BandsterHopeful

Dr. Santiago Horgan is in chicago. He is world-renowned, and has been doing bands far longer than almost any other US doc, since he trained and practiced abroad long before the band was approved in the US. You're very fortunate to be close. Renee

I am a physician, and the brand new Kuri hospital in TJ is top-of-the-line in every way. Far better than most US hoapitals, and at least equal to the renowned, famous US medical centers. You won't go wrong. dr kuri has banded a great many other doctors and nurses and other medical profressionals, and I assure you that none of us would have gone there if we had been worried about ANYthing. Renee

Dr Steven Tersigni in Coos Bay , OR is less than that, i believe, and an excellent doctor. his fill person, is also excellent. Wherever you go, it's very important to have a local person available for emergency unfills and problems. This can make the difference between doing well or not - or even losing your band to complications. Medicare and Medicaid are also paying for banding, at certain designated "Centers for Excellence." This includes Dr emma Patterson in Portland. Call her to find out more. Why go all the way to Seattle or Tacoma? Renee

Where do you live? There may well be an experienced doc willing to fill you nearby, let us know. Your MX doc may also be able to refer you to someone he knows. Also, about the gas - it all dissipoates immediately after surgery. you will not be flying with a "belly full of gas'. Renee

Please never get a fill if you are havng ANY trouble with the previous one! You need to resolve your pain before you continue. If it is first bite syndrome (esophageal spasms0 the "fix" is LESS fill, never more. Banding is not supposed to cause pain. Fills are not to be given on any set schedule, but only as needed! I don't know any doc who would continue to fill someone having so much trouble!!!! Please get another opinion - your band's life depends on it. If the suggestions above (hot liquid before the meal) do not solve the problem, please see another band surgeon for advice. You might also need a GI consult. In the meantime, I would ask for (demand, if neeedd) an unfill so you can start to eat and heal. Your weight loss is not the first concern here - your health is! Renee

Lots of obese people have reflux before banding, from a hiatal hernia. this is routinely repaired with the band surgery. the reflux that happens AFTER banding is from an entirely different cause - either a too-tight fill, or another problem, including a possible slip. All reflux should be checked out, and quickly, before pouch and/or stoma damage occurs. Renee

When you look at a doctor, you must look much more longterm than people just banded in the last few months. Most problems do not start to appear until much later - most slips and erosions occur about 6-18 or 24 months out. that is when inexact placement and other possible issues arise. The surgery is only the very first step of many. then, you need excellent written instructions, good fills, and much more from the doctor along the way. Renee

Any severe heartburn or GERD should always be checked out quickly. If it starts after a fill, it's almost always a sign of a too-tight fill and will be relieved by a small unfill. If it starts NOT around a fill time, it can be a sign of a slip or other problems. You always need to see or consult your band surgeon. Don't simply try to cover it up with acid reducers, but fix the cause or your stomach and band can be badly hurt. Renee

A lady in our support group went to her and finds her very strict. she will not (or did not 8 months ago) even consider banding a smoker, required my friend to lose 40# on her own before banding, and will not fill her unless she has lost a certain amount of weight since the last fill. The lady is actually afraid to go to her and ask for a fill and leqaves in tears much of the time. I have no personal knowledge, but this seems very harsh to me. Of course it could also simply be my friend's reactions. Renee

Do ask on several different boards. For the very good doctors, you will have a very large number of replies. don't go by just a few. Ask the doctor for references for the medical people he has banded -doctors, nurses, dentists, etc. all the very good doctors have banded many of these, and I would tend to trust them. Renee

You're greatly exaggerating much of what you say. A couple weeks of ?GERD causes no one permanent damage. I'd be quite surprised if you are really in the medical field , as you say, becuase there is a great deal of misinformation about medical things in your angry posts. Nontheless, i am very sorry about your experience, and hope you'e fine by now. Renee

I hope you'll consider Dr Kuri also. he is far, far more experienced. He has a brand new hospital that would challenge ANY US hospital - with an ICu, ER, and IV poles WITH monitors! :-) . there are the same US call lights, electric beds, TV/DVD, and really excellent care. with Dr Kuri, there ar 2 Inamed-trained surgeons with dr Kuri, all working on you, so your surgery is done quickly and you're not under anesthesia very long at all - which dramatically cuts down complcations and speeds recovery time. His post-op diet is based on many years of experience, and there is no need for days and days of cler liquids. We need good nutrition to heal well. They also put you in contact with several other patients also being banded that day (there is never a day with only 1-2 patients scheduled) so you always have a friend befor you get there. A great many doctors and nurses choose Dr Kuri, for a good reason - and i'm one of them. Renee

For Michelle, the opriginal post-er: Dear, this is very common! I'm surprised Dr. Ren did not discuss this with you. After any longterm unfill, scar tissue can fill in around the band, and it's then VERY VERY common to never be able to get as big a fill as before. You can also never safely jump right back to a previous fill level - you have to go up slowly again and give your stomach a chance to get used to fills again, just like befoer. don't worry about the anmount of fill - you are too tight and in trouble because you're trying to keep a too-tight fill. You have to be able to eat and drink enough to lose well, and the constant trouble is begging for a slip or erosion. PLEASE get an unfill to whatever fill level you need to, to keep your band safe. For "READY" - please call your surgeon right away. you're begging for an infection, and these can cause a band erosions and require the band to be removed. Didn't I see someone who also had this happen, and lost her band? De Larla maybe?? renee

Ask on SmartBandsters, there was a discussion awhile ago. I believe this place is very new and very inexperienced. Dr. Steven Tersigni in Coos Bay is about $12,000 and his fill person, Scott is VERY good. Dr T has been banding for years. Good luck to you - Renee

