Treatment Very Good - Staff - Another Story

i was concerned about one eyelid where it was so saggy that it was resting on my eyelashes. I had been told that I would probably qualify to have it done under my medical plan but I didn’t want to wait almost two years so I consulted with Dr Valdez. I’m glad I addressed all the problems in one go and I think the results are excellent.

I had upper and lower eyelid surgery with lower face and neck lift and bichat. Surgery was done in Cancún, Mexico by Dr Valdez and I went through a medical tourism company called My Medical Vacations who are based in Cancún.

I had originally contacted another company called Gorgeous Getaways as I wanted to go to Phuket, Thailand, for my surgery but I was a little concerned about a 21 hour flight after such a large surgery. The consultant at Gorgeous Getaways suggested that Cancún would be a shorter flight and would be with a company they recommended, My Medical Vacations. I spoke to another consultant who also recommended MMV so I booked my surgery with them. I was never concerned with using Dr Valdez as I have a friend who has had multiple surgeries with him, he was highly recommended and I had no problem with any of my treatment. I was also attracted to the fact that Dr Valdez uses “twilight sedation” which is far less invasive than general anaesthesia.

The biggest mistake I made was using MMV. The problems started with the clinic (LIMED) where I had the bloodwork done, although all the equipment they used appeared to be new and sterile, it didn’t look clean - I have been told that they are not being used any more.

Next came the hotel - I had been warned that the hotel MMV used was not in a nice part of town so I rented an apartment. The MMV staff were supposed to drop me off at my apartment but instead they took me to a nearby hotel and disappeared before I had spoken to the front desk. I called them and got no response, I texted, no response, so I emailed their office and finally I was told they were returning. I dragged my suitcase across a very busy road and waited approximately half an hour for them to return - when they did they were laughing at their mistake.

I was alone, I did not speak Spanish which is the whole reason I picked a tourism company. They offered to deal with all the logistics and provide me with a resort style experience but what I got was untrained staff who had no interest in me or my experience. They also advertise that you will have a registered nurse to check on you every day, she was not a registered nurse. There was a concierge that I saw maybe three times in the two weeks that I was there, she was uninterested and gave me a vague invitation to lunch after my complimentary dental cleaning. I actually cancelled this because I didn’t want to spend any time with her. She never addressed me by my name and constantly called me “doll”, “Hun” and “Sweetie”.

The hospital, PlayaMed, was clean and I had a room with an en suite. However, the staff spoke very little English which is why the MMV “nurse” stayed overnight. I had a terrible headache overnight, was screaming for help. I had to get out of bed and walk to the desk with my IV apparatus where I found the nurse fast asleep on a couch.

I was lucky that I had a friend who arrived for my second week to help me. If she had not been there I would have been devastated. I was left alone apart from the 20 minutes per day that it took the “nurse” to check me over. The doctor’s office and the hospital was nowhere near the resort area of Cancún so it was not a “resort experience”. I had to resign myself to the conclusion that Mexico is a third World country and they appeared to have no idea what American/Canadian standards are and they don’t care to find out.

I contacted the owner of MMV when I came home and told him everything, he was unconcerned and basically tried to blow me off.

I am so disappointed with MMV and I am even more disappointed with Gorgeous Getaways for recommending these people when they obviously did not check them out. I understand that two of their representatives had surgery by Dr Valdez but they did not use MMV services. I have no complaints about Dr Valdez, he is a good surgeon and my face looks great but I spent a miserable two weeks recovering. I wish I had followed my instincts and gone to Phuket.

These medical tourism companies advertise that they take care of all the logistics to allow you to recover with a “resort spa experience”. I would advise anyone thinking of this to be very careful about who you pick. MMV was specifically recommended by Gorgeous Getaways and I took them at their word.

Great surgery, the rest was just awful.