Close to a decision

Now I am looking into Dr. Kelly at Angeles Hospital.  There is another doctor I might consider too.  I hear Dr. Lopez is a teacher and has trained many doctors in Mexico and the United States. 

I have definitely ruled a couple of them out.  I won’t use Dr. Almanza or Dr. Aceves.  It’s obvious that there is something going on between the 2 of them.  They must be in heavy competition with each other.  Dr. Almanza has coordinators that post here.  I don’t like that.  I think it’s pretty obvious that some patients of Dr. Aceves are might be coordinators too.  I especially don’t like Dr. Aceves practice of getting business by using negativity and scare tactics.  That speaks volumes to me!

I have not ruled out staying in the U.S. either!  Especially when I see stories like this, http://www.the33tv.com/news/kdaf-medical-tourism-dangers-sto ry,0,440773.story 

Dr. Aceves people want us to believe that Dr. Almanza is the only Mexican surgeon with complications, but I know that's not true just by looking at this story. 

I have found a couple of surgeons in TX and SF with prices that are fairly reasonable and frankly, I’m still very worried about having surgery in Mexico at all. 

I'll be with Dr. Lopez-Corvala at Hospital Angeles on Tuesday, I'll definitly give you the scoop as soon as I get back  :)

hi yaaaaaa,
good luck to you in where ever you go
cant wait for you to have it done so you can be on the losers bench like some of us
let me know what u decide and that link was very interesting

what surgery? That makes a difference. Some surgeons can handle some surgeries, etc.

Gottago-  My name is Sharon I am also looking into WLS in Mexico.  I assure you that I am Not a coordinator for anyone. 

While I understand that there are individual doctors who are "butchers" and make grave mistakes with peoples lives, I also know that  ALL surgeries have complications.  You have to be willing to accept some risk, as even picking a US surgeon will not guarantee that you will not have complications.  It will also not guarantee that your surgeon will be all friendly and willing to fix his screw-up if complications occur.

What I can say from my research is that Dr Aceves seems to have a great reputation, not only on this board but others.  He is the President of the Mexican Bariatric Association and post regarding his care go back 6 or more years on the boards.  Does that mean I think that all of his patients have had perfect and uncomplicated procedures.  No, but it does speak volumns that I havn't seen anyone that has posted "Do Not Go To Aceves". 

I also like that you are kept in the hospital for 3 days postop.  The facility in San Franciso and a couple of others that I checked out in the US are outpatient.  I sure don't want to be in a hotel at 2am with a bleed in my belly and no one to help or be checking on me.

Now regarding all of the rif raf between the coordinators and such, I think you just have to accept the good with the bad or disregard every thing that you see here on the OH forum.  That would be a shame as I have learned a great deal from "real patients" and their experiences. 

If you wish to PM me I would be happy to share my phone number with you and would also be happy to pass on my experience in Mexico- I have surgery scheduled on the 13th of Dec.

Sharon

Opps- Meant to put one more thing in, when I spoke with Dr Aceves and former patients, he does 3 things that were really important to me-
1. He over-sews the staple line.
2. He does 3 leak test, one in surgery, one day one by having you swallow a dye and see if it comes out of your drain, and on day 3 one in xray under fluoroscope.
3. He keeps track of his patients after surgery.

As I am a US health care provider when I spoke with Dr Aceves he impressed me in that he didn't sugar coat things, he made no promises about complications or this being a fix all for my weight problem.  I have spoke to a couple of other surgeons who want to make you believe that the surgery will do all of the work and they are so arrogant that they couldn't possibly make a mistake.

Good luck in your research I hope that you can find peace in your decision regarding surgery and a surgeon, I look forward to hearing about your experience.

Sharon

I strongly recommend Dr Aguirre. I am not a co-ordinator just a recent patient who is more then pleased with him and his staff. If you want to read my experience it is in my profile and if you click on his name over on the left you can read page after page of people with the same experience. That is why my husband and I picked him... we wanted to write reviews as glowing as the ones we read. And I'm so happy to say we could.

I had surgery with Dr. Kelly in 2007. My vsg was supposed to be done at Angeles Hospital but it was switched to INT at the last minute. Angeles Hospital is definitely more modern (I had my preop and post op tests done there) but INT served it's purpose. My vsg is no longer giving me any restriction so I'm having it revised to a ds. One doc told me my sleeve wasn't performed properly and another said the sleeve was fine; I'm just one of those people who need restriction and malabsorption. Anyway, Dr. Kelly was wonderful. He even took me shopping when his coordinator was busy. He was very attentive when I had horrific gas pains post op. His office followed up with me once I was home for about a year. Overall my experience was favorable. I'd go back to Dr. Kelly if he performed the ds but only Dr U has the level of competency that I trust for that procedure.

I have not heard of (or much about) any of the "other" doctors mentioned here. My surgeon was Almanza and since I've been home from surgery in MX I have sent Dr. Aceves patients from my region, including one who is my hairdresser.

I am not a coordinator nor do I get any pay at all for sending someone to one doctor or another.

I believe that you should ask yourself: "where is the SAFEST place I can afford?" Aceves track record is verifiable. I would never send anyone to any surgeon (good or bad) who did not practice out of a hospital. A storefront clinic will not do for me again.

Almanza did 3 leak tests on me and I did not have a leak or any serious complication as far as I know. BUT had there been an emergency or problem (which clearly happens all the time with this clinic), they are not set-up to take care of it as they should. Period.

Good luck.

Suzimart-  I want to thank you for being so frank and honest.  That has been one of my biggest concerns as a preping for VSGer.  I have heard a ton of really glowing reviews, a few really horrible stories about complications (which can happen anywhere) but few people pointing out the things that you did in your reply.  In my opinion, such as it is, that is what this forum should be about...honest evaluation and experiences.  Not to say that your experience was "bad" but what you would do differently or consider if you were doing it again.  Thanks again.

Sharon