DeLarla

We all have the right to happiness. Funny how one person's words can change your whole outlook. Maybe tonight I'll stop my last suppering, too. I've been mostly good, but I sure love my goodies at night. Good for you!

If you spend the next 4 days reading everything you can around here, you'll have all the information you need for the safest journey possible. I went to TJ for my surgery and had some pretty awful experiences. But as bad as it's been, I still love my Band, and I would do it all over again. I understand what it's like not to have a local aftercare doctor. It's really important to have someone nearby for problems and/or emergencies close to home. I personally had to pay for three trips to Mexico and one to California because of my problems. But if you absolutely have no other options other than going back to TJ, make sure to discuss your concerns with Ortiz. Maybe he'll offer you his private cell number or some other comfort. Even though I've had six surgical procedures related to my band, none of them were such extreme emergencies that I needed to be seen immediately. So far I haven't heard of any Band emergencies that require immediate, emergency treatment. Most things can wait at least a day. And what happened to me is rare. Most people that have problems get them resolved much quicker. Instead of being worried, just be prepared. You'll feel much more relaxed if you have all your ducks in a row before leaving. Read around this board for lists of things to bring and what to expect afterwards. You sound like you're ready for some happiness. Good luck to you. Friendly reminder - as of January 2006 you will need a passport according to what the boarder patrol police told me a few months ago. You might want to double check, and if it's true, you can get your passport in order in advance.

Glad you made it back here to let us know you're okay. 'Rads on your new Band!

Thanks Bill! Send her ALL MY LOVE!

I'm doing that thing where I'm convinced my Band is broken or eroded again. For the past months I've barely had any restriction. Last week out of the blue it came back. I had a bad PB last week, and a really bad one yesterday. Today I feel like I just got a fill. I haven't lost an ounce in months, but I swear, if this restriction keeps up I could drop 10 pounds by May. I've always fluctuated, but this is cool. Where did it come from?

Megan, quit your worrying and get a large pot, boil a chicken with chopped celery, carrots, onion, gar & seasons, boil like mad, debone & add some noodles. Take care of your man! YOUR man. Now get busy.

I don't know what Passover means, but doesn't it mean to pass right over the food table? Just change the meaning around and use it in your favor. Make a dance out of it, spread the word! Step away from the food!

There's really no such thing as a normal fill, but most doctors will give you one after 6 weeks if you don't have any complications. I've even heard of people that got them 4 weeks after surgery but 6 sounds about right.

Jenna, I was lucky and dropped a good amount of weight in the beginning, too. Your body is detoxing and cleansing from all the liquids flushing out your colon. After 2 weeks of liquids I felt like I had a colon scrub, clean as a whistle and all that sludge gone. Everyone be warned - Jenna's kicking Band butt!

I see so many new people with so few introductions. Tell us how you all got your screen names. There's some really cool stuff going on here! Pacomamma, you should take down the cow and put Paco's picture up (better yet, one of you!) I laughed at your reply!

Just kidding, silly... seeing your belly like that is cute. I can see all your guts n' junk!

I just read on another post that someone had a great experience at the Molding Clinic. Is that place new?

OMG, I'm snorting and farting from laughing do damn hard here! Was it the Snooty Poop? The one that doesn't smell? Bubba, my husband is the opposite of yours. I don't even bother closing the door any more cause HE always stands over me and talks while I'm busy. Then he plugs his nose and makes poopy stinky noises. I'm like, "why the hell do you come in here if you don't like the smell?" And if he doesn't open the door, the cat paws under the door till you open it, and Sachi likes to come and drink out of the bidette while I'm going potty. I finally stopped closing the door. At the Bonekovics' it's a family affair.

Wow, what a great post! The Molding Clinic is fairly new to my ears, as are the names you mentioned. Congrads on your new belly band, and thank you for sharing such a great experience because I've heard rumors that didn't sound so nice. But rumors are rumors, and your experience sounded excellent.

Okay, that looks really tight to me. Are you able to eat? This is wild. KELLY POSTED NAKED PICS!

C, my doc says to eat for 20 minutes then stop. That will give you the best satifaction. If you have a little now, then wait and have a little more, you'll be able to eat much more. Does that make sense?

The first signs of erosion can be deteced under fluorscopy. If you decide to go the no-fluoro way, you might want to stagger your appointments by getting fluoro the first fill, then if your band is okay getting no-fluro the second fill. It's a good idea to keep an eye on the band, and the docs can see if it's working properly under x-ray. I know a lot of people who do it with no fluro and are really happy. It usually takes a week or so for a fill to kick in, so even under fluoro you can get underfilled or worse, overfilled.

I asked Inamed for the information, but they refuse to divulge any information. I will ask Dr. Billy next time I talk to him, but I was hoping other members might ask their surgeons next time they speak, too.

