Dr. Ariel Ortiz at the OCC

[raven123 97]

Amazing you found a doctor that would do your follow up work and accept you as a patient after you returned from surgery in Mexico. My daughters live in the Seattle/Tacoma Washington state area and have received one refusal after another, with all the doctors saying they will not accept them as patients if they have surgery in Mexico. Even my own surgeon , who performed the sleeve surgery on me, turned me down today when I asked him to take them as patients! I need help finding a doctor in this area. I am at a loss how to find one!

My sister is doctor. She had a sleeve at OCC. She told me not to talk to my own doctor before I had the sleeve. She said they cannot give permission to go to another country. But after the fact my doctor was delighted.

[jjinWA 511]

I will contact OCC and get a list of follow up instructions. Good advice here everyone. Thanks for your feedback. I will put my trust in God as I always have and will put good vibes out there in the universe. It will all work out!

[JamieLogical 8,684]

Amazing you found a doctor that would do your follow up work and accept you as a patient after you returned from surgery in Mexico. My daughters live in the Seattle/Tacoma Washington state area and have received one refusal after another, with all the doctors saying they will not accept them as patients if they have surgery in Mexico. Even my own surgeon , who performed the sleeve surgery on me, turned me down today when I asked him to take them as patients! I need help finding a doctor in this area. I am at a loss how to find one!

This is just my PCP and I had discussed the surgery prior to traveling to Mexico. In fact, she went ahead and ordered my first round of follow-up bloodwork before I even had the surgery. Your daughters' PCPs won't even order basic bloodwork for them?

Edited October 26, 2014 by JamieLogical

[jjinWA 511]

He would not even accept them as a patient if they went to Mexico.

[JamieLogical 8,684]

He would not even accept them as a patient if they went to Mexico.

Who's "he"? Your surgeon or your daughters' primary care physician(s)? If you mean your daughters' PCP, is he just going to stop seeing them altogether if they have surgery in Mexico? That seems pretty extreme!

[jjinWA 511]

Both! Surgeon took the money up front for pretesting and declined to do follow up after she returned from Mexico. My PCP is the other dr. I discussed the Mexico surgeries with. I asked if he would be willing to run labs etc when they returned. He said flat out NO. I said we were still trying to get approval from ins and would have surgery here in the US, and if that happened would he take them as new patients then? His response was no, he was not taking on new patients at this time. Really? I was a brand new patient, with it being my first visit with him and the voice message when you are on hold on his office phone states clearly they are accepting new patients. Hmmmm. Anyway, both were unwilling to do followup.

[newbiesleever 57]

If you pick a new doctor, I wouldn't tell them about going to Mexico. You can ask to get blood work done and ask for a nutrition panel. Just say you want to make sure your Vitamin levels are all normal. Any doctor should be willing to do that. I usually only go to my doctor once a year for a physical so when that time comes, she usually gives me a full blood work order anyways and I just plan on asking for the nutrition panel as well... I did talk to her about weight loss surgery the last time I saw her, just to get thoughts on it, but that was before I decided to go to Mexico. She's a really laid back doctor but I still wouldn't tell her about going to Mexico.

[raven123 97]

Doctors can not endorse having surgery in another country with a doctor and setting they are not familiar with. stop asking them to do this. Just go after the surgery. Issues with the surgery are unlikely if you are going to OCC. When the girls are home, after a few months, doctors will not have a problem with them because they will be healthy. it's an insurance issue for them.

[jjinWA 511]

Yup, good advice everyone! I am going to quit worrying about follow up until after we return. I am so glad I have you guys here to help me along this path. I am soooo excited for the day when my daughters will be on the losers bench with me!

[sprocket 104]

Only 17 days until my surgery. It doesn't even feel real yet... after struggling since May trying to get my UHC insurance to approve surgery, OCC has seemed like such a breeze in comparison. I wish I'd known about them back in June when I received my 2nd insurance denial. So much time wasted. But, bright side, I think surgery in winter - at least when it's not boiling hot - is probably somewhat easier to handle.

In other news - the 3 shakes plus greens gets old very, very quickly. But it sure works.

[Mrs. Reid 392]

I've decided Dr. Ortiz is going to be my doctor if I end up having to go to Mexico.

[shizwiz 197]

I have my surgery date set for 1/16/2015 and have been looking through the pre-op diet requirements and suggestions. Does anyone have good suggestions for what to use- or their meal plan?

 

The funny thing is that I am not scared of going to Mexico, am not scared of the surgery (well, a bit)- but my biggest fear is the pre-op diet. I know I will be hungry...but what worked best for you?

 

Here is what I have in my Amazon shopping cart now. Any corrections or input?

 

1. EAS chocolate and strawberry shakes (24 pack for $30- so 48 total)

2. Metemucil Psyllium Fiber Capsules- the pre-op said I could have 1 capsule per day...is this the right one?

3. Progresso chicken broth (for 3 day clear diet)

4. sugar free Jello (for 3 day clear diet)

5. Kleenex to wipe away my tears when I see someone eating real food at work

 

Thanks in advance!!

 

[kgard1916 33]

I liked the GNC total lean 25. They were the most filling. Pre-made was the best.

[Ingrid007 4]

Following... Glad you posted his we will be having surgery on sane say, so I'm guessing we will start preop diet around the same time too

[finediva 979]

@shizwiz. Number 5..... hella funny!