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Breakfast Strictly protein scrambled egg whiteswith either 1/2 chicken breast or 1/2 turkey burger patty Lunch 1/2 chicken breast with small salad Dinner some kind of protein ( steak, chicken or fish) veggie, usually green beans or asparagus fresh fruit like watermelon or cantaloupe

You can make you appointment as soon as next week, theyl wil schedule you for whenever you want, you "may" have to pay partial payment but not right when you make the appointment...good luck to you

I am 5'5 and was 265 and have lost 93 lbs in 15 months. To see a before and during pic of me go to the before and after picture thread. I have tried every diet known to man and the weight always came back, this is the first time in my life I feel confident I will not gain the weight back, nor do I feel like I am on a diet. I am not deprived at all As far as your parents, I understand your concern, but you are an adult now. You need to worry about you and your health and not how others wil lreact to your decision to have this surgery. Best of Luck to you

Congratulations on your band! Sounds like you are adjusting great so far! Took me a couple of weks to start feeling hungry after surgery, I had so much swelling and gas that food was not appealing to me one single bit...I wish you lots of success with your band

Ortiz's staff is fluent in English, there is no language barrier there, there area fewnurses at thehospital who are notfluent in English, but if you know the basics you can get by. They know the basics also. I do not think there is no need ot convert your money to pesos. American money spends just as easily there as pesos. That is a personal choice. I was just there yesterday getting a fill and shopping andI used American money.

Every Dr. in Mexico has different prices..be careful, some may be cheaper in Mexico but may not be as experienced as Dr. Ortiz is. To me experience is everything. I was told about Dr. Ortiz from a surgeon in Ca, since I was a self pay, he told me why not have the teacher instead of the student. Dr. Ortiz proctored this particular Dr. I went and saw for a consult. He knew I could not afford to be a self pay in the US so he was kind enough to tell me about Dr. Ortiz and Iam exteremly happy with my decison to use Dr. Ortiz

What part of So Cal? There is Dr. Billy Helmuth who is in Van Nuys. He will see patients banded in Mexico. I live in Orange County so it is easier for me to go to TJ for my fills and aftercare, plus I have comfort in seeing the Dr. who did my surgery.

There is Dr. Vernon in Brigham There is Dr. Christine Ren in NYC You can email Don Mills at Inamed and ask for a list of certified Inamed surgeons in your area His email address is Don.Mills@Inamed.com Or go to www.lapband.com and click on the surgeon locator link at the top of the page, this should give you a list of Dr.'s in your area.

I have been very fortunate..I have gotten nothing but 100% support from all of my family & friends. I have told anyone and everyone who asks how I lost my weight, Iam pproud of my success and I want the world to know what a wonderful tool the Lap Band is. I have been able to help several others proceed with getting their Lap Bands just from my success. 3 of them went to Ortiz & Martienz and 2 others had it done here in CA because their insurance approved them. I have a restaraunt and all of my customers are very supportive, I get compliments on how great I look every singleday and that just keeps me motivated to succeed even more Anybody who is not supportive of me, I do not consider a true friend then and do not want them in my life anyways...

Very wise decision trt You are doing the right thing for the longevity of your band and your health. Keep us posted, let us know how things go for you once you remove a little of your fill. Good Luck to you

