If you had your surgery performed at either one of these places, please voice your opinions. What did you like/dislike about it, were you satisfied with the care you received there?

Hi,

I had LapBand surgery with Dr. Ortiz at Obesity Control Center in August 2007. My Mom and I both were very impressed with OCC. The staff was great and I felt very well taken care of.... that is why I have scheduled my Revision surgery with OCC and Dr. Ortiz for September 10, 2012. Hope this helps.

Cheers, Dottie

I also used Dr. Ortiz and went to OCC... His facility is state of the art and extremely clean and safe! I'm not sure how you feel but I come from a medical family and I knew that this procedure wasn't like an open heart surgery so having it done in an actual hospital wasn't a big deal to me. Plus, I preferred to be in an atmosphere with patients that were just like ME and not locals who could be at the hospital with God knows what kind of virus or illness... I was completely catered too and didn't feel nervous at all... Dr. Ortiz and the rest of his staff are compassionate, very knowledgeable and I couldn't have asked for a better experience. I had my surgery on April 16th and I have lost 72 lbs. He has given me a tool that has changed my life and it was the best decision I have ever made and the best money I have ever spent!!

I highly recommend OCC and Dr. Ortiz!! Good Luck!

I also used Dr. Ortiz and went to OCC... His facility is state of the art and extremely clean and safe! I'm not sure how you feel but I come from a medical family and I knew that this procedure wasn't like an open heart surgery so having it done in an actual hospital wasn't a big deal to me. Plus' date=' I preferred to be in an atmosphere with patients that were just like ME and not locals who could be at the hospital with God knows what kind of virus or illness... I was completely catered too and didn't feel nervous at all... Dr. Ortiz and the rest of his staff are compassionate, very knowledgeable and I couldn't have asked for a better experience. I had my surgery on April 16th and I have lost 72 lbs. He has given me a tool that has changed my life and it was the best decision I have ever made and the best money I have ever spent!!

I highly recommend OCC and Dr. Ortiz!! Good Luck![/quote']

A few of my family members have asked me what if something goes wrong during the surgery? Are they equipped to take care of an emergency if that were to arise?

Absolutely... there is nothing that a hospital has that Dr. Ortiz doesn't have in his clinic.... He practices in an International Center of Excellence... An honor that Jerusalem hospital doesn't share..... check out his website.... www.obesitycontrolcenter.com

If you or your family have questions please contact them..... Lori Wrights is one of his patient coordinators and she is out of Visalia, CA. She is a patient as well will even arrange a conference call with you, your family and Dr. Ortiz to address any concerns that you may have. The procedure takes about an hour... that's it!

Absolutely... there is nothing that a hospital has that Dr. Ortiz doesn't have in his clinic.... He practices in an International Center of Excellence... An honor that Jerusalem hospital doesn't share..... check out his website.... www.obesitycontrolcenter.com

If you or your family have questions please contact them..... Lori Wrights is one of his patient coordinators and she is out of Visalia' date=' CA. She is a patient as well will even arrange a conference call with you, your family and Dr. Ortiz to address any concerns that you may have. The procedure takes about an hour... that's it! <img src='http://www.bariatricpal.com/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' />[/quote']

Hmmm... Oh I definitely feel more comfortable going to OCC. Just because like you said, it's a center of excellence and I've watched all the videos of Dr. Ortiz and I don't feel afraid at all. I'm not hating on the Jerusalem hospital, but I've read a few things that made me lean more towards OCC. hearing from you also has helped me out because for some reason Dr. Ortiz isn't one of the "popular" surgeons on here.

He isn't on any of the forums and honestly... he doesn't need the forums to get business.... I knew he was the surgeon for me YEARS ago... The timing just wasn't right for me..When the timing was right I made the call right away without hesitation and lemme tell you.. I wasn't nervous a single second!!! Clear up to when the Anesthesiologist said he was about to give me the best margarita of my life!! LOL I had hardly any pain (felt like doing 100 crunches), no gas and no nausea. Granted, everyone is different but this was the first surgery of my life and it was a piece of cake!! A lot of folks take the cheaper route but the thing is... Going to Mexico is going to save you THOUSANDS of dollars anyway... Why cut it even more by going to someone with less experience and herds you in like cattle. A lot of the MX surgeons perform 8-10 surgeries a day and have so called "associate surgeons" doing the majority of the work.

