Banded14yr

Hey Lisa! Great to "see" you back! I always enjoyed keeping up with you for more reasons than one, but you and I were banded on the same day so there was always another "connection" there. Hope you're doing well! Tricia

It sounds like you were banded recently. Have you had a fill yet? I really wish that doctors would be more informative to their patients to expect little or no weight loss before they are properly adjusted. I see so many newly banded people getting really frustrated before they've even had their first fill.

Thank you for getting back to me! Can you email me the name of the doctor and phone number (if you have it) for the doctor in Jackson? tnoiler@infionline.net I found South MS Surgical Weight Loss Center in Ocean Springs, Dr. Avara who will do fills on patients banded in Mexico, but he's pricey. He charges a one time $150 office visit fee $400 for fills without flouro If flouro is needed, it's an additional $100 Let me know if you need a phone number and I can find that for you. Thanks again~ Tricia

I always felt my adjustments (fills) right after I had them. I never had delayed restriction after a fill. Everyone is so different, and everyone's band acts differently. I would definately say that if you still don't feel proper restriction in a couple of weeks to go in and get another small fill. The adjustment process can be a tricky one and might require several small fills until you get proper restriction. Let us know how everything goes. Good luck! Tricia

Cathy, 20 minutes is amazing! That must mean that your band was easy to place, which is a good thing! Dr. Rodriguez is a wonderful surgeon, so I knew you'd be in good hands How are you doing? After my surgery, I felt better with every passing day. Hopefully you're feeling better every day. Tricia

Hello Letty! It does sound like a small hematoma, especially if your doctor suggested that you put ice on it. I had a hematoma once that took a couple months for it to totally disappear. Just keep an eye on it, but if it bothers you a lot, you might want to call your local doctor just for peace of mind Take care! Tricia

Updated..... I think my original pics were posted way back on page 2. I'm obviously old as dirt lol....

Shelly, No Las Palmas for you until you get your restriction straightened out Seriously, I hope you are able to get an unfil so that things can get back to normal. Being too tight is NO fun, as you know and it's not healthy. Please take care and good luck with all of the wedding stuff in the next few weeks Tricia

Isn't the band a funny little contraption? I can eat chicken, but ONLY if I take very small bites and chew it up a lot. Even then I can only tolerate small amounts. I'm finding that I can tolerate seafood better than anything else. I've never been a seafood lover, but I'm finding that I'm actually liking shrimp, lobster and especially scallops. Go figure....

Lots of great surgeons in Mexico. Just keep doing your research and go with your gut feeling when you make your decision

Cathy, Welcome home!! I saw where you posted on another thread about gaining weight while you were in Monterrey. Give it a few days and those added I.V. fluids should go away. Just remember to take it easy for a while. Try not to overdue too soon, and *try* to stick to Dr. Rodriguez' post op diet plan. The first few weeks after surgery will be the hardest, just keep telling yourself that it's the healing phase and the more you take care of yourself now the healthier your band will be in the future. It will all be worth it in the long run. When you have time I'd love to hear about your trip to Monterrey. Dr. Rod is pretty neato huh? Take care and keep in touch! Tricia

Have you found a surgeon that will perform surgery on someone with a BMI of 35-40 yet? I have talked a little with Dr. A. Rodriguez about this and I believe he could help. Let me know if you're still looking for a surgeon and I can pass along the info. Tricia

I'm very sorry Shanna Please take care and hopefully in a few days things will look a little brighter.

Karen, I just saw this (your) post I'm so sorry to hear of your band troubles. First and foremost, take care of yourself. I would be devistated if I was told that my band had to come out, but if it meant a healthier me, then by all means, take it out. Your update post sounded a little more positive. I'll pray that everything works out and you won't have to have your band removed and you can get the other problems under control soon. Please take care!! Hope your daughter is doing well Tricia

I was banded by Dr. Arturo Rodriguez in July 2004. If anyone has any questions about my lapband surgery in Monterrey and/or my experiences with Dr. Rodriguez and his staff, feel free to pm or email me privately, I'll be happy to chat with you Tricia

I also had surgery with Dr. Arturo Rodriguez and agree with everything Rica said. If you have any questions, feel free to ask! Congratulations on your decision to have Lapband surgery! Tricia

I also wonder about having to have the band removed due to erosion or just not knowing what will happen in a few years due to the lack of information of long term banded patients. With that being said, at least it can be removed if there are problems! If you have bypass, it's permanent. If you stretch out your pouch (it happens alot) with bypass surgery, you can't just go in and get it tightened again. You're permanentally stretched, so you've gone through major surgery and will most likely gain the weight back anyway. We don't really know what the long term affect of the band is. But I do feel good in knowing that it can be removed if problems do occur later on.

Lot's of good surgeons in Mexico Since mine hasn't been mentioned yet :confused: Dr. Arturo Rodriguez in Monterrey is wonderful as well :confused: :confused: Good luck in your decision.

Okay... Swinging the hands of time back just a tad.... I was married 17 years ago. I lived in another state from my fiance but was moving to Nashville where he lived after we got married. I didn't have a local doctor but I knew I wanted to go on BCP's after our marriage, so my wonderful fiance located a doctor here in Nashville so that I could get checked out and a prescription. When I was sitting in the waiting room, I kept noticing that all the patients were elderly. So I casually walked up to the receptionist window and took one of his business cards and it said that he was a Geriatric doctor!! I could have died! My fiance obviously didn't know what a Geriatric doctor was or got confused! LOL... I went through my appointment without any problems, got my prescription and promptly found an OBGYN for my next visit.... Ok.. back to 2006.... I see this Geriatric physician's name when I'm searching for a fill doctor in Nashville. I obviously thought it was a typo. But to no avail, he's now doing fills for Fillcenters USA..... Maybe Geriatric is a lot like Bariatric? Go figure....

Shelly, haha! I thought cuo milk was some kind of special milk or something, if I didn't ask, I'd probably be driving all over town asking stores if they had cuo milk! LOL..... Can you buy White American cheese anywhere? I'm definately going to try making my own, that stuff is to die for! I think the Las Palmas downtown is close to where I work. I work off Broadway near Beaman Toyota, I don't want to know where it is! hahaha!! Thanks for the recipe!

Shelly, I LOVE Las Palmas! I used to work over by the one on Antioch Pike, I'm glad I moved downtown, but I think there's one around here, I just don't want to know about it! I also love their queso. What is cuo milk? I'm assuming you need to cook on the stove at a low heat?

Gosh Paula.... After reading this post, I'm all of a sudden craving salsa! I would love to try and make my own, but as far as the store bought stuff, if you have a Kroger, the Kroger Brand name salsa is very good. I'll buy it over Pace or other name brands.

My very first HORRIBLE PB experience was when I ate a banana. I thought that it was soft and should just float on down .... wrong! If you try a banana, just take it slow and take little bites. Some people don't have any problems with bananas, but I won't ever touch one again :hungry:

Gosh, has it already been a year? Blossom was such a special person and it's apparent how many hearts she touched.

Wow! Darcy and Becky are back! I also left when you both did but after some time away became mostly a lurker and an occassional poster. The huge war that broke out here shortly after I started posting really left a sour taste in my mouth and so I also needed to take a vacation. You two don't need to apologize for taking a break. I'm just glad to see you both again!