I'm overcoming a bad weekend where I most likely overate and caused some serious discomfort. Lots of people have called or written asking what's up. Thanks, by the way

In a nutshell, I've decided to attack my situation in Las Vegas! I don't want to go to Mexico, I don't want to go to California (mind you Dr. Billy is a great surgeon, but he's not in Vegas.)

Today I called both local band docs, and was turned away by the staff because I was banded in Mexico. I demanded they discuss my EMERGENCY with the doctors. Teng's office called me back and told me to go to my primary doc. Fisher hasn't called me back yet. Remember, I ran into Fisher at the pharmacy (small world thing) and he told me to my face that he WILL see emergencies from Dr. Lopez. I told the staff that I'm making an announcement to the world:

If I have stomach fluids leaking that can potentially kill me, and if I die as a result of my band, then the whole world will know that Teng and/or Fisher didn't care enough to look at me because money is more important than human life.

I next made an appointment with my primary doctor for next week, who will refer me to a gastroenterologist, who will hopefully refer me for an endo. I will urge them that leaks can kill me. But, it's useless for any old gastro to do the endo since only a Band surgeon knows how to find erosion. Billy told me that regular gastro doctors overlook erosion all the time, which brings me to the problem with Teng. Teng's staff said Teng refers his problem patients out to get the scope from a local lab. That means even Teng's patients can have erosion, but if Desert Radiologists, for example, don't know how to look for erosion, then they might bypass it.

So for now, I am feeling better. I learned that not all "slips" are really slips. Sometimes just a small portion of the stomach can come up through the band, and by staying on liquids for a few days, things could fall back in place. I learned deep-fried cheesesticks dipped in Marinara sauce can cause blockage, as can other foods. But Sandy (from Ortiz's office) talked to me, and she specifically mentioned a bad time she had with mozzerella sticks, which happens to be exactly what I ate, and she described my exact symptoms.

So for now, I'm nowhere. Sandy also agreed that infected ports can often lead to erosion, but she said there's always a chance it won't. So I have to fight for an endoscopy. If I get scheduled, I will talk extensively with the technician before going under and explain that erosion can look like the smallest dot. Dr. Teng's staff said any doctor that scopes me can call Teng for a consult.

So, let's see where this takes me. I'll make a deal. If I have a clean band on May 5, 2006, then I'll let you all chip in for my new port (ducks from flying shoes.)

I love you guys - thanks for always being here, each and every one of yoons.

I wish you all the best, DeLarla!! This sounds like a terrible thing to go through!!

Call my surgeon, Dr. John Feng at SF Laproscopic Associates. www.lapsf.com Maybe he can help you, and if you have to come to San Francisco I have a beautiful guest room :-), and live 1 mile from wine country.

~LOL You are too funny~ Sex toys and lingerie <perk> Hmm maybe I'll wake the hubby up. LOL

Anyhow, you're not going to die anytime too damn soon! This will all work out for you.

Lisa, I hope things work out for the best with your band...I see that you have been struggleing with this issue along time.

LOL...Jack you are always such fun!

Lisa, ( i just learnt your real name

i'm so sorry you have to deal this situation, i hope you will never remove the band.

never never! now that i read this thread i understood whats goin on!

courage & patience ( ya ya i know very easy to say very hard to do ) :D

{{{ Lisa }}}

....grogglily awaking from my latest future~dream state, I swore I heard about Dr. Kotwica-Bonekovic, the famed BANDSTER who discovered the true use of deep-fried cheesesticks dipped in Marinara sauce ...

...and she was able to slip a prescription to ERIN for a year supply....and there was a motorcyle, made of latex, and then this ........oh...wait...mmm....time for my meds....

yes nurse....mmm..shhjjjhhhmmmm....sszzzzzzzzzznnntntttt......

.....

hahahahhahahahahahahahahah ROFLMAO muahahahha

My doc always gives free samples... I think I'd like Dr Lisa's samples better!

But I don't have $5,000 for band removal surgery.

Lisa...not that it matters when we're talking thousands of dollars, but my band removal (and my port) was $3500 with Dr. Ortiz. Unless that's because he put my band in?

I hope you can get this resolved soon Lisa!! Take care.

