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I am curious how it is going for you and what fill level you are at.

My daughter went to Ortiz last June and she is doing great. No problems.....great experience for her in Mexico.

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I was banded by Dr. Ortiz 2yrs ago, and he and his staff were great! Their rooms are private and decked out with a sofa, flat screen tv and fountain. His nurse is a sweet older woman who is just the best.

The surgery went off without a hitch, and I get my fills done by someone in my hometown. Whenever I have a problem or question, they reply to emails and calls promptly too. An I can speak to the surgeon when I need to too.

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i went to Dr. Ortiz in 07 and went there for my first fill; the surgety was awesome in spite of the fact i was not compliant with the prt=op diet and dr. ortiz knew this although i didn't try to hide it, i was a victim of fresh seafood

heh anyway, i didn't do great until i had a really effective fill which took me about 2 years to hit and 2-3 fills

the doc who filled me best was vitello in chicago....i wouldn't consider anywhere else except he's decided not to do them anymore

suggestions on a st louis doc???

for the record, i'm going for a slight unfill as i'm at goal (150/276 #) and i'm not able to slow down or stop the wt loss so its time to learn real life again

hope it goes as well for you

good luck and good night

roxanne

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I was banded by Dr. Ortiz a couple of weeks ago 4/21/11. Everything went great, over all a great experience. I can't wait for my first fill... now I can almos eat normally... no pain, no discomfort, so I'm going on will power and its hard...

I live in San Francisco and I'm planing on going back to Tijuana for the fills,

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What fill level did you find was actually the amount that finally worked? I am now at 9.7 in my 11 band. I do feel a fair bit of constriction, but still almost feel like I could have more. Thanks for the info.


i went to Dr. Ortiz in 07 and went there for my first fill; the surgety was awesome in spite of the fact i was not compliant with the prt=op diet and Dr. Ortiz knew this although i didn't try to hide it, i was a victim of fresh seafood

heh anyway, i didn't do great until i had a really effective fill which took me about 2 years to hit and 2-3 fills

the doc who filled me best was vitello in chicago....i wouldn't consider anywhere else except he's decided not to do them anymore

suggestions on a st louis doc???

for the record, i'm going for a slight unfill as i'm at goal (150/276 #) and i'm not able to slow down or stop the wt loss so its time to learn real life again

hope it goes as well for you

good luck and good night

roxanne

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Anyone have his number and possibly an address? I plan to go to tj soon to meet doctors...

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The person who wrote that they had a "comically bad experience", could you elaborate? It would really help the rest of us who are planning on having surgery with him if you would be honest. Just posting "comically bad" is a bit misleading and kind of rude. Thanks.

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I wouldn't place any credence on the one response, for the thousands and thousands of surgeries he has done - btw just he was just voted as one of the top lapband surgeons in Newsweek - don't let one bad apple spoil the bunch. He has a better success rate that most any doctor in North America, especially when you base it on a ratio. I strongly recommend him personally. I asked my lapband surgeon here (he does my fills) why there is such an immense price difference and he said it is simply because they don't have to pay the OR costs, the anaesthesia costs etc., Ortiz and his associates have their own building and staff. BTW doctor Ortiz himself lives in San Diego. So again don't let the one comment get you down. I hope this helps. smile.gif

The person who wrote that they had a "comically bad experience", could you elaborate? It would really help the rest of us who are planning on having surgery with him if you would be honest. Just posting "comically bad" is a bit misleading and kind of rude. Thanks.

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He was not actually in Newsweek. He was in the Newsweek Advertising Showcase. Here is the link

http://www.newsweeks...-Control-Center

I believe it is paid advertising.

Even so, he has a great reputation and I am happy I am able to go to him for my surgery. I would choose him over any doctor in the US. Still, it is misleading that they advertise he was featured in Newsweek. That is not Newseek. Here is their blurb stating this. I copied and pasted it from the left hand side of the page the link goes to.

This site is operated by Mongoose Atlantic Inc as a promotional vehicle for select advertisers.

It does not constitute an endorsement by NEWSWEEK and no endorsement is implied.

spacer.gif

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Ah interesting, you are right. I was told the other version, so I guess I should do my homework before I am passing along info, thanks. I do however believe he is a great choice.

He was not actually in Newsweek. He was in the Newsweek Advertising Showcase. Here is the link

http://www.newsweeks...-Control-Center

I believe it is paid advertising.

Even so, he has a great reputation and I am happy I am able to go to him for my surgery. I would choose him over any doctor in the US. Still, it is misleading that they advertise he was featured in Newsweek. That is not Newseek. Here is their blurb stating this. I copied and pasted it from the left hand side of the page the link goes to.

This site is operated by Mongoose Atlantic Inc as a promotional vehicle for select advertisers.

It does not constitute an endorsement by NEWSWEEK and no endorsement is implied.

spacer.gif

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I had a great experience with the staff at OCC and Dr. Ortiz. I'd recommend him to anyone. I saw the Newsweek article and thought it was a little questionable, but I wouldn't read into it that much. I wish that I would have gone back there for my fills because I've just gone locally with a Physician's Assistant who also had Dr. Ortiz do hers. I never had flouroscopy done until last week when I went back to Tijuana and Dr. So ended up doing an unfill at the OCC. My pouch was swollen and now I have to wait 7 weeks before going to a place with x-ray, which is a Fill Center USA about 3 hours away. I will never go back to the Physician's Assistant again. It was a lot of wasted money guessing where my magic number was and we had no idea that I was stretching out my pouch. I'd say the very worst part of going to Mexico is leaving the border! We moved 3 times in 3 hours! I had no clue and came very unprepared; no book, ipod, magazine, nothing! The driver, Joel, was great, but we could only carry on a broken English conversation for so long before running out of things to say! The staff is so kind at the OCC and now I'd love to go back to the Ariel Center there for some Botox!

I am curious how it is going for you and what fill level you are at.

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