Banded14yr

I've been delaying posting because I go back and forth on this issue. I had my 2nd fill a week ago tomorrow. I was at 5cc and am now at 6.44cc's (Swedish band) Anyhoo....... I have to eat VERY small bites. I have an uncomfortable feeling when I eat and obviously, I can't eat very much. I'm also struggling to drink the amount of Water that I need to every day. Before this fill, I could easily put away at least 64 ounces a day, now I'd be doing good to drink 18-24 ounces. Today I was sick to my stomach all day, but I think that was caused by the Isopure drink that I drank this morning to try and get my Protein in. I just can't tolerate protein very well. I tried the shakes, but they made my stomach upset also. I really don't want to complain. I LOVE the restriction that I now feel. I hate the uncomfortable feeling that I get when I eat, but it's a small price to pay if this is part of the "normal" band process. Lisa (Green) I know that you have struggled with your last fill as well, is it getting any better for you? I don't know if I had to get some fill removed if the doc would do that in his office, I can't imagine him doing that under Flouroscopy, but I'm not sure. I'm just wondering if anyone feels the right amount of restriction without the uncomfortable feeling while eating.

Congrats on your "bandage" Try to take it easy for a while and keep in touch on how you and your wife are doing. Take care! Tricia

Vera, I can't get over how cool your picture "movie" is. What a great way to display photos. You have a beautiful family! Thanks for sharing! Tricia

Hey Rica! Great to "see" you Have you called Dr. Rodriguez? I would definately make a phone call. He might have some suggestions for you. Throwing up cannot be good for you or the band. I went for my second fill today, so I haven't experienced what you are experiencing. I'm now filled to 6.4cc's which is a lot more than you and we have the same band. Just goes to show that everyone is different and how we react to the band is also very different. But make the phone call, if for nothing else, then to put your mind at ease. Take care!! Tricia

I had my first fill on August 27th. Dr. Houston will be giving me my second fill, and yes he's going to use Flouro. I wouldn't do it if he didn't

I think that it is difficult to find a physician to do your fills or any kind of aftercare if he/she was not the surgeon that placed the band in the first place. I really don't think that if I had the lapband instead of the Swedish band that it would have been easier to find a U.S. doctor to take me on as a patient after being banded by another surgeon. I'm fortunate in that my doctor found a surgeon in the city where I live that is going to do my fills for me and is encouraging me to participate in his aftercare program. I go in Tuesday for my first fill with him, so I'm a little anxious to see how everything goes. And you're right, it's a dirty rotten thing that ponce de leon did, but if enough of his patients voice their opinions about him deceiving them, then he won't be doing a lot of lapband surgeries in my opinion. There's a lot of competition in Mexico for patients, and I would think something like this would really hurt his "business".

Even though what dr. Ponce de leon was wrong, I don't think that getting the Swedish band would mean all doom and gloom. My husband and I researched all of the different types of bands before we decided on the Swedish band. The Swedish band is now owned by Johnson and Johnson and FDA approval in the US is not far off. There are a lot of risks to going to Mexico to have surgery, it's a total leap of faith that one must make when the decision to have surgery there is made. There are good points and there are bad points. I've been fortunate that I had a great experience and have absolutely no regrets. I hate to hear that some patients are being deceived by their surgeons.

Hey Michelle, I would suggest that your friend call Dr. Houston (pronounced house-ton) and tell him about her situation. I have a feeling that his prices aren't "standard" He quoted me $500.00 for the first visit, which includes a chat session with the Dr. so that he can get the scoop on "me", then a fluro fill. It will be $400.00 for every fluro fill after that. I personally think that's reasonable, since it's cheaper and a whole lot easier than flying to Monterrey. Dr. Houston's nurse's name is Holly, I can pm you his office number if your friend is interested. Tricia

Welcome MadameYess! I'm on the net quite a bit, and I have to say that of all the websites and forums I have visited concerning the lapband, this is by far the best site I have found. Lots of support and very knowledged bandees here. Keep us informed on your banded journey, it will be here before you know it - Heck, you've already started your journey, you made the decision and have a date set, you're almost there! :mad: T

Hello Vicki! The more you read and talk to people that have been through simular situations as you, the more comfortable you'll feel. This is a great site for support and information. Feel free to ask away! T

Penni, Mom is fortunate to have such a caring daughter. Please have a safe trip. Give Mom hugs and assure her that everything will be O.K. Take care! Tricia

Welcome and congratulations! It always drives me crazy when I hear that people think you're crazy for getting the band! :mad: I can tell how happy you are in your posts, happiness is the most important thing. Next will come wanting to be healthier and feeling great about yourself. There are so many positives to losing weight that you have struggled with most of your life - so if that's what some call "crazy" then I'm happy to be part of the looney bin society!

Pam, The wait is finally over! You'll be on "the other side" before you know it! Have a safe trip, we'll be anxious to hear about how you're doing when you're up to it. Everything will go fine! :mad: T

Dr. Houston has agreed to do my fills. He's in Nashville and wants me to also participate in his aftercare program which sounds good. I'm curious to see if anyone is a patient of his, and if so, what has your experience been with him? Positive or negative feedback is welcome :mad:

Tammy, edistogirl2602 is also having her surgery with Dr. Ponce. I've heard good things about him, I don't think he does surgery in TJ, you may be thinking of dr. ponce de leon. Good luck to you in getting the ball rolling. If you are like me, once I made the decision to get the lapband, there was no turning back, I became obsessed! :mad:

hahaha!! :D

Vera, I think it's very possible that you're filled to 7.5cc's. I also have the Swedish band and was filled to 5cc's for my first fill. I thought that sounded like an awful lot, but the Swedish band can hold up to 10-11 cc's. You fill restricted, so I wouldn't think that you would have a leak, but I'm not a doc either I hope that everything turns out ok, I'm sure it will. Hang in there!! T

