Warning!!! Please pass on

[MELR]

Okay, I didn't plan on posting anything else on this thread and this will be all I do, but I will say this. This woman has already asked that her account be deleted. After people addressing her with such ugly, bullying responses....why would she want to come back and post anything? She's probably not even reading anymore of the responses. Honestly, I don't blame her one bit. Congrats to all the people on here who feel they need to hound people for posting their experience. Just as we all saw on Leuke's thread a few months ago, this so-called friendly community of support has lately been running people off.

Shameful.

[MELR]

I will add this. Yes, Dr. Almanza has performed many successful surgeries. Unfortunately, there is a risk with any surgeon. I'm happy for those of you who had great experiences.

Now, I think I'm done.

[dietingdonna]

I wont try to scare anyone but my experience was horrible....the hospital, the hotel everything. I love my sleeve now that its 6 weeks old but I would never go back to him or refer anyone to him. I know my experience is rare and most just love it...hes a good dr and he did what he was paid to do but no one else did. I will not bash Dr Almanza as he did what I paid him to do. Weightlossagents on the other hand leave alot to be desired.

The nurses at the hotel brought popsicles every evening but we just went down to the front desk anytime day or night if we wanted more...walkin and munchin

Good luck in your journey

[WaywardSmiles]

For all...this is a site that people (myself included) come to for information when they are researching the gastric sleeve surgery and whether or not it is right for them. That being said...

Mercedes...Although I appreciate your honesty about your bad experience (and am sorry to hear it), your posting does leave many questions. Please don't feel as people are attacking you directly, they are just searching for more information-which is why you posted, right? Do call the agency during their "normal" operating hours. Contact a lawyer if you feel you need to.

To others...let's not be accusatory, let's ask specifics. Surely, many of us sign papers (at hospitals) without reading them entirely. And I am sure what she signed was in Spanish, not English. She may have been misinformed by the interpreter, who may have been "going through the motions" (hadn't actually looked at her paperwork, just knew why she was there.)

Best wishes to all...

[MBL]

Like I said- I'm only trying to understand your process. From what I read- you are blaming Dr. Almanza for your complications ("I was really sick and I ended up having a abscess in my stomach while it drained through the open stitch") and saying that you paid for a lap band revision and a gastric sleeve and only got your lap band taken out. Which I still can't understand why you would want a gastric sleeve if you are at a healthy weight (I can tell because your picture looks great). Also it doesn't make sense that you didn't see that your stomach was still there when you did the leak test- they showed you the xray? You can call it or me mean if you want but I'm only trying to gather facts here. I and lots of other people are looking to this site for good stable information because we are nervous and terrified as is- and if you post a long elaborate warning!!!! Then you should know to expect questions and even rebuttal from other people who have had the surgery and are doing just fine.

Rebuttal? Seriously? How do you rebut a person who claims actual injury. Also, MANY people with low BMI go for surgery after losing weight in order to maintain or when they have problems with their lap band which this person apparently did. Do you think there might have been a nicer approach to this person?

[MBL]

OK. Fair enough. Your explanation makes more sense now. We've had people who would occasionally come in bad-mouth doctors or the procedure itself and then would bail and never respond. I appreciate you taking the time to respond. Yes, I can be a little harsh but I just have this really bad attitude towards phony people. You're obviously for real and so please don't take my comments too harshly.

It's good to have the information you shared and I'm sure many people are appreciative that you came back to post your experience in greater detail.

So, what's your condition now? You have no lap-band at all and no sleeve, correct? If your weight is fine, plus you've spent significant amounts of money on cosmetic surgery, don't you think that you should take a wait and see approach before scheduling a sleeve gastrectomy? This is major and do you really need to go this route at this point? I guess I don't see how it will be of any benefit to you. That's kind of like saying that hand cancer runs in my family so I'm going to chop off my hand now even though I don't have cancer. Maybe you should wait a bit?

But again, thank you for clarifying.

Maybe you should give people the benefit of the doubt before attacking them. Can you think of a different way you could have approached this? This is a SUPPORT group, seriously. Your first post to this person was beyond the pale. And NOW you suggest she wait and see if she gets fat again before she does anything? Think of that advice for a minute. Statistically what are the chances she will not regain?

[amella50]

yea and now she has been chased off the site by mean responses and im standing here all freaked out. This would have been a wonderful opportunity for me to get some answers to the same procedure I am about to have on Tuesday. now I am imagining myself waking up with some tube down my nose into my stomache and wondering if that is painful and I cant even ask her about it cause she got chased off the site!

[MBL]

yea and now she has been chased off the site by mean responses and im standing here all freaked out. This would have been a wonderful opportunity for me to get some answers to the same procedure I am about to have on Tuesday. now I am imagining myself waking up with some tube down my nose into my stomache and wondering if that is painful and I cant even ask her about it cause she got chased off the site!

I did not have surgery in Mexico but I CAN tell you that the vast majority of people on here that I have seen have a good experience. Good luck!

[toutdesuite]

Okay, I didn't plan on posting anything else on this thread and this will be all I do, but I will say this. This woman has already asked that her account be deleted. After people addressing her with such ugly, bullying responses....why would she want to come back and post anything? She's probably not even reading anymore of the responses. Honestly, I don't blame her one bit. Congrats to all the people on here who feel they need to hound people for posting their experience. Just as we all saw on Leuke's thread a few months ago, this so-called friendly community of support has lately been running people off.

Shameful.

I agree wholeheartedly with Melrose! I considered leaving this board the other day for what I felt was an attack against this thread I started: http://www.gastricsleeve.com/forum/a...ose-carbs.html

It is shameful that people cannot express their opinions without being bullied or chastised. And I want to say THANK YOU to those who were kind to me and Mercedes!

