Finally taking the plunge! BBL,lipo360, lower body lift at Vive Plastics. Dr. Omar Jimenez

So vive called and cancelled 5 days before due to my hemoglobin being 11.8 and then they said they wouldnt operate until January the earliest because I’m a post bariatric patient.
Dra Guadalupe Carrillo gave me 2 transfusions before surgery to make sure i was ok for such a big surgery. She also included a breast augmentation.
I brought all the pics of VIVEs Instagram to her so she could catch my vision of what i wanted. She did incredible so far. I am extremely swollen (literally still up 17 lbs of fluid!) but i slowly see my shape coming through the swelling! Soo happy. And SOO in love with my boobs too!!

(Never finished updating this, now i have more updates!)
they called me on Saturday saying that because i am a Bariatric patient that the doctor REALLY wanted to do all their own tests so they scheduled the apt for today. We stayed in The hotel we were supposed to be at for a week and I realized i didn’t want to pay 680$ for that place I’m San Ysidro. After i went to Tijuana on Monday. I felt very comfortable with the office. The staff is overly busy. Don’t expect anyone to know much of what’s going on. You have to babysit these coordinators A lot!
The lady doing my tests didn’t speak English, she was really funny and we still communicated enough during the apt. (I waited for aLONG time in the waiting room and they also made my husband wait down stairs due to covid)
The phlebotomist was very skilled in getting my blood. One poke. I’m always a multiple poke in the US.
I was also heavily on my period. (This info is import later)
They said the results would be back in a couple of hours. If i didn’t hear from them, that was a good sign, if something was wrong they would call.
I hear nothing all day, get back home. Nothing, i message them on insta to ask for the results.
Tuesday-
My doctor calls to confirm my apt with her on wed. I cancel because i haven’t heard back from VIVE and assume my tests are good.
I keep pressing VIVe to tell me the results, i have been over boarding on iron so i am NOT worried at all at this point, just curious.
2:15 they reply saying my hemoglobin was low and they’re cancelling my surgery. I was DEVESTATEd. During my long wait in the office, i met another patient who just got out of surgery early Saturday AM. (She was leaving on Monday)
Lucky for me, she became a godsend in helping me or i would have been so alone. She loved her results but had a horrible experience with the pre-surgery tests and then waiting for hours for her surgery. She happened to ive me her number on insta along with supplements to take in case i needed it. (At that point i wasn’t concerned)
Basically my hemoglobin was 11.8. They had booked me with less than 4 weeks notice so they offered me a full refund of my deposit.
My coordinator Alexa also was horrible with communication and i found out she had just had a baby a few days before.
I was so distraught about the cancellation, i called and begged them. They kept repeating the same thing about my safety, etc. etc... but 11.8 in the Us is NOT a big deal.
I begged to let me get my hemoglobin up by Friday but she kept repeating “it’s too risky”
Later my friend i met in the lobby, Joanne, (who has had multiple surgeries in the US, like 12+ plastic surgeries.) said that in Mexico they can lose their licensing if they operate on anyone less than 12. She also mentioned that when she got her hemoglobin up, it was 12.9 Thursday around 1am. Friday she got tested at the clinic and it was 12.4 on their readings. We BOTH agree and think they calibrate their tests to include a .5 cushion.
I am literally on the phone begging them to let me have my surgery and she says they need a plan B because they can’t guarantee that my hemoglobin will be safe for surgery by the 23rd. Finally i got her to say if i submit updated results they’ll see what they can do.
I run to the Er to see if they can give me anything to make my hemoglobin higher. The nurses and staff looked at my results and said there had to be a mistake because my results were healthy and safe and would not be a reason to cancel surgery. The ER nurse offered to test me again.
It’s important to note that while i was panicking i googles again and stumbled across articles mentioning antacids as IRON BLOCKERS. Because i am a bariatric patient, i am on a prescription antacid called famotidine. NO ONE said anything about stopping. all my iron supplements weren’t absorbing correctly because of my prescription. I didn’t take it Monday or Tuesday because i was supposed to be fasting before my tests and i forgot on Tuesday (thank goodness).
