My interview and visit at OCC

[magkai1]

Hello,

I posted this on the September surgery section in response to a request. A poster from that area suggested I post it here, too.

Margaret

________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________

I was walking with my friend a couple of weeks ago. She is a pediatric nurse practitioner and a smart cookie. I am an RN, so between us we have a working knowledge of the medical world. When I confided in her that I am planning to get this surgery she suggested we go visit the clinic together. Luckily my friend is super spontaneous and so we made plans to go in two days time.

I let Carolyn know that I wanted to visit and she arranged a meeting with Dr. Ortiz. We drove since we live in San Diego and it is super easy to get to. It is located in the Zona Rio, which is undoubtedly the safest are of Tijuana. We arrived one hour early and were able to see Dr. Ortiz right away.

Let me back up- the clinic is on the second floor of a building. The elevator opens up to the waiting room, which is modern and sparkling clean. The staff all wear black scrubs and are, for the most part, completely fluent in English. First we met with Dr. Miranda, the dietary doctor, and she weighed me and measured my height. She is delightful.

Then Dr. Ortiz came in and he is as charming as others have described. Frankly, he is cocky but I rather appreciate that in a surgeon. I prefer a person who is confident enough to be cutting into people's bodies. It's not for everyone!

He was very casual with us and said the stuff he probably says to everyone, "This is your last diet," "With the band you should enjoy your last bite of food as much as the first" blah blah blah. I asked why people fail with the band and he said it's when you don't follow the post op diet, while the stomach is healing. He said there is no way for him or his staff to determine who will or will not be successful so they have abandoned doing a psychological evaluation first.

We talked for 10-15 minutes. He never seemed in a hurry and was open to questions. My friend works for Children's Hospital here in San Diego and when Dr. Ortiz heard that he fired up his website to show us that he donates 3% of his profits to the autism center there. His now 4 year old daughter was diagnosed with mild autism when she was 18 months old. She attended the center at Children's and is now completely on track, according to her father. She began reading at 3 years old, in both English and Spanish.

He lives on this side of the border, which most successful business owners in Tijuana do. When asked why he practices medicine in Mexico rather than the USA he went into a tirade about the US medical system which, frankly, I agree with.

He turned us over to one his staff members who gave us a thorough tour of the facility, minus the OR. They have 4-5 private rooms (which Dr. Ortiz decorated himself! What a metrosexual!) and a 3 bed overflow area/ICU (if things go wrong, which they claim has never happened). Now, one thing that is slightly worrisome is that, because he practices in Mexico, there is no way to know whether he has truly had any failures or emergencies, other than his word.

The only place in the clinic we did not see was the OR, for obvious reasons.

I was confident enough in his skills and his clinic that I paid my deposit on the way out the door.

Hope this helps in some small way.

[PAMMIE]

Hello,

I posted this on the September surgery section in response to a request. A poster from that area suggested I post it here, too.

Margaret

________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________

I was walking with my friend a couple of weeks ago. She is a pediatric nurse practitioner and a smart cookie. I am an RN, so between us we have a working knowledge of the medical world. When I confided in her that I am planning to get this surgery she suggested we go visit the clinic together. Luckily my friend is super spontaneous and so we made plans to go in two days time.

I let Carolyn know that I wanted to visit and she arranged a meeting with Dr. Ortiz. We drove since we live in San Diego and it is super easy to get to. It is located in the Zona Rio, which is undoubtedly the safest are of Tijuana. We arrived one hour early and were able to see Dr. Ortiz right away.

Let me back up- the clinic is on the second floor of a building. The elevator opens up to the waiting room, which is modern and sparkling clean. The staff all wear black scrubs and are, for the most part, completely fluent in English. First we met with Dr. Miranda, the dietary doctor, and she weighed me and measured my height. She is delightful.

Then Dr. Ortiz came in and he is as charming as others have described. Frankly, he is cocky but I rather appreciate that in a surgeon. I prefer a person who is confident enough to be cutting into people's bodies. It's not for everyone!

He was very casual with us and said the stuff he probably says to everyone, "This is your last diet," "With the band you should enjoy your last bite of food as much as the first" blah blah blah. I asked why people fail with the band and he said it's when you don't follow the post op diet, while the stomach is healing. He said there is no way for him or his staff to determine who will or will not be successful so they have abandoned doing a psychological evaluation first.

We talked for 10-15 minutes. He never seemed in a hurry and was open to questions. My friend works for Children's Hospital here in San Diego and when Dr. Ortiz heard that he fired up his website to show us that he donates 3% of his profits to the autism center there. His now 4 year old daughter was diagnosed with mild autism when she was 18 months old. She attended the center at Children's and is now completely on track, according to her father. She began reading at 3 years old, in both English and Spanish.

He lives on this side of the border, which most successful business owners in Tijuana do. When asked why he practices medicine in Mexico rather than the USA he went into a tirade about the US medical system which, frankly, I agree with.

He turned us over to one his staff members who gave us a thorough tour of the facility, minus the OR. They have 4-5 private rooms (which Dr. Ortiz decorated himself! What a metrosexual!) and a 3 bed overflow area/ICU (if things go wrong, which they claim has never happened). Now, one thing that is slightly worrisome is that, because he practices in Mexico, there is no way to know whether he has truly had any failures or emergencies, other than his word.

The only place in the clinic we did not see was the OR, for obvious reasons.

I was confident enough in his skills and his clinic that I paid my deposit on the way out the door.

Hope this helps in some small way.

I'M SO GLAD YOU GOT YOUR DATE!!! IT'S BEEN A LONG TIME COMING

[ValleyGirl]

Hi Margaret! Nice to see you posting on here. That was very informative for other newbies.

Sabrina:)

[Kristi]

Hello Margaret,

Welcome & :lb10: on your decision to start your journey. I myself did not have my surgery with Dr. Ortiz at the center but I have heard many many good things about experiences at the clinic in TJ. I had my surgery at Balboa Naval Hospital there in San Diego.

I really liked your explanation about how everything went during your visit. Very informative.

Sabrina said "That was very informative for other newbies." Very well said.

Take Care,

Kristi

[magkai1]

You all are so welcoming! Thank you!

Pammie, yes, I've been contemplating this for over a year and a half.

Sabrina, thank you for all of your help over the last year, answering all of my questions.

[stormy]

I wish I would have known about his daughter, we could have had a much different conversation as my son was diagnosed at the same age. It is wonderful that he donates to the childrens hospital. I am glad his child is doing well. My son is doing good also. I look forward to talking to him next time I go down. I had my surgery on Sept 19th of last year and so far have lost almost 46 pounds. It goes up and down. He was right that it is not an easy road. I got under 200 and have gained back almost 6 pounds. I think I need another fill. Getting in control of why we eat is the hard part. My mind tells me I am hungry but my stomach really is not. I think the weird part is I can hear my bottom stomach growl but yet i am not hungry uptop. Probebly does not make sense but I need to figure out why it does that. The whole experience down there was a good one and each day is a learning experience as well. I am glad I got it done. I welcome you aboard this new adventure. It really was a good decision at least for me. My husband got banded the same day and me. He looks great as well.