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I am newly banded and living in Ottawa. I've noticed that other cities have support groups, and would like to start one here. Anyone out there interested? Please PM me with contact infor if you are and I'll be in touch and we can get something organized. thanks, Christine

After having my band for 14 months, I have recently started to get a ton of gas. Its really painful and nasty. Today pain under my solar plexus was so sharp I thought I would pass out in the bank. I'm going to have a defill and do fluids and have my band looked at under fluoro, because all this pain doesn't seem right

I've had the band just over a year and have been happy with it.yesterday I took some medication that I had a violent reaction _ I dry heaved and ultimately vomited a small amount of pinky stuff. Today what little I was able to eliminate,also had blood streaks in it. What is the deal with vomiting when you have a lapband.Has anyone got any information on this? I wonder if the force of the dry heaves has compromised my stomach where the band is.... I'm doing clear liquids....

does anyone here have a direct cell number for either DR. Gonzalez or Valenzuela. I need to reach either of them pretty urgently. Please PM me with it....

I'm going to have to miss it as I have a business trip this coming weekend. But I will be with you guys in spirit. Keep up the good work.

I have 3.5 in a 4cc band. I started with 2.5 and it wasn't enough. I lost weight int he month post op and then stopped losing. After the second fill ( october 27) I've lost 16 pounds in 6 weeks. I pb whenever i forget to chew and I am 'tight' - I can't really eat in the morning, so I have a protein shake. Lunch is small and dinner is about 1 - 1 1/2 cups of WELL chewed food -whatever I like. I some days have to work to get in 1200 calories. I should have a bit of an unfill but for the most part this is working well for me . I am not hungry. Let me repeat that - I am NOT hungry - that really blows me away.

SWISS CHALET lunch is ON !! I will 'hold ' a table under the name " Bandster" so all of you that are coming, just ask when you arrive. ANyone considering being banded and living in Ottawa is welcome to join us. WE are meeting tomorrow, November 24th at the Swiss Chalet at Carling and Kirkwood ( just off the Queensway) at 12 noon. It should be great! I look forward to meeting you all and getting some advice and sharing stories. Again all are welcome,even if you have just been lurking and are considering this... see you tomorrow!.

I'm pm'ing and emailing anyone I cna find on the Ottawa threads about this gathering. I hope that we can get a good group together. If you haven't posted and are lusend me an email message and or PM to let me know that you are coming.

OK Ottawa folks, ANyone already banded or interested in talking to those of us in Ottawa who have been banded, I propose the following- Saturday November 24th at 12:00 noon at the Swiss Chalet at Kirkwood and Carling ( Hampton Mall) Its just off the highway. Please let us know if you are in!!!

the only thing I'm losing is my mind!!! I've had a fill, am quite restricted and am tracking my food on Fitday- AND I'm being honest, I had my fill on about the 25th of October. I lost 8 pounds in as many days, since I could barely swallow anything until dinner time . In the past 2 weeks since the big loss, I've lost 1 measly pound..Some days I have had as little as 583 calories ( due to pb'ing and lack of hunger), and have maxed out at 1257 calories on a whooeee big day. I exercise ( curling 2 hour games) 3- 4 times a week and have felt weak at times. I am rarely hungry - what a concept, BUT I AM NOT LOSING WEIGHT!!!!:help::help: admittedly I do have a glass of wine or two several evenings, but that can't be making me hold onto the weight-can it? I count the wine in my calorie count. I went to see my family doc today and told her about the banding - about going to Mexico, which she was surprised about but quickly ok with when I told her about my research and rationale. SHe had no clue about nutrition stuff...but theorized that I wasn't getting enough calories. I think its too early for my body to go into shut down mode after only one week of calorie deprivation.... :guess any ideas?

OK Gang, ANyone already banded or interested in talking to those of us in Ottawa who have been banded, I propose the following- Saturday November 24th at 12:00 noon at the Swiss Chalet at Kirkwood and Carling ( Hampton Mall) Its just off the highway. Please let us know if you are in!!!

THanks all. This morning I was down 1 1/2 pounds-Finally some movement. I suspect alcohol may be the culprit but I'd hate that to be true!

