Paint It Black

Hi Everyone, I just got banded and I would like to share my experience with you. After about a year of consultation with my local Doctor he advised me to lose weight. I had Diabetes, and High Cholesterol. He told me I was at a High Risk for stroke. During this time I tried to lose weight on my own. I could not do it. I tried going to the gym and I also tried Xenical that is supposed to suck the fat out of the food you eat. It gave me orange colored diarrhea and did not fit my lifestyle. So my Doctor recommended that I should get lapband surgery. He referred me to a local surgeon who had a weight loss center. I went to the seminar and was shown two surgical options. They were the Gastro bypass and the Lapband. The Doctor giving the seminar said that Gastro bypass patients lost weight faster but had more complications and that insurance companies were more willing to pay for this procedure. During this seminar he also discussed the Lapband procedure. He said that Lapband patients lost weight slower than Gastro bypass patients, but, after three years they ended up losing the same amount of weight. But the advantage with Lapband was that there were fewer complications, the mortality rate was far less, and it was completely reversible. After the seminar, I gave his staff my insurance company information to find out if I qualify for one of the operations. A week went by and they told me my insurance did not cover these procedures. I was told that if I pay cash or finance either procedure it would cost $17,000 to have it done. I could not afford the operation. A few months went by and I found out a co worker in another department had the Lapband operation done in Tijuana. I approached her one day and she told me all about her operation, Dr. Ortiz, and the cost. She said that Dr. Ortiz did her operation for about half of the cost of what it cost here and that Dr. Ortiz was an experienced expert who trained other Surgeons around the world on how to do this operation. So I did more research, asked a lot of questions, and I finally decided I wanted to have the Lapband operation done by Dr. Ortiz. The bottom line was that I would rather have a Lapband operation than have a stroke. The thought of being paralyzed by a stoke and not being able to work made the financial decision very, very easy. Plus savings on my food bill would eventually pay for the operation itself not to mention less co pays to see my regular doctor and the medication he prescribes me. I scheduled the operation with Dr. Ortiz for Feb. 5th. Since my BMI was over 40 I was required to complete one week of pre-op dieting which consisted of three protein shakes an green salads. The third day of the diet was the hardest, but after that it was routine and easy. I had to keep telling myself I will be able to eat regular food again, just not right now. Due to scheduling I arrived in Tijuana the day of the operation. At first I thought I would not like this, but, I am now thankful that it was done this way. When I crossed the border second thoughts entered my head about having the operation. I have to be honest, it is a little scary to go there because of it being out of the country away from the US. I arrived within minutes to the doctors office. He is very close to the border. I was driven down to the garage of a modern looking medical office building where I was directed to take the elevator to the second level. The door opened and I was greeted by the secretary who finalize my paperwork and took my cashiers check. The office looked just like the website. Dr. Jimenez the cardiologist came out and greeted me. He took me to his office and asked me many questions about my health and current medications. Then he did an electrocardiogram and determined that I had an irregular heartbeat and prescribed medication for me before the surgery. After that I went to Dr. Miranda