Hi Everyone, I'm new to the site, and have decided to get sleeved, but I'm still trying to decide which surgeon to go with. I have the $$ ready and the passport is on it's way..so..I've been in contact with LIMARP(very nice) and a patient coordinator with Dr. Rodriguez. I've been doing alot of research here and on OH, but don't have ANY family support..so I need all the help I can get..ANY help??:sad0:

Hi Everyone, I'm new to the site, and have decided to get sleeved, but I'm still trying to decide which surgeon to go with. I have the $$ ready and the passport is on it's way..so..I've been in contact with LIMARP(very nice) and a patient coordinator with Dr. Rodriguez. I've been doing alot of research here and on OH, but don't have ANY family support..so I need all the help I can get..ANY help??:sad0:

Well you'll get all kinds of support here.

WELCOME!

I strongly suggest you check our Dr. Aceves in Mexicali, MX -- in my opinion he's the absolute BEST!

Thank you! I did some research on Dr. Aceves, he was just a little out of my price range, I might try to save some more so I can afford him-I've heard alot of good things about him!

Thank you! I did some research on Dr. Aceves, he was just a little out of my price range, I might try to save some more so I can afford him-I've heard alot of good things about him!

He's running a special for July - $8950 I believe - and that includes EVERYTHING - Preop tests, 1 night a resort, 3 nights in hospital, surgery, medication, EVERYTHING ... not sure what prices you have received; however, I would never let price be the process by which I chose my surgeon with any surgeon, most definitely not this one. He has performed over 600 sleeves and never had any leaks.

Good luck on your decision; however, I would definitely put Dr. Aceves at the very top of your list .. Southwest generally has pretty good fares into San Diego.

Hi.. Good luck with your journey. Its a hard road, but u will finds plenty of support from everyone around here. I had my surgery a lil over a yr ago, so i can help answer some of ur questions. Im certainly no expert, but I can give u my take on things..

:thumbup:

Lisa

I do appreciate all the input-however, I did personally speak with Dr. Pompa herself, and she praised Dr. Aceves-so I would say that's a good woman there-don't you think? A shady person would have bashed him-she did no such thing.

She told me she uses a 32 boughie, of course titanium staples, 3 leak tests, and gave me many names of recent/past clients who all had good experiences-I called them myself-all over the US. She is also AFACS-so while she is only an Associate-she is in the database, and I've found that not all of the docs in Mexico are.

Can I get any positive notes?

This is a hard decision, but even harder with mostly negative posts here. I'm alone in all this-no support, so yes, I'm looking for some guidance and support.

Thanks again.:confused1:

Its really your choice and no one else's, I went to Aceves for his experience. He cost a few thousand more but you get what you pay for. He has never had a leak, thats tremendously important. Dr's dont routinely bash each other its very unprofessional and would make her look bad. I dont know her stats on complications but I want the one with none rather than one with a few. Still your decision to make and best of luck with it. I know it is a difficult one to make especially when you have to do it alone. There is a ton of experience within this forum group and they will provide you with honest direct information not just opinions so do yourself a favor and take the advise to heart. We arent here to bash anyone, we all hope the best for you. We hope you find the doctor that is best suited for you and you are comfortable with.

HI DANA,

I'VE BEEN DOING A TON OF RESEARCH DR. POMPA TOO. EVERYHTING UNTIL NOW HAS BEEN ALL POSITIVE, I FOUND HER BLOGS AND POSTS ON US WEBSITES, I SPOKE TO MY OB ABOUT HER, AND HE HAD DONE SOME RESEARCH FOR ME TOO. I WAS SURPRISED TO READ THE OTHER BLOGS POSTED ABOUT THE LIMARP CLINIC. EVERYONE I HAVE SPOKEN TO HAS BEEN AMAZING. I AM PLANNING ON SCHEDULING MY SLEEVE SURGERY FOR THE END OF JULY. I WOULD BE INTERESTED IN FINDING OUT MORE INFO ON WHERE SOME OF THE RESEARCH HAS COME FROM. I HAVE THE MONEY TOO AND I WOULD BE WILLING TO PAY MORE. I TOO BELEIVE IN YOU GET WHAT YOU PAID FOR. I'VE TRIED TO GET EDUCATED AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE, AND I'M NOW NERVIOUS, BECAUSE THIS IS THE FIRST INFO THAT I HAVE READ THE WAS NEGATIVE. I KNOW THAT EVERYONE HAS DIFFERENT EXPERIENCES AND EVERYONE HAS DIFFERENT EXPECTATIONS. THIS IS A LIFE CHANGING SURGERY AND I HAVE AN AMAZING FAMILY TO THINK OF.

AS FOR THE LEAKS, I'M NOT AT ALL A QUAILIFIED MEDICAL PERSON, BUT WHEN I HAD MY C-SECTION A FEW YRS AGO, MY STICHES CAME OPEN AND MY STAPLES LEAKED. I DIDN'T THINK IT WAS A HUGE DEAL, THESE THINGS HAPPEN AND IT'S NOT LIFE THREATENING. IT SUCKS BECAUSE THIS HAPPENED BECAUSE MY HUGE FAT ROLLS HUNG OVER THE INSISION AND CAUSED IT TO TEAR OPEN, I DID GET A SOME INFECTION FROM IT BUT NOTHING THAT WASN'T TAKEN CARE OF WITHOUT EXTREME NEEDS.

