kepola

Jenny, Hi...nice to hear you have decided to change your life and get banded. The most important thing is the smoking and quitting. I smoked for almost 30 years and smoked 3 to 4 packs a day. The BEST thing for you to do now is to quit as soon as possible. I quit for 10 days and it was not enough. I needed another 4 weeks to strengthen my lungs to have enough capacity to have the surgery. But I did it because I really wanted the surgery. I too have been overweight for most of my life. I was 314 pounds pre-op. When they sent me home I was DEVESTATED. But it was for my own good. You are very lucky because your date is not set till Sept. 22nd and you have plenty of time to build your lungs up. You can quit now and the best thing for you to do is do some walking and swimming if possible, but go to your local pharmacy and asked them for a device to help you build your lungs. I got a device that had 3 balls in it (not sure what the exact name of it is) but I told my pharamacist that I needed to strengthen my lungs and he gave me this device that I used 4 or 5 times a day. It really helped. I am 3 weeks post-op today and I weighed myself this morning and I now weigh 277 pounds. My first goal is to get under 200 pounds and my ultimate goal is to be 150 pounds. But so far I have lost 37 pounds and started my solid foods today. The one thing I was worried about is wanting a cigarette once I started eating solid foods. Oh just to let you know I did not want a cigarette after surgery. Today was the first test for me and I am happy to tell you that even after I ate my solid foods, I did not crave a cigarette. My husband, who also smokes, has now quit and has not smoked a cigarette for two weeks and counting. He has smoked for 16 years. He said he was quitting because he did not want me to go back to smoking. He watches everything I do and is a wonderful support. So good luck to you and let me tell you first hand that you are making a life changing decisions and I am so happy for you. Good Luck to you and keep us posted on how your progress is going. If you need support, just drop me an email and I will be happy to talk to you. Oh by the way, I did use the patch for about 4 days and then didn't use it after that. I did get this thing from Walgreens called Endit. It is a thing that looks like a cigarette and it has a pin on the end of it. When you take the pin out and inhale it, it taste like tobacco, but has no nicotine in it. It left a bad taste in my mouth, so I just left the pin in and put it in my mouth so it gave me the feeling of having a cigarette in my mouth without the dangers of a cigarette. It seemed silly but it really helped me get through the last 4 weeks before my actual surgery date. I had my surgery on July 18th and feel so wonderful right now. This forum has been a great support for me and their are lots of people here that will help you through these life changing times. Once again, BEST OF LUCK to you and your friend and please keep us posted. Best wishes!!! Deb Banded July 18th by Dr. Ortiz Post Op Weight - 314 (first time) Post Op Weight - 296 (July 17th) Current Weight - 277 First Goal - 199 Ultimate Goal - 150

:)Hi everyone, It's me Deb,and I just want to say thank you all for your support and encouragement. Sorry i don't post alot but i am a one finger typer,and I usuallydo the talking and my hubby does the typing LOL well I have a few hours to spare so i thought i'd drop a few lines LOL. It is so great to have this forum, it seems like we have all grown up with each other, well most of us anyways, not going to mention any skeptics Oh well back to the positive.....I mean how many outsiders do we just start asking questions about Pbing,vomiting,diaharea, and so on except friends right? I read this forum first thing in the morning and the last thing at night. I can't wait to read all the new posts. I know we tell our friends and family about our Lap-band and the details it entails, but to be able to talk with fellow bandsters is the best!!!! To be able to vent and totally be understood So again thank you all and congratulations to everyone, as we all know sometimes are very trying. But when i think i just can't drink 1 more dinner LOL I simply go on the forum and read my friends posts and know that we all can do this together. God Bless keep up the great work!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and hope my 1 finger quits throbbing soon.....j/k. And oh btw i have lost 27lbs Debbie

