Cherbear

I have to agree with the last few posts that Dr. Martinez was great at answering any questions. Maybe because I was the last patient to be sleeved on the day I went, I did spend about 10-15 minutes with Dr. Ortiz before I went into the operating room. He answered my questions, but post op I had a few more and Dr. M made sure to spend all the time needed answering both my questions and my husbands. You have to be 100% comfortable with your choice in docs, this is a big decision. I'm confident in OCC and hope you get the answers you need. Best of luck

Maybe post your question on the OCC Forum page under October sleevers. She is in great hands

My daily food intake: I start my day with a shake, takes me about an hour to finish it. I bought a can of the Enspira shake mix and add a 1/2 a banana and sometimes a teaspoon of Natural Almond butter. I eat maybe 3 or 4 other small meals throughout the day. At 4 weeks, that consists of 1/4 cup of lowfat chili, tuna chicken or egg salad, 1/2 a small sweet potato, 1 scambled egg, the other night I had some salmon...... stuff like that. I start with a trainer on Tuesday next week. He is well aware of my surgery and knows I need to take it easy on my core to begin with. He recommeded a product called Muscle Fuel to drink before the workout and asked that I show the back of the packet to my doc before taking it. Its like an energy boost and you add it to bottled Water. Its oonly 20 cals, low in carbs and sugar and doc said it would be fine to take. I'm not worried about post workout food so much at this point but I do get these bariatric protien bars from my docs office from Healthwise (can be ordered online) that are pretty good and I'll probably throw some in by gym bag in case I'm hungry after my WO. Being scared is normal. When they came to get me to go in for my surgery, I got tears in my eyes and thought to myself, my God am I doing the right thing. Worrying about waking up during surgery was one of my fears too!! 5 minutes later I was asleep and what felt like just a few minutes later I was waking up. Hubs right by my side holding my hand. Other than feeling groggy, it didnt even feel like anything was even done. I hope i didnt scare you about the drain, it really isnt that bad, it was more of an annoyance. Its only in for 2 or 3 days and thats a a small price to pay. You'll do great and these boards are a great support group.

Hi Mariah - Congrats on your surgery date:) I'm only 4 weeks out but wanted to recommend a great facebook page that is private to members who join so no one from your firends list will see you post unless they are also members. Many of your questions can be answered there as well. "The Sassy Sleevers" Can't answer #1 for you as I'm not a smoker. About exercise. My local bariatric surgeon at home told me to wait until I was 3 weeks out before doing more that walking. He said to start out slow for a few weeks with lite cardio and NOT to do much core exercise. He said give that area another month. In the meantime, I started doing a gentle yoga class 5 days a week and I have to say I'm surprised by how much of a work out there is it!! I was a non-believer lol. Loose skin - So everyone has a different recovery and loss experience. I know for myself I can tell I will have a little bit of loose skin because I have yoyo'd with my weight for 20+ years. You are young and may be surprised at how well your skin snaps back!! Post op - Again everyone is different. My personal experience has been super easy. I even questioned a couple of times if it really happened and maybe he only pretended to take 3/4 of my stomach. As I started each phase of the postop diet, I'm more and more challenged by feeling restriction. I literally get 4 or 5 small bites and I'm stuffed. I can tell I'm getting full by these little half hiccup half burps I get. My pain - on a scale of 1 - 10, I was a 1. I had almost no pain except for the drain. The stich was tight and pulled and was uncomfortable but once it was removed I was prettty much pain free. Hope some of my experience helps.

I requested my records 2 weeks post op and it took a good week before I received them via-email. Instead of sending your request to Concierge try sending to Gloria Miranda <gloria@obesitycontrolcenter.com>; she works in the records office. I also cc'd lucia on my request (nutritionist@obestitycontrolcenter.com). That might have expedited it a little bit Also be sure to give them your patient ID#. Another thought is your can also email Dr. Ortiz as well and let him know your having some pain and need your records urgently so your local doc can see you. I think his email may be on one of the documents in the folder they give you.