Good question. I'm an awesome success. I stopped losing weight a couple months ago, but I'm still down 70 pounds. I don't have a port so I can't have a fill, but I still have enough restriction that I'm not gaining anything back. Medically speaking, I need to lose another 60-70 pounds if I want to see myself on the "normal" BMI scale (I'm still considered morbidly obese.) My husband doesn't want me losing any more, and neither do my friends. They say I'm happy and healthy now. I'd like a new port next year so I can lose 30 more, but I'm happy where I am today. Obviously you'll lose weight if you eat right, but none of us were able to eat right without the Band anyway. Some people have more willpower or whatever you want to call it so they found a way to eat healthy food in small proportions according to the Band rules. I like goodies too much. Maybe one day with a new port and more restriction I'll be able to give them up, but the Band is just a tool while we still have to do most of the work. You say you aren't trying, but when you have no restriction it's just like not having a band, right? Well, we couldn't manage our food before that tight restricted feeling, so maybe you need that feeling again, which you'll get from your fill?

I woke up perplexed regarding Mexican surgeons and Inamed. Last weekend another Lopez patient lost her Band, so Penni contacted Inamed for answers, and she received this e-mail from Inamed. “As well as I have complete confidence in Dr Lopez and his team with myself and family members. All people of all occupations have events that are not perfect. I am sure you have had them as well. His results are at the highest levels in the world and his complication rates at the lowest. I am sorry your own and a few others you have spoke with have not been what you want. Please keep in mind there are Thousands of successful surgical patients of Dr Lopez out there.” Larry Kuri, Ortiz and Rumbault, etc. have more complications that Lopez? I’ve seen complaints about the Moulding Clinic and Garza, and I’ve only heard 2 complications with Ortiz. I’ve heard a few minor problems with Kuri, and I’ve never heard a negative note about Rumbault. Yet all these complications have been resolved and everyone still has healthy Bands with not one case of erosion (that I’ve heard of.) Yet I know at least 12 serious problems with Lopez in the past few months alone - with 6 recent Band removals. If Lopez is the surgeon with the lowest complication rate, then I certainly owe him an apology. It’s the nature of medicine that things go wrong randomly, even when the surgeon is immaculate and does everything to perfection. But if other surgeons have more complications, I want to know about them. If it’s true that all other surgeons have higher complications, then information is obviously being swept under the table. Is the Band as safe as we are lead to believe or is important statistical information being held back from us? Help me here.

Kathy, you get five gold stars for your excellent attidude, research and preparation! Newbies will learn from you. The most important thing you said is the same way I felt when I originally went to Mexico, which was the feeling of giddy excitement. If I had any fear or creepy feelings, I would never have gone. Go with your gut. Kuri removed my infected port a month after my initial surgery. He didn't care who I was or if I had any money, and he never even asked for an ID. He looked at the tube sticking out of the infected wound and put me on a bed. Afterwards, I offered him $500 cash but he told me to send it when I had it, so I mailed a check 6 months later. Kuri's only concern is healthy patients. When a doctor removes your port, the tube is clamped and left inside. I was extremely impressed with his surgical skills, and I feel bad for not remember the name of his lovely female assistant, who cleaned the heck out of my insides to get every last bit of infection before sewing me up with neater stitches than I can do on my machine. The problem was that he was supposed to shove the tube into my abdominal cavity, but instead they left it right underneath the new incision, which had been the problem incision all along. In the last month, at least 4 surgeons told me it's totally common knowledge that tube so close to a wound would prevent it from closing, and nobody can figure out why someone so experienced as Kuri did that. Like I said, maybe he had some reason, but it cost me 7 months of aggravation, heartache, sadness, etc. There's a current conversation about Kuri on the Vegas boards, and the biggest problem people have is waiting up to 5 hours after their appointment time for fills (he schedules 40 patients at a time according to something I read this week, and he's always late, 2 hours late once.) But what does it tell you when patients go flooding to him? They must love him, right? When you are laying on a surgical gurney, intimidated by the lights, scrubs, equipment, tubes, etc., and you look up and see his warm caring eyes peeping through that yellow smiley face hat, it really puts you at ease.

Wow, I'd love to see the band in action. Okay, who around here is a programming genious that can program a virtual stomach with a virtual band so we can see how the contraption really works?

I avoided this post all day since I love egg drop. I usually buy the dry mix in the soup isle, but now I gotta try this homemade version. Thanks!

Oh, I thought you said Carnitas so I was all over this thread.

Kathy, you aren't going to die! But you hit the nail on the head. If you personally have a great experience, then Mexico is great. If you a bad experience, you learn the hard way. You've probably seen enough around here to know that it's a gamble, but it's worth the bet. Kuri is a very caring guy even though he made a mistake with me, but maybe it wasn't even a mistake??? Maybe he had some weird reason for leaving my tube under the infected wound. Who knows? But you will really like him - he wears this smiley face hat that lets you see his human side. I don't want to be the one responsible for keeping people from chosing Mexico; I just want to be the one that is 100% honest so new people can make intelligent & informed decisions. No doctor is perfect regardless of what anyone says since they're just humans "practicing" medine, and there's no such thing as a perfect human being. On a lighter note, I also had an extra bonus bad experience at the boarder. For random reasons, our driver was stopped by boarder control. Security ran at us from every direction and split us all up to search our things. My skinny friend bought one of those Mexican sarape's (shawl with hood) and they believed she was a Mexican that we were trying to smuggle her across the boarder. My heart was pounding as we were interrogated and separated, and I had to show them my surgical scars to prove I got a LapBand. The let us go after about 10 minutes, but I was fresh out of surgery and pretty much ran (at 280 lbs) the rest of the way to my car with my luggage and THAT'S when I nearly died!