When you eat the solid meats do you take big bites, the key is tiny tiny bites and chew chew chew , this is where the small fork( crab/lobster fork) comes in handy for me, it forces me to make my bites smaller, Pastas are all carbs which only makes your body crave more carbs and junk food, which could bewhy you graze al lday, I have thesame problem when I eat carbs, Iam hungry all day long, so I start my day with strictly hard protein. It could also be that you are a tad too tight which makes you eat softer foods which do not aide in wieght loss since they go right through the band and do not stay in the pouch, have you thought of having a slight bit of your fill removed? You would be amazed at having .2 cc's removed can make such a difference in being ableto eat your hard proteins but still give restriction to loseweight. Eating soft foods or carb loaded foods regardless if it is less then 2000 calroeis are not thefoods the band is designed for If you ar PBing ( throwing up) more then once a week, you may be too tight. Throwing up frequently is not good for your band it can result in your band slipping, you do not want that do you? If you are eating food that is alot less healthy to avoid throwing up then you may need to get some of yourfill removed. This can be dangerous to your band and your health. I was unfilled for 2 months due to problems and I was able to lose 5 lbs, it can be done. I.m not saying get completely unfilled but remove a little. What is your current fill level? I'm sure if your Dr. knew you were avoiding protein and eating pastas to avoid throwing up he would agree to get some fill removed. Here is an excerpt from the Inamed handbook that is valuable to your situation With the Lap Band system in place, you should be able to eat only small ammount so the food you eat should be as healthy as possible. Do not fill your stomach pouch with :junk: food that lacks vitamins and other important nutrients. Your meals should be high in protein and vitamins and low in carbs. Solid food is more important then liquid food or soft food. The lap Band system will have little or no effect if you only eat liquid or soft food. It passes through the stomach outlet very quickly and does not make you feel full. Here is another excerpt form the book If the adjustment (fill) results in too tight of a stomach opening you could have a hard time eating most foods, sometimes this causes people to avoid solid foods. They may drink liquid meals or soft food meals and this may result in weight gain. A band that is too tight may cause reflux symptoms and can also cause frequent vomiting. I hope this info helps you

You can email Don Mills at Inamed Ask him for a list of Oregon Dr.'s in your area. Then you need to call them al lto see if they take on patients banded in Mexico...many do not and the ones who do charge alot more. Here is his email address Don.Mills@Inamed.com Or you can go to this site www.lapband.com and at the top of the page there is a place to click on that says surgeon locator. Maybe you wil lfind one that way too...one piece of advice, if you do not plan on going back to TJ for your fills, make sure you line up after care in your area prior to surgery or you will be forced to go back to TJ. I have seen many who have made the mistake of not doing this, it seems you are on the right page looking into it ahead of time. I wish you luck

What exactly areyou eating in a day? Break it down for us per meal maybe we can help you . How many calories do you consume? Are you eating your 60 grams of protein a day, drinking all of your water? Do you drink with meals? All of these things make a huge difference. Just because you have had two fills doesnt mean you have enough restriction. you may throw up becasue your bite size is too big and you are not chewing enough or waiting long enough between bites. I have this problem of food not wanting to go down when I eat too fast or take too big of a bite without chewing it enough. I now use a very small fork which really helps with my bite size. Dont give up! Let me know what you eat in a day and maybe I can offer some helpful advice to you. Hang in there

You may be supirsed at your hunger level aftersurgery. It is not like any other clear liquid diet I have ever been on. The swelling you have after surgery takes away the desire to eat, not to mention the bloatedness you have from all of the gas. I had the same concerns before my surgery and thought there was no way I was going to be able to do it, but to my suprise I was not hungry for the first 3 weeks, theliquids were fine, I hope the same for you Good Luck

Plastic surgery is something I have not given much thought too..I had ththe lap band surgery more to be healthy and add years to my life then anything else I was told by my PCP that You will be more prone to have hanging skin if : 1. You are over 40 yrs old 2. Have carried 100 lbs or more for a long period of time ( 5yrs or longer) 3. Genetics. I am fortunate to have none of the above. The only area I have been noticing on me that is hanging is my arms, but my tummy and legs are fine.

Call Renee or Sandy, either one of them will tell you 619-270-1126 I am not surewhatthey charge now. I know what I paid in APril 2004 but I know it is more now

Depending on your insurance. Some insurance companies will pay for it and others will not. No insurance companies will pay for it in Mexico. You need to contact your insurance carrier and ask.

