jjinWA

My daughters and I sat with dr. Ortiz today after the leak testing. We expressed our concerns and dr. Ortiz was very interested and seemed to care about our experiances. He explained our surgery procedure again and why they chose the medicines they do, etc etc etc. We were with him for over 1/2 hr. Never did I feel rushed. Would I go to Mexico again.... Absolutely. Would I select dr. A. Ortiz again? Absolutely!!!!!

Oh yes, one more comment. I can never say it enough. I am sooooo thankful that there ARE other options for those of us that do not have the benefit of insurance or cannot secure approval even if they do have insurance. The cost of this surgery in the US is staggering and one that neither of my daughters could ever afford. Never for one moment have I regretted our decision to go to Mexico. Because of having this option available to us, both my daughters are on the losers bench with me and we can share our journeys together now! I hope my comments do not dissuade anyone from choosing Mexico and Dr. A. Ortiz or any other surgeon of their choice. That was never my intention. I want everyone who have a chance to change their lives forever with this gift of Bariatric surgery if they come to that final decision. Mexico and other foreign locations makes it a reality for many that would never see this opportunity otherwise. Thank you thank you thank you for this second option!

As I said in my first few sentences of my testimony previously, my experiences were exactly that....mine. And only mine. I clarified that I am sure others would have different experiances. That is ok. I wanted to share what we went through so that others coming down in the future would see things realistically with the benefit of everyone's feedback. Not just mine. The minor issues of room comfort and staff attendance were certainly minor and would never stop me from recommending Dr. Ortiz. No one should believe or expect things are going to be perfect. This is the case in all locations whether it be in the US or Mexico or anywhere else. The info I shared regarding the IV infiltration issues on the 3 of the 4 patients was concerning and yes I have shared this concern with the drs on staff in hopes they will address the issue with more training on how to administer IVs. The lack of gloves is also a concern that they addressed immediately. I am overall satisfied with the surgeons work. And really that is what is most important. I did have the advantage of comparing apples to apples here because I had the surgery in the US and my daughters had the same surgery in Mexico. I simply wanted to share with everyone my assessment as I saw it. Final comment I will make here is that the care I received in the US was better but the surgery (surgeon) and the surgery team appeared to be as qualified in both locations. Long term based on surgeon follow up care and pending complications if there are any remains to be seen. For now I would continue to recommend Mexico as a medical tourist destination.

I agree with you all though I could not confirm otherwise, having never been to other surgi centers in TJ. I believe OCC could improve a bit, but as I previously stated, nothing major went by the wayside. Just minor service issues and maybe a bit of concern regarding IV infiltrate issues. That was disconcerting and should not have happened. Watching IV bags should have been a standard protocol. 3 out of the 4 patients suffered and that should not be the case. They may have just been short handed for some reason. I simply mentioned it here so that if a patient in OCC in the future, Make sure they wear gloves and change IV bags timely. Easy enough to resolve that problem.

Franciscan weight management center. It is a surgical center that focuses on 24 hr care, though some stay 48 hrs if required. Bariatric surgeons have their clinic next door to the center. It has the 'center of excellence' accreditation which is why I also chose OCC in Mexico. I was not hung up on the procedure being in a hospital. Actually prefer the surgery centers to avoid the "sick" patients and their germs. ????

