legallyblonde2

yeah your right. i was merely trying to protect someone from suffering my fate. what a sweet person you are. i appreciate your support. dr.lopez's victim have all but stopped posting. i hope they are alive. i can now see why they have given up trying to warn anyone else. it gets you nothing but headache. thanks again! your kind words mean the world to me.

Still waitingfor someone to answer my questions? 1.What does Dr Lopez say about his unusally high number of slips and complications? 2.What does he say he will do for you when your band slips because of his poor placement? 3. Does he NOW promise that he will return your phone calls when they are regarding a life threatening problem? 4. His asst. will do all the fills. You will never see him again. Is that o.k with you? Again, off to job number 2 after only 3 hours of sleep. Good times! This time next year I will be ALMOST paid off I hope. Christine:faint:

Please please ask Dr Lopez's staff why they wouldn't call/write/smoke signal/ me back when my band slipped and I needed help so badly. His staff said people who have negative comments aren't really pts? What else do you think they are going to say? Can I fax you my paperwork or other form of proof? People can bury their heads in the sand if that's what is more comfortable. Those of us who have been hurt by Lopez are merely trying to warn others. Remember, I was happy in the beginning also. I learned a painful lesson and feel a duty to share it with others. Gotta run. Have to get to job number two (after 4 hours sleep) so I can pay off all my surgery costs. THANKS Dr. Lopez! Christine:faint:

Imagine my surprise when I haven't been on this board in a long time and suddenly log on and find my posts here! I just want to YELL these two things!!! 1. How can anyone say they have read this site and not heard of all the Lopez Corvala horror stories???? You just haven't looked. Enter his name. Its all here! 2. It is really pretty simple.....IF something bad happens to you (God forbid) will your Dr step up to the plate and fix it or will he ignor you?? Many months later will his office asst call you and tell you that Lopez corvalas asst might be willing to do your revision for $4,000.00 plus hospital costs. Total $7,000.00. I paid $9,000.00 for the stinking thing in the first place!!!!!!! My slip was confirmed by 2 US surgeons to be that of poor placement. Perfect band pt be damned. All that work for what? We who have have been hurt by Lopez have every right to share our stories and express our anger at his incompetence. Read my posts....I was living in denial at first also. So sad. :faint:

Dr Billy in Ventura. Only 1 hour away. Well worth the drive.

Everyday when I think about how much money I still owe on that worthless LOPEZ surgery......it boils my blood. Now, I owe an additional $15,000.00 to my credit card for Dr Billy to do my revision! That $9,000.00 I threw away for Lopez to botch my surgery, was a total waste. I wish I would have just gone to Billy in the first place. The reason I wrote was to say that when Billy took out my slipped Lopez band....he gave it to me. It sits in my sock drawer. Lopez failed me back in 2003. Dr Billy fixed me in Jan 2007. Those of you who praise the wonders of Dr Lopez have just not had your problems yet. Just wait. He will ignor you just as he has done the rest of us. I was confused at first also. P.S...who does your fills? Lopez PROMISED he would personally do my fills. I never saw the man again. He had his flunky asst. do it. Delara, Please add my name to your list of people who have been hurt by Lopez. Warmly, Christine

Went for a fill yesterday and my doctor actually said that I was IMAGINING my caffeine withdrawl headaches!!!! I couldn't believe he was serious. I thought he was smarter than that. Christine

Both. Didn't even know I had one.

Great question and let me know what you find out. I am 8 days post op and feel like I could ride now. But should I?

On January 16th I had revision surgery. I had my first lap band surgery back in Nov 2004. My band slipped about 6 months ago. I was originally banded in Mexico by Dr. Lopez. I feel like I am in a very small club of those who have had lap band surgery twice. I learned a lot with each surgery. Here is what I know to be true for me…. 1. Surgery in the states rules!!! What I thought was adequate care in Mexico turns out to pale in comparison to the care I received here in the good old USA. I felt such a sense of relief knowing that if something went wrong, I was totally taken care of. Waking from surgery and looking out to see my surf spot was priceless. My dad driving 15 minutes to pick me up was beautiful. Being so close to friends and family was great. Having staff that spoke English was calming. (I speak fluent Spanish but don’t want to have to think when I don’t feel good) 2. The gas pains after surgery are much worse than the incision pains. With both surgeries, I was out of bed 4 hours after surgery and walking the halls. This time, I walked all night long because the gas between my shoulders was so bad. I am now 6 days post op and I still feel some gas. Now let’s not confuse this gas with flatulence! But what a topic that turns out to be this time!!!!!!!!!! 3. Poop and farts……..With a liquid diet and vicodin…..my bowels decided to hibernate. It wasn’t until day 4 following surgery that I was able to poop. 2 bowel movements in 6 days is not my idea of proper function. And the farts! I almost lost my boyfriend this weekend due to my indiscretion. We were in a car for 2 hours and for some reason, I was exceptionally gassy and out of control. He is very old fashioned in that regards and still doesn’t believe that that came out of his precious girlfriend. It made me sick. 4. I am now $24, 000.00 in debt because of this lap band. It breaks my heart everyday to think about it. I have no insurance and this all came out of pocket. I wish Dr Lopez would have done a COMPETENT surgery in the first place so I wouldn’t have had to have this revision. 5. I am expecting to loose my hair in a few months. At least this time I will be prepared. 6. Liquid vicodin is the nectar of the Gods. Christine

