Liz1531

I have contacted this doctor in TJ and he only charges $7500 for the surgery and has 12 years and 2500 bands under his belt, but I still would like to hear from someone who has been to him.

Out of desperation I sought out the lap band in 2008. I lost about 20 lbs initially probably from being able to eat very little for the first month. After that not another pound. The only foods I have been able to eat easily are junky foods that slither right down. Eating meat unless extremely moist (usually covered in some sauce) has become a dreaded experience. I have to eat REALLY slowly so eating out with friends is now a chore instead of a pleasure. I have to search the menu for something I can get down within a 30 minute lunch experience and not throw up. Screw the polite term of a PB "Productive Burp".. it's puking lunch back up plus a bunch of slime and sometime's it comes on fast so look out anyone in my way getting to the bathroom. Just last week accidentally took one extra bite too many and puked driving down the freeway. It was DISGUSTING. Is this the life you want to live? Having to puree food by chewing until your jaw hurts? I spent $8500 cash on getting the band and after not losing weight and being disgusted with myself spent another $7500 going back to school and learning about holistic nutrition. I am now armed with the tools I need to eat well but guess what eating meat and veggies beyond a couple bites makes me throw up. So... now I am seeking removal surgery. Learn from my mistake. There isn't ANYTHING wrong with your body and squeezing off part of your stomach isn't the cure. The problem is the way we eat. We eat convenient processed garbage and then blame our metabolism and thyroids. They aren't the problem. Learn how to eat high Protein and low carb. Learn how to make whole food meals that you enjoy. It can be done, I promise you. Hacking your body up doesn't cure the need to binge when we're stressed, nor will it prevent you from downing sweets. It doesn't magically make you feel full. Just because I will throw up if I eat one more bite doesn't mean I'm satisfied. I often find myself sitting at a meal hungry but knowing if I put one more bite in, I will toss it all back up. My band has been empty since 2009 and I still have issues eating! Please think twice about learning ways to make a lifestyle change instead of chopping up your body. And for those of you thinking, oh this is just one tragic person, look at all of the fantastic results stories.. I was you before I got banded. I didn't think I would ever be one of those people that it didn't work out for.

Hi. I want to get my band taken out and was wondering if the post-op recovery is the same as getting banded? I keep hearing of people taking a week off... I was banded on a Thursday evening and back at work by Monday so was hoping it would be the same time frame this time around. Any different pain or experience than getting the band put in? Also, I was self pay and now have BCBS PPO.. anyone have experience getting them to pay for removal?

Of couse I haven't lost because I live on slider foods. I want to eat whole foods but often throw them up or get stuck on them... so maybe the bands are better now but there are still plenty of people out there who are having problems. I want to put out there that it's not all roses, becuase when I was reading posts to make my decision that's all I wanted to see. I didn't believe I would end up one of those bitter people who hate their bands. I was sure this was the answer. If insurance is paying, what have you got to lose? Go for it, but for self pay people, you can spend less money on getting the nutrition guidence and mental support that is needed to be successful at weight loss without having to undergo the knife. I am still paying $200 per month to pay off this surgery that did nothing for me. It has been physically, financially and emotionally taxing and my story deserves to be heard as much as the success stories do.

In response to your msg above... years ago I did Atkins. While tought to give up sweets I lost 40 lbs in 4 months and another 40 within a year without a day of working out and kept it off for 3 years. I got pg, was told Atkins is unhealthy and quit. Gained 70lbs with my baby and have tried calorie counting, working out, weight watchers and lap band surgery and nothing has ever worked for me like good old fashioned eating right. I have now gone to holistic nutrition school and learned Atkins is completely healthy. It's eating the processed starchy food that is unhealthy and I can't wait to get this band taken out so I can eat meat veggies and fruit again and eat enough to feel full. I never feel full with the band. The band physically stops you from eating or you will puke up your food but it doesn't make you feel full and satisfied. I often stare longingly at a piece of spinach and cheese stuffed chicken feeling hungry but only being able to eat a couple of bites. I eat the same portion sizes as my 3 year old and usually get so annoyed with having to chew things to mush that I say screw the healthier Protein on my plate and go right for mashed potatoes.. something I know I can get down and finally feel full.

