Tish5632

No, I went to the OCC (Obesity Control Center). That is the name of Dr. Ortiz's practice. It's like a surgery center, and it was very nice.

Hi Hello Bean,

Sorry, I just saw your message! I had a very positive experience with OCC (Obesity Control Center) in Tijuana Mexico. I was banded by Dr. Ariel Ortiz on 7/3/09. Yes, I flew to San Diego and the OCC sends a driver to pick you (and your guest) up from the airport and gets you across the border and to either your hotel or to the OCC for pre-op testing (if your flight arrives before noon). Dr. Ortiz actually helped to open the Fill Centers USA too! There is an initial consult for the Fill Centers that is about $350, but after that, the fills are $160 (without flouroscopy). Ideally, I would like to have gone back to the OCC for the fills, but it was too expensive to travel that far, and I'd have to be away at least 1 night, so I chose Fill Centers. The closest one to Indy is in Cincinnati, so that's where I go. Good luck!

Hi Eva,

Sorry, I just now saw your message! I'm great, how are you? I just got my first fill on 9/12 (finally) and I received 2cc. I still have no restriction. I have requested another 2cc at the next fill, because I have the 11cc band. They originally only wanted to do 0.5cc next time and 0.25cc every time thereafter, but I think that would take me months and months (and about $1,000 in fill costs) to get any restriction. We'll see!

Tish

Hi Somedayslim,

God love you! Sounds like the nausea/vomiting was horrible! My surgery was very easy and I returned to the hotel in the afternoon. My husband and I left Sunday morning from San Diego to Chicago, we then had another flight to Indy. We traveled 13 hours that day and by the time we got home I was really cranky and tired. I too battled nausea (I have extreme motion sickness) but my TransDerm SCOP patch helped 90%. I'm doing well overall, I went back to work yesterday, but I had to leave after 6 1/2 hours because I got nauseated and weak and pale. I went home and went to bed but still felt crummy in the evening. I feel much better in the mornings as a rule. The clear liquid diet is easier than I thought it would be, but I'm really looking forward to having some drinkable yogurt starting Friday and "full liquids" starting Sunday. I wish you the best and let's keep in touch!

Tish