Don't know how far this is, but Dr Tiffany Jessee is excellent. she is in Largo, and has a very personal touch, as well as being extremely experienced, My sister has two friends banded by her, and they just love her - plus are doing great. Renee

I'm doing great now, but I only began doing well when I started with an excellent therapist who helped me identify the reasons I was overeating and fighting my band. I was trying to meet emotional needs with calories, and that clearly didn't work. My therapist also turned me on to these wonderful Bandster Success CD's by a very successful Bandster who is also a Nurse Practitioner and teaches and counsels other bandsters, both formally for our Band surgeon, and also for all others on a couple different online sites. If anyone wants more information, see this site: www.BandsterME.com I found the Guided Imagery simply INVALUABLE, and a great many others are too. I have used Guided Imagery on several ways in my own medical practice, so I have read all the studies and srticles in major medical journals about how effective it is. I can tell you IT WORKS. Renee

the non-adjustable bands had all kinds of problems - which is why the ADJUSTIBLE bands were designed and are such an improvement - less problems, many more successes, much more safety. The non-adjustable bands are rarely used anymore, to my knowledge. Renee

There just are no magic cures. Lord knows we all would have found one, if one existed - we're been looking hard! W have to face rality - that our part habits, lack of exercise, food choices, amounts of food and more made us fat. And, yes, genetics and other stuff we can't change. But we can't expect that continuing all these bad habits, but simply sticking a piece of plastic on our stomachs, is going to change anything - no matter how hard we want to believe that. Unless we change the reasons we got fat, we are not going to permanently change BEING fat. Some accept this sooner than others. Some never accept it, and continue to spin their wheels and complain that "the band isn't working." Our loss is mostly up to us - and the first step is being honest with ourselves - what we WERE doing and what needs to change. Renee

Glad all is well! Wondering, though, why an endoscopy was needed..wouldn't the dilated esophagus and too-tight fill have been easily seen on a fluoro too? Renee

Inamed DOES pay for defective bands - surgery for replacement and all other fees. They even paid for my friend's plane fare back to her surgeon. There are very few truly defective bands. most leaks are tubing leaks caused by bad fill technique. I know of one leak around the band itself that was a true defect, and again all costs were paid for the patient to be re-operated. Inamed also DOES ask that eroded bands be sent back to them for study. Renee

there is a lot of differences of opinion, as you all know. I personally disagree with several things on that list , for instance- buillion is way too high in salt for a post op diet aht may not have enougth liquids anyway Anything that melts into a liquid IS a liquid - why any restriction on ice cream, puddlings, jello, ETC - no sense at all to this. Lots more. I don't think you can come up with a list for people - we each must follow our own doc's recommendation. A board like this cannot substitute for a dcotor's post-op orders. If your surgeon does not have clear, written post op orders, he needs to make some. Dr Kuri , for instance, gives a very complete list of diet orders, as well as wound-care orders, and much more. Renee.

The gas used to inflate your belly really dissipates right after surgery. But the EFFECTS remain - the stretching and irritation of the diaphraagm. I found a warm heating pad helped a lot, and pain meds if needed. The other kind of gas pain - (abdominal , real gas) is from foods in the intestines when the gut is paralyzed during surgery, and then sluggish for a day-2 after. Many GI docs want you on no solid foods for 24 hrs before surgery, and this seesm to help. ALL those i have recommendde this to had none of this painful intestinal gas. Many of those who ate a big Last Supper before surgery did. GasX helps this type of "gas" as well as lots of walking to mobilize it out. Renee

Just for everyone's information, there is a wonderful new set of Guided Imagery/self hypnosis CD's for BANDSTERS that is just out. I got mine at the recent Seattle Bash. They are making a big difference even after only 2 weeks, and I was very skeptical. They help Bandsters identify and change Head hunger and emotional eating issues, improve body image, make positive changes in food choices and lifestyle things, and lots more. All the stuff that so easily sabotages us! The one for good sleep (new studies show this is essential for weight loss) is particularly good - not only does it relax you so you can get really good sleep, it "imprints" positive band images and success. I am sleeping thru the night for the fist time in 20 years! They are really quite amazing. One of th top band surgeons, and several Band therapists, are strongly endorsing them. The therapist who spoke at the Bash mentionned them specifically. Guided Imagery is scientifically proven to work. More info here, about how they work and what they address, if anyone is interested in learning more: www.BandsterME.com Renee

All medications need to be the size of an aspirin or smaller. If not, they can get stuck, or sit against the stoma and cause a lot of damage until they eventually go thru. Take no chances. Get things in a liquid form, cut them up if possible, crush if needed and possible, or use a smaller size from another manufacturer. Glad you made it thru! Renee

Donna, all medication need to be the size of an aspirin or smaller. that is about the size of your stoma. This goes for both now and later. you may need some meds in liquid form, or cut up, or in smaller capsules. most adults get 500-mg sizes of things, and they are way too big. You need to ask for, for instance, (2) 250-mg size ones. Antobiotics are especially hard on the pouch and stoma. if the are3 too big and get stuck behind the stoma, they can casue really bad trouble before they eventually dissolve. How long must you be on liquids? "Full liquids" is defined medically as anthing pureed and then thinned enough to be able to get thru a straw. This means you don't need protein drinks at all. Puree and thin canned meats, meaty soups, chili spaghetti sauce with ground beef, beans, stew meat, meatloaf, veggies, fruits. you can easily get your protein from decent foods. For those still on the few days of CLEAR liquids, try the Nectar protein drinks online. taste great. Renee