I just wanted to let everyone know that my $1600 laser surgery at
the Mendez Clinic in Tijuana came out well. I tested 20/20, but they say the vision will
vary for awhile.
I was a little trepidatious about going, because I had found the clinic
on the web. I did a search for "lasik" (the name of the technique) and
"mexico" and came up with just a few hits. Then further research came up with a
few more. I called up the different clinics and the one I got the best feeling about was
the Mendez Clinic. Later I found out from my friend James he'd seen on TV that lots of
Americans, especially senior citizens, were going to Mendez (Noble is the mother's maiden
name, Mendez the father's last name) for eye surgery. After I had my surgery, I ran into
an American from Las Vegas, who said that Dr. Mendez Noble had a very good reputation
among people in Las Vegas, and he knows 5 people who got their vision corrected by Dr.
Mendez Noble, all with rave results. Mendez Noble's father, Dr. Mendez, operates a clinic
out of Mexicali. A friend went there recently and said Stevie Nicks had been there.
I flew into the San Diego airport on the last of the low spring fares
($218/round trip because I bought it on the internet— would have been double or more
on the phone). The clinic sent a college student to pick me up, who charged me $35 to
drive me to my hotel (Camino Real, a 3-star hotel about 8 blocks from the clinic); it's
about a 30 mile trip.
I had some pretty good Mexican food while there, but nothing really
spectacular. The hotel was quite nice, and had a decent restaurant. Food is pretty cheap
there, but most things in the stores are about what you'd pay in the US. Although
everything is priced in pesos, I always paid in dollars and got dollars in change.
Tijuana, being on the border, is a much more expensive city than other Mexican cities
— they're basically on a dollar economy. I was surprised that so many cab drivers and
store attendants spoke no English (although most everyone in the hotel and at the clinic
spoke English). I was also surprised at all the southern Californians (the most
intelligent, on-the-ball people in the US, in my opinion) who spoke fluent Spanish.
Thursday I had my exam, about 45 minutes. They make a computer-image
"map" of your eye so they know where to change the lens for the correction they
want. Friday is surgery day, which takes about 2 hours but actual surgery is about 2
minutes per eye. I was scared that I would move my eye, since it is very important to keep
looking at the light (if you move your eye they have to wait 3 months for the cut that
they made to heal and then start again). As I understand it, they make a semi-circle
incision in the lens and then do some kind of scattered laser effect to flatten it out (if
you're nearsighted they flatten it — they do something else if you're
farsighted).
I never experienced any pain and they didn't give me any pain pills,
although when Diane had it done in Nashville (for $5000), they gave her pain pills for the
first day of healing (that leads me to think that Mendez is better at doing it than
Diane's Vanderbilt University surgeon, Wang). As you may know, the Mexicans and Canadians
are ahead of the Americans when it comes to eye surgery, since they've been doing it
longer. American doctors often go to Mexico (especially Guadalajara) or Canada to
apprentice with the foreign doctors.
The third day was just a check-up in the morning, some drops for the
eyes and then I was sent on my way. The only glitch in my trip was the Mexican student,
who was supposed to pick me up at 13:00 (1 p.m.) at my hotel, but had not shown up by
13:15. My plane was leaving at 15:00 from San Diego, so I got nervous and got a cab to the
border. I told the cabbie, in broken Spanish, that I had to get to the San Diego airport.
He drove me to a place where these Mexican-Americans with California plates park on the
Mexican side of the border waiting for a fare to San Diego somewhere. They're not cab
drivers, they just use their personal cars. They can only do 2 cross-border trips a day,
because the computer keeps track. Upon entering the US, the guards, who know these guys,
just ask the passenger if he's a citizen. I said "yes," and I was in the US. I
suppose if I looked Mexican he may have asked for a driver's license. That trip cost me
$50.
The only other remarkable part of the trip was that Newt Gingrich was
on the plane going from San Diego to Atlanta. He seemed pretty well adapted to his new
life, very relaxed and not trying to be noticed or not noticed. Only a few people remarked
on it.
In total, I spent about $2300 for the trip out and surgery, but only
really needed to spend $2200. Today Diane and I will ceremoniously throw out all our
contact lenses and solutions. The only downside is that now, instead of taking OFF my
glasses to read small stuff, I have to put reading glasses ON to read. There's no cure for
old age yet, but when they come up with one, I'll see if I can get it cheaper in
Mexico!
-Don