Boscogirl's Take on the Betancourt/Almanza Drama...for what it's worth.
Hi there everyone! I just posted this on another thread but I wanted to make sure that everyone saw it. Chime in with your thoughts if you want to. (((HUGS)))
Post Date: 4/18/10 12:54 pm
Hi there Irene!
First of all, let me start by saying that you have every right to feel the way you feel and you have every right to express it. If you regret having your surgery at Jeruselem Clinic and you wouldn't recommend it...that is perfectly fine. You are definitely not the only one to feel this way. I have always supported people's right to their own feelings and opinions and that will not change.
My problem with what you are posting is that you do not seem to have the same respect for people with differeing opinions. You keep saying we should "wake up", "admit it", "tell the truth" etc. Why do you think we are not telling the truth about our experiences? I know for one, I am. I am not an "Almanza Groupie", or "Almanza Follower", or what ever else we are being called. I also feel no loyalty to them in any way shape or form. As you said in an earlier post, they are not my friends and I paid them to do a service for me. However, those things do not mean that I am not going to tell my PERSONAL EXPERIENCE or my PERSONAL OPINION on the subject matter. I had a very positive experience there and I felt my care was more than adequate for my needs. I just so happened to really like all of them as well but that has nothing to do with my actual surgery and recovery experience.
As for the horrible complications of Stoongal's sister...yes, it is heartbreaking and it is a tragedy. I hope and pray that eventually she will make a full recovery. It is sad when this kind of thing happens and believe me, it happens every day all over the world. This is a serious surgery and there are many risks involved. In the course of my 2 1/2 years of researching bariatric surgery I have seen several people die or have serious and horrible complications due to their surgeries. It is one of the risk we all take when we choose to have surgery. I have NEVER seen this kind of outlash toward any other doctor or facility. This stuff against Betancourt/Almanza has been going on for atleast a few years and it is ALWAYS driven by one person, Midwesterngirl/Donemytime. Do you not find that the least bit concerning? Do you have no qualms about supporting someone who is obvioiusly not truthful about so many things. Maybe some of things she says are true but she ruins her credibility by lying and posing as other people and downright attacking anyone who doesn't agree with her. Do you not see this?
Back to the Stoongal's sister sitution. I DO NOT believe for ONE MINUTE that the staff of Juruselum Clinic knowingly let her leave with complications. If she and her family felt that "that something was not right" or if she seemed to feel way worse than most people do then they should have spoken up and got to the bottom of it. Stoongal and daughter had already had their surgeries there right? Well, then they knew what to expect as far as the care goes. They knew everything having been there themselves. Don't get me wrong...I am not saying this was all their fault. What I am saying is that I do not blame them or the clinic. It is just an unfortunate case of complications....which can happen to anyone anywhere. It seems that she and her family member or members insisted on leaving due to not wanting to pay more for the flights by changing then to a later date. You and others seem to want people to think that they just do your surgery and then kick you out on the street with no regard to your health or safety. You keep saying the phrase "stack em and rack em" and you are calling it a "chop shop", which I said, is your perogative, but that is not at all how I see it or what I think about the clinic. When I was there I saw them take another woman back into surgery a few hours later because of a suspected leak. My roommate had to stay at the clinic for two nights because she was in pain and she had a low grade fever. She was begging them to let her go to the recovery house when I went but they said no. They were very concerned for her wellbeing. If they just cut people up with no regard for their health then there would be way more complications coming out of there and they would most likely already be out of business by now. You don't keep getting business if you do a crappy job. By and large, most of their patients are very satisfied with their experiences and that is why people keep going there and will continue to do so.
If a person needs the "peace of mind" of being at a full blown hospital the whole time then they should absolutely NOT go to Jeruselum Clinic. They will pay around $4000 for this "peace of mind" (in MX) and if they can swing it then that is great. I mean this sincerely. I do not think this clinic is right for everyone and I have been very vocal about that. I also would never recommend that anyone go there alone. I think that would be way too hard being that the aftercare is what it is. I think of it more like having the surgery as a "day surgery" only you stay at your long lost uncle in Mexico's house (lol...those who have been there will understand this) to recover for a few days. This was perfectly fine with me. I was comfortable with it. I understood that if I had had the surgery here in my town that I would have been home in 24 hours anyway and it would be my husband taking care of me. Honestly, I don't see the difference. I do not see why people make such a big deal about the aftercare there. I had more there than I would have here (because I would have been at home) but I would have paid $15000 instead of $5500. I am a "glass half full" person and I expected to NOT have compliations so I chose to save $10K and go to Dr. Almanza. Complications are rare with this surgery but they do happen. People need to do what they are comfortable with.
