Iluvmyboys

Dear WasaBubbleButt Can I ask what was medically wrong with you to make the band worse? Just wondering, because I am so nervous about my new band and what could affect it......I don't mean to pry

Hi Christy, I am in Georgia too!! I live 30 min south of Atlanta...... Good Luck with your nursing test! Patricia

Hello everyone! I got my new band.....the AP small band on July 5th in San Jose, Costa Rica at Clinica Biblica Hospital by my original surgeon, Dr. Carlos Quesada Ramirez. I feel great and have been able to eat foods by using my handy dandy food processor! Comes out like baby food but tastes better! So glad to be off the liquid phase! I am SO glad to have the band back!!! Good Luck to all of us! Patricia

I recently had the Lap Band surgery out of the country and called Blue Cross HMO of Georgia yesterday and asked about Dr. referrals nearby. (Thinking I had to pay out of pocket as I was sefl pay for the op) She said that they would cover any Dr. visit......and possibly the fills.....?????? I asked her to repeat it! She said yes, we pay for ANY dr. visit. you just pay the co-pay. I have to get the code for insurance billing for the fill and see if they will pay for a fill locally.....I am SO excited!! We just don't have a lot of money and have 3 little ones so this is like winning the lottery to me. I just hope she is correct in what she was saying. Gosh, it's gona be a good day! Has anyone heard of anything like this? Thanks all!!

Hello everyone! I was successfully rebanded on July 5th by my original surgeon Dr. Carlos Quesada Ramirez in San Jose, Costa Roca. He used the new AP small Lap Band on me and hopes to have better results as far as slipping goes, this was supposedly made to prohibit that.....I have my fingers crossed! I just got home last night and had a great experience. The hospital, "Hospital Clinica Biblica" was outstanding in every way you could imagine! I had 3 nurses assigned to me per shift and all were spectacular! I felt like I was at the Ritz....no kidding. Beautiful, clean like you have never seen before rooms! Wonderful and very restful. Had my own plasma tv on the wall in front of me with all of the US channels you could need. The care there is second to none. Good luck to all of us! :clap2:

Babs, Have you thought of using Dr. C in Cinncinnati? I know it is a drive form GA., but.....you will get your fill AND get to see the best Dr. ever at the same time! I think he charges $150.00 for fills. Just a thought.....or you can check fill centers of America. I think they have one as close as Tenn. Good Luck and welcome to GA!! I am 25 min south of the city.

Alexandra, Thanks for the reply! My surgeon mentioned the Vanguard band, but then said it would all depend on how much fat is in the stomach area when he does the surgery.......I don't want to end up with whatever is in the OR at at the time! I have learned all too hard that most of this has to be researched on my own, so I am trying to make sure I find out as much as I can before I do this for the last time.....thanks again!

Alexandra, I too lost my band due to slippage. I have been contemplating being re-banded next month but I do not know if I should be looking into a different band than the one I had originally. Should this be a concern, or should i just let the surgeon do his thing? I am trying to make sure this does not happen again, and if there is anything I need to research before I do it, I am ready to make informed decisions! Have you had to reconsider a different band? If anyone knows about being re-banded, I would love to hear your comments! P.S. I have re-gained 20 pounds after the band was removed....... Thanks to all!

I would like to meet the person who has had it for 10+ years!

Has anyone here heard of the BIB balloon? I had my band removed and cannot affor to go the band route agian, but just heard of the BIB Balloon and was wondering if anyone has heard anything about it being good or bad, works or not? Thanks, I appreciate the input!

Yup....that's right and it was me!! :confused: :Banane19: :huggie: He is the best!!

My band slipped and made me very very sick. I was self pay to have in put in, and hopefully my insurance is going to cover the removal since it was an emergency by the time it was removed. Dr. C from this board removed it for me. I got my sick as a dog self on an airplane and went to his ER and he (being the angel among us) removed it the next day. If I happen to win the lottery and can come up with the money, I will have another band put in at some point. I am feeling great now, but scared to death of gaining weight. The appetite came right back like a tornado and I am truly worried...... Thank you for your concerns, I will continue to stay on the board for the support you all give. I love everyone and the information they so kindly share with us.

Lisa, Good Luck.....everything will be just fine.....I am thinking of you. Let us know how you are in a few days......take care.

Yup.....I luv the guy! Keep the waist to half the height!

her surgery to update on the results.

