Some of you may have read a recent post by me inquiring about Dr. Jamie Caloca, practicing out of Tijuana, Mexico (
http://www.gynecomastia.org/cgi-bin/gyne_yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=14;action=display;num=1088136234). Well, I elected to go with the surgery, and I am now two days post-op. Here is my story. All relevant links will appear below. This story is quite long, so apologies in advance.
I met with Dr. Caloca (
http://www.medi-systems.com/ms/drcaloca/contenido.cfm?cont=MAIN ) on July 5th for a consultation. I first heard about him from a poster on this board whose name is Lee. I read how Lee had had successful operation, and it had cost him a fraction of the price of the surgery in the states. Lee quoted everything total cost him only $1,800.00. Before, I was skeptical of laying down 5K for this operation, but 2K was downright reasonable. Plus I live in Los Angeles, so the 2.5 hour drive to TJ wouldn’t be too far a journey. I was already on the path to having surgery.
Dr. Caloca speaks fluent English and has been practicing cosmetic surgery for over 30 years. He is licensed by every Mexican health and plastic surgery board and is affiliated with a few American ones too. He is listed on plasticsurgery.com and he told me that about 90% of his patients are American. It makes sense when surgery prices are drastically cheaper. My complete surgery cost me $2,200.00, not including painkillers and antibiotics, which were an extra $25.00. Since Lee had his surgery about 1-2 years ago, Dr. Caloca’s price increase is probably on par proportionately with his American counterparts.
My consultation was brisk. I was told I was an excellent candidate for surgery and that it was really quite a minor procedure. If I wanted to go through with it, all I had to do was have some blood and urine tests and schedule an appointment. Looking back, I should have had the tests done at the lab in the same medical building and Dr. Caloca’s office as it would have only cost me $45.00, whereas it cost $75.00 back in states because my regular insurance wouldn’t cover the tests.
As the doctor guessed, my test results were fine, and I scheduled my procedure to take place on Tuesday, July 13th, at 8 am. I was told by the doctor I would not be able to drive after the surgery if I was driving down, and someone would have to drive me back. As I did not let any of my friends or family know I was having this procedure, getting to TJ was a bit of a concern. Hey, I’ve never once admitted to having or even knowing about gynecomastia to my friends or family for the last 25 years, so why start now on the eve of being rid of this affliction? But I still had to get there.
Luckily, Amtrak offers a daily train service from LA to San Diego. A round trip coach ticket with AAA discount only cost me $52.00. The LA subway station is a block away from my house, and then it’s only a 20 minute ride to LA’s Union Station where I would catch my Amtrak train at noon, Monday. Except that there was a delay. I got in line at the gate about half an hour before the train’s departure time because it is first come unreserved seating. But they never let us through the gate, telling us the train was delayed. Half an hour after the train’s departure time, some Amtrak official came to the line and told us the train had already left the station. Apparently, the dispatcher never called the station to inform that the train had arrived and was boarding. The train arrived, waited the standard amount of time for people to board, and just left! I was pretty pissed off, as you can imagine. Luckily, the next train was scheduled to leave for SD at 2pm, and Amtrak offered all people from the missed train a full refund on their outbound ticket, plus a free upgrade to business class on the 2pm train. So, after waiting an extra hour and a half, I got on the 2pm train, and three hours later was in San Diego.
Once in SD, I took the San Diego Trolley, their version of light rail, all the way to the border for only $2.50 and a 45 minute ride. Then I walked across the border and immediately got a taxi to my hotel, the Hotel Lucerna. The Lucerna (
http://www.hotel-lucerna.com.mx/english/index.html) is a five star hotel in TJ’s modern business district, the Zona Rio, and directly across the street from Dr. Caloca’s office. The usual rate is $150 a night, but Dr. Caloca’s patients have a deal of only $70 a night. Once I checked in and dropped off a few things in my nicely appointed room, I walked across the street to see Dr. Caloca to ask a few questions and deliver my payment.
I just had a few last minute questions about the recovery and post op, which the doctor was only too happy to answer. I paid him then, as I was nervous carrying that much money in cash on me. Dr. Caloca only accepts cash. No checks, credit cards or money orders. Not a problem, as I was able to get a fantastic cash advance from my credit card for the $2,200, with a fixed 5.99% APR for the life of the balance and zero cash advance fees. He gave me a written receipt for payment, and also gave me my prescription so I wouldn’t have to worry about it post op. I went to a pharmacy across the street, and had my painkillers (novalgin) and antibiotics (oflaxin) ten minutes later, and then had dinner at a fantastic Mexican restaurant called “La Casa del Mole” next door to the pharmacy. It was the last meal before the operation as I was told not to eat anything 12 hours prior to surgery, which was scheduled at 8am the next morning.
