Dr. Huacuz in Tijuana...Beware! He banded an esophagus!

[~amy~ 1]

This is absolutely horrifying! Sooo scary!! Prayers for your friend...thank goodness she has a friend like you to offer her support during this time! I agree with the previous poster - post this on EVERY forum you can find!!!

[ocotillo 0]

I'm truly sorry for your friend and hope she gets the help she needs to get the band removed or moved into the correct place. It is a risk to go out of country for surgery and how can you tell for certain a surgeon is truly reputable. It's so sad a surgeon has to abuse some one this way....hopefully the word goes out about him and he gets no more business.

I also went to Tijuana for surgery and had Dr. Ortiz as a previous poster stated. My experience was good as were my three fills there. I would recommend this surgeon to others, but truly you have little recourse if anything goes wrong.

[melissasmith 1]

I want to thank everyone for all of their kind words and prayers for Laura. This has really turned into a nightmare for her but we are hoping that all will go well this Friday when she goes in to have it placed correctly. I will post an update on her condition after her surgery.

Trust me...I plan to tell her story on every board I can find and tell everyone I can who is contemplating going out of the US for surgery. Hopefully, it will save someone else the pain and suffering and possibly their life.

Melissa

[tia4 0]

I am very sorry to hear this. I had Lap Band surgery in Tijuana 3 years ago and it turned out fine. I live in Houston and would love for you to contact me about this .

[melissasmith 1]

Hi everyone this is Laura...Mel's stupid friend:-) Just want to say thanks for all you support and well wishes. I had surgery for something else this past Friday by Dr. Nowzaradan here in Houston and he corrected my lap band NO EXTRA CHARGE...he's also going to be in charge of my fills when I am able to get them. I know the lap band is on correctly now because I tried to cheat and it did exactly what I've read it should do....my esophagus is free and the horrible pain has subsided. World Med Assist concurs that it was placed around esophagus but they feel that's an acceptable place to put a STOMACH BAND....:biggrin:

[elcee 3,343]

Glad you're OK Laura.

This whole situation sounds incredibly strange and somewhat unbelievable to me.

[btrieger 21]

I believe it.

There is another thread here about this same guy killing somebody's father.

I would never have surgery in a third world country. But if I was forced to, it would be by somebody I checked out thoroughly.

[elcee 3,343]

Its not the Dr Huacuz bit that I have a problem with!

[KathyinAZ 0]

Unfortunately this can happen anywhere but you do really have to be careful. Living in Arizona I could have easily gone to Mexico and gotten my surgery much cheaper than I paid but I wanted a surgeon who was highly rated and had a good follow up routine. My surgeon follows me for 2 years post op and everything is included in my original price (all my fills, xrays, follow up surgery if needed). Not only that I can email him at anytime and he gets back to me within a very reasonable amount of time. I hope your friend does OK and she does well with her follow up.

[melissasmith 1]

I just wanted to give a quick update on my friend Laura's condition, since I know many of you are curious and have been asking. She was able to get her band placed correctly (and her gall bladder removed too) and is now LOVING having her band. It feels completely different now that it has been placed in the correct position and we are hopeful that her dreams of finally losing weight are going to come true.

On an interesting side-note, Dr. Huacuz's web developer apparently saw my posts informing people that he placed Laura's band around her esophagus. As expected, Dr. Huacuz was furious since this could affect people's decisions to select him as a surgeon. He sent Laura a threatening email and even went so far as to say that it was her "ignorance" that caused her to believe that it was placed wrong. (Hmmm....I guess the xray showing the incorrect placement and the doctor in the states that confirmed it was "ignorant" too??)

Anyway, Dr. Huacuz's email threatened to sue Laura if she didn't remove the posts immediately. First off, he would only have a leg to stand on in a US Court of law if any of the things that I posted were not true. Everything I have said is the absolute 100 percent truth, so I invite him to sue ME. If he can figure out a way to sue me from Mexico (since Laura can't sue him from the US for gross medical malpractice), I would love to see it happen....it's almost laughable. Possibly that would give Laura an opportunity for a counter-suit of some sort.

I personally feel that it is very important for me to tell her story. It could possibly save someone's life and I have every right to share it with whomever I like via any means that I like. Laura's story is not told in an effort to defame Dr. Huacuz; it is merely made public so that people may make an informed decision regarding utilizing his services.