I have had my band for 2 years......I have done well and have been satisfied with the results. Each day is a new day and with the help and support of this board I have made it to my goal and have learned a lot along the way. Some time ago, I developed a hernia. I do not know how I got it or how long I have had it.....It is right above the band and it became difficult for me to eat certain foods and I thought the band was tight. A few time after eating, I would throw up my food. I think this caused swelling and that caused the hernia to put more pressure on the band (or visa versa). This took place for a week.....I ate soft foods and still no relief. I had reflux, and pain. It then got to the point where I was on liquids hoping that that would calm down my esophagus. I did not know I had the hernia at this point. Well, I took a Prilosec on Sept. 20th hoping for some relief. The pill never did go down and caused such pain after 10 hours, that my husband decided enough was enough and talked me into the ER. We arrived at 1am.at Piedmont Hospital in Atlanta, Ga. I was in pain, tired, and getting dehydrated. I told the Dr. and every nurse I saw that I had a lap band and that I needed a Lap Band Dr. to take a look at it because what ever it was that was wrong, had to do with the band. I was there all night long......they said they would call in a Dr. that would be able to look at the band. They assured me of this over and over.....he never came to see me......at 7am they told me the Dr. on call was just arriving for duty and he would do a "Scope" or upper GI. or endoscopy. I waited until 1pm, sitting there.......then after being prepped for the procedure, the Dr. came into the room. I asked him if he was going to also tell me if the band was ok, or if it had slipped, eroded etc....he replied that he had no idea about the lap band and only did the endoscopy!! I was there from 1am until 1pm.....to be told this!!! I was told over and over that a lap bad Dr would be called in!!!!! Apparently they do not come in because they are afraid to take on a patient they do not know........ HOW DO I KNOW THIS????? READ ON LADIES!!!! The Dr. does the endoscopy, tells me to go home and take Prilosec!!! Ha! I was there because a Prilosec stuck in my throat for 11 hours!! The next day, I decided after much thought to go to anoter ER....I was weak, sick, and very worried about this problem so I decided to go to The Atlanta Medical Center also in Atlanta, Ga. because they have Bariatric facility where they do the Lap Band and the bypass and I assumed they would have a Dr. on call at their ER.....again, I go to the ER have bloodwork done, explain the problems I had and what the other ER did the night before. My blood showed that I was anemic, and the white blood count was elevated. Here is where the nightmare begins......in walks DR. PATEL the ER doctor. He listens to me. I tell him what I have been experiencing for the last week and that I wanted the lap band emptied of saline to relieve the pain on the hernia. Just to get me through so that I could get to my surgeon in Costa Rica a few days later. Dr. Patel tells me that if I am looking for a "quick" fix that I am in the wrong place. He then goes on to say that because Piedmont Hospital "dropped the ball" why should his hospital have to deal with it. He then says to me "Why should I call in the Bariatric Dr on call?? He doesn;t know you.....He didn't do your surgery!!! I told him that I had never felt so ill in my life and that I could not take one more day of the pain.......he said "you look fine to me" I then told him that I had not eaten food for a week and that my blood work proved I was getting worse......he replied that "people do not need food to survive"!!! I asked him if he would turn away a patient who had heart surgery at another hospital 5 years earlier and came in the ER. Would he tell that patient that he would not call in a heart specialist because the Dr did not do his surgery and did not know him? He left the room......all the while keeping in phone contact with a Dr. Hixon who was the Bariatric Dr on call who refused to come in!! In walk Dr. Patel who tells me that they decided to admit me!! Me, who minutes earlier looked "fine" and did not need food to exist!! Whose blood work did not matter!! Dear me, I could not believe my ears! Obviuosly after I made the statement about the heart patient he got his sick act together. I asked him if the Dr was coming in to see me....he said no, that he would be in on regular duty in the morning. I asked him if he was going to help me with the problem and he told me that Dr. Hixon might stop by my room if he thinks he needs to see me.......so, no real answer....no one there wanted to help me it didn't take a rocket scientist to figure that one out. I told him to take the IV out of my arm and that I would go home. I would not let them treat my dog after how DR. PATEL treated me. I went to see my PCP first thing the next morning, she prescribed meds for the reflux and said that she thought I would be ok until I could get to Costa Rica...... I went to CR a few days later and my Dr. emptied the band, said hr thought the band may have slipped but that after 3 months we would see what the results were. He is hopeful that it may go back into place and if not, the band will have to come off. I wil deal with that one day at a time. As soon as he emptied the band, he told me to start eating good, healthy foods to get my blood levels back to normal. All of the symptoms went away immediatetly! Relief at last! No reflux, vomiting etc.....I feel great. I am sharing this with you because although you may live in America, have full health care coverage, there are a few Dr. Patel's out there! Beware....if you are like me and thought that if you ever had an emergency with the band and would be safe in a hospital ER.....THINK AGAIN. Let me add this quickly........a friend had her surgery in Mexico by the amazing Dr. Ortiz.....she did great also, no problems etc......but, had the same thing (no hernia though) happen while on vacation in Oklahoma City....went to an ER there and was admitted for 4 days, seen by a Bariatric Dr. who emptied her band for immediate relief and was treated like any other patient!! Three cheers for that doctor for honoring the oath he took to become a doctor!!:clap2:

Date Banded........... 9/29/04 Country ............ San Jose, Costa Rica Surgeon .............. Dr. Carlos Quesada Ramirez Erosion .............. None

Thanks for your post......I have no idea what was running through that man's sick veins.......He was just an ass I guess, or he was covering for Dr. Hixon who may have refused to get off his chair at the country club......whatever his reasons were he has not seen the last of me!

Babs, Thanks for your reply.........I was diagnosed with the hernia at Piedmont Hospital which was the first ER I went to.....when the dr. there did the endoscopy he said I had a hiatal hernia and to go home and take Prilosec for it! Hello.....couldn't swallow Prilosec. Like I said, I was in the ER because I tried to swallow a Prilosec some 11 hours earlier! I was in the recovery room after the endoscopy was done, and as soon as I had my 45 minutes, I was wheeled out to the parking lot to be picked up. My PCP whom I saw 2 days later after all of this mess, advised me to see a Gastro specialist and gave me a referral. The ER's saying or claiming they do not know about the band and are scared to death about it and say that if you are stable and not in immediate danger of death so they do nothing for you is dead wrong.....first of all, how do they call one stable who has not had food in a week? Whose blood work is bad? Who is hooked to their IV? It wasn't Kool-aid in the IV either....they thought I needed it so there was a problem!! I do not see them telling the people who crowd the ER's with sore throats, sore legs, and the umpteen other nonsense reasons they go there to go away because it is not an emergency!! They will have a lot of lawsuits on their hands if they continue to refuse to deal with lap band patients. I know I sound fighting mad and on fire......because I am!

My my......I do not find that hard to believe about Dr. Hixon..... you would not believe this but while in that hell hole the woman who is in charge of processing your insurance card, photo i.d. etc came in to the room I was in to get my info. I had just had the verbal assualt lashed upon me by Dr. Patel and was in tears. She was so sweet and kind. She listened quickly to what happened and said......ask for Dr. Titus Duncan, Dr. Hixon has a very bad reputaion here!!! OMG do you think I would stay after all that happend, then to hear that!! I told them to get the IV out of me and got the heck out of there......I hope my story gets the Atlanta medical Center and the lovely staff that works there out in the public eye where they belong!!

Let me say once again that DR PATEL had a Lap Band specialist on the phone with him......he knew FULL well what a Lap Band was!!! He chose to refuse to help me!! I was so ill that I did not know if I could take one more day of it. My family was afraid of what would happen to me....it was very bad. I almost drove to the ER in N.C. to have a Dr. look at it but was afraid to run into the same thing there. It is very easy to remove the saline.....they just refused to do it citing that it was not their problem!!!!!! Don't anyone worry about Dr. Patel EVER doing this to anyone again.....when I am through with him he will be a different man......I will start with the Insurance company, the local newspaper in Atlanta, and the Medical Board, and an attorney. Thank you all for your concerns, the stress of this was unbelievablely scary. Just think, you are an American.....in AMERICA no less and work full time, have complete health care coverage, and are told what I was told!!! Imagine the horror.....who would have ever thought that would happen in our country! Possibly Dr. Patel has not been in America long enough to know our laws???

No, my band has been looked at by Dr. Ortiz in Mexico before, and he agreed that it was done perfectly. My surgeon is well known and respected in Costa Rica......in fact he has taught some American surgeons. This was caused by the hernia strangling the band to the point I was being choked. The hernia probably had something to do with having the band. The more you throw up or PB, the more of a chance you have at developing a hernia and slipping the band.

Angel, I have had this too and gas meds didn;t do anything, but liquid Maalox did the trick. Dr. Ortiz will probably recommend it to you as he did for me. Good Luck.......... Patricia

Kingskid66 I sent you a private message to your email a few times.....just didn't want to post my email online but wanted to let you now you could email or call me if you need anything after your surgery........good luck with the surgery if I don't hear from you!! Patricia