surgery for teen daughter

Hi Everyone! I am new to this sight..and I first posted this on the wrong message board....hopefully I will eventually navigate through this like a pro! I have a 14 year old daughter scheduled to have surgery with Dr. Ortiz on Dec. 1st...but after reading the posts, it doesn't seem like many people use him. Does anyone have any feedback? I am very worried about my daughter having an "elective" surgery at such a young age. She has been heavy all of her life. My husband is heavy and was diagnosed with congestive heart failure at the age of 39 and his dad died at age 38, weighing 385 pounds. My daughter is VERY excited about having this surgery. She is adorable and I hate seeing her suffer, but nonetheless, I am still afraid of surgery. HELP! Thank you for listening! Sue

Hi Sue, I dont know anything about dr. Ortiz! Have you done any research on him? Has your daughter had any other surgeries??? How did she do? How much does she need to lose?

I've never heard of that doctor. Please be careful... this is a *major* surgery! *hugs* ~Audrey~

Susan, I have heard of Dr. Ortiz and even had talked with him on the phone when I was going between getting the lapband or the RNY. I found him to be very knowledgable and personal. He has a book that I read and it was very informative. He's also one of the proctors for the band in the US and teaches other surgeons how to place the band. If I had decided to go forward with the band, I wouldn't have hesitated in having him do the surgery. Good luck to your daughter. Melissa

Hope all went well with your daughters surgery. I hope it was the Lap Band. I have a lot of bias agains RNY. They tell me dr. Ortiz is fabulous. He was one of the 3 Mexican Docs which I was considering. I did not decide agains him but for Dr. Rudolfo Sanchez because my friend had such a great experience with dr. Sanchez. I wouldn't hesitate to go to Ortiz. I received several emails from hima nd found him very nice and knowledgable. His reputation is splendid. Good luck, corliss