November Surgery Patients

[Kellyjo1015]

Hi there! I'll be at the TJ hotel on the 13th for a NOVEMBER 14th surgery.

If anyone else is going to be there at this time, I'd love to hear from you!

Hello. I am new to the forum but I am going to Tj the 12th and having surgery the 13th.will be flying back home on the 15th. I am from SC and planned on going alone but family insisted in someone going with me. the jitters are starting to kick in and I prey i am doing the right thing. I started pre-op the 25th of October and am down 16.4 pounds. Love to get in contact with other oct.nov.dec banders....KEl

So far, three of us with Nov 14th surgery date.

Liz, I am flying in from Denver. I live in Omaha, but am going to meet up with my private nurse, who lives in Denver. She will be accompanying me for my procedure, and will assist me in the days after.

Where are you girls flying from, Kristi Ann and Liz? .

Hello, I am new to the forum and having lap band with ortiz on the 13th of November. Flying in from North Carolina to San on the 12th. I am getting pretty nervous and would love to talk to some other banders,I am 34 married mother of 2 girls living in South Carolina....Please drop me a note anytime! I also would love to see how the little scale monitor thing at the bottom works....very cute!

Hi everyone,

I put together this list of when everyone is getting banded:

Teri (Arizona) - Nov 1

kym828 - Nov 2

Sabledog - Nov 2

mgewton - Nov 3 (re-band)

jess333 - Nov 3

Canada Julie (Canada) - Nov 6

Laura N - Nov 10

Liz - Nov 14

Kristi Ann - Nov 14

GregNE (Denver) - Nov 14

Terri - Nov 17

fatgirlnomore (Florida) - Nov 17

msclvan (Colorado) - Nov 20

sunsreturn (Canada) - Nov 20

Kathyinca - Nov 23

I hope that Teri, kym828, and Sabledog are recovering well! And good luck to mgewton and jess333 with their banding today!!

I am scheduled for the 13th of November..thanks Kelly

[GregNE]

Hello. I am new to the forum but I am going to Tj the 12th and having surgery the 13th.will be flying back home on the 15th. I am from SC and planned on going alone but family insisted in someone going with me. the jitters are starting to kick in and I prey i am doing the right thing. I started pre-op the 25th of October and am down 16.4 pounds. Love to get in contact with other oct.nov.dec banders....KEl

Hello, I am new to the forum and having lap band with ortiz on the 13th of November. Flying in from North Carolina to San on the 12th. I am getting pretty nervous and would love to talk to some other banders,I am 34 married mother of 2 girls living in South Carolina....Please drop me a note anytime! I also would love to see how the little scale monitor thing at the bottom works....very cute!

I am scheduled for the 13th of November..thanks Kelly

Kelly, you will be having surgery the day I arrive in SAN for my pre-op screen. Perhaps I will see you at the office.

Oddly, I do not have any pre-op jitters. I seem to be getting more and more comfortable about the surgery as the day approaches. I had some second thoughts a couple of weeks ago, but reading others' experiences has helped a lot! Researching Dr. Ortiz also has been reassuring, as I find he is more experienced with the procedure than any doctor in my area.

I am confident that if I follow the post-op requirements, I will be successful. I have a slight concern about slippage or erosion, but know the risk is low.

I am wondering how CALKEV is doing, however, as he has not posted for several days. Hope he is doing well.

Greg

[kym828]

Hi Greg,

I saw that you are from Denver. I am from Colo Springs. I just had my band placed on Nov 2nd and i too have the VG Band. So far i am down 13 lbs and thrilled. I am still not hungry at all, and i have to force myself to take in enough calories each day to keep up my strength. I know it wont always be like this so i am enjoying this no appetite thing right now. Good luck to you on the 14th - you are in great hands.

Kim

[trini]

I am booked for surgery on Nov. 6. My mother-in-law is meeting me there and going with me. I think she might want to talk me out of it, but I will not be convinced by her to not go ahead with it.

Julie

Hi Julie i too was banded on the 6th of november, i am feeling fine only discomfort for me is when i try to burp anyone out there with the same problem?

Hello. I am new to the forum but I am going to Tj the 12th and having surgery the 13th.will be flying back home on the 15th. I am from SC and planned on going alone but family insisted in someone going with me. the jitters are starting to kick in and I prey i am doing the right thing. I started pre-op the 25th of October and am down 16.4 pounds. Love to get in contact with other oct.nov.dec banders....KEl

Hello, I am new to the forum and having lap band with ortiz on the 13th of November. Flying in from North Carolina to San on the 12th. I am getting pretty nervous and would love to talk to some other banders,I am 34 married mother of 2 girls living in South Carolina....Please drop me a note anytime! I also would love to see how the little scale monitor thing at the bottom works....very cute!

I am scheduled for the 13th of November..thanks Kelly

I was banded on the 6th November

[Canada Julie]

Hi Julie,

I'm from Vancouver. Do you mean the Cdn lap banders on lapbandtalk.com?? If so then yes...I don't know of any other Cdn on line group....

Good to meet ya tho! Good luck...only a few days away, eh?

I don't know about lapbandtalk.com, I am part of the Yahoo group canadianlapbanders. On the Yahoo groups site there is a Canadian group, a Western Canada group, and a Calgary group.

My surgery went very well and I was so glad I chose the clinic. I had a very large hiatal hernia that was fixed and I am still in a lot of pain from that and having some trouble breathing deeply. I am hoping it will settle down soon. I am so glad I did this. Don't have any worries. They treat you soooooo well at the clinic. The day of my surgery I can't even say that I had any nervousness at all. The medication they gave me prior to the surgery really made me not care and not worried in any way about what was to come. Because it took Dr. Martinez about 3 times as long to fix the hernia as to place the band, I was in surgery for some time, and gone from my room for about three hours. I don't think it is normally that long.

Good luck to you.

Julie

[Teri]

Hello everyone,

I will be having surgery on the 10th of November, Friday. Looking forward to it.

Laura N

Well Laura, by this time you should be banded. Hope everything went well. Loads of best wishes for a quick recovery. Teri

[Kristi Ann]

i'm glad to see other people going to be there on the same day.

i'll be in san diego just before 10am. i'm getting soooooooooo nervous!

Hi Kristi Ann,

I'll also be at the TJ hotel on the 13th for a November 14th surgery. Let's keep in touch!

Liz

I'll be there the 13th. My surgery is scheduled on the 14th.

Liz

Hi Greg,

I too will be there the same dates as you. Where are you flying from?

Liz

Greg & Liz... See you there! I'm flying from Dallas. I'll be in San Diego just before 10am on Monday.

[GregNE]

i'm glad to see other people going to be there on the same day.

i'll be in san diego just before 10am. i'm getting soooooooooo nervous!

Greg & Liz... See you there! I'm flying from Dallas. I'll be in San Diego just before 10am on Monday.

I arrive at 9:40 am, so we will probably be riding together to the clinic. See you there, and try to stay calm.

Greg

[sunsreturn]

CanadaJulie, glad to hear things went well for you. I've not heard one thing bad about the clinic from anyone. I'm one week done pre-op and 1 week left to go. I can't wait!

Here is an updated list for everyone:

GOOD LUCK TO NEXT WEEK'S BANDERS!!

Updated list:

Kelly (California) - Nov 1

Kyle (Arizona) - Nov 1

Teri (Arizona) - Nov 1

kym828

[Terri]

Hi everyone, I am struggling so much with the pre op diet. I have hung in there for 10 days and blew it today. I ate pizza. I am so mad at myself. I am disappointed in my wieght loss. I am not going to hit the 5% and the pizza did not help the issue. I needed to loose 13 lounds and have three days left to drop 5 pounds. On top of that life is busy and stressful. I hope this is the right decision. What does it say if I can't even follow through with two weeks of direction. Sorry to vent- just really disappointed in myself.

