Hi there. I was banded in Mexico and had a great experience. I'd love to go back to have my fills, but I'm just trying to save a day of travel, so I've been seeking a doc in the Sacramento, CA area.

I found Dr. Machado. She works at Mercy Medical, and she owns an Obesity Control Center as well.

I went to her seminar last night (required for any person wanting to become a pt).

She was so unprofessional, I wanted to puke! First off, if anybody mentioned ANY other doctor, she put the doctor down. I over heard her speaking to a future client/pt about the dietitians at the hospital and she drug their names through the mud. I was in shock.

When I approached her at the end of the meeting to speak with her about becoming a patient, she was open minded to let me join, but had nothing by horrible things to say about my band.

1) She said she had never heard of my doctor, who is a proctor for INAMED.

2) She asked what band I had and she rolled her eyes and said, "OMG! I can't believe they put that thing in you! There's a much better product out there now. You know why they put that in you? Because they were trying to get rid of them. You know, depleating their inventory to save money!"

3) "I'll have to do an upper GI to see where they put your band, who knows if they even did it right."

Then I asked if she did Flouro when she did her fills. She said, "No, you don't need to do that. It's a waste of time. I just do it out of my office."

AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Stay the hell away from her! I know I am now going back to Mexico where they treat the band like gold!

THX, Dana

Yeah, definitely sounds like a doctor to avoid.

Wow, she sounds very unprofessional and immature.

Aren't you glad she didn't do your surgery? :confused:

She sounds like a real bitch to me. What an unpleasant experience for you that must have been! You have my sympathy.

Wow, this woman sounds like a real piece of work!!!!:mad: Anybody who puts down other people in their field in order to make themselves look better, can certainly be questioned on their own ethics. I pity the people who don't know any better and use her.

And to think, there were about 100 poor souls in that seminar who looked so desperate to have the surgery, they looked past her ingnorance. I can't wait until Lap Band clinics are on every corner like Starbucks so people can pick and choose who their surgeon is.

It makes me want to go back to school and just do it myself!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Run Like Hell!!!!!!!!

Dana, Dr. McKeen in San Jose is really good. He takes a lot of Mexican based patients. Good luck.

Hi Dana

I just started to UC Davis on my journey to lapband surgery in a few months. I have nothing but praise for any doctor at UCD, they are the greatest plus they are a teaching hospital. You would probably have to be referred by your primary care phys.

I will be having lapband and they are requiring me to have a lower and upper GI because of IBS. I would think in your case and I'm not a doc but they should be able to see where the lapband is based on a ctscan better than an upper GI. Just my own opinion tough. I saw that Dr. Machado's website and they have Mercy listed on Medicare's approved hospital and doctor list but her office said they don't accept Medicare. Fine....UC Davis is very professional....every experience we have had with them has been great. My sis in law had a bowel blockage, not from gb or lapband, but a major blockage and they did surgery to find out the problem and her blood pressure bottomed out and she almost died. They saved her but she was in trauma ICU for 7 weeks and ended up on a colostomy bag. Again, none of this was due to GB or lapband....she just never followed up after diverticulitus and told she had a blockage (stupid!) The doctors that operated on her were wonderful....they all take time to explain everything and want you to feel comfortable. Let me know how it goes.

Marebeth

Marebeth

UCD huh? I have heard of the doc in San Jose before. Sounds good. Also found one in Roseville, CA. My doctor, Lopez did the first Lap Band at UCD! He is a protor for INAMED. Yeah, I know a lot of people here had Dr. Machado, but I wouldn't. sorry!