FurEllie

Where in Tennessee? If you're close to Atlanta, Fill Centers USA has someone in Roswell 2 weekends a month. Someone else also mentioned a place in Chattanooga - try a search if you're near there.

I personally had an excellent experience with both Dr. Ortiz and his mother as well as the rest of the staff there.

Most of the plastic surgery that is done on the "rich" stars and such is done out clinics - not hospitals. One of the girls I was banded with is a nurse and she said she was VERY impressed with the clinic. She said when they wheeled her into the operating room and she started looking around Dr. Ortiz said "You're in the medical profession, aren't you? I can always tell by watching you folks check it out." It is spotless and I can tell you the service you get there makes any hospital stay I've had in the US pale in comparison. Other good things about Dr. Ortiz is that he is on the board of Fill Centers USA, has written a book and has taught many of the doctors who are now performing lapband surgery in the US. As far as aftercare - I haven't really needed any except after an overfill. They responded to me w/in minutes and had arranged for me to be down there the following Monday (this was on Friday night) and offered to unfill me on the weekend if I felt it was necessary. I have heard and read of many patients who have been able to reach Dr. Ortiz directly via his cell phone at all hours. I know my personal doctor here in the US and have known him since HS. I don't have his cell number I'm sure there are MANY good doctors in Mexico since they have been doing bands there for years longer than those in the US (and that's not to say there aren't excellent doctors in the US too), but just wanted to share my personal experiences :car:

My first fill was an overfill (even though it was a small amount). I swear, I don't think I've ever been more miserable during the week before I got unfilled nor more happy sitting in the room after the complete unfill drinking a WHOLE BOTTLE OF Water Let your body recoup then go back to a smaller fill. You're almost there!!

I went to Dr. Ortiz and cannot recommend him enough! I didn't have any complications but my personal doctor here knew what was going on and I knew I could call on him if there was an issue that didn't allow me time to get back to Mexico. Just make sure to have anything set up BEFORE YOU GO in case something does go wrong (but honestly, the chances are slim - just have someone around "in case" )

Ditto. When I was getting banded at the Fill Centers there were 4 of us there from Dr. Ortiz and all felt the same way. The man has done THOUSANDS of lapbands. I could have done mine in the states but chose Mexico because of the length of his experience.

That is an EXCELLENT idea. Thanks

Oh bummer - thought I'd run into you So far, Darlene was 100% right - this isn't enough fill. I was 20 pounds heavier with the 1.5 that was too much so I guess it DOES make a difference. Though at the rate I can go, I'll be 20 heavier when she gets back to Roswell :confused: Best of luck!

Darlene with watch the Fluro to see if it gathers in the pouch instead of going straight through. TBH, mine went straight through but as I mentioned, I am a wimp after my overfill. :confused: In all fairness, I could use some more. Are you going to Roswell or Moultrie and which weekend?

Updating: 1.4cc now. I will be interesting to see what happens in a few days. My first fill of 1.5cc didn't "kick in" for a few days and then it was so tight I couldn't get water down. The fluro didn't even "hold" in the band so maybe with the poundage lost I will need even more. But after that one overfill, I swear I'll pay to fill .1cc at a time to hit the sweetspot instead of overfilling again, lol! :huggie:

Darlene ROCKS! :huggie: After reading some of the horror stories I just knew there couldn't be anyone who filled as well as Dr. Romero with Dr. Ortiz's office. Except for the lack of facial hair, Darlene is just as good Very nice, very professional, tiny little pinch, talked about how much of a wimp I am after the 1 overfill, etc. Not to mention the trip was 1.5 hours each way instead of taking 48 hours, lol. Plus when I go "into town" I can get a ton of other stuff done too. If anyone's around the GA area (there was someone from Mississippi and Kentucky today), Darlene gets an A+

I hate modifying posts here because the new one makes no sense - My first sentence should have said my TOM works very well with the BAND, not the BANK. Though there have been times I've been PMSing where I wouldn't mind robbing a bank or two

