Dr. Luis Suarez in Tijuana for BBL. Highly Recommended! - Tijuana, Mexico

I am finally updating this again after almost 10 months. It's not as big as I wanted it, but it still looks great. I had actually asked Dr. Suarez about maybe doing another bbl to make it bigger and he said I didn't have enough fat, and that implants would be the only other option. But I don't want implants. Overall, I am happy with my results. Very natural, but still turns heads :) Also, anyone worried about traveling for surgery should not be. I was in great hands with Dr. Suarez, and he has a great, thoughtful, and kind staff.

So the whole picking me up at the border thing didn't work as planned. They closed off part of the entrance and there was a ton of traffic, so I ended up having to ask a taxi driver to call CER Clinic and they arranged to pick me up in front of a different place. The taxi driver had no idea where the clinic was, so I'm glad they offered this complimentary pick-up service. When I finally walked to the new place where they were picking me up, there was a lovely lady who had a cute little sign with my name on it waiting for me in her car. She was really nice and explained to me that I should tell Dr. Suarez exactly what my expectations are for the surgery because he tends to give more natural and subtle results, which was good to know. Finally we arrived at the clinic (I was supposed to be there at 8, but due to the delay with meeting at the border we got there closer to 9). The place was nice, clean, and well-lit. When I went to the reception area, I finally met Violet (after having emailed and talked on the phone for weeks) and she was very nice and even more adorable in person. Dr. Suarez's staff was mostly women, all of whom were very nice and pretty. It's funny to me how plastic surgeons always seem to hire good-looking receptionists and coordinators lol. Violet gave me some paper work to fill out and went over all my labwork. Then she asked me to pay for the remaining balance before showing me to my surgical suite... which was a little strange that they expected me to pay before having my consultation with Dr. Suarez or even having met him! But I had good vibes about the whole thing so I paid and they took me to my suite.

It was a nice cozy little room with a bed and tv. There was a big window with sunlight coming through, so it definitely wasn't as stuffy as most hospital recovery rooms. Immediately the nurse handed me a gown and hairnet and asked me to strip down. I thought she was going to leave the room and let me change, because I'm really conservative with my body, but nope.. two other nurses walked in to help her prep so finally I asked to go to the bathroom and change. I came back and all three women were all still in the room, and one had a camera in her hand. They asked me to take off my gown so they could take the "before" pictures for my file... They took 6 pictures in total, but I was really uncomfortable the whole time because all three women stayed in there and watched while the one lady took pictures. I felt like I was on display... I mean, I was butt naked in front of a room of people that I didn't know!

After the pictures, I put my gown back on and immediately one of the nurses started threading the IV. I had previously read a review on here that said the nurses didn't wear gloves, but all my nurses were really good about wearing gloves and all the needles were new. Then the anesthesiologist came in and explained to me what they were doing. Luckily, they were just going to sedate me and use an epidural to numb the lower half of my body, which was great because I hate going under with general! Shortly after he left, Dr. Suarez came in for my consultation. This was my first time meeting him, and my first impression was that he was a nice, soft-spoken guy. He drew on my body where he planned to lipo and a grid on my butt for where he was going to inject. I wanted some fat taken out of my inner thighs and arms, but he said I only had skin there haha. He explained how if he took fat out of areas that didnt have a lot of fat, it would leave uneven dimpling and lumps. He said that my butt was really square and that he would give it a nice round shape. I felt like we were on the same page, so I didn't say much and just trusted his judgement.

A few minutes later, I was in the OR. I don't know if they're always this efficient with their wait times, or if it was because I had arrived late and they didn't want to be behind schedule, but I didn't have to wait long at all for anything that morning. They put me on the operating table, and then I was out. I mean, usually they give you a warning before they knock you out but nope! I just remember laying down on that table, and then the next thing I know I'm waking up in the recovery room. The bed was really comfy and warm. I was in the room alone, and I didn't know there was a button on the bed I could press to call a nurse, so I just started hollering out for someone haha. A few minutes later, a lady came in and asked me how I felt and if I wanted anything to drink. She turned on the TV for me and lifted the headrest. I was still numb from the waist down so I felt great! Dr. Suarez came in to check on me, and said that the surgery went great and that I was going to love my new shape. I was really excited! They gave me all my post-op medication and bandages in a discreet and non-conspicuous christmas gift bag to take back with me (which I thought was brilliant!)

Then they called the driver to pick me up and take me back to my hotel (this service costs an extra $45), but when the driver got there I still couldn't stand up because the epidural hadn't worn off... so I stayed there for another 3 hours until I could walk again. They had a lot of channels on the TV so I wasn't too bored. But I was hungry. I don't think they had food. Finally the driver came and picked me up. My hotel was back in San Diego (because I'm not familiar with Tijuana hotels) so getting back across the border was a pain in the butt (literally). When the numbness wore off I felt really sore in my sides. My butt, surprisingly, felt fine, but my hips hurt so bad! There was so much traffic at the border and so many cars... it took forever! I finally got back to my hotel at 7pm, so the transportation and surgery and everything literally took up an entire day!

I finally got something to eat that night, and they recommended a mild diet after the surgery (nothing that will cause bloating or abdominal distention). Then I went to bed. I woke up in the morning and took my dressings off (which were a disgusting bloody mess). I had no idea there would be that much drainage after surgery!! I looked in the mirror and everything looked GREAT! My waist was smaller, and my butt was round... although it wasn't quite as big as I had hoped. I squeezed into the garment that they made me buy after the surgery... it was really uncomfortable. The paint wasn't bad. It was a lot of soreness on my sides, but my butt did not hurt at all. I think the places that had lipo were really the only areas that hurt. Then, I spent the next 10 hours in and out of airports trying to get back home to the east cost. They said I was cleared to travel the day after my surgery, but I would NOT recommend doing that. Give yourself at least a couple more days to heal.

Somehow, through all that pain, I made it home in one piece. When I took off my garment and looked in the mirror I had a TON of bruises! I barely had any bruises that morning, but then after all that traveling and stuff I ended up coming home with a bunch of huge purple painful bruises. I finally took a shower and put the garment back on... I hate that thing. I got a follow-up email from Dr. Suarez too asking me how I was feeling, which was nice, but he got my name wrong lol.

Day 2 post-op: Painful! I woke up feeling super super sore. Luckily I had some Vicodin leftover from my last surgery so I took some of that. I was really swollen, and when I got on the scale I was super heavy! My garment was so tight on my hips that day I didn't want to wear it anymore- but I had to. Violet recommended arnica montana, which works really well for swelling and bruising. I also drank a lot of fluids that day hoping it'd help with the swelling.

Day 3 post-op: Woke up feeling better than the day before. Not as much pain or bruising or swelling. My back aches from lying on my stomach all the time though, and my arms are a little sore from pushing myself off the bed all the time. I'm fairly happy with the results still... I'm just worried that once the swelling goes down my butt will shrink (which I don't want!!). If my butt could stay this size that it is now that would be awesome, but if it shrinks I might have to consider getting another BBL... I will post photos soon.

So today is the day. I am heading to Tijuana for my surgery. They're sending a lady from the office to pick me up at the border... I'm really excited and nervous at the same time. Hopefully everything will go well.

I'll post a post-op update withing next few days if nothing goes wrong... a little scared.