Clynn

Don't have anything planned. I got my first fill a little over a month ago and it is still working well for me.

It is $100 for each fill. Most people tend to go down and back in one day if possible and hotel rates will change depending on the season. I think if you call the clinic and tell them you'll be staying overnight they can get you a discount at the hotel. If you choose to get picked up at the airport it by the clinic shuttle is at most $130. The total cost of the shuttle is split by how many people are getting a ride. For instance, one person pays the whole $130, whereas three people on the shuttle split it three ways. This is just for fill patients as the shuttle is complementary for people getting the surgery at that time. If you don't want to spend that much on a shuttle you can take the bus and trolley to the border for like $3, then take a taxi to the clinic once you get across. Taxi rides in TJ are $5 US. A FEW THINGS TO REMEMBER IF YOU TAKE THE TAXI: Bring the phone number for the clinic and a few bucks in quarters. The payphones down there take American quarters in case you get lost and need to call the clinic. Yellow Cab will meet you as soon as you cross but they abandoned me in TJ so use the red cabs if at all possible, they will get you where you need to go. Also, as far as the phones are concerned, the ringing tone in Mexico sounds an awful lot like the disconnected tone in America, so let it go a bit before hanging up.

Same place? I know where it is this time

I'm assuming you mean how soon after making your appointment can you have the surgery. I've heard the wait can be as shart as a week but most people appear to wait about a month or two.

Many of the Washington people on this forum go to Dr Neal in Olympia. I've never been to him but I've heard good things. It's a bit of a haul from Bellingham but the thing to keep in mind is that he does his fills under flouroscopy, which means he can actually see exactly where your port is and how the newly filled band is effecting your stomach. This makes it much more likely to for you to get the right amount in one go and much less likely for there to be complications due to puncturing the tube or not finding your port at all. There is just no way I'm going to go through all the effort of getting banded only to have something go wrong under a blind fill because I wanted to save a few bucks. The website for Dr Neal is http://www.pacsurgical.com/

Good luck!!!!

How much weight you are supposed to loose depends on the amount of weight you are starting with. If you are under 300 lbs then you will probably be asked to loose 10 lbs and if you are over 300 lbs then you will probably be asked to loose 15 lbs. This will all be explained to you when you schedule your surgery.

HopefulChurch I'm sure they will be happy to send you letters of recommendation they have on file. They also have copies on their website for download under Dr Ortiz bio page which is here: http://www.obesitycontrolcenter.com/about_dr_ortiz.html Click on the link for additional certifications and it will download a pdf file which includes a letter from Inamed Health and certificates from The American Society for Bariatric Surgery, and Harvard Medical School. You can also go here: http://obesityhelp.com/morbidobesity/baria...ardere+glh.html It is an excellent summary of Dr Ortiz' experience in this area. If your family and friends are still unconvinced about Dr Ortiz and his qualifications, ask them to find you a better doctor for this in the states. If, after looking at his qualifications our comments about how incredibly positive the whole experience has been, they are still upset with it being in Mexico then you may have to accept the fact that they have an preconceived image in their mind and there's nothing you can do to change it. Hope you found this information helpful and remember, we will always be here to support you.

One more thing - if on the liquid diet you start to feel hungry, really hungry not the head hunger thing, then you can take a fiber pill. Just an ordinary metamucil caplet worked great on giving my body something to process.

It was the Monday after Thanksgiving

I scheduled my fill appointment for 11 am in November but didn't actually get filled until noon. Lots of people came in for their fill that day and I was last in line. Either the doctor takes his lunch later in the day or he waits until there is a break in patients.

Ok debi first off, relax and take a deep breath. You're going to be fine. Secondly, the post-op diet I was given involved three protein shakes a day plus as much green salad with balsamic vinagerette as I wanted. I don't think brand of shake is very important but something high in protein is preferred. The brands I was recommended were Slimfast Optima and AdvantEdge Carb Control. I was able to pick both of those brands up and Rite Aid. The idea is to get you to drop as much weight as possible before the surgery so it is easier for the Dr's to work around in there. Good luck to you and remember the first thing I said. The surgery was an absolute breeze.

I spoke to my general physician to get his opinion before I made an appointment with Dr Ortiz. At first he was concerned, but he did some research and it wasn't long before he was totally on board. I had an appointment with my Gyno earlier this month and she was also a bit alarmed when I told her I had it done in Mexico. Once she found out I had researched this fully she relaxed. I think American doctors are more concerned with people looking at dollar signs only without fully understanding what they're getting into. Yes you are taking on some added risks by going to a foreign country for surgery, but if you understand and accept these risks you're more likely to make a good decision.

The only horror story I have heard which I can confirm is from a friend of my mother's. She got banded in Mexico (NOT with Dr. Ortiz) and they did not use the Inamed band but instead a generic type band. Eventually the band broke and she could not find a doctor in the states to help her because she had gotten it out of the country. This didn't scare me much because Dr Ortiz does use the Inamed band and if anything happens I would want to have it fixed by him anyway. My gynecologist has told me she's seen cases where people with the band have had erosions in their stomach and suggests about a year and a half out patients have and endoscopy to check for those. My understanding is that if you catch the erosions early the band can be taken out and the stomach will heal back up.

There were some updates to the forum around the 6th of December. If your ticker stopped working around that point then maybe it's because external links to images are no longer allowed.

Yesterday I stepped on the scale and it said I had lost 60 lbs, which is the same as my most successful diet ever and leaps and bounds over every other diet I've ever tried. I'm absolutely ecstatic, in part because of the weight loss but also because I really think it can stay off this time. I haven't felt like I've been depriving myself and I haven't been having any food dreams (you know those dreams when you're on a diet and are surrounded by all the food you can't have anymore and they sparkle and shimmer like a new Ferrari). Still a long way to go but I really think this is one of the best things I've ever started in my life.

Depends on the type of band they had. I've heard some patients with the larger VG band have some saline put in at the time of surgery to prime it. What exactly do you mean by soft food? With Dr. Ortiz after a week I could have yogurt, which I guess could qualify as soft food or a full liquid depending on how someone wants to look at it.

Unless they put something in after I went out and removed it before I woke up, the only thing that gets attached to you (other than the band of course) is your IV tube.

We're happy to help you and answer your questions but your request is a bit vague. Is there a specific question or concern you have?

Ok that makes things much clearer. I've heard a few people say they have that problem after six months but 1 week after surgery is new to me. Definatly talk to your doctor as this could be a sign of something wrong or it could be your body adjusting and therefore nothing at all. Hopefully it's the latter but at this stage it's better to be careful.

How much fill you get depends on what kind of band you have. The people you're seeing with 6 cc's of fill most likely have the larger VG band which can hold more, while people with the smaller band seem to have somewhere between 1 and 3.

By eat do you mean food? If you're a patient of Dr Ortiz you shouldn't be on solids yet - only clear liquids.

PB'ing means Productive Burping. It's like throwing up but not quite as harsh (at least is my experience). It happens when food is unable to get pasts the band and then it only has one way left to go.

I pb'd once before my first fill from trying to eat pasta. The solution was simple enough - don't each pasta. My first fill was last week and it was 1.3 cc's. I pb'd once since then from eating too fast. Once again, the solution was simple enough - SLOW DOWN. Other than those two episodes I haven't had any problems. If you get your fill in Tijuana then the amount you receive will be determined by how fast liquid moves through your stomach. If it is right, it is right, and getting too much will do more harm than good.

Most impressive!