Jennaband

Has anyone used Dr DeLaGarza and associates in Mexico? I ended up getting my band from Dr. Lael who is one of his associates. The service was adequate although did not seem as complete as the Monterey Dr. Sanchez people. I am really not getting any follow up now that I am 4 weeks. I learn more from this forum than from my Dr.s

Okay, It has been 4 weeks since my first fill and I have lost no more weight. I really cannot tell the band is there except for occasionally when I do not chew something well. So my question is How do you know when you hit your "sweet spot," what changes? I am disappointed that my appetite seems exactly the same. I thought I would be getting a sensation of being fuller sooner. I don't want to be so tight that I have to drink liquids forever, but right now I am just back to the same old diets that didn't work in the past. Help!

Donali, Oh, wise one! How smart to have the Dr. close the stoma off and then work backword. Brilliant! I will make my appointment for next week. Thanks so much for taking the time to clear things up. I can't wait for my next fill.

So it sounds like you have found your sweet spot. How did you know you were there? Are you having to "diet" or are you just satisfied with less? Can anyone explain to me exactly what the band is doing to keep us from eating too much. Is it supposed to slow down the food so that it stays in the upper pouch longer? Even if I get the PB's if a few moments I am able and wanting to finish eating. I am just so disappointed that it is all coming back down to dieting and will power for me. I was never able to do that before and I know it won't work now.

I can so totally relate to your fear of failure. I was counting on having this be a sure thing. I lost 20 lbs in the first 3 weeks after banding and now nothing for the last 5. I had my first fill 4 weeks ago and although I feel some restriction every once in a while when I eat something sticky. It has not slowed me down much. I left a post on the fill forum. How do you know when you have hit the sweet spot? I am beginning to think it is a fantasy.

I have my first fill on Tuesday. It is my understanding that they will do a flouroscopy to determine how much fill I need. So what exactly is it that they look for. I know I will be drinking the barium and they will see how big my stoma is and how much is going through. How do they determine how big is too big and how much is too much?

I have the 11cm band too. I got 6cc on my first fill and I am not convinced it will be enough. They filled mine with a mix of saline and iodine so they could see it on the laproscopy. The directions were in the packaging they gave me after surgery.

did anyone attend the bandster retreat in Tijuana? Was it mostly Dr. Sanchez people? It sound like fun.

Desiree, I am praying all will go well for you. Be sure to let us know how you are doing when you can get back to your computer. I suspect you will be psoting soon with all sorts of questions about your new band life.

I am having my first fill on Tuesday. The local Dr. I am using charges $350.00 for first appt. They request that you stay in the office for about an hour and will do any adjustments for free while you wait. After you leave the office you have 48 hours to let them know if you think you need an adjustment. If you call within that 48 hour period they will schedule you for another visit approximately 10 days later and it will only be $100.00. If you do not call within the 48 hours you start over with another $350.00 fill. So here's my question. What will be the indicators to look for in those first 48 hours? Will the restriction loosen up like it did after surgery? By 2 weeks I was pretty much eating what ever I wanted with no PB's or anything. I can't eat as much as I did before surgery but I am eating more than the 1/2 cup a meal and I am not losing any more weight. Should I just go ahead and make another appointment in that 48 hour window and then cancel if I don't think I need it at the 10 day period?

Hey Cindy, Please send theinformation on your fill Dr. in Puyallup. Do you live in the Seattle area? Maybe we can get together next time you come around?

Jennifer, I would be interested to know why you picked Dr. DeLa Garza? In whatching all the chat from the other members I am impressed with what I hear about the care that Dr. Sanchez's group gives. It sometimes makes me wish I had waited to get in to him. My surgery was technically fine and I had no trouble with infection. I struggled with the accomodations at Judy's and wondered what I had gotten myself into when I arrived. Are you still in contact with them? I have pretty much gotten all my follow up information from the people here on this site.

So what did the flouro look like if you had just been eating? Next time you come uplet me know and maybe we can get together for coffee after the fill. I did not end up going back for any more fill. It is funny. I can eat a normal portion of food before feeling restricted, but sometimes I take one or two bites and I PB. I figure if I am PBing at all I do not need any more fill. I need to get away from the junk and eat healthier so I can lose faster. We have had 3 birthday parties this week and it has not been good for me to be around so much pizza and ice cream. They slide down so easy!

I got my fill at Tacoma Radiology. They have several offices but the one where they do the fills is very close to me. It is just off Hwy 16 in Tacoma. They were great. I posted a detailed description of my experience in the "fill" forum.

Is there anyone out there from WA?

Hi Laurel, I live a long way from Alabama. Tacoma Washington, I use Tacoma Radiology Associates. They gave me no hassels about having the surgery in Mexico. All they asked was that I have the name of a local doctor where they could send their report.

