Dr. Ariel Ortiz at the OCC

[Sunshine1976 1]

I am in the process of scheduling an appointment with Dr. Ortiz for the sleeve procedure. My husband and three year old daughter will be coming with me. I am just curious if anyone has had any experience with traveling there with small children. Any input or feedback would be appreciated! Thank you

Edited December 8, 2014 by Sunshine1976

[back2barb78 890]

There's also a sandwich shop on the lower floor at the OCC my parents went to daily that they loved that had Mexican food too. They did the food in the room from Walmart in the fridge too. We ate together at the buffet one day where they brought my broth to me. I never needed more than what was offered to me- I could barely get my fluids in before I was ready to go back to sleep. I did bring chicken broth Protein Powder with me and did add a little to my broth for an extra boost. It's just a few days though and it goes by fast.

Edited December 8, 2014 by back2barb78

[sprocket 104]

My husband said the cafe at OCC was good. He also really enjoyed the hotel brunch. I had the free broth and Popsicles, but the brunch looked and smelled amazing.

[jjinWA 511]

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!

[jjinWA 511]

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!

[mduffield 252]

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 update! Always so reassuring to be hearing success stories! My surgery is exactly a month from today! Im "enjoying" my pre op liquids as I type. Lol

[jjinWA 511]

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!

[mduffield 252]

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!

I feel very confident with dr Ortiz. Heard endless good things. It's just a huge life change! But I'm positive and excited for the future!

[sadymichele 9]

Would you share the other doctors you have narrowed it down too? I've narrowed mine to 4 and would like too see if mine overlap with yours.

[sadymichele 9]

Great!! My bmi is 35, and I understand what you mean about finding someone to do the surgery here. I got approved in Texarkana for the plication, but from my research have decided to get the sleeve instead. I'm in Louisiana. I was deciding between Dr Lopez and Dr Osuna at Vida Spa or Dr. Valenzuela at Mi hospital, but just tonight someone highly recommended Dr Ramos Kelly to me. I've read great reviews for Mi hospital, but I'm not impressed with the photos. A friend of mine for many years, used Dr Valenzuela, so that's where I started my search. I was also considering Dr. Ariel Ortiz.

[gtmikki 33]

I am officially scheduled for vertical sleeve surgery on the 19th. I sent a copy of the certified check yesterday. I have lost 18lbs so far. The minimum was 14 but Lucia said it would be better if I lost 28-30lbs. I know I will lose more but not sure if I will be the 10. Hope it will not have an adverse affect on the duration or outcome of the surgery.

 

Like others on this forum, I would truly like to thank Kindle, Back2barb, Hoosier, and others for documenting the process. This forum is my support and it definitely help me make the decision to have surgery and to choose Dr. Ariel Ortiz. I will be going to Mexico alone. I have read the posts several times and I am not afraid of traveling alone. I have never had any type of surgery so I am a nervous, make that afraid, when it comes to IVs and being put under.

 

I just hope my surgery goes as well as it did for the folks on this forum (folks - yes I am a Georgia girl). Thank you all for your candidness.

[mduffield 252]

I am officially scheduled for vertical sleeve surgery on the 19th. I sent a copy of the certified check yesterday. I have lost 18lbs so far. The minimum was 14 but Lucia said it would be better if I lost 28-30lbs. I know I will lose more but not sure if I will be the 10. Hope it will not have an adverse affect on the duration or outcome of the surgery.

 

Like others on this forum, I would truly like to thank Kindle, Back2barb, Hoosier, and others for documenting the process. This forum is my support and it definitely help me make the decision to have surgery and to choose Dr. Ariel Ortiz. I will be going to Mexico alone. I have read the posts several times and I am not afraid of traveling alone. I have never had any type of surgery so I am a nervous, make that afraid, when it comes to IVs and being put under.

 

I just hope my surgery goes as well as it did for the folks on this forum (folks - yes I am a Georgia girl). Thank you all for your candidness.

Dec 19!!?? Did you have the three week prep op? Love to hear what you have done with 18lbs loss!! So great! Congrats!

[jjinWA 511]

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. ????

[jjinWA 511]

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. ????

[Kindle 8,667]

Thanks for the update and your apples to apples comparison. Sorry you had some issues, but glad everything turned out OK. It's weird about the IV bags, catheters and ice chips. My bag never ran out and my nurse came in repeatedly to refill my little sip cup. I was given a choice of Water or ice chips. And I watched my nurse put on new gloves everytime she walked into my room.

 

I actually was the last of 5 surgeries. But I had an IV in and was receiving fluids by 1pm, even though I didn't go into surgery until 3. My sister and the husband of the 4th surgery patient stayed at OCC until 6pm but I barely remember my sister being there when I went back to my room. I FaceTimed with my sister back at the hotel when I finally woke up about 9pm and she said it was a pretty funny and somewhat incoherent conversation. ????

 

I was in the last room next to the bathroom, so I got to see everyone doing laps all night. And now that you mentioned it, I vaguely remember the club music. I guess it wasn't that big of a deal since I can't sleep in hospitals anyways. I basically just watched TV all night, just like after my neck fusion surgery.

 

Anyways, glad your daughters are doing OK and you guys have found good "snacks" at Walmart. We found a little corner stand in the Avenude Revolucion area that had like 20 different flavors of homemade popsicles and the hibiscus was very yummy...tart instead of sweet. Unfortunately I don't remember the name of the side street it was on.