I hope you understand what I am trying to get across and I wish you no ill will. I respect your right to your opinions I only ask that you do the same for those of us that do not share your point of view.
Post Date: 4/18/10 12:54 pm
Hi there Irene!
First of all, let me start by saying that you have every right to feel the way you feel and you have every right to express it. If you regret having your surgery at Jeruselem Clinic and you wouldn't recommend it...that is perfectly fine. You are definitely not the only one to feel this way. I have always supported people's right to their own feelings and opinions and that will not change.
My problem with what you are posting is that you do not seem to have the same respect for people with differeing opinions. You keep saying we should "wake up", "admit it", "tell the truth" etc. Why do you think we are not telling the truth about our experiences? I know for one, I am. I am not an "Almanza Groupie", or "Almanza Follower", or what ever else we are being called. I also feel no loyalty to them in any way shape or form. As you said in an earlier post, they are not my friends and I paid them to do a service for me. However, those things do not mean that I am not going to tell my PERSONAL EXPERIENCE or my PERSONAL OPINION on the subject matter. I had a very positive experience there and I felt my care was more than adequate for my needs. I just so happened to really like all of them as well but that has nothing to do with my actual surgery and recovery experience.
As for the horrible complications of Stoongal's sister...yes, it is heartbreaking and it is a tragedy. I hope and pray that eventually she will make a full recovery. It is sad when this kind of thing happens and believe me, it happens every day all over the world. This is a serious surgery and there are many risks involved. In the course of my 2 1/2 years of researching bariatric surgery I have seen several people die or have serious and horrible complications due to their surgeries. It is one of the risk we all take when we choose to have surgery. I have NEVER seen this kind of outlash toward any other doctor or facility. This stuff against Betancourt/Almanza has been going on for atleast a few years and it is ALWAYS driven by one person, Midwesterngirl/Donemytime. Do you not find that the least bit concerning? Do you have no qualms about supporting someone who is obvioiusly not truthful about so many things. Maybe some of things she says are true but she ruins her credibility by lying and posing as other people and downright attacking anyone who doesn't agree with her. Do you not see this?
Back to the Stoongal's sister sitution. I DO NOT believe for ONE MINUTE that the staff of Juruselum Clinic knowingly let her leave with complications. If she and her family felt that "that something was not right" or if she seemed to feel way worse than most people do then they should have spoken up and got to the bottom of it. Stoongal and daughter had already had their surgeries there right? Well, then they knew what to expect as far as the care goes. They knew everything having been there themselves. Don't get me wrong...I am not saying this was all their fault. What I am saying is that I do not blame them or the clinic. It is just an unfortunate case of complications....which can happen to anyone anywhere. It seems that she and her family member or members insisted on leaving due to not wanting to pay more for the flights by changing then to a later date. You and others seem to want people to think that they just do your surgery and then kick you out on the street with no regard to your health or safety. You keep saying the phrase "stack em and rack em" and you are calling it a "chop shop", which I said, is your perogative, but that is not at all how I see it or what I think about the clinic. When I was there I saw them take another woman back into surgery a few hours later because of a suspected leak. My roommate had to stay at the clinic for two nights because she was in pain and she had a low grade fever. She was begging them to let her go to the recovery house when I went but they said no. They were very concerned for her wellbeing. If they just cut people up with no regard for their health then there would be way more complications coming out of there and they would most likely already be out of business by now. You don't keep getting business if you do a crappy job. By and large, most of their patients are very satisfied with their experiences and that is why people keep going there and will continue to do so.