I retired to my hotel room for the evening, where I passed the time watching San Diego TV stations on the TV. It was a restless night because I was so excited. I couldn’t believe I was finally having the surgery, and in Tijuana! I finally fell asleep sometime past 1 am, and woke up the next morning at 7:30.
After taking a quick shower, I walked across the street to the doctor’s office and met the aesthetician, who spoke fluent English. In fact, the only people who’s English weren’t that great were the two nurses who assisted with the surgery, but I didn’t have much interaction with them anyway. After a brief talk with the aesthetician, I was met by Dr. Caloca, and he took me to a room to have my before pictures taken. Then, he drew on my chest where the gland and fat would be removed. Next I was taken to a room to change into a gown and then led to the operating room.
I was given an IV in my wrist and after hooking up all the monitors and electrodes, the aesthetician told me I would begin to feel the anesthesia. In our pre-operation chat, I was told that the anesthesia would keep me relaxed, but was not going to totally put me out. But I was told that if I felt like sleeping, that would be OK too. He told me that I should not fight my instincts, and that if I was awake, then that would be fine, or if I fell asleep, that was OK too. Either way I would not remember anything. Well, as I only had about 6 hours sleep the night before, so I fell asleep pretty quickly.
The next thing I remember was waking up and someone telling me I had to turn over so they could wrap a bandage around me. Then I was shuffled over to another bed. Then, in a haze, the doctor asked me if I wanted to see what was removed. I replied yes, and I was shown a metal plate with two mounds of flesh on it. I said something to the extent of “whoaaa…” and then fell back asleep.
Then I woke up in a darkened room with blankets on top of me. I layed in bed for about 20 minutes, just adjusting to the situation before a nurse came to check on me. I asked her what time it was and she told me it was 1:40pm. I couldn’t believe it was so late in the day. The procedure began at about 8:30am and the doctor told me it only lasted about 1.5 hours. So I was asleep for over 3 hours. I told the nurse I had to go because my checkout time for the hotel was at 2pm. She helped me get up and put my clothes back on. I had a bandage around my chest and did not feel any pain, I guess due to the local anesthesia injected there for the surgery.
Dr. Caloca’s son,
Dr.Jaime Caloca Jr., also a cosmetic surgeon who assisted with the procedure came in and told me about not moving my arms or heavy lifting, and said I had to take out the drains in two days. I made an appointment with the receptionist for my first follow up a week later, and then said thank you and goodbye to the doctor. He told me everything went fine and that the glands both came out in virtually one piece. I told him I’d see him in a week.
I went back to the hotel, collected my few belongings, and checked out right at 2pm. Hopped in a taxi to the Mexicoach (
http://gototijuana.com/mexicoach/ ) station in downtown TJ and boarded a bus that took me right back to the border. I waited in line for 5 minutes, handing the immigration officer my driver’s license, and then crossed back to the other side. 5 minutes later the trolley appeared, and I took it back to San Diego, where my Amtrak train was waiting to take me back to LA. Three hours later, I was in Union Station, then a 20 minute ride on the subway back to my apartment.
I got home and was super hungry. Ate some food, took a painkiller and antibiotic, and then went to sleep, somewhat uncomfortably because I can only fall asleep on my stomach. The doctor was out of compression vests the time of my surgery, and wouldn’t have any in stock until my follow up visit a week later. As I had read so much about the need for the vest right after surgery, I decided to order vest 990 from Underworks before my surgery and it arrived yesterday, just in time.
I really can’t believe I had the surgery done and that I traveled to TJ to do it. But it had come to the point where gyne was ruining my identity and self esteem and I had to do something about it. The costs involved for the surgery in the US were just not an option without going to my parents for help, and I really did not want to ask for money from them or confide in this affliction. My surgery cost $2,220.00, $70 for the hotel room, plus about $35 to $40 in traveling expenses. All in all, quite reasonable.
If everything goes well once the bandages are removed, then I will have no problem recommending Dr. Jamie Caloca for this surgery. He is quite experienced and performs this procedure often. He is very nice, speaks fluent English, and I think an excellent option for people who live in the southern California region who want this surgery performed but can’t justify 5K+.
But I have a feeling his prices will be going up in the next year. He is currently remodeling his entire building and after seeing the plans, It will be pretty snazzy a year from now. As he has so much American business, I think he wants to update his 1970’s style building to something more Rodeo Drive, complete with American style coffee shop in the lower level. I don’t blame him, but it will probably cost his patients in the long run with higher prices.
If anyone has any questions regarding my experience I would be more than happy to answer them. I will post before and after pics as soon as my bandages are removed. Thanks for reading this.
Topic: Mexican Gynecomastia Odyssey :: Dr. Jamie Caloca (Read 27789 times)
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