macleay

Two miles for Saturday!

When I called to schedule my surgery, Carolyn from OCC gave me a couple of names of fill doctors near me. She wouldn't recommend anyone other than OCC, but was very helpful in giving me some name of doctors close. Also, on the OCC home page, there is a link for Fill Centers USA. If you go to their website, you'll find a US map with their locations.

You lucked into the right forum! I did tons of research of Mexican facilities before I chose the OCC. I personally know two other people who live in my town who also had surgery at the OCC (one of them is my daughter!). All of us had safe, positive experiences having surgery in Mexico, specifically at the OCC. Once you've made up your mind, just give them a call. They'll walk you through the entire process and from the time you get off the plane in San Diego, they take care of you until they drop you off at the airport to go home. Regarding fills, I had my first fill at the OCC and it also was a positive experience. However, I've had subsequent fills here, because I couldn't afford the time or money to go back to the OCC. Although for me it would be preferably to get them down there, I haven't had a bad experience having them up here. The key is to find a good fill doctor if you can't make it back to the OCC. The people on this forum are extremely friendly and helpful, so any other questions you have, just ask!

Two miles for me!

Dang it--that's too bad!

My fill doctor suggested quinoa as a good source of complete protein. I found this recipe on Allrecipes.com, tried it today, and it's really good! *************************************** Quinoa and Black Beans 1 teaspoon vegetable oil 1 onion, chopped 3 cloves garlic,c peeled and chopped 3/4 cup uncooked quinoa 1-1/2 cups vegetable broth 1 teaspoon ground cumin 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper salt and pepper to taste 1 cup frozen corn kernels 2 15 ounce cans black beans, rinsed and drained 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro Heat the oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the onion and garlic, and saute until lightly browned. Mix quinoa into the saucepan (if it hasn't been rinsed already, do that to avoid a bitter taste) and cover with vegetable broth. Season with cumin, cayenne pepper, salt and pepper. Bring the mixture to a boil. Cover, reduct heat, and simmer 20 minutes. Stir frozen corn into the saucepan and continue to simmer about 5 minutes until heated through. Mix in the black beans and cilantro. ******************************* This makes 10 servings at 142 calories per serving with 6.9 grams of protein, 1.7 grams of fat, 25.6 grams of carbs, and 6.9 grams of fiber. This has a nice zippiness to it, because of the spices--if you don't like that, just leave the cayenne out. I also added salt after serving--next time I'll put more in when cooking. I'd never tried quinoa before, but I really like it!

Just noticed this thread--added my 6 miles so far this week!

I watched the first set of webinars and thought they were excellent. I wasn't able to see the last two and have been waiting for them to be posted on the webinar thread--it seems like it's been a few weeks--are they going to be posted on that thread?

I'm doing the same thing! I want to buy some spring clothes, but I absolutely refuse to until I lose more weight!

My friend goes here: http://www.pacsurgical.com/ They do fills with fluroscopy--they're not cheap, but they're closer than TJ, and it's my understanding the doc there was trained by Dr. Ortiz, although I wouldn't swear to it.

Awesome, Amy! I'm so proud of you!

I also liked the lo-cal gatorade and special k protein water. I drank tons of both. And miso soup is a good alternative to broth if you get sick of the broth.

<br /><br /><br />LOL! Well said. The post-op diet is tons worse than the pre-op in my opinion as well. Here's what helped me: In the pre-op diet, I KNEW I had to stick to it or I wouldn't get my surgery and I was committed to having the surgery. Post-op: I KNEW I had to stick to it because of what Dr. Ortiz said, which was something like: "you may be able to cheat on your food and you may not notice it now, but in six months when your band slips, that's when you notice it." It's really important to let the band heal in place and you don't want your stomach churning around trying to digest food. (You can tell I'm not a doctor, huh? ) Don't worry, you can do both the pre-op and the post-op. If I can, anyone can. But you have to keep talking to yourself about why you're doing it and take it a day at a time.

