urbrdfs

Hi - I was banded by Dr. Aceves in September 2005 and have had no problems at all. Personally, I took a week off at work (and amvery glad I did). I could have possibly went back a day or so sooner, but choose to just take the leave. Dr. Aceves told me that in the case of a band slip it is not "life threatening" so you would have time to fly back over to them to get it repaired and/or find someone in the states to do the repair. Nina (Dr. Aceves co-ordinator) is wonderful about trying to set up flights/coverage to the hospital etc for clients that need fills. Because of the length of the flight (I live in GA) I choose to have my fills done through fillcenterusa which are located in various areas throughout the states. Hope this helps.

Does one ever get use to a fill? One day I can eat one thing and have absolutely no problem, the next week eat the very same thing (cooked by the same person, same time of day) and I'm PBing. I just don't get it. It's been 3 months since I've had my first fill (2.5cc) and just when I think I've got it all figured out.....here comes the pbing again. Any suggestions?:omg:

My first fill was 2.5 cc and it is toooo tight. I have struggled with it for a couple of months now and will go next weekend to have some taken out. It has caused me to have acid reflux (which I have never had before) which is a nightmare. If I had to do it over, I would have insisted that it not be more than 2.0.

I did not upgrade on the return home, however after flying for 6 1/2 hours I wish I had. If I had to do it over, most definitely I would upgrade on the return home. Bette

No, I went to Florida (Zephryhills). At the time I had my fill they did not have the Nashville center open. When I go back for another one I will probably transfer to the Nashville Center since it is closer. Good luck. Bette

No, I went to Florida (Zephryhills). At the time I had my fill they did not have the Nashville center open. When I go back for another one I will probably transfer to the Nashville Center since it is closer. Good luck. Bette

Through fillcenterusa they do have a center in Nashville, TN that does fills/adjustments (which at this time would be the one closer to you . After the initial $299 to join the plan, you pay $155 for a fill (without fluro) and $200 with fluro. Go to their website you and you can read all about it. Once you join they have a program that you enter your food intake on a daily basis and it keeps up with all of the calories, Protein etc. for you. Pretty neat. Bette

Through fillcenterusa they do have a center in Nashville, TN that does fills/adjustments (which at this time would be the one closer to you . After the initial $299 to join the plan, you pay $155 for a fill (without fluro) and $200 with fluro. Go to their website you and you can read all about it. Once you join they have a program that you enter your food intake on a daily basis and it keeps up with all of the calories, Protein etc. for you. Pretty neat. Bette

Go to fillcenterusa. They have a location in TN which wouldn't be too far. After the initial fee your fills are only $155 without fluro and $200 with. Hope this helps. I'm in GA and everyone I looked for wanted much more than this (I am also a Mexico patient). Seems they don't want to touch us.

I have, since my last fill of 2.5cc, gotten the hicupps after every meal and often simply drinking fluids. Usually, if I even eat one more bite I will PB....so to me that is a way of saying "okay, this is enough." However, it can be very embarassing when you are out in a restaurant. I personally think mine is because I am a little too tight, but then again who knows? Bette

Most doctors will say around 6 weeks. I had my surgery in Mexico also and that is what he recommends. Have you decided who will do your fills? Will you be going back to Mexico for them and/or have some one in the US do them?

Hi Dee Dee - I live in Griffin, GA (about 30 miles south of Atlanta). I was banded, in Mexico by Dr. Aceves, September 9, 2005. I love my band, however am a little restricted at this point and having some problems. Do you know of any support groups in our area? I would love to be able to attend one; I feel we all need to be able to go somewhere to that support. Bette

Butch, Don't know if you already know this, but if you go through fillcenterusa Dr. Grossbard is on their list. You do have to pay $299 to enroll, however the fills after that are only $155 and $200 if done under fluro. Bette

