GeezerSue

Ya think???

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They are all very experienced band surgeons. I think Rodriguez has done more band placements, but Rumbaut has a band himself and has placed thousands of bands in others. They both practice in state-of-the-art teaching hospitals, similar to what you'd find in any larger city in the US. Ortiz is also a competent surgeon. But Tijuana has no facilities like the ones Rumbaut and Rodriguez use. And Ortiz has hired a woman to recruit patients. I'll post links to those topics. Sue Rumbaut patient http://lapbandtalk.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=2597 http://lapbandtalk.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=2685

I was unfilled (for surgery) in May. I've been up a little and down a little , but have not gained any substantial weight. And I am completely insane about food. Funny thing...the food that's really bad for me I can eat WITH a fill...ice cream, most Cookies, potato chips. Without a fill, I'm enjoying salads and good things along with the stuff I should not really be having. AND, I cannot eat what I ate pre-band. There is restriction. ACID REFLUX CAN KILL YOU. YOU CAN ASPIRATE STOMACH ACID, GET REALLY BAD PNEUMONIA AND DIE. Your boys do not need a skinny mother...or a dead one. They need a healthy mother. That should be the idea behind your decision...

She used zsflower here and on most boards. But apparently she was also gailkitty200 so something like that in her attemplt to lure pre-ops from Kuri's board to the new Ortiz board. O! the Drama!

Oops, Trish, wrong Sandy. THIS Sandy is is not a nurse and is a ptient/employee of Ortiz, not Kuri.

Probably not the answer you want to hear, but if you have weighed close to 300 pounds for any length of time, chances are pretty good that you'll want cosmetic surgery after you lose a substantial amount of weight. I'm pushing 58 years old and had a tummy tuck almost ten weeks ago, even though I'm nowhere near my goal weight. But hangy stuff is hangy stuff...and, IMHO, a lot worse than having surgery to get rid of it is living with it. Before I had surgery, I was told that IF you are very young and have very elastic skin and have been morbidly obese a very short time, your skin MAY return to its original shape.

Nancy, I think I've been kicked off more boards than Sandy. Well, I'm banned more often, that's for sure. I'm here...I'm not thrilled with my tummy tuck, but I was warned in advance that a revision was likely. So, it's a few months off. Lipo, they tell, to even things out. But they don't want to do it until everything "settles." thank you for asking. Neicy, It's never a good idea to encourage me. I'm outta control enough on my own...but thanks for letting me know that I'm not alone in my thinking on the topics at hand! Sue And I'm closer to 60 than 50...way closer. So, I think I'm gonna start saying that 60 is the new 43. ;-D

Zoe, I've been banded almost two years. There were far fewer band doctors, and the few who were in the area were not willing to do adjustments on someone else's patients. Maybe some would have done emergency work, but not routine stuff. I live in So. Calif and have gone to Tijuana. I tried twice to go to local doctors. One knew VERY little about the band and wanted an endoscopy just to protect himself before any adjustment. The other wanted an endoscopy before he'd see me. Seemed like unnecessary expenses, so I went to Tijuana. If you can find an EXPERIENCED doctor in the Chicago area for $12,900, I'd seriously consider seeing that doctor. (Don't tell Rumbaut I said that, because I adore the guy and he IS a teriffic surgeon.) But, right out the door, to Rumbaut's fee, you have to add in airfare and hotel and taxi back to the airport and meals--if any--for your family. Then, the fills will cost arount $300 for the surgeon, BUT, in many cases, there are extra charges for the flouroscopy and the radiologist...bringing the fills to about a grand a pop. And an "outside" doctor is more likely to want an endoscopy. I dunno, experience is my #1 consideration, but easy access is #2. Sue

No wonder he doesn't mind if you're mad at him....

When I have a fill and proper restriction, I cannot eat pasta. Ever. I've always drunk my carbonated water...but it's just water. I let it sit for quite a while so most of the carbonation dissipates but I still get a hint of carbonation.

Lisa, That WAS the taco stand. And I asked you stop by with my order of carnitas and you did not. Miffed, Sue

I had that problem. I'm unfilled right now and the first thing I went after was a major salad. Could you be somewhat looser? Meanwhile, steamed squashes...zucchini, and all.

You're right. HOWEVER, I went Yahoo board cruising and I read about our friend Sandy who was here soliciting folks to join the lapband board that is just another recruiting tool for Ortiz...remember her?? This weekend, she was kicked off of one of the boards because she was pretending to be someone "gailkitty" (go figure) who was shopping for the right doctor and was using that "disguise " to recruit more patients away from a particularly pro-Kuri board to become Ortiz patients. The moderator said she was "sharking," but I'm starting to think that, in the case of SOME of these people, that term is insulting to sharks everywhere.

