Mexico bariatric Center and Dr Kelly
Okay everyone, I'm going to give you the real deal. I am not employed by any coordination company nor am I affiliated with anyone who is. Here goes...
The night before my flight, I got a call from my driver to give me directions for when I arrived in San Diego. When I arrived in San Diego, I didn't have to wait long for him to come and pick me up (about 5 minutes). The driver was friendly enough and kept up the chit chat, so I wasn't as nervous crossing the border. At first he was told to take me to the hotel, but en route he got a call instructing him to take me to the hospital. He took me to Nove. I was under the impression that I should have been going to Mi Doctor or Oasis of Hope.
Okay, so far there were no issues. Well, when we go to the hospital the coordinators were M.I.A. The driver called and at first that were supposed to be right down. 10-15 minutes later, he's flustered and calling them again. Turns out, they were not at the hospital. They were on their way. About ten minutes later, they show up and take me into the hospital. As far as I could tell, Nova is an older, private hospital. I am not going to get on here and rave about how it was so clean you could eat off the floor whatnot. It reminded me of the hospital where I work. My hospital is older and you can tall there is some wear, but you can also see it being cleaned regularly.
I get the the desk where they process my intake. To my dismay, all of the forms were in Spanish. I had specifically asked my stateside coordinator if the paperwork would be in English and she assured me it would. CAUTION...READ WHAT YOU CAN. Even though I don't know how to read Spanish, I looked over the documents and found that they had put down the wrong surgery. On the paperwork, they had me down for a gastric bypass when I was there for a DS. I brought that to their attention, they called who they needed to call, it was fixed before I signed.
The people that say that there is always an English speaking nurse available are mistaken. The person in worked in the admin office spoke English and there was a nurse who could barely piece it together, but that was it.
They made me drink what they said was water (I think it was a saline mix cause it was disgusting) for the bowel prep.Okay, I'm in my room and I'm starting to get a little irritated and buyer's remorse it starting to set in. Dr. Kelly came to see me and answered the few questions that I had. He did what I'm guessing was the psych exam for the DS. He was satisfied with my answer, he told me what to expect the next day and that was it. I felt better after seeing his demeanor. He got a little apprehensive after seeing mine. He sent Lora back to check on me to make sure I was sure about getting the surgery and I wasn't having any ill feeling. I assured her I was good to go and ready for it to be done.
The next day I did the tests and waited for my time to go to surgery. I will tell you that they are really relaxed in Mexico with timeframes. My surgery was the first of the day and it was at 2 in the afternoon. Okay, so they wheel me to surgery. I get on the table and they administer the Propofol. Okay, when I found out that this was the drug that they were going to use to put me under, I had reservations (you know the whole Michael Jackson thing). After that I was out.
The next thing I remember is waking up in excruciating pain in the grip of a massive panic attack (I have anxiety disorder and be the time I woke up from surgery, that med had worn off). The gas pain was so horrible that I felt it in my shoulders, back, and belly. My throat was sore from the intubation so I couldn't yell very loud. All I could do was whimper" poro favor, ada me!" Lora was there at my side trying to comfort me. I was in full on panic! I thought I was having a heart attack because my left arm was in so much pain. I don't remember everything I said, but I do remember saying, "I knew it! You stole my kidney!" Okay so a shot of Morphine and something to sleep...I was back down.
My sleep wasn't very restful because they came in throughout the night to check my blood pressure and sugar. They gave me shots of insulin. The next two days I dealt with varying degrees of gas pain, but the worst part for me was not getting any sleep. I take medication for depression and anxiety. Without those meds, I can't not sleep. What I have is a not full of night terrors.
I am glad I went with Dr. Kelly. I cheated so bad on my pre op diet that my liver was out of control. My surgery was supposed to be 2-2 and a half, 3 hours tops. Well, because they couldn't get my liver to cooperate, my surgery took 7 hours. I have no doubt that any other surgery would have given up at 4 maybe 5 hours.
There's more, but this has gone on long enough. One thing that I have to note is...Dr. Kelly will no longer be working with Mexico Bariatric Center. He does not agree how they treat patients. My assessment of Mexico Bariatric Center is that they are disorganized and don't pay attention to details.
All and all, I give Dr. Kelly an A+ and I give Mexico Bariatric Center a C-.
why are you being so generous to Mexico Bariatric Center?
I escorted a friend to have surgery with Kelly 2 weeks ago. Kelly and Lora were GREAT but when you book with MBC you get half the package.
BOOK DIRECT with Kelly!
I agree with the above post in so many ways. We had a hospital change the morning of surgery... by MBC. They couldn't afford to pay the higher rate at NOVA.
Forms in Spanish and just told... sign here.
Even blank forms that needed to be filled out by a doc... we had to sign. BullCrap I say!
I better stop... Im getting pissed.
Dr. R Kelly is GREAT! Lora is even better!
Book DIRECT!
and hope your doing better. I actually spoke with Lora while you were in surgery. Yup... you got the FULL MEAL DEAL!
I have no doubt that Dr. Kelly and Lora will be talking about me for a long time! During my panic attack, I earnestly asked if I was the worst patient ever. I am thankful that Dr. Kelly held true to his word and gave me what I wanted even though I didn't do what I was supposed to do. Any other surgeon would probably have given up and just given me the sleeve. I'm surprised the rate at Nova would be so high. Mi Doctor is obviously newer.
Great post - hope you are doing well. I have to thank you for the first laugh i have had today - the comment about "you stole my kidney". Too funny - I truly believe no one should be help responsible for anything they say when they are waking up from an anesthetic. And using propofol to induce anesthetic - pretty standard up here in my part of the world as well - and we use it in our ER frequently for some procedures. Take care!
As a VSG patient of Dr. Kelly's from November 2012 I tell everyone to book directly with Dr. Kelly.I'm always giving out his numbers.
I had a great experience and I have never regretted my decision.
I am a nurse. My friend who I took with me is a nurse. We were very impressed by my medical care . I was very fortunate that at least one nurse a shift spoke English and most times both spoke English. I was at The Oasis Of Hope hospital.
My recovery time at the beautiful Lucerne hotel was great.We were even taken shopping both days and out to dinner.
Anyway I will echo you all....Call Dr. Kelly's office direct There is no need to go through these coordinators.