Terri

[fatgirlnomore]

Hi everyone, I am struggling so much with the pre op diet. I have hung in there for 10 days and blew it today. I ate pizza. I am so mad at myself. I am disappointed in my wieght loss. I am not going to hit the 5% and the pizza did not help the issue. I needed to loose 13 lounds and have three days left to drop 5 pounds. On top of that life is busy and stressful. I hope this is the right decision. What does it say if I can't even follow through with two weeks of direction. Sorry to vent- just really disappointed in myself.

Terri

Terri-

I know it's tough but don't give up. Only a couple of more days and we will be in TJ. I met a lady last week that has a lapband and she has lost 108 pounds. It really gave me hope. I am sorry that I haven't emailed I have been out of town for a few weeks. See you in 3 days!

[GregNE]

Hi everyone, I am struggling so much with the pre op diet. I have hung in there for 10 days and blew it today. I ate pizza. I am so mad at myself. I am disappointed in my wieght loss. I am not going to hit the 5% and the pizza did not help the issue. I needed to loose 13 lounds and have three days left to drop 5 pounds. On top of that life is busy and stressful. I hope this is the right decision. What does it say if I can't even follow through with two weeks of direction. Sorry to vent- just really disappointed in myself.

Terri

Don't give up! It is surprising how much weight you can lose in the two days before surgery. I added chicken boullion to my pre-op diet, and it helped lots! Only 5 or 10 calories, and full of flavor.

Greg

Well, I am now officially banded! I am here at OCC, and all is well. The facility is clean, the staff professional, and the DirectTV is great.

I did end up with the VG band. Actually, Dr. Ortiz said even the VG band was too tight, but he made room by cutting some fat from my liver (I am only the second patient he has done this with). I feel great, except for some gas pain.

Take care everyone, and be assured, the OCC and Dr. Ortiz are extremely professional.

Greg

[Terri]

Hay Greg, you did it. That will be me on Friday. Now that I know the doctor can shave fat off my liver I am going to ask him to shave some from my thighs while I am there - just for a jump start

Take it easy and rest up. I too was impressed with the facility when I visited last month. I only live in San Diego so I had a great time talking to all the folks that had surgery that day.

Keep us informed once you get home. I will be interested in how you progress a few steps a head of me.

Oh, what did you bring to the clinic. I was just going to bring a change of clothes to go home in. Did you need anything specific?

Take care- Terri

[Teri]

Hi everyone, I am struggling so much with the pre op diet. I have hung in there for 10 days and blew it today. I ate pizza. I am so mad at myself. I am disappointed in my wieght loss. I am not going to hit the 5% and the pizza did not help the issue. I needed to loose 13 lounds and have three days left to drop 5 pounds. On top of that life is busy and stressful. I hope this is the right decision. What does it say if I can't even follow through with two weeks of direction. Sorry to vent- just really disappointed in myself.

Terri

Hi Terri, this is Teri too. I did the same thing, ate pizza and beer and had 5 days to go. Hang in there, the pre op was harder for me than this liquid diet after. Only because the stomach is smaller and it cannot hold as much, so you get fuller faster and dont seem to think to much about food, cuz you know you CANT have it anyway. On the pre op, you rely on all the diet thinking, and its hard as hell. It's not easy, but its not for long. I was concerned about the liquids for 21 days!!!!! especially if I couldnt stick to the preop diet, but it hasnt been to bad. Just think about all the damn diets you've been on and know it will be behind you in no time. Best Wishes. Teri Surgery was Nov 1, so I still have a week or so left for solid food.

[Terri]

Very nervous- Band Aid Day tomorrow. I have done very poorly at loosing the preweight. Only about 6-7 pounds down. But- what can you do, what is done is done and now there is a chance and hope for a fresh new start. I am not worried about the surgery just the unknown in eating and the loss of a good friend- food.

