Zoom about did me in. SnapChat doubled-down. My face had never been my best feature, but I felt "cute enough" that mirrors never bugged me. But somehow on Zoom (almost daily between meetings working full-time in IT and classes in the evenings) I was horrified every time I saw myself. And then that SnapChat filter where it turns you into an "idealized" man or woman? The man one turned me into my brother. Okay, fair enough. But the woman one turned me into a gorgeous woman-- someone I did not recognize at all. I realized that somewhere along the way I'd deviated from "cute enough" to "practically a man" unless I was dolled up like a pageant girl. I had to delete the SnapChat app because I was mesmerized by that feminine beauty, so much so that I would get a jump scare when I caught a glimpse of myself in a reflective surface. Yikes! Who was that ugly old man? I had always wanted to "age gracefully" and so I decided I could live with it, accept that women's faces get more masculine with age, and be thankful that I had a "cute enough" run, lots of long hair to distract from my face, and plenty of other good qualities more important than appearance to take up the slack... but then I remembered one of those good qualities is that I don't settle just because it's easier or less scary... and another is being open to changing my mind when presented with new data. The new data was that I was not turning into a cute old woman as I had expected. I was turning into an ugly old man. Surgery was a scary proposition, but I decided avoiding mirrors and windows for the rest of my life was worse. I don't care much what other people look like, and I don't treat them differently because they are gorgeous or unattractive. But I did not like what I was seeing and I couldn't come up with a good reason to not change that. Why should I be unattractive just because that was the hand I'd been dealt when there are ways to mitigate it? I am not superficial or shallow, but plenty of people are. I was embarking on a new and hard-fought-for career and I wanted to do it feeling confident when I walked into a room. It wasn't about looking younger. I am fine with getting older. I am not fine, however, with transforming into a man without my consent. And I was so sick of needing to wear bangs or wearing hats to hide my ridiculously high forehead. With my new career, hats would not be an option. I'd be relegated to mandatory bangs for the rest of working days. Why would I not just do something about it? So I researched theories of aesthetics and gender norms, and my research naturally led me to providers who do a lot of transgender women's surgeries-- who better to help a cis-woman who is too masculine for her liking than a doctor who helps transgender women look more feminine. I looked at procedure possibilities and confirmed my belief that most non-surgical procedures do nothing or next to nothing (the amount of money people, especially women, spend on the-emperor-has-no-clothes placebos for no results other than deluding themselves is utterly ridiculous) and decided on hairline advancement/brow lift with some minor bone shaving, face-and-neck lift, blepharoplasty, and lip lift (with possible buccal fat removal and rhinoplasty). I decided Dr. Cardenas was the doctor for me because of his impeccable credentials, largely fantastic reviews, and some convincing pictures-- plus Guadalajara was a good fit for me. I speak some Spanish (not fluent, but better than most non-latino Americans), the flight from the USA east coast was not cost or distance prohibitive, and due to the lower cost of living and strong dollar against the peso at the time, I could afford to do what I wanted to do! Plus I don't suffer from American-exceptionalism and, having worked with medical and IT professionals from all over the world and especially Central and South America, I know that other countries-- even ones that get bad-mouthed by certain American media outlets-- especially in their urban centers (Guadalajara is the second largest city in Mexico) have excellent, modern medical facilities and highly educated doctors who take their profession just as seriously as doctors in the USA and care about their patients. There are no guarantees anywhere. I went alone instead of attending my graduation and stayed in the European Suites hotel rather than a recovery house. Their breakfast buffets were amazing and just what I needed for recovery. I stocked some basic easy-to-eat foods in my fridge before the surgery. Uber and Uber Eats were easy to use (though I downloaded the app while in Mexico and could not get the app in English after I got home and finally had to just delete it). The pop-up taqueria across the street each night was heavenly. If RealSelf lets me edit this later, I will, but for now I will just generalize and say my experience was really good. Dr. Cardenas is personable, professional, speaks beautiful English, and I was able to converse with him in my baby Spanish before the surgery for much of our discussions and he was very tolerant :) After the surgery it felt like the Spanish had been surgically removed from my brain; I had not realized how much effort