At OCC you have your own room unless you are having your surgery with a friend or family member. The Marriott where you stay for recovery was very nice and I and my mother were comfortable and taken care of very well! There is a nice pool and it's conveniently located to shopping (Wal-Mart is right around the corner).

If you have any other questions please feel free to message me.. I won't hesitate to give you my number or email address if you request....

All the best!!!

Oh... and just a FYI... there are folks that frequent the forums that are paid by Mexican surgeons.... Obviously, you don't know me from Adam BUT.... I am a patient and have the pics to prove it! LOL And as much as I would like to be paid for my testimonials I'm not. I am just so happy with my decision and my entire experience that I want to help as many people as I can. This is not a decision that anyone should take lightly. Being mentally prepared is key to a successful surgery and recovery! You will NEVER be able to eat like you did in the past. You will more than likely be able to eat a lot of the same foods but you will be full so quick and will not be able to overeat. If you do, you will puke... Plain and simple... But the thing is.. you will not want to overeat so puking really shouldn't happen. The sleeve surgery removes the portion of your stomach that produces "ghrelin" so there are days where I actually have to remind myself eat because I am just not hungry. There are some foods that I just can't tolerate anymore but it's a good thing and you will relearn how to eat and how to nourish yourself with good foods!! And you will be satisfied!! There is gonna come a time where you are probably going to want a cookie, or a piece of cake or some ice cream... If anything.. just for sheer curiosity.. just to see what happens or see how if goes down... Having a cookie is okay.... Having some ice cream is okay... But you are not going to want to eat 7-8 Cookies like you do now or a huge ice cream sundae with chocolate syrup, nuts, whipped cream, etc.... LOL I don't even crave that crap anymore.... It's a great feeling because you will finally be IN CONTROL of your weight and let's face it.. That is the reason that we are even having the surgery to begin with right???!! I didn't have that control and now I do and it's so empowering!!

My advice is to just research research RESEARCH!!! I did my due diligence and found a lot of dirt on the other surgeons.. There is one surgeon inparticular that practices Bariatric Surgery yet also opened a Mortuary!! Now that is scary!!!!

Oh... and just a FYI... there are folks that frequent the forums that are paid by Mexican surgeons.... Obviously' date=' you don't know me from Adam BUT.... I am a patient and have the pics to prove it! LOL And as much as I would like to be paid for my testimonials I'm not. I am just so happy with my decision and my entire experience that I want to help as many people as I can. This is not a decision that anyone should take lightly. Being mentally prepared is key to a successful surgery and recovery! You will NEVER be able to eat like you did in the past. You will more than likely be able to eat a lot of the same foods but you will be full so quick and will not be able to overeat. If you do, you will puke... Plain and simple... But the thing is.. you will not want to overeat so puking really shouldn't happen. The sleeve surgery removes the portion of your stomach that produces "ghrelin" so there are days where I actually have to remind myself eat because I am just not hungry. There are some foods that I just can't tolerate anymore but it's a good thing and you will relearn how to eat and how to nourish yourself with good foods!! And you will be satisfied!! There is gonna come a time where you are probably going to want a cookie, or a piece of cake or some ice cream... If anything.. just for sheer curiosity.. just to see what happens or see how if goes down... Having a cookie is okay.... Having some ice cream is okay... But you are not going to want to eat 7-8 Cookies like you do now or a huge ice cream sundae with chocolate syrup, nuts, whipped cream, etc.... LOL I don't even crave that crap anymore.... It's a great feeling because you will finally be IN CONTROL of your weight and let's face it.. That is the reason that we are even having the surgery to begin with right???!! I didn't have that control and now I do and it's so empowering!!

My advice is to just research research RESEARCH!!! I did my due diligence and found a lot of dirt on the other surgeons.. There is one surgeon inparticular that practices Bariatric Surgery yet also opened a Mortuary!! Now that is scary!!!! <img src='http://www.bariatricpal.com/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' />[/quote']

A mortuary? Wow! I haven't read about that one yet. Lol and it is very scary for me to think about going to Mx all alone and having surgery. I read all these stories and it makes me think if so many others can do it, so can I! I'm tired of fighting with my weight. I try to convince myself that it's ridiculous to spend the money to have WLS that I just need to buckle down and get the weight off myself. I've read too many others stories that say that it's not losing weight that is the problem, it's keeping it off and it always comes back Plus some! And that's true! It does... I don't want to wait ten more years and be 100 pounds heavier than what I am now.

