I was banded by Dr. gonzales in

April 07. Everything was going well up to two months then everything started. I got an infection at the port. After many visits and no results at Dr. Gonzales's office for over 4 months. I ended up in the hospital and many doctor visits here in the US, I ended up in the hospital for over four weeks in a two month period and two surgeries within a week of eachother the band was removed. Couple of more days of delay I would have been dead. I have e-mailed Dr. Gonzales office many times and told them what happened to me but no one is responding or cares. It is very disapointing. All he kepted on doing is giving me antibiotics and sending me home instead of taking care of the infection. It had spread all over my abdomen. It was a nightmare. I am now struggling to keep the weight off.

anyone else who had the same experiance. I was told that the bacth of bands they got was faulting, so everyone who got banded by him in April or May of 2007 amy have had a faulty band. I know 5 people who went throught the same thing, because everytime I went to see him they were there withthe same problem.:thumbup::blushing:

OMG. I'm so glad that you survived. Are you considering being banded again? I'm not sure that I would be...that's for sure.

No more banding for me...I have had enough problems with it for a life time. I just wanted to know if anyone else had lap band surgery around that time with Dr. Gonzales and if they had similar complications. What is surprising is that the doctors office is not responding to any of my messages. It has been a hard journey emotionally as well as physically. I'm going through the why me. I had 20 more lb I wanted to loose, but it is not happening and now all I want to do is eat. I am struggling to keep the weight off.

ok i'm gonna get my but chewed on here but here i go,,lets see you were banded 1month ago and you only have 20 lbs more to lose,, just how fat were you,,or were yiou starving your self,, and dr gonzalas who were does he practice,there are probly lots of dr gonzalas,,if you claim he nearly killed you then state the address of him so we all can be aware,,,i've trolled this site for a whileand see the statistics of band complications which on the percentages is about lessthan1percent, i' mean really complications no minor ones,,and with about 300,000 bands put in,that would put it at less than 3,000 geez by my estimation it seems that over 20 percent of the people on here claim,,to have serious complications ,,the study and the numbers just don' add up,,i no there may be some probs but let me be in that group of a batch of bad bands i'll be sitten on a beach collecting 20 percent

Have you contacted an attorney? I truly think that would be in your best interest as I'm sure that is one of the reasons why they are not answering their phones. This isn't a slip and fall, but truly an example of malpractice. I know that the mesh that was used in my fathers hernia surgery was faulty...he opted not to contact an attorney but my brother (the attorney) stated that he would have to sue the manufacturer of the mesh and then the doctor.

In your case I would think that you would have to sue the manufacturer of the band and then the doctor, who is clearly at fault for not taking the measurers to gaurantee your health.

I'm so sorry that you are going through this...but you can do this! You are a success story! 20 pounds...pshhhh...you can do that!

I'm hear if you need to talk.

ok i'm gonna get my but chewed on here but here i go,,lets see you were banded 1month ago and you only have 20 lbs more to lose,, just how fat were you,,or were yiou starving your self,, and dr gonzalas who were does he practice,there are probly lots of dr gonzalas,,if you claim he nearly killed you then state the address of him so we all can be aware,,,i've trolled this site for a whileand see the statistics of band complications which on the percentages is about lessthan1percent, i' mean really complications no minor ones,,and with about 300,000 bands put in,that would put it at less than 3,000 geez by my estimation it seems that over 20 percent of the people on here claim,,to have serious complications ,,the study and the numbers just don' add up,,i no there may be some probs but let me be in that group of a batch of bad bands i'll be sitten on a beach collecting 20 percent

I think that you are misreading her post. She clearly states that she had the band put in in April 2007 and had the band in for 4 months under the Drs. care and then 2 months in the care of Drs. in the US. That equals 6 months until her band was taken out. Not sure where you got one month? :blushing:

I was banded by Dr. gonzales in

April 07. Everything was going well up to two months then everything started. I got an infection at the port. After many visits and no results at Dr. Gonzales's office for over 4 months. I ended up in the hospital and many doctor visits here in the US, I ended up in the hospital for over four weeks in a two month period and two surgeries within a week of eachother the band was removed. Couple of more days of delay I would have been dead. I have e-mailed Dr. Gonzales office many times and told them what happened to me but no one is responding or cares. It is very disapointing. All he kepted on doing is giving me antibiotics and sending me home instead of taking care of the infection. It had spread all over my abdomen. It was a nightmare. I am now struggling to keep the weight off.

anyone else who had the same experiance. I was told that the bacth of bands they got was faulting, so everyone who got banded by him in April or May of 2007 amy have had a faulty band. I know 5 people who went throught the same thing, because everytime I went to see him they were there withthe same problem.:thumbup::blushing:

I'm sorry to hear about this terrible ordeal you've been through. Are you ok medically these days ? Are you planning to have another weight loss surgery ?