Hi Lori, Well my journey continues but the good news is that...I am finally banded!!! Yippeeee! But I know that the journey is just beginning. I arrived at the center for my second try at getting banded on July 17th. I went in for the pre-op and first saw Dr. Miranda again. She wanted to weigh me again to check my weight. She says...I hope you are under 300 pounds. OMG!!!! I didn't know I had to still be under 300 since my pre-op weight was 314 when I first went in for my first try at the surgery on June 15th. Well I got on the scale and held my breath and she says....Don't Move....Then tells me that I am at 296...phew...what a relief that was. So back to the lobby I go and in walks Dr. Jiminez...noooooooo I tell him crossing my two fingers in a cross...stay away!!! I was really nervous about seeing him but when I finally got to see him, he made me take the wonderful test to check my lungs and the beautiful words came out of his mouth.. you are strong enough for the surgery and that he was proud of my improvement. So the next day I come in to do the surgery and I am the first to go in. Well...when it was all said and done with, Dr. Ortiz said it was one of his most difficult surgeries only because I had my gall bladder taken out 10 years ago and when it healed it left alot of scar tissue inside my stomach area so he had to work around it so instead of a 20 minute surgery mine was 40 minutes. Dr. Ortiz went into my room after the surgery to talk to my husband and let him know why the surgery took so long and that everything was fine but it was just one of his harder ones. Of course nothing I do can be easy!! My husband had me up walking 2 hours after my surgery and I was a little sore but nothing major. The staff was so Awesome. Anyone out there who is thinking about changing their lives and getting healthier and thinking of having the surgery done, I can tell you from first hand experience that Dr. Ortiz and his entire staff has proven that they are not only excellent at what they do, but they sincerely care for you and your health. I will be forever grateful for my life changing experience with Dr. Ortiz and his staff. The easy part is over and now comes the hard part. I know the band is a tool and it has only been a week since my surgery and I weighed myself this morning and I was at 288 lbs. So the first week I lost 8 pounds and 26 pounds overall since my original pre-op diet. I am very excited and feeling great and on my way to a healthier and happier life!! I will go back to Mexico for my first fill which will be sometime around the end of August. Looking forward to that. Oh by the way....My husband...who Dr. Miranda calls the Lap Band Nazi...because he will not let me deviate from anything and watches everything I drink......has made a calender of when I can start my protein drinks and when I can eat solid foods and all that good stuff. I have not gone back to smoking either and have not had a desire for a cigarette since I had the surgery. Not sure what will happen if when I start to eat solid foods but my husband has already informed me that I will NOT be going back to smoking lol. Anyways, I will keep you posted on my progress. By the way how is your progress going? Good luck to all who will be getting banded soon. Deb Banded 7/18/2006 Pre-Op - 314 lbs Current - 288 lbs First Goal - 199 lbs Ultimate Goal - 150 lbs

Hello everyone!! I thought I would share my journey toward becoming banded. I was scheduled to be banded on June 16th 2006. So I fly in the day before on June 15th. The driver picked us up at the airport and drove us straight to the facilities. I must say me and my husband was very impressed with the facility. We went in for our pre-op testing and then I was informed that I was going to have the surgery right then today. Well, I thought I had a day to prepare for the surgery and was in a little shock that I had to do it right then, but of course I was excited about doing the surgery so I was ready to go. So I fill out the paper work and sit down in the lobby where a few other bandsters were waiting to get banded. I remember Lori saying she was being banded that day and you can't miss her cause she has curly blond hair. Well I just happen to sit next to her and we talked and she was very nice. I started my pre-op test and all was going well. When it came time to talk to the cardiologist Dr. Jiminez, he had bad news for me. Because I was a smoker for 30 years, he told me I had to do a few extra things because my lungs were not strong enough for the surgery recovery. So he put me on an IV and gave me a breathing treatment. I have stopped smoking for 10 days already. So after the IV and breathing treatment, he did another test on me and then came into the room to tell me and my husband that he is recommending to not do the surgery on me. You can imagine my heartbreak because I wanted this so bad. Of course, I started to cry uncontrollably. I weighed 314 pre-op and just lost 14 pounds, gave up smoking for 10 days and made the trip down to Mexico, only for them to tell me I cannot have the surgery done. I was devastated. Although I was crying and upset, what happened next was very impressive. Dr. Jiminez explained to me why he recommended me not to have the surgery. He says that my lungs were not strong enough for the recovery part of it and he was concerned for me. Then Dr. Ortiz and his whole staff came in the room. He sat down and started to explain to me that the procedure is a 20 minute procedure and the recovery time is about the same. But if I did the surgery, it would still take 20 minutes but he didn't want me to spend 20 days in the hospital recovering. He said and I quote " We care about you as a person." That made me feel so good. He said that his main concern was the health of his patients. He told us that he had one of the best staffs and if his cardiologists recommends he not do the surgery, then he will not do it. So he gave me some prescriptions and instructed me to see my physician at home and in 3 weeks, we could see if there was any improvement in my lung capacity to see if I could come back for the surgery. So that night we stayed in the hotel and the next day headed back to San Diego. The driver picked us up and we had some bandsters, who just had their surgery done a few days before. I sat next to Susan, who was a very nice lady. She had got banded and we talked alot on the way back to San Diego. We got to San Diego and spent the night there since our flight was not leaving till the next day. Well, the next day when we got ready to leave, I started to have a really bad anxiety attack for some reason, and it just kept getting worse. Probably the worse one I have had in over 15 years. It got so bad that I told my husband to call 911. I am not sure if it was because of all the excitement and stress I went through or what, but I ended up going into the hospital and having them check me out. After hours in the hospital I took another anxiety pill and started to feel better so they released me, even though they wanted to keep me, I wanted to go. We had to spend one more night in San Diego, before we finally got to come back home to Arizona. Well we finally made it home and I was determine that I was going to get banded. Of course I kept telling my husband that I am going back in 2 weeks, but he being the sweet person he is, kept telling me ok, knowing it was not going to happen. I went to my Doctor here and he had set me up to see a Pulmonary Service who actually comes out to your house to give you the test. My doctor put me on 4 breathing treatments a day and oxygen at night for when I sleep. The breathing treatments are very expensive. (By the way did I mention that I am self pay...ugh!) Anyways, after 2 weeks of breathing treatments and oxygen, they gave me another overnight test this pass Monday to see what my oxygen level were reading. I was very nervous, because I want to have this surgery sooooooooooooo bad. Went my Doctors office yesterday and he was pleased with the results. I faxed the results into Dr. Ortiz's office so Dr. Jiminez could look at them. Finally got a call today saying that Dr. Jiminez looked at my results and has ok'd me to have the surgery!! YIPPPEEEEEEEEEE!! Finally after all that I have had to do my surgery is set for Tuesday, July 18th!! So I am heading back down to Mexico again next Monday to try this again. I guess the morale of this LONNNNGGGG story (sorry bout that) is not to ever give up. Do what you have to, to make a change in your life for the better. Also, if you have ANY doubts about Dr. Ortiz and his staff.....rest assure they are there for you and you health and not your money. I am looking forward to seeing them and having my surgery done next week!!! Wish me luck I will keep you posted on how it goes....and I promise it won't be this long!! Deb

