jennifer suonvieri

I have Dr Illan on the 7th. Anyone else at florence Hospital?

Good for you :-) you made a great choice going with Dr. Illan! Best wishes to you!

Has anyone had surgery with Dr. Illan? If so' date=' I would greatly appreciate any feedback you have, good or bad! Thank you![/quote']

Hi SaraLou! I was sleeved by a different surgeon a year ago but brought my 20 year old daughter to Dr.Illan this past may. 4 of my friends were sleeved at the same time as my daughter and two other women from my small town just got sleeved this past week by Dr. Illan as well. He is a wonderful person and a very competent surgeon. His team is fantastic and nobody can beat Omar (his coordinator) as far as care and concern for patients. I have yet to hear one negative whisper about Dr.Illan. I hope this helps!

Also please check out Dr.Illan he has a kick butt team and is a great surgeon!

I know' date=' right? I waver between being pissed off that I didn't have this in my twenties, and being so utterly thrilled that I have it now and excited that I get to have at least a FEW good years before I'm too much of an "old man" to enjoy it any more <img src='http://www.bariatricpal.com/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/wink.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' />[/quote']

Just a helpfull FYI my grandpa was very active into his 70's im sure it would have been longer but he passed away. I also worked in a nursing home for ten years....don't sweat it you've got many many good years ahead!!! Here's to you! :-)

Heey good to see you as well;) ok so I can cross over with my bc..good to know all I want is to get this done and hopefully with no problems!

Hi there! I was sleeved this past June in tj by dr Kelly. When your coming back and forth across the border your in a company van and cecey his wife/nurse/driver has some sort of medical pass. Several of us only had birth certificate and license and one gal only license. Nobody batted an eye, it was very easy and uneventful. But... That was with dr Kelly's crew. I imagine the other prominent surgeons operate the same way? Anyways, I wish you a safe trip and speedy recovery!!!

Well' date=' because I don't have a video recorder, they won't allow me to bring one I to the gym anyway (privacy issues) plus I don't support YouTube[/quote']

Seriously Jimmy make a DVD! One just for sleevers! A home one for people who can't afford gym membership and then one for people who go to the gym but can't afford a trainer. Maybe a school would let you use their facilities and film when no one is around. I've been reading these posts and you are helping so many people! Im a lucky one because I could afford a trainer. I trained for five months before surgery and picked back up shortly after, I've lost 40 lbs and I have no sags so far!!! Bless your heart!! And bless Jason my trainer!

I do not feel that Dr. Kelly is keeping the entire fee for himself. He probably does perform the surgery for approximately 2500. I work in pulmonary medicine' date=' and while I might get paid 5800 to see a patient, the fee pays for the facility, bills and staff. When you have surgery in the United States, you pay a separate fee (and often get individual bills) to the hospital, doctor, anesthesia, radiology, and any after care you receive. In Mexico, you are paying one fee, so the payment you made is going to Dr. Kelly. Then, Dr. Kelly must pay the hospital, anesthesiologist, radiology, and your hotel/aftercare. If I were to take a guess, you were writing two checks because one was going to the coordinator to pay herself and all the miscellaneous expenses while the other was for Dr. Kelly's personal fee out of which he must not only support his family, but his practice and employees as well.

Considering it costs 5500 to go through Dr. Kelly directly while going through his former coordinator costs 5700, I would make the assumption that the coordinator's fee is 200 (since all the expenses involved in your care would remain the same whether you use a coordinator or not). Hearing about all the things that some coordinators have done for their patients, it sounds as if though many of the coordinators were worth every penny of the 200.

Personally, I would pay 200 to have that peace of mind. I feel Omar provides the same service as a coordinator, so I feel I got a bonus and service that I didn't have to pay extra to obtain.[/quote']

I think my sister in law paid dr Kelly's old coordinator 2000.