CONFUSED IN OMAHA...:crying:

I do appreciate all the input-however, I did personally speak with Dr. Pompa herself, and she praised Dr. Aceves-so I would say that's a good woman there-don't you think? A shady person would have bashed him-she did no such thing.

She told me she uses a 32 boughie, of course titanium staples, 3 leak tests, and gave me many names of recent/past clients who all had good experiences-I called them myself-all over the US. She is also AFACS-so while she is only an Associate-she is in the database, and I've found that not all of the docs in Mexico are.

Can I get any positive notes?

This is a hard decision, but even harder with mostly negative posts here. I'm alone in all this-no support, so yes, I'm looking for some guidance and support.

Thanks again.

Here is an example, this girl was three weeks post op and could eat a chicken breast or a baked potato and a few bites of chicken. I can't eat that a year post op

Dang - I'm 2 weeks out on Friday and I'm lucky to get down 2 T of applesauce

with my medication mixed in (I cant swallow the pills yet). I can't even imagine being able to eat all of that 3 weeks out!

Leaks are a risk with any sleeve and it's quite serious and life threatening.

Tiffykins can sure attest to that statement - can't you?

Edited June 24, 200917 yr by VegasAngel

Hi Everyone, I'm new to the site, and have decided to get sleeved, but I'm still trying to decide which surgeon to go with. I have the $$ ready and the passport is on it's way..so..I've been in contact with LIMARP(very nice) and a patient coordinator with Dr. Rodriguez. I've been doing alot of research here and on OH, but don't have ANY family support..so I need all the help I can get..ANY help??:001_unsure:

I have found that the verticalsleevetalk site is very pro Dr Aceves and the ObesityHelp site very pro Dr Pompa-Gonzalez. As a hospital administrator who has worked in Quality and Risk, I chose Dr Gonzalez. She is skilled and compassionate with a strong focus on quality outcomes. Any surgery has risks but the relative ease of the VSG laproscopic procedure minimizes risk whether the surgeon has done 200 or 600 procedures. I have found that our Residents are often great surgeons because they are so focused and diligent and they always have an attending surgeon with them:-)

Good luck with your decision. I hope this is helpful to you.

I teach risk management and six sigma QA/QI and have a masters degree in health care administration in addition to being an RN. I have to say that I was surprised when I read your post. The skill of the surgeon is refined the more procedures he/she does and the "risk" is not minimized just because the procedure is done laproscopically. Risk is also dependent on the patient's weight, age, co-morbidities, and other factors.

What do residents have to do with anything? You imply that your institution always has an attending surgeon working with them. In the U.S., NO intern/resident can operate unless there is an attending surgeon supervising him/her. ANY administrator knows this. I have to say that I find your claims highly suspect. I know of no hospital administrator who specializes in risk management that would say a clinic is as safe as a hospital. That makes no sense.

Sorry to have upset you. You make some valid points, surgical skill is refined the more of the same procedure the surgeon has done and co-morbidities, etc influence patient risk. Laproscopic surgery is directly correlated with faster recovery and lower risk of infection. Outside the US (where many of the WLS discussed here take place) some procedures do not require the presence of attending physicians with residents. Lastly, ambulatory surgical facilities are often safer than hospitals due to the lower risk of infection. Check the data. BTW, I only have a Ph.D

I read over there, because there are people that have had their sleeves a lot longer than anyone here.

I hate their set up too.

As I say all the time, even over there, I hate the software. But I go there too for various reasons. There's no reason why there can't be more than one successful sleeve board, after all. Even if some people over there seem slightly threatened by this board's existence.

As I say all the time, even over there, I hate the software. But I go there too for various reasons. There's no reason why there can't be more than one successful sleeve board, after all. Even if some people over there seem slightly threatened by this board's existence.

There are a TON of paid posters over there, that's the one thing I hate about that board. The board owners are fully aware but do nothing about it because they simply do not care. The more people posting and reading the more they can charge advertisers. So they do absolutely nothing about the problem.

I think the threat of the boards is that many see through the paid posters and they know it will not be tolerated over here.

It's like the reaction of the paid posters when one of the doctors had a sleeve death. The doctor was claiming the death was due to a hiatal hernia repair, quite unethical. The family suing the doctor disagrees with the cause of death. The doctor just didn't want to admit he had a sleeve death. The paid posters decided it wasn't unethical to lie to future patients, everyone was just picking on him because he's Mexican. What does being Mexican have to do with it? They do back flips trying to defend him.

It just gets old after time. I hate that board. Newbies have no way of knowing who is for real and who is just another paid poster pimping the boards for business.

I did visit that board to find out all I could about the sleeve but found it difficult to navigate. Once I got all the info. I could, I contacted people, talked with surgeons, and researched peer reviewed journals.

Most mods on various boards are volunteers. We just want to return to the community, nothing else.

I can assure everyone, Elisabeth and I are volunteers, we receive nothing for our efforts her other than paying it forward.

And of course, getting to interact in a round-about way with all of US ... :001_tt2: