Hi all,

I just had to post a love note about my fill doc. I had my surgery in MX by Dr. Ortiz and so I follow-up stateside. My doc has been AMAZING with fills. I pay $200 per fill and we discuss how I am feeling, he consults with Inamed's guidelines, tells me what they say, what he thinks, and asks how much I want. I needed a tiny top off today, he asked why, what I was feeling, etc. Then he told me what he thought I should have, and he was like "You're the paying customer, you tell me what you think." I gave him my 'order' and he did it. I have heard so many horror stories about conservative docs that are even more conservative than Inamed's guidelines... like 1 cc at a time in a VG band. I am at 8. I'd have no restriction if I had to do that! LOL!

Just wanted to share, especially with you self-payers out there. It pays to find a doc that has your interests at heart, and is not just worried about the payout.

My doctor from MX spelled out exactly how much to fill each time. I guess he sympathizes with us self-pays.

That's a bonus for you!

I love mine too. He's awesome. He's actually a sports medicine specialist and is the Hawthorn Football Club Team doc but at the moment is over in Beijing as he's also one of the Aussie teams Olympic team docs.

He's been very helpful to me on matters other than banding, concerning my back and even my endometriosis probs, and is well connected so has referred me onto good specialists.

In stark contrast is the local bulk billing clinic where none of the doctors speak decent English and if you ask for a referrral to any specialist they dont know who they're referring you to, and they just send you onto someone in Dandenong, where I dont want to go becuase its a horrible area and if any hospital treatment is needed you end up in Dandenong hospital. I dont pay private health insurance to end up in that dump. The local clinics are good for medical certificates and antibiotics and that's about all.

So I'm quite happy to drive from here to Windsor (half an hour) to see my fill doc even if its non band related.

I have had a great time with the nurses at Dr. Brown's in Denver. The dr has no personality and you don't see him except for surgery but the nurses are very aggressive about fills. They are great! And my success is partly due to their willingness to fill the band to help me.

I would be driven to violence if i had nurses and dr's like some of the posters here on the forum. I think the ultra conservative docs that won't fill the stupid band are just mean and want to punish fat people.

Sadie

Hi KG, I just wanted to lend my 2 cents. I am sooo happy for you!! I couldn't agree with you or Sadie more. I got my surgery from Dr. Brown and it is so important that the doctor or nurses give you enough of a fill and take into consideration your weight loss and mental state. So many ultra conservative docs don't see or won't see that many of us are desperate to lose weight and that is why we got this proceedure which is a big deal mentally, emotionally, physically and finacially for most of us. I think it is great that your doctor takes into consideration what you want. Sadie is right about Dr. Brown--he has no personality and you don't really see him at all but his nurses are good at doing the fills with no pain.

I love the 'doc with no personality' bit. LOL. My doc has no personality, either. He is SO super dry, and not the best with 'bedside manner.' LOL. He has made it VERY clear to me that he thinks bypass is better and the sleeve is the best. BUT, he is AWESOME when it comes to fills and his office has been super nice. I am SO glad I found him. I have heard all of the people with VG bands who have docs that only do 1 cc at a time... or even 2. Inamed's guidelines for a VG are 3-4 ccs for the first fill. I cannot imagine having to go for 2-3 fills before even getting to that point.

When I went yesterday, I was like, "I was at my sweet spot after my last fill and I am VERY close right now, but I need a LITTLE tweak" and he was like "How much do you want?" and then he said how about 1/2 and I said how about .4 cc? And that's what he did. And I am PERFECT now. I just cannot thank God enough for this band, and for leading me to the guy that has helped this weight loss progress so well.

The other great thing about Dr. Brown is that the fills are only $50 after the first 3 and they forget to charge you half the time!

There are so many complaints about fills on this board- we are lucky!

Sadie