# Cataract Surgery



## sfmaestra (Oct 8, 2013)

Have you had or know someone who has had cataract surgery in Mexico City? 

I've been checking out Hospital de la Luz which specializes in EYES. 

Hospital de la Luz

Their appointment system for the first consult is as follows: You have to show up before 6 am to queue to get a one of the 200 fichas they give out for appointments on that same day. I am wondering whether they will even "see" someone who is an extranjera with only a tourist visa. I'm looking for high quality, reasonably priced surgery. Any personal knowledge, thoughts, ideas?


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## joaquinx (Jul 3, 2010)

I'm sure that they will see you. You realize that you have to pay for the operation before or before you leave the hospital. My eye doctor said 'Maybe next year.' Her cost was 15,000 pesos per eye.


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## sfmaestra (Oct 8, 2013)

Thank you, Joaquin. I will check it out. If you hear anything specific about a hospital or doctor here, in DF, let me know. (Tired of not being able to see at night!)


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## Hound Dog (Jan 18, 2009)

[_QUOTE=sfmaestra;2928585]Have you had or know someone who has had cataract surgery in Mexico City? 

I've been checking out Hospital de la Luz which specializes in EYES. 

Hospital de la Luz

Their appointment system for the first consult is as follows: You have to show up before 6 am to queue to get a one of the 200 fichas they give out for appointments on that same day. I am wondering whether they will even "see" someone who is an extranjera with only a tourist visa. I'm looking for high quality, reasonably priced surgery. Any personal knowledge, thoughts, ideas?[/QUOTE]_

Now, sfmarstra, I do not live in Mexico City but at Lake Chapala near Guadalajara and in the Chiapas Highlands but I know this about Mexico after 13 years as a resident here, any organization, whether hospital or other business requiring you to line up before six in the morning to seek a limited number of appointments that day is not a place to which I would entrust my eyes even for teardrop prescriptions much less cataract surgery. Medical tourism is big in Mexico as it should be since this country has some of the best medical practitioners in the world performing their skills at very reasonable prices but stay away from charnal houses serving the destitute and, as far as I know, those are the only places requiring you to join a line before six AM on the chance you can get an appointment that day. 

Find yourself a reputable eye surgeon there in Mexico City. Get an appointment. Go see him/her and have them set you up at a hospital for surgery if required. Do not play around with your eyes to save a Peso. My father went to a most reputable and world famous eye surgeons at the University of Alabama Medical Center in Birmingham for cataract surgery in the 1970s and the surgery was largely responsible for his death shortly thereafter. About 2004, I had cataract surgery in Guadalajara which was entirely successful and at a fraction of the cost to my father in Birmingham some 30 years before my surgery. You were right to come to Mexico for your ailment but if you line up before six in the morning with folks who have no resources to save a buck, you are on a fools errand.


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## sfmaestra (Oct 8, 2013)

That's the trick, Hound Dog. The search engine on my computer is overheating trying to find a good ophthalmologist/cataract surgeon in this huge city. Thought I'd check here on this forum to possibly get some referrals. Of course, I'd prefer not to pay "un ojo de la cara," but I am mostly interested in finding an excellent surgeon in a top notch facility. I'm here until the end of May.


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## Hound Dog (Jan 18, 2009)

[_QUOTE=sfmaestra;2937193]That's the trick, Hound Dog. The search engine on my computer is overheating trying to find a good ophthalmologist/cataract surgeon in this huge city. Thought I'd check here on this forum to possibly get some referrals. Of course, I'd prefer not to pay "un ojo de la cara," but I am mostly interested in finding an excellent surgeon in a top notch facility. I'm here until the end of May.[/QUOTE]_

Good luck to you amiga but, when it comes to your eyes, as you seem to know, compromise4 on quality is not an option. My cataract surgery in Guadalajara was extraordinary. Just one more reason I thank my lucky stars I retired here some 13 years ago.


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## lagoloo (Apr 12, 2011)

Hound Dog is absolutely, positively right. Someone I know went to one of those clinics that lines up the patients and runs them through the process. A few years later, he's having trouble. I sent him to see a top notch opthamologist who told him there wasn't anything he could do to "fix" what that cut rate outfit had done. 
Go on the local Mexico city forum and see if you can get some referrals.


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## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

lagoloo said:


> Hound Dog is absolutely, positively right. Someone I know went to one of those clinics that lines up the patients and runs them through the process. A few years later, he's having trouble. I sent him to see a top notch opthamologist who told him there wasn't anything he could do to "fix" what that cut rate outfit had done.
> Go on the local Mexico city forum and see if you can get some referrals.


I live in Mexico City but am not aware of a "local Mexico City forum". More details, please, lagoloo.


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## joaquinx (Jul 3, 2010)

_. . . one of those clinics that linses up the patients and runs them through the process . . . ._
_. . . cut rate outfit had done. _

Hospital de la Luz is not one of these places. I would suggest you visit their web page before rash judgment.


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## lagoloo (Apr 12, 2011)

Isla Verde said:


> I live in Mexico City but am not aware of a "local Mexico City forum". More details, please, lagoloo.


I was "assuming". Always a mistake.


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## Justina (Jan 25, 2013)

Both my husband and I had successful cataract operations in Medicasur in Tlalpan a few years ago and the surgeon was Mauricio Maqueo. Cheers


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## DLGMEX (Jan 30, 2014)

I suspect the $15,000 does not include the cost of the hospital... at least not in my case an additional $8,000


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## oaxacaone (Aug 2, 2011)

*Cataract Operation in Oaxaca*

I agree with the others that a place that lines up patients doesn't sound positive.

I have had both eyes operated on in Oaxaca by a Mexican-American doctor who studied at the Texas Eye Institute in Houston and in Paris. She absolutely fluent in English, Spanish, and French. Her prices were just a bit lower than in the States but one consideration is the follow up. She had me in her office everyday for a week after the surgery, every other day the following week, twice a week after that. Follow up is very important. I'm glad I didn't have to stay a month in the States after my surgery. She is also past president of the laser surgery clinic in Oaxaca. Come down to beautiful Oaxaca and let the operation more secure.


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## DLGMEX (Jan 30, 2014)

*KUDOS Dr. Álvarez Mexico City*

I am recommending without reservation, Dr. Miguel Álvarez, as an opthalmologist and eye surgeon of world-class technical skill and wonderful courtesy and concern for me the patient. He will perform the cataract removal from my other eye this Saturday.

You can see a bit about him on mexicoeyesurgeon.com

Top level facilities equalling or better than my past experiences...


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## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

Where is DLGMEX?


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## DLGMEX (Jan 30, 2014)

*Dlgmex*

We are located in Mexico City, del Benito Juárez


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