Recommendations for a Batriatric Surgeous/Procedure in Cali, Colombia

Hi all, thanks in advance for any help

I've made a decision to have some bariatric procedure done this year.  My preference is to do it in Cali, Colombia.  My wife's family is from there, and we've had good experiences choosing doctors from there and having procedures done when needed.

I currently don't have health insurance and will be paying for this with cash from savings I have.

About my health:

• 254 lbs
• 6 ft
• BMI=35
• Sleep apnea - I snore terribly
• Shortness of breathe - I've always had this, even when i was young and not overweight.  Last year my doctor diagnosed me with a mild case of asthma that perhaps I have always had but never been diagnosed with
• Mild erectile dysfunction
• I don't have high cholesterol or high sugar or high blood pressure.  In many ways I am very healthy; I walk a few times a week and can do large amount of pushups and stuff. I don't can't seem to loose weight.

So far I have:

• Read about different surgeries and seen lots of videos.
• I've compiled a table of different centers and what the different aspects are each one.
• I've had only one phone consultation with one center in Cali, I'd like to have a few more with at least 3 centers in total.

So, any counsel or testimonials or anything would be appreciated. Heck, even if you just said "avoid such n such place at all costs!" I'd find that helpful

- O

Saludos, I got RNY in Pereira, Colombia with Dr Oscar Munoz.  He is one of the most experienced Bariatric Surgeons in Colombia with over 10k surgeries. Although he is based in Pereira he does travel and does surgeries in most parts of the country.  You can contact him in the email below and ask him. 

Please make sure you have a good healthcare support back home like a nutritionist and a general practitioner that can follow up with you at home.

Best of luck

Oscar Muñoz Perez

Hi 

We checked our database for you and found we have one surgeon in the area you are interested in.

Jose Pablo Velez

Here is the link with the results from our search:

http://www.obesityhelp.com/find/bariatric-surgeon/C_CO/

Good Luck and let us know if we can be of any further assistance.  You can reach us at [email protected]

Make sure you check out the sleeve. I doesn't have the malabsorption of vitamins like DS or RNY, but has about the same success rate as RNY, without the higher risk of dumping and reactive hypoglycemia. 

If you had a higher BMI, you may also want to look at the DS, which has the best weight loss stats overall, but supplementation are more important than with the sleeve, and life threatening if not followed. 

Lapband statistics are horrible, don't even bother looking into it.

As for RNY, if I were going to get a surgery with malabsorbtion (which you may choose not to, at your BMI) I'd get the DS instead. It is more successful at both weight loss and resolving co-morbidities than RNY (or any other WLS), but doesn't have the higher incidence of dumping or reactive hypoglycemia that RNY does. Both RNY and DS will require supplements for life, but Rny loses some of the calorie loss after the first year or two, whereas the DS loses calories for life. If you are going to bother with having to supplement the vitamins, you might as well keep the added help of the calorie loss from the DS. 

You should figure out which surgery best suits you, and then find a surgeon that performs it. 

Thanks everyone for their replies.

I have recently started a new job, and will have health coverage starting December 1st. So i am now opting to have it done in the US. So, now, its a process of finding a doctor near Elizabeth new jersey who can fast track me through the insurances requirements