OneHotMama

I was just banded Saturday so I'm on clears for 5 days. My instructions were to aim for 64 oz of Fluid a day (seems to be hard for me) broth, tea (no caffeine), Water, jell-o, optional-diluted juice (apple, grape, or cranberry). Clear Protein drinks are OK and it specifically says Isopure and unjury, and protein water. My husband went to Rite aid and found some "designer whey" protein waters, 20g of protein in the 20 oz bottle. More then the Special K with 5g per serving. It also says if you have headaches, feel light-headed or shaky to drink some Propel. Days 6-10 I can add Natural Vegetable juices and Protein Drinks mixed with water. Of course like everyone says listen to the rules of your surgeon but I thought I'd share. Glad to hear you're doing well. I WISH I was burping more, it just feels like I have a lot of gas waiting to get out!!!:wink2:

Also, you have to pay for your last hoorah meal the night before surgery. My husband and I ate at the hotel restaurant and it was excellent! Came to about $50 with tip for 2 full meals with 4 beers. (Boy am I gonna miss those, :crying:haha) As an added FYI, the Doc in CA was going to charge me $17,000 and only included one year of fills. After that they were $180, no mention of fills under x-ray either.

No question is silly! Actually, I have Kaiser and frankly just assume that they will not cover my fills. From what I've read on here most people who are banded in MX find a local Dr. that will take on those patients. I will be going down to Dr. Aceves for any fills. I live about 3 1/2 hours from him and the only cost is $75, the cost of the fluoroscope. They do all their fills under x-ray, seems safer to me. (IMO) Everybody spoke English, some more broken then others but definitely able to communicate. My insurance wouldn't even consider me as I had a BMI of 38 with no co-morbitities and I wasn't about to intentionally gain more wait to jump through more hoops. As for cost, it was $7000 and included everything I mentioned in the first post. You are responsible for airfare if needed but my husband and I just drove. Hope this helps! Anything else? Let me know!!! Good luck with your insurance.

Congratulations! It's beautiful!! Be careful, statistically yellow is the most ticketed color car!!! They're gonna be watchin ya! As for me, I was banded on the 27th so that was one heck of a Christmas gift!!!

I have to share my surgery experience, it was more then I would have ever expected!! I was banded on Saturday the 27th by Dr. Alberto Aceves in Mexicali. The original thought of having surgery in Mexico scared the he11 out of me!! But the more I read about possible complications with the band AND me being a self pay, I decided a little more research may be needed. When I started to research Dr. Aceves, the worst thing I found was someone complaining about the smell of the cleaning solution! WHAT are you kidding me!!! The facility turned out to be extremley modern and very clean. I had the luxury of driving down to check out the facilities before deciding. I actually had a date set with a Doctor here in CA at more then twice the price and was only going to be in the facility a few hours after surgery.With Dr. Aceves the cost included transportation from and to the airport (if needed, I drove) pre-op testing, a hotel the night before surgery (not a dive either), surgery and two additional nights in the hospital. That first night after surgery I was so thankful to be there. To not have the anxiety of being kicked back home so soon. Since I drove myself I was given the option of going home after one night and I did. All of this wasn't even the best part. The customer service was AMAZING!!! My husband equated it to being on a cruise that happened to have a surgery room, hehe. All of the staff was amazing!! The morning of surgery I was freaking out because I'd never been under before. The anesthesioligist, surgical nurses, surgery assistants, internist, everybody came in to introduce themselves and were sooo friendly! It relieved most of my anxiety, even before the happy pill!! haha I was in and out before I knew it and back to my private room where my husband was waiting for me. Everytime someone came to talk to me it just left me and my husband amazed at how friendly and personal they all were. You never really associate customer service with medical procedures, I felt like I was a real person to them, not just another body to be thrown on the table. If anyone has any questions, feel free to ask. I just had to share!!!

I'll be heading down to Mexico tomorrow to be banded on Saturday. I am SOOOOO nervous now,:tongue2: scared I guess. Just regular feelings for any surgery I assume. Not to concerned about not being able to eat, I think my head is ready for that. I don't post much but feel supported by reading everybody else's support! LOL, make sense? Basically, thanks for all the support you didn't even know you were giving!! Looking forward to all of us having a whole different outlook next year, what a great way to get it started!!!!

Oh WOW!!! You are such an inspiration for me!!! I will be banded on the 27th and I hope to have as much success as you. That is soooooo exciting!!!! Congratulations!! How long did you wait after surgery before you started working out?

I will be banded on the 27th of this month, BUT: 1. I want to ENJOY putting on make-up again, I'm to the point where I think "what's the point? I'm tired of the damn 'You have such a pretty face comment' anyway.":sneaky: 2. I want to live up to my name "One Hot Mama":wink_smile: 3. I'm ready to party at the next Fantasy Fetish Ball for Halloween in Las Vegas!!!:huh2:

I will be banded on December 27th. Is 15lbs a reasonable goal for Valentine's Day? I'm truly hoping it's more but don't want to set myself up for disappointment.

Hi Sue, Have you ever thought of trying herbal remedies? St. John's Wart works great for relieving anxiety and it will keep you off prescriptions. It might be worth a try. One of my weight loss adventures put me on the phen/phen alternative of phen/prozac. My husband says I was like a zombie and my sex drive went down to nothing. I started having some anxiety issues a few years back and decided to try St.John's Wart. It doesn't have any side effects for me. As a matter of fact, I start to feel so good I'll forget to take it for a while. So, just a suggestion in my opinion. I've already been looking into finding a liquid form as I'm scheduled to be banded on the 27th of this month and a found a few different suppliers. Just my 2 cents.

Hey Jazzy! I'm getting banded on the 27th also! Wasn't sure if there would be too many of us on that date considering it's a Saturday. Merry Christmas to us and an EXCITING NEW YEAR AHEAD!!! WOOHOO!!!! only 2 weeks out, I can't believe it. :rolleyes2: Are you doing a pre-op diet?

Hi there! I'm not banded yet but gave up on Kaiser. The first time I asked, the Doc said Kaiser didn't even do banding only full bypass. Well, that made me leave them alone for a minute until I found out that wasn't true. I'm 5'11", 270lbs, 38bmi, no co-morbidities (sp). I couldn't bring myself to switch to another PPO just for this because I figured I would be pissed when they deny me too. ANYWAY, I have decided to go to Dr. Aceves in Mexicali. Already went down and met with the Doctor and checked out the hospital. It's really a great place. All I need to do is set a date now. As for coming up on the cash we're taking a loan on our retirement account, figured with the economy the way it is the interest we pay ourselves is better then throwing it down the drain! I'm sorry about the Kaiser issue. Like you I even went the whole "depression, crying, possibly even suicidal" route and instead I got a referral to a mental health group stress relief class:mad: May you get what you wish for this Christmas.

Not to sound insensitive but isn't "doing it our own way" what got us in the overweight predicament to begin with?

I'm sure gonna miss beer... :smile: I don't like hard stuff, I've always been a beer girl... Guess I should be happy about never having another hangover:ack2:

Thanks so much!

I'm planning on being banded on December 23, 2008. Just had a thought the other day about baby food. Has anybody heard of negatives to eating baby food in the mush stage? I mean already pureed and portion controlled. Are the meats sufficent protein? As for taste, that wouldn't bother me, I'm weird that way, I like like airplane food too! HAHA

GOOD LUCK!!!! Be sure to let us know how you're feeling!!

WooHoo!!! Great Name! Matches my screen name, hehe :tongue2: Scheduled to be banded 12/23.