$2700 w/ Dr. Caloca in Tijuana

[STILLgotIT]

If you walk across you don't have to declare anything. You just walk through this scummy metal revolving gate thing.

Like I said though... keep the bulk of your $$ stashed and only a small amount in your pocket/wallet.

[temp_user]

Thought so.  I think you only have to declare it if you have over 10k... not sure.

[STILLgotIT]

That is true, but ONLY when you are coming back.

When you walk over the border, from the USA to Mexico, you do not go through any kind of checkpoint. It is completely unmanned. Nobody looks at you or asks you a thing.

If you are driving through they usually just "green light" you through. But, occasionally they'll red light you and pull you over to ask some questions. They'll do this if you're driving a pick up truck with a camper/shell on the back. They want to see if they can "tax you" for anything that you have onboard.

[BitchTits]

Dr. Caloca does the revision for free from what I understand

[atm311]

The few things I would be concerned with would be
1. Lack of proper sterility
2. Lack of up to date/completely functional life support equiptment
3. The quality and experation dates of the medication used for anesthesia...facilities in mexico that manufacure pharmaceuticals aren't held to the same high standards that the FDA holds them to in the US

4. The OR facility - is it in his office, or at a hospital
5. The qualifications of the support team (nurses, etc)
6. If not in a hospital, what is the EMS response time to the surgical suite?

But it sounds like it went great...I just happen to absolutely paranoid about this type of thing, because a good friend of mine is an epidemiologist who examines "suspicious medical deaths" and those concerns are on the top of the list for reasons people died.

But Sounds like Dr. Caloca has it covered, I just don't think I'd do the Mexico thing, personally.

Cheers!

[a-man]

If there is anything in life you should NOT be cheap about, it is surgery.

I am a firm believer in "you get what you pay for", and would never chose a surgeon simply based on the price. That would be one of my absolute last considerations.

[3cheers]

Mexico  is not a First World Country like the U.S. or Canada so why would anyone take the chance. It sounds crazy to risk your health over a few grand. Stick to the U.S or Canada. Take the time, do the research and do it the right way. You guys never see the medical horror stories coming out of Mexico. Like the someone said before "You get what you paid"

3cheers

[johndoe]

Damn stillgotit I'm so happy and jealous for you. I remember reading your post a while back about how uphappy you were with your first surgery results. I just had my 2nd surgery and got screwed again. There's no difference at all my chest still sags like crazy at the bottom.

[nowchase]

I am just happy that Canadian Free Healthcare cover most of my cost, no need to travel anywhere.  Total cost to me: lipo, which is cosmetic not cover = 1000 us or 1250 can

[hanabithief]

[I'm a female-to-male transsexual, so my results may be slightly different:]

I had my surgery with Dr. Caloca, Jr. a year ago. I had very dense tissue. I only talked to two doctors who said that I was small enough to do periareolar surgery. Dr. Caloca was one of them. He said he could do so without leaving noticeable scars and did his best (without promising) to reassure me and convince me that I'd get sensation back similar to before surgery. He was closer, cheaper, and the few results I saw for cisgendered men and transsexual men were better than those of the other doctor, so naturally, I decided to go with Caloca.

I'm pretty sure that my surgery had complications that Caloca tried to downplay. I had very dense tissue and so it took him way longer to do the surgery than he expected. I woke up after dark still in his office and about ready to start on my second bag of fluid. I'm pretty sure I lost a lot of blood as I woke up thinking only of water and threatened to get it myself if the didn't let me have some. The nurse tried to stop me and Caloca discouraged it but both finally gave in, probably because I was being so annoying. I threw up the first couple times with the water.

I had gone to Mexico alone and I hadn't had a chance to pick up my prescriptions. Caloca was nice enough to drive me back and stop along the way to have a family member or a staff member (not sure, I was hazy at this point) go in and pick up medications for me. He then took me back and the same guy helped me up to my place.

I went to bed and fell asleep. I woke up a few hours later extremely hungry, ate, threw up, and then finally ate again. The nausea from anesthesia and thirst was by far the worst part. I woke up the next morning feeling okay. I was a bit afraid to move but quickly found I had no pain. I had drains in so I was still cautious about where I put my arms but I eventually got up (against Caloca's advice to stay still for like a week) and went down the block to get lunch.

I was bored enough with the healing process and feeling good enough to leave Mexico and cross the border on foot 3 days later. I had no post operative pain, ever. The only time I had to take ANY painkiller was when I got the nurse at my doctor's office to agree to remove the drains and the stitches a week later. She demanded I take it. "You're taking the vicodin. No, it's for me, not for you."

Healing was quick and painless and no one else notices my scars. I have 90% of protective sensation back including some in my nipples. There are a few small random spots where I just can't feel anything except general pressure however- no pain sensation. I lost all erotic sensation in/around my nipples which is something that I really wanted to keep since it was so strong before.

Dr. Caloca did not remove all of the gland (to keep the nipple alive). When I gained some weight, some of the fat came back. It's just enough for me to notice and freak out about it and just little enough for everyone else I know to tell me to shut up and stop being so trivial. My chest is still smaller than it was before but it looks natural, like I just lost some weight or something.

I'm thinking about going in for a revision. It's what most people would call affordable but it's not free and I have no income and debt from the last surgery, so I'll have to wait on it.

He's a very nice, professional doctor and does good work. He listened to what I wanted (no scarring) when others would not. The problems I had could have happened with any other doctor. I wish I still had sensation similar to before surgery but that's always a risk. (I'm not so happy he minimized that risk, however.) I think he handled everything very well, (except for the water thing) and my experience with him is much better than what I hear other people talking about, especially when it comes to bedside manner and post-op pain. The surgery was not PERFECT but it'll do fine for now until I can go back to him for a revision.

It does look like I have mild/moderate gynecomastia but considering he removed 5lbs of tissue and there is virtually no visual evidence that I ever had surgery, this is forgivable in my opinion.