Our Patient Process

Keep in touch with your coordinator if you have any changes in your medications, health status, travel plans, and any questions or concerns. Your coordinator will be happy to assist you in any way they can to assure that you are very prepared for your procedure.

Do take this time to make valid passports (book or card) are up to date, read the pre-op and post-op diets and stock up on the items you will need the first couple of weeks when you return home

Pack lightly, and make sure that any laptops, notepads, or electronic devices are in travel cases with your name clearly on them. The hotel and hospital have the standard US outlets, free wi-fi, and free phone while at the hospital.

Make sure to pack a loose, comfy nightshirt, the role of medical tape, gauze or larger bandages for sensitive skin, also a soft “sports bra” and take any medications you take on a regular basis with you in the original prescription bottles. It is not necessary to bring any drinks or foods with you to Tijuana; you can buy any sports drinks or juices once you arrive at the hotel.

Book your flights to and from San Diego, CA International Airport (SAN).

Flight Instructions include;

ARRIVAL DATE: Before 12:00 pm (noon)

DEPARTURE DATE: After 2:00 pm

Once you arrive in San Diego, we take care of the rest. Our driver will pick you up (along with a few other patients who have surgery), and drive you across the border. We have a medical lane pass, meaning we don't have to wait with normal commute traffic.

The Tijuana patient process will begin, and one of our drivers will take you directly to the hotel, just across the border in Tijuana. At the hotel you will meet the patient advocates/coordinators, they will assist you in checking into your room. Checking into any hotel will require that you have a credit card; it will not be charged for anything unless you charge something to your room number.

They will also give you an information sheet with their phone numbers in case you would like to contact them while at the hotel. It is not necessary to dial the 011-521 numbers first because those are only the international numbers. Please give the coordinator’s any cashier’s checks you may have taken to Tijuana to pay for the balance of your surgery. Periodically the coordinators will check in with you post-op to make sure you are doing great. They will also inform you what time to meet them in the lobby the morning of your surgery for a fun shuttle ride to the hospital.

Once you arrive at the hospital, you’ll meet the patient advocate/coordinator, you might have a small wait in a general waiting room area and have a chance to talk and get acquainted with the other patients that are scheduled for surgery on that day.

Our patient advocate/coordinator will escort you to your hospital room, where you’ll be given a hospital gown, and have lab work done. The surgeons, anesthesiologist, and an internist will come in and do the pre-surgery consults. This is a very good time to ask any questions you might have for the doctors about restarting medication, vitamins, wound care, diet, and exercise. Then you will have your procedure done.

The process times will vary depending on which surgery you have, and you will be sleeping for several hours post op. Make sure that you tell your family member’s back home that you will call them when you wake up, but you may be sleepy for several hours post-op. It is not customary for the hospital staff to call family members for you. You can use the phone for free at the hospital, just asks the nurse for the phone.

*For gastric bypass, mini gastric bypass, and duodenal switch surgery - stay one extra night at hospital.

Make sure to walk, walk, walk post op. The following day they will take you upstairs for a quick scan of the tummy to check for leaks. You will be given a small cup of contrast media (gastro graphene) to drink and also a CD of this scan to take home with you.

The doctor(s) or their surgical assistant will be the person checking in on you daily. The morning of your release, the physician(s) will check on you and depend on which doctor you have for your procedure; they will remove any drain tubes, but sometimes the surgeon may decide to leave the drain tubes in place for another day or two.

The nurses will dress your wounds, and you will be given a bag with antibiotics, pain medication, the CD of your leak test, procedure verification along with the doctor’s names and email addresses. Make sure that you receive this bag “Before” you leave the hospital because it is tough to obtain medical records once you leave the hospital. You will then take the shuttle back to the hotel along with your new “surgery buddies.”

Once back at the hotel you will “check in” again as your post-op patient process begins and you will have one night to rest and relax!! Remember that you will receive three bowls of broth, 3 Jellies and two bottles of water daily while at the hotel. The restaurant is lovely, and we encourage patients to have their broth in the restaurant. The patient coordinators will instruct you when to meet in the lobby for your return trip back up across the border.

Double checks your room before you leave for any personal items. You will be required to check out before you leave and turn in your room key card. There is a kiosk in the lobby to print your boarding passes for flights.

The driver has an exclusive license and dual insurances which will allow him to take you through the border in a special medical tourism line that lets us “Hopscotch” to the front of the line, but depending on the day and the time it will vary on the amount of time it will take to cross back into the United States.

Make sure whether you drive or fly back from San Diego to move your feet frequently!!! Stop and stretch out your legs or if traveling walk to the restroom often and make sure to keep hydrated.

Do not try to lift your bag into the car or overhead storage compartment, ask for assistance. Drink juice and water for the flight home. No coffee or tea.