• Name: John Caron
• Age: 66
• Surgery: Gastric Sleeve
• Surgery date: August 7th, 2012
• Testimonial date: August 27th, 2012
• Surgeon: Dr. Mario Almanza

This is only my 4th day after surgery. I've lost 15 lbs since then. I also had my gall bladder removed at the same time. That alone has cleared up a little mystery. I had some yellowish greenish coloring around eyes and upper cheeks for the past couple of years. My liver checked out fine and a cat scan found nothing wrong so the mystery remained. The day after I had my call bladder removed the discoloration disappeared completely. I'm told the gall bladder was huge and contained three large stones so it would have been only a matter of time before it would have become a complication. I'm glad to be rid of it!

As for the surgery, I laid on the table, my arms were placed on the boards and then I woke up. It was as simple as that. The first day I laid on my back and pretty much did nothing. There was some discomfort but very little pain. My roomy and I were operated on in the evening and we eventually got board just laying there so we went for our recommended walk at 4am. The surgeons were still operating. We ended up wandering the halls that evening getting our walking in, weighing ourselves trying to figure out the significance of some of the Jerusalem drawings which seemed to be Judeo-Christian. Since they were in Spanish (we think) we could not make heads or tails of the meaning. The place is spotless so any little bit of dust is immediately noticed (everyone has to wear protective footwear covering). We saw a shoe print on the floor and played detective to see who it belonged to but it ended up going nowhere but back outside. We went back to bed and slept.

Two things are important to know about the Jerusalem Hospital. It is in a shopping plaza. One section is next to an Office Depot and another is further down the center and a little smaller. It isn't very wide and some people who see it from the outside the first time say to themselves "what the hall have I done!". Without exception, however, once they get inside and see the operation everyone is suitably impressed not just with the organization of the place but with the cleanliness - certainly better than most hospitals I've seen. The second most important aspect is the seamless teamwork by happy (yes, happy) workers from the janitors to the surgeons. These people like what they are doing and are very good at doing it. Everyone is polite and efficient. We were processed in a way that only a team who have done this hundreds of times could do. Everything was smooth. All eventualities were predicted.

All of our fellow patients (my wife decided to get this done at the last minute too) were very happy to have had the operation done at the Jerusalem Hospital. Some had some fears at first but the real ice breaker came when I asked Dr. Almanza to show us his scars from his VSG. He lifted up his shirt to show us all a perfect six-pack! In fact, most of the people who work there have had the operation as well so they know how you feel. They do 240 of these operation a month. I think you would be hard pressed to find a hospital in the US or Canada that even approaches that in a year. Dr. Almanza alone has done over 9000 of this himself. So, who do you go with? The guy who can do this in his sleep or the guy in a fancy hospital that does maybe a hundred a year? You decide.

* This is an actual testimonial, however, your results may vary. For more information, please read our Testimonial Disclaimer and Risks of Surgery.