I don't have personal experience with this doc. but I have read many good blogs from others. You will get through this, we are all nervous going into this and should be I suppose. All the best and Cheers

I went to Dr Almanza, but in mexico. I was a nervous wreck, but it all turned out well. In the end I can look back and say I was brave and (hopefully) it got me the body I wanted. Go for it!
Oh, and my pcp prescribed me some xanax for the trip and I was very happy I had it.

I have not heard anything negative about Ortiz just Almanza. It is scary the thought of surgery in Mexico. I had my surgery in Mexico also even though I felt really good about my doctor, I still had some nerves about the whole process. Once you are there you will relax, the hardest part is the time before your surgery reading all the stuff online.

What negative things have people said about almanza? I booked my surgery with him and then I saw the previous comment, now I'm a little scared

I've seen I few people that had serious complications, but also many people that had no issues and loved him. This is from an earlier post from another user:

Firstly let me say congrats to all of u that had no issues. I was not one of the lucky. My gas pain never seemed to dissipate and in fact last Friday I had what I can only describe as the worse pain in my life.i managed to dial 911 and just lay on the couch til they arrived.
So it seems that the staples/sutures that Dr.Almanza used on me were not straight or aligned properly and by Friday when the swelling had gone done I started leaking stomach acid into my body and I became sceptic. I have been in hospital every since ...had 4 procedures to try and seal the leak each process more scarey and high risk than the last. I had a priest at one point and even said my goodbyes to my family as I was so sure I wasn't going to make it.
As you can imagine I have asked for my money back to help pay for my nearly$80k medical bill but Dr. Almanza has not replied....I pray that no one has to go thru this.

You smartly selected one of the best surgeons in Mexico. Ariel Ortiz is superb. You are paying more but will be getting top notch care in a Center of Excellence.
He has real credible credentials. If you had a problem,meh would be part of the solution rather than ignoring your calls for help.

Originally Posted by Crybaby

What negative things have people said about almanza? I booked my surgery with him and then I saw the previous comment, now I'm a little scared

I did a lot of research and when I did read something negative it was always Dr. almanza's name coming up. He does so many surgeries in a day he just can't be perfect on the 10th patient like he is on the second or third. I'm sure he knows what he is doing but the volume of patients that he does in a day and who knows if other assistants are doing more work than they should in order to keep the surgeries on time in order to squeeze everyone in.

Honestly I would cancel from the stuff I read. I chose my doctor not because he was cheaper than US doctors but because of his reputation and that he only does three surgeries a day. That was really important to me. He had a ton of YouTube videos so I really got the feeling I knew him before I met him and he truely cares about his patients. He speaks perfect English and I feel lucky to have found him. I feel like everything has gone so well for me because of his expertise. I only read good stuff about him. You want to research your doctor and feel 100% about how they run their business and how good they are at what they do. There are other Mexico doctors that have much better reputations. There are a lot of happy Almanza patients but he has a lot of serious complaints also. Surgery should not be a crap shoot. If you do go to him at least make sure you are at least patient 1,2 or 3.

A world class facility would adhere to International standards and be accredited by legitimate and internationally accepted credentialing boards.
These facilities regularly monitor nurse and dr adherence to protocols, test for bacteria culture daily in the OR.
In TJ, there are a handful of surgeons/hospitals that have comparable training, credentialing and understanding of these international guidelines as do the best in the US.
Choose wisely!

Doesn't matter who the surgeon is, it seems to be part of the process is to be a little scared, for some of us a lot scared. I for one, almost had my funeral written. You will see lots of blogs from people on this site with similar feelings. All the best for the surgery - see you on the sleeved side.

I was thinking: I understand the fear. When I got a tummy tuck, about 13 years ago, I had to wait late into the evening for my surgery. I guess my doctor was 2 hours overdue doing another person. I was so scared. Many times I contemplated running out. When they called me in, as I was walking to the operating bed (which turned out to be delightfully heated), I thought I understood how someone walking to their death to the electric chair would feel. That might be an insensitive analogy. Sorry. Anyway, you can do this! You wake up...and it's over!

Surgery is a risk, I mean he does more than most so I would imagine you're going to have a few sleeves that just don't work out.

I think being scared is just part of the process. I was scared. The day before my surgery I wanted to eat my favorite food one last time (my doc does not do pre op Liquid diet) but I didn't eat anything-nerves. I didn't sleep too good and my BP was higher because I was nervous. I had surgery in my state by a great sergeon. I hear a lot of good about your sergeon. Remember too- everyone had their own experience. I had a rough start with vomiting while the other person sleeved same day say doc was feeling great. We are all different. Good luck!! You will do great!!! Woo saaa baaaa lol

I had surgery with Dr Almanza in Mexico he took very good care of me along with his staff. i can't speak for everyone else but i'm doing just fine. Not to mention I have kept my weight off from a size 22/24 to a size 6 and sometime a size 2. There are risks with any surgery not just in Mexico. Was I nervous yes I was. But then I was also afraid of dying from being so fat, I prayed I consulted God and went with faith. I'm glad I did. Check me out on FB Tameka Swan..