cyndiwilson

I may be needing a fill by then also - would love to coordinate with ya all----I will schedule my fill then play it by ear of to if I actually need it or not - the trolley was fine going across but I got a ride from a fellow bandster and her father that was getting a fill the same day - I still have restriction and am losing weight so if that has platued by the time that date gets here I will already be on the bandwagon

I am glad you found a MD that didn;t mind doing a fill on a MEXICO patient! LOL and the price wasn;t bad for as much as he put in yur band 4 cc I hear so much about the MD will go 1 by 1 and it can add up in the pocketbook- MERRY CHRISTMAS =D>

I agree with Teri on leaving the wedding ring home - last time I checked Teri were you not driving that convertible mercedes that must be a huge rock on your hand "JUST KIDDING" I left all jewelry at home - I never noticed anything missing in the hotel room - but my friend refused t let them in to clean she took our towels out and did tip them well to keep us in bottled water - I took 100.00 to buy medication while down there but kept everything in small dollars - they see the big dollars they will not bargain as well TEE HEE- I wore sweats while i was there we couldn't get the heat to work in our room and since it wasn't to drastically cold I slept in the sweats and wore a windbreaker around town when I went for a walk - take a heating pad with you - they have a chair in the hotel room that I slept in most of the time and laid it across my belly and it eased teh pain and just felt good -----good luck on yur journey ----

Were you getting pre ops done on 11/28 - and your wife was there with you? she is pregnant? I was there to get a fill but hadn't said anything - I sat by myself and listened to the others chatting - another girl was there to get a fill also her father was with her ---her name was lily his was george --- hope everything is going well for you

OKAY- I am stuck I can get myself to the avatar page and whee it allows for you to add a picure from yur computer and it will even resize it - mine tells me I can not do this and to contact adminstrator can someone HELP ME (

Hey Kevin How are things going? I just had a fill last week - are you ready for another fill? or are ou just scheduling every 6 weeks? I am doing well on my post op adventures here - I am still losing weight - slowly but that is okay----I started at the gym about one week ago and that started something lost about 7lbs in 5 days- but it has platued at this time and I am maintaing the weight loss - I hear that the fill can take a little while to kick in - I do have restriction - I guess maybe what I am waiting to see is if I will PB not that I want to- cause right now I eat the 2-3 ounces of protien and then about 1/2 cup of fruit or veggies and try to sta away tfrom teh carbs completly but I do like rice and it goes down and stays down---I hear so much of the bad I guess I just anticipate it happening.....SO I am doing good ---yeah - I don;t know if you took a look at the pictures I posted a few days ago but I added Christmas pictures yesterday- they turned out nice - hope to talk to ya soon Cyndi

Were you banded by Dr. Ortiz? cause if you were why are you eating ? we are to be on a liquid phase then introduce tomato and shakes back in but no solids till I believe 21 days?

LOL so ya know I do like to keep things clean I won't direct to anyhting that is unacceptable

:-h I always like looking at pictures especially if it puts a face to the name - I suppose Lori Becky and/or Kevin will let me know if this is acceptable I will continue to do must of my updates through the other webistie support page since it takes you directly to MY PAGE and you don't have to skim around and find me....this is another support page they are not a DR or represent a doctor/ and or your Dr so its interesting to read other posts but I have and will continue to follow Dr. Ortiz's BAND RULES I LOVE MY BAND hope you enjoy!!! you will need to look over to the left of the page once accessed and yu will see my photo album > http://www.obesityhelp.com/member/cyndiwilson/

Karen you may wanto contact Teri and Kyle they will be traveling to TJ for a fill around the same time and see if you can coordinate- I felt the same way about the bus and the trolley - I really don't like traveling by myself but had to do it yesterday - went for my first fill and at the airport didn't see anyone that was really friendly about advising where the bus picked up at - but maybe cause thier job was traffic controller LOL anywho I caught the bus 992 asked for a transfer and rode it to the first station which is the american flyer station I believe ask the trolley driver which station is the one to San Ysirdo stay on the side of the track that Starbucks is on and watch for the trolley that says sanysirdo it was easy and it does take about 30 minutes from there to get to the border and another 15 minutes to trek across the border and tehn catch a cab on the other side get directions for Lori Becky she e-mailed them to me in spanish that helped - but the cab drivers know that part of town really well - I was very nervous about getting back but met a girl Lily and her dad (retired) came down with her for her fill and she was banded 2 days b4 - I asked where they were going after and if I could hitch a ride to the border and they offered to take me to the airport - I gave some money to them even thought they didn;t wan any due to it appeared they were driving back in that direction - we had great conversation she was very sweet and her dad was a hoot ----kinda sounded like me and my husband LOL ----so I did get lucky of not having to do the border myself back to sandiego ---hope this helps Cyndi :-?

