Vangirl

Hi Patricia, I would highly recommend that you post your question over at lapbandforum.com. The majority of posters there have been to Mexico, and many have stayed in a number of hotels in TJ. There is even a thread there just about the hotels. I've only personally stayed at the Lucerna, which is where most of Dr. Ortiz's patients stay. The hotel is clean and safe. My only complaint is that it is not very big and there isn't a lot to do, so I was quite bored. However, if you're just looking for a place to rest, that's probably all you need. There are other hotels that others have used in TJ, including the Camino Real (which is a bit closer to Dr. Ortiz's clinic) and the Marriott (which by the pictures looks really nice). But I don't have any direct experience with those hotels. Again, recommended you pop on over to the other forum and check out the hotel reviews there. I'd be interested to hear your experience with PS, once you have it. I too am thinking of getting PS once all this weight is gone, and may end up doing it in Mexico too. -Vangirl

Hi everyone, Sorry I couldn't make it to the meeting (yet again!) I was down in Mexico getting my 3rd fill, and now have 3.8ccs in my 4cc band. I'm apparently one of only five or six patients from that clinic that have this much fill. I didn't get much more restriction from my second fill (which brought it to 3.2ccs), and found I was still able to eat about 75-80% of what I was eating before. Out of the last couple of months since my second fill, the first six weeks I pretty much depended 100% on willpower, and the last couple of weeks I decided to stop driving myself crazy and just live my life, and I was surprised to see how much I could still eat even with 3.2ccs. Anyway now I seem to be experiencing what others have described as restriction, and I hope that this continues. I am feeling optimistic about it. In any case, there's not that much room to go in the band, so something has to work eventually. Hope everyone else is doing well, and hope to see you in April. -Vangirl

Just to clarify, I don't think it is necessary for everyone to get all their fills under fluoro. I do think it's a good idea to get the first one under fluoro (more for reassurance reasons) and I personally am choosing to get all of my subsequent fills done under fluoro for the reasons described earlier. I also would get a check-up under fluoro at least once in a while over the long-term, just to make sure the band and everything is ok.

I don't know. This is just what he told me after he had his fill appointment. He ended up having to have a complete unfill in order to save the band. I believe he had stretched out his pouch from years of incorrect eating and not getting follow-ups, but being that it is another person's story and I only spoke to him for a little bit, I don't know all the details. Oh, and he had gone to the clinic with the intention of getting a fill because he was obviously able to eat more than he should have and wanted to get it back under control. He had no idea that anything was wrong with the band or his pouch until the doctor saw everything under fluoro.

I thought I'd put in my own two cents about fluoro, from my own experience of course. I personally would recommend getting the first fill done under fluoro, simply because it is the first one and is the first opportunity to view the band and pouch and see if everything is in working order. I had my first fill with no fluoro and that turned out to be a big mistake. It was next to impossible to find the port, and ended up taking several minutes and a lot of poking and digging around with three different needles, which was both stressful and painful. I didn't have much restriction afterward, and suffered through many weeks of worrying about whether there was any damage to the band or port. Luckily, when I went for my second fill (this time in Mexico, under fluoro), my anxiety was relieved because I could see that everything was ok. And it was SO easy that second time. Just one poke and it was done. Because of this experience, I will always from now on do my fills under fluoro until I have lost enough weight to be able to feel and SEE the port very clearly. The other advantage to doing the fill under fluoroscopy is you can see whether the pouch has been stretched or not. When I went to Mexico for my second fill (this time under fluoro), another patient there was going for his first fill in five years and discovered that his pouch was stretched so badly he would have lost the band if it had not been caught right then. Had he not done the fill under fluoro, they would never have known that his pouch was stretched and been able to take the appropriate measures to fix that.

My apologies everyone. The second part of my post was meant for another thread, and in my sleep-deprived mind, the two threads were warped into one, and I ended up responding to both with the one post. I've now chopped and pasted it onto the appropriate thread. -vangirl

I'm sorry to have missed the meeting as well. I was swamped with work and just couldn't get away. Unfortunately I'll be missing the next one as well, as I'll be down in Mexico getting my next fill. -vangirl

It was 7950USD which included pickup and drop off to san diego airport, first night hotel stay, second night stay at clinic, and third night hotel stay. As Cujo mentioned, if you go with someone, they can stay at the hotel on the second night when you are at the clinic. The cost does not include the flight to get down to san diego.