Let me start by saying I wouldn't reccomend anyone get a band. I reccomend figure out what is healthy? Is it low carbing? Weight Watchers? What works for you? Next, deal with the head issues of stress eating. Because the band won't help you with either of these things. You can still stress eat junk food all day long and the band won't stop you. Now to answer your questions: What kind of scaring is there? 2-4 dots? Yes - Had mine in since 2008 and can see one maybe 1/2 inch scar in port area under left breast and 3 other very small scars in various locations on belly. Can you feel the lap band around your stomach? Yes - if you swallow too big a bite, becomes very painful, you begin to get this awful slime in your mouth and if you can't pass the food down the band (again painful if too large a bite), you will puke it back up. Can you feel the fill port from the outside? Yes you can feel the port very easily. What happens when you are sick and you have to vomit? Can you actually vomit? I was worried about this too and have thrown up with flu and pregnancy a few times. My band area was a little sore, but nothing major. I have heard severe vomitting can cause slippage of the band which can warrant surgical removal. How long do you wear it? The rest of my life? If so, does it need replaced at any point? I believe the shelf life is around 10 years.. not too sure on this though What are the complications that you have heard of? For me.. not feeling like a normal human is enough that I want it OUT. I can't eat out with friends without having to plan a menu of band friendly things like Soups mainly. Often I just pick and then take the food back with me to eat later. I have to eat so slowly and chew so much that my food is generally cold by the time I get to it. Forget eating rice and Pasta.. Eating meat is difficult unless sopped in juices/sauce. The only thing I can eat with never a problem is sweets like ice cream, chocolates and other things that go down easily. Hope this helps.

Hey newbie.. I'm trying to see if I can get insurance to get mine out. I was cash pay, so am not sure they'll approve it. If not, I will be saving for a long time to try and pay cash to get it out. Anywho... I just hate it! I haven't lost weight with it. I can't eat healthy foods because Protein and veggies, even some fruits will get stuck and I puke it all back up. I feel like I can eat all the junk food or chips/crackers I want because it goes down easily, but try and add REAL food, forget it. My hubby tries to cook low carb for me and I'm sitting there with a plate full of food and hungry but can't take another bite of meat without the pain of having it stuck and tossing it back up again. I did get a total unfill when I got pregnant in 2009 and it hasn't really made things any better. Just tired of not feeling normal. I want my body back.

Lyse - my experience has been the same. Went to TJ and weigh actually about 2 lbs more than I did to start way back in 2008. I've hated the band. I try and eat a whole food high protein diet but throw up on meat and veggies unless soaked in some kind of sauce or gravy. The foods that are easy are candy, ice cream, sweets. I have since gone to school to learn about nutrition and can't wait to get my band off soon. Wanted to comment on your inability to lose weight even on low cal. I'd highly reccomend Atkins for you. It is satisfying, gives you lot's of energy and you lose weight easily on it while getting lot's of veggies and healthy proteins.

I got my surgery in TJ and never worried about aftercare because I lived in San Diego. Now I've moved to AZ and NO ONE!!!! will touch me for aftercare. I had a problem where I was so inflamed that I need an unfill ASAP and had to drive 6 hours to TJ because I repeat NO ONE will touch me here. I found a couple doctors who will do it, but they want $1,500-$2,500 to "enroll" me in their aftercare program. What a crock! My insurance company is worthless, because I didn't have the surgery approved and was self pay they won't cover me if I have a problem. My insurance company (Kaiser) only covers Gastric Bypass and I was not the least bit interested in that, so I chose to self pay. You'd think they'd be happy I saved them a buck, but no. They refuse to cover anything band related. I know we ALL think the band will be great and WE won't have a problem but you never know. Fair warning folks!