If a person needs the "peace of mind" of being at a full blown hospital the whole time then they should absolutely NOT go to Jeruselum Clinic. They will pay around $4000 for this "peace of mind" (in MX) and if they can swing it then that is great. I mean this sincerely. I do not think this clinic is right for everyone and I have been very vocal about that. I also would never recommend that anyone go there alone. I think that would be way too hard being that the aftercare is what it is. I think of it more like having the surgery as a "day surgery" only you stay at your long lost uncle in Mexico's house (lol...those who have been there will understand this) to recover for a few days. This was perfectly fine with me. I was comfortable with it. I understood that if I had had the surgery here in my town that I would have been home in 24 hours anyway and it would be my husband taking care of me. Honestly, I don't see the difference. I do not see why people make such a big deal about the aftercare there. I had more there than I would have here (because I would have been at home) but I would have paid $15000 instead of $5500. I am a "glass half full" person and I expected to NOT have compliations so I chose to save $10K and go to Dr. Almanza. Complications are rare with this surgery but they do happen. People need to do what they are comfortable with.
I hope you understand what I am trying to get across and I wish you no ill will. I respect your right to your opinions I only ask that you do the same for those of us that do not share your point of view.
Goal in EIGHT months!
Highest/Surgery Weight 248 Goal Weight 165 Current Weight 165-175
Starting BMI 33.7 Current BMI 22.1
I'm 42 years young, my height is 6' and I've had no plastics!
I
my sleeve!!!
Highest/Surgery Weight 248 Goal Weight 165 Current Weight 165-175
Starting BMI 33.7 Current BMI 22.1
I'm 42 years young, my height is 6' and I've had no plastics!
I
my sleeve!!!
Great post!!! I couldn't have said it better myself. It is Mexico and things will be a bit different, but in my opinion I prefered the care there to the cold feel of a lot of hospitals here in the states. I am terrified of hospitals!!! Just my opinion.
Thank you for always having such thoughtful, helpful and honest posts!
XOXOXO,
Christi
Thank you for always having such thoughtful, helpful and honest posts!
XOXOXO,
Christi
We love life, not because we are used to living but because we are used to loving. ~ Friedrich Nietzsche
I agree with everything you said. I think that a lot of people that had there surgery in Mexico we don't have a weekly support meeting we go to so this is our support group. Almanza does a lot of surgery on this forum, so I think the complications are reported more because there is more surgeries. I dont agree with the stack em and doing surgery into the wee hours. I would not have let my sister or niece or myself agree to that. Bad stuff can happen 1% of the time, I think everyone that has the surgery and doesn't have a problems is very blessed. We aren't the cream of the crop to operate on as well - obese, a lot of people have medical problems etc. I think everyone needs to come to their own conclusions and we all don't want anyone from our "club" to be hurt. I think folks that have had complications should post so that the folks making the choice for the surgery understand the risks. I know when I was reserching for my sister and myself the only negative stuff I saw was the skin infections in OCT last year. My testimonal only talks about my experience as well.
Stephanie 
On April 18, 2010 at 1:07 PM Pacific Time, Boscogirl wrote:
Hi there everyone! I just posted this on another thread but I wanted to make sure that everyone saw it. Chime in with your thoughts if you want to. (((HUGS)))Post Date: 4/18/10 12:54 pm
Hi there Irene!
First of all, let me start by saying that you have every right to feel the way you feel and you have every right to express it. If you regret having your surgery at Jeruselem Clinic and you wouldn't recommend it...that is perfectly fine. You are definitely not the only one to feel this way. I have always supported people's right to their own feelings and opinions and that will not change.
My problem with what you are posting is that you do not seem to have the same respect for people with differeing opinions. You keep saying we should "wake up", "admit it", "tell the truth" etc. Why do you think we are not telling the truth about our experiences? I know for one, I am. I am not an "Almanza Groupie", or "Almanza Follower", or what ever else we are being called. I also feel no loyalty to them in any way shape or form. As you said in an earlier post, they are not my friends and I paid them to do a service for me. However, those things do not mean that I am not going to tell my PERSONAL EXPERIENCE or my PERSONAL OPINION on the subject matter. I had a very positive experience there and I felt my care was more than adequate for my needs. I just so happened to really like all of them as well but that has nothing to do with my actual surgery and recovery experience.
