nicolekiper

Hey out of curiousity how many people have had drs call them at home before surgery?

Hello fellow bandsters, How is everyone doing? I am doing GREAT!!!! I have lost a total of 142lbs in the last year. Well it actually took me 10 months to lose this, but I got pregnant the middle of June so I am now just maintaining my weight and bouncing back and forth from 260lbs to 265lbs. I have lost most of my friends and family. i.e. my sister only weighs 115lbs ect... How is everyone else doing? Has anyone else gotten pregnant? My doc says that everything should go great but I am still a little bt scared!!! If anyone has any advise let me know. I send all my love:)

Hey there everyone, I am please to say that I am now almost 6 months post op andhave lost 87 pounds I am so proud of myself and now have an amazing zest for life. I hope everyone is doing great and is as happy as I am. I miss you all.

Hi Anne and Leo, Thank you so much I had almost forgotten how wonderful all of you guys are. Anne how are you feeling? I see that you have recently been banded.

Well although there are a lot of articles and things out there that talk about average weight loss. Well what is average weight loss considering we are all different and unique people. I my self started out at 402 lbs on 8/28/03, that was 3 and a half months ago. I have been eating solid food for about 2of those months. I now weigh 340 lbs, that is 62 lbs in 3 months with noooooooooooo fill. My friend has lost 100 lbs in 3 months with no fill although she has had some complications, a different friend has only lost 35 lbs in 5 months with 2 fills and that is ok. Everyone is different, even if we all ate the same food, exercised the same it doesn't mean we will al loose the same. You may loose 36 lbs but you could also loose all of the weight you need to to get to your goal weight. SO GOOD LUCK!! Don't let anyone bring you down. I haven't even scheduled a fill yet because I don't need one yet. you will do great.

Hi, Oh my gosh, I can't beleive that Dr. If I were you I would call the and complain first to his supervisor and then to the Medical Association or what ever it is that you complain to about Dr.s His language was inappropriate and you do not deserve that discrimination!!!!!!!! Let him know how you feel and get a new Dr.

# Months No Fill I am 3 months post op and i am still losing i have had no fill and ki feel great. why is everyone always in a hurry to get a fill?

Hey all, thank you for helping me understand. I know that sooner or later I may hit a plateau and stop loosing and will need a fill. I just thought that everyone was so fill happy. Now I understand. This message board is such a cool place to come and intereact with people who are going throught or have gone through or even will be going through the same stuff you are right now. With out eachother we might not have answers. Now I am sure most of us are not Dr.'s but if something works well for someone else why not try it you know what I mean. You guys are GREAT!!

Hello all I am in Washington and went to see Dr. Arturo Rodriguez in Monterrey, Mexico and have lost 55 lbs in 3 months tommorrow. 11/28/03 I will be having my fills at Tacoma Radiology. I have never seen Dr. Fox but saddly my tribe from what I was given to understand has had one Tribal Member die after having surgery by him. And then we have another tribal member who is very ill. Look around before you choose who you see. Try to get all of the facts. If you need any information email me.

Hi, My name is Nicole and I have not been here much lately mostly because I have had soooo much energy since I had my surgery I am never home. As you can see below I started out at 402 lbs and am now down to 347lbs, the funny part is that I am only 5' 3" tall and am doing just fine. I had my surgery on August 28th, 2003 and although most people want to rush right out and get a fill 6-8 weeks after surgery I have not needed one yet and my 3 month Bandiversary is tomorrow. I have lost 55 lbs and am so happy, I can bathe myself, tie my own shoes, walk through grocery stores with out have to ride in those embarrassing carts becasue my legs were rubbing together and I had a rash or I was sweating like a pig or something. If you doctor won't do your surgery get a second opinion. I went to Mexico and had the most incredible expeirience. Email me if you want more info, Mexico and Europe have larger band sizes.

Hello again, Well you are only 6 days post op so you can have yogurt and pudding, on top of chicken broth. I lived on it for 2 weeks. stay away from the meats until at least week 4. I eat meat now but waited until my 4th week. I had my one month anniversary on the 28th of september. You don't have to do all liquids for 2 weeks. I had lost 38lbs by the 26th and now am at 43 lbs and this in 6 weeks. i did lots of liquids, but also pudding and slim fast and stuff. you have to make sure you get your protiens in.

