I would appreciate any information on Dr Almanza or Dr Jose Rodriguez good or bad. I'm close to making my decision on who to choose for my VSG surgery. Any info would be great.

Thanks :redface1:

Hi,

I've blogged a bit about my experience with Dr Almanza and the clinic in which he works. Perhaps it will help?

Also, if you use the search engine that's for VST.com, and put in the search term, "Almanza", you will get a list of threads concerning him. It would also work for the other surgeon.

Some of the threads you will see are filled with people who do not have any personal experience with Almanza or the clinic. I would not use these for your research, but instead focus on those who used Almanza (+clinic) and were happy AND those who used Almanza (+clinic) and were not happy.

Please also also factor in (alot of) independent research that does not include information from forums.

Good luck with your research!:thumbup:

Hi,

I've blogged a bit about my experience with Dr Almanza and the clinic in which he works. Perhaps it will help?

Also, if you use the search engine that's for VST.com, and put in the search term, "Almanza", you will get a list of threads concerning him. It would also work for the other surgeon.

Some of the threads you will see are filled with people who do not have any personal experience with Almanza or the clinic. I would not use these for your research, but instead focus on those who used Almanza (+clinic) and were happy AND those who used Almanza (+clinic) and were not happy.

Please also also factor in (alot of) independent research that does not include information from forums.

Good luck with your research!:thumbup:

The website you gave me vst.com isn't pulling up anything on Dr Almanza.

This is the VST website. Type Almanza (or whomever you are searching for) into the search function, you'll find a lot of info. I'd be happy to share my experiences with Dr. Aceves (and another doctor in MX whom I had my band with - but I won't post it here). Just PM me if you want more details.

Here's the most recent posts with Almanza in them. I can search for Rodriguez or anyone else you might want help with as well. Hope this helps!

http://verticalsleevetalk.com/vertical-sleeve-gastrectomy-vsg-surgeons-hospitals/1334-dr-mario-alberto-almanza-reyes.html

http://verticalsleevetalk.com/pre-operation-vertical-sleeve-surgery-vsg-questions-answers/4244-going-dr-almanza-04-09-anyone-else.html

http://verticalsleevetalk.com/pre-operation-vertical-sleeve-surgery-vsg-questions-answers/3895-dr-almanza.html

http://verticalsleevetalk.com/tell-your-story/3253-schedule-sleeve-feb-18th-w-dr-almanaza-anyone-else.html

http://verticalsleevetalk.com/post-operation-vertical-sleeve-gastric-surgery-vsg-questions-answers/3005-what-emmanuelle-jerusalem-clinic-like.html

http://verticalsleevetalk.com/pre-operation-vertical-sleeve-surgery-vsg-questions-answers/3578-getting-sleeved-early-march-mexico-need-buddy-dr-aceves-dr-almanza.html

Best! :thumbup:

In my early stages of surgeon research it got down to Aceves and Dr. Rod. They both seem to be top notch. Two things shaped my decision to go with Aceves; first, of course, was his sterling reputation - although Dr. Rod was right up there too, as far as I could tell, and location. There was no way I was going to Juarez right now with all the violence that's going on in Juarez and has even increased greatly in the last few days... The coordinator went on to tell me that he did occasionally work out of Mexicali but the idea of a traveling VSG show did not sit well with me and the dates did not work for me anyway. Aceves took it, hands down and I am absolutely convinced I did the right thing.

Good luck!

Sorry sweetie, can't help you there, i stayed in San Antonio, TX and had mine done here. . . felt safer. . . more expensive of course (I was self pay) but a bit safer. . . .

Here's the post of my experience with Dr. Rod below:

Hello everyone! So I had the Surgery on March 12th and everything went well. The first two days were really rough due to the gas pain and pressure but I was expecting that from all the stories I've read on here. The Star Medica hospital was REALLY NICE..almost like a hotel room! My surgeon, Dr Jose Rodiriquez was great and his assisting surgeon Dr. Elmo Aramburu was phenomenal.:thumbup: Dr. Elmo visited and checked up on me at least twice a day. I think I was "favored":blush: a bit due to my BFF Melissa who was an "after" of their team and she showed the entire staff her before pic and she has lost 180 lbs and looks fantastic. They want us to submit before and after pics together once I get to where I want to be.

In terms of my surgery I felt like I was in great hands the whole time. The staff was great. My anestisiaologist was an angel I swear. One minute I was like "This is it!" and the next I was knocked out while she held my hand and I remember her telling me that everything was gonna be just fine. :001_wub: And it was~

After the first couple days moving onto the liquid diet is like MANNA FROM HEAVEN! Not that I was hungry but GOOD LORD the beef broth made me feel like I was eating a sirloin steak! YUM! Never knew how much I'd love broth!:drool5: LOL

Another reason I love my experience is because when I mentioned to Dr. Elmo that I'd like to get some Nexium in Mexico bc it was cheaper he actually DROVE my friend to the pharmacy in his Volvo to get it which was like 6 blocks away. At first she was a bit freaked out that he offered to do this bc this is UNHEARD of in the states...(UM..if I'm not back in 2 hours he has my kidney!:scared0:) but he was so kind and sincere and was just being helpful so that she wouldn't have to go alone. So nice of him.

So all in all this was a great experience. I'm home. :biggrin0: Feel great. Can already sleep on my side and the medicince is working fine to keep me comfortable. I recommend Dr. Rodriguez and Dr. Elmo Aramburu and the Star Medica hospital with flying colors! Even though the first couple days were rough pain wise overall this was a FANTASTIC experience and I hope that the days that come will prove that I have reason to LOVE my SLEEVE MORE AND MORE! Thanks to you all for kind words and support!:thumbup:

----------------------------------------------------------------------

As for Jaurez:

The hospital Star Medica in Jaurez was like a hotel and my BFF Melissa slept well on the bed that was provided in the room. When we were in Jaurez there was some unrest that happened but we were completely unaware of it being in the hospital and never felt unsafe at all. The price IS great and the experience was suberb. My friends can't believe I'm back home as if I never even had major surgery---I feel great! You'll really like the hospital. I took a ton of pics to show my family how it was nicer than our local hospital. The only thing I wish I would have brought was washclothes and a heating pad. For some reason they didn't have wash clothes...only towels.. lol. There are two good English channels that run good movies 24/7 for the HOURS that you spend healing and resting in your room. There's like an atrium courtyard kinda of thing in the center of the floor we're on to chill and walk around. There always seems to be a nurse on that spoke a bit of English so communicating wasn't bad. Again, as for Jaurez it does have a bad reputation but our driver, Sergio, kept us in good hands and delivered us promptly to our hospital from the airport and then back across the border without a hitch once our stay was over. There were two other people who had the sleeve like me and they did really well too. We all 3 had flying colors on our leak tests and our team explained everything to us so that we felt comfortable going home.

Good luck with your decision! :wink:

<3 Tina