Dr Helmuth Billy in beautiful Ventura California will do it for $15,000.00 and that includes all follow up/fills.

Dr Lopez has poor technique. I was told that he had done more surgeries than anyone before I went. But who can say with the Mexican surgeons? How can you prove anything with them? If something goes wrong with them, they are not held accountable for their actions. I know others have had positive experiences with Mexico surgery but having had it done in both places......I pick the USA! So, in conclusion.....he put it in wrong. He also refused to take my calls when I asked him for help. Nice.

I bet you will be o.k. I haven't heard of anyone going bald for ever! Even people who get alopecia (?) grow hair back. Remember Princess Caroline of Monaco? She has beautiful hair once again. They do make cute wigs these days and short cuts can be good. My revision surgery is this week and I fully anticipate losing my hair again. I think I will look forward to losing weight again and try not to focus on my balding. EASIER SAID THAN DONE!!! :phanvan

O.K....so I'll ask this again......what do the doctors have to tell someone who made 100% sure that they consumed more than enough protein???? What about the fact that I saw a dermo, an endocrenologist, a nutrition counselor, and a palm reader. Took supplements, ate right, slept tight, and did whatever I was told? My hair fell out....it grew back....I still shed like a cat....I have lint rollers in my room, in my car, in my office, at my boyfriends, at my friends house, and one in my gym bag. Urgh!:faint:

Kat817, I have a very very similar story. It was nice to read a familiar tale. When my hair grew back after chemo, at least I knew what was happening. Nobody mentioned the possibility with the band. Thats what made me so angry. Not to mention that there still is no definitive professional explanation for it. Like you, I did EVERYTHING I was supposed to do. I took every suppliment known to man. I drank the disgusting tea, I rubbed on the lotions and potions, etc! Made me crazy! I am having revision surgery next week and will just expect it to fall out again. Oh well. Maybe its time for a change. Warmly, Christine:)

I am happy I found this thread. I am seeing Dr Billy this week and I will BEG him to do my revision surgery ASAP!!!! I can't stand this anymore!!!! I have been living with this slip for the last 6 months. I have gained almost 20 lbs and I am MISERABLE!!! Now heres the worst part. I have no insurance. None! I have been out of work for 6 months and have absolutely NO money. I plan to just be a "private pay" patient and live with the outcome. Dr Billy can't even be sure if he can fix my band at all. Worst case senario is I wake up with no band and thousands of dollars in debt. OH GOD! I can't stand the thought. P.S Dr Billy thinks my slip was due to 100% poor doctor placement. So, to all who still think Dr Lopez is "great" and "wonderful", I hope none of you have to go through this drama. Christine Banded by Dr Lopez Corvala (worst mistake a person could make):faint:

I am miserable! My band slipped about 7 or 8 months ago and Dr Billy took all the fill out. I have MINOR restriction and the weight is returning with record speed!!!! I am so depressed about the weight gain. I had gotten to the point where I felt so good about my body. I wore a bikini and looked good. Dr Lopez did my original surgery (I know this comes as no surprise to anyone) and when I tried to contact him.....guess what???? He won't return my calls. I finally got an email from his assistant saying that they could revise my surgery for an additional $4,000.00. So here I am.... 1. No insurance. 2. NO MONEY! 3. Dr Lopez won't fix his mistake (although I realized this going into it) 4. A non working band 5. A fat body that depresses me. If it weren't for the amazing Dr. billy....I would have jumped off the Ventura Pier long ago. Dr Billy wants to help me but without insurance, what's a girl to do? P.S I was an excellent bandster and I followed all the rules. I would take it extremely personally if someone tried to blame my silp on me. Christine

