I am 5'4 and 176 lbs. I am tired of struggling. I am getting a lap band in Mexico mid-May. I am very curious how the weight loss will go. I have 2 friends who have had the lap band and both are doing great.

I know my weight doesn't seem like a lot to some but to me it makes all the difference in the world. I don't understand how people can get boob jobs or tummy tucks and that is ok but when someone gets a band so they don't have to be "fat" anymore it is bad or you are cheating. Aren't we all cheating whether it is cosmetic dentistry , botox, boob job etc. I want to be thin and I can't do it on my own.

My goal is 145 by August 2010 and 125 by my anniversary date for a total loss of 50lbs. :wink:

hello i truly understand how your feeling i feel the same way. i just recently move to az an sense ive been here i have gained 60lbs. i would like to know what dr are you using and how much does it cost thanks so much. good luck to you

Welcome. I am going to Mexico for surgery on 3/24. I cannot wait. My BMI is 33 and I just want to lose the weight once and for all. I am using Dr. Kuri...who are you going to?

TTDRAPER77 - We are the same age! :cursing:

After a ton of research I am going with Dr. Ortiz, the surgery is $6,800. I don't have to do a pre-op diet they said if I lost some weight that would be good though.

He is actually going to do my surgery with only one incision for the port and the rest he can do with needles because of my lower bmi. He is 1 of only 2 doctors that does this as it is so new. But great for minimal scarring. I have had 3 kids and am so lucky I have no stretch marks or scars on my belly (other places took the hit) :crying: and it was one of my deciding factors.

I have been trying to decide who to go to for after care..it is so expensive! I think I might just fly back to tiajuana for my fills???? Still undecided.

Jacquie0120 - Dr. Kuri was the other doctor I was looking into. I am so Jealous you are getting yours end of March! I feel like May is forever away! They could get me in sooner but I can't come up with the $$$ that fast. :wink: Where in FL are you? Do you know where you will receive your after care?

Just be happy that you hav a date. im tring to figure out how im going to get my surgery done. o just be thankful you you the resources. i have 3k so im half way there you know.

Lining up after-care was a nightmare for me! I called so many doctors and kept being rejected because I was having the surgery out of the country. I really felt discriminated against! There is a Fill Center USA nearby but I felt strongly about wanting to be a patient of a bariatric doctor. I finally found a doctor about 100 miles south of where I live in Ormand Beach. There are a few other docs who will see me 3 months after the surgery so I'll see what I want to do.

May will be here before you know it. I scheduled my surgery in mid-January and I cannot believe it is now only 26 days away!

Oh, and I agree with you 100% about the whole cosmetic surgery thing. My best friend told me she didn't think I needed a lap-band, that I didn't have to do something so drastic. I told her I love her but I didn't question her when she got breast augmentation so I asked her not to judge me. I actually didn't say that until she said she was concerned about me having surgery which would result in a foreign object being left in my body. Was she kidding? Thats when I brought up the breast augmentation.

The way I look at it, I'm 47 and I've been dieting for the last 20 years. My BMI has been creeping up and is now a 33. I want to end this now...lose the weight and get my life back. My family has a history of Diabetes and I want to end the cycle. The lap-band is a tool that I've been missing and I pray that I will be successful with it!

YES!YES!YES! Exactly how I feel. My Aunt had a lot to say about it, how it wasn't really neccessary and that I could lose it on my own if I tried. Yes...I could lose it on my own and I have before but I end up right back where I was because as soon as I gain 1 lb. I start getting depressed and in goes the food! :cursing:

I am not telling anyone except my husband and my mother. My mom is coming with me because my husband said I can't go alone. He would come with me except we have a 10 month old and two older kids that have to be with one of us.

I feel consumed by this , like my life wont begin until 5/10. I just want to be a normal person without my weight always being an issue.

It's funny how people dont see the things they do. You just have to do what works for you I dont think your friend really thinks before she speaks last time i checked she has something foreign object in her breast. you made lmao .....thanks i needed that :cursing:

B45 i was having that same reply with my friends and family. But i just told them that i wasnt asking for their permission just having a conversation.

I think I found the right sub-forum.

I am 57 years old and a lifelong yoyo dieter. I have literally lost and gained 50 to 70 pounds in the last 10 years. I have tried every plan that is legal. My last go-round was a medically supervised very low calorie diet (600 per day) and I reached my goal after losing an average of 2 pounds per week. I have a very low resting energy expenditure rate--about 6.8 calories per pound per day, which isn't much. Most normal people are between 10 and 12.

So, I was somewhat shocked when the bariatric doctor suggested that I might benefit from a lap band. I was shocked because I thought you needed to be about 100 pounds overweight, and I am not. She told that Dr. Waltrup in Roseville, ca, was doing an informal study on the benefits of a lap band on relatively low BMI yoyo dieters, like me.

I know that my insurance will not pay because of my BMI, so I am researching Mexico. A friend recommended Dr. Ramos Kelly, but I keep reading about Dr Ortiz on this thread.

It just seems extreme for someone with a 30 BMI, but my yoyoing is just sucking the life out of me and I need something that will work.

I am anxious to hear about everyone's experences.

Deborah.

I think I found the right sub-forum.

I am 57 years old and a lifelong yoyo dieter. I have literally lost and gained 50 to 70 pounds in the last 10 years. I have tried every plan that is legal. My last go-round was a medically supervised very low calorie diet (600 per day) and I reached my goal after losing an average of 2 pounds per week. I have a very low resting energy expenditure rate--about 6.8 calories per pound per day, which isn't much. Most normal people are between 10 and 12.