Hi Newgirl, There is definitely light at the end of the tunnel. Each person's recovery time and experience is going to be different, so expect that it might not be the same for you as it is for other people. But it does get better, and you will feel more or less normal again eventually. When I look back, I'm amazed to see how far I've come from where I was immediately following the surgery, as I've almost forgotten what that was like. So hang in there! Oh, and I do recommend a heating pad for the aches and pains. One thing I wasn't prepared for was back pain and other pains in my body that came from a combination of the general trauma of the surgery, past injuries, and sleeping in different positions from what I was used to. It REALLY helped to have that heating pad. I also used a hot Water bottle for my shoulder for the gas pains and the magic beanbag for neck soreness.

I'm very happy with them. They've done something like 6 or 7 thousand surgeries, and it shows.

I also went to the OCC, and communicated a lot with the patient care coordinator there prior to my surgery. I had a gazillian questions and it was nice to be able to call her up anytime and ask them as they came to mind.

Here's the update: I called my clinic this morning and they patched me through to one of the doctors. I explained the situation, including the difficulty the fill doctor had in finding the port. He told me that the reason I might not be getting enough restriction could be that the doctor emptied the saline into the scar tissue surrounding the port, or there is a leak in the port, or I could just be one of those people that need bigger fills. But he reiterated what everyone else has been saying, which is that 3ccs in a 4cc band is a very aggressive fill, and they usually start out with .7-1.5 or something along those lines (I can't remember the number). He said the only way to know for sure what is going on is to do the fill under fluoroscopy. I can save some money and go to a place three hours away and across the border, but I figure that I just want to go to the experts who know what they're doing and were the ones who operated on me, and could potentially fix any problem if there is one. So that's what I will be doing. On a side note, it was very reassuring to talk to the doctor, and he told me to call them anytime if I have any concerns about anything. Many people worry about the lack of aftercare in going to Mexico, but I felt like I was in good hands talking to him. It felt good to know that I wasn't alone, that they cared about what happens to me and want to make sure that everything works the way it is supposed to. Now to look for some good fares...

I had my first fill a week ago and have 3ccs in a 4cc band. But I'm finding I can still eat everything and definitely more than a cup of food at a time. I haven't had any of the soft or hard signs of fullness that other people have reported. It's purely willpower that is keeping it under control, not the band. I'm concerned that even with this much fill, I am still not having restriction. I have an appointment to see the fill doc again next week to increase it by .25 or .5ccs in the hopes that I'll see some results. But being so close to the maximum, and so far away from my goal weight, I'm worried about whether even reaching the maximum fill amount will give me the restriction I'm looking for, especially if I start to lose more stomach fat and the band gets looser. And just to clarify, I've followed all of the rules. I didn't cheat even once on the pre-op or post-op diet. I know a lot of people mess up their band because of not following the rules, but I have followed them, so I don't know what could be the reason why I'm not getting the restriction I should be having.

I am going for my first fill to a local dr on Friday (I had my surgery in Mexico). He does his fills 'blindly' (i.e. no fluro), which means he'll have to poke around for it. I have a lot of stomach fat, and despite having poked around the port area myself, I haven't been able to locate anything that feels distinctively like the port. I'm just wondering how he is going to be able to find it if I cannot.

I agree the numbing isn't necessary if the port is easy to get to in one or two pokes. Unfortunately, mine was quite deep and the long needle was needed, and the poking around was painful. I couldn't take it after a while and had to ask the dr. to numb it. I'm now nervous about going back next week for more fill.

Hi Patricia, It was a mix-up that I take full responsibility for. I misinterpreted the information on the card that my clinic gave me and though that a 10cm band meant 10cc. So when I went to the dr., and he asked me what kind of band I had, I told him I had a 10cc band. I also remember my surgeon telling me I could have up to 4ccs, and told this to my fill dr. as well. So I think we were both under the impression that I could have up to 4ccs in a 10cc band. That's why we started out at 3ccs and then actually tried increasing it up to 4, but I was unable to get Water down as easily with 4, so he brought it back down to 3ccs. Probably if I had told him I only had a 4cc band, we wouldn't have gone so high that time. I'll definitely ask him to unfill me completely when I see him next week, just to check if there is any leakage. Given that there was so much trouble finding the port, I'm kind of hoping maybe some of that saline didn't make it in, and that's why I'm not having a lot of restriction. Otherwise.... Well, I suppose we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. Maybe fluoro or a trip back to Mexico, just to see if all is in working order. Which is what I was planning to do in the first place, and in hindsight, should have done. But I guess live and learn. I'll keep you updated for sure!

