Florida Pete

If 5/5 is the diet he had put me on before surgery then here is what I did. Long before hand I knew I was going to be going to the low fat / low carb diet so I first off stopped drinking soda all together. I also started having an Atkins shake for breakfast with low fat/carb lunch and dinner. After about 2 weeks I started doing the shake for both breakfast and lunch still not being total strict about dinner. Then 3 weeks later when my diet was officially to start I restricted my dinner and added the light snacks between meals. Then 3 more weeks later was my surgery. From the time I started the process to the day of my surgery I lost 25 lbs in that 8 weeks time. I also had begun walking every day. It is essential to get out and walk EVERY DAY. At first I could only walk to the mail box in our appartment complex and back which isn't all that far. Check this out also. Dr. Kuri & Associates - LapBand

Great to see you joined the group Bunnygirl! Thanks for the comment about the pictures. Looks like it's time for a 4 month update picture. LOL

Hey Russ,

Finding a Dr. to do my fills really wasn't had at all. I went to Dr. Kuri in Tijuana for my surgery and he actually had a list of doctors in Florida. The one they had listed for me is only about 45 minutes away. The first fill was $440 which included a fee to join their group as a non-surgical patient. The fills after that will be $150 a fill so not to bad. Even though Dr. Kuri does fills for free in TJ between taking the time off from work and the airline travel to TJ it just is cheaper to go to the Doc in Ft. Lauderdale. Keep in touch and wish you the best!

Hey Jeff,

What happened for me is they sent me a couple of medical questionaires that I had to fill out for them. Then I flew down on a Thursday. Went straight from the airport to Dr. Kuri's office and had the pre-op exams right then. You know blood work, weigh in, ekg, exam by a the doctor, etc etc. This is the pre-screening that Dr. Kuri does. If for some reason that you don't pass the pre-screening then your money is refundable and you would not be charged for the surgery. For the most part the only real reason to send you home is if your liver is not small enough to perform the surgery. So if they have you do a liver shrinking diet follow it to the T as this is the key.

My weight loss continues to go very well. 34 lbs lost since surgery with a 77 lbs total since my highest weight!

Hope that helps!

Peter

Hey Jeff,

What happened for me is they sent me a couple of medical questionaires that I had to fill out for them. Then I flew down on a Thursday. Went straight from the airport to Dr. Kuri's office and had the pre-op exams right then. You know blood work, weigh in, ekg, exam by a the doctor, etc etc. This is the pre-screening that Dr. Kuri does. If for some reason that you don't pass the pre-screening then your money is refundable and you would not be charged for the surgery. For the most part the only real reason to send you home is if your liver is not small enough to perform the surgery. So if they have you do a liver shrinking diet follow it to the T as this is the key.

My weight loss continues to go very well. 34 lbs lost since surgery with a 77 lbs total since my highest weight!

Hope that helps!

Peter

Hiya,

Well the thing is pretty much every insurance company will cover this surgery "IF" the policy you have "includes" WLS (weight loss surgery). Unfortunately in my case like so many others out there the insurance policy that my company holds WLS is excluded. This unfortunately is extremely common as companies don't want to pay the higher premium to have it covered. So that is why I went to Dr. Kuri for surgery.

For me finding him was really easy since a close aunt of mine went to him 5 years ago. You can find him at -

Lap Band Surgery - Dr. Kuri & Associates

If you or anyone wants I can put you directly in touch with a patient coordinator who was excellent in handling my case before the surgery and even has followed up with me several times since surgery. Best of luck and please feel free to message me any time!

So once I learned of that and talked to several that had gone to him it changed for me to going to a better doctor then it was as much about the price. - In all honesty anyone considering the lap-band I would highly recommend Dr. Kuri to. His bedside maner was excellent and if I get back to Mexico (Tijuana) I can get my fills for free from him. Now with that said I am getting my fills at a local fill center here. I do have to pay for them at $150 a fill but still the cost is far less then if I was to pay the local surgeon the $18000 plus that was quoted.

Heya!

Why Mexico? At first it was the cost. At just $7500 which included 2 nights stay at the hospital, two nights stay at the hotel, transportation to and from San Diego Airport, and all medical, hospital, and anesthesia it was a price that couldn't be beat here in the USA. Of course I had to pay for my flight from South Florida to San Diego but that was only another $250, a pain medication for after release from the hospital (which I never took) for like $10, and then any food and traveling expenses I still came in under $8000. That was my first reason. But as I did my research I also learned that the surgeon I used was much more experienced in this surgery. For example the local surgeon here has performed about 300 lap-band procedures and pushed gastric by-pass over the lap-band and then Dr. Kuri that I went to in Mexico has performed over 4000 lap-band surgeries. He has been honored by bariatric organizations for his skills and frankly is one of the best in the world.

Hey Tina!

Great to meet more people on here. Thanks for the compliments and I have to tell you it looks like your doing great yourself! I see that your already over half way towards your goal and your before and after pics look great! Keep it up hun and keep in touch!

-Pete

Hey Ann!

I just wanted to drop a message back your direction and congratulate you on getting out there with your walking before surgery! Your body will most definitely thank you after your surgery! Keep it up and best of luck on your surgery and a quick recovery!

Pete

Hi Angie!