it took for me to speak and understand in Spanish and I was simply too exhausted from major surgery. After care was great. I stayed a mandatory night in the hospital for a reasonable fee (so there was someone to clean me up and hold a bucket when I woke up vomiting from five hours of anesthesia) and went back to my hotel the next day. I was exhausted, but the pain was reasonable (even with no opioids). Energy levels were up and down for weeks... but better and better after the first few days. I had mild complications, but nothing worrisome. My body did not like the stitches. They were tolerant of my worries that something was not right, but once the staples and stitches came out it was (and so I was) much better. I stayed a total of 18 days, including a couple days before surgery to do blood work and the consult and such. I would have left two days earlier but did not have results from my COVID test which was necessary for me to fly home. I had an infection at my hairline a couple weeks after I got home that was handled quickly by urgent care with an antibiotic. Most of my scarring is good, but under my nose from the lip lift it is not so good, but to attribute that to any fault of Dr. Cardenas would be silly. People heal differently and needing to tweak results to get an optimal result is normal. My only regret is listening to one of his assistants (who was wonderful, kind, smart, lovely, but wrong) who said he did not think I needed the buccal fat removal. I was worried about money and glommed onto his comment to reduce costs and should have stuck to my original belief and had it done. He thought the face lift would do enough to smooth out that area and that it is not good to look too sunken as we age, but I have chipmunk cheeks that are detracting from an otherwise great face lift. The fat at the bottom makes the cheekbones (where we lose fat as we age) out of balance with the bottom of my face. Hairline advancement can only remove so much forehead, so last fall I went to Cyprus to visit some friends and had hair transplanted in TRNC (fabulous experience) which covered that scar completely and filled in the areas at my temples. Now I am planning to go back to Guadalajara to have my nose and buccal fat done... I believe when I go back, Dr. Cardenas will tweak that scar a bit and smooth out the one under my chin, too. It is not terrible, but he strikes me as the consummate professional and he is not going to like it the way it is now. I would never have been able to have as much done as I did in the USA and femeninization is a whole face sort of thing. I am so glad I was able to do what I did.
This is my second time seeing Dr. Cardenas and I just arrived home yesterday, anxiously awaiting to write this review. I am going to start from the beginning. I was picked up from the airport and directly taken to my private accommodations. It was a beautiful apartment complex with lots of security cams & 24 hour property manager. The apartment is huge and has two bedrooms and a giant living area with a full kitchen. I don’t cook but Uber eats is amazing and they are very fast, unlike the US. Day two had all of my blood work done and went to meet with Dr. Cardenas for my consult. When he walks into the room it was as if time stood still. He looks exactly the same with the same demeanor. He was completely honest with me about what I wanted and what my expectations will be. I agreed with him and we set my surgery date for Friday. I was quickly escorted to the cardiologist who was not only AMAZING but so funny. I forget his name but I absolutely adore him. …Surgery day I was up at 3am showering and shaving my legs. I was so excited, dancing around my apartment waiting for my six am pickup. I arrived to the hospital and was quickly taken into the the changing room. There was a little confusion, as I do not speak Spanish and I was getting nervous. The problem was quickly solved and I was in a waiting room for about 20 minutes before I was taken in for surgery. The next thing I remember was talking to doctors in the surgery room and I was out in less than 30 seconds. I woke up with what seemed like a slight headache. I was super tired but taking lots of photos. I was also shocked because I had little to no bruising at all. And I thought to myself this was so easy. Lol, wrong. Over the next few days the bruising was moving all over my body but nothing alarming. I was back in my apartment on Saturday afternoon and did have a private nurse checking on me everyday. She was the sweetest women I’ve ever met. Her name was Isabelle she’s very attentive and gave me five star treatment. Washing your hair. Ugh where do I begin, I was so scared. They washed it once in the hospital but I was super nervous because I am not a natural blonde and I also have super unruly hair. I finally did it myself. First with conditioner and then shampoo. I would leave conditioner on my ends and just let my hair air dry. Keep incisions clean at all time. I was super annoying about it. I set a timer for every four hours. Also doing the same for my meds. My package included all three meals for the day and they were delicious. However I did order a lot of take out. Food always makes me feel better. I saw Dr. Cardenas again on Thursday to have a look at my left eye. It was a little puffy and really bruised. He gave me another medication and the next day I noticed immediate results. Over the next two days I slept a lot and watched so much Netflix. Friday morning I saw Dr. Cardenas for my final visit and to have my stitches and staples removed. I was elated, the incisions were barely visible and so tiny. I can tell there will be minimal scaring. My takeaway from this trip…. 