Flew from Atlanta to San Diego on 9/9/05 @ 6am. Picked up by driver in San Diego around 11:00 am then driven to Alma Hospital in Mexicali, Mexico (about a 3 hr drive). I was met at the hospital by Yolanda (Dr. Aceves' coordinator) which informed me of the things that would be taking place. Yolanda is a very lovely lady, very informed (was previous a professor at one of the colleges). I was then checked into a room and immediately they started running test for my surgery (X-rays, bloodwork, ekg, etc., I had elected to have surgery the same day I arrived). Dr. Aceves came into my room sat down and talked with me. He is a very soft spoken, kind, and very knowledgable man. He began to demonostrate the band (he had brought one with him), telling me how everything worked, the good and the bad. He made me feel very comfortable answering all questions patiently without making me feel he needed to be seeing the next patient. He understands English very well, but when he speaks you have to pay attention to get it all. Around 1pm I was taken into surgery, 54 min later I was in recovery. I stayed in recovery for an hour then wheeled back to my room. I was expecting lots of pain (according to everything I had read), but it was more "pressure" than pain (for me anyway). By that evening I was up and walking some. Dr. Aceves came by that night, before leaving the hospital to check on me and to ask if I needed a sleeping pill. The nurses checked on me continually throughout the night giving me pain medicine (through my iv) every 3 hours. The next day I walked a good bit because it makes you feel so much better. Sunday, after lunch, Yolanda came by, got the papers for me to check out and took me to the hotel. The driver picked me up the next morning (Monday) around 7am to go to the airport. I did not get back to GA until 10:45pm (a very long trip). The worse thing for me was the flight returning home; sitting that long with the seatbelt over that area was very uncomfortable, even tho I had on very loose clothes. Probably had the flight not been so long (7 hours) it would not have been nearly as bad. I had taken the following week off and basically I just took it slow. I have a 16 year old daughter that helped me alot, but within a day or so I was fine. I was on clear liquids for 2 weeks which actually wasn't that bad. The people at work simply thought I was just drinking tea or something. I had not told anyone at work because I simply did not want to hear their opinion about me leaving the country for my surgery. On November 23rd I went to get my first fill. They could not locate the port (done without fluro). I had to schedule another location a couple of weeks later to get the fill done under fluro. On December 12th/2005 I went to receive my fill (under fluro) and was given a 2.5cc. By the end of December I knew that my fill was too restricted, however, at their request continued to try to work with it. I basically drank my breakfast and often my lunch, sometimes I could eat something like soup for lunch and then by around 5:30pm I could eat like most bandsters do - protein, veggies etc. I struggled through January and February and was pretty much okay other than still unable to eat in the mornings. In March I received some very disturbing news about my daughter that was and still is very stressful. I started having acid reflux during the night; waking up strangling. I contacted the center and they still think I do not need to have a slight unfill; they want me to "work around" this problem. They did put me on medication which I have been on for 3 days now. However, it is only a 14-day treatment so after this I am not sure what will happen. The good news is that I have lost 45 lbs plus 18 lbs before surgery which amounts to 63 pounds. I am very thankful for the band; I would never have lost this much without it. :clap2: 3/16/06 I have an appointment to go get some of the fill taken out. Still having reflux pretty bad; the little food and little sleep is like waaay too much. 4/21/06 Drove to Nashville to have a portion of the fill removed and they could not find/hit the port (after 4 or 5 sticks...ouch). I was sooooo dissappointed after a 6 hour drive, the cost of gasoline, the cost of a hotel room etc. So...I now have an appointment in Tampa, Fla to have the fill completed under fluro. 5/3/06 - Tampa/fillcenterusa - Had fill (1.8cc), everything went great! No problems in locating the port, in fact the easiest one I've had yet. 9/06 - 1 Year anniversary - total of 71 lbs loss. 10/06 - 203 and still loosing, just slowly, but....that's okay. No hair loss, no loose skin etc., and that's pretty good for someone 51 years old. 1/2007 - 193 - total loss of 85 lbs....yeah. 3/2007 - 187 4/2007 - 180 (-98 lbs) yeah!!!

