Roberto A. Rumbaut Bariatric Surgeon

Dr. Rumbaut is a very warm, pleasant person. He also appeared to be very knowledgable in his field. Office staff very helpful. They all speak English, including the doctors who are his assistants. No structured aftercare program, but he gave me his office phone, cell phone, and 2 email addresses, along with the name of a weight loss surgeon in my area whom he knows and has worked with. We discussed the risks of surgery via email and in his office pre-op visit. He has zero mortality rate for Fobi pouch gastric bypass. I give him an A-plus in surgical competence, as well as bedside manner. I have had no side effects, 2 and 1/2 weeks after surgery.

Gentle, caring man. His medical school resident/intern, Dr. Morales is very nice too. Aftercare program is hard, since he is in Mexico. He has the Lapband, and also helps train others. Probably one of the first doctors doing this surgery, and is always looking for ways to improve it. Is one of the best around for Lapband surgery. Dr. Rumbaut & Dr. Morales both are fluent in English, but I did have a hard time communicating with other staff and hospital staff. This is MY fault. I should have learned more Spanish before I went down there, but I survived. Dr. Rumbaut has his patients stay at the Hampton Inn Gallerias. Just like US hotels. Staff is extremely helpful, and most know English.

Dr. Rumbaut is extremely professional and personable. His bedside manner would be the envy of most American doctors. His patient advocate, Doralisa is extremely professional, as well, and is able to answer most all questions. Dr. is accessible to patients and encourages questions at all times, carefully explaining all risks and aftercare responsibilities. I would highly recommend Dr. Rumbaut for anyone interested in the lap band procedure or any other bariatric procedure. My daughter, a nurse, accompanied me and was asked by Dr. Rumbaut to observe a banding operation. She was extremely impressed with his ability and demeanor. . .treating patient with respect even while sedated! The only negative I can find is the cost of airfare, which surpassed $800 per person round trip! Dr. Rumbaut even came to the hotel to check on his patients before they left town.

Adjustable Gastric Band, aka Lap-Band
There were many great stories about Dr. Rumbaut on the Web, the Yahoo discussion list called smartbandsters - weight loss successes, how kind and un-condescending he is, that he has the adjustable gastric band himself and lost a ton of weight. My insurance excludes *any* treatment for obesity, so I am a self pay. His fee of $10,000 (for everything but travel expenses) was affordable to me. His office staff, Doralisa - patient representative, sets up everything for me, all the logistics. Surgery date of 12-19-2002, very excited!
Becky McKay
320/.../180

Dr. Rumbaut and I have not met in person yet. He called me while he was on vacation to answer my questions and explain things to me. That said ALOT when he called! He seems extremely personable and caring and I look forward to meeting him. The person he has making arrangement for out of town patients is Doralisa and she is very diligent about getting right back to me and also went the extra mile in getting me the date I wanted for surgery(2 weeks away). I am very excited about the surgery and its quite a bonus to have such caring people to take care of me.
*********************************************
I love my doctor, he was kind, gentle and extremely patient (not to mention his experience and wisdom is incredible). He explained everything clearly beofre the surgery, showed me his own before photo so I could see his difference and he backs up his work (check out my profile to see about my last visit to him). He doesnt charge for follow up care and is quick to respond to all my emails and questions. I also love that he is always available via cell phone also.

Dr. Rumbaut was very friendly, helpful, assessable and informative. I was given his personal cell phone number in case I had any questions prior to surgery or problems after surgery.

His Staff took care of everything, including transportation, apointments and hotel reservations. All spoke English, had cell phones and email for easy access and communication. Dr. Rumbaut grew up in Ohio, so communication with him is not an issue.

The Hospital is comparible to the best hospitals here in the States and care was top notch.

Dr. Rumbaut, himself, has a LAP Band and understands the importance of aftercare. I chose Dr. Rumbaut for his expertise in High BMI patients. My BMI was 64 at the time of surgery. Surgery in Monterrey Mexico on Wednesday and back to work in Ohio the following Monday.

Overall, my greatest surprise was that everything went so smoothly and easily. I was planning for and expecting more pain and discompfort. This was my first surgery and hospital stay, so I had nothing to base it on. Just thought it would be more difficult than it was.

Dr. Rumbaut was wonderful. Speaking with him on the phone pre-op diminished any doubts I had about going to Mexico for surgery. He gives you his cell. phone number and you can call at anytime or e-mail. My surgery Went great and I couldn't have chosen a better surgeon. I had a total of 4 doctors that were the most caring and likeable doctors I have ever had. They all spoke excellent english. I would rate all of their surgical competence and bedside manner a 10. I wanted to bring them all home with me to be my family doctors :0) The hospital was nicer than any hospital I have been to in the US. Dr.Rumbaut's assistant, Doralisa was very fast in scheduling a surgery date and is very helpful with any questions you have. She set up our hotel arrangements and had someone pick us up at the airport. My experience was a good one and I would Highly recommend Dr. Rumbaut to anyone. Feel free to e-mail me with further questions.

Doctor Rumbaut has an impressing list of professional credentials. In my ranking, I would rank him one of the worlds best for this procedure. He is professor of medicine in the University at Monterrey. Is the Latin American Professor that teaches Laparoscopic and BioEnterics Procedures to all Latin America. He speaks Exellent English.All of his staff is great to work with.

After reading some of the other reviews about Dr.Oh, I felt confident in his ability, but was afraid he might be a little too brusque for me. I went ahead and scheduled a preliminary interview, to see for my self, and couldn't have been more wrong. He laughed and joked the entire visit, but still made sure I understood the gravity of the RNY gastric bypass.
I liked him so much I decided to pursue the surgery through Dr.Oh.
Unfortunately, after battling for 6 weeks with my insurance company, I was turned down for not having 3-5 years of medically supervised diet records.

I have since decided to self-pay and have chosen Dr.Rumbaut in Monterrey, Mexico as my new surgeon (at 1/3 the cost of surgery here in the States, it seemed only logical, now that I'm self-pay).
I should be consulting with him soon to set up my surgery date.

I chose Dr Rumbaut because he came highly recommended from a number of people - not just patients, but doctors as well. Dr Rumbaut has had the AGB procedure done on himself and therefore knows the trials and tribulations of living with the band as well as aftercare. I have not yet met him, but he has always been available to answer my questions either via email or by phone and speaks fluent English.
<BR><BR>
Update: I am now post-op and am so very happy that I chose Dr Rumbaut. He is very experienced (over 1200 AGB procedures at the time of my surgery), very caring, and his bedside manner is excellent. Overall I am very impressed and would highly recommend him to anyone who is self pay and wants to go to Mexico for the surgery.