[Luann]

There is nothing easier in this world than to give a glowing account of your surgeon and bariatric team when things have gone swimmingly. But to speak up when you have had a bad experience is not so easy. You have nothing to gain from it, you risk getting criticized & questioned as to your honesty or motives, getting flamed etc etc. Why do it? I know for myself, I wanted to give others the benefit of information I did countless internet searches for, but came up empty on. Wanting others to have a crack at knowing the whole story so they can make their own informed decision.

My surgeon was just fine, but somehow I was exposed to and contracted a superbug infection after my surgery. Some of the staff, not just a single nurse but quite a few were inadequate in their skills & certainly in their attitudes & professionalism. I felt it was my responsibility to give an account of not only the good but the bad as well, that is an honest review.

All I can say is there are times when no good deed goes unpunished. I hope the OP returns.

[niamh]

I'm really angry and upset after reading this thread. I can't understand the way some people have behaved on this thread.

Yes - she was at a healthy weight. The reason she was at a healthy weight was because she had the band in. Removing the band makes it highly likely she will put weight on again - just like we all have done a gazillion times after losing weight and then being unable to keep up the restriction ourselves. She wanted the sleeve instead of the band in order to give her permanent restriction (like the rest of us), without having the port sticking out. It makes perfect sense - and if it didn't make sense to you then I'd question your fundamental understanding of weight loss surgery. Suggesting that she should wait and 'see how it goes' is just bloody ridiculous, particularly after she's paid for the cosmetic procedures!

Saying that you smell BS to someone who might be telling the truth about a traumatic experience is horrible behaviour. Even if you thought there was only a 10 percent chance she was telling the truth, just think about the impact on her if it is truth. So if you think someone is full of it, say nothing. If someone is full of BS, trust that other people on the forum can work that out too - we don't need self-appointed bullsh!t vigilantes running around making judgements.

This uninformed and judgemental attacking of people who share negative experiences on the site is so shameful. This is not the first thread that's triggered bullying behaviour. It's one of the reasons I rarely come on here any more, even though I would like to offer support and insights as someone further out from surgery who is lucky enough to still be doing well.

We can all lose weight and look better on the outside through surgery, but clearly that doesn't necessarily coincide with also being better on the inside. There is some serious self-reflection to be done by some people on here about what it means to be supportive.

[toutdesuite]

I'm really angry and upset after reading this thread. I can't understand the way some people have behaved on this thread.

Yes - she was at a healthy weight. The reason she was at a healthy weight was because she had the band in. Removing the band makes it highly likely she will put weight on again - just like we all have done a gazillion times after losing weight and then being unable to keep up the restriction ourselves. She wanted the sleeve instead of the band in order to give her permanent restriction (like the rest of us), without having the port sticking out. It makes perfect sense - and if it didn't make sense to you then I'd question your fundamental understanding of weight loss surgery. Suggesting that she should wait and 'see how it goes' is just bloody ridiculous, particularly after she's paid for the cosmetic procedures!

Saying that you smell BS to someone who might be telling the truth about a traumatic experience is horrible behaviour. Even if you thought there was only a 10 percent chance she was telling the truth, just think about the impact on her if it is truth. So if you think someone is full of it, say nothing. If someone is full of BS, trust that other people on the forum can work that out too - we don't need self-appointed bullsh!t vigilantes running around making judgements.

This uninformed and judgemental attacking of people who share negative experiences on the site is so shameful. This is not the first thread that's triggered bullying behaviour. It's one of the reasons I rarely come on here any more, even though I would like to offer support and insights as someone further out from surgery who is lucky enough to still be doing well.

We can all lose weight and look better on the outside through surgery, but clearly that doesn't necessarily coincide with also being better on the inside. There is some serious self-reflection to be done by some people on here about what it means to be supportive.

Exactly! Stop being the defensive Mexican patient! Stop being a know-it-all. Stop being rude. Stop being a bully! Stop attacking people! PLEASE!

[toutdesuite]

Mercedes, you may want to check out **********************. I haven't seen any bullies over there.

[Angella67]

Ok, now I'm terrified. I'm scheduled for surgery with Dr Almanza June 30th but need to reconsider. I've done hours of research but this definitely is causing me to reconsider. Thank you for sharing.

Suzie, I and many others on this site have had surgery with Dr. Almanza and had NO PROBLEMS what so ever! I would highly recommend him, the HMN hospital and his staff. They took excellent care of me and all of the people that were there at the same time I was. It would be hard to find a doctor anywhere, Mexico or the United States, that has a PERFECT record. You can always find someone who was not satisfied. If you've done your research and were happy with the choice before, don't let this change your mind. I wish you luck and would be happy to answer any questions you might have.

[niamh]

I think the issue is not only how good someone's record is (all doctors have some complication rates etc), but also knowing how they respond when something apparently goes wrong. You want to know that if you are the unfortunate small number of people where a problem arises, that the doctor will respond quickly to fix it and not fob you off.

The thing I find interesting, is that the defenders of Dr Almanza are those who had a completely positive experience. What I've never heard is someone say "yes there was a complication, and he and his team responded really well to make sure it was fixed as quickly as possible".

The people who have reported bad experiences of Dr Almanza on here say that they can't get him to respond to their concerns, and the previously very-available team become difficult to communicate with. Not a great recommendation.

My surgeon had an excellent record which was one of the reasons I picked him. Some time after I had my surgery with him, someone else contacted me on here and explained that they had suffered a complication having surgery with him and it was handled immediately and she has fully recovered. That's what you want to hear!

If there are people who've used Almanza and had complications and then had excellent after-care, it would be great to hear from them for the people who are worried.