doinfi9

You should see if they will reimburse you for all or part...worth a try.

I actually had the same problem for the first few weeks. I was losing on the scale but couldn't tell in my clothes. It was a little frustrating, but then I went to buy new pants and I had dropped four pants sizes. I figure I must have been losing in places that weren't as noticeable to me?! But losing is losing and I don't care where it comes from as long as it is going away!!!

I had a similar reaction, but i believe mine was to the surecleanse they use to prep the skin. It makes recovery feel like an eternity, but it will go away. Mine appeared four or five days post op and is still clearing up. I think it stopped itching around 2 weeks post op. The benadryl worked best for me and my doctor told me to take pepcid ac because it is a hystamine blocker I thought it was strange but as soon as I started taking it, it stopped spreading. Hang in there!! It will go away!!

Lol...I know what you mean. I was out of town and there were so many good resturants!! I couldn't resist!! I have discovered that i still have pretty good restriction...had to learn that the hard way. I can't eat bread and meat together i.e. sandwiches or hamburgers, they hurt so bad and take forever to go down, no matter how much I chew or how small the bites are! My family is doing well, my dad is losing so fast (as Dr. o said he would.)!! Glad to hear things went well with your first solids.

Dr. Martinez was scheduled to do my surgery because Dr. Ortiz was out of town. However the morning of my surgery Dr. Ortiz showed up at the OCC so they did all the surgeries together. However, I was totally comfortable with Dr. Martinez. He answered all my questions and put me completely at ease!! Go ahead and schedule with him, you'll do fine!

Hello all April 28th bandsters... and HAPPY SOLIDS DAY!! (Even though technically I caved over the weekend) >

Bump for momof12

Wow...I love the cut and the color!!

So sorry to hear about all your struggles...after hearing that i'll stop complaining about my hives!! I agree, people should think long and hard before they decide to be banded. I thought long and hard and did tons of research and in the end no two stories are going to be alike, you just have to be willing to work through all the unexpected hurdles, but that's just life right?!? I, like you, know the long term outcome will be worth all the struggles and 16 days post op I am feeling pretty good and am looking forward to solid foods and my first fill. Hope you are feeling better!!

I'm in and i'd love to help plan. Although my talents are probably not appropriate for an OCC conference. My vote would be for Vegas unless the OCC staff are positive they can attend then SD.

I was banded 4/28 and back to work three days later. I would recommend at least a week off, but everyone is so different it is hard to say. I worked three days later and did fine, but it would have been nice to not sit up at my desk all day.

I am scheduled for the 7th. Hopefully i'll see you there!

Give yourself more time...I really did not start to feel better until around day 8 post-op. I am now at day 14 and feeling great. I can sneeze without feeling like I twisted a gut and can finally sleep any way I want. Honestly you are in for a long few days, but give it time and you will feel better.

Ute - Are you going back to Mexico for your first fill? If so, when do you plan to go? I am trying to schedule us for June 7th but haven't heard back from Claudia yet.

Hi Ute Glad to hear that you are doing well. My family are doing good and send their hellos to you and your husband. My dad has actually really surprised me. I thought he would have a hard time, but as Dr. O predicted he is leading the pack. The pill I gave you in the van was an anti inflamatory not anything for pain so it wouldn't have helped...and besides I didn't want you to be inflamed. :-) I agree that once we are off this "wanna be food" stage (I love that) things will be better. When I posted that yesterday I was having one of those eternal days, today I'm feeling much better. So glad to hear you are doing well and conrgratulations on the weight loss!!! Myr