We returned back to the hotel today. Surgeries for both daughters yesterday. I won't sugar coat it and will speak plain truth here because I think it will be helpful for others. Of course every experience will be different. One of the reasons I was very aware of the service etc is because I could compare apples to apples so to speak since I had the sleeve surgery in the US 6 months ago. Also because one of my daughters is a nurse practitioner the medical practices were more apparent to her then may have been by others not knowing proper protocol for such things. Anyway, here is what we learned and discovered through the process so far. Paperwork was so generic that that it actually asked you approve dental work. Very confusing, but no real big deal. Rooms were clean and orderly. Beds were fine. Door on one room would not close so light from hallway was a bit of a pain. The other room the door would not stay open, so they kept propping it with a trash can. Ha! The bar next door had karaoke at full volume through most of the night so it was hard for them to sleep due to the noise. Again, not a serious issue, just annoying. You have to share a bathroom with all the patients, no private bathroom for each patient. Oh well. We certainly survived. We wanted extra pillow for each daughter to enable them to sleep a bit on their side (pillow would help if tucked a bit under the belly). Sorry, no extra pillows. So that would be a suggestion that you may want to bring your pillow if you think you might want to sleep on your side. ???? Unfortunately they do not allow companion to stay after 4 PM but we were aware of that before we agreed to going with OCC. So not complaining but the final gal who had surgery last did not get out of recovery room until 3:00 PM so the hubby asked if they could forgo the 4 pm visitor deadline. They agreed to move it to 6 but still was hard to leave her for the night when she was just 3 hours from surgery! You may need to argue for more time if necessary if you are scheduled for the last surgery of the day. Also, they do 6 or so surgeries each day ( although only 4 on our day) so pray you are one of the first to go cuz sitting there until 3:00 pm with no fluids is likely to be very difficult. We were lucky, my daughters were first and second on the schedule. They were both done and out of recovery by 10:30 am. I felt bad for the gal that went last. Really a tough day for her even BEFORE she had the surgery! We were given a price for the take home meds in an email before we came, but when it came time to make our purchase the price was higher. When we asked the receptionist about the discrepancy she simply said the pharmacy had raised the price. We did not know this until AFTER she had ran the charge through the CC? Oh well, only $20 more, but we should have been told before she ran the charge thru. Again, only minor issue. The companions were told that there was a cafe on the first floor of the building that served sandwiches, coffee, etc. When we went down there we saw that it was closed and they told us that it never opened that day. Not sure why, but again only a minor inconvenience because Applebee's is right on the corner and our lunches were fabulous. I had steak fresco. It was very good....steak was cooked just right and zucchini, Tomatoes, and avocados were tasty! Serving staff spoke English and menu had subtitles in English so ordering was a breeze. Be aware of your health needs when you are there because they will not likely guide you. We had to constantly ask for ice chips ( actually not chips as they were more like chunks and were hard to suck on) popsicles, and broth. Delivery even when requested was far and few between. ????. Since you should take in as much as you can tolerate it was kind of disappointing with the limitations of availability, but again... We were only there for 24 hrs so no major thing. They were very poor about replacing IV bags when they went empty. This may be why 3 of the 4 patients had their IVs infiltrate. Only one that did not have this issue was my oldest daughter who insisted that the bag be replaced BEFORE it was empty. Being a nurse practitioner she knew this was important. My youngest daughter and the other two patients had to have a new IV stick in the other hand due to this issue. The 3 gals had to wrap their arms in hot packs today to try and get the swelling down in their arms because the IV fluid went under their skin and not in their vein! Also, not sure why they wanted a second blood draw ( she does not recall them ever drawing blood before surgery although they said they did.... Hmmmm) from my oldest daughter, but when the nurse went to poke the needle into her arm my daughter refused to let her because she did not have gloves on. That is something I would have missed but again with her medical knowledge she was a bit alarmed with the lack of good medical methods. So when they draw your blood or do anything like this, insist they wear gloves! Never at any time did they measure water intake or output. This is something that seemed to be a big deal when I had my surgery. I was not allowed to go home until they were secure in the fact that I was able to drink so many ounces of water, and voiding properly. Apparently not a concern with my daughters' surgeries. This is simply one of my examples of Apple to Apple compare. Not sure it means anything here. Just a difference in practices between the two surgeons and facilities. Shuttle service to and from hotel was uneventful even though if there are too many you have to wait for the next shuttle which is about 45 minutes later. Obviously patients have priority as they have to do preop testing etc. Your companion may have to go in a later van. ????. Even if you call for the shuttle at a certain time the night before you will get bumped for patients scheduled for a procedure that day. Don't be surprised if you are required to go in separate vans. Shuttle picking us up at airport went smoothly. Ride to border is a quick one. We got out of the van at the border and walked into customs building. Pressed the button.... Yeah, it was a green light! So we were waved on and we walked out the other side of the building and waited for our van. We never even showed our passports! Wow! Hotel room was very nice and service was provided for anything we asked. Free broth and popsicles for patients (limits to qties but certainly was enough). 2 bottled waters provided each day for the patient also. Broth was tasty but popsicles were horrid. No worries, we walked up to Walmart which is about 6 blocks up the hill and we purchased bottled water, tea, jello, and popsicles for the remainder of our stay. Starbucks there too, so after we walked up the hill, the girls rested there, having a green tea, before we walked back to the hotel. The hotel will provide you with a fridge and microwave, but you will have to ask. It allowed me to purchase food for myself too. Since the restaurant prices in the hotel are a bit spendy for me since I eat very little. I will admit the brunch buffet looked fabulous but obviously not for me. Weather was fabulous and it felt great sitting outside in the poo, area. They have a nice gym too! So, as you can see... The event, while not perfect, I saw nothing terribly alarming. The important question you may ask here... What do I think of the surgical team? Well..... I think they were pretty terrific! Both surgeons were kind and most importantly seemed more then qualified. The anesthesiologist was also very kind and explained everything very well. I will have to reserve my final opinion though based on the follow up care we receive in the coming months. I believe they will be helpful and assist with any concerns we may have as time progresses. We shall see. To summarize.... Apples to apples so to speak... I can say I had somewhat better care and service in the US as far as the medical attendance required in the facility. But all issues were very minor and certainly not something that would stop me from recommending anyone from going to Mexico to have this procedure done. As before and still today, I believe the surgeon in Mexico that we selected is as qualified as the surgeon I had in the US. For those of you that were not fortunate to have ins to cover the cost in the US ($28,000), the option of having surgery in Mexico at a fraction the cost is certainly still worth considering. And for now, I am sticking to that belief! Hope this lengthy post is helpful for any of you sitting on the fence trying to decide if Mexico and Dr. Ariel Ortiz is for you. I have no regrets at this point. Thankfully. ????

