Another Hello from Western Washington State!

[windyridge4mom]

Just was referred to your site by another gal from another board. I am scheduled to have a crap-band removed and a DS "installed" on November 2 at VIDA Hospital in Tijuana, Mexico with Dr. Alejandro Lopez.

I didn't go with Dr. Ungson (highly recommended) because the interactions I had with his office were poor. I've been told this isn't typical, but have received a lot of feedback that Dr. Ungson is the "only" DS surgeon to use in Mexico. Since he has moved on to government work it's no longer a option.

If you've had surgery at VIDA would love to hear from you!

Karen

 

[southernlady]

Welcome, @windyridge4mom
Didn't know that Dr. Lopez even did the DS. Make sure you ask questions and are comfortable with the answers.

 

[Larra]

Hi and welcome! I would recommend starting a thread with the name of your potential surgeon in the subject line, asking if anyone has any experience with him or has even heard of him as a DS surgeon. I know (from elsewhere) that someone is claiming he has done hundreds of DS's, but it seems odd, not to mention worrisome, to me that in all these years I've never seen even one patient who had a DS with him.
Of course we all know by now that Dr. Ungson is not available, having moved to a government position, but we already have some people going to Dr. Esquerra, whom he trained and who worked with him for several years. We should have more and more feedback about him in the near future. And while it is very unfortunate that you had a bad experience with the office staff, I hope you won't let one bad experience - and not with the surgeon himself - stop you from considering someone with definite DS training and experience. We hear stuff like that about office staff in the USA as well, and often it just means someone is having a tough day or there is some sort of miscommunication. There is nothing stopping you from giving them a second chance, and nothing to lose by doing so.

 

[DSRIGGS]

Ditto to Larra's comments.

 

[bearmom]

Hi from another western WA peep that left the country for surgery. I too am leery as I've never seen a post from a DS post op of his. Have you talked to Srikanth up here?

 

[BebeZed]

Just was referred to your site by another gal from another board. I am scheduled to have a crap-band removed and a DS "installed" on November 2 at VIDA Hospital in Tijuana, Mexico with Dr. Alejandro Lopez.

I didn't go with Dr. Ungson (highly recommended) because the interactions I had with his office were poor. I've been told this isn't typical, but have received a lot of feedback that Dr. Ungson is the "only" DS surgeon to use in Mexico. Since he has moved on to government work it's no longer a option.

If you've had surgery at VIDA would love to hear from you!

Karen

Greetings and welcome! I'm up here in Bellingham... just got back from getting my new anatomy courtesy of Dr Esquerra in Mexicali and I must say I am feeling absolutely fabulous! I found Nina/Karla at MBC to be a bit slow on the draw with email at times but generally they did get back to me within a day. They answered all my questions too - and I bugged them endlessly. For three months. LOL In person they are like long-lost family - lots of hugs all around and Yolanda was like an auntie, looking out for me and scolding me if I lollygagged in bed too long LOL

Congratulations on your decision to go for the revision! I hope your surgery is as uneventful and darn-near-painless as mine was.

 

[leikadawgg]

Be

Greetings and welcome! I'm up here in Bellingham... just got back from getting my new anatomy courtesy of Dr Esquerra in Mexicali and I must say I am feeling absolutely fabulous! I found Nina/Karla at MBC to be a bit slow on the draw with email at times but generally they did get back to me within a day. They answered all my questions too - and I bugged them endlessly. For three months. LOL In person they are like long-lost family - lots of hugs all around and Yolanda was like an auntie, looking out for me and scolding me if I lollygagged in bed too long LOL

Congratulations on your decision to go for the revision! I hope your surgery is as uneventful and darn-near-painless as mine was.

Wow I feel blessed that I have read your post. I was losing hope as I heard that Dr Ungson took a government job. If you don't mind can you inbox me some info on getting set up to have revision surgery. Im hoping RNY to DS with the same surgeon. Enjoy your transformation !

 

[hilary1617]

Hi @windyridge4mom and welcome! Wishing you the best on your journey!

 

[Larra]

@leikadawgg Dr. Ungson didn't do RNY to DS revisions and my guess would be that Dr. Esquerra isn't doing them either. This type of revision is the most challenging and complex bariatric operation being done, has much higher risk than a virgin DS (or than other types of revision) and is only done by a handful of DS surgeons. On top of all that, while I have nothing against people going to a qualified surgeon in Mexico or another foreign country, this is NOT an operation I personally would leave the country for as the complication rate is substantial and recovery can be prolonged.

Keep in mind that your surgeon has to completely undo and reverse your entire RNY, and THEN create the DS.

From where you are located the closest surgeons able to do this revision are Dr. John Rabkin in San Francisco and Dr. Ara Keshishian in Glendale (near Los Angeles). Maybe Dr. Simper in Utah - I'm not sure if he does these revisions or not, someone else may know.

 

[BebeZed]

For the record, I did inbox @leikadawgg although I think Larra is correct about Dr. Esquerra not doing RNY to DS.

What Larra says is good advice. Personally, if it was me, I would go with Dr. K but Dr. Rabkin is top-notch too.

 

[BebeZed]

Update: I just got a response from Mexicali Bariatric Center and Dr Esquerra does not do the RNY to DS revision. Thought I'd share here for future reference.

 

[southernlady]

Update: I just got a response from Mexicali Bariatric Center and Dr Esquerra does not do the RNY to DS revision. Thought I'd share here for future reference.

Thanks for the update.