Dr. Juan Arellano mexicali?

@Dbrooks maturity has a lot to do with a young person getting WLS of any kind. It's a major commitment for anyone.

Sleevers supposedly have the lowest need for supplemental vitamins but the still need them. And it is a diet for life.

The DS is not for everyone, it takes commitment and the willingness to stand your ground with supposedly smart/educated medical personnel. It takes commitment for lifetime supplemental vitamins and blood work, but then ALL of them do.

We are not as familiar with the Mexican surgeons who only do the Sleeve. The few sleevers on here who went to Mexico (@JackieOnLine) went to the same clinic as Esquerra but before his time.
 
So here is the thing about the sleeve, it works for some people and not others. And does not work well long term. Here are the stats Look at this page. You wanty data, here is the data. http://www.paclap.com/downloads/comparing-options-for-WLS.pdf I was at Dr. Rabkin's group the other day and there were two people who had the sleeve and it did not work and they were getting the DS part of the operation.

My point of view on this is I wanted to be "one and done" with surgery. I'm so glad I did. Dr. Esqueera was 11K when I did it, i heard it dropped to 10K for a while, but might be back up.

Dee-Dee as for your daughter, you should talk to [B]@hilary1617[/B] who just had her son (who is about the same age of your daughter) get the DS. Personally, I would say have your daugther get the DS. Have it work and have her move on with her life and never deal with weight loss headache again. With the sleeve her chances of regain are so much higher.

Dee-Dee and Lydia, you are suppose to be scared, confused and overwhelmed with this choice. It's OK and very nomral. Just make sure the people you end up trusting have your best interests at heart. That is really why I choose Dr. Esqueera, I figured out the people on this board knew what they were tlaking about and their only agenda was to help me. Everyone else had an agenda.

Keep asking questions. We want to help. Just know people here feel they have answered the question of which doctor. As for which surgery, the data I posted a link to says it all to me.

Hi, I totally agree with the above post.

Just as a point of clarification, my son has not *YET* had a DS. He is presently scheduled for *NEUROSURGERY* on October 4 to resect a pituitary tumor that caused massive weight gain.

We *WILL* seek a a DS for him in if this surgery doesn't result in substantial weight loss. It should, as the tumor is causing an insidious condition marked by high cortisol levels called Cushing's disease. Cushing's caused rapid, massive weight gain, with no changes in diet or exercise. In fact his bmi and body weight doubled from 100 lbs to 200 lbs between ages over the span of about 12-18 months, as pictured below (ages 10 and 12).

He just turned 14 and is now 265 lbs. If his weight does not drop within a year post neurosurgery, we will not hesitate to get him the full DS. Our view is that sleeve is not sufficient for long term weight loss maintenance for a high BMI and reoperation / revision adds to risk, cost and doesn't yield the same level of weight loss as a single combined DS.

For those interested in learning about Cushing's, here's a link to a quick handout---> https://csrf.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/CSRF-brochure-2013-color.pdf


Liam 10.jpg Liam 12.jpg
 
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@hilary1617 - Opps, sorry I got your story wrong. Hope all goes well with your son.

No worries and thanks for the positive thoughts!

Back to the topic at hand, if I were self pay, I would not hesitate to head to Dr. Esquerra, but I understand it is a scary decision, especially when often bariatric surgery is viewed with some level of disdain and when it involves leaving the country.

It seems counterintuitive, but I've learned that travel is often needed to get the best specialist care.

I live in Chicago, which has no shortage of hospitals. Nonetheless I head to New Orleans to deal with my cancer issues and had surgery there - because I learned from the survivor community that's the place with the best long-term survival rates. We just had to choose a neurosurgeon to root around inside my son's skull right next to the carotid and optic nerve and important gray matter - we're travelling to MD Anderson in Houston for the surgeon with the most experience and lowest complication rate we could find, based on feedback from Cushing's survivors.

Best of luck to all!
 
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Side note: 4 of the 5 the inch-long trocar incisions made by Esquerra have literally VANISHED and the fifth one looks like a teeny pink pimple. Two other of his patients have told me the same thing. I don't know what his "magic" is to make such tiny incisions and have them disappear! I've seen photos of other women who had DS with US surgeons and their trocar incisions are at least 2" long and create what looks like a bizarre smiley face of slits. I'm old, but if I were only 18 and hoping to become normal weight and get on with being a young woman at the beach with friends, I'd want as hidden slicing and dicing as possible.
 
Side note: 4 of the 5 the inch-long trocar incisions made by Esquerra have literally VANISHED and the fifth one looks like a teeny pink pimple. Two other of his patients have told me the same thing. I don't know what his "magic" is to make such tiny incisions and have them disappear! I've seen photos of other women who had DS with US surgeons and their trocar incisions are at least 2" long and create what looks like a bizarre smiley face of slits. I'm old, but if I were only 18 and hoping to become normal weight and get on with being a young woman at the beach with friends, I'd want as hidden slicing and dicing as possible.
my incisions are same as non-existent too. I just checked! Too bad about all the wrinkled hanging skin on my midsection to ruin the landscape :(
 
Are there any other Dr’s in MX with good reputations other than Esquerra? I’m self pay and have not scheduled yet. I’ve been set on one Dr for VSG only to be swayed to another Dr for the DS as that’s what would work best for me. I’ve been researching and watching videos and reading posts and websites for the last year that I’m extremely overwhelmed and ready to be done. Hell I’ve been following a preop diet for 3 months so when I had the funds I can schedule and go. I was referred here tonight to check my Dr and found a good review but I want more.
 

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