cisco29

I chose the lap band for the same reasons as Long2BFree. I did not want my plumbing re-routed. I have a couple of friends that have had the RNY and a couple that had the lapband prior to me. There is really not much difference in the rate of weight loss between the ones with lapband or RNY. The RNY friends did tend to lose faster at first, however, they do have more loose skin than the lapband friends. I am not a doctor or nurse this is just from my observation. In the end this is a personal choice and you will make the right choice for you. I suggest you look at all of the pro's and con's of both surgeries and see which con's bother you the most. I wish you the very best of luck!!:thumbs_down:

I have always had a problem with constipation. I have even gotten impacted a few times. So far everyone has given very good advice. I can tell you that I tried many things, however the only thing that seems to work for me is a tablespoon of benefiber in 1/2 cup of orange juice twice a day. I do this faithfully now to keep myself going. If I miss one day I am constipated. My constipation was so severe that I was having to do an enema atleast two times a week just to relieve the pain. I hope the benefiber works for you! Lots of luck!

Thanks Kat!! I appreciate the encouragement.

Has anyone had trouble with their hair falling out? It has been 4 mos since my surgery and my hair is really thinning. If anyone has any suggestions please let me know.

Darlene: We are in Houston Texas as you have probably figured out by now. I actually live east of Houston. I have been to Dr. Garwood in College Station one time. It takes me a little over 2hrs one way but I will gladly endure the drive for an exceptional Dr. Dr. Garwood did not do my surgery, however he has given me more information and truly appeared to be concerned with me than my original Dr. I would highly recommend Dr. Garwood. I would never recommend the Dr. that did my surgery.

Dr. Garwood did mine and my sisters fill. We are both extremely happy with the whole entire staff.

My sister and I just recently received our first fill with Dr. Gerald Garwood. He was awesome. His whole staff was wonderful. I was very impressed with the entire experience. I would highly recommend them to anyone for fills!!

My sister and I received our very first fill from Dr. Garwood in College Station this past Saturday. Dr. Garwood is wonderful. He was very informative and professional. The whole staff was pleasant and made us feel very important. I would highly recommend them to anyone for fills.

Marivi - Good Luck! I hope you have a wonderful experience. I have not had a fill yet, however, my sister will be getting her first fill on March 8. She is using Dr. Garwood. I will let everyone know how it goes for her.

If you read the post on this site you will be better prepared to ask the right questions. My advice would be ask lots of questions and do research on your doctor. Some questions might be...where will you place my port? What kind of band will you be using and what size? Do you charge for fills and how much? These are all questions I thought I knew the answers to but I was wrong. Good Luck!!

Thanks for the information. I called Dr. Spiegel's office. They said he only does his own patients. I think I might have found a place that will do fills. I'm not sure how good they are but I will probably give them a try. Thanks again!

Does anyone know a doctor that will do fills in the Houston TX area even if someone else did the surgery?

I am looking for a good fill doctor in the Houston TX area. My doctor is here but to be honest I was not impressed with his office. Until my last appt I had only seen my doctor through a company called NeWeigh (they are wonderful). My doctor's office was not impressive. No nurse on staff, just a receptionist. The office is dirty and rundown. I even had to get a wet paper towel to wipe blood off the chair in the examination room so that my husband could sit down. I am 8 weeks post op and have not had a fill yet. I would like to find a good doctor with good facilities that I can trust. Thanks!

DJ, yes the pain was in my chest and in the very same spot in my back. I had very severe reflux prior to surgery and I was under the impression I would no longer need meds after surgery. After my incident the dr finally said it could be reflux and put me on protonix becaue I can break it in half. I have taken it faithfully since and had no problems. I have had some moments where I hurt in my chest because I didn't chew enough but it doisn't feel like the same kind of pain. I had my gallbladder removed before surgery so I'm pretty convinced that it was the reflux. Great job on the 68lb weight loss!

renec : I am finally feeling better after being back on acid reflux medication. I am still having to be very careful. It doesn't seem to take much to irritate my band area and then I just go back to doing liquids for a couple of days. I still have never had a fill. I will be 8 weeks post op and I can still only eat a couple of bites of meat in one meal. I'm not sure with the acid reflux if I will ever be able to get a fill and not be in pain. I understand where you are coming from about how long you can keep dealing with this. My dr. kept acting like my pain was just from overeating. I don't see how that could be when I rarely take in more than 600 to 800 calories a day (200 of which is from chocolate milk). This is what I normally have for breakfast. I hope you figure everything out and keep losing weight. Best of Luck!