I live in North Mississippi and I am contemplating having Lap Band surgery in Mexico with Dr. Ortiz. My problem at this point is I can't find a local physician to do my fills, and I don't feel comfortable going through with the surgery without finding a local doctor to do my fills first. I have called every physician in North MS and they all refuse to take patients banded in Mexico. Some of them even went as far as to tell me what a mistake I was making for choosing to have my surgery in Mexico!! Of course, I explained that I am self pay and I simply cannot afford to have surgery in the US or naturally I would have chosen a surgeon in the US.

Anyway, can someone please give me some info on doctors in North Mississippi or the Memphis or Nashville TN area. I have posted on the Mississippi Local Support forum and did not get any replies. Help!!! Thanks!!

Hi Mississippi Girl. Sorry to hear about the issues finding an aftercare doctor.

I promise that this is not an advertisement, but if you cannot find an after care doctor that will take you after being banded in Mexico, you might want to look at Dr. Kirshenbaum at www.lapbandrockies.com. He is in Denver and he is awesome.

He did my surgery on 10/22/08. He is a US doctor that is trying to give patients an alternative to going to Mexico to have the surgery (not that there is anything wrong with that).

The total cost for the surgery was $9850. And I believe that US doctors are more likely to take you on as a patient with a US doctor. I checked and the doctor's office just wanted to see his notes from my surgery and they would have taken me on as a patient.

Like I said this is not an ad from Dr. K, but you might want to look at him and see if it might work.

Email me back if you want some more info. on my surgery.

Jeff

If you haven't already, you may want to post this in the doctors and hospitals thread found here Doctors and Hospitals - Lap Band Surgery and Lap Band Discussion Forum . I hope that you are able to find a doctor to help you.

Not sure how much help we're being here. I'm not from Mississippi either but I wanted to applaud you for getting this all straightened out before you have surgery. I've known too many bandsters that were banded first and then had a bear of a time trying to get their needed follow up after.

I agree with the previous poster there is nothing wrong with going to Mexico, it just requires good research which you obviously are doing.

I went to Dr. Ortiz and found a doc in KC to do my fills. Try looking at Dr. Ortiz's website as I think it lists a group of docs that do fills. It is called Fill America or something like that.

Kay

Yes there are several doctors in the KC area that will do fills for patients from Mexico or elsewhere. Several of my friends went to Mx for their bands, and all of them were very pleased with the experience. I would have as well but the family "forbid" it. (Let's not go into why I let them dictate my actions considering my age.)

I just don't know of any in the Mississippi area the Original poster was asking about. Hopefully she'll be able to find something on Ortiz' website, or maybe being in Mississippi going back and forth to Mx for fills might still be cost effective considering the savings to local docs.

Thanks to all of you for your advice.. I was really beginning to wonder if I wasn't all alone in this journey!! Pertaining to Dr. Ortiz's office, I did contact them for a possible list of doctors in my area and Carolyn gave me a number for one doctor in Memphis and he is not taking new patients.

The closest doc I have found is 4 hours away and his fills are $300 for patients banded in Mexico. However, I can fly back to Mexico for $350 so I might just end up doing that??

I have really tried to do my homework concerning this surgery and honestly sometimes I felt like I might as well be living in a foreign country because I can't find any resources located near me!!

Thanks to all of you for your advice.. I was really beginning to wonder if I wasn't all alone in this journey!! Pertaining to Dr. Ortiz's office, I did contact them for a possible list of doctors in my area and Carolyn gave me a number for one doctor in Memphis and he is not taking new patients.

The closest doc I have found is 4 hours away and his fills are $300 for patients banded in Mexico. However, I can fly back to Mexico for $350 so I might just end up doing that??

I have really tried to do my homework concerning this surgery and honestly sometimes I felt like I might as well be living in a foreign country because I can't find any resources located near me!!

The fill part is what turned me off from Mexico. I understand your situation and if you can fly back for 350 I probably would. Fill centers pop up all the time. I would keep an eye out and keep calling around. You never know when they will change their policies.

Hey,

I was banded in Mexico and had the same issue. I went with fill center USA. They have Dr.'s in almost all states who do fills. Just google fill center USA.

~Lori

I was banded in Juarez, Mexico. I live in Texas and had a hard time finding a fill doctor before I left for surgery. I did much research and finally found a doctor in Dallas, that is about 5 hours away from me that will do the fills for $250. I found some other doctors in Texas that would do Mexico fills, but they had start up fee of $1000! I can go back to Mexico for fills, but there has been a lot of crime in Juarez lately so I have decided to drive to Dallas for fills. Texas is so big we have to drive for a while to get anywhere anyway, so what is five hours :tongue2:!!

Good for you for doing all your research ahead of time. I have read posts from people who were banded and then surprised that they had trouble finding a fill doctor.

Wow, is it really cheaper to have your surgery in Mexico ?

I needed 6 fills after being banded to reach my sweet spot, then I had a complete defill when I had my TT in August. Since then I have had 5 fills, and will need at least one more. So I am thinking 12 fills plus one defill at $350.00, plus lost wages for 13 days (at least) in order to go back to Mexico is a lot of Kahuna.

I paid 16k for my surgery, but it includes aftercare (unlimited fills and defills for life). Luckily for me the clinic is about a 15 minute drive from my house, so I dont need to take time off work for appointments.

Good luck with your research. Whatever you decide, the band is completely worth it.

For me personally it was A LOT cheaper to go to Mexico. Banding in Mexico cost me $6,500. Average number of fills is 2-5 for a person, but lets even double that...and say 10 fills. Ten fills would be $2,500 for me. So that would be total cost of $9,000. As far as loss of wages, I work in Higher Ed so loss of wages is not an issue. So that is still A LOT less than 16k, almost half the price even with fills.

I am not saying Mexico is the answer by any means!!! Though it definitely was the best choice for me.

There is no doubt that getting banded in Mexico is the only option for me. Since I first posted this thread, I have found someone within easy driving distance for me to do my fills and she only charges $100!! She was banded in Mexico five years ago and had the same trouble as me, so she became certified to do fills and now does them only for patients banded in Mexico.

As far as the price goes, even if I had of had to pay upwards of $500 for fills and have to take off of work and lost wages and so on, I still could not have afforded the surgery in the US because I couldn't pay the $16,000 up front that it cost to have lap band surgery in my area.

Everyone has to weigh their own options, and I am truly excited that I made this decision!! I am counting down the days!!

you go gurl!

you are gonna love the band, and the exciting new journey that it brings. You are going to be surprised at all the benefits the band brings, as well as weight loss, I have improved health, I have met some amazing people at the gym I joined and at the running club. Had it not been for the band I would not have met these people. I have improved self confidence, and I feel like I am no longer living a "half life". I am so excited for you!

Welcome to bandland.