AngieB

I was wearing a 24 pant/shorts and a 3x shirt. I am now sporting a 1x or 2x shirt depending on how it fits and a 18 pant. I am loving my band as well!

Hello gang! I am holding steady....229.8.

I called around locally to see if anyone would accept me. I bought a "package" deal for my 1st year. It cost me 1200. That was for the fills and radiology costs. This was contingent on them looking at my band and finding it acceptable. They also documented it's condition with a photo for my file. I have been please with there care. For me returning to the OCC was not comparable to the cost for staying here. I had to consider time away from my family and from work....so that is what determined my aftercare. I live in the midwest so it is time restrictive to go back and forth. Hope this helps Angie

Cheryl - that sounds terrible. Glad you got the much needed care local. I agree with having local aftercare. Sometimes even after a good fill with no complications, it is possible to have major swelling after getting a piece of food stuck.....also Shelby can tell you how intense stress can take it's toll. The OCC is a great place to return too. I sought aftercare locally myself. I pre-called the local bariatric surgeons in the area. Out of everyone, only one Dr. was closed to Mexican patients. I see the bariatric team at a local hospital and they are great. I even go in and see them for monthly nurse visits. After saying all of this, if I had a MAJOR issue, I would go back to the OCC for care. The cost is to inflated in the states and with out insurance coverage, I would RUN for the boarder. Glad you are feeling better. I agree with Pammie....slow and easy. That is how I built my restriction. It took me 5 fills to get to my happy place. None of my fills were over .7 cc's. (I have a 4cc band) Soo soo glad you are better. Angie

The huber needle will look like a regular needle...the big difference is the hole is on the side of the needle and not the tip for the huber, this way when it goes through the port it does not leave a core out of the port. Does that make sense. I would call them back, let them address your concerns. From the sounds of it you had a blind fill. Did the fill tech give you liquid to drink to tset the fill? Or was it 2 cc's and you were on your way?? Give them a call. Let them answer your concerns so you can feel better. I would be shocked if any place doing fills did not use a huber needle.

I can empathize with you on the fill talk. What I have learned about myself and fills is my stomach seems to be more sensitive. I aggressively went for my fills in the beginning. So if you look at my siggy, you can see how many fills and how much saline. Everyone is so different. All my fills were done under floro and I watched each of them with high hopes. The last 2 or my 5 fills I would say were by far the most aggressive of the whole. I am at a good level of restriction now. Last month, I had thought of going in for a "tweak" and have sense decided against it and converted my fill apt to a nurse visit. My weight has been stable this month. I am okay with that as I know that once I begin working out again and my life responds to the wonderful warmer weather I will come alive again and move more. It is so easy to second guess ourselves, but bottom line is it is a process we have to go through to get to the restriction we want. What I found was the last, 5th fill got me to where I had desired to be.....only to find out the destination was not as I hoped it would be. Kind'a like the grass is greener on the other side of the fence type senerio. So I am chilling now and loving life. Not eating the best as I am a sugar addict and am currently practicing that addiction hard core. The one good thing is before my weight would have sky rocketed. Now, I maintain. Oh crap, let me reel myself back in here...I have a tendency to go off on a tangent.....what I wanted to convey in this reply was when I went in for the last fill. I got drilled pretty hard by the staff. Where I go for fills we fill out a questionnaire....one that stops short of your shoe size and your drivers license number. You give them a shit ton of information...the PA and nurses assistant both really drilled me, which left me with the impression they didn't believe a word I was giving them, both treated me like I couldn't know what I was talking about and that I was exagerating my portions ect....okay so under floro she did the barium check and BAM!!! The liquid zoomed right through. Yes mama! The gal said to me, "OH! I see what you are saying now, you are wide open." I took that as her sincerest apology for how I was left to feel. If you get my meaning. We are all so different. The fill I got that day was a real fill - boy oh boy. Took me a hard minute to adjust to the new reality. So I got my restriction that didn't fade, plus a wee bit more than I bargined for. So even with the best fill science everyone is still different and has to go through the process to get the glorious land of restriction. Now, why do I ramble on so, in hopes that what I say will matter to someone and hit home. IF not you then someone else who reads this. You all will get there on fills. What I am coming to see clearly for my own journey is at this point a fill would only put me depending to heavily on the lovely band that is my ally. I don't want to abuse. I need to work out the kinks in my emotions and eating behaviors and preferences before I go tighten the zip tie. Ah yet another layer on the proverbial onion....peel away...