1. When booking ask for Tyler, Elsa, or Ilset ONLY!!! 2. Do hyperbaric chambers 1 month before surgery. 3. Do red light chamber 1 month before surgery. 4. Do cryotherapy 1 month before surgery. (When returning home immediately continue all three therapies) 5. I was advised to stay for 12 days! I saw the doctor and he cleared me so I switched my flight for personal reasons!!! I wish I would have stayed but that was not really an option at the time. The flight home was brutal and I could tell my body was not ready for 8 hours of traveling and airports. I’m home now and recovering. I am so happy with my results already and I am so glad that I was able to see Dr. Cardenas again. I can honestly say, I don’t think I would trust another doctor to touch my face, ever!!! There are some amazing individuals who work for Dr. Cardenas and I am so grateful for all of them. I will post picture of my journey as I continue to heal. I will be adding pictures and videos of my recovery. Stay tuned xoxo MKM
I would not recommend doing a cheek lift. The procedure sounds good in theory, in real life it will be one of the worse choices you make. The skin under your eye is extremely delicate how much would the skin go up. At first I didn't know that the incision was under the eye, I though it was lateral. I had surgery in Aug 202, the day of surgery during my consultation with Dr. Cardenas , he tells me the scar is under the eye, and it made sense cheeks go up no lateral. I regret falling for a theory. I was hesitant to post a review, but my conscious doesn't leave me alone if I don't warn other women. I remember when he told me, I asked him to show me the results, and he showed me some pictures in the office. The truth is that since your having surgery right after your consultation your mind is already going everyone. If you notice the incisions, those left eye incision from 2020, that is a novice beginner. Dr Cardenas has over 20+ years as a plastic surgeon, he wouldn't be leaving zigzag scars. He does not have Parkinson to my knowledge. It is standard to have other physicians assist, but not make incisions. They usually assist with pulling your fascia, muscle, etc. As far as a facelift, the scar is disgusting. I will give more update and get into more details in the days coming. Updated on 16 Aug 2022: I am starting to believe that what Dr Cardenas is doing is what is called "Ghost Surgery" where inexperience residents operate on you without your consent or knowledge. This is become a black hole as I am researching more and connecting the dots. The incisions are not the same, the technique, direction, everything is different, the cutting. I am even wondering does Dr. Cardenas start the procedure and then leaves the operating room and leaves you at the hands of inexperience residents. I decided to do my facelift with Dr. Cardenas because of a review from a nurse. I am also a nurse. And I have seen many instances were doctor cut corners and are running two operating rooms at the same time. I never though it would happen to me. Updated on 26 Aug 2022: On Aug 22, 2022, I had surgery again with Dr. Cardenas for Facelift and Eyelid Scar Revision. Dr Cardenas explain to me that scarring is different for everyone. The scar is so much better, great improvement. I will be uploading pictures as I go thru my recovery and healing process. Dr. Cardenas also showed me some pictures of the scarring tissue that he removed from my Eyelid. I still recommend Dr. Cardenas. He is an excellent doctor. I will still hold my position due to my experience, my opinion is that Cheek Lift is not beneficial due to scarring under the eye, and the amount of skin lifted. Dr Cardenas listened to my concerns and he did everything to make it right. This is the reason why I will be sticking with Dr. Cardenas because of the communication and working towards building more trust. Updated on 10 Sep 2022: In 2021, my surgery results from Dr Cardenas were awful (pix in early post). In 2022, I returned to Guadalajara and did the procedures again with Dr. Cardenas. I am glad, I returned because all the earlier mistakes were fix. I'm a firm believer that an honest physician should owned up to his/her mistake and fix it. Dr. Cardenas did so and went above and beyond. I was surprise that all his reviewers never showed scars but then again it's different type of surgeries. I will post more pictures of the healing process. Another reason why I prefer Guadalajara and Surgery with Dr. Cardenas is because the hospital has four Hyperbaric Oxygen Chambers. I hope that after my post more women would come forth with their experience and post raw pictures.