Hello Nikki and Bev, I have seen some posts with weight being called stones. Can you guys tell me the difference between the two?

Hello, i am a lil confused. I was on jello and liquids for a week and then was able to introduce pudding and yogurt the 2nd week. then the third week towards the end of the week i was able to eat mashed potatos. i was full on the yogurt. and have had no problems at all. in fact i had my surgery on 8/28 and have lost43 lbs

Hey there all, I was just reading some of the posts about fills and feel a little left out. I mean I have done very well I am 28 days post op and have lost a total of 40 lbs. I am now starting to eat regular food and was told by my Dr. that I probably wouldn't need a fill for at least 4 months but that it could be 5 or 6 months. I have good restriction so I am not worried about it, but it is so weird to hear people say that they have to have a Fill.

40 lbs in 27 days I can't believe it. I am so happy. I haven't been on the Forum for a few weeks because my phone company screwed my internet service up. Anyways how is everyone doing? I am feeling great!!! Still have a little port soreness but that is ok. Started working out and yesterday 9/23/03 I ate a regular dinner for the first time since before surgery. I wanted to grub out and eat but did very well. I ate my meat first and then veggies but all together only ate about 4 bites. Pre-op I could have eaten two plates. I got on the scale yesterday and again today. You guys this is incredible. I am finally losing and not gaining. I haven't lost 40 lbs since the 3rd time I tried and failed at Jenny Craig. I want to say thank you to my big bander brothers and sister. You all are amazing. The world would be such a better place if there were more people out there who cared for others the way you all do. All My Love,

Hi Megan, Well my doctor charges in between $8,500.00 and $10,500.00 depending on which hospital, this includes all hospital costs, Dr.s fees, anastesia Dr., medication, hotel for 2 nights he makes the reservation for you, the only thing I had to pay for was my food pre op (I went down for a week, 3 days before surgery to vacation and 2 days after being released from the hospital) and post op. I stayed in the Fiesta Inn Monterrey Valle which is about a block and a half from the hospital. Dianna is a woman who works with Dr. Rodriguez and drove us around Monterrey to see the sights and so that we could buy stuff. (my mom and sister came with me) Dr. Rodriguez came to visit me several times during my stay at the hotel to make sure I was doing ok. Funny thing is My lil sister does not like pictures and when me and the Doc were taking pictures I had asked my sister to get in one and she said no, Dr. Rodriguez has a daughter her age and jokingly said My patient wants a picture with her sister she gonna get it and just took off running after her downthe hall, it was so funny. I received the best treatment from a state of the art hospital (SANTA ENGRACIA HOSPITAL) you gotta see these bathrooms. your honey can sleep in your room. I had a great expeirience except for sleeping that is the one thing you really don't do to well after surgery for at least a couple of nights. If you need more info email me and I will fill you in also check out Dr.s and Hospitals and a post started be isabella aka Kim. She stayed at the small hospital cause it was cheaper. Tata

Hi Michelle, Just out of curiousity how many pants sizes have you gone down since you started losing weight? I am trying to get an idea of how I am going to go down in sizes as i go down in weight.

Wow I would never have thought of that, I would sign up too. I currently am in a 30-32 and have clothes on layaway that are 26-28, your idea is very cost efficient!!! Nicole

Hey there all I am happy to announce the I now am also an August Bander, 8/28/03 I weighed myself yesterday 9/2/03 and have already lost 10 LBS YAHOOOOO. Boy some of what you guys had to go through was a little crazy. I went down to Mexico on 8/24/03 to party and vacation for a few days before my surgery. I got to the hospital which was beautiful at 7:00 am, I was in pre-op at 7:50am, then the OR at 8:15, I looked up at the clock at 8:30am and they told me they were putting me under. I woke up at about 10:30 am and was in recovery, then at about 12:00pm I was in my suite. I was up and walking around 4:30 pm and was drinking chicken broth, Apple juice , Water and Tea at about 6:00pm. I was released the next moringing at about 10:00am. I hung out in Mexico until 8/31/03 and am now home and drinking my fluids and taking nibbles of yogurt and pudding. Can you beleive it 10 LBS Well I will talk to you all later. Congradulations on all of your successes, it is great that we can all count on eachother for support!!!! Keep up the awsome work. All my love, Nicole:banana

