clg8579

I put it on my credit card and am paying off gradually. Expensive? Yes. Worth it? You bet!

Either way you go you really do need to make arrangements to have a local doctor in case there are problems. Even Dr. Ortiz will tell you that. Sometimes that's the hardest part because a lot of US doctors won't see you if you have the surgery done in Mexico. Dr. Ortiz did my surgery but I have a doctor 2 hours away I have gone to for fills. I plan on seeing Dr. Ortiz for my next fill because he will do it under fluro (some US doctors won't) and he will be more aggressive with the fill. The US doctors tend to be more conservative with the fills which is one of the reasons many people have to go back more frequently. Dr. Ortiz and staff are great if you choose to go to Mexico. Good luck! Chris

CONGRATULATIONS and welcome to bandster land!!! Very best of luck with your success!!!! Chris

Kgirl, I am just over 8 weeks post op and have lost 28.5lbs. After about a week and a half of eating anything I wanted after I was banded I started behaving and following the doctor's instructions. Now the weight is coming off. As Shell said below, the band is a tool. I was willing to do the work, hopefully one last time, with the hopes it would be the last time I would have to worry about the extra weight. You'll need to eat right and exercise and do what the doctor says and I'm confident you'll be fine, without having your guts rerouted. Good luck Chris

KeeKee, You don't need to know spanish - all of the doctors and nurses speak english, although a few of them don't speak a lot of english. Although my BMI was higher, I have heard of people having the surgery done who only needed to lose 70lbs or so. Follow what the doctors tell you and I'm sure you'll be fine. Good luck Chris

I had surgery done in TJ but have had my fills done so far locally. I'm kind of sorry I did this because my local doctor is definitely more conservative. First fill was 1.5 cc and did not take at all. Second fill was only .3 cc and I got good restriction. My local doctor will fill you every 6 weeks if needed. I'm pretty sure when the next time comes I'm going back to Mexico though.

Good luck Robin! I'll keep your date in mind. I have good restriction right now so hopefully I won't need another fill for quite awhile but the next fill I am planning on going to TJ for it. Chris

If you are having surgery done by Dr. Ortiz the first 8 days are liquid, then you add protein drinks and then a few days later you add yogart with no fruit. You can have jello, popsicles and water, water, water (as well as other liquids). Try as hard as you can to stay on it for 3 weeks. Then you go to the good stuff! Chris

No issues so far. But you're right - my jaws get tired too I'm getting alittle tired of oatmeal and I'm not a big egg fan so I was trying to find something high in protein, low in fat and quick.

I think the size of the port depends on the size of the band. My port is somewhere between the size of a dime and a quarter and you cannot see it at all. Of course, I'm a long way away from reaching goal and I don't know if you'll be able to see it at that time.

If you can't get any responses here, I would either contact Dr. Ortiz's office or try lapbandtalk.com. Good luck!

Hi Debbie, Dr. Ortiz charges $9500 which covers the surgery, pre work, hotel stay for surgery and all fills. I believe there is a $100 charge for the fluro for fills and of course transportation and hotel costs for fill appts if you choose to stay overnight. Hope that helps. Good luck Chris

Wow Nikki, that doesn't sound good at all! I have not had this problem nor do I remember ever hearing about anyone having it. You may want to go to Lapbandtalk.com to see if anyone on that board has had the same problem. Good luck! Chris

Karen, where do you get on the Mexi-coach bus? I've been wondering about this too. Thanks Chris

Ok, here's the latest - I went back to the local doctor on 7/11 and had .3 cc fill. What a difference!! It's funny because I was ticked off he wouldn't add another 1 cc (he normally only does .25). The next two days restriction was very good. It has since settled down some and I'm eating normal bandster meals. In fact, I truly found out what SMALL bites mean - 2 days in a row I had chicken that I must have taken too big of bites or ate too fast and both came right back up. Yuck! Hard protein has been hurting so I finally started putting just a teeny tiny amount on the ends of the tines of the fork and that seems to work. Very slow eating. Here's hoping this restriction lasts a long time Chris

Thank you Jenna. I'm expecting it to go slower anytime now. Had my first fill (1.5 cc) and didn't get any restriction and gained 1.5lbs. Had second fill (.3 cc) and holy smokes - restriction! I've got the good eating habits down for now but need to find the exercise angel to help me get on my treadmill. I'm sure the first plateau will frustrate the hell out of me when it happens so be expecting me to cry on your shoulder I know this is going to be a long journey - it just feels good to have some success up front to be able to recall later when it gets tougher. Chris

Trt, Who did your surgery? Have you told your fill doctor your problem? There are some very simple rules to follow once you are banded - eat SMALL bites, eat protein first, do NOT drink with a meal and in fact, wait one hour after eating before drinking, etc. If you are not or cannot follow these for any reason you really should talk with your doctor. Why go through all of the risks of having the band and not have it work properly????? Please keep us posted on your progress. Chris

