Has anyone used A Lighter Me and had Dr. Alejandro Lopez as their surgeon? I'm interested in hearing about experiences with this doctor and this coordinating company.

Athough I have not personally used them (I have not yet had my VSG), there has been 2 very disturbning reviews recently: I read one today and one yesterday. Good luck in your decisions. As with the bad experiences, I am sure there are many "good" experiences that will help you make an informed choice.

I had Dr. Lopez and he was WONDERFUL!!! And A Lighter Me was so good to me!! I would highly recommend them again!!

I've read a ton of reviews for A Lighter Me, just do a search with A Lighter Me in quotes, and I've only found one negative review. The girl said she loved Dr. Lopez but she got freaked out when she was in the hotel and woke up to heavy drainage from her wound. She didn't call the medical coordinator, Eduardo, who makes sure to give you his number and tells you to call him if you need anything at any time. Instead she called the driver, Abraham, who told her what she was experiencing was normal, and her US coordinator, who called her back after an hour. She was not happy. Even the owner of ALM got in touch with her. Since I've never had a US doctor call me back within an hour, this has not discouraged me in the least. She ended up going to a Walmart for bandages and having yogurt afterwards, so no, she wasn't dying. Dr. Lopez stays at the Marriott when he's in town so that he's close to his patients and when he saw her that night, he said she was fine and removed her drain.

 

As for a 2nd negative review, I haven't found one.

 

Here's a list of several of the reviews I've found so far -

 

http://www.verticals..._"a lighter me"

 

http://www.verticals...12/#entry622274

 

http://www.verticals..._"a lighter me"

 

http://www.verticals...ep/#entry737945

 

Here's the negative one: http://www.verticals..._"a lighter me"

 

I know everything freaked me out when I first started researching so don't let this freak you out. Dr. Lopez has consistently been given high praise, he's a member of the American Society for Metabolic & Bariatric Surgery, he's written several weight loss articles, and he trains other surgeons to perform bariatric surgeries.

I had alm. And dr Lopez. Last week and I was in when the other lady. Pm me if interested in my feedback.

Hi, I just heard from Hope who has her surgery yesterday with Dr. Lopez. She's raving about him, the hospital, and the hotel.

She said Dr. Lopez is great. He's been to see her twice since the surgery. She said she had 3 surgeons in the operating room - Dr. Lopez, Dr. Ortiz, and some woman.

She said the nurses are great - very friendly and attentive. She said you couldn't get the kind of service she's receiving in the US. Her only concern was the nurses didn't always wear their gloves. She said be sure to remind them.

She said Abraham, our coordinator, is wonderful. She went by herself - I'm going by myself also - and she said he stayed with her and kept her company. The day everybody got there he rounded them up and took them sight-seeing and to dinner. It was only broth but it was good.

She said some woman was bragging about Dr. Kelly the morning of her surgery and it finally got on her last nerve. Dr. Lopez has never lost a patient and his complication rate is at .025%. He's cautious and he's thorough. Dr. Kelly has lost 2 patients, he's lost his surgery privileges at 3 hospitals, and he's on drugs. Apparently the other lady didn't know about all that and freaked out when she was told. Why people don't do their research I'll never know. I RESEARCH EVERY FREAKIING THING. I checked every license, called every hospital (including the one in Chicago where he interned), checked out every association, read almost every article he wrote - and only after all that did I go by everybody's experience. Experience is great but since the dead can't complain, you need to look at more than experience.

Anyway, I hope this helps. Hope was FREAKING THE FREAK OUT before she left. And now she's like, what was the big deal? I was such a drama queen. You can't get a better review than that.

Just WOW!

 

First, how do you know Dr Lopez has never lost a patient? How do you know his complication rate? Most importantly why would you say Dr Kelly is on drugs?

 

Most surgeons in the US operate at ONE hospital. Why would Dr Kelly need to operate at 5 hospitals? I'm actually at Florence/Oasis as we speak. He also operates at Mi Doctor.

 

You should be ashamed of yourself.

Everyone needs to do their research and it's wonderful we can share information, but to accuse a surgeon of being on drugs is shocking. I hope there is proof to go with that. Neither of these doctors are my surgeon, so I have no vested interest, but that accusation is a very strong one!