I am 27 with a young family and have decided to be sleeved by Dr. Kelly. I just told my mom about going to Mexico and she is worried about after care. If I got home and something were wrong what would I do... would I be able to get treatment....will my pcp still see me? I told her a hospital HAS to treat me! I will have to pay out of pocket (I think) but I won't be turned away! Does anyone have any advice I could pass on to her to make her feel better about this?

I left kids behind also. Mine are 19, 15, 12, 10, 8, and 6. I know how you feeling. I just want you to know when they wheel you out of your room and bring you into that operating room you will be terrified ( I dong care who your surgeon is) all I could think is " what the hell am I doing? " then I prayed!!! My sister in law (who has also done this) went through the same thing at that moment. So when your there being wheeled down just know that being scared is normal. It's not your conscience telling you something bad is gonbz happen. And I don't think you'll have any trouble with your aftercare. :-)

I'm glad you had a great experience! My surgery was 6 weeks ago with Dr. Kelly. I had a great experience and healed up well. Omar rocks. He seriously needs a fan page' date=' lol.[/quote']

Hey that's a good idea! Lol

Hi Cathy! Welcome to your journey! I hope it is as pleasant as mines been! There's lots of helpful people on this forum take full advantage. No question is a dumb question. Here's to you!!!

Ooops! Sorry Kathy! I spelled your name wrong.

Hi Cathy! Welcome to your journey! I hope it is as pleasant as mines been! There's lots of helpful people on this forum take full advantage. No question is a dumb question. Here's to you!!!

I hope this comes across in the way it is intended. I am not gifted when it comes to writing.

And no one could think more highly of Omar than I do (well' date=' probably a lot of you probably feel the same). But Omar is the Dr.'s assistant, he does not directly provide medical care. I bet with all of the running around he did, he still checked on the patients still in the hospital. But, really, what is he going to do for you in the hospital? Yes, he can contact the Dr. if need be, but you are in the hospital, there is always a Dr. there. We had a lovely young woman Dr. there while I was there and she and I had lovely lengthy conversations.

He is also just a phone call away.

While we were there, we did want to run around and see things, but patient needs were always first. He would say, I have to stop by the hospital for someone for example or take someone for their leak test, then he would tell us when he was available to take us sightseeing.[/quote']

You nailed it. When Omar is there holding the puke tray for people this is him going above and beyond for patients comfort. I think it's safe to say its not in his job description. Well written thin my mind. :-)

Yes! DO NOT contact alighterme with regatd to Dr Kelly. He is not affiliated with them at all. They just use his image to trick his potential patients into booking with them' date=' all the while, they will set you up with one of their contracted drs. I dpoke with Dr k about this, and he said he'd need to start legal action[/quote']

Yes this is accurate information.

You can go to your local post office and get the form. Or just google passport and the link will come up and you can fill it out on line and print to mail. We were just there' date='and my cousin had no passport, just her drivers license and birth certificate, got through, no problem! So, unless you are planning on seeing other foreign countries in the next decade, id say save your money![/quote']

We went through with birth certificates and drivers license as well. Another gal with us only had a drivers license. (This was a week 1/2 ago) nobody said anything. It was smooth....best wishes!!

Thank you' date=' thank you, thank you!!! This is informatin I can use to make contact and get info from them! And hearing about wonderful experiences, as well as not so wonderful, helps me get a bigger picture! <img src='http://www.bariatricpal.com/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' />

How or where would I get a passport? I've never had one before.[/quote']

Don't waste your money, you can get back with a drivers license. I had my D.L and certified birth certificate. Another wan only had the license and we crossed very easily nobody said a word.

"A few days later' date=' there was a lady who came that brought 3 family members with her, and Omar was run into the ground" (followed by a list of everything Omar was doing, which looked as of it was all BC of the lady with the extra ppl)

Like I said, it was the WAY she worded this. It hurt that woman's feelings. And instead of anyone being nice to her she got run off. Which is what too many ppl on this forum do.

By the woman's post u could tell she was upset and offended and then instead of a real apology ppl kept dumping on her about how she was taking it wrong.