I have recently discovered my TOM works very well with the bank - mucho restriction. The other 3 weeks a month? Not so good. The .8cc I have in there has been AWESOME especially since last month I had a 3 week period, lol. But now the weight is creeping back up. I'm scheduled for a fill on Saturday. I'm still going to go slow. I will, of course, tell my "fill hell" history, but I'm hoping for a total of 1 or 1.2 ccs. I'd rather see them in a month because it was too little than 3 days because it was too much. I was in TEARS the Saturday night before my unfil on Monday AM, even though I knew it was coming fast. It was the most miserable I've been through this entire experience. Give me surgery ANY DAY instead of being overfilled

I too am needle phobic. I CANNOT watch any time a doctor puts in a needle in me. Heck, I can't even watch it on TV when I know it's not real. All I felt was a "pinch". Very minor Though it obviously depends on who's doing it. Look around the fill doctor board and see if whomever is doing yours is listed.

LOL! Next time ask your doctor for specifics. Doctors in MX have been doing bands a LOT longer than those in the US. Sounds like your doctor was getting afraid he was going to lose a patient. Maybe he believes in the stories of people losing their kidneys in MX too There's a Fill Centers USA in Las Vegas for fills and other problems that might arise would/could be handled by your family doctor.

Have my appointment this Saturday - will report back :mad:

There's a Doctor at OCC in Mexico (Dr. Ortiz's office), Dr. Romero who does the fills there. From what I can tell, nurses and PAs do them just about everywhere else. I'm getting ready to schedule my first "non-Dr. Romero fill" so I'm a bit nervous - he's SO good!!

Any possibility it's your TOM when you're feeling tighter? I'm only at .8 ccs now and I've thought about adding another .2 because SOMETIMES I can eat pretty freely. But during my TOM I'm tighter than a virgin on prom night I couldn't even get ice cream down a couple of days ago.

AWESOME!! Will be calling next week - thanks so much for the update

Please do. I need a fill and really would like to try you guys.

Mindy, I understand EXACTLY what you mean - I work at home yet my house is filled with dog hair, cobwebs, the bathtubs and toilets I don't use need to be cleaned, underneath the beds could support an entire ecosystem, etc. My problem is finding someone who will come to my house (I'm VERY rural) and clean it the way I want it clean. As hypocritical as it sounds, if I'm paying someone, THEY BETTER CLEAN IT WELL! The last girl I had didn't even pull the sofa from the wall and charged me $300. I don't think so..... I'm going to put up a sign on my neighborhood's bulletin board "Masochist Wanted - must not be grossed out by ANYTHING!!"

NOW we're talkin'! I could go on vacation and get a fill on my way home Is it just my perception or are the centers in smaller towns? Seems they'd make a killing opening one in Atlanta or one of the burbs instead of Moultrie.

My surgery was $8K but I think it's normally $8500 and he was running a special that month. That includes 3 nights at the hotel (2 if you're going alone), 24 hours at the clinic with the best care you can imagine (private room, 2 nurses for at the most, 6 patients), rides to/from the airport, rides to/from the hotel, a full medical workup including EKG which I'd never had, a meeting with a nutritional doctor as well as ongoing access to her and access to the doctors. Fills are $100 with Fluro, if you use their shuttle to/from the SD airport for a fill that's an additional $135 but you can share rides/cost. Plane tickets to San Diego will, of course, vary. The nearest airport to me is ATL and Delta really doesn't have much (any?) competition on direct flights there. I usually pay a boatload for plane ticket. TBH, I figured it out based on 3 fills in TJ (and I'll go over that since I've already been there 3 times after surgery: 1 fill, 1 unfill, 1 fill), that I would actually be paying the same if not more than having someone in the US do it. But I read up A LOT on this and Dr. Ortiz has done more lapbands than any surgeon in the US. If it cost me a little extra, it's worth it, IMO. BUT if you live in a city with cheap plane fares to SD, you can probably go there for less than what you'd pay someone in the US. Best of luck and let us know what you decide!!

Ditto the good posts about Dr. Ortiz.

I would find a doctor in your area as a back up in case of emergency. Dr. Ortiz was my doctor and it takes a day for me to get to TJ and another day back. So far this has worked for me, but I've gotten alternate names/numbers of doctors in my area that will see me if I can't wait a day. The closest of these doctors is 2 hours and that's fine with me