Kelly, Aceves or Alvarez

[peppercma 12]

I know this has been asked in many ways on this forum, but I've never really seen what I'm looking for. I have chosen Dr. Kelly as my surgeon. I'm scheduled for July 29th and have already paid my deposit and paid for plane tickets for my husband and myself. But, with the recent death he has had (along with "encouragement" from GA Girl ) I'm beginning to doubt my choice. I'm looking for help from everyone here to either confirm my doubts and help me choose a new Dr. or confirm my original decision to use Dr. Kelly and give me the courage to stick with him. TIA for anyone willing to help me out with this!

So, my question is...WHY did you choose the Dr. you did? I don't want to know about how great your experience was, I can find that info all over here. I want to know what made you finally decide on that Dr. What I mean is was it because he's in so & so location, his medical history is this, his personal history is that, his experience is this much, his training was here, his rates of complications/infections/deaths is that or maybe just because you heard so much great stuff about him, or your friend used him. I hope y'all get my meaning. I want specifics ! I'm not asking y'all to do my research for me, I can do that on my own. I just want your personal reasons for making the choice you did.

[TijuanaPlication 87]

What death was that - a patient?? What happened?

Dr Aceves seems to be the recommended go to sleeve doc, but I don't have any personal insight on that one. You peaked my curiosity when you mentioned someone died though.

[AutumnLily 77]

I choose Dr Aceves due to his zero leak complication rate. I did not want to fly back to Canada and then find out I had a leak and begin a long process here of trying to fix it. Another smaller factor was staying in a hospital the entire time (minus the first night at the hotel because surgery is the next day). I felt the paying the extra money was worth it to me.

FYI you fly into San Diego also for Dr. Aceves so that should not affect your flights. Just your deposit if you so choose to change your mind.

[cutie pie 71]

i...... like you went back and forth about the different drs...

i choose Dr Aceves because I feel at peace about this choice... not nervous or excited just peace... he has consistent info on here and on OBH... from what i understand .. he has even performed wls on some of his own staff .. they see the behind the scene things that you and I do not see ... and they put there life in his hands... Plus he is President of the Mexico Bariatric Board ...

too much inconsistent info about dr kelly... if you dig deep on here and OBH- you will find things ... i found info that just didn't sit right with me about dr kelly ... Yes I know people on here love him, but he was not right for me....

Alvarez ... i could not find enough info about him to even consider him ....

These recent deaths was just a wake up call for me... that things could go wrong, and if they do I want to be in the hand of what i consider to be the best ....just my humble opinion

[peppercma 12]

I just called Dr Aceves office to get some info and so far VERY NICE! I spoke with Carla, Nina was out of the office. She got my name & number and said she'd have Nina call when she got back in. Then, Carla called me back and asked if I wanted her to send me some emails with info so I could start reading up. That was very nice of her and very considerate. She could have just waited and let Nina do it. She asked who referred me to them, you know who you are girl, because that person (and maybe even I) would get a referral discount-woo-hoo!

[CaliforniaJenn 0]

I am in the exact same boat as now being unsure about Dr. Kelly. I chose him because I heard lots of great things about him but the recent death has me scared too. I'm hoping more respond to this thread with information on how they chose their doctors!

[sarsar 824]

My main reason for going with Dr. Aceves was bc I wanted to recover in a hospital. It was in a safe area of Mexico, that was also important to me. Also, all of the reviews I read of him where great.

It is true that Dr. C did have the sleeve surgery and so did Ernesto, the driver, who will pick you up.They both look great. Ernesto has a before pic of him in his glove box, ask him to show it to you! They will both answer any questions you may have.

I don't know much about Dr. Kelly but I do know that a lot of people speak highly of him and have had a great experience with him. Just remember that death can happen with any surgery. It is just one of the very, very slim risks. Any surgeon can have a death and it is sad and scary but it is true. This could happen with even the best surgeon out there.

Best of luck to you in your decision! Let us know what you decide.

[Griselda 7]

I chose Dr. Kelly and was originally going to go with either Almanza or Aceves. I have been reading the boards for years now and I remembered some bad things about Dr. Almanza, although to be fair, I have not heard of any problems recently so was going to go with him. (It was something to do with the infection rate during a particular time period, and not anything to do with how he performs surgery). Dr. Aceves is well known and he advertises aggressively which is why he is one of the better known doctors. I have heard from others that he does not have a zero rate of leaks (and to be honest, it would be really strange if he didn't have at least one leak based on all his experience and the amount of surgeries he has performed). I think (but I a may be wrong) that there possibly was a death way back when with Dr. Aceves. I chose Dr. Kelly based on his experience with this surgery, however, honestly I don't think I would have been wrong to go with any of the three mentioned. There was an issue that happened right before I was scheduled to go to surgery (a complication) that I found out about on this board and I wrote to that person and let them know my doubts and they even reassured me that I had made a good choice. Still worried, I called and had a telephone consultation with him and spoke to him for about 45 minutes and I felt reassured after that. I can't take away anyone's fear, because there is always a risk of something going wrong in a surgery, or driving your car or whatever. You will ultimately have to go with what you feel is right. What happened is a tragedy and I feel so very bad for everyone involved. It would be unfair to comment on any particulars because I don't know what happened, I wasn't there, I haven't seen an autopsy, I don't know what was said, at this point it is all speculation. However, why would a doctor try to say it was something else when he knows an autopsy would reveal everything. Again, I do not know and can't pretend to speak for anyone.