Well...you can call the doctor's office directly, or you can ask us. Or you can look through the posts. I'm pretty sure that some of the paid recruiters (carnival barkers?) are: Diane Lee Beck from Lopez Corvala Anita from Lopez Corvala Sandy Johnston from Ortiz Robyn from Ortiz (I think she is no longer with him) Belighter.com seems to be a referral service for a number of doctors and the ILOST team has some of the same staff. I'm not sure, but I think most coordinators are commissioned.

Let me add (so that the Tijuana patients can kick me) that the Monterrey doctors practice in hospitals that function like hospitals here function. They are large, usually teaching facilities, with many, many doctors of many, many specialties on site. If I'm not mistaken, Santa Engracia has a post-op floor that is pretty much a hotel, and your family stays there with you. In Tijuana, the facilities are very different. One of the hospitals is a bare-bones little birthing center in very, very modest circumstances. (They haven't lost a LapBand patient yet, and many nurses swear by it, but it IS different.) And some of the doctors practice at "alternative healing center" places for cancer patients and other very small facilites. A couple are very nice, but they are not the fully-staffed, bustling hospitals one would expect in a city of that size in the US. Also, the facility at Ciudad Acuña (another Dr. Rodriguez, I believe) is a one-man operation. It is over three hours, by road, to a big-city facility in San Antonio, if the need for a big city facility should arise. ~~~~~~~~~ [LISA--the dude's name is Roberto Rumbaut Diaz. (The Diaz is his mom's maiden name, and they leave that off in addressing him.)]

Keep asking.... Sue

Like the invitation to the "informational seminar" proffered by a Lopez employee, this is an invitation to an "message board" proffered by an Ortiz employee. But at least the Lopez employees admit to being on the payroll. That would, I guess, make them more honest. And, if someone who has had a negative experience with Ortiz tries to post about that experience, I wonder what would happen on THAT board. (Actually, no, I don't.) The fact the Alex started this board with absolutely NO commercial interest says a lot about him and why THIS board is not just a front to scare up a patient or two. (Well, and the gentle scoldings by Alexandra when she's had about enough or when she can see the other side of a position make a difference, too.) I just can't abide by people selling stuff to those desperate enough to consider wls surgery and not even having the decency to mention that they are on the payroll. We are here because we are or were morbidly obese. Our very existence is in jeopardy. Those who would slither around trying to sell stuff to people who are sick are...well..."human pond scum" kind of does it for me. Sue

This might help: http://www.lorislapband.com/photos/photo2.html

Again, I'm personally familiar with Rumbaut's procedures. He works in a state-of-the-art-teaching hospital. I'll get you the links to another member's photos. Good luck...

Hmmm. Pretend you had to pick one of these: A) Being married to Chris, with his $600/month bike and renting; or Owning a home, but no Chris. Okay, then once you know what is most important to you, it is easier to decide what to ask for, what to do, that sort of thing... I know what I'd do, but what you need to know is what you're going to do. Sue (I just read this to Mr. Sue who said, "He's really threatened by her, isn't he?")

¡Exactamente!

Yes, but... Sandy says in her "testimonial" that she wants to shout her thanks to Dr. Ortiz from the rooftops. And that's what she is doing. She is a very personable young woman, and very bright. But she is very, very involved with that "shouting from the rooftops" thing, to wit: She is listed as the owner of the Yahoo Ortiz Board; She is one of the moderators of the Tijuana Bandsters Board; She is the before-and-after model on the home page of Ortiz's Obesity Control Center. She is one of the testimonial letter writers at that site. She signs posts on the Yahoo board as "Sandy, Obesity Control Center." She lists her phone number for people wanting to make fill appointments with Ortiz. She is an administrator on the new board she is promoting, which is just more advertising for Ortiz. Also, when Dr. Kuri moved the Bash he has always sponsored away from the city (Tijuana) and to the beach (Rosarito) and to a weekend after the insanely crazy Labor Day Weekend border-crossing madness, Sandy started advertising a different bash and insinuated that the bash she was promoting would be open to everyone, not just the patients of one doctor. But Kuri's bash has always had other doctors and I was invited and he was not my surgeon, so it appears that it is just a "who's in charge?" battle between doctors. If she isn't on Ortiz's payroll, she's being used. If she is, she should be more honest about it. This is just more of the same, Sue

NOW, the part that will make you crazy is about two or three weeks post-op, when you are felling perfectly fine, but have little or no restriction (because you will not have had any adjustments) and you'll be thinking you wasted your money and it's not working for you. THAT's a tough time. Welcome, Sue

From Dr. Rumbaut (banded band surgeon)...for capsules. Place capsule on your tongue and wait. In a minute or two the gelatin will begin to soften. When that happens, wash down the capsule with water.