Did you get the surgery financed or did you save up for it?

I actually borrowed from my 401k... To me, this was for my health... my future... and I believe that having this surgery will add years to my life! I have saved so much money not going out to eat and spending $40.00 just on myself... Or going out for drinks and running up a tab of $75.00-$100.00. When I go to the grocery store I actually spend more on my dog's food/treats than I do on the food for myself!! LOL Now that is messed up!!! Other than being overweight I was healthy going in.... no meds for anything BUT I have a family history of diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, etc... and I knew that if I didn't lose a large amount of weight that I was going to be on meds within 5 years. I am 37 now and haven't even had children yet. At my highest weight I was 332lbs. I am 5'10 so I have always carried it well BUT..... regardless of how I felt, I had to get the weight off and I would try.. believe me! I would try weight watchers, Atkins, etc... and I would lose weight... maybe 30-35lbs but I had sooooo much more to lose and I just never saw the light at the end of the tunnel. I needed to do something drastic to get the weight off and keep it off and this surgery was exactly what my body needed! When I look at all the clothes in ALL of my closets I would just cringe.. I spent so much money trying to look good and trust me... I LOOKED GOOD!! But I looked good for being a woman who weighed 332 lbs!! I actually have sold some of my clothing and made well over a thousand dollars so far. That will help supplement my new wardrobe and as much as I loved shopping before.... WOW.... .I really like it now! I was a good size 24/26 at my heaviest.. I am now a size 18 and feel amazing!! I haven't been this size this high school and it feels incredible! I can't imagine how I am going to feel when I reach my goal weight..... But I am soooooo looking forward to it!!

I started putting money into a 401k, but when I left my job, I pulled the money out. I wish that I still had it because as of right now, I don't have any savings for my retirement. I know it does come in handy if you need to borrow against it. My Mom has done that several times when they were in need of money... I wish that I would have known about this years ago! It never even crossed my mind about going to Mexico. If I would have been told about this, I would have probably already had the surgery! I didn't know much about the sleeve, just heard bits and pieces about Lapband and gastric bypass and I didn't want either one of those!!!

Well the sleeve wasn't really available back then.. It started becoming a more popular option I would say 2-3 years ago and now the Plication procedure is available which you may want to research as well. I have had friends that have had the Buypass and my best friend has the Lap-Band. She spent about 15k to have it done here in the US and that was about 2 years ago. She has spent another 2 grand just in fills to maintain it.. ahhhhhh... no... NOT for me!!

Plus, Dr. Ortiz actually performs a lot of revision surgeries where patients get their bands out and get a sleeve. Lori Wrights, one of his coordinators had that done. She had her revision surgery the same day as me.

I researched the plication procedure and I didn't feel that it was the right fit for me.. but that was just me. It's a newer procedure and depending on the amount of weight you need to lose it may be a good fit for you..

Have you talked to one of his coordinators yet?? Either Carolyn or Lori??

I agree with you! I really didn't like the thought of having a foreign object in my body. Not only that, but I would always freak myself out thinking it's slipping or something. I did research the plication as well. Out of all the different options, I liked the sleeve the best. I like it because it gets rid of the hunger hormone for one. Also, if I'm not going to be using the other half of my stomach anyway, go ahead and cut it out! Lol

I haven't talked to any of the coordinators yet because I still have to save up for the surgery. I figured that I would contact them when I get the money for the deposit and airfare. I haven't really talked to much family about it. The ones that I have told look at me like I've lost my mind... So, I believe I'm just going to save up, book the surgery and tell them like a week before I go. That way I won't have to listen to everyone telling me not to do it for months.

Gotcha!!! Well, good luck with everything and let me know if you have any other questions!!

Keep in touch!!

I am having surgery aug. 28th with dr almanza at hospital jerusalem. it's not fancy, but I know people who have went to him and have good reviews, however, if I were doing it again and just getting started on choosing a surgeon I would go with dr otiz and occ. The facilities are nicer, but the price is higher of course. I decided to go ahead with dr almanza but I would recommend occ...