So after reading so many great things about Dr Garcia here.. I decided to inquire about having surgery with him, with a lighter me. The co-ordinator told me that Dr Garcia has had some fatalaties the last few months!! And suggested another surgeon. Thoughts anyone??

I am scheduled with Dr. Garcia in Dec. I have not read about any fatalities with him. I can tell you that he has come highly recommended to me by a family member that had the sleeve surgery with him. I can also tell you that when I contacted "a lighter me" to try to schedule with Dr. Garcia, they told me that he was not available and suggested 2 other surgeons. (These 2 other surgeons just happen to be who they coordinate for.) So, with a little more research I was able to find out that Dr. Garcia was indeed available and I used a different coordinator and company. You can message me if you want any additional info. I can only speak to my experience, but I genuinely felt as though there was an agenda to try to get me to schedule surgery with whatever Dr. they coordinate for. I have no qualms with businesses trying to receive and retain business or recommend certain doctors, but not through dishonesty about other doctors. Just be cautious and keep researching until you are completely satisfied with your decision.

Yes it crossed my mind, that maybe they are just pushing Dr Lopez. But telling someone the surgeon they want has had fatalaties is a pretty gruesome lie. If its the truth.. I'm glad they told me. If its not the truth.. I'm not sure how to find out, and obviously I would switch co-ordinators.

So after reading so many great things about Dr Garcia here.. I decided to inquire about having surgery with him' date=' with a lighter me. The co-ordinator told me that Dr Garcia has had some fatalaties the last few months!! And suggested another surgeon. <img src='http://www.bariatricpal.com/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/sad.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' /> Thoughts anyone??[/quote']

May I ask what co-ordinator you spoke to at a lighter me.........I have booked surgery in December with Dr.Garcia through a lighter me, now I'm worried

May I ask what co-ordinator you spoke to at a lighter me.........I have booked surgery in December with Dr.Garcia through a lighter me' date=' now I'm worried[/quote']

Rhonda

Is there a way to get in touch with Dr. Garcia or a member of his staff? They ought to be able to tell you his fatality and complication rates.

im still alive im not sure about anyone dying under his watch yet.... never read anything like that, he did my sleeve 9/20/12 and im down 35lbs since surgery day weight! i feel good. no complications as of yet, but the largest incision did start to get infected, and i checked in with my PCP about it, 2 days ago, since been on antibiotics and the incision is almost healed!

So after reading so many great things about Dr Garcia here.. I decided to inquire about having surgery with him' date=' with a lighter me. The co-ordinator told me that Dr Garcia has had some fatalaties the last few months!! And suggested another surgeon. <img src='http://www.bariatricpal.com/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/sad.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' /> Thoughts anyone??[/quote']

I've been on this forum for about 6 months now and since being here I've read several stories about how different coordinators have trashed doctors and each other and yes it's pretty disturbing. One hopes that they're getting credible information from the people we are trusting to coordinate our care. Stories like this are disturbing and leaves us presleevers second guessing our decisions. I don't know about the company you're connecting with because I've never spoken with them, but I have spoken with alma from ready for a change. I don't know her and I'm by all means not trying to convience you to change, but just from the months of telephone exchange with her I can say that she is very professional and seems very guineine in her advice. I would give her a call and simply inquire about the validity of the information you're getting. Search, search, and keep searching for info. I have interacted with people from this forum who has ACTUALLY been to not only Dr Garcia but also Dr Almanza and I can safely say that you have to take some of the information you read with a grain of salt. This forum was meant for people to come and hopefully obtain credible info to better prepare us for making life changing decisions, unfortunately sometimes people on here may lose site of that or sign on with other hidden agendas. I know that you're struggling with making a safe and accurate choice for surgery, so am I. I pray that in the end the choices we make are the right ones for us.

Continuing to pray for peace of mind for us all.

SweetTee

Wow how unbelievable!! Dr Lopez works in the same hospital as Dr Garcia. I went through ready4achange also. Dr Garcia is an amazingly skilled surgeon and I would highly recommend him!

I had my revision done September 10th and couldn't be happier.

Does anyone have alma's @ ready 4 change e-mail?

I have personally had surgery with Dr. Garcia and i have emailed him himself to ask if this information is true.

I'll let you all know if I get an answer. He's never ever had a leak, can't believe he's had a fatality and if he has its because of extenuating circumstances, like the girl who got surgery the same day as me who had done no pre-op and lied to the doctors telling them she'd been fasting when she hasn't!

Alma@Ready4Achange

She has an after hours email as well, but I didn't save it.

Does anyone have alma's @ ready 4 change e-mail?

You will reach her faster by telephone. She is fabulous about responding quickly.

I can believe that the coordinators would lie to get your business if Dr. Garcia decided to stop using their service. That is a horrible lie, but I've been on this board for about a year, and I've seen it happen before. I was 100% satisfied with the care that I received from Dr. Garcia.

hmm, funny, when I first enquired with Ronda from A Lighter Me about having surgery, she pushed all of the Dr's except Dr Garcia and said she would not choose to go with him beucase he was having discord among his staff and was unorganized, etc.

Now he is killing patients?? I would definately like to hear from the Dr himself, although we have no way of knowing if he is telling the truth I guess.

I am staying with my choice to go with him. Personal stories and knowing people who have actually been with him means more to me than a random post by someone new on these boards

I dont believe it....I have read a lot of information during research...I have discussed with Alma time and time again about Dr. Garcia, and she told me that ready for change was the original coordinators for Dr. Garcia and that lighterme has been trying to deter patients from going with Dr. Garcia. I hate when some one tries to destroy someone elses credibility..now to all lighterme clients...this is not for you..if you have had an awesome experience....great..but I have experienced lighterme saying unprofessional things about ready4change when they should have just been focused on me becoming their client. I am still going to Dr. Garcia through Ready4change, because my research has proven he is the best choice for me.