Dr Jose Luis Salas Martinez in Tijuana, Mexico

[forgedahead]

I've had gynecomastia since puberty and it's been my #1 source of anxiety and embarrassment for thirty years.  Thirty years.  Looking back on it, I hate to think about how much it's changed my life.  It's incredible that I waited so long to take action.

Although I'm American and US-based, I knew that I didn't want to do my procedure in the US.  My insurance wouldn't cover anything and I don't trust the medical establishment here.  My experience is that medical procedures in the US are (WAY) too expensive, too neglectful of the patient, and the doctors are too busy.

I targeted Tijuana because it's an easy border cross from San Diego.  Based on the reviews here and elsewhere, I narrowed my choices to Dr. Dr.Jaime Caloca Jr. and Dr. Jose Luis Salas (Evoclinic).  I emailed my pictures to both and asked for prices.  Dr. Caloca quoted me $3,400, but came down to $2,900 when I pushed back.  Dr. Salas quoted me $2,100 and didn't budge much from that.  Based on the reviews, there didn't seem to be a big difference between experiences with the two doctors, so I chose Dr. Salas as the less expensive option.  I'm very glad that I did.

I arrived on a Friday afternoon and they sent a driver to pick me up at the San Diego airport.  The driver took me across the border to my hotel in Tijuana.  I had an excellent Italian dinner there and turned in early.  I ubered to the clinic the next morning.  Dr. Salas's office is nice, clean and modern. It's in a high rise office building.  It took about an hour to do the paperwork, blood work, an EKG, pictures and answer my questions.  The account manager spoke perfect English and gave me as much time as I needed to answer questions.  Then they took me to my private room, which was comfortable, private and had a smart TV (Netflix, Amazon Prime, etc.).  I would spend most of the next 24 hours there.  My nurse spoke mediocre English, but enough to give me what I needed and tell me what to do.

Immediately before the surgery, another surgeon came to my room and wrote shapes on my chest.  He also spoke limited English and seemed glad that I didn't have a lot of questions.  Then they wheeled me into the surgical unit, gave me an epidural and performed the procedure.  This was the only direct contact that I had with Dr. Salas.  They had a blue cloth blocking my view of the actual surgery, but I could hear them talking to each other and occasionally Dr. Salas asked if I was doing ok.

When they were done, they wheeled me back to my room.  I recovered there in comfort, binge-watching Amazon Prime and eating tortilla soup.  The nurses took good care of me through the night and gave me all the prescription medicine necessary when they checked me out.

The next morning I took the elevator down to the main floor and checked into a medical room at the Grand Hotel, which is located in the same highrise complex.  For $89 a night, I got a nice room with white tile floors, two medical beds, and a view of the golf course.  The buffet on the main floor was FANTASTIC with green smoothies on tap, a huge dessert table, and an omelette bar, among other things.  After breakfast, I rested in my room for several hours before ubering to Revolucion avenue for an enjoyable walk.

The next morning I went back to the clinic.  They checked my chest and gave me detailed instructions for taking care of myself.  Their driver took me straight to the San Diego airport.  Using medical Fast Pass, the door-to-door travel time from the clinic to the airport was about an hour.

My chest is beautiful.  I experienced almost no bruising and had the look I wanted from day one.  By far the most difficult part has been wearing a compression vest 24/7 for the last 2+ weeks.  Taking out the sutures and drain myself was definitely strange, but not hard after watching the numerous youtube videos on how to do it.  Overall, I have no regrets.  It was a good experience and the result is outstanding.

Thanks to everyone that posted about their experiences.  If it wasn't for this forum and others, I probably never would have found my path.  If anyone has any questions, please feel free to reach out to me.