After having done over 2 years of research on bariatric surgery, and months worth on my surgeon options- I found myself very impressed with Dr. Ramos Kelly's qualifications and experience. I verified all the information on his work experience and education (this is essential, as anyone can claim a great professional track record on the internet!). My surgery went great, the staff at his hospital checked on me virtually every hour and were extremely detailed. Beyond all that, I felt cared about. Dr. Kelly visited me at the hotel with his wife and Sara (personal coordinator) early because I was doing great and wanted to take off a day early.

I was happy to refer a good friend who confided her desire to have WLS, I'm so glad my research and experience could allow my friend to have the best WLS ever (in my opinion!) with an extremely skilled surgeon.

A couple weeks ago, ALM called her up and told her that after much deliberation and meeting, that they decided they would no longer be coordinating for Dr. Kelly. Normally, a professional break up wouldn't be alarming- these relationships can go sour all the time, and clearly from some of the things we see on the board, coordinators and coordination services can get quite competitive to downright nasty (not accusing ALM or anyone in particular of that). I'll just say, the honesty track record with coordination services does not seem to always be spotless.

The concerning part is that they indicated their choice to no longer work with Dr. Kelly was due to a safety/practice issue. This struck me as odd- they continued to work with him after his first lost patient in August of 2011, and some of their other Dr.'s they coordinate for don't have the experience or positive track record Dr. Kelly does. I have been operated on by Dr. Kelly merely 2 months ago myself, and though my recovery has gone better than anticipated, I am very concerned if there is something unsafe about the surgery that was done on my new stomach.

They urged my friend to book with a different surgeon with them, but told her she had the option of getting her deposit back if she chose to stay with Dr. Kelly, but that they would not be able to book her with him in good conscience due to an undisclosed safety concern. After talking to me, I told her I didn't want her to wonder what (if any) the safety concern was, and I thought it would be wise to go with one of there other surgeons (Dr. Garcia is who she chose, seems to be a great choice).

Obviously, it can deeply cut into a coordinators business to no longer coordinate for one of your most popular surgeons (dare I say, Dr. Kelly may be the most popular!), I would assume to cut into the $ of your business during this economy, the safety concerns must be quite significant, or the relationship went extremely sour somehow.

I'd like answers. I was operated on by Dr. Kelly not too long ago, and I hope "safety concerns" are merely just something they have chosen to say to assure that they keep the patients they've already booked with him to move to a different surgeon of theirs. I don't want to worry.

My friend pressed them for information, but they made it pretty clear they could only say it was a safety concern and that they wanted to encourage her to book with another surgeon.

My gut tells me my surgery went fine, that Dr. Kelly is a good person and extremely skilled- we have so many happy patients that post on here as it is. At the same time, I don't think a major coordinator like ALM would mislead patients, this would be a detriment to their business as so many of their patients chat on boards like this.

Susan are you talkiing about scopolamine patches? That's what people use that go on cruises to help with sea sickness and nausea?

That could be, I am not sure. Omar mentioned it to me, but he didn't give a specific name.

How cool. That's worth looking into. I also had major nausea after my csection. It's just now about 24 hours and I have very little, but they are quick and generous with the Zofran when I need it. Dr Kelly stopped in to check on me again last night after checking on me post op. He ordered it as often as safely possible which is twice as often as normal. Thanks to this I never actually threw up! I haven't needed any for about 8 hours now.

I would be fine so long as I stayed in bed, but the minute I would stand up, the nausea would hit. Glad you seem to have it under control now.

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Shows how different we all are, mine is much better while standing haha. I'll be happy to get to the hotel tomorrow, the hospital is very nice but the Lucerna sounds great.

The Lucerna is beautiful, you will love it!

The Lucerna is beautiful' date=' you will love it![/quote']

The Lucerna in Mexicali was lovely. It was set up like a villa.

I am in love with it. I'm pretty much in love with TJ in general, I think I'll retire here in 20 or 30 years

I can't help but to throw my two cents in to this conversation. When I first started researching I really felt like Dr Kelly was a good choice for me. Then I started to read all the drama on the boards and started to have doubts. I was going to pick a different surgeon all because of this coordinator BS when finally I decided to listen to my gut from the start and booked with Dr. Kelly. My surgery was at Oasis and the care was second to none. And as for Dr Kelly, there are not enough words to describe how amazing he is. Not only is he a phenomenal surgeon, he is one of the most genuine and caring people I have ever met. He spends so much time with his patients not just to answer questions but on a personal level as if you've been friends for years. That kind of demeanor can not be bought and can make a huge difference when you are heading into the unknown so to speak. I can't recommend him enough.