I do believe you are in good hands if you have chosen this surgeon. His team of drs and nurses are awesome. Time will tell how this all goes. I pray pray pray there are no complications that come up in the future, but the followup care by this team reassures me that anything we need help with they will be there for us. Good luck on your upcoming surgery. It will be here before you know it!

First surgery is done and oldest daughter went through it fine. Second one just went in to OR. I met Dr. Ortiz. I have confidence in him and his team. Would not be doing this if that were not the case. Keep your prayers going! I have met several others having surgery today. Ortiz stays busy. There was a family of 8 here last week. 4 were scheduled for surgery, and 2 others had surgery by Ortiz in March. Other two were companions. Wow!

Thanks for the tips! We are at the OCC now. Girls are in seeing the NUT. I did not have the heart eating in front of them this morning. They are starving! Ha. I will run down to the cafe when they go in to surgery. We had a good night. Hotel is nice and everyone is accommodating. Staff here at OCC are also very helpful. Going to be a long day, put so worth it!

I just got back from Walmart. You read my mind. Thanks Kindle. I bought stuff I can eat in the room. The girls puchased powdered broth that can be mixed with hot water from the coffee pot. No microwave here. :-(. We will get by. Making the best of it. Food is not going to be the focus here. Just praying for a good surgeon. ????

Finally the day has come! We are in our hotel. Will head to surgery center tomorrow. Room is ok, but everything is extra. They will provide limited number of broth and pop cycles at no charge, which is very nice, but no restaurants close by and therefore companion is exposed to the very costly restaurant prices in the hotel. ???? I am hopeful tomorrow I can get some food elsewhere and put it in a mini fridge in the room.......If they have a mini fridge they are willing to deliver. I am excited to get the surgeries underway and over with. Very worried for the girls, but I have to believe all will go well. Cannot believe my daughters will be joining me on the losers bench very soon! Will keep in touch as we go through the process. ????

