I plan to schedule for a gastric sleeve procedure with Dr. Almanza in Mexico for July 25. I am very nervous and my husband is upset that I am going out of the U.S. to have the procedure done. The cost for the procedure is much less in Mexico and I will be paying for my daughters procedure also. I have read through some of the comments and have read good and bad about having surgery with Dr. Almanza. I would love to hear more comments concerning their experience with this surgeon and the anesthesiologist Dr. Hugo Lopez.

I plan to schedule for a gastric sleeve procedure with Dr. Almanza in Mexico for July 25. I am very nervous and my husband is upset that I am going out of the U.S. to have the procedure done. The cost for the procedure is much less in Mexico and I will be paying for my daughters procedure also. I have read through some of the comments and have read good and bad about having surgery with Dr. Almanza. I would love to hear more comments concerning their experience with this surgeon and the anesthesiologist Dr. Hugo Lopez.

Hello dntsetl, I am scheduled for surgery with Dr. Almanza the end of May, I will keep you posted. Who is your contact/coordinator at Dr. Almaza's clinic? I have found the communication to be great. You need to get your husband on the forum and let him read, ask questions and voice his concerns. I went through the same thing but now my wife is on board. I feel very comfortable with my decision and I am sure you will grow to be comfortable with yours.

I will be there with Dr Almanza the 10th of may. I'll let ya know.

Been there done that and am now 113 pounds lighter in about 5 months. Had no big problems. The place is clean and compact and seems nice. It is a little noisy though so take some ear plugs. The staff are nice and professional. The recovery house's finish is a little lacking, they really cut corners on it's construction so it looks pretty cheap.

Overall I've had more problems with facilities in the US then I ever had in my single instance at Jerusalem Hospital in Tijuana.

I've seen ONE post where someone CLAIMED there had been a few deaths and goofy accusations of "death threats" when liability is brought up. I have yet to see any first hand concrete proof of any such events though and suspect someone is exaggerating to drum up business for their own clinics.

Hi Dntsnt,

Have you tried looking on the website ObesityHelp.com It can also give you some information. I use sleeve talk and OH daily to get information on pre op and post op stuff now that I'm a few days from surgery. Anyhow, there is a tread on Dr. A. I'm putting it on this one so you can see it. It's just the first one that popped up when I googled his name.

My best advise is to do your research and trust your heart about what you think is best for you. There are too many folks saying the same kind of stuff about Dr. A to ignore. It goes back to that saying about if it quacks like a duck, walks like a duck....etc. Its not to say that he hasn't had good comments too, because he has and that should not be discarded either. Just make the right choice for you Dntsnt.

Good luck to you.

www.obesityhelp.com/.../Complications-from-my-sisters-surgery-Dr- Almanza-Reyes/

This is from someone named Prissy4115.

Post Date: 6/1/10 8:55 pm

Well, my sister had her surgery 3 weeks ago today. She is currently in the US in ICU and has been for 16 days now. She is in really bad shape after she was left with a leak in her stomach which formed a hole into her stomach and everything was leaking into her that she was taking via her mouth. After having her surgery on a Tuesday, then having to sit on a non air conditioned van so others could shop and then saying she was okay to fly home on Friday (4 days after her surgery). While in San Diego on Thursday she was very ill, my mom called the coordinator and was told "oh its normal, just gas pains"..How many of you have heard that? Well, she flew back home and felt so bad. Then Sunday morning at 4am where her drain was she started spitting out fluids like a Water fountain from her incision, it was watery, then bloody looking. She soaked her night gown and 2 towels and was in sever pain. My brother in law called an ambulance for her and she was rushed to the ER. Her heart rate was low, blood pressure low & had a fever. After several test they finally realized what was wrong (hole in her stomach) and rushed her to emergency surgery to repair this. She also had a severe case of pneumonia in her lungs, was severly dehydrated, and her kidneys had temporarily shut down. Now here we are 16 days later, she has had 4 surgerys to "wash" out the infection and she is still running fever, still on a ventilator to breath and they can not sew her up b/c of future surgeries to clean the infection. She is being fed through a tube directly in her veins. She is so swollen and has so much Fluid on her that she has gained 70+ lbs. She has to constantly lay on a cooling blanket to keep her temp from raising to dangerous levels. They have her in a medical induced coma and we have not been able to talk to her since the day in the ER. She will be in ICU for at least another month and the hospital and additonal 2-3 months. The doctor said it will be a year before she is completley better. This is a very scary experience for us and our family. My mother had the same surgery last year in July but this was when they was not doing the whole "rack em and stack em", "get you in and get you out". Thank God, her surgery so far has had no complications. When you are pushing 6 + surgeries a day and your "housekeeper" is removing the drain tubes something is not right. I hope you all know that I am telling you the honest to God truth about our story. My sister is laying in ICU with a huge opening in her stomach right now b/c the doctors are trying to fix what went so wrong. We have pictures if anyone needs to see the pictures of her. Please pray for her, we have our family and church praying for her recovery each and every day. I pray that nobody else ever has to go through what she is going through. She chose to do this in Mexico becuase yes it was cheaper BUT in the long run she is spending so MUCH more money now to take care of this. Supposedly the coordinator was fired because she was not telling the doctor about everything going on with my sister. I really think the coordinator got a conscience and realized their is some issues going on that she did not want to be a part of. Please keep Beverly in your prayers. Thank you! from her lil sister & best friend