KarenB

Me too. They did acknowledge electronically that they received my letter, but that's about it.

But I think we caught this one in time. As many of you know, I had a fill on May 27th. Dr. Martinez was on the consevative side knowing I've had fill problems in the past. The 1st 2 weeks it felt like nothing. Then I made a poor choice & PB'd. Went on liquids immediately for 1 day, felt very tight when I resumed eating but I thought it was from that time of the month. Anyway, it was getting worse & worse although I could eat some solids at night so I thought it was getting beter. I think stress could have contributed also, cause my husband is really not doing well & will probably be hospitalized tomorrow or Thursday. Since this weekend it's actually started hurting even when drinking & forget about trying to eat. I called Dr. Martinez today. He told me the following: 1) Maalox or Pepto (hate Pepto) 2 TBSP. 4X/day. Very important to coat the esophogus. 2) Only liquids for 1 week. Slimfast is fine, so not Clear Liquids only, but nothing thick. 3) Crush ALL pills. Anything extended release, call the doctor & find a replacement. I'm o.k. w/all meds except Wellbutrin, have to find out tommorow if there's a plain one, not XR or XL to take. Otherwise I have to go without for a week. I have to call him in a week & let him know how I'm doing (of course before if something is worse, but I doubt it cause I'm already feeling better from the Maalox & that lovely liquid pain med I stil have a little of.) So, that's my story, thought it might be helpful in case anyone else starts to go through the same thing.

I sent a major letter to the editor as soon as I read the article on Friday. I would love it if they printed it. I told them that they should have contacted some happy Mexican bandsters & told them I'd be happy to be interviewed. I also told them that no doctor in the US ever has given me his cell phone #, and many other good things about my experience. Also, I told them that every time I go there, I see the same doctor. Part of the article intimated that you don't even see the same doc when you go back. Let's see what happens with my letter.

I hope you're doing better. Sounds like you good advice here. I would only add from other surgical experience that if the neosporin irritates you, you can switch to plain bacitracin.

I was banded on a Friday & back @ work on Tuesday. I would have gone Monday but was really tired from flying the red-eye. But after I went on Tuesday I took it a little easy the rest of the week, 5 or 6 hour days instead of 7. By the next week I was o.k. I have a desk job w/a lot of walking around the office. Everyone is different. Some people need a week or 2 to recuperate & some do not. During the 1st 2 weeks I did have port-area pain & shoulder pain, but it was manageable. Hope this helps.

Nykee, just curious, how did the ER doctors know how to unfill you?

Oh Nykee, I'm so glad you're o.k., I was so worried about you. You did the right thing. You would have gotten into serious trouble had you not. At least you still have your band. Thank God you're alright. It will take a while for your stoma & esophagus to get back to normal....that gives you some time to save! Once you're in San Diego you can take the bus or trolley to the border, walk across & take a cheap taxi to the office. But don't even think about that now, think positive & concentrate on healing. That's all you have to do. I'm also sensitive to fills, so as I said before, Dr. Martinez is more conservative with me. He had me filled to 2cc's, could have done more, and my daughter was there literally jumping up and down saying yes, yes, yes, after I said "after all my bad fill experiences, maybe you should take out .1cc". It just about killed me to say that! He did, now I'm at 1.9 cc's. Now that I have my period 2 weeks later when I thought I had no restriction, I'm really tight. Go figure! Keep us posted, you're in all our prayers. Best,

Nykee, have you spoken w/Dr. Martinez or Ortiz? If I were going thru what you are I would run either to your aftercare Dr. in Oregon or back to TJ & have some unfilled. I had an experience not nearly as bad as yours, but I was almost totally closed up & I had .7 of a 1.7cc fill removed here on L.I. My fault, but it didn't matter. I couldn't swallow! If you're not feeling better by tomorrow I think you need to get partially unfilled. It's just my opinion, but you shouldn't be going through this! Please let us know what's going on.

Nancy, what a success story. Thank you for posting; it's really inspiring.

I had abdominal surgery for reconstruction after mastectomy. My muscles were cut & I still get pain 1.5 yrs. later. I made sure the banding was o.k. w/my plastic surgeon & he said yes, as long as the Dr. stayed above my belly button. So far, so good! And also my pain is very intermittant; I'm fine for a month then one day it hurts just from getting out of bed the wrong way. Recovery differs for everyone. Within 1 week I was pretty much back to normal & after 2 definately. You can't lift anything heavy for a few weeks. No regrets. Best thing I ever did. Fear of regaining, no, as long as my band is inside me the most I can gain is a couple of lbs. I could gain more if I lived on ice cream, but when I think about how far I've come it just doesn't seem worth it. PB stands for productive burp. It happens when you take too big a bite or eat too fast or beyond the point of fullness. It gets stuck, you salivate a lot & finally it comes up. It also hurts . It's not like truly throwing up, just what got stuck & some goo. PB'ing more than once a week is said to make you more succeptable to slippage. It's very important to know that if you do PB, and most of us do at one time or another, you must go on liquids for 24-48 hours to give your stoma & esophagus a rest. Yes, I had some hair loss after 4 months & it's fine now. Hope that helped.