HI all, I have recently had my 2nd fill and now have 3.5 cc in a 4cc band. I cannot drink Water in the night. I cannot do anything but Protein shakes in the morning, mushies ( soup- purees) around lunch and real food chewed VERY well at dinner> at first I thought I was too tight, and that I'd have trouble getting enough nutrients, but I'm OK. I do a Protein shake int he morning and eat a protein Peanut Butter bar sometime in the afternoon. I eat a chewable Vitamin in the morning and a chewable Calcium or two in the afternoon. I drink V* with lunch, which ( if I've had some tea a bit earlier) can even be something like tuna, but is usually beef vegetable soup. SOmetimes I have a yoghurt for a snack. dinner is about 1 cup of food and tonight I even had some Pasta and it didn't get stuck. The danger for awhile was that I was hungry in the evening and I would eat then. Now I have a BIG dinner of solids ( a cup or so ) and I'm so full I can barely move. I'm losing less quickly now that I'm pb'ing less, which is because I have figured out what works and doesn't. Yesterday I tried to eat a wee piece of banana in the morning - just to see if it would go down- nope - it came back up. Currently I'm ok with this level of restriction, but will see how it feels as I carry on. I am seeing a 1-2 pound loss per week. Of course I think it should be WAY more, given how little I am eating.. but it is what it is.

Hi Wanna run free, I am a patient of Ortiz's - that is , I was banded by him several months ago. I don't consider myself to be his patient because I am out of sight and therefore out of mind. The operation was fine, I think, but the whole thing did feel like an assembly line. A patient that was banded by him that day never even talked to him - not before or after her surgery. Odd. Afterwards there was no follow up - at all. No calls, no emails, nothing. I was delivered to the hotel, and picked up to go to the border the next day by the driver. I got great follow up from a doc in Mexico that I almost went with, whose clinical doc contacted me a week post op to see how I was doing!!! I continue to be in touch with him and get great follow up advice from him. I recently recommended that a friend of mine NOT go to Ortiz because of the lack of aftercare. ( She went to the other guy in Tijuana and had a good experience) About a month after my surgry, I contacted Ortiz ( and he did call me back - from the gym). I asked about the after care and he said ( and this is a quote) " We looked at it and decided that follow-up isn't cost effective" I was stunned. This in a field where there are risks to the patient if there is no follow-up. Perhaps Mexican doctors can't be sued. For sure, I had to sign some document ( in Spanish!!!!) releasing him and his clinic from any liability.....should something go wrong. Anyhow, I had thought he was a good surgeon based on the excellent marketing job he has done- right from the (paid) informercial interview on his website to his book, I assumed I would get great care. I hope that technically I got a good surgery. I have since learned that the band he put inside me was an old one- the fill doc said he must have been using up an old stockpile.... This is irritating because newer ones were available that have smaller softer ports and I have to live with this hard thing- because he was cutting corners. I asked for a video of my surgery ( which many docs routinely provide) and I was sent a 20 second clip of the band being positioned, rather than a full 30 minute video of the surgery. I needed it to show my doctor here at home for other medical reasons and the thing that was sent was useless. Why doesn't he routinely provide full videos like other docs do? So my experience post op has not been positive- not life threatening or anything - just not positive. I now would have concerns about any docs who do not have a dedicated staff person in place taking care of patients post op, who do not have a post op follow-up system/schedule in place. Giving you a phone number to call if 'you' think something is wrong is not follow-up, unless you are a board certified MD and are well versed in signs and symptoms of post surgical problems. While there has been some talk about stats on other threads - I have come to see them as a red herring. As you are making your decision, talk to the clincial docs that support the surgeons themselves, not the patient coordinators, whose job it is to sell you.Ask what the followup regime is - get specifics. If they are vague- beware. There are certainly some docs to stay clear of- those who have not done many surgeries ( and those who just do lap bands). I think its useful to have someone with a broad range of surgical experience- someone who teaches surgical ( and laproscopic) techniques, because if something comes up during your surgery , you want someone who had lots of general surgery experience who has seen it all, done it all. The lap band operation is pretty easy by operation standards, I've been told. ALso important though is someoen who has been doing it for awhile, since the way in which the operation is being done has changed over the years. (Now they stitch the band into place to reduce slippage risks.) anyhow, those are someof my opinions on the Ortiz question.I'm hoping he's a good surgeon.The post by vicky is certainly concerning. I can't say that I'm surprised.