Just a funny to add to my story... my son was 4 months old when I had the surgery. As soon as I came to after surgery my boobs were ready to explode! They hurt so bad I felt like a zombie as I stumbled down the hallway to the bathroom and leaned over the sink to milk myself. I was so drugged up I don't even know if the milk was making it to the sink. =)

I'm doing fine now thanks for asking. Since the unfill I have gained back every pound and then some since I had the band put in in 2007. I am getting a fill thru Fill Centers on Monday BUT not too crazy about it. They use a nurse to do the fills and don't use Fluro. I thought my doc (Ortiz) was one of the founders of Fills Centers so I'm surprised they allow fills w/out fluro. Last time I was at Ortiz's office the girl in line in front of me had a non-fluro fill and they poked a hole in her band. So this poor girl missed her flight back to wherever she lives because they found this problem and now she has to come back to TJ and pay for surgery to fix the problem. I totally agree with the advice to find follow up care BEFORE you get the surgery. In my case, I am BROKE and really can't afford the cost of the local docs. They all want quite a bit of money. Just wanted to give fair warning to anyone considering MX. (P.S. The surgery itself w/ Ortiz was a breeze!)

I was banded while bf my son. I didn't do a sleep study so that wasn't an issue. I pumped before the surgery, didn't take any of the pain meds and was able to resume feeding him the next day.

Bubble, You ARE misinformed. The price is actually $349 for the 1st appointment/fill and $165 for each add'l fill! You were being too kind in your pricing. I'm still going there though, because I'm OVER spending hours calling every doctor under the sun and trying to get my insurance to pay for aftercare. Screw it, I'm taking my tax refund and signing over to Fill Centers...lol

Why can't they just post the price already? I called today and they charge $349 for an initial visit which includes one fill and around $165 for fills. FYI, I thought that Fill Center would be like a doctors office where I could go for problems, but they are nothing more than the title says, a fill center.

I feel your pain and could have written your post myself! Over a year out and nothing to show for it. I have recently went to school to become a hypnotherapist and each time I got to be the client for another student, we've been working on eating healthier. It has really helped! I am a HUGE carnivor and haven't touched meat aside from fish in about two weeks. I've been CRAVING lot's of colorful veggies and using soy for protein. This is a first for me and it's been really helpful. Just a thought on something else to try. If interested, I would not reccomend a CD. We all know that we have many food demons in our minds or we wouldn't be here. A CD isn't going to do it for you. Weight loss hypnosis is a multi step process in which your behaviors are modified one at a time over a period of time. I wish you the best of luck as I feel the humiliation when people look at me after all this money and time and still no weight loss.

I don't want to be a Debbie downer on your LB journey, but thought that I'd share my updates with you. On this site you hear SO many good things and only a couple negatives that I chose to only hear the good. I never for one second believed that within a year out I wouldn't be at my dream weight. Let me tell ya, I am now nearly at my pre-surgery weight. I had good restriction and ate nearly 1/3 of what I ate pre surgery and lost about 15lbs over a year. They were hard to lose too. Without excercise the weight did NOT budge. I recently became really inflamed and had to have a complete unfill. All of my cravings and ability to eat a lot returned 100%. The insane compulsion for sweets came back and now that I could eat again I quickly gained back all I had lost. I am really struggling to take the weight off. So in my case, my family knows that even WLS can't make my fat @ss lose weight. This has been absolutely humiliating!!! P.S. Everyone keeps saying it's your diet, you don't excercise, etc, etc. I could only eat BARELY 3/4 of a Weight Watchers dinner with my fill, I chase after my son, plan weekend outdoor adventures for excercise and still nothing. The advice I keep hearing is to basically go on an Atkins style diet. I could have done that without spending $8,500! I got the LB so that I could reduce my portion sizes to get healthy, not go back on Atkins. The band has been a godsend to so many and I truely hope this is the case for you.