Happy New Year to you too. I don't have my first fill until the 26th of January. So just a couple of days before yours. This last week I had only lost 4.4 lbs that week so this week I have been watching my foods a little closer working on lower carb dishes. Plus I have stepped up my exercising a notch. When I talk about stepping up the exericising it's just pushing yourself that little bit harder. So like with my walking it's just that much faster of a walking pace and it's also just a little further of a walk. What you might consider to is lowering your calories from 1500 to 1200. That's 300 less calories a day that you have to burn off and really is a small step when you look at lower carb foods.

Keep in touch and best of luck!

Pete

Hey Kathy

No I won't be going back for fills. Just to far for me to travel. There is a fill center in Ft. Lauderdale which is about 45 minutes away that I will get my fills at.

Heya!

I saw that your were banded by Dr. Kuri! I was banded by him too on Dec. 5th. I hope your experience went as well with him as mine had! Best of luck to you!

Florida Pete

Hey Trina!

Big pointers are walking, eating low carb, and drinking lots of water. No soda at all!!! That's really been the keys to my weight loss thus far. I walk at least 6 days a week. I push myself further and further each week. It's work but aren't I worth it? LOL

Keep in touch!

Pete

Heya Ann!

Thanks for dropping in on my page so I thought I would return the favor and say hi and check out your page! I bet your getting excited for your up coming surgery! Best advice I can give is get out and walk right away cause it will help in a quick recovery from your surgery! Also start drinking lots of water and get away from sodas if you drink a lot of them! Best of luck hun!

Pete

Hey Laurie,

I am doing really well. I've keep losing with the walking and eating right. Next week I go onto solids so I made out a menu for my wife and I that would be low fat and low carb. Next week we are also adding some exercise videos in addition to our walking to step up the weight loss program some more. I haven't had any problems with any foods other then some hot dogs that I think I just did not get mashed up enough. I have not had anything get stuck just gave me really bad stomach pains for a couple of days.

Pete

Hi Ann,

I am glad that you are finding my posts helpful and encouraging. I have found so many others here to be encouraging to me and have really helped me in reading how things have gone for them. It is great to help each other out and even be there to support one another. If your wanting to work into your pre-op diet I would go ahead and get started on it. I transitioned into my pre-op diet 1 month ahead of time so when I was in full swing it was no big deal and even after surgery the liquid diets were really not a big deal to me. In fact I think it helped me be more mentally prepared then it did physically which I think is the bigger issue with almost all of us. Best of luck and keep in touch!

Pete

Heya Redmom!

Glad to hear your doing well! I am up to about 3/4 of a mile every day for my walk. My wife and I walk outside since we are in South Florida were our average temp during this time of the year is in the low to mid 70's. It's the best time of the year to be in South Florida. I really am hoping to shed a few more pounds, say 50 or ss (lol), before the summer months hit so the heat is much better this year for me. Keep up the great work too!

Pete

Congrats on your surgery! Sounds like your doing well! Best of luck with your weightloss journey and the new life that is before you! Welcome to the December Bandsters Group too!

Hey Redmom!

I am glad to see your doing better. After reading your posts in the group area I was a bit concerned for you and how things were going! I know exactly what you mean about picking up your daughter. I have a 14 month old son and there is no way that he would understand me not picking him up. So I go ahead and as careful as possible I pick him up.

So have you weighed yourself yet since surgery? Come up with any good recipes on mushies? Best of luck to you!

-Peter

Hey Steph,

First off thanks for the friendship invite! Great to always meet new people and to share in this experience together! Good luck on your up coming surgery! The two biggest tips I give to everyone pre-op is to follow your pre-op diet that the surgeon gives you to the T and get out and start walkings today!

I actually started my pre-op diet early. I was to be on it for 3 weeks and a month before the 3 weeks I had began the process of getting used to liquids. I did breakfast every day as an Atkins shake for 2 weeks. Then the next two weeks I did it for both lunch and dinner with like a banana or an Atkins bar for a snack between meals. Then for the final 3 weeks I reduced my dinner down to low carb and low fat. At my pre-op screening the doctor was very happy with how small my liver was. And that is the whole purpose of the pre-op diet is to shrink your liver.

Anyway best of luck to you! Keep me up to date with how your doing!

-Peter

Hey all!

Thanks for stopping by! The two biggest tips I give to everyone pre-op is to follow your pre-op diet that the surgeon gives you to the T and get out and start walkings today!

I actually started my pre-op diet early. I was to be on it for 3 weeks and a month before the 3 weeks I had began the process of getting used to liquids. I did breakfast every day as an Atkins shake for 2 weeks. Then the next two weeks I did it for both lunch and dinner with like a banana or an Atkins bar for a snack between meals. Then for the final 3 weeks I reduced my dinner down to low carb and low fat. At my pre-op screening the doctor was very happy with how small my liver was. And that is the whole purpose of the pre-op diet is to shrink your liver.

Anyway best of luck to you! Keep me up to date with how your doing!

-Peter

Thanks for dropping by Laurie! That's sounds like a great menu of food choices to eat. Just a few more days and then I can start my mushies. I really am looking forward to that phase of things! Keep up the great work and keep me posted!

Thanks for dropping by Laurie! That's sounds like a great menu of food choices to eat. Just a few more days and then I can start my mushies. I really am looking forward to that phase of things! Keep up the great work and keep me posted!

Hi Laurie,

So glad to hear your doing well. I had hardly any pain but I feel for you with the pain you had. My doc orders don't allow me to be on mushies yet but I am on full liquids and get to start mushies on the 20th. I have mastered the process of turning soups into a pure liquid. LOL I weighed myself yesterday and have lost 7 lbs since surgery on the 5th. Look at us go! LOL

Keep up the great work and keep in touch!

-Peter