Alex, Please someone help.

I just tried to get in contact with my lapband surgeon because it has been 1 and 1/2 yrs post op and I have not lost one pound. My husband is furious and feels scammed. I have been very ill with respritory issues and my family believes it is due lapband. My stomach has been very bloated and tender this entire time, and my breathing is terrible. My doctor has me on oxygen 24/7! I lost too much blood after surgery, my IV came loose I I almost bled to death.

WELL, when I tried to look up Dr. Huacuz to ask for his help, and I saw all the terrible stuff about his malpractice & unsatisfied patients! I am crying & shaking all over. When I typed on the page for "Tijuana Lapband Surgeon in jail" and boom pops up a picture of MY doctor!!! I am so upset and scared right now.

Who is going to help me now? I don't want to sue, or have him arrested I just want him to help me and fix what's wrong. I paid alot of money & missed a lot of work.

What do I do now? How do I get help. Do I contact the authorities? Please someone give me advice quickly, my husband is ready to call the police, and get a lawyer.

Please contact me fast

I do not personally know Dr Huacuz but I have read stories both good and bad.

BUT.

There is such a thing as patient responsibility. If you have been having problems since your surgery you should have been back to your Dr before now.If your original Dr was unable to help then you should surely have found another Dr.

It seems strange that you have not lost any weight since your surgery. Were you given any postop instructions? Were you told what you should and shouldn't eat?

I do not want to seem unsympathetic but I have always had a bit of the sceptic in me. I find it hard to believe that someone would suffer from serious complications for so long and not do anything about it. The last thing I would be doing if I was in this position would be posting a message on an online forum.

What do I do now? How do I get help. Do I contact the authorities? Please someone give me advice quickly, my husband is ready to call the police, and get a lawyer.

Please contact me fast

I say get a doctor!!! I'm not sure why you would go 18 months without being under a docotors care. And if you are under a doctors care, why would he not have referred you to another lad band surgeon to help with your case.

Anyway, we have to be our own health care advocates.....if you are really this sick, please pick up the phone and call another sugeon and be seen.....then when you are healthy you can pursue any legal actions.

I have never heard of this doctor BUT if what you are saying about your condition is true the LAST thing I would want is him to care for me!!! Why haven't you sought a 2nd 3rd 4th opinion from another Lap Band doctor? No medical problem is treated in isolation, with all those issues you list why hasn't the fact that you have a lapband been looked into. Also what has been your follow up care? Have you seen the surgeon at all since he operated? After all you don't get the band placed & then go off to loose all your weight with no follow up appointments. Surely you had to have known this??

The previous posters all bring up good points and offer good advice. That doctor may be a scam artist, but if you're having all these health issues for a year and half, why would you wait to do anything about it? I'm truly sorry you're dealing with all this, but a few things come to mind: 1. Your health issues don't sound band related, 2. If you haven't lost a single pound in all this time, I'm guessing you likely weren't monitoring what you ate and weren't adequately filled, and 3. You need to find a local lap band surgeon, go see them, and have your band examined just to be safe.

Your surgeon may have been a quack, but as an adult is your responsibility to take care of yourself, and that includes getting adequate medical help and advice when needed. Do not put this off any longer- get help.

Im so sorry to hear about your poor health I hope you get better soon, I found this link on another of Alex's forums that you may want to read. good luck

http://www.lapbandtalk.com/topic/132755-doctor-arrested-for-malpractice-in-tijuana-mexico/

Thank you all for the concern & good advice,

I see I was not detailed enough in my post, in my defense it was my very FIRST post and at 2:30 am after the shock of seeing a mug shot of my surgeon so a little slack please

1. I have been under a doctors care and have the medical bills to prove it (ouch $$$$)

Constant care.

2. I did recieve post op instructions & followed them to a T. Exercise & diet I have the YMCA membership and grocery bills to prove that too, hee hee.

So with that being said I assure you I am living up to my responsibilities as an adult.

And thou you do not know me, I am here to say I am not a person who is in it for a quick buck by suing somebody. I have never went to court in my life. I don't even return my meal at a restaurant if it sucks, I just chalk it up to "life", ya know?

I simply got shook up from seeing a mug shot of the man who operated on me in Mexico, plus the fact of my unusual health symptoms since the surgery. More worrisome then the lapband was my mass amount of blood loss. I feel like I have some internal infection of sorts (But I am by NO means a doctor, and it is just my feeling).

My post was not saying Dr. Huacuz has damagaged me. It said my family (especially my hubby) has been saying all my health problems started as soon as I had the lapband so as you can imagine he hit the roof once he saw the article...

My post was expressing my fear and my feeling of "What do I do now"

Prior to this I had spent much time trying to get my records from the Tijuana clinic for the Gastric fill center I am going to state side without any luck.

I do agree that I need a fill, and have every intention of getting one when I have the extra $425.

~ It is my doctor's belief that some of my failure to loose wieght is due to the medication I am on to breathe. I agree that this has some role in the band failure.

~I also am not sure Dr. Huacuz did anything to damage or harm me. I simply am a little more convinced there is a possibility he might have now than I was initially when my family had concerns.

I don't know many people who, if they were having unexplained health complications after a trip to Mexico for a surgery, that wouldn't be a little alarmed to see a mug shot of their doc!

And I do say unexplained health complications because in my doctors own words they "came out of the blue"

Again like I stated in my initial post all I want is for the Doc to fix me if he did make a mistake. Key word being "IF", aside from that I just want to feel better, get back to work and loose the pounds I set out to do.

I will say this will make me turn up the heat to get my records sent to me from the clinic so my doctor has all the facts.

Take Care everyone, and congrats on your success.

My first thought was that no wt loss was due to respiratory meds.take care of ur other issues and don't worry about the band.except make sure it's place correctly.after that just get ur other health in order.the lapband is a tool and will still be there when ur ready to use it.many times we see people's dormant health issues surface when they have one procedure other non related stuff starts to happen which may be the case with you.