Welcome to both of you! More Tennesseans! Woooo Hooooo Litn_bug - Let's seeee, Southeast Tennessee, are you seeing Dr. Rose by chance? I've checked out every bariatric surgeon in Tennessee and he's a good one. I'm glad you found this board. I didn't visit until after my surgery. Actually, my husband found this board and told me about it, I made my first post while in Mexico the day after my surgery. It would have truly helped me if I would have known about it a few weeks prior to my surgery, there is a plethera of info here. So pull up a chair and get comfy

I would be sure to ask someone if you have any doubts about what you're keying in. I know that entering the wrong surgical procedure would be a mistake that I wouldn't want to make. Don't worry about asking questions. I train people frequently in my field, and I would much rather they ask, then try to do it by themselves and make it worse by making costly mistakes. You won't be bugging anyone, if you're new in this position, then they will expect you to have questions. Don't be afraid to ask.

First off, Congratulations on your upcoming Lapband surgery, I live in Antioch, but work in Nashville. I had surgery in Mexico, but I know that Dr. Morton is very well thought of in the Nashville area. I'm not sure if he will be the one doing your surgery or not, but good luck to you on your new bandlife journey About work.... Don't let your co-workers know that it bothers you. Just go about your business and blow it off. Just remain your calm and pleasant self and their attitudes will change soon. Also, just a teeny tiny suggestion. You might want to consider turning off your caps lock key when you type. See, when you type in all caps, it represents yelling on the internet. It's one of those funny little netty thingies, it "appears" that you're always yelling Don't hesitate to email or pm me if you have any questions about your upcoming surgery, I don't know if I can help, but I will try if I can. Tricia

Congratulations! Even though I didn't have the same surgeon as you, I also flew to Monterrey for my surgery. I think it's wonderful that you and your wife will be banded at the same time. What a wonderful support system you two must be for each other. October 4th will be here before you know it

Pack light! My husband and son traveled with me, and we each had a small bag. It made it alot easier not having to check in luggage. I only brought 3 sets of lose fitting shorts and shirts. I wore some slip on sandals on the trip and didn't bother bringing tennis shoes or any other kind of shoes. I packed the basic makeup neccesities, but didn't bother too much with it while in Mexico. Heck, I was there for surgery and wasn't worried that I would see anybody that I knew Bring a good book or some magazines so that you'll have something to read while in the hospital. I had my surgery on Monday and Dr. Rodriguez' assistant took us all shopping at a local mall in Monterrey on Tuesday afternoon. It was good to get out and walk around. We bought my son a Monterrey soccer jersey that's really cool We didn't bring a lot of cash with us, we used our debit card in the mall without any problems. We made sure that we had a some single dollar bills so that we could tip the taxi drivers. I brought some chewable Gas-X with me. Glad I did. I didn't bring any other types of medication. They gave me an antibiotic and pain medication when I checked out of the hospital. My fridge was stocked with bottled Water, apple and grape juice, V-8, applesauce, yogurt, yogurt drinks, pudding and Jello. I also had a lot of chicken noodle and vegatable Soup that I was able to strain the noodles and veggies out for the first week after my surgery. It sounds like you have everything ready to go. I didn't pack until the day I flew out, so you have a great head start on things! T

Alex, I'm sorry you went through that. So far I've had a total of 3 PB experiences and they are not fun, but they weren't close to what you went through. Glad to hear that you got through it ok. I'm curious, did you eat any rice with your Chinese food? I know this will sound really strange, but my husband, his father and brother all get something simular to a PB experience if they eat certain foods like rice or roast. I've seen my husband go through this for years, and now I finally know a little about how he feels. Food gets "stuck" and won't go down. They spit up until they finally throw up or it moves through. Granted these guys aren't banded and my father in law has been told that a hernia may be causing the problem, but I find it interesting that rice seems to trigger it for them. My PB experiences came after I ate a Healthy Choice Salsbury steak dinner for lunch at work one day and won't try that again, the other times were while I was eating roasted chicken. I've heard several people say that chicken tends to be too dry and you're more apt to have a PB experience when eating chicken, but I didn't think it would happen to me .... It's amazing how often I still don't pay attention to how fast I'm eating or not chewing enough, you would think after one PB experience that the brain would kick in as you're eating, but my bad habits are obviously very difficult to change. It's a constant work in progress for me. I'm sure you'll stay away from tofu or whatever it is you think caused your "episode" it sounds like it was a lot more serious than just a PB experience to me. Please take care!! Tricia

leatha, After everything that you've been through, you can't help but wonder if some or all of the complications came from that bad fill. Again, I was so relieved when I read your post. I'm glad that you're a strong advocate for receiving good aftercare, you're a living example of how important it is.

I agree This is one disadvantage (and a pretty big one) of having the surgery in Mexico. There is always the after care issue and fill issues. I'm totally satisfied with my surgeon, but if I could have had the surgery locally I would have just for ease of aftercare and fills. I have found a couple doctors in my area that will do my fills for me, even with the Swedish band. They both use fluroscopy, which I would require. At this point, for me anyway, flying back to Mexico was no big deal. So I'll probably go there for my future fills. I didn't realize that there were different ways of doing an adjustment using fluroscopy. I layed on a table while Dr. Rodriguez was able to fill me while seeing it all on the screen, then the whole bloomid table moved and put me in an almost vertical position. He then viewed the monitor as he had me swallow barium. After taking about 4 swallows, he then had me sip some Water. The first sip did not go down, and he could see that. He told me to wait, then removed some of the fill. I was then able to drink without any problems. The whole procedure was so interesting.