So, I was somewhat shocked when the bariatric doctor suggested that I might benefit from a LAP-BAND®. I was shocked because I thought you needed to be about 100 pounds overweight, and I am not. She told that Dr. Waltrup in Roseville, ca, was doing an informal study on the benefits of a LAP-BAND® on relatively low BMI yoyo dieters, like me.

I know that my insurance will not pay because of my BMI, so I am researching Mexico. A friend recommended Dr. Ramos Kelly, but I keep reading about Dr Ortiz on this thread.

It just seems extreme for someone with a 30 BMI, but my yoyoing is just sucking the life out of me and I need something that will work.

I am anxious to hear about everyone's experences.

Deborah.

I was just banded on 3/24 by Dr. Kuri in Tijuana. I had the most amazing experience and we were treated like royalty! Dr. Kuri's package includes 2 nights in the hotel because he'd rather you not be exhausted from traveling. We got there the night before pre-op testing, spent 1 night in hotel than 2 nights in the hospital. He does not rush anything. When we were there, a patient of Dr. Ortiz came in for pre-op testing and was operated on the same day! I asked if that was normal and was told that Dr. Kuri would NEVER operate on the day of pre-op. He wants you in the hospital resting the night before surgery so you are well rested for the day of your surgery.

In any event, the hospital was superior to any I've seen here in the states. I would highly recommend Dr. Kuri and if you have any questions, please feel free to email me at jdt36x@yahoo.com.

Good luck with your decision. I lad a relatively low BMI also and my only regret is that I waited until age 47 to do this!

I was just banded on 3/24 by Dr. Kuri in Tijuana. I had the most amazing experience and we were treated like royalty! Dr. Kuri's package includes 2 nights in the hotel because he'd rather you not be exhausted from traveling. We got there the night before pre-op testing, spent 1 night in hotel than 2 nights in the hospital. He does not rush anything. When we were there, a patient of Dr. Ortiz came in for pre-op testing and was operated on the same day! I asked if that was normal and was told that Dr. Kuri would NEVER operate on the day of pre-op. He wants you in the hospital resting the night before surgery so you are well rested for the day of your surgery.

In any event, the hospital was superior to any I've seen here in the states. I would highly recommend Dr. Kuri and if you have any questions, please feel free to email me at jdt36x@yahoo.com.

Good luck with your decision. I lad a relatively low BMI also and my only regret is that I waited until age 47 to do this!

I will tell you Dr Kuri will not band someone with a BMI of 30, I spoke with Jessica with his office on a couple different occasions.

and they would not consider me.

I am so happy you got your band now I have someone with a low BMI who had their surgery in Mexico close to the same time as me!! Ok well I want to know all the details, incisions? Pain? was TJ scary? They just had an earthquake there ...kind of scared! When do you get your first fill? Are you going back to Kuri for that? TEll, Tell, Tell!!! :smile2:

I just spoke to a coordinator from Dr. Kuri's practice and he will not band anyone under about a 33 BMI. I also spoke with coordinators for Dr. Ramos Kelly and Dr. ORtiz and they don't seem to have an issue with low BMI folks. Dr. Kuri's rep. said that there is a greated problem of slippage with low BMI banders, while the other two reps said that they take a stitch and it isn't a problem. I am so confused now. My yoyo dieting is driving me crazy, and has for most of my life. I could probably be 300 pounds if I let myself get there. I just don't know if I'm a proper candidate for banding. Can anyone help me bet some clarity? Part of me thinks nothing will work for me, and it's totally crazy-making.

Thanks.

I've never heard of greater slippage with lighter patients, that's pretty questionable.

In fact, the band works better for lower BMI patients, according to stats from Australia anyway. Very often, lower BMI patients are less disordered in their eating and have less recovery to do. They are more in touch with what it is like to be relatively normal weight, they are lighter, more agile and healthier and thus able to exercise at a higher level much sooner, there's a whole host of reasons why its a good idea to do something about yoru weight sooner rather than later. Of course, its entirely possible someone has a BMI of 33 on the downswing of a huge yo yo cycle and is going to have every bit as much trouble losing as someone much heavier, just as it is possible that a heavier person can be a better, more structured eater than a lighter one.

I also always have a giggle at the moralists who like to get into you for daring to have WLS for all the 'wrong' reasons at your light weight, all the while having ther multiple cosmetic procedures listed in their signatures. Hypocrites.

There's nothing wrong with having lapband surgery ENTIRELY for cosmetic reasons. You're right, its hardly different than having a big pair of plastic tits stuck in. Except that its likely to affect your health positively for the rest of your life.

I just spoke to a coordinator from Dr. Kuri's practice and he will not band anyone under about a 33 BMI. I also spoke with coordinators for Dr. Ramos Kelly and Dr. ORtiz and they don't seem to have an issue with low BMI folks. Dr. Kuri's rep. said that there is a greated problem of slippage with low BMI banders, while the other two reps said that they take a stitch and it isn't a problem. I am so confused now. My yoyo dieting is driving me crazy, and has for most of my life. I could probably be 300 pounds if I let myself get there. I just don't know if I'm a proper candidate for banding. Can anyone help me bet some clarity? Part of me thinks nothing will work for me, and it's totally crazy-making.

Thanks.

I am right there with you. Did you get my email? I posted recently on the May bandsters page how I am wondering if I should be doing this .....I have been going back and forth, but I am almost 100% yes now. I need this . I need to be a good weight and maintain it. Like you I could easily be 300lbs every day is a constant battle not to be. What is the difference between someone who is bmi33 and 30 really??? I have heard of so many happy people that if I don't give this a shot I will regret it and always wonder if I should have. Dr. ortiz can also do the procedure in one incision if you are that low in bmi. That is what they told me.

I agree with the previous post why can't we do it for cosmetic reasons???