vixie

I must say there are a lot of people on this board trying to silence the truth..very sad. I got a post from one of Dr. Alvarez patients asking me not to post links were folks could check on their Mexican doctors credentials. You tell me who has the hidden agenda, someone who posts their research or someone who doesnt want all the info out there so others can use it to make up their own minds. I think a lot of these "please dont bash my doctor" folks are actually associated with the doctors who's dirty secretes they are covering. The one who contacted me, did so under an unused screen name...smart! Unfortunately not smart enough to keep from using the phrase "just my 2 cents" in all her posts regardless of which screen name she is using. LOL Houstonwehavea, what I mean by Dr. Alvarez's numbers being fixed, is that I dont believe that he has performed 1400 surgeries when he has only been doing this surgery for 1 year. FAR more established doctors who have been placing the lap bad for 10 times as many years only average about 350 to 600 surgeries per year. We are supposed to believe this unknown has racked up twice as many? I have had personal experience with Dr. Alvarez's clinic as well and found the experience very NEGATIVE. Also, I checked the website of the American College of Surgeons and Alvarez is not listed as one of their docs, although he lists them as a credential. I wont bother posting the link here because god forbid "just my two cents" should read it and leave another rant about the pearls of withholding information. ClaraD. All Doctors are going to have happy and unhappy patients. What you really have to take into consideration is: The type of grievances their patients have The number of unhappy patients, relative to the total number of patients. It can be harder to judge a doctor, when he/sh has very little feedback. Why not choose one that is well know instead. There seem to be at least 6 out there who are very well known and well liked. Most will give you a break on the price if you are short of funds. Remember, a poorly placed babd can result in the band needing to be removed. So its not just the risk of an infection, you're also risking the loss of your band, hence the loss of your $8000. Of course thats "just my 2 cents" LOL

Peaches and 18mnth, I just know your surgeries will go beautifully. Cant wait to see your new weight loss progress posts! You two are really on your way now. Best wishes, V.

what you have is a clear case of habituation. You feel an emotion and you eat. You now have to find some other activity to replace the eating response. At first it will seem unnatural, but after a long time, it will become second nature. So maybe instead of eating, go for a walk, go window shopping, clean your house, paint your nails. A weight loss buddy might help too. Someone you can call that can help "talk you down." Just develop another habit. I know how hard this is. I eat when im stressing or bord. I have a weight loss buddy I now call when I feel like Im about to cheat. Sometimes we go for walks, go to a movie, gossip...whatever to get ourselves pass that feeling. Good luck V

geez, do they put it in and take it out while your under or are you awake for any of it?

Im about 3 weeks into my diet. I've lost 20 pounds so far, but I think Im stalling now. Im eating about 700-900 calories. I called my nutritionist who suggested I go down to 600 calories. Good grief, was this woman train by the Gestapo or what. Im can barely sleep with my stomach grumbling as loud as it does and now Im supposed to go down another 200 to 300 calories! EEkk. I still have close to 3 weeks to loose about 12 pounds. But, I sort of feel like eating so few calories may be slowing down my metabolism. Now I wonder if I should have just done adkins. My docs plan lists a 14 day, low calorie diet, but the nutritionist has me on a 6 week low calorie diet. Seems like the nutritionist are far more aggressive about putting patients on a, long term, extreme diets. Trying to stay strong, V.

Im doing chicken broth with a little chicken bullion, 1 table spoon of parm cheese, and about 4 oz of tofu. It comes to about 250 calories and its a nice break from the shakes.

Just wanted to post an update. Boy were you guys right about dumping Dr. Alvarez. After what happened I started checking into Dr. Alvarez's credentials and I found out that he only graduated about 1 year ago. You would never guess since he claims to have done 1200 surgeries. Also, I could not find him in the American College of Surgeons website, despite the association being listed as a credential. I guess I should have known that something was wrong with every time I called or wrote, I was quoted a different price, ranging from $6500 to $7400. I'll tell you another thing. I posted links to sites where readers could go and checkout the credentials of Mexican doctors. I was contacted by one of Dr. Alverez's patient and told that I should not be listing such links. She said I was in need of psychiatric help because I posted my research online. The whole thing left a bad taste in my mouth. Thanks again for the advice, you guys really steard me in the right direction!