I went to the ER and my hemoglobin came back at 12.4! I sent that in to VIve (and my friend Joanne has given me a direct number for her coordinator Maria) i called the next day, she told me my date was still there and that she would add the results to my file and talk to the head doctor. She also then brought up that because I’m a bariatric patient, they need to wait 1.5-2 years to do surgery on me and this is nearly the year mark. She said she’d still talk to the doctor and see what he says.
At this point I’m super upset and feel defeated. Yesterday (Wednesday) is when i spoke with her in The morning, she said she’d get back to me in a Couple hours. I called before she got off work and she still hadnt been able to get ahold of the head doctor because he had to leave town. Today i call back and she tells me that they’d need to have tests redone there because they basically don’t trust the test in the ER because it was so much higher within a short amount of time (i reminded her i was bleeding heavily on Monday and the rest was taken Tuesday Night and i finally stopped taking the iron blockers) But she also said that regardless, the doctor will not operate on me because i am a bariatric patient and for some reason they didn’t catch it sooner. They tell me that the soonest they are willing to operate on me would be Jan 2021. She apologized about the miscommunication and said that my coordinator is on maternity leave so they can’t contact her anyways to see why she F-ed up so bad. (Considering i booked June 1st and they had no problems with me being a bariatric patient then)
They offered a refund on my deposit and gave me referrals to other doctors who have more experience with bariatric patients. Those doctors are busy and booked. I’m revisiting Guadalupe Carrillo who i was interested in Before but i never could find pictures. They still have an opening next week, but I’m hesitant only because i can’t find reviews or records of her work hardly at all! Just that she has 25 years of experience and is literally a member of every surgical membership including a joint American/Mexican one, and completely board certified of course. I contacted her office tonight and like before they were extremely prompt and helpful. The coordinator said she will send pictures tomorrow. It looks like the link for the galleries is broken on her website.
BUT I’m BEYOND frustrated, super depressed and I’ve been on a crazy roller coaster for several days now, my eyes are sore from crying.
Luckily i was able to cancel my SECOND reservation, (first was for a week in San Ysidro, the second one i made Monday when i felt better about staying in Tijuana) I’m so glad i don’t have a recovery house I’m losing money on!!
I literally don’t even want any other doctors! I want to get my surgery done at Vive, that’s the WORST PART of all this. I can’t find anyone with results that i like as much. I love their style of lower body lift and the way the surgeons do their work. The huge problem is that their coordinators are clueless and crappy, but their doctors are in Such demand because their work is amazing that their patients don’t freaking care. Everyone is desperate to get in with them. As a business owner myself, i understand they have to fill slots with people who will be able to follow through with the surgery that won’t be a risk to their business, but my hemoglobin is rising, I’m healthy and have been at a stable weight since December, I’m really NOT a risk. But they don’t see it that way and have to protect their self interests, unfortunately. I still admire their work. They don’t do enough breast augmentations to persuade me to go there for only that so i won’t be back. Unless i have to do a round 2 BBL sometime next year, it looks like i won’t be using their services. I am frantically looking for another doctor. I hate this feeling of having the rug pulled from beneath me. I’m SO pissed, sad, upset, you name it! I felt like I’ve been led on, especially because everything was going smooth and i felt great about everything when i went there. Literally i can’t stop crying.

I just got off the phone with my doctor here and she understands what tests i need(i was a little nervous about conveying exactly what is needed) but because the apt needs to be in person, the soonest is the 17th. Which is actually pretty fast. I asked her what my hemaglobin Has been in the past and she said in December is was 11.5. Now i need to research and see what is needed for surgery.
I will be meticulously updating because i loved reading reviews with tons of pictures and information. I still can’t believe i took the plunge. I can’t wait to be on the other side of this. I know even if my skin was just removed, it would be completely life changing so i know the extra things are going to make it that much better!