Tudor

Hi everybody, I had my WLS on August 6. 2013 with Dr. Kelly Ramos and I would like to share my experience with you. First of all, let me explain my condition: at 5ft 10’ I was 255lb. My BMI was somewhere between 36 and 37. That was the borderline minimum to have the vertical sleeve surgery. The way I appear from the outside, one could not necessary tell that I’m morbidly obese. The reason Dr. Kelly accepted to do the surgery is because of my high blood pressure, type-2 diabetes, and cholesterol. Having all of these problems, and being sick and tired of taking all the pills for my condition, I decided to take a more radical approach. I have to tell you that 10 years ago I lost about 90lb in an 8 month period through diet and exercise, getting to 175lb. I kept the weight of for 3 years by exercising and dieting but then I slowly lost control and regained almost everything back. I wanted to have a WLS a year ago but I thought, “I’m going to give dieting and exercising one more shot”. I’m 47 years old and it didn’t work for me. The only good thing is that my muscular tonus is pretty good and I have no trouble moving around. Finally, I decided to have WLS… but which one? The lap band was out of question because of the foreign materials in your body and an adjustment procedure, the gastric bypass is involves bad Vitamin absorption, so the best procedure for me was the vertical sleeve surgery. Living in Canada, I could have had the procedure done for free in 10 years after going through hoops and loops with doctors and nutritionists, or paying a lot of money in Montreal, or in the US. For this reason, I decided to go to Mexico. Finding the right doctor is the most important thing, and with that, you have to take your time and remain focused. I would like to mention that probably 90% of the bariatric surgeons in Mexico are a better choice than your local bariatric specialists due to their experience and number of surgeries they’ve performed. It’s most likely that they have seen it all. No doctor can promise you 100% that you will be fine after a surgery. Not to mention, it is in their code of conduct not to do so. After a long time researching on internet, I decided to go with Dr. Kelly from Tijuana. There was not a single complaint about him as a surgeon, and even after talking to his competitors, they had nothing bad to say about his skills. If you decide to go with him, you have to be persistent and not allow yourself to be swayed. You may find that when you try to contact him through the regular channels on internet you may end up being hacked by his competitors, who are still using his name on their sites. Furthermore, his competitors are more aggressive in contacting you and rushing you through the whole process. Doctor Kelly’s coordinators are not sales people. Sometimes you must put up with slight delays, but again, don’t lose the target, and DON’T lose a great surgeon due to some little hiccups which may appear during the communication with the coordinators. Don’t get me wrong, the coordinators are going to do their job very well, but if you are the type to get upset that they don’t answer your emails in 5 seconds and say, “I’m going to somebody else”, you will lose a great surgeon. The coordinators won’t try to win you back, it’s not their job to do so. While trying to contact Dr. Kelly, I spoke to a former coordinator of his. She tried to sell me to a different doctor with excellent records and at a cheaper price, in a very decent fashion. But after explaining to her that I want Dr. Kelly and no one else, and that I wasn’t interested in the bariatric soap opera happening in Tijuana, she was very kind and gave me the contact number I needed. I contacted Alina and Lora Lee which both took their time to tell me everything I needed and more. I had to fill out a medical questionnaire in order to be approved. I was a bit nervous, but in two days I was approved. Note that I said two days. That means the doctor actually paid attention to my info and ONLY after that he gave the approval. If you do that on different sites you’ll be approved in minutes. I booked my flight according to the info package they sent me and my availability. I sent the itinerary to Lora and she worked around that schedule and booked the surgery. Every question regarding everything about the WLS can be answered by Lora or Alina. Usually everyone booked for the surgery is called by Dr. Kelly himself to address any questions and there is no time limit on the call. I was not called but I did not jump to conclusions. I didn’t have too many questions anyway, and I knew that I would have the opportunity to ask whatever I needed when I came face to face with him in person. Before going, I had to agree to a financial contract and