hi my fellow bandsters. one of the er doctors i work with is willing to go to mexico with me to my doctor, to learn how to do fills and unfills. are there many people in the phoenix area that would be interested in using this doctor instead of going to mexico. id like feedback.

i had a bad episode of gerd last week and went to the er. i was lucky that this great doc was working, he offered to take some fill out if i told him what to do. i knew what to do and walked him through it. thank god, i was completely swelled shut . anyone interested in learning more can pm me. id like to let him know . i think it is great also to know there is a er doc that "gets it", and you can go to in an emergency. he is willing to learn and provide the service if enough people are interested. it would be cheaper and less time consuming than the trip to mexico. :clap2:

I went to Dr. Aceves in Mexicali for my last fill and I was very pleased. The drive isn't as far as TJ, you get flouro (you dont get that with fill centers - at least in this area), and it was cheaper. I would still be interested in a doctor in the Phoenix area that would do them. I can't always make the trips to Mexicali.

Hi - I am very interested in joining your lunch group. Please add me to your list. mytteb@gmail.com Thanks Betty

Hi - I am very interested in joining your lunch group. Please add me to your list. mytteb@gmail.com Thanks Betty

Great, I'll add you.

hi my fellow bandsters. one of the er doctors i work with is willing to go to Mexico with me to my doctor, to learn how to do fills and unfills. are there many people in the phoenix area that would be interested in using this doctor instead of going to mexico. id like feedback.

i had a bad episode of gerd last week and went to the er. i was lucky that this great doc was working, he offered to take some fill out if i told him what to do. i knew what to do and walked him through it. thank god, i was completely swelled shut . anyone interested in learning more can pm me. id like to let him know . i think it is great also to know there is a er doc that "gets it", and you can go to in an emergency. he is willing to learn and provide the service if enough people are interested. it would be cheaper and less time consuming than the trip to mexico. :clap2:

Hi

My name is Randy and I am a nurse practitioner in Phoenix who has been doing adjustments / fills for 5 years. I am offering to do "home fills" for a discount price. I have extensive experience in the management of band patients. My email is azfnprn@hotmail.com. Please feel free to contact me for any questions.

Randy Hamilton RN, MSN, FNP-C

Randy you have got to be kidding me... Is that legal? Not only that it's advertisement. Anyone with a hotmail account and offering to come to my home off the internet and stick a needle in me.......

Nevermind not worth the time that's just nuts.

Randy, such advertisements are not welcome here.

Beyond that, you leave yourself open to some major legal issues if ANYthing were to go wrong... and I mean ANYthing. You could be found responsible for pretty much anything that goes wrong with a person's band because you are not doing it under the umbrella of a physician's care.

Dr. Terry Simpson , look up Doctors in Az in lapband.com, he is my Doctor he is Phoenix magazines top Doctor 2009, he takes patients from other states and I dont see why he wouldnt take people banded in mex, he has trained down there and he knows there are good Doctors there.

Dr. Terry Simpson , look up Doctors in Az in lapband.com, he is my Doctor he is Phoenix magazines top Doctor 2009, he takes patients from other states and I dont see why he wouldnt take people banded in mex, he has trained down there and he knows there are good Doctors there.

Dr. Simpson is annoyed with the business he's losing to Mexico. I can't really blame him, being a border state we are used to crossing the border for medical care, surgery is not a big deal. If you are used to going to Mexico for other medical issues and you had a choice of paying $16,500 for outpatient band surgery or $7K for inpatient (2 nights in the hospital) surgery, which would you choose especially if you are self pay? What is the value in spending an additional $9500 for less care?

Simpson will not see those banded in Mexico. He's not a fan of Mexican doctors due to business lost. That's fair, aftercare is not where the money is, surgery is. He's in business to make money.

I know that FillCentersUSA just opened something like three new locations in Arizona? Or maybe they are about to open, I'm not sure. But there are/will be three new places in the valley for fills.

hi my fellow bandsters. one of the er doctors i work with is willing to go to Mexico with me to my doctor, to learn how to do fills and unfills. are there many people in the phoenix area that would be interested in using this doctor instead of going to mexico. id like feedback.

i had a bad episode of gerd last week and went to the er. i was lucky that this great doc was working, he offered to take some fill out if i told him what to do. i knew what to do and walked him through it. thank god, i was completely swelled shut . anyone interested in learning more can pm me. id like to let him know . i think it is great also to know there is a er doc that "gets it", and you can go to in an emergency. he is willing to learn and provide the service if enough people are interested. it would be cheaper and less time consuming than the trip to mexico. :clap2:

Many doctors go to Mexico for training but sometimes they come up here to do seminars/training for US docs. But since they've been doing lapband here in the US a while, many docs get trained by US docs....so as long as your doc is trained, it's cool. Makers of gastric bands have cirriculums so he could be trained in more than just one type of band.