Can anyone that has been banded give me a snap shot of what they ate the first several days post op and how much and how frequently. I would really appreciate it.

thanks for the support,

Terri

[Clynn]

Terri,

The first few days post-op I ate mostly broth. Sometime I would cook some vegetables in the broth to give it a bit more flavor and trick my mind into thinking I was preparing a more elaborate meal. I bought many packets of ramen noodels, threw away the noodles and drank the seasoning packets as it gave a nice variety as opposed to just straight broth. Once I hit the yogourt stage it was heaven - and I hated yogourt!! I let myself drink as much as I wanted since it had very little nutritional value and isn't the least bit impressed by the new band.

The night before I had dream after dream where something came up and I couldn't have the surgery. Everything from my dog got sick to the plane was late, but the day came and went before I knew it and everything worked out great.

Good luck to you tomorrow.

[sunsreturn]

Hi.

Glad to hear the new bandsters are doing well. Good luck to those getting banded tomorrow!!!

I am flying into San Diego/TJ on Saturday evening so hopefully I can meet some of you then!

Hang in there!

[msdetermine]

Hi everyone,

I'm new to this board. My surgery date is 11/23........Thanksgiving!! I thought it would give me a couple extra days off of work if I did it during a holiday weekend. Anyway, I'm nervous and excited.

Kathy

Hi Kathy,

I am getting banded Nov.24! I am little nervous and hungry!

Kristi

[GregNE]

Hay Greg, you did it. That will be me on Friday. Now that I know the doctor can shave fat off my liver I am going to ask him to shave some from my thighs while I am there - just for a jump start

Take it easy and rest up. I too was impressed with the facility when I visited last month. I only live in San Diego so I had a great time talking to all the folks that had surgery that day.

Keep us informed once you get home. I will be interested in how you progress a few steps a head of me.

Oh, what did you bring to the clinic. I was just going to bring a change of clothes to go home in. Did you need anything specific?

Take care- Terri

Terri--

I am too late to answer your pre-op questions, but for all others--

What should you take to the clinic on your day of surgery? I went only with the clothing I put on in the morning. You will be given a hospital robe that sufficiently covers your whole body, so no need to worry about modesty. I wore the same clothing back to the hotel that I arrived to the clinic wearing. I also took my critical medications with me, but do not take anything without asking the staff, either before or after your band is placed.

The biggest surprise for me was the wonderful 'thong' disposable underwear they ask you to wear . It covers the appropriate parts properly, but never before had I seen this paper garment. My RN friend that accompanied me works in an active med/surg hospital, and has never seen the underwear either. Just another testament that OCC follows the newest, most sterile surgical protocols.

The post-op diet is easy for me to follow. You will find it much easier than the pre-op diet, as you can actually experience flavor, and at least for me, there is no hunger. I have been drinking chicken and beef broth, juices (no pulp), sugar-free jello (I am diabetic), gatorade, and of course, water. I have no hunger, but want to stay hydrated.

Across the street from the Lucerna are a few places of interest. The first is a 24 hour convenience store (named Extra I think) that sells juices, gatorade of various flavors, and all of the other c-store items you would expect. Much less expensive than getting all of your fluids from the hotel.

There is also a restaurant called "Casa de Mole". They do not speak any English, however the menu has english translations on it. I found their food to be much better and more reasonably priced than the Aquaduct Restaurant at the hotel. Consider it for your 'last meal' and for your companion to dine the evening you are are recovering at the clinic. They seemed thrilled to have 'gringos' as customers, and even brought us dessert after the meal free of charge.

Lastly, there is a pharmacy named "Farmacia Especiales" next to the restaurant. I asked Dr. Martinez, and he vouched that it is a good pharmacy, with quality medicine and fair prices. I purchased some antibiotics and some extra Toradol (pain medicine) to bring home with me. Note, however, you CANNOT get narcotics or other addictive medicines at a Mexican pharmacy without a Mexican prescription. The accounts of crossing the border with Mexican medications vary, but in my experience, it has never been a problem.