I totally agree Salsha. To have my surgeon and his wife pick me up to take me to the hotel, knowing how busy they are (even with the bad mouthing I know he does 3 a day, I met other patients at the hospital) and to have his wife pick me up an hour early for the airport to take us to the Cancer Survivor's park knowing my mom (she was with me) is a breast cancer survivor brought tears to my eyes. I don't think you can get more genuine.

He was there during my leak test, and when I swallowed the clear disgusting stuff as soon as he saw no leaks he came running over with juice so I could hurry and get the taste out of mouth.

Sometimes it's the little things.....oh and the really big things like 7,000 surgeries

I'm officially partial lol, but for good reason.

And one of the patients that I met who was very satisfied when we were being discharged told me how she had been totally terrorized by a patient of another Drs at the Marriott the night before her surgery telling her horrid things about Dr Kelly like in this thread (drugs etc).....which of course the patient's coordinators told that patient. She was so scared she almost didn't go through with the surgery.

I know the coordinators read this board. Money isn't everything. Here is something to ponder:

Proverbs 19:5 A false witness will not go unpunished,

And he who speaks lies will not escape.

Hello everyone, My name is Sandy Johnston. I am the owner of A Lighter Me. It is true that we worked with Dr. Kelly in the past. We made the decision in December of 2011 to part with Dr. Kelly. Since that date, we have no knowledge of any of Dr. Kelly’s practices, prices, procedures, etc. We have not recommended or been associated with Dr. Kelly in any other way. We are not now and have not been associated in any way with Dr. Kelly since December of 2011. Many of the people that currently work with A Lighter Me were not working at the time that Dr. Kelly was with our company therefore the only experience that some may have with this doctor is as a patient only. They do not, nor should they talk about a surgeon that our company is not associated with.

It is our understanding that there are a few patients that either have had surgery with Dr. Kelly or considered having surgery with Dr. Kelly. They have been sharing information that THEY have discovered on their own. We know this because they called us over a year ago with the information they wanted to share. We want to make it clear that we are also not associated with anyone that has done any independent research on this doctor in any way. Of course they are free to share what they wish and we cannot stop them, but we do not endorse their information. We have made our own decisions based on our own reasons.

This original thread was started well over a year ago and we have been working with other medical teams before and long after this event. I just want people to understand that this is a very old thread that has been for some reason, renewed. I hope this clears things up. Everyone at our company has had weight loss surgery in Mexico and we understand how nerve wracking the entire process is. Please feel free to ask us any questions you may have about our company directly. We are always happy to chat! We all want to wish everyone a fast surgery recovery and congratulations on your new healthier life!

Hello everyone' date=' My name is Sandy Johnston. I am the owner of A Lighter Me. It is true that we worked with Dr. Kelly in the past. We made the decision in December of 2011 to part with Dr. Kelly. Since that date, we have no knowledge of any of Dr. Kelly’s practices, prices, procedures, etc. We have not recommended or been associated with Dr. Kelly in any other way. We are not now and have not been associated in any way with Dr. Kelly since December of 2011. Many of the people that currently work with A Lighter Me were not working at the time that Dr. Kelly was with our company therefore the only experience that some may have with this doctor is as a patient only. They do not, nor should they talk about a surgeon that our company is not associated with.

It is our understanding that there are a few patients that either have had surgery with Dr. Kelly or considered having surgery with Dr. Kelly. They have been sharing information that THEY have discovered on their own. We know this because they called us over a year ago with the information they wanted to share. We want to make it clear that we are also not associated with anyone that has done any independent research on this doctor in any way. Of course they are free to share what they wish and we cannot stop them, but we do not endorse their information. We have made our own decisions based on our own reasons.

This original thread was started well over a year ago and we have been working with other medical teams before and long after this event. I just want people to understand that this is a very old thread that has been for some reason, renewed. I hope this clears things up. Everyone at our company has had weight loss surgery in Mexico and we understand how nerve wracking the entire process is. Please feel free to ask us any questions you may have about our company directly. We are always happy to chat! We all want to wish everyone a fast surgery recovery and congratulations on your new healthier life![/quote']

Interesting....

zsflower, thank you so much for clearing up any confusion around this issue.

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Interesting....

Yes, no kidding since many ALM potential clients were told terrible things about Dr Kelly by their coordinators as recent as a week ago. I had the pleasure of meeting a Dr Kelly Mexico Bariatrics patient on my FB who was terrorized the night before by one of your clients who was told terrible things by one of your employees. This lady is not on the boards but we are FB friends now so I'll see if I can get her to come on to tell her story.

Great PR, as an owner I'm glad you are taking steps to correct the situation. Maybe just tell your employees to stop slamming other Drs (Kelly or otherwise).

The thread suspiciously got renewed. Obviously not by you.