[Mick78 1]

Go with Dr. Kelly he is a great Doctor. Someone got an embolism and died, it could have happened to anyone anywhere. That is the risk of having surgery. out of everything I was more worried about getting an embolism rather then developing a leak. The additional care you receive from Dr.Kelly made me feel I would not get a leak. Some doctor only staple the stomach, but Dr.Kelly staples and sutures. Many doctors have lost patients due to incompetence, but you should feel better to realize out of the thousands of procedure Dr.Kelly has performed he has never lost a patient due to incompetence. It is sad that someone died but those are the risks, and that is why having surgery is a major decision.

[AutumnLily 77]

Dr. Aceves is well known and he advertises aggressively which is why he is one of the better known doctors. I have heard from others that he does not have a zero rate of leaks (and to be honest, it would be really strange if he didn't have at least one leak based on all his experience and the amount of surgeries he has performed).

Could you please talk about your own experiences only. This is not a site for idle gossip or hearsay.

I was informed from the doctors office themselves that they have not had any leaks. If you do not know the information first hand it would be appreciated if you did not gossip from the information you may have heard from others.

[Griselda 7]

Could you please post a similar response to everyone else who has posted hearsay on this board? Many, many posts contain things people heard or read and they have not been chastised by you.

[Griselda 7]

Before there are several replies similar to above let me say that I have no personal knowledge of any leaks or deaths for Aceves.

[AutumnLily 77]

Before there are several replies similar to above let me say that I have no personal knowledge of any leaks or deaths for Aceves.

Thank you for correcting the information.

[peppercma 12]

Ok folks, thanks for your input. I spoke with Dr Kelly yesterday and I'm very pleased with him. I guess I just needed the reassurance of hearing his side of things. This is some info from our conversation. Please remember, this is my best understanding of our conversation, I'm sure there are those out there who understand things differently from their own personal conversations with him.

He's been doing bariatrics for 10 years, 6 of those doing the sleeve as his primary operation. Over the course of these past 10 years he has performed the sleeve 4000+ times (not just as a sleeve only, but also as part of the DS). The hospital he currently works out of is the Oasis of Hope cancer treatment center. It is a last chance effort for those people with terminal cancer who aren't responding to other treatment methods. He has been at this hospital for 1 or 2 years, I didn't write that part down. The reason he moved to this hospital is because the one he was previously at was beginning to have patients getting infections from lack of proper sterilization. His efforts to help contain the problem were not heeded, so he decided to leave that hospital to remove himself from the reputation that hospital was getting. The Oasis of Hope does have an ICU with 3 beds. Dr Kelly said that he would only operate if he had an ICU bed open because you have to be prepared for an emergency. His anesthesiologist is Dr. Hernandez, who has been doing his job for 10 years. His diplomas and certifications are available at the hospital for anyone to see if they ask.

Regarding leaks...he has not had any leaks in years. He said that leaks most commonly occur in the upper part of the stomach where the esophagus and stomach meet. His way of preventing leaks is by taking the patients own fat tissue and using it to make a patch around the first 2-3 stitches.

Once we're at home...he said it would be best to have a relationship with a bariatric surgeon in your area, but a PCP would be able to handle any regular aftercare. We need blood work twice a year. He would like it if his patients could return to him once a year for follow-up, but he understands that traveling to him isn't always possible. He recommends a support group meeting once a month in our local areas.

Regarding mortality rates...He has only had one death in his entire career, and that was in June. I know that there is all kinds of stuff going back and forth about he said/she said kinda stuff, but this is what HE TOLD ME...She died from a pulmonary embolism that occurred after surgery. He has autopsy reports to show that fact. For more info on these you can go here...http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/pulmonary-embolism/DS00429/DSECTION=causes

At the end of our conversation I asked a "surprise" question that I believe he probably doesn't get asked often..."What would you life for us to pray about for you?" I will not tell his answer because I feel that is between us, but I will tell you that his answer was exactly what I would have hoped for. He showed us, by his answer, that he is a humble man who takes great care in what he does and wants to be the best he can be for his patients.

Finally, as a result of our conversation I feel very confident in my decision to stay with Dr Kelly. I believe I, and any others, will be well taken care of and have a great experience with him. I believe that he truly cares about his patients and their outcomes.

[sarsar 824]

I am happy you were able to talk to him and be at peace with your decision! The most important thing is that you feel comfortable with whatever decision you make. Best of luck to you!