Hospital Mi Doctor; what was your experience?

[Luann]

Looking for any sleeve patients who stayed at this hospital. Any info on your experience!
I have read a comment that someone had no internet connection here. In case I wanted to look up a drug name I didn't recognize, was hoping to use my netbook. Did the wifi work for you?
Did anyone walk by the ICU - did you happen to notice how many beds?
I read this is a real hospital, but have found some posts online that describe it more as a clinic.
Is it true that there is no doctor in house overnight?

Anything else you can tell me - how well you could communicate with the nurses if you aren't fluent in Spanish, how your valuables were stored while you were in surgery (passport, etc), any details at all.

[Java Girl]

I was sleeved on July 16 at Mi Hospital and my experience was fantastic. It is very clean, albeit a bit small and older. The floor that the sleeve surgery is performed on has about 10 rooms...with the one directly outside the nurses station considered the ICU on that particular floor. This was my room as I have severe allergies to most antibiotics (can result in death), so the doctors and nurses took my anaphylaxis very seriously and kept a close eye on me through my stay. The nurses are lovely...especially Sam who has also had the surgery. Her English was very good. The other nurses who's English wasn't as good were still able to communicate fine even if they could only ask me "pain?" There are safes in the room that you can put valuables in and I was able to get Wifi the whole time I was there. The rest of the staff, from porters to cleaning staff were also very friendly and the tech who draws your blood in the lab was AMAZING...never have I had blood drawn where I didn't feel the needle go in except with her. Not sure who your surgeon is, but if you are looking for information on surgeons please private message me. Good luck in your journey!

[L.Gould]

I can concurr with Javagirl, I too had my surgery at MI Hosital, its small (4 stories) but not older, I thought it looked newer, I have a bunch of pics if you want to see them. Internet worked with my tablet, don't know if doctor was on staff overnight, I assumed so I guess, but I didn't need one , I had no complications whatsoever. My experience was topnotch, I was taken very good care of from beginning to end.

[Ty_Edwards]

I am also thinking of having my surgery at Mi Doctor. Which doctor did you have? I am going through A Lighter Me and the doctor they have me scheduled with is Dr. Ortiz.

[raginredhead]

I am having surgery by Dr Ortiz on fri 10/18 so I will let u know

[Luann]

I am also thinking of having my surgery at Mi Doctor. Which doctor did you have? I am going through A Lighter Me and the doctor they have me scheduled with is Dr. Ortiz.

Are you scheduled yet? I am going through Mexico Bariatric Center & Dr. Lopez will be my surgeon.

[Luann]

I am having surgery by Dr Ortiz on fri 10/18 so I will let u know

Thank you! Good luck with your surgery. I'll be looking to see how you are doing.

[Paula72]

I'm getting the sleeve on Oct 27th with Dr. Ortiz at Mi Hospital. Great to read the experience of someone else who's been through this with the same doctor and hospital. Each one of these I read makes me more confident in my decision. How was your recovery? Did you have much pain? My trip home will take all day and 3 different flights. Just curious about what to expect for discomfort, energy levels, all that fun stuff for the trip home.

[christine53]

I used Dr Lopez and I could not be happier. I wish I could give that good looking man a HUG!

[goldengal]

Sending you good thought and prayers for your surgery and speedy recovery. I had surgery with Dr. Ariel Ortiz at the OCC in TJ Mexico on July 25 this summer. I was scared but it went well. Hope the best for you.

[paradoxgal]

I am also thinking of having my surgery at Mi Doctor. Which doctor did you have? I am going through A Lighter Me and the doctor they have me scheduled with is Dr. Ortiz.

Ty, when are you scheduled? There are quite a few of us scheduled to have our sleeve with Dr. (Jesus) Elias Ortiz. I go a week from today. If you are going alone, ask your coordinator if there are any sleeve sisters that are scheduled at the same time and to email them if they would like to have contact with you. I've been in contact with a few traveling/sleeving the same time and same Dr and same Hospital, and it's very comforting. I'm very excited at this point, and feeling hopeful that all will go well. Best of luck to you! Fill us in.

[Dair67]

I went with my sister to Mi Hospital in May (Dr. Ortiz) and I am now scheduled for Nov 11 for my self. Same hospital, same doctor. My experience with my sister was pretty much identical to those that posted before me. She was very well taken care of. The facility is more like a hospital than a clinic I would say. The Mi Hospital staff is great. The A Lighter Me staff is great. Overall it was a good experience. Dr. Ortiz was super and his mentor is Dr. Lopez so I am confident the experience will be similar! My only regret is that I did not have the procedure done when my sister did. I was afraid, but now having been there and seeing her results I am on my way to a Better Me!

[paradoxgal]

I went with my sister to Mi Hospital in May (Dr. Ortiz) and I am now scheduled for Nov 11 for my self. Same hospital, same doctor. My experience with my sister was pretty much identical to those that posted before me. She was very well taken care of. The facility is more like a hospital than a clinic I would say. The Mi Hospital staff is great. The A Lighter Me staff is great. Overall it was a good experience. Dr. Ortiz was super and his mentor is Dr. Lopez so I am confident the experience will be similar! My only regret is that I did not have the procedure done when my sister did. I was afraid, but now having been there and seeing her results I am on my way to a Better Me!

