Dr. Luis Salas, Tijuana Mexico....

[chubs]

I already made a comment to the existing thread about other members' experience with Dr. Salas, but figured I wanted to be in the spot light myself, so I started a new thread...haha

I was supposed to have the surgery in mid November, but got really excited and anxious over the thought of soon not having my boobs, I changed the surgery to a month ahead.  Had it on this past Thursday the 16th with Dr. Salas.  I'd say my experience with the surgery were pretty much identical to what renwick and theorfander felt.

Crossed the border around 8PM on Wednesday night, got a hotel and early dinner and a went to bed early.  The clinic were very clear about not having any food or beverages after 10PM the night before the surgery.  At 8 Thursday morning, went to the 17th floor of the building were Dr. Salas owns the entire floor dedicated for his practice of plastic surgery.  The staff gave me the paper work to fill out, I paid for the surgery, had the nurse took my blood for sample, changed into hospital gown, put me on IV all by 9AM.  After that I was walked into the operating room by the nurse.  After I got into the operating room, met the guy that was going to put me to sleep(don't remember his name), and had a bit of small talk with Dr. Salas, and he drew some circles on my chest.  By 9:15AM, the anesthesiologist poked a needle in my back, thought that it was kinda weird that it was injected in the back where I have nearly no fat there whatsoever and within 5 minutes, I started feeling its effects.  The last thing I remembered after that was having my hands strapped down to the operating bed and having the curtain pulled over my face.  The surgery took about 2 hours, which I was asleep most of the time, I remember waking up during the middle of the surgery asking them if that's the liposuction making all the vacuum like noise, and one of the nurse told me yes, and I went right back to sleep.  When the surgery was done, I woke up, and the anesthesiologist asked me how I felt, I said great, and he told me "congratulations, no more boobs".  I started looking around, and saw the glands that were removed from my chest sitting on a table.  The anesthesiologist asked me if I wanted to see the glands, I said no, but the nurse showed them to me anyways...  kinda gross, but I'm glad that it's no longer inside my chest.  The nurse then wrapped me up with bandages, wheeled me back to my recovering room, and gave me some apple juice.  I remember lying there watching TV, and just felt like taking a walk and asked the nurse if I could.  They insisted that I should stay there and take it easy while recovering, I had to be a bit more persistent, and finally they let me go.  They were surprised to see that I just put on my clothes and picked up my duffle bag and just walked out... haha.  I was out of there within half an hour after woken up from strong anesthesia, and gyno surgery.  I know that I should of stayed there, but I was fine, and walked from the clinic to Plaza del Rio, which was a good half a mile there, on my way back from the mall, I stopped by at a billard and shot a bit of pool...haha....  I didn't know what I was thinking, I just felt like a new man after the surgery and just unstoppable.  Sleeping the first night was a pain because I can't fall asleep on my back, and sleeping on the sides puts a lot of pressure on the surgery wound.  On the second night I started sleeping on my right side, because I guess they took out less glands and did less lipo on the right side, so the pressure didn't cause too much pain.

On the second day, I went by again to the clinic at 8 in the morning, for the follow-up.  The nurse removed the drain from my chest, seeing those tubes pulled out of my chest gave me a sick feeling to my stomach that I had to lie down for a minute, before taking my first shower after the surgery.  After the shower, the nurse helped me with the compression vest and put new dressing and gauze over the wounds and drain site.  I was out of there in about half an hour tops.  After the surgery went down to the restaurant of Hotel Grand and had some breakfast.  Took a cab back to the border and I was back in San Diego within half an hour.  For those that are thinking about crossing the border, I'd definitely recommend going into TJ on a weekday night, and going back to the US on a weekday morning.  The traffic of people crossing the border are much lighter than during the weekend, and sometimes it could take hours to come back to the US side. 

I can feel the pain getting much less and less as each day gone by, I'm now at the 3rd day post op, and going back at one week post op to remove the stitches.  Pretty sure by that time, there would be no more pain and that I can move completely normal.  I'm really anxious to get back to my gym routine and MMA training, but I know I should wait until at least one month post op, regardless of whether I still feel any pain or not.

In the same building where Dr. Salas' clinic is, on the lobby floor, there was a shop that offers hyperbaric oxygen treatments, really tempted to give it a try since I'm healing from the surgery, but on my last day there, the shop was not open, and I was in a hurry to get back home so missed out on it.  I think I'd give it a try when I go back to have my stitches removed.  Overall, I'm really happy that I found out about these medical options in foreign countries, because it makes it that much more affordable.  You can get the best in the industry of Mexico for a fraction of what it costs here in the States.  If anyone have any questions please let me know.  Thanks.

[cricardo]

Wow, you have some serious balls to get the surgery in Mexico. Sounded like a weird experience. Waking up in the middle of it?  Having them wrap you up after you were already awake?  I had mine in Newport Beach. Fantastic experience. The anesthesiologist was brilliant. Had an IV in my hand, and he even numbed it before inserting the IV. Then they put a mask on me, and the next thing I know, I was waking up, all wrapped up and ready to go. No nausea, nothing. Felt great. I'm sure you paid a lot less (what did you pay?), but to me there is no price to be put on getting the surgery done right and with the most qualified people at the least amount of pain and trouble.

[chubs]

well, guess you can say I got lucky.  you don't know until you try, you can't say that Dr. Salas wasn't the most qualified because you've never seen his work or seen his credentials, so don't judge him by what country he does his practices in.  i can tell you for sure that, I woke up during the middle of the surgery simply because I'm just a really light sleeper.  who needs anesthesia just for the IV?  haha... it's a poking pain that you'd feel for a couple of seconds...and they put you on anesthesia for that?  I guess with all the extra that you paid, it's good that you got the feeling that you were treated like a princess.  As for the price, it was $1800 total.  Would be $1900 if you decide to stay there overnight after the surgery.  everything else including transportation, food, hotel room was dirt cheap that even worth mentioning.  you can just add an extra $100 into the entire bill for staying there for a few days.  guess you can say that I got some balls, going to a foreign country, with little knowledge of the language and being put under the knife.  desperation to get rid of the gyno, enough research, street smart and common sense, will take you a long way, buddy.  I've had surgeries in the States before, and from my surgery experiences with US doctors and Dr. Salas, I can tell you that Dr. Salas didn't skip a single step of precaution.

Anyways, a little update, had the stitches removed last Friday, Oct. 24th.  I was expecting stitches removal to be painful and to my surprise it took less than 5 minutes for both sides and zero pain.  I was again out of the clinic within half an hour, and headed back towards the border.  I'm getting really comfortable with going across the border, feel more and more at home each time.