Hi' date=' I just heard from Hope who has her surgery yesterday with Dr. Lopez. She's raving about him, the hospital, and the hotel.

 

She said Dr. Lopez is great. He's been to see her twice since the surgery. She said she had 3 surgeons in the operating room - Dr. Lopez, Dr. Ortiz, and some woman.

 

She said the nurses are great - very friendly and attentive. She said you couldn't get the kind of service she's receiving in the US. Her only concern was the nurses didn't always wear their gloves. She said be sure to remind them.

 

She said Abraham, our coordinator, is wonderful. She went by herself - I'm going by myself also - and she said he stayed with her and kept her company. The day everybody got there he rounded them up and took them sight-seeing and to dinner. It was only broth but it was good.

 

She said some woman was bragging about Dr. Kelly the morning of her surgery and it finally got on her last nerve. Dr. Lopez has never lost a patient and his complication rate is at .025%. He's cautious and he's thorough. Dr. Kelly has lost 2 patients, he's lost his surgery privileges at 3 hospitals, and he's on drugs. Apparently the other lady didn't know about all that and freaked out when she was told. Why people don't do their research I'll never know. I RESEARCH EVERY FREAKIING THING. I checked every license, called every hospital (including the one in Chicago where he interned), checked out every association, read almost every article he wrote - and only after all that did I go by everybody's experience. Experience is great but since the dead can't complain, you need to look at more than experience.

 

Anyway, I hope this helps. Hope was FREAKING THE FREAK OUT before she left. And now she's like, what was the big deal? I was such a drama queen. You can't get a better review than that.[/quote']

 

You shouldn't be spreading rumors about a surgeon with nothing to back it up.

 

I'm glad to read about another happy patient with their surgery... Will said patient be sharing her experience?

I had alm. And dr Lopez. Last week and I was in when the other lady. Pm me if interested in my feedback.

Do you mind me asking why you want to PM your feedback?!?!

Janese from ALM told me last summer that Dr. Kelly was on drugs and losing his privileges at hospitals when I was inquiring about him. So it's not surprising that many of Dr. Lopez's patients will use that same tactic because they are just listening to what a coordinator/company says!!!

I was turned off by that and didn't use ALM because it seemed so unnecessary for her to tell me that about another surgeon!!!

TOO MUCH DRAMA!!

Janese from ALM told me last summer that Dr. Kelly was on drugs and losing his privileges at hospitals when I was inquiring about him. So it's not surprising that many of Dr. Lopez's patients will use that same tactic because they are just listening to what a coordinator/company says!!!

I was turned off by that and didn't use ALM because it seemed so unnecessary for her to tell me that about another surgeon!!!

TOO MUCH DRAMA!!

Janese!

Haha... Yeah she sounds awesome, between this and last week, she sounds like someone who needs to be fired!

That is unless you like the gossiping, backstabbing, thug mentality thing

I think that posts like that shouldn't even be allowed. Pure ignorance. He just did my surgery and he is a bright, healthy, very well kept man. Working in the medical field I've seen my fair share of drug users. Your accusations disgust me. I have no vested interest with the exception that I have been treated very, very well from airport pickup on time until now (I'm about to get 2nd leak test then to hotel).

 

I sincerely hope no one believes this greedy, evil gossip. There are plenty of surgeons that I would have gladly went to, but I'm very happy with my choice and think everyone should keep him on their short list when deciding.

I am interested in any info people might have to share about Dr Lopez. Good or bad, it would be great to read other's stories. Whether you like the coordinator or not doesn't matter much, since that person isn't going to be providing any medical care. I understand some of you are very defensive of Dr Kelly, but this post was for Dr Lopez. If anyone has stats and success/failure rates, it would be great if you could share where you got the info. Thanks for everyone's input.

I'm not defensive of Dr Kelly, but I don't think someone should randomly be allowed to accuse anyone of being on drugs without solid proof. It severely compromises the integrity of these forums.

Oh, and if you like the coordinator and trust them is a huge deal. I watched a fellow patient totally get screwed over by a coordinating agency regarding her hotel while I was being discharged.