I am able to eat everything (including breads, pastas, and popcorn) and I haven't had any of the soft or hard signs of fullness (e.g. sliming, pbing, hiccups, etc.) And volume-wise I can definitely get down more than a cup of food. I do know there is increased restriction because I twice had a large capsule get stuck while taking my morning meds, although it was with cold Water and first thing in the morning when restriction is tighter. Food does go down a bit slower too and I have to be more careful about my chewing. The dr I went for my fill isn't the same person that did my surgery. I originally thought that I had a 10cc band and told him so, when in fact it was a 10cm band, which only holds 4ccs (I only found that out today). That's probably why I got the 3ccs in there for the first time. In any case, as it turns out, it's not enough. I think that if I don't get more restriction with the increased fill next week, I'll look into the possibility of a leak somewhere. From what other people are reporting, I should be a lot more full and unable to eat past a certain point from the amount of fill I do have, and that is not the case. It's only willpower that's keeping me from overeating.

Lapband967, I feel like I'm experiencing the same thing as you, except I have 3ccs in a 4cc band. So I'm at 75% if my maximum restriction. This is from my first fill and I'm going to go in next week and try to see if a bit more helps. Right now, I am frustrated as well because I'm doing all of the work, and while I can with willpower keep calorie levels within the dieting range for a period of time, eventually I'll crack and give into the cravings. That's why I got the band in the first place, so that it wouldn't let me give in. I hope that you're able to experience more restriction with increased fill. I was also reading on another thread that a person with a similar problem was having a leak, but when the dr. used something called omni and not regular saline, it resulted in restriction.

I have 3 ccs in a 4cc band and I can still eat a lot. I understand your frustration, as I feel like I'm doing all the work and don't have much restriction. I'm hoping that upping it a little will do the trick.

Unfortunately, as I feared, it did not go that well. It took a long time for him to find the port, and he had to poke around with the needle and change the needle twice before he could find it. Very unpleasant experience. And now I have to go back again next week because I need more fill.

I too had a difficult experience with my first fill. The Dr. couldn't find my port for the longest time, and there was much poking around with the needle and two changes of needles before he finally got it. I had to ask for some local anesthetic half way through because I couldn't take it anymore. Now I'm going back again next week because I don't feel like I have enough restriction. Reading this thread has renewed fears that maybe there was something wrong with my band. I have some restriction, but I can still eat everything, and certainly more than I should be. It's all willpower right now that's keeping it under control.

I haven't had the band for very long (just a couple of months), but I am able to eat everything - breads, pasta, popcorn, the works. However, from what I've been told, I might not have enough restriction, so that might be the reasons I can still eat everything. I'm going next week to increase my fill, so this might change.

I don't think it makes any difference sticking with one fill doctor. Doing fills is a very simple and virtually painless procedure, as long as they can find the port. If you can easily locate it, the doctor or nurse can. As for doing it under fluoro versus not, I had my first fill with Dr. A and not under fluoro. It was not as quick and easy as it is for most people (my port is very hard to find), and I would have liked some reassurance that everything was working the way it is supposed to. For me, the fact that everything is internal and cannot be seen (and therefore you're relying on just how you feel to determine if something is wrong), I'd have felt better having something I could see on a screen and someone telling me everything was A-ok. For this reason, if I were to do it again, I'd go back to the clinic I went to in Mexico for the 1st fill, and then subsequent fills to Dr. A. However, the advantage of going to Dr. A is that you can go for any subsequent adjustments (more fills, unfills) within a two week period without having to pay extra. I've discovered that my fill is insufficient (I'm working WAY too hard to keep the portions/calories under control) and so I'm able to go back to get some more fill. One thing is if you do go to Dr. A, you need to get a referral from your family doctor, so get that done before your surgery. You can then choose after the surgery what you want to do. It will be much easier to choose at that time, because then you will have had some experience with the band and recovery and will have more information with which to make your decision. Also, another fellow bandster recently went to NW fills, and they did not do it under fluoro. I don't know the reason why, but it sounds like there is no guarantee that they'd do it under fluoro there either. I would really like to hear from someone who has had their fill done under fluoro to see if it really makes a difference or not. I'm still considering doing the fluoro myself just for that added bit of reassurance.

I personally am not engaging in any debate, although of course others are free to carry on if they feel it is useful. I've already expressed my opinion about the original post, my reasons for my opinion, and provided some suggestions as to where to get information relevant to some of the things being said on this thread.

Access to health care is an important issue, and I would suggest checking out the ethical guidelines for the Canadian Medical Association and the College of Physicians and Surgeons in your province. These guidelines address the ethical obligation of a physician to treat a patient in life-threatening circumstances. I think it is a good idea to be informed of these, in any circumstance, banded or not. Not to shy away from the discussion, but my purpose in responding to this thread was to express my honest feelings about the original post, which I felt needed to be heard, as well as my reasons for those feelings. It is pointless to drag on a debate, since it would just be a repetition of the same, and there are still going to be differences of opinion anyway.