send it back to Lora. Please note that Dr. Kelly doesn’t ask for any down payment to book the surgery. He trusts his patients, as he expects the patients to trust him. Travelling for the surgery with a companion depends on you. If you chose to bring a companion, they can stay with you in the same room in the hospital, sleeping on a little sofa, and then in a very comfortable double bed, in Hotel Lucerna, at no extra cost. From the airport we were picked up by Cecy, the doctor’s wife and personal book keeper. She is very pleasant and speaks English well enough to get you by if you don’t speak any Spanish. However, if you have any command of Spanish she is a real joy to talk to as well. Because they use a medical line to fast track you through the customs, you’ll be in the hospital in no time. At the hospital, after signing some papers and paying for the surgery, you will be comfortably set in your room . In our case, the name of the hospital was Nova. It is a little hospital; clean and quiet with friendly, very caring personal. I’m saying ‘my case’ because the doctor can change the hospital as he wishes, renting the OR and personal from the hospital himself. He always is very attentive at the way his tools are sterilized and has never had any complication due to sterilization. The first doctor to take care of you is the cardiologist who will make sure that you are good to go; then follows the blood work and X-rays. They will let you know if everything is OK to precede and also provide a complete report including any problems you might have with your spine, lungs, and so on. All this takes about an hour and then Dr. Kelly comes to talk to you and answer any questions you might have. That removed all of my doubts I had about my decision to go through with all this. In a few minutes after the conversation with Dr. Kelly, I was facing him and his team in the OR. Everyone was presented by name and position. I was not scared of the pain but of losing control during the anesthesia. The doctor knew about my concern, and like you would do with a kid, he kept me talking till I fell asleep. I was back in the room about one hour later where I woke up with sporadic pains in my stomach. The night was painful, but being an afternoon surgery, I slept through the night with no problems. During the night, I was able to go to the washroom by myself. During the first day I was in pain, however, I was getting better by the hour. I was encouraged to walk down the halls to get rid of the gas pain. All of the medicine was provided through an IV. The personal was so caring. I could not have any complains. There will always be somebody who speaks English well enough to help you out. It never hurts to have few phrases in Spanish ready to use, or a tablet with Google translate since they have a wireless network to use for free. During the stay in the hospital, your companion will be able to eat excellent food made to order. My wife says it’s much better than most American restaurants and will cost about 5 dollars a meal. The second day was a breeze. It seemed like only the surroundings and the IV attached to my arm were reminding me that I had a surgery. Every day, a team of doctors visited me briefly in the morning and Dr. Kelly visited me in the afternoon and night for a longer time. After the second night, it was time to take out the IVs, and after a refreshing shower, roll out from the hospital to a different hospital with top notch leak test equipment. There is where you have your first reality check of what your new stomach feels like and how much smaller it is. After you painfully gulp down the apple juice mixed with a contrast substance you get the good news that the liquid doesn’t go to places where is not supposed to. And to prove that, you also get a copy made by X-rays technologist. With that out of the way, you go to your Hotel to start the remaining of your “vacation”. Doctor Kelly will visit you the two remaining nights to make sure that you are fine AND that you are enjoying your stay. My personal advice is to go to get your chicken broth across the street at Casa del Mole, where your companion can also enjoy the cream de la cream of fabulous Mexican cuisine! The last morning, at 8:00 AM, it was time to say goodbye to Tijuana. We were transported back to San Diego Airport using again the fast line. If you are driving yourself, the last treat is that you won’t have to wait in line at the border either because you’ll get a medical pass. This was the story of my vertical sleeve surgery with the wonderful DR. Kelly. If you are planning to do the same surgery, choose wisely and don’t let it be any different. Tudor Tugulan Newmarket Ontario ,Canada For any qustions regarding this contact me at Tugulan@rogers.com