Hello June bandsters...I am getting banded with Dr. Ortiz on June 16th. I am very excited about getting banded but at the same time very scared and nervous about it. I have done loads of research on the lap band and I feel I am making the right choice. I started my pre-op diet on May 31st and weighed in at 314. I was told I needed to lose 5% of my body weight and also needed to quit smoking at least 2 weeks prior to the surgery. Well the pre-op diet is going well, as of today I have lost 10 pounds. On the other hand, I think my husband has lost 20 pounds since I quit smoking. Mainly due to running away from me and doing his best to stay out of my way cause I GUESS I am a little grouchy LOL. I did quit for now, but had a question about it and was wondering if anyone knows the answer. I have used the nicoderm patch for the last two days and was wondering if anyone knew if this was ok to do. I got a call into the doctors office to ask him, but thought I would post it to see if anyone else went through the same experience. This forum has been very inspirational and informative both for me and my husband. Best of luck to all who are getting band soon and keep us informed on how it is going. Excited bandster, Deb

Hi Lori, My name is Debbie. I am getting banded on the same day as you are scheduled. I too am a bit nervous ab out it, but at the same time very excited to make this change in my life. Good to find out that someone on here is getting banded the same day I am. Can't wait to meet you and share our stories with each other. Good Luck to you and see you in Mexico! :-) Deb (Kepola)

Hello everyone, I am so happy that they have this forum in here. I have been overweight for most of my life and was looking into doing the gastric bypass surgery. I was recently at my doctors office where his wife mentioned about a friend going to mexico and had Lap Band Surgery done. That was the first I heard of it so I have been doing alot of research on the Lap Band Procedure. After weeks of research I came across Doctor Ortiz's website. I have read all of the testimonials and everything everyone who has went through the procedure and have been very happy with all the responses. Sooooooooooo I decided to go ahead with doing the procedure and now I am scheduled to be banded June 16th. Okay, now comes the hard part for me. I am 5' 4" tall and weigh 314 pounds. I have also been a smoker since I was 19 years old and I am 46 years old now. So they told me I need to quit smoking at least 10 days prior to my surgery. I smoke at least 2 packs a day. Also, they want me to lose 5% of my body weight before surgery, so I need to get down to at least 300 pounds in the next 13 days. I have a very good support system, in my husband, who is very wonderful. But if anyone have any suggestions or words of encourgement it would be greatly appreciated. I have always been terrified of surgeries and I shutter when I even think of them putting an IV in me. As you can tell my biggest fear is needles...LOL. I started to quit smoking today and been on a weight watchers diet for the past two days. I know this decision will change my whole life and I am dedicated to make this happen. My husband is by my side and supporting me through every step. He will be with me in Mexico. Now the question I have is, dieting is one thing but quitting smoking too....how will my husband put up with me...LOL. I am sure he will have no problem cause he is a wonderful man. Now I am looking for some wonderful friends for support. Has anyone out there had to quit smoking before the surgery? I read all the good stories on how they put you at ease but right now I am very nervous and I am having anxieties about it everyday. Any help or support would be greatly appreciated. Look forward to hearing from all my banded friends and to be banded friends! Take care all and talk to you soon!! Kepola aka Deb