Hi, I had a bad experience with Dr. Alvarez's clinic and would not recommend him. I think his numbers are fixed. I dont believe that a doctor that just barely graduated about a year ago, could rack up 1200+ surgeries, as he claims. Also, I could not find him in the American College of Surgeons website, despite the association being listed as a credential. I contacted his "patient coordinator" Rosie and she was very nice. But the Doc told me that she was a mere driver and had no business giving out info. So I dont know what the deal with that is. I'll tell you another thing. I posted links to sites where readers could go and checkout the credentials of Mexican doctors. I was contacted by one of Dr. Alverezes patient and told that I should not be listing such links. She said I was in need of psychiatric help because I posted my research online. The whole thing left a bad taste in my mouth. If you do use this doc, try to negotiate a good price because his people quote a different price every time you call. I was quoted prices from $7400 to $6500.

Pelorojo I think you make a good point. I would never bother reading the reviews on the doctors board...whats the point. I think you need to come to an independent board like this one to read reviews. I have never seen a bad post about Ortiz, but If I read one, it wouldn't bother me at all. I dont feel any different about my doc than I do about my CPA or car mechanic. He's just a professional Im paying to do a job. I will be banded on July 31. So far the staff has been great, but I have to admit that Im not all that impressed with the nutritionist either. She's not very engaging.

No one is saying that he's a bad person or has a bad bedside manner. He may be a carrying and attentive doctor, that doesnt mean that he doesnt have a higher than average rate of infection. I dont understand why you think all these people would come onto this board to lye about him. They've already given you examples of their research and still you cant even accept the possibility that what they say could have even a kernel of truth. Even bad doctors have some success stories. Why do you think that just because you didn't have complications, that no one else could have experienced any? Yes, there may be other people who share your name on google. However, you're not going to find another person who shares your name, occupation, living location and associates...get a grip its all there in black and white. The reason I said that 100% weight loss in all his patients is BS is because there isnt a doctor on the planet with a 100% success rate - bands are defective, people have bad reactions to them, people "eat through their bands," and so on., So NO, I don't believe that this doctor has not had any of those issues with his patients...that's ridiculous. Frankly, I think its offensive that you are trying to silence people who are trying to educate the rest of us. Especially when you have nothing to support your claim that he doesnt have a high rate of infection.

Yup, even if our lives are fairly carefree, our bodies are under a lot of stress. Im sure our sugars are out of whack, cortisone is probably up, ketones in the blood...god knows what else. Make sure your family gives you a little extra space and some TLC. Whenever I diet for a long time my hair starts falling out! Ugh, Lets hope that this too will pass. There are someday I want to scream, cry, break things ... and then poof, the feeling leaves.

Thats BS, maybe you should look for another doc. I was getting the same crapy treatment from Dr. Alvarez and his people and I just dropped them and moved on. Im much happier with my new doc. If they treat you like this now, whats going to happen if you start having problems after surgery, once they have your money? If you have insurance that will cover the procedure, then you can have your pick, there must be 100 docs in your area.

Im feeling much better now. I think I was getting sick due to lack of water. I've never been a big drinker so Its been hard for me to get my 8 glasses a day. What does Opti fast taste like? I've heard a lot about it but I've never tried it. Sharon2u, you can write off any diet expenses on your taxes! They just pasted the law a few years ago. Im a self pay so thats going to be a nice big right off. Take that Uncle Sam!

Wasabubble, I think its great that you post this kind of info. Its just the sort of thing that people looking for a doc want to know. I dont know anything about Dr. Huacuz, but I just looked at his site and he's claiming 100% positive weight loss for ALL of his patient....you know thats gotta be BS I think its weird that all these Dr. Huacuz patient are getting all upset about what your saying. If I found out that my Doc has some serious problems, I wouldnt be all personally offended...whats up with that?