Subject: Dr. Kuri in TJ
Date: Thu, 19 Apr 2001 17:59:36 -0400
From: "Karen and Chuck in D.C." <CNEEDY@fcc.gov>
To: <wsmith_AT_waynesmith_DOT_net (Remove Underscores)>


Wayne, so good to hear from you! Again, thanks for all your help in SD and TJ. Am so glad we were able to meet Mary too. You might call us "Karen and Chuck in D.C." Feel free, however, to give my email address to anyone who goes to the trouble of contacting you by email and needing to ask me a question. Here is the new text:
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Dr. Kuri banded my wife, Karen, on 4/10/01. We offer the following description of our experience in hopes that others may benefit.

TRAVEL DETAILS. Kuri said he would arrange for someone to pick us up at San Diego airport and drive us to his TJ office.  Kuri asked Wayne Smith, a bandster living in SD, who was kind enough to drive us. If you have a chance to meet Wayne, you will like him. If we had to do it on our own, we would have taken a cab to downtown SD ($8.50) or a shuttle bus ($2 each) and then gotten onto electric trolley that runs to TJ every 15 minutes ($2 each) to within 100 feet of the border. You can then walk across -- a distance of several blocks, partly uphill, until you reach the taxicabs. Or take a bus ($2) across to the taxicabs. Then take taxi to Kuri's office ($7 with tip). Kuri's office is at 1844 Agua Caliente Blvd., the most heavily used street in TJ.

Coming back, we saw Dr. Kuri in his office for final checkup and then he drove us one mile to the border. We only had to walk 300 feet from his car (through immigration checkpoint) to trolley, which is right outside the checkpoint. Trolley will drop you off downtown SD, just one block from Horton Plaza Mall and lots of hotels.

DOCTORS. During Karen's surgery, Kuri was assisted by an anesthesiologist and another doctor. And, yes, Kuri is as friendly and attentive as you have heard here on the board. He is professional and, indeed, very gracious. When I put the cashier's check on his desk during our first office visit (for testing), he handed it back and asked that I give it to him after the surgery.

HOSPITAL. Called San Francisco Hospital, it is one of several hospitals in TJ but is well known by the cab drivers. It is small and modest but very clean. It has one hallway with 5 rooms on left and 4 rooms on right. Also on right is a glassed-in nursery at back where you can watch the babies. That whole area is one story. Hallway goes through swinging doors into surgery area, which I did not see. That area is two story. Hospital looks to be 60 years old. Nursing staff were friendly and attentive. Floors are tiled and walls are plaster, painted light blue. Room has bed, a roll-away bed for spouse, TV, two chairs, and a private restroom with tiled shower. In hospital lobby, the receptionist will sell you a $3 or $10 calling card that works in any payphone.. To reach USA, dial 001 and the number.

While at the hospital, your husband can get fruit juice and other supplies just two blocks away at a large supermarket. A large modern shopping mall (Plaza Rio) is one mile away (I took a taxi over there but walked backed to hospital). Just 1 block from hospital is a pharmacy where he can get pain pills (Kuri will give him a written prescription). He can also get large Band-Aids to put on the five incisions you will have after surgery. Each day, you will wash incisions with soap and water and put fresh Band-Aids on them. After 7 days, they will be healed and you can pull out stitches.

DRINKING WATER. Water is filtered in the hospital and in major hotels and is said to be safe for drinking. This might also be true in the better restaurants. Everywhere else you should avoid drinking tap water, eating ice, or eating anything that was washed in tap water. This means avoiding uncooked fruit and vegetables. To be safe, Karen and I drank only bottled water and bottled juice or soda. We had no ice. We did fine.

HOTELS. I suggest that your spouse stay three nights at a TJ hotel. If your budget is tight, he might spend first and third nights in hotel and second night on the cot in your hospital room. First day is testing, second day is surgery, third day is discharge from hospital, and fourth day (after brief checkup by Kuri) is your return home. If you want, you can stay only 2 nights and return on third day but Kuri recommends returning on fourth day, especially if you are traveling far. I know that Karen was not up to traveling on 3rd day and, on fourth day, Kuri removed fluid from her largest incision. Because we had the time, we even spent additional nights in a SD hotel to rest up.

