So I was originally going to Dr. Almanza. I was nervous because of the mixed reviews but had some serious financial issues ot work through. I was finally able to get a loan but the company (surgeryloans) would not pay Almanza. They said they had had problems with him in the past but would not elaborate on that statement. Anyway I was left high and dry with no doctor one week before my scheduled date. I was ready to cry

I called BeLiteWeight and they were very bad with calling me back when they said they would. When they did they could not do my surgery until later in the month and it would cost quite a lot more.

I called alighterme.com though and Sandy Johnston answered. She said I could get the same surgery date with Dr. Ramos-Kelley. I was a bit nervous about what I had read about the INT hospital but she told me they no longer use that facility. I contacted the surgery loans place and within a couple hours had a new doc. I was nervous about telling Sandy I wanted my partner to come (coming out is always tough) but it turned out she has a gay child and she was very supportive in getting any preparations made for him as well.

I had heard some about Dr. Kelley but not much. I did as much research as I could over the next few days until I was comfortable and then flew to San Diego where the driver took my significant other and I to Mexico where we met Trish, the doctors coordinator, at the hospital.

Trish was a sweetheart and I was impressed by the Oasis Hospital. There is a little age that shows around the place but overall it has been well cared for and well maintained and I was comfortable with it. There were quite a few Amish patients from Wisconsin while I was there too. I was taken to my room, changed, introduced to Alfredo the orderly who wheeled me around to "the cute girl in X-ray" as he put it. Dr, Kelley came in and asked if I had any questions then, when my blood work was done, I was taken to the OR.

Within 30 min of that they had me down in the surgery. I was the first person of the day and dont even remember being put out.

Next thing I remember are snatches of pain throughout the day and nurses giving me pain meds. The first night was awful. I was sure to get up and walk the first day and night though even though it was painful. Over the next few days our impression of the Oasis Hospital were as follows:

• It is clean. My room was checked twice per day by the cleaning staff to make sure it was clean.
• I was NOT worried about leaving things in the room the way I would be at a regular hotel. The staff seemed quite trustworthy and I was confident in their professionalism.
• Most of the staff speaks english. All but one of the nurses spoke english at least a little. Even when she was my main nurse there was always another person available who spoke it fluently.
• The staff was caring and happy to help. Never once did I have the impression that I was "intruding" on their time by asking for assistance. When I rang the call bell they were there very quickly and took care of whatever my issue was. The orderly, Alfredo, even come by once and offered to replace the chair in my room with a lazyboy recliner because he thought it would be more comfortable for me (really it was not necessary but it was a nice thing to do).
• The hospital fed my partner for free. All the food was organic. All the food was good and well prepared although he did not like the vegitarian night tofu too much.
• They have free wireless access but dont plan on Netflix or Hulu because they wont stream to a Mexican IP.

I understand Dr. Kelley has been looking for a new location for a while to replace INT and has just recently settled on this place. I think he as made a good decision.

So...Anyway...After my surgery the first day and night were miserable. The second day and night were not too bad. The third day they transferred me from the hospital to a hotel and I was feeling pretty much normal other than the feeling of fullness and occasional nausea.

On the third day Dr. Kelley did my leak test at hospital Angeles where he was shown a film of a leaking plication as a point of interest. Afterward they dropped us off at a hotel while they picked up a woman to do a band fill. Following the fill the whole crew (the fill patient, Trish, the Doc, the driver, me and my significant other) all met at a mexican seafood restaraunt where Dr. Kelley bought us a birthday dinner (My birthday is coming up in a week, my partners was on my surgery date). It was great fun and he really turned out to be a great guy in addition to being a wonderful doc.

That brings us up to today. I have one more day here in TJ. My partner is being picked up to go to the airport at noon. I will miss him for my last day here.

Cheers all! Jason David

Oh Yes....and I forgot to say:

The dinner they took us to was a ceviche dinner. My partner had mentioned that while I was coming down for weight loss he wanted some food that was authentically Mexican. I dont know if octopus and other seafood ceviche along with octopus tacos was their idea of checking to see if he could handle it (in which case he did fine) or if they were going as authentic as possible but it was great fun. We the birthday tequila the waiter brought him had an actual dead rattlesnake in it! I say A+ for authenticity.

hi, it sounds like your surgery went well congrats! =) im having mine soon but still havent picked a doctor. Dr. Ramos-Kelley at Oasis Hospital sounds like a good option how much did he charge u for your surgery? and was it the the sleeve gastrectomy? =)

Hi. I'm Sheila. I was sleeved 8 days after you by Dr. Kelly. I heard about the great birthday time you all had at the restaurant. Justed wanted to say hi. Hope you are doing well.

It's pretty amazing to me how personable Dr Kelly and some of the other Mexican surgeons are. So caring, and family-like treatment. The US drs could use some training from them on their bed side manner! Thanks so much for sharing this, i loved reading your experience. Congrats!

Kelly