Breakfast is usually a packet of maple oatmeal with 1/4 cup raisins or blueberries added; for either lunch or dinner I will have some type of salad with protein ( usually chicken, fish, shrimp or crab); throw in some fresh corn on the cob lately or some Veg All and I'm good to go. If I snack, I try to snack on fruit but every now and then I need some type of handful of munchies. Was having a hard time getting the protein in for breakfast but someone recently mentioned beef jerky is a great protein source so I bought some 97% fat free jerky from Sam's Club. Not bad! Chris

Congratulations Kim on your surgery date! I too am a little nervous about traveling to TJ by myself for fills - don't know why as I was by myself for the surgery. I guess its the idea of crossing the border both ways alone that's bothering me - we'll see. Anyway, good luck to you and keep us posted. Chris

Hi Mel, I live in Michigan and did have Dr. Ortiz do the surgery. I was also self pay. It cost me about $500 for flight. Transportation cost to and from airport are paid for with the $9500 the first time. If you go back to Dr. Ortiz for fills you need to make your own travel arrangements or you can pay to have the Dr's office provide it (about $160). You will also pay $100 for the fluro and if you decide to spend the night you will have hotel cost approx $89 per night. You really do need to find a local doctor that can provide aftercare, even if you decide to go back to Mexico to have all of your fills done. You will need to check and make sure someone local will see you if you have surgery done in Mexico (sometimes hard to find). This is just in case of emergencies. I had a local doctor do my first fill and will have him do my second fill as well. If it doesn't work as well as I want it to, I plan on going back to Mexico for any additional fills. The local doctor will charge you for fills too so keep that in mind when you are thinking about total costs. Best of luck to you! Chris

"An average meal for me now is 3-4 small bites of chicken, 5-6 cut green beans, 3-4 small chunks of cantelope. And I am FULL! Way full sometimes. I am most restricted in the morning. Only juice for me or I will PB on the first bite. I have to wait until about 3 hours of being awake before I can even THINK about biting into something. But wanna know the funny thing? I am not hungry and have to try and remember to eat. It is sooooooooo wierd still." PLEASE, PLEASE oh fill Gods, let this happen to me!!! Chris

I only told 2 people I was having it done before surgery and neither one of them was my husband. I only see him on the weekends and I didn't want to hear his snide comments about exercising or dieting. The weekend after I returned from surgery, I told him, but only because I was in a lot of muscle pain. He chuckled and shook his head. I could tell he was thinking "great, another weight loss fad". He never said another word about it and neither did I. I told another close friend after I got back and saw the same reaction. I decided to hell with them all - if I'm asked what I am doing to lose weight I will tell them I am eating better, eating less and exercising. It's the truth! Chris

They are history!!! Weighted myself yesterday - down 8 more lbs in A WEEK! 20.5lbs since day before surgery, 5 1/2 weeks ago. Amazing!! And, although I've had one fill, there is very little restriction. Can't wait to get filled some more on Monday!! Love this band, love this band, love this band

Wow - was that fun!!! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I never thought doing some house cleaning could be so much fun! I was banded on 5/26 and according to my local doctor's scale, am down 16.5lbs. Today I decided it was time to go through my closets and see what fit and what needed to be given away. I have two large walk in closets in my house: one in my bedroom and one upstairs that is filled with bags of clothes that do not fit. The closet in my bedroom has one rack of suits that I wear all the time, one rack of blouses I wear all the time and one rack of suits that don't fit but will soon. The last suit I bought (about 6-8 weeks ago) was an 18W (it was little big but not too much). I ended up touching EVERY piece of clothing in my house today and can you believe it - I was able to fit into some 14W's!!!!! Talk about fun!!! I got rid of 3/4's of the suits off the rack that fit; moved over 3/4's of suits from the rack that almost fit to the side that now fit AND brought 3 suits down from UPSTAIRS and put them on the rack that fits!! I went through EVERYTHING: summer clothes, sweaters, suits, you name it. I ended up with 5 1/2 super big garbage bags of clothes to give to Goodwill. I feel so great! This is what the band is doing for me. I had my bad week/ week and 1/2 immediately after I went off liquids after being banded and got depressed. Then I asked some of the veterans who were very close to goal what they were doing and you know what they said? They were doing exactly what their doctors had told them to do! Eat protein, drink lots of water, moderate exercise, small bites, stop eating after 20 minutes, control the quality, and it was working! I decided right then and there that was what I was going to do. I didn't spend all this money, time and energy to not follow the directions my doctor told me, and that I was going to be successful in this weight loss journey. I haven't started my exercise yet but I plan on starting walking on my treadmill tomorrow. I can't wait to get on the scale Monday (the only day I weight myself). Just knowing that if I work at this (like I've done before), with the help of a little band, I'll be able to clean out my closets MANY more times in the future! Thanks for listening. Chris

Actually, I didn't get a card. I got to know another lady who had surgery the same day and as it turned out my card was given to her. I finally got it from her and the day before my fill I got the surgical report. I'm good to go now. Thanks!