Dr. Ariel Ortiz at the OCC

[jjinWA 511]

@@jjinWA - how are your daughters doing, post op? Would love to hear tidbits of their last three weeks

Both daughters are doing well, even though the youngest is not progressing as well as the oldest. She is struggling with acid reflux. Some days are better then others but honestly it has been slow going. She has went back to limiting herself to liquids and very very puréed foods such as mashed potatoes with gravy. We are hoping it will help lower any inflammation that may be an issue and give her tummy more time to heal. My oldest is already working on soft foods and having no issues. Just goes to show that even with the same dr, two different patients can progress very differently.

I know you are headed to Mexico next week, correct? Good luck! Let me know how things go for you.

[mduffield 252]

@@jjinWA - YES!! Fly out a week from today and surgery next Friday! (9th)

So glad to see the update about your daughters. I'm sorry to hear one is struggling so bad with reflux. That has to be really tough! Is she trying any medication? Have you found OCC to be helpful post op, in their care? Being long distance, it's my biggest concern...

[Am1e 48]

I'm 13 months post op. I started having some trouble with reflux and I realized I need to go to bed at night on an empty stomach. So I try to take my night meds 1/2 hour before I lay down. Then only Water. If I go to bed after eating, heartburn all night. If I eat a cracker in bed after taking my pills (which was my previous habit), I have heartburn. So now if I forgot to take my pills before I got in bed, I sit up and drink 8-12 oz of water to make sure everything is down good. My husband is 7 months post op and he can go to sleep right after he eats and have no troubles. Any time I have had questions or issues I have called or emailed and the doctors are very helpful. I don't know if this is your daughter's issue, but it took me too many uncomfortable, sleepless nights to figure it out. Thought it was worth suggesting.

[Am1e 48]

Also, my Iron supplements give me terrible reflux. If I take it early in the day, it won't bother me all night. But if I take it with dinner, reflux all night.

[stina1980 4]

I had a complication with my plication that was done with Dr. Ortiz but it's kind of unique and I don't think it was his fault per say. Just a sequence of events that lead up to it happening. Anyway I am going back to him this month for a revision.

[jjinWA 511]

Long distance does cause some delay in the drs getting back to her. She calls and leaves a message and unfortunately, because she works she is not always available when they call back. They never call again until she sends another message. So up to this point, 4 weeks into this, she has not been able to get any help from the surgical team. ????. She has to travel for her job a great deal, and in fact is going to be out of town next week. I am going to make a dr. appt with a local dr here in town and not even mention her surgery. Just going to say she has acid reflux issues. I am hopeful they may have a solution. I am very concerned that she will have to do a revision to RNY. She does not have any more funds left to do that. I pray this gets better over time.

Thanks for the tips on reflux remedies! I will mention them to her and see if that helps!

[Krista12 2]

I'm Scheduled for March 31st with Dr. Ariel Ortiz. Have anyone had their VSG with him? How was your experience?

[Kindle 8,667]

Long distance does cause some delay in the drs getting back to her. She calls and leaves a message and unfortunately, because she works she is not always available when they call back. They never call again until she sends another message. So up to this point, 4 weeks into this, she has not been able to get any help from the surgical team. ????. She has to travel for her job a great deal, and in fact is going to be out of town next week. I am going to make a dr. appt with a local dr here in town and not even mention her surgery. Just going to say she has acid reflux issues. I am hopeful they may have a solution. I am very concerned that she will have to do a revision to RNY. She does not have any more funds left to do that. I pray this gets better over time.

 

Thanks for the tips on reflux remedies! I will mention them to her and see if that helps!

Has she tried emailing Dr. So? With my busy schedule I found that easier than playing phone tag and he always responded within 24 hours....even on the weekends.

 

There is another OCC patient on here than has had bad reflux issues, too. She had surgery a couple days before me last December. Turns out she actually had scarring of her esophagus from reflux before surgery but never knew it. You may try and PM her to see if she has any advice. Her BP member ID is Slvrsax .

[BitterSweet* 835]

I've done lots of research about him and I'm at 100% with my choice of him. What I'm not 100% about is the plane ride home. That part worries me a bit.

 

@@Kindle just had her surgiversary and Dr. Ortiz was her surgeon. There's a really lengthy thread on here about Dr. Ortiz and the OCC, but I don't remember the name. I'm sure Kindle does and she's usually kind enough to post the link when a question like yours comes up. Good luck!

[Dr-Patient 830]

My colleague-friend [my VSG surgeon]--who is a leader and a pioneer in endoscopic surgery (he's taught many doctors in other countries, etc.; is well published; teaches other physicians, etc., and now, bariatric surgery)--knows Ariel Ortiz very well and says he is a WONDERFUL surgeon. In a general conversation my doc and I were having two weeks ago about the state of medicine today, etc., he just so happened to mention Ortiz' name. I told him that I've seen that name here, on BP. He said, "oh, yeah; he's a great doctor/surgeon." In fact, they are doing something together in the Dominican Republic (or soon will be).

 

I say, go for it with Dr. Ortiz. Congratulations on a great choice.

[Kindle 8,667]

I can't put the link in, because I can't cut and paste in BP (one of the MANY technical problems with this website on my iPad)

 

But it's titled "Dr. Ariel Ortiz and Obesity Control Center" in the self pay and Mexico subforum. Over 1400 posts, so it's a long read but will probably answer any questions you have.

 

Good luck!

[BitterSweet* 835]

Thanks @@Kindle! Btw, where are your incisions? All above the navel or no?

[back2barb78 890]

Ditto Am1e post. I get heartburn as well if I eat late especially if it's something that may be overspiced. Those girls are also just 3 weeks out though too so there is a hump that needs to be gotten over. No one said this is easy!!! I didn't start feeling "normal" (and that's a "new normal" because nothing is the same) for a year! She may be trying to take too much in at one time as well. At three weeks out, literally I could only eat a few spoons of food and I was full and got nowhere near the amount of Water I was supposed to get in. It was too much and remember the OCC does a VERY tight sleeve. That constriction is a beast. I would do what I could and just reheat my food over and over again for hours, eating the tiniest amounts and made SURE take that pill they gave for acid. Also I noticed that if something agreed with me I stuck with eating that, but then randomly it wouldn't agree with me and I moved on to something else and just tried it again a few weeks or a month later. It's a learning process as well. Hopefully Dr. So will be able to give some insight because a doc here is going to want to do a work up on her if you go in saying she's having acid reflux and don't tell them she's almost 4 weeks post gastric surgery not to mention possibly prescribe something she doesn't need or shouldn't take. We're all so different and heal different it takes time to figure out what works. 3 weeks is very very very early out. Did I say very enough????? Are your girls members on BariatricPal? Maybe I missed a post on them posting themselves too I'm not here as much☺️

Edited January 2, 2015 by back2barb78

[jjinWA 511]

Yes, I keep telling myself that.... They are only 3 weeks out! It does take time to heal and everyone is different. I can't expect both girls to progress exactly the same. I was one of the lucky ones-never had the reflux issue. We are taking baby steps with introducing puréed foods and hoping for the best. Zantac works but makes her nauseous. My other daughter (the one who is breezing through post op!) wrote her a script for nexium. Hoping that works better. Kindle we will try contacting Dr So. Thanks for the advice everyone. You are all helping to alleviate my fears! I want her to be happy and healthy. Guess that's what all mothers want. :-)

Edited January 3, 2015 by jjinWA

[Krista12 2]

Thanks