Was an inamed lap band used by Dr. Gonzalez

? Do you know the brand ? If it was, they each have a serial # on them. I haven't heard of too many cases of a faulty band. It's possible for a good band to erode or there are many other complications which may arise due to the docs fault or other causes.

I'm sorry to hear about your complications. I am however thankful that you survived. I wish you the best and remember to always take care of you. Stay committed to your new lifestyle with or without the band you suffered to much to let the head hunger get the best of you. Keep your head up. Stay strong! Good Luck!

Dr. Zapata gave me my band box with SN#, and also jotted down information about my statistics. I got his surgical report, xrays and all pertinent documentation. If my band goes bad, I will seek restitution from Alergen, makers of Inamed bands, because that ain't right!

Just to point out again the band was put in in April of 2007, Mr. Big T. The surgery was done by Fransico Gonzales of TJ, Mexico. The infection started at the port sight and I practically went to TJ from LA once a week and all I got was some medicne and sent back home. Finally the area opend and started oozing puss. I went back and they gave me more medicen. I insisted on some sort of X Ray and they sent me to a lab downstairs which charged $100 and he came and looked at the X-Ray and said it was fine. I asked him to clean the area or do something and he sent me home and said it should get better in a few weeks and when it does he will take the port out. Then when the area closes and gets better they will replace the port. In the mean time the band eroded into my stomach. They claimed the product was faulty, now if they knew that why did they not replace it. I would have opend a lawsuit but I did go to Mexico, who would I sue. The band was an inamed product but I don't know it in fact it was the band or the office that was at fault.

Does anyone know,if I had thre surgery in Mexico but the band was inamed can I sue the manufacturer??:rolleyes2:

Just to point out again the band was put in in April of 2007, Mr. Big T. The surgery was done by Fransico Gonzales of TJ, Mexico. The infection started at the port sight and I practically went to TJ from LA once a week and all I got was some medicne and sent back home. Finally the area opend and started oozing puss. I went back and they gave me more medicen. I insisted on some sort of X Ray and they sent me to a lab downstairs which charged $100 and he came and looked at the X-Ray and said it was fine. I asked him to clean the area or do something and he sent me home and said it should get better in a few weeks and when it does he will take the port out. Then when the area closes and gets better they will replace the port. In the mean time the band eroded into my stomach. They claimed the product was faulty, now if they knew that why did they not replace it. I would have opend a lawsuit but I did go to Mexico, who would I sue. The band was an inamed product but I don't know it in fact it was the band or the office that was at fault.

Does anyone know,if I had thre surgery in Mexico but the band was inamed can I sue the manufacturer??:rolleyes2:

I would certainly look into it! What an awful thing to have to go through. Do you have proof that it was an inamed product?

Yes, the doctors who removed it here gave it to my husband. I hope he kept it. It just messed me up so emotionally that I did not want to think about the whole ordeal. the band was removed in November of 07. I was in the hospital for three weeks. I went throught depression because I was upset that things went wrong, I was doing so well in loosing the weight that deep down inside I wanted everything to get better without having to remove the band, but that was not possible. I guess what I'm trying to say is until now I was not wanting to talk about it, so I did not ask my husband what he did with the band. But in looking at some of the threads here about how great Dr. Gonzales is I wanted to let people know what I went through so that they can here both sides before making any decisions. I hope this is helpfull to folks out there.

It seems like you are ready to address it now...which means that you must be doing much better emotionally and physically. I would see if your husband still has the band and get all of your paper work in order before contacting an attorney. When is the ast time you contacted Dr. Gonzales?

Couple of days ago. I have been asking to get my files and pictures from them but they are not responding.

It might be a good idea to send them a certified letter requesting all of your files. This way that you can show that you tried to communicate with them by phone and via mail. I would send an email as well!

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