Hello everyone, I am going to tell everyone all about it, this will be long:

I am on the plane right now as we speak on my lap top leaving Monterrey Mexico. I must say everything went quite smoothley. Lets start from the beginning...

We left my house at 5 am for the air port I wasent to nervous at that point felt pretty good I guess a little jittery I didnt know what to expect. The trip seemed long on the way there it always does. When we arrived in Monterrey I was quite impressed with how easy it was to find my driver. He was holding up a sign that said my name in big clear writing. It was not the confussion that I have experienced in other countries that begins as soon as you get to the airport. Actually the entire trip there was almost no confussion at all. Dr. Rumbaut staff and everyone you come in contact with that knows your there to see doctor Rumbaut know exactly the routine. So we got in the cab there was a little T.V in the cab it was very clean. Everything was very clean. I didnt see one place that wasent or one piece of trash out of place. The people in Monterrey are friendly and take alot of pride in what they do. Everywhere we went people were cleaning or painting making it just look perfect. So we went to Dr. Gonzalis' office that was in a very nice building. This was just for some minimal pre-op tests. I will say his office is a bit out of date that is the only place you will see anything out of date there. A nice young girl was there to run some test then you meet with the doctor. In and out not to much time. We were a bit hungry at that point I would recommend bringing some snacks cause when you get off the plain you go strait to his office. Then I left there went to The Hampton Inn for about an hour or two then Dr. Rumbaut wanted to meet me. The Hampton inn by the way was great! Very clean friendly staff. Again First class people. The Hamption Inn will take you anywhere you need to go and all your appts. with Dr. Rumbaut or any place you wish. We went to Dr. Rumbaut's new office it was only two days old. It was great so modern and nice. Loved the decor. As I expected from what I researched (in which I did alot of) he was just as I thought. I felt as though I had known him before. We talked about the band what to expect he showed me a band and he told me what to expect the following day. I also meet Doralisa who was great, very nice!

From there my fience and I went to Applebes for Dinner. You would have thought I would have ordered a entree with lots of bread and really something "good". But I didnt cause I had sicked myself up for getting sick of food. And Dr. Rumbaut had told me, "its not your last meal your gonna eat again, so dont feel like that."

The next morning We got up at 6:00am for a 7:00 appt. at the hospital for my surgery. THE ONLY CONFUSSION this whole trip was my credit cards. I had called ahead of time to make sure they knew I was going to be in Mexico. And still dont you know two of the three credit cards were denyed. Now remind you I am in for surgery at 8:00am. So I was so worried. I had a Doctor with me that works with Dr. Rumbaut and I cant remember his name but he was great. It took me an hour to get all the credit card info straitened out. And when calling credit cards custoner service numbers there at 800 numbers that dont work from mexico. So make sure you have a international number on every card you would be paying with!! Once that was all squared away I had so much nerves with that situation I wasent worried about the surgery. Thank god I was the only surgery that day other wise there would have been problems I was an hour late from all that. The two days before me they did 5 bands on monday and 6 on tuesday. It was a blessing for sure. Everything happens for a reason. I did lots of little prayers on this trip those always help, probably why everything went so smoothley. Anyways, once I got up to surgery everything went pretty fast from there they put the Iv right in and from there you dont normally remember much. Felt good like margarittas and I remember the doctor asking me if I wanted margarittas or tiquilla or something like that. I said, "sure" I very vagley remember crawling onto another table in the O.R. But barley. Its better that way. When I woke up I am not going to lie I was in pain. I woke up in the recovery room and I remember doing the "one eye." You know one eye open one eye closed. Still to groggy to open the other one but I wanted to tell them, "yo tengo medwelle in mi estomigo." thats a good phrase to remember. They were on it. The nurses are great they will keep you as comfortable as possible. If you know you are going to have your surgery why not get one of those little learn spanish tapes or something. My step mother is dominican and alot of my friends speek spanish so thats how I know but you dont have to speek it to go to mexico to have your surgery. Alot of people speek english. But knowing a few words here and there with some pointing and hand motions goes a long way.

However I was in quite a bit of pain that first day of surgery the next day was 75% better already then the next day was 100% better. I shaved my own leggs even the day after surgery. However I still needed help getting up from sitting. Thats where having somethere with you comes it. That is great I would recommend it for sure. First day or two I couldnt wipe myself eather..... what a thought.

:P

Once those couple days were over I was fine. Lets doing great now once that gas pain passes your so much better. The incisions are sore but nothing crazy. I do find myself holding my port one a bit. I get nervous when im out in public that someone is going to bump into it. It just being peronoid though. My over all opinion was Dr. Rumbaut is amazing and monterrey mexico is not what people expect when you hear mexico. If you can just get past the reaction people are goign to give you when they hear thats where your going for your banding than you are sure to have a wonderful experience just like I did. Thanks so much to everyone for all the support. I DID IT!!! :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :

Welcome to bandland Andrea! I know you are going to love your band as much as I do! Wishing much success but for now... rest and heal!

