If you're going to Mexico for a lapband read this!

willbethin · May 28, 2006

Perhaps, don't care was a little harsh. Let me say, I feel they are in it for the money and if Americans weren't going over there for the lapband then they would be doing something else.

fishy · May 28, 2006

The INAMED band is FDA approved. The other is made in SWEDEN and is a much better band and has less slippage. The doctors also get the swedish bands cheaper. If you go to Mexico you have no idea what band you're getting even if they give you literature from another box. All I am saying is that you have recourse in the States, you have little to none in Mexico.

:grouphug:

You are entitled to your opinion. I am going to Mexico and I know exactly what band I'm getting. You made a very poor choice for a doctor, and are trying to blame all your issues on the entire medical profession of Mexico. Ludicrous. Get a grip, and work on the mental before the physical.

willbethin · May 28, 2006

:grouphug:
You are entitled to your opinion. I am going to Mexico and I know exactly what band I'm getting. You made a very poor choice for a doctor, and are trying to blame all your issues on the entire medical profession of Mexico. Ludicrous. Get a grip, and work on the mental before the physical.

Why didn't you choose a Doctor in the States? Cheaper? I know why I didn't! I feel sorry for you, perhaps when you lose some weight you won't be so angry and a know it all? You seem to miss my point. I hope nothing serious happens to you on the table or when you return, who you going to see then????

willbethin · May 28, 2006

You will be under a general how will you know what you're getting??? And you tell me about believe people? I Love Bush!!! I am part of the silent majority he is serving 2 terms!!! He is the best President we have ever had. Why do you bring politics into a forum. Oh yes, "know it all"!

PhotoNut · May 28, 2006

Another interesting thread on this subject is going on at the same time. Check it out:

http://www.lapbandtalk.com/showthread.php?p=228264#post228264

willbethin · May 28, 2006

The Truth Hurts!!!

gadgetlady · May 28, 2006

I've had a hard time staying out of this thread but I want to put my $0.02 in.

I equate choosing to have surgery in Mexico to choosing to have a home birth. It may work out wonderfully, it may be a terrific experience, and you may have great results. But if something goes wrong, the results can be disasterous, much more so than if you have the surgery in the US (or have the baby in a hospital).

No one can say definitively whether the risk of complications is higher if you are operated on in Mexico vs. the US, although I have my own personal beliefs about how the standards in the two countries differ. But I think you will hear a resounding difference between how doctors and facilities in the two countries handle complications.

That is not to say all US hospitals and doctors are top-notch. They aren't. But in the case of complications it is clear and obvious that Mexican doctors and facilities can't handle it.

It is also quite clear that the Mexican doctors do not have the same reprecussions in the case of complications. Again, this is not to say Mexican doctors don't care (some might and some might not); it's just to say that it is very difficult to "go after them" if something goes wrong. And I'm sure that impacts aftercare and complication management.

Finally, I don't necessarily believe that Mexican doctors are more motivated than US doctors by financial gain. I don't know that anyone can speak to their motives. Certainly, doctors on both sides of the border make money and are quite happy doing so. I think it is more important to speak to results and complications than motive.

I wouldn't go to Mexico for surgery for any amount of money. Heck, if I were travelling in Mexico and became ill, I'd either self-treat or, if it were serious, cut the trip short and get back to the US for treatment.

Again, there may be many members here who have had successful Mexico experiences. But I don't think one of the most important things in a doctor is not how he handles the "routine" surgery, but rather how he handles himself when a problem arises. Another analogy: I'm pretty confident the pilot flying the plane I'm in can land it under normal circumstances with all of the equipment working; after all, he's done it hundreds of time. But how well does he do when the landing gear doesn't come down and all of his gauges are out?

awayfrmitall · May 28, 2006

my doc. in Mexico has done 5,000. I would still recommend a doctor in the States.

The only Doc in Mexico that has come close to 5,000 bands is Dr. Rumbaut. Even my own doc is around 2300. Dr. Oritiz (if he counts all the ones he was a proctor with) is probably in the 3000 range.

So unless your doctor was Rumbaut then you did not do your research and they lied to you about how many he has done. Bottom line.

lianna · May 28, 2006

"Since, I have found a great Doc. in my area that will do my fills, expensive though because I had my surgery in Mexico. I did find out that he will do surgeries under 30 BMI and get ready for this, is cheaper than Mexico.

My new Doc. is telling me how I have to change this and that and exercise etc.......I told him I can do this and lose weight without the band!! He told me he would have never put a band in me and would have done another surgery."

You DO state that your new doctor will do surgeries on people with a BMI under 30 and that he would have done "another surgery" on you than lapband. I am curious who this AMERICAN doctor is? He doesnt seem any more credible than the Mexico doctors you are warning us about.

Miper70 · May 28, 2006

See, the thing about some of these Mexican Doctors and I do say some.....they don't have that many problems.....they've pretty much perfected the process so problems do not occur that often. I have done my homework. I spent hours on the phone with Inamed. I spoke to several surgeons who spoke very, very highly of "some" Mexican Doctors..mine being one of them. I can also assure you that if I did have a problem, Dr. Ortiz would not hesitate at all to help me, and is prepared to do so. His facility is just as nice and just as equipped as any hospital here in the states. I can't even begin to tell you how positive the experience was and still is as far as aftercare goes. These people CARE.....probably more so than any Doctor I have come across in the states. How many give out their cell phone numbers and answer on the first or second ring...then sit and talk to you for how ever long it takes to reassure you everything is ok? Well, MINE does!

fishy · May 28, 2006

You will be under a general how will you know what you're getting??? And you tell me about believe people? I Love Bush!!! I am part of the silent majority he is serving 2 terms!!! He is the best President we have ever had. Why do you bring politics into a forum. Oh yes, "know it all"!

I rest my case. The issues you must be dealing with are overwhelming your ability to listen to others, so there's nothing I or anyone else could possibly say that would get through to you.

Again, you did not do your research, yet you are the one who professes to know that every doctor in Mexico is crap. I just do not understand people who make blanket statements about things as if it's the truth.

Hmm, kind of like your hero Bush...:grouphug:

Miper70 · May 28, 2006

LMAO!!!!

Funny!

willbethin · May 28, 2006

GadgetLady,

Very well put!! Thank you!

little one · May 28, 2006

Guys back off, that is what this forum is for. It is called an opinion and information. If we all only put on here what we only wanted to hear it would be called lapband good info only.com not lapband talk.com....so let the people talk and consider their opinion and not be so harsh and that as they say is my OPINION.

willbethin · May 28, 2006

Kurt,

It sounds like you may need to do some more research and perhaps read some of the people on here that have had complications in Mexico i.e., Photonut's link.

My doc. in Mexico is a good lapband doctor. He is good at putting them in, afterall he has put in 5,000 with only one death thus far! But that was the patient's problem I was told. I had my surgery in the largest most modern hospital in Mexico. They did no blood work before the surgery and no one spoke engilsh when I was trying to ask why? How convenient. If I would have bleed during surgery they wouldn't know what blood type to order. Some of these things you need to think about.

I didn't hear about all the complications because they don't go back to Mexico when there is complications, who would!!! It is all about Post Op not how good the doc can put in the lapband or how many he has put in.

It appears that you and Miper70 have the same doc. and that's fine but that doctor is not the President of US. You would defend a doctor in Mexico over your own President. If you claim he is not your Pres. than move to another Country and see how good things are. I can guarantee you won't have Soldiers fighting for your freedom and safety!

Good luck to you!!! Do me a favor next time you're wrong don't use our President as a cop out for your own stupidity!