I am happy to hear your great reviews. I have my sleeve a week from today with Dr. Ortiz as well. Now, Dr Lopez is no longer with A Lighter Me. Dr Ortiz is more on his own now, but I still feel confident that with his experience he is good to perform mine, with a different Doctor assisting him. The student is now the teacher. I wish you well with your surgery - it's coming up!

[Ty_Edwards]

I'm not having surgery until February. I don't have any more vacation time to take off work this year, but I pray your surgery went well! I can't wait to have mine. Let me know how everything went. Did you take anyone with you? I want to bring my daughter and want to make sure she will be able to stay in the hospital room with me.

[Paula72]

WARNING: VERY LONG POST! But worth the read I think.

Well I'm 6 hours into my first day back to work, 2.5 hours to go and feeling great. We even had a fire drill (5 flights of stairs) and still no issues. I had my surgery on Sunday Oct 27th at Hospital Mi Doctor with Dr. Elias Ortiz and Dr. Oscar Morales via "A Lighter Me". They were amazing Doctors that made me feel very relaxed before surgery and even the anestitician (sorry, can't remember his name) got in on the jokes, telling me they had fried chicken flavoured water for after surgery. Of course I told him I prefered pizza flavour but they were all out...LOL. It was those little things that made everything more relaxed and were sort of comforting. They treated me like a friend, someone they cared about, not just another patient on the table. After surgery Dr. Morales even brought me coffee flavoured candy because I threatened to sneak downstairs and buy a coffee. I wouldn't have, of course, but it’s just another example of joking around. Dr. Morales came to the hotel to check on me and remove my drain. He chats with you like an old friend. Dr. Ortiz came to check my incisions my last night there. He's friendly as well but more like the doctors you might be used to seeing at home. Less chatting, more instruction. Dr. Morales provided great information and medical advise too but I think he is just more social in general.

There were 3 really good nurses...Carmen, Edgar, and another lady but I can't remember her name. She wears glasses and a white hair wrap all the time and she likes to sing. If you get either of these 3 nurses, which I'm sure you will at some point during your stay, you'll be in very good hands. Edgar speaks the best english of the three. Everyone there is very friendly and helpful. Janese stopped by the hospital one evening so I got to meet her but I didn't get to meet Ronda. They are the coordinators for "A Lighter Me" and they are some of the best support you'll need pre-surgery. I'm sure I'll be communicating with them a lot after surgery too. They are always so prompt and knowledgeable via e-mail or phone. I'm sure I could call Janese at 3:00 am and she'd answer, bright and cheery as always...LOL

And Abraham...I can't say enough good about Abraham. He made the trip an experience. He was our drive for our time there. Abraham picked me up at the airport (I traveled alone) and brought me straight to the hospital for surgery. There were 4 others in the van (and 2 companions) but they went to the hotel and came back Monday for surgery. I felt just as comfortable with him as I would with my own family but let me tell you, the driving in Mexico is crazy! No one signals, everyone crosses lanes without warning and apparently stop signs and red lights are only suggestions. No worries though, Abraham is a great driver. Trusted him every step of the way.

On the day Robyn and I (another girl that had surgery the same day as me) were released from the hospital, Abraham took us shopping and bought us hand churned fruit ice cream. It was delicious and such a nice treat after so long with nothing interesting to eat. Of course, I could only eat a couple of spoonfuls but they were amazing spoonfuls. Abraham also took us to a street with all the souvenir shops where I met Carlos, my new best friend for life...LOL...and to a pharmacy where we could get any medications, vitamins, extra bandages, etc. that we might need. He did the same for everyone that had surgery but some trips may have missed the ice cream because shopping can take a while.

The hotel was beautiful, much nicer than I expected. My bed was big enough for a family of 6 I'm sure and super comfy with lots of pillows. I didn't bother with room service but they would bring your soup to your room if you preferred not to eat in the dining room with all the other food smells. I mostly did broth in a to-go cup and walked around outside or visited with other patience. My last night there (Wednesday) a few of us went to the restaurant and I tried the tortilla soup. It was really good but I could, again, only eat a few spoonfuls and I was full. Everyone there was very nice and smiling all the time. Ever so helpful with everything, including simply mailing a post card for me.

I can't imagine anything that would have made the trip any better. Well....not getting to enjoy any Mexican food is a disappointment but it’s just motivation to go back next year, visit with everyone again and show off my results! I'll have to go visit Carlos with Abraham again too...LOL. All in all, it was the best decision I have ever made. No pain, no sickness, no struggles, no complaints at all. I would definitely recommend this entire team and Hospital Mi Doctor to anyone considering surgery in Mexico, especially since it’s an actual hospital, not just a clinic in a strip mall. Its small but it has everything you need (all be it maybe a little older then we’re used to) and some really wonderful people to make the experience a more pleasant one.