Shelley J has an excellent point. You can have anybody take your pictures, and you do get to decide who reads them. I'd give Dr.Billy a call and ask him if he'd mind having a look. It could be that your pics will be on a computer and he can access them right after they are completed. All of our radiology films are on computer now and we live in the sticks, Surely Vegas and CA are using the latest techno.

I don't know if every place is different or not, but when Dr. Ortiz wanted to see my x-rays when I got sick (my violent throwing up from a stomach virus caused my band to slip badly)...the imaging center would not email them to him because of the privacy laws. They suggested I pick up a cd from them with the x-rays on them and FedEx it to him! I suppose that's what they are required to say. But because he needed to see them so quickly, we did get the cd and then we personally emailed the pics to him. I really don't care if somebody on the internet saw my x-rays!

I asked my primary doctor today what she thought of me getting rebanded. She thought it was a good idea since it seemed to work so well for me. I told her I would be more careful and not get filled too tight this time and I would be going back to TJ to get my fills with Dr. Martinez (works with Dr. Ortiz). She agreed saying her patients that have lapbands have had more problems when they got their fills here (I'm assuming she means here in Oregon, but maybe she meant the U.S.). Interesting.....

I can't wait to get rebanded!!!

Hi Lisa,

Its really crappy that you have to go through all of this to get answers. I am very hopeful that everything with your band is fine. It would be interesting to find out from Inamed how many infected ports resulted in band erosion. I know that you spoke to a Mexican doc who claims that most people in your situation end up without a band, but I still have trouble fathoming this since 1 is around your stomach and the port is located in the abdominal cavity. And there are many eroded bands where there was never a port infection. As a matter of fact, I know several eroded bandsters and none of them have had infected ports. So please be optimistic. Can you try Fishers office again? Stay on their asses and get answers. If anyone can do this, you can.

Also, Shelly had a good point. If you get the endoscopy done and xrays, you can have them sent to anyone of your choice. This may alleviate your concerns about your band health. Hang in there !

Babs in TX

Lisa, sorry you have to go through this. I will never eat a mozarella stick now (please keep reminding me of this!!!).

Can you ask your dr office to call you if they have a cancellation? I'm going to remember to thank my wonderful dr because he always finds time to fit me in for anything.

Good luck and keep us updated. Celeste

I am so sorry that all this is still happening. Sending Prayers that you will get that Endo done and read by someone who knows what they are looking for.. ASAP

I hate how doctors always treat people. Kind of an "I'll get to you when I get to you" approach. If they are that busy, they should really quit accepting new patients. I mean, I know they want to keep busy, but when someone says "I think I might have a hole forming in my stomach and I need you to refer me to someone to look at it" and they say "Sure, I'll see you next week" it's just really horrible.

Lisa, I hope you get your referral and your endo super fast so that you can have your nerves calmed. You'll at least know what's going on one way or another...

if you are having trouble with your band, your insurance should cover it. Doesn't matter that it didn't cover it to begin with, it should cover it now because you are having trouble with it now.

I sure wish I had something better to offer you sweetie!

Well, if I do die, I will my ten thousand dollars worth of sex toys and lingerie to all you fine people! Tell Chris to share... and goodbye, cruel worlddddddddddd!

Before you go, You must also will that CANDYSMOOCH gets first picks!!

Also - you have scared me enough to never eat a mozzerella stick again. In fact 2 weeks ago when I did eat one and had never heard of this - I immediately had to remove myself from the table at the restaurant and head to the bathroom - it wasn't painful - but I knew it was coming back up and it did. So hopefully I don't have anything stuck down there - I'm not having any symptoms - I just know as soon as it went down - it wasn't going down and I've NEVER had this problem with any other foods - I just assumed I had ate it too quickly - now I know that that was probably not the case and I will never eat one again - thank you for sharing this important information!

I'm not going to eat one either. Ya scared me straight!

This sucks! What is with those Vegas docs, anyway -- don't they realize what's at stake here? It's ridiculous that you should have to do all of the legwork just to get a competent doc to read your endo. But after the muck clears, I am confident you will get a real answer. . . without having to go to medical school. Sending good vibes your way.