Right then someone could have explained that sunny was not just referring to her, but to everyone etc. but like always it didn't happen.[/quote']

With all do respect, sonny was simply stating the sequence of events. The woman with 3 family members arrived last, therefor was listed last followed by how busy Omar was. I suppose she could have said a woman came with 3 family members and before her there were 3 of us already there. So then it could have been our fault. The point is it was nobody's fault. There were a lot of us and he was busy. And Sonny did express that she didn't mean for her words to bash anybody practically immediately. She has no reason to apologize for people being sensative to something they misread.

No' date=' it wasn't what sunny said. It was how it was said. When I read her 1st post about the other family it reads like Omar was being overused. Period. And the blame was solely placed on another family. And not worded in any nice way. We forget that when we type things out nobody knows the author's intent and I can see why it was offensive[/quote']

No read again, she listed out everything Omar was doing which included 3 then 4 families. He was being run into the ground so to speak because there was so much going on with everybody. The girl with extra people just felt like it was directed torwards her because she had x-tea people. It was not.

I figured if their was a non emergency complication that I would just go back to Dr. Kelly. (I'm not sure if people do that). But if it were a cant wait has to be taken care of right now type of thing? Yeah I've worried about that too. Try not to let it worry you too much though, my family has lived without health insurance for almost 8 years we have 6 kids 3 of which r rambuctous boys and my husband is a logger! and worrying will drive you nuts!!! Somehow things work out. Also we've never had to use this but check with your hosp. Because some facilities are allowed to drastically eliminate large amounts of money off people's bills once per year.this might be something that could help you in a situation such as your talking about...I wish you well...

That's exactly what's being said, nobody is putting blame on anyone, the only point Sunny is trying to make is that Omar was busy doing what he does, what he loves to do and that is seeing to it that everyone is comfortable and happy. We all had a great time, it was fun getting to know family members of other patients. Omar is great and if he doesn't get back to someone as quick ad usual it's because he's taking good care of someone else at the moment.

I just want to add when they say walk they mean walk!! Mine wouldn't leave untill I started 15 min walks that if I went any faster I would be jogging. If you haven't tried this I hope it helps. Good luck to you that gas is ugly.

I'm so happy I stumbled across this! My left incision also has a little bump under it not as big though. My healing looks good no redness, no weeping, no pain, no fever, sounds like its normal! Thanks everyone!!!

Hey sonny! U bring up a great point, I brought Omar the rice gift, now it doesn't seem like enough!! This man is amazing get this- he asked how my kids liked the gifts I brought home since of course he was there helping me pick them out and bargaining for me. I took them home very rugged authentic hand made toys ya know something you cant get at Walmart. I explained why they were special from Mexico, that people are very poor, where I bought them, ect. My kids love the toys, I think because they are so very different from the ones they have. Anyways my poing is the kids asked of they could give some of their toys to kids in Mexico. I talked with Omar and he said I can mail them to him and he will get them to this orphanage full of children with HIV/aids. I guess the hosp has some special connection with helping this orphanage. This man never stops helping. My family just loves him. And my kids feel so special because he said he would help them out! Now theyre filling up boxes for kids in need instead of asking for things they don't need.

If the other half of your face matches the half I can see you look very pretty to me. Oh! That rhymed! You can only get to know people to a certain degree using technology. Ya know when you meet people in person? And you get a feeling or vibe so to speak. I think physical human contact is important for really getting to know someone, to really bond. Otherwise that person is a voice and an idea of a person. My point is make friends in person so people can FEEL who you are. But hey if you like texting let me know you can have my number. I'm not a nut case i promise! I have 6 kids, 2 dogs, 3 cats, and 1 great husband. And lots of room for all kinds of friends. Oh and I'm 38 yrs old and getting sleeved in Mexico in 9 days.

God bless you being sleeved today! Here's to happy healing!!! I will be sleeved June 27 - Dr. Kelly, Mexico.

Omar sounds like an angel! How does it work? Do you ask him to take you where you want to go? This process is so different than in the states. I hate to ask for anything in a hosp. everyone is always so busy and impersonal. This Mexico situation seems so very different.