Hey ROO - I am sorry to hear of your luck? we all like ot have insurance but sometimes when it comes to these procedures it's more apain in the a$$ - have you thought about maybe contacting Lori Becky to see if she can check with Dr. Ortiz to seeif possibly he may have trained or knows of these MD's? Just a thought

Renee , mayI suggest when you sit down to eat look at the clock when you are done look at it again and see how long it took - It takes me anywhere from 2- 30 minutes to eat - I know this seems long but in order to eat correctly you need to be strict with yourself about chew chew chewing - if you eat in 5 minutes you will feel the tightnessin your chest - trust me been there done that learned a lesson - and I knew it when I did it to large of a bite wan;t thinking like the day I made myself to eggs and my daughter said she only wanted one me too and she in turn asked who the 3rd was for and I said laughing it was for me but you caught me (no really it was a natural thing to pull three eggs out but mybrain was thinking honestly I only wanted one) hope ths helps a little and wow you have already had 3 flls? I get mine tommorow flying to san diego and treking across the border wish me luck

Okay guys and gals i love spicy food or things that do have a kick to them ---my find is the following and it may be bad it mught bo okay but i FOUND IT GREAT--Bumble bee sensations SPICY THAI CHILI tuna medley with crackers(i don;t eat teh crackers) serv size is 1 can 3oz calories 160 fat calories 60 total fat 7 g here goes......PROTEIN 15gm\I just wanted to share for those that need that spice of life occasionally I found it at walmart i want ot say it was 88 cents or at least under a dollar enjoy

Welcome to AZ - I do have the name of a couple of MD's or Nurse Practitioner Robert Berger 1-800-824-7630 he does fills under fluro not sure what he charges if you are not his patient but you can call the office and speak to a Nancy Scott- got this off a post on another forum Wendy Hall in Snowflake she sharges 75.00 for fill and unfills , she does not use fluro but is very good at finding ports - another bandster has reported she has done fils and unfills on herself and never had a problem with her fills....she herself has been banded she comes to the valley one day a month her numbers are Heber office 928-535-4539 Snowflake office 928-536-5377 and pager 928-601-3836if she is not scheduled to be down in the valley you would need to travel to her --- Hope this helps

Hi Kay you may want to try reaching Lori at Lori@obesitycontrolcenter.com she is viewing posts in here but may not catch all of them she can also be called anytime I belive her extension is 82 somebody please correct me if I am wrong ---

Dr. Ortiz is located in Mexico anyone in USA will not be using there insurance we are all self pay etc. ---also the losing weight is a commitment that you would want to try to do before surgery it shows that you are serious about the surgery and also any weight loss oyu can do b4 surgery is effective in shrinking the liver- talk with oyur MD about this most lap band patients on this forum and others that I have read on thier MD wants a pre op to help lose that 5% body weight b4 surgery (or a reasonable amount of weight)shrinking the liver you may talk with your md or if you are considering MD ortiz call and talk to Lori Becky she is a great help with any questions .

Tammy - you are so welcome on this forum as well as any other - I have heard alot about Dr. Kuri and I love talking with Sandy R she posts on obesity help.com alot and is very informative about nutrition- we are just one BIG happy band family---trying to make our way small jk