Hi Guys, I just returned from the fill Doctor and learned a few new things. I have the Sweedish band which my Dr called the "Big Daddy". My band hold 9cc's instead of the bands that hold 4cc's. Anyway, they started me off lying on the table and took a picture of my port. It kind of freaked me out because you could not see the tubing that goes from the port to the band, but the nurse assured me that was normal for my band. This is why my fill solution has some iodine in it. After numming me up with lidocane, the doctor inserted this big needle into the port, using the x-ray to guide. He pinned it right in the middle. He had to push pretty hard to get it all the way in the port. Apparently there is some barrier they have to push through, but not to worry it won't go through the back of the port. The doc then started inserting the iodine/saline solution. He pushed some in then backed it off to remove any air that was in the band and in the port. It felt cold going in but no pain. He inserted a total of 4cc's which is what the company recommends for the first fill, then left the room. The nurse sat me up. The needle is still sticking out of me but it does not hurt just looks weird. She had me try some Water and some apple juice - no resistance. She then added a little bit of saline at a time until she had gotten to 1.5 additional cc's. At this point I thought I could feel a little resistance but nothing uncomfortable and nothing compared to the resistance those first 2 weeks post-op. Anyway, she went to consult the Dr. and he suggested we do the barrium swallow x-ray to see what exactly was going on. So they stood me up and put the table on end. The first picture showed my band which was kind of crinkled looking. I estimate the stoma to be about 3/4 to 1 inch in diameter. Much bigger than I thought it would be. I drank a swallow of the barium which was not all that bad. We watched the Fluid slide right through the stoma. So he gave me another 1.5 cc's of fluid. this time when I swallowed the liquid kind of backed up at the stoma so he said that was too much. He took out about 1/2cc and we swallowed once more. The trail of liquid was definintely smaller. I would say 1/2 to 3/4 inch in diameter. And that was that. Now I have 48 hours to decide if it is right. I am feeling no resistance to Clear liquids but I took a few bites of soft pretzel and I do feel more than I did before the fill. So how does this compare to other stories out there?

I'm a counselor and I am interested in hearing where everyone is emotionally. I found myself the week before banding saying goodbye to all the things I love to eat. I was kind of sad. Since surgery I have this anxiety that it is not going to work, even though it is working. I wonder if it is the years of disappointing diet attempts and all the feelings of failure that I stuffed away with food while I looked for a new diet. Feedback?

My port is positioned about 6 inches under my left breast. It is right where my waist band rides right now which was a little tender after surgery. It does not bother me at all now. I am amazed how close to the skin it is. My Dr. purposly positioned it at an angle saying it was easier to fill that way. I can tell exactly the shape and position it is in. I guess that is good because I will know if it moves. How on earth does it move? One more thing to worry about? Has anyone else ever had this happen?

I'm having my first fill in a week or two and I am wondering if I have to request how many CC's of fill I want. When I called the radiologist office they said the DR would do some sort of laproscopy something to determine just where the band was placed and how big my stoma was. With a 9mm swedish band what should I expect for a first fill? I'm thinking maybe 3cc's? Anyway in 3 weeks I have lost 18lbs. 14 of that the first week. I can eat enything right now and am just back to dieting until I get the fill. After the 2nd week I was feeling no restriction at all.

Hey Larry, Just wanted to say you seem to be on the right track. You obviously are not going to be content to fall back in your old patterns. Keep asking questions until you feel you have them all answered. there is no shame in that you are just taking care of yourself. Something that is a new concept for some of us. You're worth it! I will be excited to see how a fill makes you feel. Keep in touch

I am getting my first fill in two weeks. My Dr. charge 350.00 for the first fill. They want us to stay in the office for 1 hour post fill in case it needs to be adjusted. Then if we have to come back for an adjustment it is 100.00 from there on out. Note: I had my band done in Mexico so this is not the Doctor who placed my band. There is a ocal Doctor who does bands but her refused to fill someone he did not band. He charges twice as much for the banding but then all the follow up is free for one year. I still think I got the better deal.

Thanks Lisa, Let me know how it goes. What kind of band do you have and what size is it? I'd like to know how much they fill you with the first time.

I did Adkins pre band and one thing I noticed was how addicted I am to sugar and carbos. If I eat just one chip I want more. when I switched to the high Protein plan my cravings just disappeared. No post band I am trying to do a modified Adkins. Making sure I get plenty of protein but not the high fat stuff he recommends. I'm getting most of my carbs in the form of high Fiber fruits and vegetables. I avoid anything with refined flour or regular sugar. I personally can't stand all the sugar free products but I'm not craving the sugar anymore so it is not really a problem. I think we can call this healthy eating.

Shuzy, You need to check out one of the posts on the support forum. I think the title was something about Not losing. Someone several replys down posted a "stage" plan where the first stage is just Water, second stage is clear liquids, next stage is thicker liquids and so on. This person indicated that as soon as they felt they were tollerating the current stage well they could try the next. If they had trouble they were to go back a stage for a few days then try again. I did the liquid for 2 weeks and I was starving. I was really low on energy. I started putting chicken in the blender to mush it up and then thought this is rediculous, so I just tried chewing it very slowly and I did fine. Being on solid foods and more Protein has made all the difference. Now I have all my energy back and am exercising twice a day. I don't understand the philosophy of putting yourself in starvation mode. That defeats the purpose of eating less.