Flew from Atlanta to San Diego on 9/9/05 @ 6am. Picked up by driver in San Diego around 11:00 am then driven to Alma Hospital in Mexicali, Mexico (about a 3 hr drive). I was met at the hospital by Yolanda (Dr. Aceves' coordinator) which informed me of the things that would be taking place. Yolanda is a very lovely lady, very informed (was previous a professor at one of the colleges). I was then checked into a room and immediately they started running test for my surgery (X-rays, bloodwork, ekg, etc., I had elected to have surgery the same day I arrived). Dr. Aceves came into my room sat down and talked with me. He is a very soft spoken, kind, and very knowledgable man. He began to demonostrate the band (he had brought one with him), telling me how everything worked, the good and the bad. He made me feel very comfortable answering all questions patiently without making me feel he needed to be seeing the next patient. He understands English very well, but when he speaks you have to pay attention to get it all. Around 1pm I was taken into surgery, 54 min later I was in recovery. I stayed in recovery for an hour then wheeled back to my room. I was expecting lots of pain (according to everything I had read), but it was more "pressure" than pain (for me anyway). By that evening I was up and walking some. Dr. Aceves came by that night, before leaving the hospital to check on me and to ask if I needed a sleeping pill. The nurses checked on me continually throughout the night giving me pain medicine (through my iv) every 3 hours. The next day I walked a good bit because it makes you feel so much better. Sunday, after lunch, Yolanda came by, got the papers for me to check out and took me to the hotel. The driver picked me up the next morning (Monday) around 7am to go to the airport. I did not get back to GA until 10:45pm (a very long trip). The worse thing for me was the flight returning home; sitting that long with the seatbelt over that area was very uncomfortable, even tho I had on very loose clothes. Probably had the flight not been so long (7 hours) it would not have been nearly as bad. I had taken the following week off and basically I just took it slow. I have a 16 year old daughter that helped me alot, but within a day or so I was fine. I was on clear liquids for 2 weeks which actually wasn't that bad. The people at work simply thought I was just drinking tea or something. I had not told anyone at work because I simply did not want to hear their opinion about me leaving the country for my surgery. On November 23rd I went to get my first fill. They could not locate the port (done without fluro). I had to schedule another location a couple of weeks later to get the fill done under fluro. On December 12th/2005 I went to receive my fill (under fluro) and was given a 2.5cc. By the end of December I knew that my fill was too restricted, however, at their request continued to try to work with it. I basically drank my breakfast and often my lunch, sometimes I could eat something like soup for lunch and then by around 5:30pm I could eat like most bandsters do - protein, veggies etc. I struggled through January and February and was pretty much okay other than still unable to eat in the mornings. In March I received some very disturbing news about my daughter that was and still is very stressful. I started having acid reflux during the night; waking up strangling. I contacted the center and they still think I do not need to have a slight unfill; they want me to "work around" this problem. They did put me on medication which I have been on for 3 days now. However, it is only a 14-day treatment so after this I am not sure what will happen. The good news is that I have lost 45 lbs plus 18 lbs before surgery which amounts to 63 pounds. I am very thankful for the band; I would never have lost this much without it. :clap2: 3/16/06 I have an appointment to go get some of the fill taken out. Still having reflux pretty bad; the little food and little sleep is like waaay too much. 4/21/06 Drove to Nashville to have a portion of the fill removed and they could not find/hit the port (after 4 or 5 sticks...ouch). I was sooooo dissappointed after a 6 hour drive, the cost of gasoline, the cost of a hotel room etc. So...I now have an appointment in Tampa, Fla to have the fill completed under fluro. 5/3/06 - Tampa/fillcenterusa - Had fill (1.8cc), everything went great! No problems in locating the port, in fact the easiest one I've had yet. 9/06 - 1 Year anniversary - total of 71 lbs loss. 10/06 - 203 and still loosing, just slowly, but....that's okay. No hair loss, no loose skin etc., and that's pretty good for someone 51 years old. 1/2007 - 193 - total loss of 85 lbs....yeah. 3/2007 - 187 4/2007 - 180 (-98 lbs) yeah!!!

Michelle, Check out fillcenter.usa and you will find that they have several locations isn Fla. Bette

I am a member of fillcenterusa. My first fill was done in Clermont, FLA (because the GA ones still have not opened), the port was not found. I also signed up ($299) with the understanding that the first fill was included. I was referred to a doctor that did the fills with fluro in Tampa. So I had to drive back (another week or so) 6 1/2 hours to get this done. He filled me at 2.5cc. I am very restricted with lots of acid reflux problems. My surgeon (Mexico) thinks I am too restricted and recommends taking some of the fill out, however, the fillcenterusa does not agree. I am taking medication at this time and am doing better, however I still have to wonder what the long-term complications will be and that is the scary part. By the price for the fill done under fluro is $200 without $155.00. Bette

I chose Dr. Aceves and am very happy. I was treated great, the hospital tho small is cleaner than an US hospsital I've been in. The staff is more than willing to help when you need them. Dr. Aceves nurse, that stays with you the entire time of your surgery, speaks English very well. Bette