dr Almanzo, but I am worried about flying after surgery, language barrier, and just the whole experience.... I know he does a lot of surgeries every day which is a good and bad thing I guess. I'm trying to decide if use hike, or Dr Alvarez, or just play the long and laborious game with insurance company which will make me wait 3 to 6 months..... Any and all input appreciated

Hi Deangelina,
Don't be nervous. All the things you are concerned about are valid so let me help you.
First, you are Not alone.
Flying will be easy, take a donut to sit on.
Second, language barrier will not be a problem there are several that speak English.
Dr. Almanza has great success. We are like a little family And many fly down alone And get to know others getting surgery done so you come home with many new found friends.
Good luck!

Here is the recap of my very recent experience:

12/4
Flew to San Diego and took a van ride into Tijuana.
We went directly to the HMN hospital for preop tests.
3PM During the preop tests you pay any balance you have. At that point I was asked if I wanted my surgery that same day. I decided an extra day of healing in TJ would be great. I had a friend that flew in from MN to be with me. At about 4PM I was told I was going for my blood tests. That is the last time I saw my friend. They did not let her see me before or after my surgery. I asked about her that night and they lied to me and said she saw me in recovery.

12/5
Moved to the Hotel Ticuan.
As we entered I saw my friend that has been very concerned and it was about 11AM. My friend already had a room for us so we were able to leave. The others in my group waited a couple of hours in the lobby until they were able to get into their rooms.
The Dr located at the hotel checked me over and was concerned about the concentration of my drain. He spoke the best English of the Dr's and told me that they might have to go back in with a camera to see what the issue is. He thought that would be that day or maybe the next.
No instruction/reminders on what number to dial for the nurse or any specific instructions on anything.
at Midnight we were evacuated due to a fire.(not weightloss agents fault) They did a great job getting us into a new hotel where we stayed for a couple of days.

12/6
Received our belongings from the hotel. Dr. Almanza's brother was a saint and my friend and I received everything from our room.
Hotel still not really setup to take care of us. Again, didn't know what room the nurses were in.
I saw the Hotel Dr again and he wasn't as concerned but by this time everyone was pretty overwelmed. Dr Almanza came by with the other Dr a short while after and also appeared to be concerned.

12/7
They stated they would look at it the next day(Sunday.)
We were moved to another Hotel. They said because the staff spoke better English. That wasn't the case at all. Our A/C didn't work and there was not access to the Dr. I asked they call him as I still had my drain in. The nurse Susie, claims she was calling him but he didn't answer because it was Sunday. The night nurse called him and he answered right away. They just decided to send my home with my drain.(Not good)

12/8
Depart for Airport and arrive home
I went directly to the ER to have the drain looked at.
I had a CT Scan that showed there was a hemotoma on the sleeve staple line. I was admitted for 2 days.
There was a lot of drama of how I was going to get the drain removed but they caved in and decided to do it for my on Tuesday 12/16.

The standard of care was compromised by the outside events and I did not get the care that I paid for. I ended up having to pay thousands of dollars more due to them ignoring my issues.

Other people did not have my same issues so you can roll the dice and see what happens. You'll probably be OK. If you are good with probably being OK, then you should proceed.

Dhessy...what a nightmare for you. I'm so sorry you had to go through all that. How are you doing now???

I had a very positive experience with Dr. A. I blogged it, so you may want to check it out. I did alot of research before going, so I knew what to expect and was not surprised (except the clinic I got my bloodwork done in...total hole in the wall and I wasn't prepared for it. But it was clean and they did a fine job.)

My BMI was 32, so no one that I could find in the US would talk to me. Either way, my insurance doesn't cover bariatric surgery.

I love my sleeve and am so glad I had it done.

Best wishes to you!!