As for the horrible complications of Stoongal's sister...yes, it is heartbreaking and it is a tragedy. I hope and pray that eventually she will make a full recovery. It is sad when this kind of thing happens and believe me, it happens every day all over the world. This is a serious surgery and there are many risks involved. In the course of my 2 1/2 years of researching bariatric surgery I have seen several people die or have serious and horrible complications due to their surgeries. It is one of the risk we all take when we choose to have surgery. I have NEVER seen this kind of outlash toward any other doctor or facility. This stuff against Betancourt/Almanza has been going on for atleast a few years and it is ALWAYS driven by one person, Midwesterngirl/Donemytime. Do you not find that the least bit concerning? Do you have no qualms about supporting someone who is obvioiusly not truthful about so many things. Maybe some of things she says are true but she ruins her credibility by lying and posing as other people and downright attacking anyone who doesn't agree with her. Do you not see this?
Back to the Stoongal's sister sitution. I DO NOT believe for ONE MINUTE that the staff of Juruselum Clinic knowingly let her leave with complications. If she and her family felt that "that something was not right" or if she seemed to feel way worse than most people do then they should have spoken up and got to the bottom of it. Stoongal and daughter had already had their surgeries there right? Well, then they knew what to expect as far as the care goes. They knew everything having been there themselves. Don't get me wrong...I am not saying this was all their fault. What I am saying is that I do not blame them or the clinic. It is just an unfortunate case of complications....which can happen to anyone anywhere. It seems that she and her family member or members insisted on leaving due to not wanting to pay more for the flights by changing then to a later date. You and others seem to want people to think that they just do your surgery and then kick you out on the street with no regard to your health or safety. You keep saying the phrase "stack em and rack em" and you are calling it a "chop shop", which I said, is your perogative, but that is not at all how I see it or what I think about the clinic. When I was there I saw them take another woman back into surgery a few hours later because of a suspected leak. My roommate had to stay at the clinic for two nights because she was in pain and she had a low grade fever. She was begging them to let her go to the recovery house when I went but they said no. They were very concerned for her wellbeing. If they just cut people up with no regard for their health then there would be way more complications coming out of there and they would most likely already be out of business by now. You don't keep getting business if you do a crappy job. By and large, most of their patients are very satisfied with their experiences and that is why people keep going there and will continue to do so.
If a person needs the "peace of mind" of being at a full blown hospital the whole time then they should absolutely NOT go to Jeruselum Clinic. They will pay around $4000 for this "peace of mind" (in MX) and if they can swing it then that is great. I mean this sincerely. I do not think this clinic is right for everyone and I have been very vocal about that. I also would never recommend that anyone go there alone. I think that would be way too hard being that the aftercare is what it is. I think of it more like having the surgery as a "day surgery" only you stay at your long lost uncle in Mexico's house (lol...those who have been there will understand this) to recover for a few days. This was perfectly fine with me. I was comfortable with it. I understood that if I had had the surgery here in my town that I would have been home in 24 hours anyway and it would be my husband taking care of me. Honestly, I don't see the difference. I do not see why people make such a big deal about the aftercare there. I had more there than I would have here (because I would have been at home) but I would have paid $15000 instead of $5500. I am a "glass half full" person and I expected to NOT have compliations so I chose to save $10K and go to Dr. Almanza. Complications are rare with this surgery but they do happen. People need to do what they are comfortable with.
I hope you understand what I am trying to get across and I wish you no ill will. I respect your right to your opinions I only ask that you do the same for those of us that do not share your point of view.
I know it you are right. Its all just a bunch of drama and I have found myself sort of obsessed with it for the past couple of days!! This really is not the way I am either!!! What happened is that I read the post on the board from Stoongal (which let me just say for the record I believe 100%- but thats a whole nother Oprah---- right now I am trying to apologize) and I made a comment which someone else made a comment and I got PISSED!!! And...... the drama began..... UGH!
Anyway........ for my behavior and my part in this drama I am sorry.
I wont participate in anymore internet feuding ---- its just so friggin stupid anyway..
So that being said....
Hope you all have a blessed week!!
Lap Band March 2007
Band Slipped -Emergency Removal May 2008
Dr. Lopez Corvala- Hospital Angeles TJ
VSG Jan. 28th, 2010
Dr. Almanza-Jerusalem Clinic
Band Slipped -Emergency Removal May 2008
Dr. Lopez Corvala- Hospital Angeles TJ
VSG Jan. 28th, 2010
Dr. Almanza-Jerusalem Clinic
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