I'm from Newmarket and I was sleeved in Tj Mexico by dr Kelly . You can read my post and ask me anything you need to know

I don't think that the doctors themselves do but they certainly have financial organizations working with which can help you for sure. Just ask whoever you want to book with and he or she will help you out no problem. With that being said I still think that borrowing cost with like a line of credit with your bank would make more sense.

MsAntiband is right again. Do your homework and decide.for yourself. However keep in mind that the more choices you have the harder is to pick one and also the bigger chance for remorse meaning what if I didn't pick the right one?

Hi I'm from Newmarket. Read my experience in my first post. I was sleeved in Mexico by Dr.Kelly.

Again , the papers in Spanish are for the hospital use. I agree that they should be written in Spanish ,English probably French , mandarin like any other touristic brochure . I think that if you request that , during your preliminary arrangements ,they will be happy to do it for you.

For who is concerned about the Spanish forms you have to know that since Nova hospital is in Mexico and the official language in Mexico is Spanish the legal documents are going to be in Spanish. You did a lot of research to get to this point. Do not worry you are not signing out any organs. These papers are you're consent that you understand the procedure and you agree to have it done to you. If you have any questions you can ask and they will be answered

No extra charge unless you are over a certain BMI wich translates in longer time , anesthetics and so on. Also for special medication depending on your condition you'll need to pay extra. The second ones are fees charged independently by the hospital and not by Dr Kelly ( if you choose him). This fees are no huge . The guy who had surgery same day as me had to pay 150 US but he had some painfully feet condition needing extra medication an care.

Could you please elaborate when you have a second after your intervention I think everybody would be interested in what were the symptoms and all other details. I certainly do.

I go often to Mexico for work. That's to Monterrey an Saltillo , so people are used to me going to Mexico. When I told them that I'm going to Tj for surgery they still told me that I'm nuts. Who cares what everybody says. I got back safe and sound and told the same people that I got shot in my stomach 5 times by the cartel down in Tj.

If you didn't have any issues with coffee before pre op period you won't have pre or postoperative period. Coffee is probably not recommended but I had it almost right after surgery and it felt so good. Eating to fast is my problem not the coffee.

Check my posting on Dr. Kelly. He is awesome too. If you need experience combined with very personal attention and care, he's the man.

I was told before the surgery that I have the same problem but is very mild. The give you the meds to keep you stable and they monitor closely your BP after surgery every two hours or so. I wouldn't be so worried about this. After surgery the BP is going down spectacularly .

Good job. This is how it should be.Congarts!!!

Wonderfull and usefull analisys. Thank you

Thats why I said is a tough decision but evaluating the risks is everyone personal job to do for himself. Everybody tries to minimize the risks by doing his homework. The result as we know is 399 out of 400 positive. There is that 0.25% thats called fatality wich scares everyone and all of us tries to avoid. Knowing the person makes it even harder . Unfortunatley is going to happen again maibe to a different doctor in a different place. You can just hope you are not going to be a part of it.

Very well said. I agree 100%. The surgery and chosing the surgeon is a tough decision. You take your life in your hands every day you drive to work. Some people die driving to work every day but they are still going.

I'm glad you made it. You were not convinced that you are doing the right think from the very beginning but at the and what is important is that you made it and you'll be just fine. Congrats for not giving up and good luck with your recovery. On the other hand like every American citizen who doesn't travel a lot outside US, your expectations were to high regarding the level of comfort and service received . I'm traveling a lot everywhere and I'm trying to learn, understand and enjoy the experience. Lots of times we the westerners are part of the problem this people from what we use to call third country's have to live with. Lets respect them and don't try to tranform them in what we became because we are not even close to be perfect and we have our own problems here in North America. Obesity is one of them.

OK so what are you exactly trying to say? Try to get all the facts before posting here. This forum I think is for helping people not for incendiary afirmations.

If you go to Mexico, right before surgery you should have a EKG done to check your hard and also X-rays of your chest and abdomen. Also the blod work is mandatory. If you don't get this treatment run for the hills !!!

He is not my doctor but it would be a shame not to. Let's face it , he is still a very good surgeon. Whatever the mistake was I'm prety sure it won't ahappen twice at lest not the same one.

That's exactly how I feel. I can never get it right. It's always the last litle spoon I'm having that makes me feel extra full and puky for at least half an hour. I might eat to fast. I hope one day I will get it right. Thank you for the info.

Still not the right answer,. I still didn't get if the filling is the very same as before or different.

How do you feel your stricture?

Due to the fact that you are renting your room only after you leave the hospital you have to take the luggage with you. If you want to pay to extra days wile in the hospital I guess you can live everything but the passport in the room.