nancy6021

@sherlee...just wanted to jump on here and introduce myself..I had surgery on Dec 8, 2011 with Dr. Kelly. At the time, he was still working with A Lighter Me, and using Hospital Mi Doctor, both of which worked out just great. My husband and I both had surgery, about 2 hours apart. We are from Naples, which is why I noticed your profile...Having our preop diet starting the day after Thanksgiving was difficult, along with dealing with Christmas so soon after surgery, but it all worked out. As of today, appx 5 1/2 months out, I have lost 67 pounds (started at 323), and hubby has lost 114 (starting at 409). We both tried to follow all the post op directions as closely as possible considering we have 3 kids (11, 13, 15) and the crazy life that goes along with them! We religiously get about 40 grams of our protein in daily by using Premier Protein from Costco, along with additional protein from eggs, lean meats, etc. We go out to eat regularly, splitting a meal, or ordering from the kids menu. The only place that has ever given us a hard time with this has been Beef OBradys here in Naples. Our grocery shopping is much different than pre-surgery, and our kids have benefited from having less junk food/pop/etc in the house too! Trader Joe's here in Naples is a life saver with their protein choices and great prices. We also, as a family, try to get to Lifestyles Family Fitness about twice a week to use the treadmills, bikes, and pool...it is too hot and buggy to walk much outside here! Anyhow, sorry to be so wordy, but thought some encouragement from someone who has been there would help....Enjoy the journey.

Another 2 real people checking in...myself and my hubby both had VSG on 12/8/11 with Dr. Kelly. Was a wonderful experience. I have lost around 25 pounds, hubby has lost 42! Hospital Mi Doctor, staff, driver were all great..facility was immaculate....no problems with either surgery...BCBSFL exclusion required we both pay cash..Had surgery on Thursday afternoon, to hotel Sat afternoon, walking tourist area in TJ on Sunday..hotel staff great, never felt intimidated anywhere we were...IM for any questions...best money we ever spent...I was off insulin, glucose meds and BP meds immediately after surgery, hubby off insulin and glucose meds within week of surgery so that alone will pay for our surgeries (copay savings!)...do your research and feel good about your decision...

When we spoke with Dr. Kelly on Dec 11 at our hotel, prior to our leaving TJ, he did mention that he wasn't yet sure on if he would be staying with that hospital or not.... From my patient point-of-view, the Mi Doctor Hospital was great, but I don't have any experience with the previous hospital he used. I suppose if I had needed the ICU, I would not have thought it was so nice....thankfully no need. @Afro Cyster - did you fly into San Diego? I know Hector was picking up another patient as he dropped hubby and me off early on Dec 12 at airport..what a great bunch of people...hope you are doing great!

My husband and I both had VGS on December 8th with Dr. Kelly. We went through "A LighterMe" and worked with Linda who is herself a WLS patient. Our experience with Linda was great from start to finish. She patiently answered all my questions as quickly as I asked them, several times calling me to speak person to person versus email. Any info she had given me was totally spot on, and there were no surprises. Regarding the actual experience...again no surprises except for finding out how sincere and caring all of the staff were, from Hector and Adrienne our wonderful driver-team, to every single staff person we came in contact with...what a stellar group. Only one or two of the overnight nurses were not fluent in English and we did fine with non-verbal communication. From our arrival at Pueblo Amigo Hotel, to next morning's trip to hospital (MiDoctorHospital), pre-op tests, surgery, 2 nights in hospital, then back to hotel for 2 nights...we were continually surrounded by competant, caring and kind people. The hotel and the hospital were both modern and immaculate. We also were introduced to Sara as Dr. Kelly's coordinator. She made sure we had everything we needed for our 2 postop hotel days, including Water, juice, gatorade and lots of followup information...she even made a special trip, without us asking, to bring us 'coupons' so we could get chicken broth from the hotel restaurant despite any language barrier with the waiters. Over the course of 2 days, we went down to the lobby restaurant and had the world's best chicken broth...no chips, no tortillas on the side, nothing in the broth...yum! Dr. Kelly himself? What a gentleman...kind, concerned, devoted to bariatrics and to his patients. He came to our hotel room on a Sunday morning, spending an hour there answering our questions and discussing life in general. Sorry this is so long...but despite our (and our friends/relatives) fears of "surgery in Tijuana, it could not have been a more positive and wonderful experience. My husband's BCBS of FL work contract has a 'weight loss surgery' exclusion, so we had to pay for both of us out of pocket. Money well spent...