First a disclaimer... Please know that I am not complaining or trying to be negative about the band!! I only want to share a few things I have experienced that might help better prepare someone else. I understand everyone is different so others may or may not share in my experiences. This is my reality... I was banded on 4/28 my starting weight was 281 and I was down to 263 at the time of my surgery, I have not weighed again yet...I’m too scared. Like everyone has said the doctors at the OCC were fantastic!! They took time to talk to me and answered my questions and were very personable. I had every confidence in both Dr. Ortiz and Dr. Martinez. The nurses were a nice but seemed MIA most of the time. Twice I had to buzz them into my room because my I.V. was empty and was backfilling with blood. I am terrified of needles, I can't help myself, I just freak out!! This seemed to annoy the nurse starting my I.V. and although she did get me on the first try she was pretty frosty. When I came out of surgery I was loopy but could feel the tightness and pain from the gas in my chest so I immediately wanted to get up and walk. I waited until I wasn't dizzy from the anesthesia and began to walk and kept walking every 30-45 minutes all night long. The gas pain for me never went to my shoulder, but it was unbearable in my chest. I am not a wimp and generally have a high tolerance for pain but I felt like I was having a heart attack! Finally at around 4pm I asked the post op doctor for something to help with pain and he just told me to keep walking, so I did to no avail. Later in the evening the anesthesiologist came in to check on me, he told me there was no reason for me to sit in pain and he gave me something that helped me sleep for a little while. After this dose wore off I kept walking and hoping the pain would subside but it never really did. I was glad for morning so I could get out of the clinic and walk, walk, walk. The aftermath... We left the hotel around 9am and headed for SD. The pain in my chest was not much better and sitting in the cramped van waiting to get over the boarder was not fun, luckily the gentleman at the boarder didn't make us get out and didn't go through any of our bags so the trip was relatively short. I only had to fly to Phoenix so the flight was not a big problem, but the six hour car ride after was hell, every bump and corner was painful. In my opinion they should send you home with something for pain, obviously everyone who is banded at the OCC will have to travel to some extent to get home and they should give you something just incase. Days 1-4 were uncomfortable but thanks to the help of phazyme and loratab not horrible and I never really felt hungry. Days 5-7 were the worst for me, I honestly felt like I was going to go crazy! I felt like I was starving all day everyday, no matter what I drank or how much. Everything I saw looked delicious, I even saw someone eating beets, yes beets, which I hate, and I was jealous! To make matters worse I had an allergic reaction to the prep solution they used and I developed hives all over my stomach and chest that itch like mad. I emailed Dr. O. and Dr. M. but never heard anything so even though I hadn’t planned to tell anyone I went to my regular doctor for help. Day 8-10 have been a little better, I am no longer feeling the pain in my chest unless I drink too much or to fast and my mobility is much better. I am still hungry and have to drink 1/2 a cup of soup every 45 minutes or so but after a little positive chat with myself I decided to buck up and deal with things with a better attitude, after all I wanted and paid for this band. I never could have predicted how difficult the mental part of this would be and just how hard it was going to be to break my relationship with food. For me this has been an emotional rollercoaster; I switch from anger to depression to joy (when my pants are looser) so quickly I should lock myself in a closet for a week so no one else has to deal with me. If I could go back would I do it again…right now I’m not sure, but once I can eat solid food I’m sure that will change. Things I have learned that I wish I would have known before: Bring pain meds with you to the OCC! The only thing that can bring relief sometimes is time! Chicken broth can taste really, really good! Speed bumps are the enemy! I am going to be hungry! Sleep, what sleep? Sorry this is so long…but I wanted to share my experience.

I didn't care what I was wearing at that point. My chest was hurting so bad from the gas I could have been naked. And those panties...I asked the Dr. for a box to go, so what that they were three sizes to big and covered next to nothing. :-)

CONGRATULATIONS on those two pounds Michelle...your soon to be in onederland. =D>

Thank you!! Those scheduled 4/28 were originally supposed to be banded by Dr. Martinez, but to our surprise Dr. Ortiz had just flown in from Barcelona Spain and came in anyway!! I enjoyed meeting and speaking with both of them and would have been completely comfortable with either one placing the band.

Hello Fellow bandsters. It is officiall. I am sitting at the OCC computer enjoying my ice chips. :-) Everything went so smoothly! I honestly am in shock about how nice, genuine and professional the entire staff is here. I felt completely at peace from start to finish. Plus I got a pretty nice tan walking around Tijuana yesterday. I need to finish my walk. :-) But I'm so glad to be in BANDLAND!!

Ha ha ha...Redhead that made me laugh so hard I almost lost my shake. :-) And my luck would be the same instead of bigger breasts I would end up with abnormally large cheeks or a huge nose or something like that.

Which pre-op diet did you all choose and why? I went with the two week, two shakes and one lean cuisine and until yesterday it was going really well with minimal hunger. I didn't feel well Tuesday so I skipped my afternoon shake and lean cuisine and I think missing those calories made me really hungry for the past two days! I'm almost to go crazy today!! I'm trying really hard not to cheat, I have been losing so well I don't want to jinx myself but if I drink one more glass of water or one more crystal light i'm going to be sick! Since I know you have all been there, what are you doing to keep from cheating during any of the before and after dieting?

Actually there are three more coming with me. There are four members of my family being done the same day, so there probably isn't much room for anyone else that day. We are flying in early Sunday morning, we wanted some time to play in Tijuana before the surgery so we should see you there.

I'm also schedled for the 28th. :-)