I was wondering if anyone has scheduled without a coordinator? Can you go straight through the Dr? I am thinking about using Dr Garcia for my surgury.. opinions either way would be great or can you even do it without one?

Hi. I just re-read my post and I agree- it does seem a tad harsh. Sorry. But here's why I said what I said. I had booked my surgery thru A LIGHTER ME with one of Dr Kelly's coordinators. I forgot her name. She asked me to bring two checks with me to Mexico. 2500 made out to her company and 2700.00 to the doctor. About a week before my surgery she called me and tried to get me to switch to Dr Garcia - who I hadn't heard of at that point. She went into some long story about how she didn't feel comfortable referring people to Kelly any more. Turns out they had severed their relationship so she wanted me to use her new Dr.

The main reason I didn't feel I needed a coordinator is this: the coordinator lives in Califormia and doesn't come to the hospital to visit you. She only phones you At least mine didn't. Dr Kelly used a girl named Trish a while back and she did live in mexico. But she was the only one I saw when I was there.

Bottom line is- you should use who you feel comfortable with. If your coordinator is answering all your questions in a timely manner and is doing her job then that's all that counts.

So I apologize if I came across as harsh. I didn't mean to. Having been to Mexico myself and having dealt with a couple of coordinators from Dr Almanza and Dr Kelly I came to the conclusion that although they were nice and friendly - its the doctor who matters. I was only interested in what his previous patients had to say about him. I know dr Kelly and his wife take his patients out to dinner sometimes after the surgery. I think that's very nice of them. I do. But all I wanted was an uneventful surgery. I still text my doctor from time to time when I have a question. And he responds almost immediately. Imagine doing that with a surgeon in the US?

Please don't worry about it. I...very much want to read positive and not so positive comments. How will I make an informed decision if I don't hear everything?

I am here in TJ, having been sleeved by Dr. Kelly yesterday. He really is a wonderful, kind and caring man as well as a top notch surgeon.

In answer to the site seeing comments. His assistant Omar is as great as he is. He will happily take you to see whatever you want. Even the bull fights and he can't stand them. He is practically a concierge and does so with a smile on his face. He is always available to answer any question you have.

I am here in TJ, having been sleeved by Dr. Kelly yesterday. He really is a wonderful, kind and caring man as well as a top notch surgeon.

In answer to the site seeing comments. His assistant Omar is as great as he is. He will happily take you to see whatever you want. Even the bull fights and he can't stand them. He is practically a concierge and does so with a smile on his face. He is always available to answer any question you have.

Hey! Congratulations. Please give my regards to Dr Kelly. I was there jan 18th. And loved the entire experience. Good luck and keep us posted on your recovery.

I am here in TJ' date=' having been sleeved by Dr. Kelly yesterday. He really is a wonderful, kind and caring man as well as a top notch surgeon.

In answer to the site seeing comments. His assistant Omar is as great as he is. He will happily take you to see whatever you want. Even the bull fights and he can't stand them. He is practically a concierge and does so with a smile on his face. He is always available to answer any question you have.[/quote']

I am so glad all went well. I am dealing with all the negative comments about me going to Mexico and my safety. Has there been any moments at all that you thought oh my...what have I got myself into? Dr. Kelly is performing my surgery on July 2nd.

When I first scheduled my surgery with dr Kelly's coordinator I was quoted 5700.00 too. She asked me to make out two checks. One for her and one for the doctor. After he severed his relationship with her Dr Kelly still charged me about the same. I can't believe he was performing this surgery all along for only 2500.00. Can you imagine? So now I guess he gets to keep it all. As it should be.

I do not feel that Dr. Kelly is keeping the entire fee for himself. He probably does perform the surgery for approximately $2500. I work in pulmonary medicine, and while I might get paid $5800 to see a patient, the fee pays for the facility, bills and staff. When you have surgery in the United States, you pay a separate fee (and often get individual bills) to the hospital, doctor, anesthesia, radiology, and any after care you receive. In Mexico, you are paying one fee, so the payment you made is going to Dr. Kelly. Then, Dr. Kelly must pay the hospital, anesthesiologist, radiology, and your hotel/aftercare. If I were to take a guess, you were writing two checks because one was going to the coordinator to pay herself and all the miscellaneous expenses while the other was for Dr. Kelly's personal fee out of which he must not only support his family, but his practice and employees as well.