I had to do what you did....walk a doctor thru it. I moved to an area where this procedure isn't popular-yet...so the ER sent me to another doctor who works in radiology and heart/lungs and is an expert in ports. I still have to guide him on what to do.

Am going to Mexico this week for an adjustment because the doc here took out all my fill (which is what I asked for) but I've gained 12 pounds in these 3 weeks.

I've heard of docs not providing services to "Mexican patients" and I've heard of docs in certain areas that won't provide them to "Vegas patients".

Doctors are businesses just like any thing else and many have issues with losing their prospective $$$ to a competitor. I think all this will fade as the procedure gets more popular because our society is so mobile....many move cross country or whatever.

I'd love it if a doc around here would get trained to do adjustments. You are very lucky!

Edited June 8, 200917 yr by lapbandtalker

Wasa, they aren't open yet, but there is a training scheduled on the 11th of July.

Have you guys finally opened a FCUSA in New Mexico? That's where it is seriously needed.

Dr. Berger in Flagstaff does fills for patients banded abroad. I think the charge is $225 WITH FLUORO. Does anyone know if he is indeeed skillful?

Only Dr. Ortiz from Mexico and Wendy from Mesa have done my fills and they never have poked or missed the band port. Has Berger does hundreds of fills or has he done thousands of fills? DOES ANYONE KNOW? I don't need to know about his surgical competence-I want to know about his "fill" competence. Can anyone help me on this one?

For newbies or long-termers out there, always try to use a fill provider that has done at least a thousand band fills. I see a lot of talk about FillCentersUSA. You need to ask the person that is DOING YOUR FILL what his/her individual experience is.

I have talked to Berger's nurse and of course she gave him a glowing review. Problem is--I don't know of anyone that has used him for fills. His reviews on obesityhelp.com write nothing about his fill skill. Berger is not listed on the AZ subforum and I cannot start a posting thread there.

If anyone knows of affordable prices with fluoro in Arizona updated for 2009 please post them. The only one I know of in the reasonable range is Dr. Berger for $225.

I would like to be added to your lunch bunch group to get a fill in Mexico. I was banded in Mexico would like to go back especially with a nice Phoenix bunch! Please let me know when you are going next. I have had my band since 1999 and have lost a TON of weight. I have had it completely open for over 5 years, but recently put on about 30 lbs, and need to be filled again. Please let me know when you are going! Thanks!

Dr. Berger in Flagstaff does fills for patients banded abroad. I think the charge is $225 WITH FLUORO. Does anyone know if he is indeeed skillful?

Only Dr. Ortiz from Mexico and Wendy from Mesa have done my fills and they never have poked or missed the band port. Has Berger does hundreds of fills or has he done thousands of fills? DOES ANYONE KNOW? I don't need to know about his surgical competence-I want to know about his "fill" competence. Can anyone help me on this one?

For newbies or long-termers out there, always try to use a fill provider that has done at least a thousand band fills. I see a lot of talk about FillCentersUSA. You need to ask the person that is DOING YOUR FILL what his/her individual experience is.

I have talked to Berger's nurse and of course she gave him a glowing review. Problem is--I don't know of anyone that has used him for fills. His reviews on obesityhelp.com write nothing about his fill skill. Berger is not listed on the AZ subforum and I cannot start a posting thread there.

If anyone knows of affordable prices with fluoro in Arizona updated for 2009 please post them. The only one I know of in the reasonable range is Dr. Berger for $225.

Wendy Hall in Mesa does them for $100 and she is amazing. I however, am trying a new route for this fill since Mesa is far from me, I am having Randy Hamilton come to my house and do it. Sya what you will but I had to get an emergency unfill after I went all the way to Tijuana and was filled shut. I went to St Likes here in phoenix and was poked over 10 times before the doc was able to remove the Fluid. I am very confident that Randy Hamilton will do a great job. I haven't seen anything negative about him from people who have actually used him. I will let you guys know how it goes.

hi my fellow bandsters. one of the er doctors i work with is willing to go to mexico with me to my doctor, to learn how to do fills and unfills. are there many people in the phoenix area that would be interested in using this doctor instead of going to mexico. id like feedback.

i had a bad episode of gerd last week and went to the er. i was lucky that this great doc was working, he offered to take some fill out if i told him what to do. i knew what to do and walked him through it. thank god, i was completely swelled shut . anyone interested in learning more can pm me. id like to let him know . i think it is great also to know there is a er doc that "gets it", and you can go to in an emergency. he is willing to learn and provide the service if enough people are interested. it would be cheaper and less time consuming than the trip to mexico. :clap2:

I always like to tell everyone about a Company called Fill Centers USA..they accept aptients not banded in the USA. . They have fill docs all over the USA. I go to one in my town and it is much better than when I was traveling back to Dr Ortiz. (although I love him!) You can read very positive things about all of their providers. You might give them a call to see if they haveo one in your area. Good luck