Including me I have had 6 other family members have surgery with dr a including wife dad brother sister and aunt all good experience besides my mom getting trapped in her room due to fire at hotel same incident you were in but all good experiences never looked back

Thank you all soooo much for your helpful information.... I am so nervous about all the reviews good and bad. I just read one that a patient died after getting back to the States from infection due to lack of attention to sterile OR. I am so concerned about this and the fact that my husband can't be right there with me. Did you all fly back home right after surgery or stay in San Diego a few days?
I realize that considering how many procedures that are done, a few people will not be happy or will have some infection or fatalities because it's the same scenario in the States.
Any more feedback is appreciated.

If you are going to fly please bring compression stockings!!!!! I flew a couple days later and the hospital provides none and I got blood clots and now I'm on blood thinner. I would have never known I got them except I started leaking and had to have emergency surgery. They found them.

I loved Dr. A - no frills no fuss. Got in and out of there! The other patients were awesome and made the trip. I am so so glad I went by myself. It was just easier not to have to worry about another person. My friend that is a gp offerrred to come and be with me. I am glad she didn't.

BEST EXPERIENCE EVER!
7 days post op now and here is my experience.
Remember getting sleeved is like child birth, everyone has their story, and some are horror stories, and others are amazing! You choose which story you are going to set your mind to have.
My journey to get the gastric sleeve…
My journey began when my consultation with insurance representative left me disappointed, discouraged, and outraged. I was told of the “hoops” I would need to jump thru and while many were ready to go that course, I was not! So I started researching on line and reading every book I could on the gastric sleeve. I gained the support of my husband and together we decided that Dr. Almanza in Mexico was the way to go.
In November 2014 I scheduled my appointment thru weightlossagents.com for a surgery date of January 16, 2015 and was amazed at how attentive they were over the next few months. Any questions I had, they were quick to answer, and all questions and answers were always posted in my patient portal so that I could read them over and over if I wanted to.
The day came for us to fly out to San Diego in the next step of our journey. So Thursday January 15, 2015, we rose early and headed out to catch our 7:30 am flight. When we arrived in San Diego, I called the weightlossagents.com per instructions, and they called the drivers to advise that we had arrived and were sitting curbside awaiting pickup.
The 2 vans came directly to the pickup site, and we loaded up and off we went to Tijuana Mexico!
It was about a 20 minute drive and while heading there, I learned a little about the other couples in the van, and where they were from (Texas and Georgia).
We arrived at the hospital and were show upstairs to a waiting room. There were 6 couples including ourselves and one by one we were taken back to begin the process.
We started by being given an EKG by a cardiologist, and taken blood. Then we were taken to the office of Dr. Almanza assistant (his cutie patootie brother) who went over our surgery and finances, and asked if we had any questions, and then signed our patient information sheet. At this time I was given the opportunity to have my surgery that day rather than waiting until the next day when it was scheduled, and as I had not eaten anything that day other than water, I accepted. If you are given an opportunity to get your sleeve sooner, I definitely recommend it because it’s an extra day of recovery at the hotel under 24 hour nursing care or an extra day to see San Diego before flying back home.
I went back to my husband in the waiting room, and we waited not even 20 minutes before they called those that were having surgery to head down to the surgical wing.
We went to the surgical suite and were told to undress and put on hospital gowns and lay down on the bed. A nurse came in and started our IV and another came in and started wrapping our legs for blood clot prevention. Once we were prepped with our hair nets, our booties, IV, hospital gowns, and leg wraps; Dr. Almanza came in and talked to us about our surgery and then took photos with us. I loved that he said, “My English is no good, but my hands are” that was the perfect reassurance that we were in good hands.
The families were allowed at this time to come sit with us until we were taken back for surgery. We kissed our loved ones and were told that they could either stay in the suite that we would be coming to after coming out of recovery, they could go to the waiting room, or they could go to hotel, shop, or whatever and then come back when we were done.