Almost a 6 week update- for those of you just joining I was banded by MD ortiz on 10-16-2006 on 10-01-2006 I weighed 267 day of surgery 255 I know weigh 240---pretty good- I am eating solids as of a few weeks ago and not eating very much which is nice. I have eaten too much a couple of times and didn't PB but felt very uncomfortable for a short period of time. It is definatly a LEARNING experience- I try little nibbles of everything - I eat off the kids plate or my husband- AND here goes I got my Christmas present early - my husband and I joined Gold Canyon Health and Fitness - and both have a goal to lose 15lbs. by the first of January. We did our assesment with the personal trainer so we can learn how to use all of the machines. I am going for a fill on Wednesday Novemebr 28th - traveling by myself and going to wing the taking the trolly to the border thing and then across so wish me luck- just a little nervous. I have choosen not to go back to work at this time - looking into maybe going to school and getting a part time job doing who knows what. My clothes are looser on me feels good and this is going to be hard not ot go out and by clothes as I lose the weight and/or inches. I am restricting myself at this time unless I need something to work in - and even then I may hit the second hand shops such as goodwill or savers ---- I am completly healed on my belly everything looks nice all the scabs have fallen off and everything is nice and thin and a healthy pink in color. I explained my procedure to the personal trainer today he had never heard of it seemed interested - but left out all of the abdominal exercises - I did feel a little burning during the exercises but it didn't hurt. Can't wait to see the results....can we say look good in a bathing suit this summer? YES YES YES - can't wait. We are trying to take a trip to South Padre Island this upcoming summer - we are going to see people that we saw this last summer so I can't wait to see what they say. After I came home from surgery on 10-19 I was home till October 27th which my husband and I went ot Laughlin fo rthe night and tehn on to Las Vegas for 2 nights with my husbands aunt and uncle from Ohio- which on that Monday the 30th we drove them back to AZ to stay with us till Saturday November 4th and sent them back to Ohio then on Sunday Novemeber 5th we loaded up the kids and went to DISNEYLAND for 3 days butunfortunatly when we arrived in California my husband got a call from OHIO and found out that his grandmother passed away - so with that in mind we left late Tuesday night and got bak into AZ early Wednesday morning so we could sleep before I had to put my husband, sister in law and mother in law on a plane for Ohio which in turn he was gone till Sunday night - on November 8th I had to go to the Rolling Stones concert with a friends husband that stood n my husbands place since he was away ---let me tell ya what a bummer - it wasn't the same...but now everything seems to be going smoothly oh yeah on the Wednesday b4 Thanksgiving my husbands father had a heart attack - but he is doing well and only stayed in the hospital overnight and had a stint put in at that time.. he is home know- SOOOOOOOOO...hopefully with XMAS coming up nothing else will happen - thanksgiving was very quite here - thank goodness it was a bad day for me I really didn't feel good- cooked for the family and mother in law and that was enough ---Friday we got about 75% of our shopping done - woo hoo ----so until next time which hopefully will be sooner than this post was...LOL

looking to see if anyone else is going on 11/28 we can share a ride in the OCC van or the cab ride - I don't feel comfortable doing it by myself would really enjoy the company? any takers?

Are you in pain after the surgery? - Have you lost a lot of weight? and was it hard? i lost 12 lbs. prior to surgery and am down another 15lbs a total of 27lbs since about 10/01/06 and having surgery on 10/16/06 - how often do you have the band ajusted?I have my first apointment on 11/28/06 post op check up we will see if I need a fill - are you glad you did the surgery? HELL YAY - is the recovery tough? vomiiting, pain, tired? recovery was hard for me a mother of 3 older needy children LOL but their father threatened them with a inch of thier lives that they will do for me not me for them - I have also taken off work till after the first of the year to make sure I focus on eating correctly just a personal choice most will esume wok anywhere from 3 days to 3 weeks - are the scares bad? not at all I show mine to everyone WANT TO SEE? LOL - can you see the port when you lift up your shirt? NOT AT ALL CAN't EVEN FEEL It - do you have alot of saggy skin? NOTICED SOME AROUND THE REAR TEH LAST COUPLE OF DAYS ---WORIED MORE ABOUT THE CHEST AREA SO i AM ALREADY SAVING TO HAVE WORK DONE THERE IF NEEDED lol I hope this helps I know I am only 4 weeks out but hey it's all fresh in my memory now ---- Dr Ortiz and his staff are #1 so if you decide to go the Mexico way go his way ---

Kevin --okay here is the plan ---I have made a appointment for Wednesday November 29th at 10:00 am for my fill- the clinic didn't have appoinents for the Tuesday we spoke of----and the airlines don't have a flight available well at least thru SWA on Monday when your aapointment is - let me know if that wil work for you about sharing the ride over cause if not then I will have francisco pick me up thanks again Kevin

that would be great - but I have not heard from Rene yet only sent the e-mail this morning have to wait to hear back of how long he thinks it will take so I can schedule the flight appropriatly - please do not work around my schedule - especially if it is requiring for yu to take time off of work....I will let you know as soon as I hear from Rene - thanks Kev you are awesome

i will let you know asap thanks for thinking of me in way that could possibly save me some $$$$$$$$$$$ LOL

UGH no flights out through Southwest in the morning of 11/27 so scratch the fill appointment - checked for the 28th and e-mailed Rene to see how long between the arrival and the departure back I should allow to make my reservation - thanks for the invite on teh ride though ---I reall do appreciate it.... I will want for them to pick me up so if anyone is thonking of a fill for then I am going we can split the cost of the shuttle by the clinic remember if we can get 6 people it saves us money and just me piece of mind getting to the clinic and back to the airport ---- I know not as cheap as the cab and trolley ride - but I am afraid I will be late or not know exactly how to get to the clinic ---ughhhhhh.....let me know

LOL sorry Teri had to chuckle at you ....but RX and prescription are the same thing... you would need to ask your MD about a medication that you can use either over the counter or write a prescription for one is all I think she was advising ---gotta luv you -----leaving for Disneyland tommorow --will get with you when we get back to see how you feel