Thinking of changing surgeons...Elias Ortiz to Dr. Almanza

[Lee6Lee]

This site has been so helpful and encouraging!
I have scheduled surgery with Dr. Ortiz on April 22nd, but am hearing so many reviews stating how well Dr. Almanza does the gastric sleeve! I was going with him at first, anyway, but all of a sudden he changed to a nicer hospital. I thought he would surely raise his price. Looks like he hasn't. Haven't heard anything bad about Ortiz on this site or the other one. Ortiz is through A Lighter Me in Tijuana. No one mentions Ortiz. I have plenty of time to get a deposit refund and go with Almanza.

[Lee6Lee]

It's with Dr. Elias Ortiz. I heard there are two with same last name.

[Stacy'sSleevedLife]

Hello Lee6Lee, I think you should keep doing your research until you find a surgeon that feels right for you. I am by NO means suggest you change to Almanza. When I started doing my research October 2012 my first choice was Almanza. But as I continued to do more research I realized that Almanza was not the right choice for me. I had my surgery with Dr. Sergio Quinones in Tijuana on January 12, 2013 and it was the best decision I could have made. I would and do strongly recommend Dr. Quinones to anyone who is considering weight loss surgery in Mexico. Dr. Quinones only performs 3 surgeries daily, they are performed in a private hospital. The more I did my research I came to realize that Dr. Quinones was my best option in Tijuana. Please feel free to private message me here or email (stacyeckel@gmail.com) me. I will be more than happy to answer any questions or concerns about my experience in Tijuana with Dr. Quinones. Many people don't know about Dr. Quinones because he chooses not to advertise, 90% of Dr. Quinones patients come from other patient referrals.
Good luck,
Stacy

[Lee6Lee]

Thanks, Stacy. I am going to do more investigating. It will be either Ortiz or Almanza. I want to keep the price down.

[Sleeve nurse]

They are the same price

[christine53]

They both are good

[Dair67]

I went to Dr. Elias Ortiz through A Lighter Me, as did my sister in May. We have both had excellent results and I would totally recommend them both!

[Java Girl]

I too had my surgery with Dr Elias Ortiz in July 2013. Best decision I ever made! I did LOTs of research and spoke to LOTS of people before making my choice of A Lighter Me and Dr Ortiz. Feel free to message me if you would like more info. Good luck in your journey!

[Truffles]

I went to Dr. A 1.5 years ago and I'd see him again, in a heartbeat.

I've also heard many good things about Dr. Ortiz, too.

[afevang]

My SIL, husband, and myself each had surgery with Dr. Almanza. I.would recommend him. I will be going back to them for a mommy makeover once I lose all.my weight.

[denakayhall0218]

Keep Dr. Elias Ortiz, Dr. Almanza has changed hospitals and believe me, stay with A lighter me, they are first rated.

They provide after care, they take you shopping, Dr. Ortiz, is phenominal,
you will not be sorry.

I wouldn't change, I'm just saying, keep DR. Ortiz, I know for a fact, I wouldn't go to Dr. Almanza, I changed from him to Dr. Jacqueline Osuna, at Mi Doctors, HOspital, in Tijuana, M exico same as Dr. Almanza, $4200.00

I was there with people at Mi Doctors, they use the same hospital I know yours is what $4600. I would have paid the more to get what you get with Dr. Ortiz at A lighter me, you get better post op care. and they take you shopping and your in the hospital two days and hotel two days,
please don't change.

I'm not telling you what to do, but if you want to keep it at $4200. go with Dr. Jacqueline Osuna, I changed from Dr. Almanza to her.
cause I was worried I had a bad feeiing. he has changed hospitals, he was at a strip mall clinic,

I do believe he is a good surgeon but he does too many at MiDoctors they don't do that many a day and it is a full service hospital.
with ICU if anything happens. I felt better going with MiDoctors.
Specialized Bariatrics, : Cathy is the Coordinator If you want to change, Dr. Almanza kept my $250.00 deposit but I gotback what payments I paid to weightloss agent.com.

Specialized Bariatrics Deposit is $750.00 and you pay the rest by just going to CHase bank and sending to their account.
Cathy will explain.

A lighter me I'm not sure but if you have them already PLEASE STICK WITH THEM.

DONT CHANGE.

[denakayhall0218]

Omg im sorry i thought it was 2014 , just noticed, did you change to dr. Almanza?
Sorry

i'm goofy, how was it with dr. Ortiz.

Omn 3/15/2013/

sorry.

Are you doing good after one year. Almost?

[denakayhall0218]

Don't change you will lose your deposit and you will not be sorry.

I was in the hospital at MiDoctors 1/31/2014, with two people with Dr. Ortiz, amazing Dr. Great results,
A lighter me takes you shopping, you get a bag of goodies, and the after post op diet care is phenominal.

I went with DR. Jacqueline Osuna and she was great she too is at MiDoctors. her husband is Dr. Lopez, and he and she are at Specialized Bariatrics,

they went on there on; Dr. Lopez is still with A Lighter ME, great surgeons, Great hospital.

Don't CHANGE./

[happyhabit]

I wouldn't recommend Dr Almanza. My dear friend went to him and has had nothing but problems since. She has hospital bills like you wouldn't believe from the Doctors trying to fix what he did.

I don't know much about Ortiz. I personally went to Dr Quinones and was very happy. Surgery was back in May and I've lost 107 pounds so far. Whenever I've had a question (even recently) I have been able to talk with his staff who are incredibly helpful and always happy to hear from me. He charges $4500 I believe.

[rhill2901]

As for problems after surgery, most cases, it really has nothing to do with with the doctor that performed the surgery. Dr Almanza does do quite a few every day of the week, so I can see his mannerism is lacking, but you can't hardly tell, his English is adequate, and he appears to express concern about your well being, though, you never see him again after the surgery. Dr Almanza did my sleeve on 2/19/14. I have since arrived home yesterday, and did my first weekly weigh in after the surgery. If you follow the pre-op instructions and post-op instructions, including the diet, excercising daily for 30 minutes, etc, the chance of complications later are decreased.

My biggest complaint with going with Dr Almanza is his staff at the hospital are uncaring and in some cases rude. Since you only stay in the hospital overnight with him, you don't get a chance to see him and complain. Then you are sent to a hotel for 3 days, and the care staff is much better. The surgery is the easiest part, it only lasts 45 minutes and you are sleeping through the whole thing. Getting rid of the gas they inflated your body cavity with, well, thats where you start wondering if you did the right thing. Hang in there, Knowing what I know about Dr Almanza, it doesn't matter if he does the surgery, but the staff at the hospital need a few lessons on care and passion for their job, otherwise the Dr should boot them.

Just remember this: With Dr Almanza, its about doing as many patients he can every day. I would say he has become quite the expert in doing these procedures. Is there a loss of quality with quantity? Thats my only concern.... Most Americans will never get use to the lack of care his facility offers, so if you can get the same price, different doctor, more care, happier staff, I would go with that doctor.

2/16/14 264.5 pounds
2/19/14 Date of Surgery
2/23/14 248.6 pounds