I did online dating for 6 years. I even wrote a book (to be published in Jan 07) I met thousands of men. Some truely horrible ones, some psycho ones, some scary ones, many many liars, some great ones and some that were just not a "match." Why anyone would take the time to write to someone with a negative comment still baffles me. I got those once in a while also. I never wrote back and just blocked them. That is what they want....they want your response. Here is the biggest thing I learned from all my experience..... You MUST be honest! When I first went on line, I posted head shots and no full body photos. I thought, "I have a pretty face and a good personality, when he meets me, he won't mind the weight." Every single time I met someone, they were disapointed. Of course they were! I had decieved them. A close friend (a man) sat me down and had a heart to heart with me. I would cry to him about each date not going anywhere and the guys didn't seem interested. He pointed out that it was my weight. So heres what I did. I took myself offline, got the lapband, lost weight, took lots of full body photos, posted a brutally honest profile, and found the love of my life. After I lost weight, I dated a plastic surgeon, an ENT, firefighters, attorneys, a semi famous actor and various other super handsome guys. Men that wouldn't have looked twice at me when I was heavy. The funny thing was that I thought I would be happy dating these handsome men. Men I had always dreamed of. I wasn't. I realized that these men wouldn't have liked me heavy. I found that shallow. What if I was in a car accident or otherwise scarred or disabled? I got really really bitter about the whole thing. In the end, I found the one man who I KNOW loves me for me. I know that he would have loved me before. He is a 250lbs bald hispanic man who looks like he is going to stab you in the eye. People see us together and ask me "if I am o.k?" As if he is kidnapping me. Truth is, he is the sweetest man on earth, a cop, has a genius level IQ, calls me his queen, and is everything a girl could want. To be honest, I would never have looked twice at him. Fat or skinny. He's no George Clooney. However,I love this man more than I even thought possible. Whats the moral to my story..... 1. You can find great people online. 2. You need to be 100% honest about yourself. 3. Don't think twice about rude people. Karma works. 4. Be super careful!!!! 5. Have fun. 6. As we get older, looks aren't so important and a persons character is more attractive. Christine

I have suffered on and off from depression and anxiety. Over the years I have tried every med. I TOTALLY agree about the withdrawls! So sorry to hear about that. For me, and only for me, I have finally found a combo that works. I take Lexapro and ocassionally Zanax. Do they make it harder for me to loose weight????? I think YES. P.S Not that anyone asked but, as a very sexual person, I find it almost unbearable that it takes an act of congress for me to have an orgasim on these meds. Now there is a side effect my doctor never mentioned.:phanvan

I am going down again this weekend and my boyfriend has talked me into driving the rental car down but we will park at the hotel in downtown S.D (fancy hotel with valet parking) and take the trolley into T.J. I will never see that car again I realize. At least nothing bad happen to us physically. JUST BE CAREFUL MY FRIENDS.

I think this is a great forum to share my story. I went to T.J this weekend for the bike race between Rosarito and Ensenanta. 51 miles!!!! I finished. I thought I was going to die. Anyways.....Sunday morning at the Travel Lodge Hotel in San Ysidro (U.S side of the border) my car was stolen. The police officer said it is a sad and common occurance. He said my poor little Honda Accord is probably a mere skeleton of his former self and now living in Mexico. I lost $3,000.00 worth of bikes, a digital camera, my fiancees police badge and ID, glasses, clothes, etc...... Here is what I learned about my experience.... When I need to go back to T.J for medical care, and I will go back, just NEVER to Dr. Lopez!!!!!!! I will take the train from L.A to San Diego. I just don't want to risk taking my car (what car??? when I get another car) down there. Or perhaps if I take my car...I will leave it in a better place in a more central San Diego location. Just thought I would share. Christine:think

Just search this site for Lopez info and you will find all you need to know. All these unhappy people can not be wrong. He is DANGEROUS and has no moral integrity.

Two things..... 1. Stand your ground in court! Fight. They want to scare you and see if you will just quit. Trust me on this one. I know. 2. I went to Mexico this weekend. Everything went fine until I woke up yesterday to find my car had been stolen out of the parking lot at the Travel Lodge in San Ysidrio. PLEASE BE CAREFUL EVERYONE WITH YOUR CAR!!! I found out the hard way that cars are stolen very frequently!!!! Christine :faint:

Just stay away from Dr. Lopez!!!! I am going to T.J in an hour to have botox and other stuff done. I will not let my bad experience with Lopez keep me from the good stuff.

Lopez never did write me back regarding my slipped band. I finally got a note from his assistant. She said I could come back down for revision surgery and pay $4,000.00. RIGHT! Where will that money come from???? Hows about saying, "you know, I screwed up and I need to fix what I did. I will take responsibility." Ha! On a side note.....I left there with all my records. Karma is a bitch. Christine p.s without a fill....I am slowly putting on weight and feel scared and sad. If it weren't for Dr. Billy, I would be hopeless.