Roxane

Hello Gibaby 71 I signed up with fill centers and saw a Dr in Colorado....like you, I had been waiting for a Dr to become available in Colorado so I wouldn't have to keep traveling to TJ. One became available, I scheduled the appt thru FillCenters and elected to have him do the fill without FLuoroscopy. .....I didn't ask the person at "fill centers" how much experience he had. But I would suggest that if you do decide to have it done in GA, ask the following questions, 1. many times has he done fills? How did he get his training? Who trained him/her? 2. Will you extract the saline from the band to see what is actually in the band. It may be worth a try......but it is costly. Total amt came to $575 Take Care

Hi Katie B Would have loved to ride in with both but couln't find a flight on the 16th.....so booked it for the 17th and will be taking the bus, trolley and taxi to Dr Ortiz's office. I'm not going to totally give up on "Fill Centers USA". If another Dr becomes available in Colorado, I might try him/ her and next time, ask more questions. Take Care

Hello I had a fill through Fill Centers USA with a Dr in Thornton, Co and I can tell you that it was not a good experience. I paid $300 to "Fill Center" and another $200 for Fluoroscopy and should have paid another $75 for the fill but got the DR to waive that since I was so unhappy. He didn't seem to have much experience. He first tried to access my port without fluoro...and tried 3 times. He pricked me 3 times and numbed the area but couldn't access my port. So I rescheduled with him at the fluoroscopy center. I arrived, and we went into the room, he started fumbling around and I could tell that he didn't know how to use the x-ray machine, then a moment later, the x-ray technician arrived....thankfully, he know how to operate it. He was then able to access the port.....he kept saying that my band was empty but I dont know how he determined that. He asked me what my last fill level was and I told him a little less than 1cc......I don't believe he ever removed the fluid to verify that. He then had me drink the barium, and we looked at it on the xray.....he kept saying, "you have plenty of restrictiion, if I add 1.2cc, you will be totally obstructed", and then he said that he would only give me 1cc which he did....I then went home and felt no more restriction than before and now I have even less than before.......so now I have scheduled a fill in TJ for April 17th to get this done right. On a good note....the people at fill centers were very knowledgeable and very helpful but I don't believe that this particular Dr had much experience.

Hello Looks like you know your way around pretty well. Would you mind helping me out? I sent you an email but just in case, sending this as well. I have a fill scheduled for Oct 30th, Mon and will arrive in San Diego at 8:30am and want to take the bus/trolley/taxi and hope to get to the DR's office within 2 hrs or so. What I am most nervous about it getting back to the Airport after the fill, that is, getting over the border. The lines look so long and look like I could be standing there for hours. Appreciate any assistance. Thanks

Hello Pamela Not sure how to use this forum correctly or not but here goes.....I understand your worries. I was worried to. I got banded Dec 2005 and started at 200lbs and am now down to 140. It was going great, but yes, I was throwing up everyday. My band was too tight but I was losing weight and didn't want to fly back to TJ to have fluid removed. I developed acid indigestion last June, then it turned into acid refluxby August and was keeping me up all night so I spoke to the Dr at the center and he advised that I come back to be looked at which I did in Sept, they gave me a de-fill and and then I flew home. My esophagus began to heal and after about a week or so, it felt more and more confortable to eat, oh and the acid reflux disappeared right after the de-fill.....so now I am planning on flying back to TJ in a week and have another fill but this time, a smaller amt. So far.....I am very happy with my results, I just don't want the reflux to come back and so I am going to try very hard not to over eat and as a result, have to vomit. Let me know if you have any questions for me, I would be happy to help.

Hello Friend I was banded Dec 2005. It happened in June, I was eating some pizza, ate too fast and too much, then experience horrible chest pain...food got stuck....finally I threw it up, then experience heart that night that kept me up at night, then in August, I was eating some chicken too close to bedtime, again, ate too much and went to bed, then it felt like it was stuck, finally, I went to the bathroom and thru up violently, it tasted awful and it was black liquid. I was very scared, I went back on liquids to try to heal. I was taking tums and that really didn't help. After about 6 weeks of this, I called Dr Martinez in TJ, he said that it wasn't coming from my stomach but that it was coming from the pouch and that I needed to come see him for a De-fill, which I did and have since compleley improved, my esophagus has healed. I am going back to TJ to get another fill Hello Are you still on meds? I had a de-fill a month ago and my esophagus has healed and I am going to go back to TJ and have another fill and am worried about the Acid reflux coming back. Dr Martinez says the acid reflux was a result of the band too tight and I was throwing up everyday.