I was told the same thing as Angie was--green veggies only. I had Lean Cuisines at night and actually, the pre-op wasn't as bad as a thought--maybe because I was so excited to get the surgery, plus I was losing weight. You can do this!

Well I can't say anything pro or con about Dr. Rodriguez, but when I researched getting the band in Mexico, I kept coming back to Dr. Ortiz and the OCC, mostly because I saw nothing but positive about him and his abilities, plus he's written a book on lapbands and was involved in the development of them with a doctor in Belgium. He's done thousands of them, I believe. I'm sure there are lots of great doctors, and Dr. Rodriguez may be one of them, but I was sold on Dr. Ortiz after everything I read about him. I also found out after I'd paid and scheduled surgery that a co-worker had gone to him too and raved about him--she's lost 60 pounds and is at her goal weight btw! I don't think you can go wrong with him. On this forum, you're probably going to see mostly positive, because from what I've read here, most everyone is happy with their surgery, the OCC, and Dr. Ortiz. The only advice I would give about getting a lapband in general is, don't expect it to do all the work. I got banded in January and have had four fills. I still don't have good restriction. Getting the band is a major money and time commitment and I wouldn't recommend it unless you're willing to use all the willpower you have and willing to be patient. I am glad I did it and don't regret it, but I am a little disappointed it is taking so long for me to get some restriction and I've been maintaining my 20 lb weight loss on willpower alone. Hopefully, with my next fill I'll have good restriction and some help from the band.

Where do you live? There is a link on the OCC home page for Fill Centers USA and their website shows fill doctors all over the US. If you can't find a recommended one in your area, you might try that. I live in Oregon and found a great doctor who was recommended by a few on this forum as well as by some of the staff at OCC (they wouldn't actually "recommend" her, but they gave me her name and said they'd heard nothing but good things about her). But if you post where you live, you may find someone here who knows a good doc in your area.

How awful--I'm so sorry this happened to you! This is the only downside of having our surgery in TJ. I was so worried about aftercare, including fills. I'm very lucky--I have an experienced fill doctor within an hour's drive, but if I didn't, I'd do the same and fly down to OCC for my fills. Hopefully, you won't have to have many more fills.

Glad you finally got restriction! But I hope it's not too much. I think we're supposed to be able to eat some solid foods, but not sure how long that takes after the fill. I just had my 4th fill and am on full liquids today with no problem. I expect to be able to eat solids tomorrow, though, three days after the fill. Let us know what your doctor says--you may need a slight unfill?

I can't answer your question, but just wanted to say good for you to have lost enough weight that this is a problem!!!

Do you have other options for fill doctors? He shouldn't be asking you how many cc's you want, he should be able to tell you what is right for you. Everyone is different. I was only able to take 3ccs for my first fill in my 11cc band. My daughter took 4ccs with no problem. I had fluoroscopy the first time and blind fills the rest of the times, but in all cases, the doctor figured out what was right for me, I didn't tell him/her. Too little is better than too much, I guess, but shame on your doctor for putting you on the spot and expecting you to know how many cc's is right for you. I'm just a little worried and hope there is another doctor nearby you can go to if you choose to. The good news is, you're on your way! You have your first fill and maybe you'll get some restriction.

I really like Leslie Sansone's Walking Away the Pounds DVDs. She's got a bunch of them. The one I keep going back to is the one with three complete workouts--one mile (20 min), two mile (30 min) and three mile (40 min). It's cardio, plus strength training because you use free weights while you're walking. I've got a treadmill and a bowflex, plus have tried Curves, etc., but always come back to the Sansone DVD because it's easy, fun (I wear my ipod since I know the routines), and convenient.

Thanks for the link. I had heard that before, too, but wasn't sure if it was true. That's just great.....

My first fill was at the OCC and was 3ccs. I got no restriction from that fill, but from what I understand, that is pretty normal.

That's the way I was. Once I made up my mind, I told people--I didn't ask them