My husband and his new found friends went and ate some street tacos from a neat little place outside and down the street from the hospital. When it was my turn, they had me follow the nurse (great English) and we went in a surgical elevator down to the operating rooms. There she had me lay down on a gurney in a sterile room and wait for the surgical nurses to come. While lying there with my sheet over me, I thought about the journey thus far, and had complete peace about my decision. About 10 minutes later, they came and rolled me to just outside of the surgery room and the anesthesiologist came up and introduced himself. He asked if I had any questions (English was good) and then when I said no, he asked me where I was from, as I said New Mexico, the world faded away……
I woke up in my room with my room with my husband handing me flowers and giving me a kiss. I don’t remember the recovery room at all, or being wheeled into my room with the other 2 roommates that had just had their surgery done, but they said that I came in with a huge grin on my face!
I slept for a while, aware that my husband was there, but too tired to engage in conversation. I was also aware of the others in the room, but again didn’t really focus on the conversation because sleeping felt so good.
When I really started coming around, one of my 2 roomies (all 3 of us stayed BFF thru the whole process up until we said good bye at the airport) said that the husbands had to go back to the hotel because visiting hours were over. We were all awake and in different stages of recovery. Because I was the last of the 3 in our room to get surgery, one roomie was feeling a little discomfort and asking for pain meds. The other was having nausea and was focusing on not throwing up. The nurses came in about every 30 minutes to check our IV fluids, and check our pain level. Pain meds were injected into IV. The encouraged us to get up and walk, and so all thru out the night, I got up and down, walking the hall with my little IV poll. Ironically the floor was shared with Labor and delivery, and there was a woman at the end of the hall that was in labor. Every time I got up and walked I hoped to be able to see a new baby in the nursery window when I walked to the end of the hall.
On the floor was 3 women in one room, 2 men in another room, a husband and wife couple in a third room, and the 3 of us in our room, for a total of 10 people sleeved that day.
The next morning we were allowed to dress and given our pain medications and instructions for next steps. We were loaded in the van and driven (3 blocks) to the Hotel Real Del Rio
Once we were settled in the hotel, (really nice rooms) a nurse came to our hotel room and gave us the schedule of rounds. We were asked to take a shower and remove the bandages in the shower and then lay down and let the nurse know we were ready. She came in and dressed the incisions and then hooked our IV up to a bag of cocktails (solution, pain medication, and antibiotics). We had kept our IV in from the hospital so they only needed to inject it into our ports. We rested until the bag was empty and then given popsicles and Jell-O. We were given the ok to go out walking, (some walked in the hotel only) so hubby and I took a slow leisure stroll around the block to take in the sites. Food tacos, night clubs, convenience stores, the usual downtown look. Pretty.
On the 2nd day, we were told to meet in the lobby to go get our leak test done. We were given a small bottle of water with blue dye and told to drink it. Then we were taken to an ultrasound facility that ironically was 3D and 4D ultrasound facilities for pregnancy, and one by one were taken to x-ray. The barium stuff we had to drink moments before they took the x-ray was not pleasant but didn’t cause anyone to throw up. The best part was getting a sucker immediately after to get rid of the chalky taste.
We were taken back to the hotel and allowed to do whatever we wanted the remainder of the day; medication, popsicles, jell, broth from the restaurant in the hotel, and walking.
On the 3rd day we took a cab ride to Avenida Revolucion Street where tourist items and food was galore! We bought a few trinkets and enjoyed the sunshine. It was fun to see all those that had surgery out enjoying the day and recuperating.
On the 4th day, we were given the choice to stay that extra day but chose to return to San Diego so that we could spend the next 24 hours with my son who was stationed in San Diego, CA.
The following day, we flew home and I can honestly say that if you follow your pre op diet faithfully and you walk, you will have very little discomfort.
My life is beginning and I couldn’t be happier!
CHEERS!!

Thanks all you positive people.

I've done my research and I'm planning to have my surgery in the next few months and I've been trying to decide if I should go with Dr Almanza, but after reading the articles on this discussion and others, I think I'm going to love going to Mexico and having my surgery. I really can't wait. I'm so looking forward to this time.

In reading over what was said here and other discussions, there are by far more positives than negatives. Thank you all very much for all your reporting.

deedod