Hanna was banded on May 27 & she's down about 15 lbs. from before surgery. She's doing great & looking forward to eating food next week!

Darcey, my band is so fickle too. I had a fill 2 weeks ago, felt nothing, got careless & boom, I PB'd & now am really tight. Go figure. That's great news about getting to your goal. Congratulations on that and on your son's graduation.

Barbara, I live on Long Island & flew to Dr. Ortiz myself too. It was fine. Everyone there is really helpful & supportive. Chances are there will be others & you will form a "group". I really, really like Dr. Ortiz & Dr. Martinez. I think they're the best. So much so, that I took my daughter to be banded there 2 weeks ago. The very first thing she said when she woke up was "tell the others that it's not so bad". There were two others being banded that day, and they did my daughter first. I had my banding 6 months ago, and you can barely see any scars except for where the port is. Pack lite & feel free to PM me if you'd like. I told the airline (JetBlue) that I had surgery & that my daughter did & they gave me the bulkhead seat on the aisle on the way home. That was a big help. Dr. Ortiz likes you to come back to him for your 1st fill, but you should have aftercare here lined up. Do you have someone? I know of someone good w/an office in Westchester don't have anyone yet.

Megan, you look great. What an accomplishment. I'm so happy for you.

What a bunch of claptrap. I notice that they don't mention that there is a built in morbity rate just from the bypass surgery alone. Help me out here, guys, is it 1:200, 1:400, something like that.

Christina, so glad to hear you're finally "on the other side". Keep on sipping, baby.

I told my mom 6 months later! She's such a worry-wort & I can't take hearing "I was up all night worring about you". She shocked me by saying that after seeing all that goes on here in U.S. hospitals, she wasn't fazed at all. Now I don't know how she would have reacted before, but that's why I told her later. Also, she was supportive when I told her I was taking my daughter (her granddaughter) to be banded also. Go figure. Flower, I promise you it will be o.k. Maybe we should give her my mom's phone #. We're here for you. Let us know what's happening.

O.K. I found the person. It's Burnsun, and she's posted. Do a search for "nursing" and you will find her. Also on the member list, then you can PM her. Good luck.

I've read somewhere, I don't know if it's here or on another site, about a woman who very successfully nursed after banding. As a matter of fact, she was already nursing, got banded, she & her doc made sure all her liquids had protein (even when on clear liquids, she used Isopure, which is loaded w/protein) & that she was very hydrated. I'll try & find out who it was & pm you.

Jane, look at you! Down 100 lbs. in less than a year and almost at goal. You go girl!

Hi Christina. Glad you're on the other side. Congratulations. Sounds like you're doing great. I had the shoulder pain too. It does go away. Keep us posted!

Jonathan, hang in there. Sounds like you do have a good attitude & you're not gaining weight! When my husband married the 1st time, his brother married her sister. So two brothers were married to 2 sisters. Well the brother & sister stayed married, obviously my husband did not. They stayed friends cause of their son (my step-son) and we definately can't avoid them even if we wanted to! (Weddings, bar-mitzvahs, etc!)

Re: Skim milk, there's something called Skim Plus, which supposedly has the consistancy, not clear, Lisa, of reg. milk, but the fat content (none) of skim. I myself prefer 1%. Besides milk, I eat ricotta cheese (part skim) mixed w/oatmeal. I know, sounds gross, but I love it. I do whole wheat crackers w/1% cottege cheese and try to eat low-fat cheese w/my scrambled egg.

There is also a low BMI study coordinated by Dory Feraro - www.Longislandbariatrics.com. She's the medical director there & the surgical coordinator for a few doctors & this study I think is in NYC or Westchester. (516) 579-0094. I think it's $12,000 total. She works w/very good doctors. I use her for aftercare here. I myself was banded by Dr. Ortiz in Mexico, and I wouldn't trade him for anyone in the world. I think the care I got there was far better than I've gotten in US hospitals. Having survived breast cancer & double mastectomy, that's saying a lot.

That's why I use Stevia. The brand I like is "Stevia Plus" by Sweet Leaf. It contains insulin fiber (we can always use fiber!) and Stevia Leaf extract. Available @ health food stores. Web-site is www.sweetleaf.com I use 1/2 packet or 1/8 to 1/4 tsp. (it comes in packets that I use @ work & keep in my purse, and a plastic bottle for home.) There are other threads on stevia on this site.