Darcy

I will be on liquid for two weeks muchy for two also. Then work into regular food then he wants me to get a fill two weeks from when I was banded.

ok kids, I need clarification;

Should we get a fill because a doc says it's time or should we wait until we are no longer losing for several weeks, or no longer feel restricted?

The pt coordinator for the doc I'm using says I should have one 8 weeks after surgery.

Sheena's says 2, I've seen others say 4 or 6, and some who haven't had one at all.

What's the general consensus?

As long as you are losing, you do not need a fill(unless you're white knuckle dieting). Lately, there are some docs that are coming out with 'fill schedules'. This scares me, personally, because I've already seen new patients who only knew they wanted fills (they're such a mystical thing) so they let these docs fill them every 2 weeks only to become totally closed up and in the ER from dehydration and of course it's always on a weekend after their Friday fill. YIKES!

It's very obvious some of these guys have no experience whatsoever, but they're making money on those fills! All is good in their world!

Before my re-banding. I had 3 fills in the period of a year. My second fill was plenty tight enough and I should have never had the 3rd. There is no way on earth that I could have stood a fill every 2 or 3 weeks like I'm hearing some of these people are suggesting. Unless they are putting in only miniscule amounts at a time. ??

The same pt coordinator tells me I should probably only need 2 to 3 fills in a lifetime.

Does that sound logical?

Dr. Billy and I discussed this at my last visit in August. His feeling on fills is as such: He likes to see his patients every 6 weeks. He really likes to see them every 4 weeks but 6 weeks is the upper end. If they have not lost at least 4 lbs or are more hungry in between visits then he suggests a fill. Notice he said SUGGESTS! He never tries to talk me into one. He asks me if I think I need one. We discuss it and then we BOTH decide if I need one. Don't you just love him?

I am an RN. I have worked with all kinds of different doctors in my career. The ones I respect more are the ones that TALK and confer with the patient on their health related issues. Sometimes the doc gets the idea that they are boss and the patient has to follow what is said. If you guys get nothing out my ramblings but this point then I will be happy.

OK Here is the point: "You are the boss!" Doctors and nurses are your advocates for a better health. They give you ways and information to go down that road toward a better health. We as patients have to be better informed and have all the information necessary to make decisions about OUR plan of care. After all we are the ones getting poked and prodded not the docs and nurses. LOL!!

OK I am off my soap box now.

I love your advice, and I am glad you are a nurse and can tell us things like that! You are a sweetie!

Betty

Dr. Rumbaut told me I would probably need one in 6 weeks. And I would prob' just need 2-3 fills all together. You gotta just see how you feel!

leatha_g you had to get rebanded? Do you mind me asking what from? That is like my biggest fear. But I guess it happens....

I agree with you Penni. I usually seek out female doctors because they are easier for me to talk to. They also usually don't try to "boss" me. Even in my 20s (the dark ages) I wanted to have control of my own health. Even birthed my children at home. I want a doctor who can diagnose my problem and then talk to me about the options for care.

It doesn't seem like there can be a set schedule to getting fills. You may or may not need one on a certain date, depending on how you're doing. Also, the # of fills, wouldn't that depend on how much saline is put in during each fill? Personally, I prefer to "sneak up" on it. I've had one fill (2 mos. after banding). He put in 1.3, but I felt too full. So I had him back it off to 1.0. I've done fine. I'm going in next week for 2nd fill (7 weeks since 1st fill)

PamRN, I went to a seminar last Thursday night that Dr. Jaime Ponce conducted in Dalton, GA. He told us that he would not do the first fill until 6-8 wks after surgery regardless of how hard we begged. He also said that after that initial fill, it would be totally up to the individual weight loss as to how often we would need another fill. He did state that we shouldn't need more than 3-4 fills during the life of our band but he put great emphasis on the fact that it would be determined by the amount of proteins that we eat and how little liquids and sugars we eat (after the first few wks of liquids of course). Have you met Dr. Ponce yet? He's a great guy! I can't wait to have him band me.....

Originally posted by sheeanisland

leatha_g you had to get rebanded? Do you mind me asking what from? That is like my biggest fear. But I guess it happens....

Yes. I was recently rebanded due to slippage/pouch dilation and had a hiatal hernia repaired. There was some speculation I had no pouch dilation at all but my band had slipped. There is also speculation that the hiatal hernia had something to do with it. I wouldn't borrow trouble. You've just been banded. I say ride the wave for as long as you can without worrying yourself over nothing. Issues do happen with the band, but comparatively, they are all pretty minor.

Good I just really love my band!