I am looking to get pregnant at the end of this year but want to lose all my weight first. I gained about 70lb with my first baby and then got the band put in. Please tell me that I am not going to gain a lot the second time around. I am praying the band will help me to only gain 30-40lb with # 2. Please share any of your experiences with me. Thanks so much!!

Just curious if the band has helped any bingers with the urge? I thought I was cured and recently had my band emptied due to inflamation. The second the band was emptied the intense urges have come back. I was wondering if any one else had this problem? I'm beginning to think the urge was not all mental as I believed before. It's not that I can eat now because I still could have binged on ice cream type stuff with the band full, but the urge to stuff was gone and is now back. Trippin me out!!! :thumbup:

I would call the doc ASAP just to check it out. I recently had a LOT of pain while trying to eat and ended up being extremely inflamed and needed a complete unfill. when in doubt have the doc check it out. Good luck!

I haven't heard that before. I do notice that I feel naseaus pretty easily at different times but don't throw up. I would call the doc to to check it out.

Katy, Are you available to mentor? I am DESPERATE for help! You and I sound very similar. I started off at about 225 at 5'2 and went to Dr. Ortiz. I had a 4 cc band and was filled to 2.4cc. I haven't lost anything in over a year because of the band. I went down to about 204 and had to get a complete unfill. I'm now back up to 216 and this is it for me. I have finally hit bottom mentally. I am so depressed that I have put such a burden on my family to pay for this surgery and have been unsuccessful. Not to mention to humiliation of even surgery can't help me. I would love to hear what eating/excercise is like over a days time for you. Thanks!

I got on the scale today and GASP!! I am almost back up to my pre-surgery weight. Can anyone tell what I'm doing wrong? Can someone tell me exactly what to do for one sample day? Eatinig and excercising? Everyone is losing so much weight and NOTHING is coming off for me. Please help!!

Well... I have some updates to post. Gained about five pounds since having all restriction out. I am over the initial urge to binge on everything in site as I was when I could first eat again. I am now only about ten lbs less than when I had my surgery 14 months ago. So much for the miracle tool I had dream of (and paid $9000 for). I am a hypnotherapist and had a colleague do a session on me this weekend to make me not like chocolate and by george it worked! The only problem is I still want something sweet, just not chocolate. I'll have to just list sugar at my next session! I know that is what's keeping me fat, not from eating badly all day. Even with the band filled, I just needed to quit on the sugar because my portion sizes were fine. Agh... will I ever know skinny jeans again?

<HR style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #d9d9d9; COLOR: #d9d9d9" SIZE=1> Hello all! I've been banded over a year now and well it's just this thing in my body that makes it difficult for me to eat but hasn't really helped me in any life altering way to lose weight. Anyhoo, on Friday I noticed pain when trying to eat and since then have not even been able to get mushies down. I struggled with a bowl of yogurt and granola (broken up tiny granola) this morning. I had a hard time eating ice cream last night even. Oh and I know what your thinking (ice cream, no wonder she's not losing)!! But let me assure you the ice cream is out of sheer desperation as I was so hungry and didn't have anything else on hand that should go down easily. Tonight it has taken me nearly five hours to get down a completely melted (water consistancy) smoothy and it HURT going down. Every drop! Okay, I was going off track for a minute. So, here's the thing, I've moved out of state and my doc is in TJ. I am BROKE and have no insurance and no doctor to go see. So, I am trying to figure out what is going on with me so I can plan my next move. Any advice is appreciated!!!

Hi Jack. 1st let me say thank you for being here for all of us! You are awesome. I don't know what was happening with me, but even to drink liquids was extremely painful. It had the feeling of swallowing a giant piece of meat and it painfully making it's way down your throat. My doctor finally called me back and said to go on 100% liquids for five days. I did that and am feeling much better. I go in for a slight unfill on Saturday. I even gained 2 lbs during my liquid fast. How does that happen? I juiced veggies and fruit every day and drank smoothies and water for five days and still couldn't lose! Agh!!!!