After looking around for quite a while I was determined at my next transitional surgery to be facial feminization. I originally was only looking at American surgeons although I knew about Cardenas and the TransOp team before doing my main search for surgeons. The primary American surgeon I looked at was Dr. Spiegel in Boston. But prices were way too high for me to do and the longer I waited the more depressed I was from dysphoria. I was quoted some $50k+ from various American surgeons around the country via virtual consults. The prices was the main driving point of looking at Mexico. The idea of Mexico was quite scary as there are so many negatives talked about the country. Well I had my consult with Cardenas and one of the main reasons I decided to go to Mexico is that during the consult he talked me out of several procedures I was looking at which showed me it wasn't all about money for them and he could get the same results i might want within other procedures or cheaper ones. After a while I decided to book myself with the TransOp team. I decided on getting: -Forehead Type III Contour -Hairline Advancement -Browlift -Nose Job -Upper Lip Lift -Fat Injection to Lips -Jaw contour/shave -Chin contour/shave -Chin implant -Buccal Fat Removal The total cost was roughly $20,000 USD. The reason I listed it as 25k was due to plane tickets, hospital over night stay fee (which I was surprised was not included), and a 4-5% tax. I also paid for some optional scar healing gel and some extra meds to help me sleep during recovery too. The pack included a 10 day stay at their recovery house and could bring someone to stay with me for free. My mom came with me. When I was getting ready a week before surgery they emailed me the recovery house caretaker's whatsapp number. Vincente was amazing and we texted a couple days before surgery and he told me he would be ready at the airport to pick us up. We arrived at the Guadalajara airport and soon found Vincente who then drove us to the recovery house to settle in. The house smelled strongly of cleaning products. No on but Vincente, two doggos and two women who were cooking and cleaning were there. One of the women was cleaning the hallway. This was something very reassuring as postoperative infections being as serious as they are these women were cleaning the house a minimum of 2 times per day and the house smelled very strongly of these cleaning chemicals. They were cleaned even on days we never left our room! The next day he took us to the preop appointment to get blood work done and all the vitals work done. After that we had a physical consult scheduled in the afternoon with Cardenas. I was pleasantly surprised when I got to the hospital to see how clean and modern it was. I have never seen such a modern and advanced looking facility in all the consults I've been to in America. Cardenas spoke perfect English and had no problem understanding what was wanted. My strongest desire was my nose and brows at the time. I showed him several pictures I brought with me for nose references and they said they would be able to get it really close to what I wanted. We met several nurses, one of which formerly lived in LA and spoke perfect English as well. We took before pictures and then started to work with staff on payment. This is where the headache began. I had all the money saved up. The staff members that were handling the payment didn't speak English so Vincente was there translating for us. During the time we found out that many patients coming from all over the world have so much problems with payment that often they have to head right back home because it doesn't go through. My debit card would not accept the charges even when broken down into smaller increments. Luckily my mom had a card with a 20k limit and not foreign transaction fees. I quickly did a Google search and saw that my Amazon credit card had no foreign transaction fees either. So we split the difference on the two cards while immediately getting calls and text messages from the card companies asking if it was fraud. After sorting it out the payments went through and I transferred the money to my mom immediately and paid off the credit card immediately (nice bonus to credit score too!) After payment was sorted we went back to the recovery house. The surgery was the next day at 6:00am. During prep I met a Mexican woman who was very insistent on talking to me as she was surprised to find someone from NY there. I wasn't too chatty as I was nervous but I still thought it was fun and nice of her :) Getting ready for the OR the anesthesiologist was intent on making me laugh before putting me under. The last thing I remember was her talking about putting the tequila in my IV. (Lol) I woke up to night late evening in a private room with my mom on the couch next to me watching Mexican dramas. I remember the doctors talking to me and the nurses all speaking English and being friendly. Sadly the night nurses did not speak English. They were able to understand that some the food they were giving me was making me vomit. I only remember that night being a little rough due to waking up and vomiting several times. They tried giving me this drink which tasted like cola and medicine and some jello that had a medicine taste to it too. After throwing up they took it away. In the morning I remember the nurses asking my mom if she was my mom and they were surprised when she said yes as they said they rather get trans patients coming in with parents. Most come alone from various countries or with significant others. After eating the only thing on the menu we could understand (pancakes) the nurses started to get rid of the catheter (ouch) and get me walking. After a couple of hours of this we were finally being discharged. Vincente drove us to the recovery house where the women who cooked and cleaned the place had set the bed up for me to be laying upright comfortably. With straws in my nose it was difficult to breathe. The pain was quite manageable and I would describe it mostly as just being incredibly