Marimaru

If this started out of no where, you definitely need to get unfilled and have everything checked out. It doesn't happen for no reason.

I recently found a doctor in my area to do fills and aftercare. I'd been told by another office that "as a rule they don't take patients who were banded out of the country, but they'll review my medical record to be sure". I said no thanks. I have an appointment at my new doctor's office, and when I asked if the accept patients who were banded in Mexico she didn't even hesitate when she said yes.

Not to mention that if you went to your doctor for fills, he would submit them to insurance. There is no reason whatsoever that they should be charging you something that doesn't get submitted to insurance.

I think it depends most on the reason WHY you are down. Do you feel like it's not enough? If so, look at the milestones you've hit. Calculate your BMI and see what it was and what it is now. Things like being past the halfway point help me too.

An unfill doesn't hurt at all. Chances are, they'll stick the needle in like normal, withdraw the Fluid to see what's in there, and then put it back plus whatever additional they were going to put in, all within the same poke of the needle.

I'm not sure what to tell you regarding the dry mouth, but congratulations on getting past your cancer!

I think maybe this thread should be closed.

I would go farther away to find a doctor that didn't have an outrageous program fee. If I couldn't find one, I'd probably look into the legality of it and see what I could find.

I had my unfill less than a week ago. I recently moved to my state and have just recently found a surgeon who will accept me as a patient, but he can't get me in until April 17th to have a look at what's going on. If everything looks good under flouro, I'll probably proceed with a conservative fill and go from there.

wjbluv- I just got finished reading that other thread... yikes what a mess.

Mostly I want to say that if you are unfilled and you are still in pain, you need to find time (between school and work) to see your doctor and demand your doctor find out what is wrong. An unfilled band should be mostly ineffective. You should not be on a mushy/slimfast diet with an empty band.

I hope you are able to get some relief one way or another.

You need to have an unfill until the reflux issues are gone no matter what the issue is that's causing it. I recently had the same issue, but I only had reflux for 4 days before getting a complete unfill.

You will sleep better a) without the reflux (oh my gosh I was so miserable) and :biggrin: knowing you aren't causing yourself damage/further damage while you wait it out.

If you tell the lie, and at a later date they find out otherwise, they will cancel your insurance AND revoke everything they've paid from when you signed up to when they found out.

I can tell you that stress will absolutely affect your band and how tight you are. If you are going through a high stress time that keeps you too tight, consider getting a little of your fill removed, and then starting to get filled again when things calm down.

I can't relate specifically to the issues you have described but I did seek and go through some significant counseling after being banded to deal with my childhood and my general 'doormat' syndrome.

Yeah, it's not really a matter of whether she believed you had the surgery. There's nothing that says they have to allow you a discount because of it. I've made a point to just enjoy the food in places I'm going, and be prepared to take leftovers. In a place like a mongolian bbq, you probably need to consider that you are paying for the company you are keeping more than how much food you are getting now.

I believe that if you start drinking 64 oz of Water (or at least some goal you make yourself hit every day) that bloating feeling will go away as you are used to having that much water go through you. I know I feel better when I'm getting in my water every day, but if I go through a period where I'm not, I spend all day running to the bathroom while I get used to drinking so much again. :rolleyes2:

If it were me, and I needed extra work, I'd probably do something like a coffee shop. Not actual food service, like waitressing, or fast food, a coffee shop is somehow different than that (worked in one before). It wouldn't be great paying, but it would be a job you could get with no training and do for a while.

I've never just picked and moved, but if I wanted to, I'd just job hunt in a bunch of places and when I found a place that was willing to give me some time to relocate, that's where I'd move, because I'd know I had a job. :rolleyes2:

I personally didn't have the anxiety you are talking about, because I did all my band research when I had no insurance and no money... My mom and I were talking about a co-worker who had the bypass and was eating a decent amount more than she should have been and I mentioned the band. She said "Wow, that sounds interesting, you should do that, I'll pay for it". I was in the OR a month after that with Dr. Rumbaut. So that didn't leave much time. The night before surgery though, I did burst into tears and I couldn't stop crying for like an hour. I think I HAD anxiety, but I was just too excited to actually notice and my body said "YOU ARE DEALING WITH THIS NOW". heh

My vision has gotten worse over the years since I was about 8 (when I first got my glasses). In the last year or two it has actually started to get better. I went from a contact prescription of -5.25 to -4.25 in a year, and that's a lot faster than the rate at which it had gotten worse over the years. I'm convinced it has something to do with my weight, which is making me consider waiting until I'm at goal before I get lasik to fix them permanently.

Bunkey,

Just take it easy and rest up at the airport whenever you can. I got a bit nauseated on the flight home, but I just tried to sip Water and relax. :drool:

I would say to get an unfill. Maybe even more than a slight unfill. The band is designed to restrict things like chicken breast and veggies... if you are eating Soups and ice cream because they'll go down, it's not going to do you any good.

Surgery in a foreign country isn't quite the crapshoot some people think it is. I've heard of people in the US who had just as bad complications as people elsewhere. Cost was part of why I went to Mexico, but I did pay more for my surgeon than some other surgeons because my research told me how much experience that he had, not to mention the fact that he is a doctor that comes up here and proctors our doctors, in other words, teaches them the banding technique.

The main issue as I see it is that he waited until the last minute to voice is opposition, and then you had a conversation with him in which you seemed to think the issue was resolved. And now that you've HAD SURGERY he's telling you how much he is apposed to it. He should have been saying these things to you from DAY ONE when you told him you were thinking about getting it done, not now. Now it's rather pointless since it's over with. If he'd said these things before, you could have educated him enough to be comfortable with it before hand, or come to terms with the idea that you were going to do it against his wishes, or decided on something else.

It seems like a very large, very unnecessary guilt trip.

Evidently fat stores a lot of estrogen, which is released when we lose weight.

Regarding your comment "with the band I can eat"... post op you will be on a liquid diet for however long your doctor says, and you MUST NOT cheat on that diet. That diet is so that your band can heal properly in place so that you avoid slippage in the future. You wont even be able to have the lettuce and the vegetables you've already been having.

I don't mean to lecture, but it's only been 10 days, and I know at least my post op liquid diet was 3 weeks (between clears and fulls). Then mushies.

Depends on what you mean by coughing. My band was causing me to aspirate at night, which was causing me to wake up in coughing fits (from trying to inhale liquid). There were a few days during this that I did cough a lot during the day, which I attributed to irritation from the night before. I've been unfilled now, and the aspiration is gone.