Sabrina - good to hear from you! I am so glad you are finding success with eating with little fill/restriction. I am so proud of you, becuase that is an accomplishment for sure! I am currently maintaing my weight, mostly because I have not been stricked with myself. No gain is a win win for me when I am eating whatever I want. Anyway, I wanted to say congrats on your success and hard work! I have not experienced the unfill/swelling but know I can if I have a stuck epi or what not. Shelby has told us about how stress can get ya too. So it is alway good to learn from others when we can. Good for you! So you are more of a normal eater than you once were! Success anyway you look at it!

WhoooHoooo! Congrats on 1-der-land!!! I agree with fills....learning curve.

B - coffee with FF cream and sugar free surup oatmeal packet 48 oz of crystal light 1/2 my calcuim pill L - chick breast, ham and swiss cheese - 3rd meal from my cordon blue sandwich from out night out- going to throw the rest in the garbage... vinegar and mustard sauce - 4 reeses mini's 24 oz of crystal light 1/2 calcuim pill D - Mahi Mahi and steamed veggies

Hi Sarah! You are very fortunate to have found Dr. Ortiz and be so on top of this HUGE life change. You are on the right track for sure! Being overweight is so difficult and compounded while in school. You mom sounds like she is supportive and hearing your hearts cry for help. Give her a big hug, bacause she loves you and wants good things for you. I know that when I told my family about the surgery, the hiccup was in the Mexico part too. (Which is so funny to me know.) They did there freak out. I explained to them, the information. (Which I don't think they heard much of due to the freak out part. Soooo, I emailed them some information, and links in a letter form. It outlined step by step the educated choice I was making. This way, when they checked up on the research I had done, they could see for themselves it was a good move. Knowledge is power. Plus it helps to give them somthing to calm there nerves. They love you and that is why they are scared for you. We often fear what we don't know and they may have heard horror stories of surgerys gone bad. Dr. Ortiz is nothing short of amazing. My mom went with me because she was not going to let me go by myself... hee hee...I was 33 when I had the surgery. We had so much fun, it was like a mini vacation! In hind sight now, she would have allowed me to go by myself as her fears were releaved when she witnessed first hand how incredable and flawless the process was. Hind sight being 20/20. I really hope your mom allows you to do this. I feel like I got 5 star care. Actually better than any care I had or have recieved in the US....which is sad because I live in the US. If you PM me your email, I will send you the letter I send to my family with some information so they could get a brief over view of why I choose what I did. ((Hugs)) Angie

Thanks Shelby - I did have fun. I loved playing black jack and we had such a great table of players. (that makes it so much better) I ended up donating to the cause but it was good entertainment!

Cheryl did a great job of explaining restriction. I am at my sweet spot. One thing I wanted to add when talking about the sweet spot is; When I hit my sweet spot, I noticed my hunger was pretty much taken away. I was left with old/current programing and the dreaded HEAD HUNGER! I slim or PB now when I take one bite to many or don't chew well enough. To me stuck or slime/PB are not restriction. Those are the consequence of operator error. Ah such a learning curve...

Sounds like a NSV to me! LOL Way to go!

Thank you so much for the birthday wishes. We had a wonderful time. Hubby and I went to the Horseshoe Casino for dinner and some gaming. I played black jack and sat at a good table fill with good spirited peeps! It was nice to have a date night....Seems after children those times are lessened, so it was nice for some ADULT time! Dinner was good, but I am less enthused to go out to eat as I once was. That is one of the "things" that has changed with me since surgery. To funny! Anyway the dinner I ordered could have easily turned into 4 full dinners. Easy! How funny huh! Anyway it was a hit in my book! Thanks!

Did you get an unfill for the pregnancy. My friend is newly pregnant and doesn't want to get a complete defill. Curious as to what your doc advised. She has had morning sickness....blah!

Cindy - that is great news! I hope you update us often along the way. I am interested in how band pregnancy goes! So....don't be a stranger woman! I am glad you didn't have to wait long! Oh I do love baby news!!!! Are you gonna find out the sex of the baby when it is time???