uncomfortable more than anything. Over the next few days the swelling increased and then decreased. Spent the days on our phones, playing Nintendo switch and SNES classic that I had brought with me. The recovery house also had roku so we watched pretty much all seasons of master chef. After day 5 we went to the hospital where they took out the straws from my nose and some of the forehead stitches. With the straws gone I could breathe slightly better but that didn't last long due to dried blood clogging the airway that night. They took off the hard nose cast and put on a softer cast. They gave me spa light treatments that I think were supposed to help with swelling too. After this we went back to the recovery house. A few days after this we went back and they cleared my nasal airway again and after this it was way easier to breathe! Again we did more light treatment this day and we spoke with some more Americans who were from Cali. The woman's daughter just got a BBL there and I believe they said this wasn't their first time there either. On the day before returning home we had one last visit and spoke to all the doctors, removed all the stitches and clips in my scalp, removed more stitches from the nose and finally we went to see Cardenas' wife who was a fabulous ENT. I believe the doctor that didn't speak much English was her fellow and I believe he was the one in surgery who did the nose job. I figured this because it looked like she was checking his work out. Regardless the nose came out very close to what I had hoped for and have no complaints whatsoever! Finally the day to leave came and we gave Vincente a tip for all his help and for the women who cooked and cleaned everyday! We got to our gate which seemed to be infested with mosquitoes (seriously more inside the airport than outside) and then go to our plan. The plan was not full so we had a lot more room to stretch too! We got to Dallas and the first thing I wanted was an American burger lol. We a layover we had some time to get some food. Unfortunately the stitches in my mouth made it very painful to eat solid foods still. But afterwards we headed to our gate and made our way to NYC. I strongly recommend anyone who decides to go to TransOp.com that they bring someone with them, call your bank and card companies before had and let them know you will be making a large charge, use a card with no foreign transaction fees, account for an additional 5% tax that is not included in your quote, and bring something for entertainment like a Nintendo switch!
Must say I was a bit afraid of going to a foreign country for surgery. Never the less, I got a great recommendation from a good friend. I am happy to say that Mexico and Dr. Cardenas were more than the worth of a long journey. Innovare hospital clinic looks fantastic and what is more important they use the latest technologies. Also, everyone speaks English and they have huge experience in medical tourism. I can happily say that the surgery and recovery went with no complications. I am back home and I want to say a HUGE THANK YOU to Dr. Cardenas and medical stuff. They made my trip and surgery enjoyable and carefree!
I have done a nose surgery in a beautiful city of Guadalajara. I am from California, so it was a great tourist and medical trip. It's hard to describe with words just how much Dr. Cardenas has changed my life! He is an incredibly kind and caring doctor. His stuff is amazing as well. About 3 months have past and I was very careful and followed doctors instructions. Therefore I didn't have any complications. They took great care of me in an Innovare hospital clinic. Now all the swelling is gone and my nose is completely stable. What is more important it looks great! I was fortunate to find Dr. Cardenas and to be one of his patients. Will definitely recommend him to some of my friends!
I had an amazing experience with Dr. Cardenas. My FFS procedure went about as smoothly as one can expect from major surgery. Since it was my first ever surgery I did feel like I was not prepared for everything as well as I should have been, however; everyone was very nice to help me along. It has been 2 years since and I can say the results look pretty amazing.
Fantastic Surgeon! I'm a repeat client and I've been happy with every procedure that I've received from Dr. Cardenas. The staff is very friendly and helpful, it's worth the trip from the US to Mexico. I'm looking forward to my next visit.
Dr. Cardenas was absolutely amazing! He made me feel very comfortable and safe in his care. He knew exactly what to do and answered every question and concern I had. I had a tummy tuck and a breast lift with augmentation. I highly recommend Dr. Cardenas and his team! I am so happy with my results and outcome. I had no complications. I would definitely go back to Dr. Cardenas for any future surgeries.
Dr. Cardenas was great, he suggested the procedures he thought would most benefit my face and listened when I was interested in adding other procedures. He gave me all the pros and cons of every procedure and helped me understand what to expect as far as results. Updated on 7 Aug 2018: Here are some before photos. The original photos I sent to Dr. Cardenas, and some others with various makeups. Updated on 7 Aug 2018: The first picture was taken when I woke up in the hospital. The second was maybe a day or 2 later while recovering. The third was 5-7 days after surgery. The procedures I had done were as follows: Hairline Lowering Forehead Remodeling Brow Lift Lower Blepheroplasty Rhinoplasty Cheekbone Implants Lip Lift Neck Liposuction Updated on 7 Aug 2018: So the first picture is on the staples in my hair. The other pictures are from 8/1, the day they removed my nose plaster and all the staples and stitches. Updated on 7 Aug 2018: This photo is from today, I just changed the tape on my nose... ignore it lol... the pharmacy only had bright white. Still a bit of swelling and bruising, but not nearly as much as I had anticipated. Honestly I didn’t bruise that much at all, which really surprised me.
