Our Patient Process and Travel Itinerary

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 private driver will pick you up outside of the airport (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.

We will take you directly to the hotel, just about 20 minutes across the border in Tijuana. At the hotel you will meet Karla, our patient coordinator in Mexico. She is amazing and will assist you with anything you need (including checking you into your room). Checking into any hotel will require that you have a credit card for a $100 security deposit; it will not be charged for anything unless you charge something to your room or cause damage.

You will be given an information sheet with all phone numbers in case you would like to contact them while anytime during your travel. Please give Karla your final payment cashier’s checks as needed 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, anesthesiologists, 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 members 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, some revision surgeries, and duodenal switch surgery – stay one extra night at the 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 a patient 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.