Considering it costs $5500 to go through Dr. Kelly directly while going through his former coordinator costs $5700, I would make the assumption that the coordinator's fee is $200 (since all the expenses involved in your care would remain the same whether you use a coordinator or not). Hearing about all the things that some coordinators have done for their patients, it sounds as if though many of the coordinators were worth every penny of the $200.

Personally, I would pay $200 to have that peace of mind. I feel Omar provides the same service as a coordinator, so I feel I got a bonus and service that I didn't have to pay extra to obtain.

Ok-that makes complete sense. The real issue I had with using a coordinator was MY coordinator. She was nutty and, in my opinion, unethical. That being said, and knowing what I know now, I think it's just a personal choice that each person traveling to Mexico must decide for herself. I went without one and another girl having surgery the same day as me did use one. We both had the same good experience with Dr Kelly. The coordinator is a "go to" person. There are alot of questions that pop up from patients prior to surgery and if having a coordinator makes the trip easier - then I'm all for using one.

I can tell you all that I am a very high maintenance patient, and Omar and Dr Kelly have been wonderful. I must have asked 1000 questions and they were all answered promptly. Dr Kelly's name was trashed needlessly by a previous coordinator and that soured me on all of them because it WAS all about money. All I cared about EVER was the quality of my doctor. I was very nervous pre op, and he literally held my hand while they were inducing anesthesia. My experience has been wonderful. The first 24 hours are a little rough because of the drugs wearing off, nausea, etc but honestly it gets better so fast!!!

So my advice is to do what works for you but pick a DOCTOR, not a coordinator. Use a coordinator if you feel you need one, but don't let that dictate who your doctor is, because believe me when they are wheeling you into surgery you will be thinking about the quality of that doctor, not the quality of that coordinator!

Good luck everyone! Cathy, Jennifer and I are all doing wonderful and are headed for our final leak tests and then our first bowls of yummy broth!

I am so glad all went well. I am dealing with all the negative comments about me going to Mexico and my safety. Has there been any moments at all that you thought oh my...what have I got myself into? Dr. Kelly is performing my surgery on July 2nd.

Dr Kelly is ohwnomenal. Cant imagine using a coordinator, thar gouges the Dr fir thousands. Omar is wonderful, dr's wife cecey, is sweet, and it was great to be there to support the ladies who came after us. You wont regret your decision!

I have to say I was a little confused about the coordinator and websites. I looked through Obesity Solutions International and wanted to use Dr Garcia. Sandy contacted me initially and gave me information. I paid a deposit and had more questions. Then I was contacted by Zach who answered more questions but in between I was also contacted by jenese so I was getting double answers. Lately I have only been receiving emails from janese when I have questions. She lives in Southetn California but sent me a complete run down of phone numbers and what to expect and who to call. I know it sounds crazy but I'm looking forward to 5 days away from my stressful job and crazy family.

I am so glad all went well. I am dealing with all the negative comments about me going to Mexico and my safety. Has there been any moments at all that you thought oh my...what have I got myself into? Dr. Kelly is performing my surgery on July 2nd.

Don't let the negative comments get to you. Mexico is completely safe. You're picked up by a member of the doctors team and driven over the border directly to the hospital. I arrived at 10:30 and had surgery at 3:30 that same day. You're in the hospital for about two more days where you're completely under the doctors supervision. Then you're once again driven, most times by the doctors wife, to a beautiful hotel where you're completely looked after. At no time did I ever feel in danger. The hotel staff were wonderful and extremely accommodating. They make their living by tourists - so they are very friendly. Quick story - I decided to give up caffeine while I was in MX so I switched to tea. I was served a delicious peach tea one day during lunch. I forgot to ask the name of it prior to leaving. After my return to Florida the hotel emailed me a questionnaire regarding our stay. At the bottom was the name of the hotel manager. I emailed him and asked him if he was able to find out the name of the peach tea for me. 15 minutes later I received a response. That's how nice the hotel staff are.