Hey there - I was sleeved by Dr. Ortiz on August 2nd. I had a great experience and am down 35 lbs from my pre-surgery weight. When I was researching doctors in MX I was very scared and tried one last ditch effort to get my insurance to pay here in Calif. When they refused, I asked my doctor to look at my top 3 choices for MX surgeons and he said without even looking at the list, Dr. Ariel Ortiz. My doc has been to conferences he has spoken at and even trained under him many years ago for a lapband proceedure. When my surgeon made the recommendation all fear and worries went out the window until about 30 minutes before I was to go under, I think that aprehension is normal. The office is clean and up to date. The staff is very nice and the Marriott is like being on a mini vacation. Be strong, fear of the unknown is normal. If you follow the rules for the pre and post diet you will do fantastic. It has been life changeing for me. I have a long way to go, but the daily struggle is gone for me. I love my sleeve and I know you will too if that is the option you choose. Reach out anytime, I'm happy to answer an questions and have a list of suggestions of things to bring after a few other people reached out.

Sleeved August 2nd with Dr. Ortiz. Feeling great and had a great experience. Have had very responsive correspondance since I've been home as well. Happy to answer any questions and tell you about my experience.

Hi - I'm 2 weeks out tomorrow (friday) having my sleeve surgery with Dr. Ortiz. I reasearched and researched and had it narrowed to Aceves, Kelly and Ortiz. I spoke with my bariatric surgeon here at home and he was aware that if I couldnt get insurance to pay for it here, that I was planning to go to MX to get it done. When they did refuse, before I could even show him my list, he said go to Dr. Ariel Ortiz. My Experience with OCC has been really great. My patient coordinator was Carolyn and she was on top of everything, responded right away to all my questions and was very supportive. Not once did I feel like anything was a sales pitch as I had with another doctors coordinator who tried to make it sound like other doctors always had issues but hers never did. Getting to the hospital was well coordinated. The driver called me when we landed in San DIego and told me where to meet him. The hospital was clean and well staffed. Lucia the nutritionist was nice and has answered several questons since i've been home. Dr. Jimenez the cardiologist answered all my husbands questions and was also very nice. Dr. Martinez who assisted Ortiz with the surgery has an amazing bedside manner. He checked on me and made sure I wasn't having any pain. The post op stay at the Marriott was great. The hotel was really nice, updated and they are ready for the sleeve patients offering 3 bowls of broth each day along with bottled water and popcicles. I personally have had very little pain and recovery has been a breeze. Worst part for me was the drain that you go to the hotel with; the stich was tight, and was little uncomfortable, but it comes out the day your going home. I've kept in contact with a few of the other patients who were sleeved on the same day and it seems we have all had a pretty easy recovery. Happy to answer any questions, just reach out :-)

Dr. Ariel Ortiz - August 2nd

Stay Calm. You've done your homework, the waiting is the worst part. I arrived the same day as my surgery but was the one one they did that day. I waited between the waiting room and my room for the night for 6 hours. It was so nerve racking, so I'm right there with you. Dont sweat the small stuff right. We chose this path because we have a food addiction. You'll do great. What time is your surgery tomorrow? I'm 8 days post op and including the pre-diet I'm down 18 lbs. My husband and I had a deal that if we got the hospital and met the doctor and anything didn't seem right, we were out of there. Your going to do great. Sending you calming thoughts.

I was sleeved by Dr. Ariel Ortiz August 2nd. 7 days post op and I feel great. No regrets.

Sleeved August 2nd with Dr. Ariel Ortiz (OCC)

I just scheduled my date for June 27th with Dr. Aceves. I've researched and read and consulted many forums. For the last week I've been feeling very nervous about going to MX but today I woke up and the nervousness is gone. I'm excited, releaved and embracing my future new life!! Let the countdown begin!!