Hi RJ. Just checking in to let you know I have your sister in my thoughts. She home yet?

RJ you have been in my thoughts a great deal and even more now that your sister has recently joined the losers bench. I have only best wishes and prayers for both of you. Funny how we worry even more for our family members then we do even for ourselves. My daughters are scheduled for surgery with Dr. Ariel Ortiz in Mexico on Monday. I was a lucky survivor of this surgery. No real issues. I pray and pray that my girls are as lucky. Going to Mexico adds another element of anxiety but I do believe they are in good hands. I HAVE to believe that to survive this! Please keep us up to speed on how your sister is doing. She is so lucky to have such a caring, kind, and loving person for a sister. I mean that. You have been an inspiration for all of us on this site. Good luck to both of you!!!! Glad your butt is healing well!!! ????.

I head off to Mexico with my daughters on Sunday. Their surgeries are scheduled for Monday. Like everyone else I have the feelings of anxious, scared, excited, etc. I am putting it out in the universe. It will all go well! I have to believe that for me to get through this. My daughters are my life! Please say your prayers! I will appreciate each and every good though you send our way! I will post when they are out from surgery and back in their room. Merry Christmas everyone!

We had a great time at last night's meetup. Autumn is was great meeting you! You are a wonderful success story and certainly your journey is one that you should be very proud of. I look forward to seeing you at both the St. Claire's support group in Lakewood and again at our next meetup at Panara's. The date for St Claire's is Dec 15th at 6:30pm and the next Panara's meetup (in the Tacoma Mall) is set for January 14th at 7:00pm. All are welcome to both groups. I head off to Mexico with my daughters this Sunday. Their surgeries are set for Monday. Please say a prayer for them. I can't wait for them to join me on the losers bench, even though I am anxious and worried for them at the same time. I am putting it out in the universe. All will go well. I just know it!

I have no idea how many will be coming so I will get there early and grab a large table and we can go from there. Not sure how busy Panara's will be due to christmas shoppers but we can get close and cozy if needed. :-)

Nothing has been formally set because this group is just getting started. Dec 3 is our second meetup. I wanted to see if this time and place worked for most everyone. If we get a good turnout I will post the next meeting date and place on this site. I am hoping to meet up about every 2 weeks or so. We will catch you the next time. ☺️

Usually expedited means only a few days, but not sure of exact time. You can't apply earlier?

The more the merrier! We have a variety of people coming. Some have had the surgery and others are waiting for their approval and surgery dates.

Great! There will be another gal from Gig Harbor that will be there as well! See ya then!

I live in Gig Harbor too! I have set up a meet up group at Panara's in the Tacoma Mall on Dec 3rd at 7 PM. This will be our second group gathering. Please join us! It is always great to meet new friends who we can share this journey with!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! My daughters are in the preop diet stage so our dinner is going to be very limited, but no worries! We are so excited for the upcoming trip to OCC. We leave the 7th with surgeries scheduled for the 8th. Please send your prayers this way! I will be so glad to have the surgeries done and the girls back home and on the losers bench. Good luck to all of you who have upcoming surgeries in December. What a great Christmas gift you are giving yourselves!

Hi Shari71! We recently met up at the Panara's restaurant at the Tacoma Mall. It was nice to meet new people. I have scheduled our next meeting at this same location on Dec 3 at 7:00 PM. Please come join us! Anyone preop or post op are welcome.

Best Christmas present Evvvvvvver!!

We had our first evening meetup in Tacoma on the 12th. It was a great way to meet friends who are on this same journey. The next Tacoma meetup is scheduled for Dec 3 at 7:00 pm at Panara's in the Tacoma Mall. Look forward to seeing old and new friends there!