On the day of departure you're met by your driver at a predetermined time right in front of your hotel. Then you're driven directly to the airport. What's not safe about that? Some people feel up to walking around downtown a day or two after their surgery. I chose to stay in the hotel and just watch movies on tv. I was so happy to finally get my sleeve that all I wanted to do was rest up and not be uncomfortable on the plane ride home. It turned out to be a very unevenful trip home. All but the food court in the Houston airport. Beware: the food in that airport was awesome. What a selection! Not your typical airport crap. I couldn't eat one thing. But that was ok. I had my G2 Gatorade.

So the bottom line is - there's absolutely nothing to worry about in Mexico.

Hope this helps.

Don't let the negative comments get to you. Mexico is completely safe. You're picked up by a member of the doctors team and driven over the border directly to the hospital. I arrived at 10:30 and had surgery at 3:30 that same day. You're in the hospital for about two more days where you're completely under the doctors supervision. Then you're once again driven' date=' most times by the doctors wife, to a beautiful hotel where you're completely looked after. At no time did I ever feel in danger. The hotel staff were wonderful and extremely accommodating. They make their living by tourists - so they are very friendly. Quick story - I decided to give up caffeine while I was in MX so I switched to tea. I was served a delicious peach tea one day during lunch. I forgot to ask the name of it prior to leaving. After my return to Florida the hotel emailed me a questionnaire regarding our stay. At the bottom was the name of the hotel manager. I emailed him and asked him if he was able to find out the name of the peach tea for me. 15 minutes later I received a response. That's how nice the hotel staff are.

On the day of departure you're met by your driver at a predetermined time right in front of your hotel. Then you're driven directly to the airport. What's not safe about that? Some people feel up to walking around downtown a day or two after their surgery. I chose to stay in the hotel and just watch movies on tv. I was so happy to finally get my sleeve that all I wanted to do was rest up and not be uncomfortable on the plane ride home. It turned out to be a very unevenful trip home. All but the food court in the Houston airport. Beware: the food in that airport was awesome. What a selection! Not your typical airport crap. I couldn't eat one thing. But that was ok. I had my G2 Gatorade.

So the bottom line is - there's absolutely nothing to worry about in Mexico.

Hope this helps.[/quote']

It helps tremendously and thank you for posting. I am being sleeved in 2 weeks and I know it is normal to maybe have some jitters and be nervous, but I REALLY enjoy reading these type of posts. It is very reassuring.

Sent from my iPad using VST

I don't know why I don't really hear much about Dr. Ortiz on here? I've checked out numerous surgeons in Mexico, and I've read tons of feedback on all of them. Dr. Ortiz is definitely who I want to do my surgery

I do not feel that Dr. Kelly is keeping the entire fee for himself. He probably does perform the surgery for approximately 2500. I work in pulmonary medicine' date=' and while I might get paid 5800 to see a patient, the fee pays for the facility, bills and staff. When you have surgery in the United States, you pay a separate fee (and often get individual bills) to the hospital, doctor, anesthesia, radiology, and any after care you receive. In Mexico, you are paying one fee, so the payment you made is going to Dr. Kelly. Then, Dr. Kelly must pay the hospital, anesthesiologist, radiology, and your hotel/aftercare. If I were to take a guess, you were writing two checks because one was going to the coordinator to pay herself and all the miscellaneous expenses while the other was for Dr. Kelly's personal fee out of which he must not only support his family, but his practice and employees as well.

Considering it costs 5500 to go through Dr. Kelly directly while going through his former coordinator costs 5700, I would make the assumption that the coordinator's fee is 200 (since all the expenses involved in your care would remain the same whether you use a coordinator or not). Hearing about all the things that some coordinators have done for their patients, it sounds as if though many of the coordinators were worth every penny of the 200.

Personally, I would pay 200 to have that peace of mind. I feel Omar provides the same service as a coordinator, so I feel I got a bonus and service that I didn't have to pay extra to obtain.[/quote']

I think my sister in law paid dr Kelly's old coordinator 2000.

I think my sister in law paid dr Kelly's old coordinator 2000.

Dr Kelly told me himself that the coordinators were charging 2k per patient. 200-500 PP would be more reasonable. But they wont budge, so that's the reason he forgoes coordinators, because he wasnt making much, but the coordinators certainly were! I'd much rather the funds go to the one performing my surgery, than someone who coordinates it.