Hey there well I just seen your question regarding Dr. Sanchez and wanted to assist you with some information. As you can see earlier when I first joined the forum I was going to go see Dr. Sanchez, I opted not to. But the site you can find his information at is belighter.com. Now when I was trying to go through him in the beggining the surgery cost was $10,190.00 and after actually purchasing my airline tickets to go to Mexico the surger cost for some reason got increased to $10,850.00. This is a little steep, because although all of my surgery and travel expenses were paid for that is quite a jump in price. So I am going to present you with another option, I just got back into town on 8/31/03 from seeing Dr. Rodriguez at Santa Engracia Hospital and have now been banded for 6 days. My surgery cost was $9,900.00 which was down from $10,500.00 and the higher cost is as high as the doc goes on cost that is the full montey and is still $300.00 cheaper than Dr. Sanchez. Dr. Rodriguez's site has a ton of info on it and the cool thing is he will call you if you email him and ask him to, from Mexico. There are two hospitals he works out of, one is a smaller more community orrientated hospital and the other is where I went. A friend of mine said that the smaller one was beautiful her surgery was only $8,500.00 due to being in a smaller hospital and I can vouch for the bigger one which is owned by a company in Texas whom I beleive is going to double the size of the hospital soon, both are state of the art. While in Mexico my Dr. came to see me on several occasions, while at the hotel pre op at the hospital post op and at the hotel post op. He answered all of mine and my family's questions and my mother even trusted him. My anasteisiologist Dr. Edwardo (spelling?), my Dr. Rodriguez, and the hospital Director whos name is David L. came to see me on seperate occaisions. And David is an American. I have someone else who can vouch for Dr. Rodriguez if you would like an assistion recommendation. www.thebariatrics.com Let me know if you need anything. Nicole;)

I am always surprised that more doctors do not start their patients out on something like Medifast http://www.medifast.net or Optifast http://www.optifast.com (both offer soups and non sweet stuff) for the first few weeks. Those liquid diet products have much more balanced nutrition than those carnation instant breakfasts I am going to be banded on thursday the 28th and was looking at the medifast website. Which on would you recomend? I am going to be in Mexico tonight until next sunday so i may take a while to respond beck, but would like to talk to you. Figured I would vacation for a few days before and catc some sun for a few days after. Nicole

Hey all I am a pre bander, this may sound like a goofy question but what is PBING?:cry

Hey i am getting banded on the 28th and live in spanaway

Look everyone. Dr. Sanchez I am sure is a great Dr. I have heard nothing but great things about him. For me the thing is, once you tell someone that a surgery costs one price and then jack it up another $800.00 or so well that is just wrong. That is what happened to me. I was told that I got an old info packet. When I asked about why through some people who have seen him, it was because he apparently got kicked out of another Mexican City and had to transfer to where he is at now and it is more expensive. I don't know if this is true I only know what I heard. Then looking at other docs who are in the same hospital with the same if not better qualifications is charging $1000.00 less. And on top of that he calls you personally with out charging you. For me it was more of a personal choice, not to go with Dr. Sanchez there are rumors that he doesn't use state of the art Lap Bands. I really hope that is not true. I guess they would be cheaper who knows. I wonder if everyone who has had him perform surgery went out and had their Lap Band X-rayed it would disintegrate all negative feedback about Dr. Sanchez because if they had the newer models than everyone who give the negative feed back would have to hush up ya know what I mean. All I want is what I am paying for. I hope what I have been hearing isn't true. Saddend, Nicole

Hey I am going to go see him on the 28th now instead of the 29th it closer. I have heard nothing but good about him. I am so pumped. Nicole