Yep you may experience trapped gas for several days after surgery and may also experience along your journey, the gas after surgery is different from the gas later on into your journey the band works as a one way valve, the air goes down and has nowhere to go but out . Some never expereice gas right after surgery or down the road, for me I have more gas then I have ever had pre -band.

Try www.lapband.com there is a surgeon locator button on the top of the page, it is Inamed's site. You can also email Don Mills at Inamed and ask for him to send you a list of Inamed doctors in your area. His email address is Don.Mills@inamed.com. He will be happy to help you. Good Luck

It all depends on how much fill he gave you and if you are flying home, when I had my 2nd fill I was with a friend who flew in from PA and we drove down together,she was staying with me.. after our fills. Dr. Ortiz who did our fills that day asked us to go and eat, he wanted to make sure we were not too tight before we headed home, it was more so for my friend who was flying home the next morning, he wanted to make sure he was not sending her home too tight. After we ate we both were fine and told him so he then told us liquids for 3 days. So to answer your question it does differ from patient to patient, I have had 4 fills and only once did he have us go eat and that was because I was with someone who was flying the next day back home, I livew clsoe enough that if I were too tight I could just go back down to have it adjusted.

Hi Trixxy, Welcome No Dr. Ortiz is not the only Dr. who preforms this surgery. There are doctors all over the U.S. Do you have insurance that will cover the surgery? Many of us go to Mexico becasue our insurance does not cover it and it is so much cheaper then having it done in the U.S. when we are paying out of pocket, also many of the doctors in Mexico are more experienced in this surgery then in the U.S. The incisions you will getfrom this surgery are so small you can barely see them after you are healed since it s done lapriscopically. You have 4 incisions the only one that is noticable is the port incision and it is about an inch long if that. The others are so tiny , barely noticable. Where is it that you live? Www.lapband.com is a site where you can find a doctor in your area, click on the surgeon locator tab at the top of the page. If you plan to pay out of pocket, it will be approx 4000-10,000 more in the states Another great site of info is www.lapbandtalk.com Good Luck on your decision

Aww Chris, Iam so sorry to hear about your ordeal, doesnt seem like he is a very caring Dr. I would be concerned too if I were you, I makes me wonder if he even hit your port. Did you see the needle in your port under the ultrasound? That makes a huge difference, for me anyways seeing it under the flouro, it is peace of mind Lets hope you notice a difference, it is very normal for a fill to take a few days to a week to kick in, give it some time, but if in 2 weeks you still feel no difference, call him back and go back in, you have paid for it, might as well use it. I also find it odd he would be upset you went to Tj when he was proctored by Ortiz, he does things differently then Ortiz does. Ortiz requires 3 days of liquids after a fill just in case there is swelling from the fill. Hang in there and let me know if you go to TJ, I live not too far from TJ, maybe by then I will need another fill

Today I was an Angel for a new bandster. She is a customer of mine and has watched my transformation over the last 14 months and has picked my brain and researched the Lap band for over a year now.. Today was her day to have the Lap Band with Dr. Quebbaman & Dellal out of South Coast Medical here in Laguna Beach. I wanted to be there for her and show her my support, I know from the tears in her eyes when she saw me that she really appreciated me being there for her.I brought her a gift basket from Bath & Body Works to pamper herslef once she is up to it.. It felt so good to be able to help a new bandster today I reccomend this to anyone who can help a future bandster.. I had an Angel the day of my surgery in TJ...Jennifer Pedigo who is a member here on this board and it was something I will never forget and always be grateful to her for.

Have you tired emailing her? support@obesitycontrolcenter.com this is her email address OR Call the office at 619-270-1126 and ask Rene to email it to you or fax it to you

Everyone has different levels of pain. For me, It was very minimal, I did not even take pain meds, the only thing I took for pain was liquid tylenol. I was walking around TJ shopping on El Revolucion the day after my surgery, I have had several surgeries and this was the least painful and the easiest recovery.