If you re like me, before the band it would have been a fritter, a donut and a cruller, because it was important to taste them all- wouldn't have wanted to miss out on a single taste experience. Now, our ability to have little tastes, small portions, 1/2 portions is a gift! Also I think its part of the journey- its important that we don't feel deprived. I want to be able to eat what everyone else eats- except in smaller portions. Right now I'm quite tight - can only do liquids in the morning, mushies in the afternoon and small portions of real food, as long as its moist in the evening. I had a fill with DR. G in late October. I wasn't banded by him, but have switched to him for my aftercare, and am quite impressed by his team. I've lost some weight now since the fill ( 10 pounds) which is good as I had plateaued after my first fill.:whoo: I'm doing some research on lap bands and aftercare for a project that I am involved with. If any of you DR. G patients are willing to talk to me about your experience, could you PM me with your contact info.:help: I'm a friend ( read my other posts). I ran into NM Sunshine when I was getting my fill , so she can vouch for me.

HI all, I had my second fill and am definitely feeling restriction. Need to watch the consistency of what I eat and slow way down. But Aza, I have heard and read that sodas ( anything carbonated is a no no as the carbonation stretches the pouch and is bad after any kind of bariatric procedure. My doctor said to stay away from it for 6 months to a year.

Is re-using the fill needle an accepted practice? I went for my first fill and the fill doc said that the next time he'd save my needle. Strikes me that it would be unhygenic......:paranoid Anyone else experienced this? Also does anyone know if the needles used to fill swedish bands are the same ones used to fill inamed bands?

with whom?

As far as I know no insuracne in Canada covers this ( except the provicne of Quebec- go figure) unless you have BMI of over 40 and significant co-morbidities.... and even so most still don't cover bariatric surgeries.... I have heard that Allergan has a patient specialist that knows about insurance companies- you could connect with them.

wow - this does not sound good!. It sounds as though you're too tight if you can't eat solids at all. The band is meant ( I thought- but I'm a newbie so what do I know) to work by limiting the amount of solids we can eat, not by having to eliminate them. What does your doc say about this? 3-4 pounds a week is great - I'm sure, but it sounds like you are really having a rough go of it to get there. I had a hernia repair too, but I don't believe it would be a factor in throwing up. I met a woman the other day when I went for my first fill. She was having 1/2 cc removed because she was experiencing what you are describing.. Maybe 1/2 cc unfill would help.

I got my first fill early in the week and have had the not so great expereicne of now pb'ing 3 times in 5 days. But if I chew well I can still eat a fair bit of food. I'm also having trouble giving up my wine with dinner, even though I managed fine for a month after the surgery ( and lost 15 lbs-hmmmm...) anyhow, I'm worried if I get more of a fill, I'll pb more,even though its clearly related to when I don't chew well enough any advice?

I just had my first fill this past monday and have experienced 3 pb's so far- not chewing enough!!!!! Very not fun! but I also don't have a sense of a smaller stomach, in that if I chew well I can still eat a good amount of food- almost as much as before the band. I have 2.5 ccs in a 4cc /10cm inamed band. My weight loss has stalled since I went onto solids.

Yes, I was banded in mid August. It was fine but there is no follow-up and he is arrogant. He told me a few weeks later thta 'follow-up is not cost effective."There are lots of good docs in TJ, some of whom show a real commitment to followup. I also recently learned that the band he put in me is an older version - he must have a stock pile that he is working through.I didn't know about the poor followup when I booked and based on my experience would not have gone to him, if I knew then what I know now. Having said that - it was fine- and if you've already committed you will be fine. Just make sure that you set up some aftercare back home. Where do you live? Feel free to PM me if you want more info- I have what I think is an interesting story to tell

same experience for me. I was generally sore at my sternum, by my port and then had nasty gas pains for about 10 days. Call your doc though and describe what you're feeling to make sure.

Does anyone know of Canadian docs that do fills under fluoroscopy? And if so, will they do patients of other docs? I've read that its good to get fills done this way - at least the first one... does anyone have any opinions on this?