For hotels, I obtained information that was current on 4/19/01. I will describe three: (1) Hotel Country Club rate/night for Dr. Kuri patients is $53.76 ($48 plus tax), which is well below the rack rate of $66.08 (includes tax). Call toll free at 800-303-2684. Mexico Tourist Bureau rating is four stars (out of 5 stars), whatever that means. I have not been to this particular hotel but Bandsters members have said that it is nice and very comfortable. Dr. Kuri's receptionist, Angela, will make reservations for you. To reach her or Dr. Kuri, dial 011-52-664-684-7787.

(2) Grand Hotel is $97 ($86 plus tax) if you ask for business rate and tell them the name of a business here in the USA.  Any business seems to work. For an extra $10/night, you can get upgraded to the Club Level, which is on floors 30-32 of this high-rise hotel and also includes continental breakfast (i.e., pastries, yogurt, cereal, tea, coffee, fruit juices) in lounge on 32nd floor. The rack rate for a regular room is $150 but a travel guide says that few travelers actually pay that much. Call toll free at 866-GRAND-TJ. (Note that this is 866, not 800.). On lobby level, there is a 20-store shopping mall, mini-mart, and multiplex of movie theaters (in Spanish). Mexico Tourist Bureau rating is five stars. Hotel was build in 1982 and looks (inside and out) like any high-rise Marriott you have seen in a major city.

Both hotels sit on edge of a golf course and are a mile apart, with the Grand being about 1.5 miles from the San Francisco Hospital and the Country Club being about 2.5 miles from hospital. Distance does not matter much, having little effect on taxi rate. 

(3) Camino Real Hotel charges $140 ($125 plus tax) for business rate. Rack rate is even higher. Call toll free at 800-7-CAMINO. Is located 1 mile from hospital and sits next to Plaza Rio, a large modern outdoor-type shopping mall where local townspeople actually shop. Is half the size of the Grand but is newer. It nonetheless appears equivalent to Grand in quality. Only advantage that I could see is CR's location by the outdoor shopping mall, which is at least five times the size of the Grand's indoor mall. The outdoor mall is a real plus if your spouse intends to shop a lot. Disadvantage of CR is the much higher rate and small lobby. Unlike the Grand, it does not have a block-long indoor mall where your spouse can wander around indoors.

RESTAURANTS. Directly across from hospital is a wonderful inexpensive Mexican restaurant that prepares all food from scratch. In center of restaurant is a huge (6' by 20') stainless steel stove, which has ten huge burners with a stainless steel hood hanging overhead. A U-shaped counter, covered in white tiles, surrounds that large stove. Your husband can sit on a stool at the counter and watch the steam rolling off five 20" wide pots, the large burner fires, and the busy workers.  I ate there 3 times and counted at least 16 employees each time. The corn tortillas are the best I have ever eaten.

If you stay at the Country Club Hotel, the Mexican restaurant in front of the hotel is inexpensive and has very good food, according to one Bandster member. If you stay at the Grand, there is an excellent Mexican seafood restaurant that is inexpensive. It is called Los Arcos and is just four blocks away. From front door of lobby, go 1 block straight ahead and then left 3 blocks. Also, three other restaurants sit alongside the hotel (Mexican, Chinese buffet, and a hamburger place called Carl Jr.) and two are inside the hotel. 

TAXICABS. Taxis do not search for customers. Instead, they sit at various spots throughout city waiting for a phone call.  When you are discharged from hospital, a nurse will call for a taxi. At other times, however, your husband may rather walk to where they sit. There is a group just 3 blocks from hospital (out front door, go left 2 blks and right 1 blk). Another group sits in front of Grand Hotel (and perhaps at Country Club which I did not visit). And two groups sit in busy tourist zone on Revolution Ave.

MONEY: Take lots of small bills: ones, fives, and tens. Shopkeepers and cab drivers like to be paid in American dollars but, due to their scarcity, are reluctant to part with them when you make small purchases. Always negotiate taxi price before getting in. You don't have to speak Spanish. For a $7 ride, just hold up six fingers during negotiation and then also give a $1 tip. Restaurants sometimes show your billed amount in both pesos and dollars. If amount is shown only in pesos, ask "dollars?" They will whip out a calculator and show you the result on the screen. Again, no Spanish necessary.  Away from tourist zone, people are very friendly. To really enjoy TJ, you must enjoy the people. But that is easy because
they are so warm and expressive. - - Best wishes, Chuck