And one last note about going across the street; it may look impossible to cross with all of the traffic. It is, however, very easy. Scary as it may appear, once you step onto the crosswalk, the cars WILL stop. You should walk briskly, but Mexican drivers are used to stopping for pedestrians. The penalty for hitting a pedestrian in Mexico is harsh. I crossed perhaps 8 times in during my short stay, and did not have any problem.

Good luck to all, and if I can answer any other questions, feel free to ask.

Greg

[sunsreturn]

That's awesome advice, Greg! Thanks for posting it. I am flying to San Diego/TJ tomorrow and my surgery is scheduled for Monday so this info was greatly needed.

I'm looking forward to crossing over to the banded side!

[Kathyinca]

Hi Kathy,

I am getting banded Nov.24! I am little nervous and hungry!

Kristi

Hi Kristi,

I'll probably see you as I leave on the 24th. The pre-op diet is actually getting easier for me. Hope it is getting easier for you as well. I think I'm getting used to eating smaller quantities, so it is not such a shock to my system anymore. I've been drinking a lot of tea and that probably keeps me feeling full as well. This pre-op diet was quite a shock to my system since I gave up eating so much as well as diet coke. I'm feeling better without it all now though. I'm down 9 pounds......still hope to lose a few more before my surgery on Thursday.

I had a chance to visit the clinic a week ago (I'm in Southern California) to see things and just make sure I felt comfortable having surgery in MX. I did not feel nervous anymore after the visit. I'm looking forward to it.

See you in TJ!

Kathy

[Terri]

Hi everyone, Well 5 of us got banded yesterday and everyone has been great. 2 of us got the VG band and I am not sure why but am going to ask. We all seemed within 25 pound of each other with the exception of one who was smaller. I guess it all depends on how fat the inside look like. I am concerned that VG bad will take a longer time and more trips for the fills to get it right. But I guess if it is better for the long run then great.

For all of you coming down this week- I am sure you will have a great expereice. Everyone seemed to have their surgery on time and 1 was 2 hours later due to an urgent surgery that came in and they dropped everything to help her and I totally understand that. I gave me more time to talk with those in the lobby getting filled. 2 different girls came in looking like models. I not into girls but they looked HOT.\

Take care, Terri

[sunsreturn]

Hi everyone, Well 5 of us got baded yesterday and everyone has been great. 2 of us got the VG band and I am not sure why but am going to ask. We all seemed within 25 pound of each other with the exception of one who was smaller. I guess it all bepends on how fat the inside look like. I am concerned that VG bad will take a longer time and more trips for the fills to get it right. But I guess if it is better for the long run then great.

For all of you coming down this week- I am sure you will have a great expereice. Everyone seemed to have their surgery on time and 1 was 2 hours later due to an urgent surgery that came in and they dropped everything to help her and I totally understand that. I gave me more time to talk with those in the lobby getting filled. 2 different girls came in looking like models. I not into girls but they looked HOT.\

Take care, Terri

Great to hear that everyone is doing well, Terri. Not sure when any of you are departing but I'm arriving tonight for my surgery on Monday. Hope to see some of you there!

[sunsreturn]

Hi everyone...I just had my surgery a couple of hours ago and feel great. Still walking around...4 other ladies also had their done today. Everything seems to be doing great. thanks for the well wishes!

[Kristi Ann]

Hello all! I am new to the forum. I am flying to San Diego Nov 13, for a surgery on Nov 14 also. So, Kristi Ann, I'll see you at the hotel.

Greg

greg,

was good to see you in TJ... i hope things are going well for you. read else where you were having some leg cramps, hope that gets resolved soon. things are ok with me. being mommy and going back to work this week causes me to be absolutely exhausted by 6pm. we're only 1 week post op... to be expected! good news is that i am not sore like i was-- unlike mr. lucky pants who was practically dancing through the streets just after surgery! haha which reminds me, thanks for going to shop (again) with us! you should post a poncho pic! keep in touch.