maddy1969

I felt a little gas pain on the way back and also got really good pain meds which I bought before coming back and an antibiotic. I had a very good experience jessiel so have many others I've spoken with. I am confident to recommend Dr. Gonzalez and his fellow doctors and staff, they are a fine professional and caring team. I am into my fourth week and looking forward to my solid food! My weight loss has been 18 pounds.

I hope you've been doing as good as I have. I had my surgery on September 29th and everything went like clockwork. I met Laura by the info booth at the San Diego Airport, she drove me across the border and we were at the hotel Grand in about 15 or 20 minutes. I , like others on this forum was thinking to myself (right before the big MEXICO sign, the last thing you see before you cross the border into Mexico) what am I doing? and a chill crawled up my spine! But after driving in Tijuana on the way to the hotel, my fears began to go away. Once in my hotel and after checking in we walked to Dr. G's clinic and only 3 minutes away I met doctor G and doctor Valenzuela. At that moment all fears and uneasiness disappeared. Dr. G (who is in fact a "HOTTIE" and as someone else posted, the website pictures do him no justice!) he explained the whole procedure in very explicit detail with the aid of computer animation. After asking him and doctor Valenzuela all kinds of questions, I thought I was taking too much time and when I asked him he answered "This is your pre-op consultation, it is your time, so do not worry about me, I want you to ask all you need and tonight before you go to sleep, write down any more questions and I will ask you tomorrow morning before surgery if any more doubts popped into your mind". I was then asked to go to the ekg room with doctor Prado the cardiologist and he asked me all about my history and symptoms. He hooked me up to the EKG thing and did his evaluation on me, listened to my heart and chest, I checked out great. Then I was led to doctor Veronica for my bariatric and nutritional evaluation. She took a lot of measurements of all my body parts and weighed and measured my body fat. She was very nice and courteous. I showed up the next morning and got blood taken for testing. I went into surgery about an hour later, I remember Dr. G, Dr. V, doctor Veronica and doctor Vera were all there. Also doctor Castaneda the anesthesiologist was there and asked me a few questions about what I had filled in my anesthesia form. When I woke up about an hour or so later I felt like crap. But I guess thats the only way to feel after surgery. By late afternoon I felt a lot better and was walking and sucking on the lung exercise gizmo. At 9 pm Dr. Valenzuela and Dr. Gonzalez came by to check on me and said I was recovering great. At about 11 pm they gave me a tiny pill and I slept like a baby all night! I don't know what it was, but I had not slept so good in months!! The next morning I felt a lot better, but felt no hunger a all. About 9:30 am Dr. G came by checked me and asked me a few questions and said I would be released soon. Dr. Valenzuela came by after and gave me my prescription and discharge instructions for activity, wound care and my four week post op diet. My experience was unlike any I have had with doctors and hospitals in the U.S. This is a team of professionals that transmit their care and concern for their patients. Every moment spent under their care they made me feel special. I never felt alone, never felt fear or uneasiness. Since I got home I have received about four calls from Laura, two calls from Dr. V. and one call from Dr. G.. Countless emails asking me everything under the sun pertaining to my follow-up. I was a bit skeptical about going to Mexico before this procedure. If you ask me now I would tell you to go and get your lap band surgery, you have nothing to fear, Dr. G and his team are awesome! The fear of not being there for my family when obesity kicks my butt is far, far greater.

Ive been having issues with family about my choice and my decision. Its been hard I got very little support because most everyone freaks out when you tell them you're getting surgery to lose weight. It will be a tough move, in my case my sister and this forum have been my salvation. For me all you mentioned has been equally hard, visualizing myself a few sizes smaller is as exciting as it is scary, just as the trip to Mexico. Goodbye to food is something I actually look forward to. I love food but I also hate it for being my Achilles heel, my worst weakness. I know the lap band will help me conquer a few of my demons and that picks me up. Many of us are in this together, cheer up cause you're not alone!

Reading about your great experience NM has made me happy and confirmed my choice of surgeon, Dr. Gonzalez and his team do score very high all the way around. Lap-bandit congrats to you too! your wonderful experience and the way that you were checked again immediately at the slightest hint of a problem tells me this team is a very professional group of doctors. I'm glad it turned out to be nothing. Laura sounds like she makes thing go smoother for everyone. My anxiety has disappeared, thank you for sharing your experiences with us. Please keep us all posted.

Do you really get as gassy as they say? Can anyone tell me more? What is the best thing you can take, or any home remedies? I am kinda worried. Should I pack this for my trip?

Is that right, wow! I can see myself losing five pounds in only a couple of days. You seem to have a thing for cottage cheese sunshine. I wish you the best and calm down! Get everything squared away and look at the whole thing as a little vacation. Please keep us all updated at all times. We will be patiently and eagerly awaiting details on you experience and your great outcome. Take care!

Thanks NM Sunshine, I think you are right. I called Laura and she said I could go to the web site and pay initial payment there or I could pay via credit card but she didn't pressure me for payment at all, if I didn't bring it up I'm not sure she would have asked (?). The pre-op diet is a little hard I think. But if all you guys and gals did it so can I. I'm so convinced I made the right choice with doctor G and his team. I haven't gotten this much service from any other doctor that I've called or emailed. I read some bad posts about him by someone claiming to have bad information about doctor G. Shameful behavior. I was under the impression more mature people posted here. I hope that she sees the harm that she is doing to this nice forum. New people reading this forum are going to think we are all lunatics.

I too am getting surgery on the same date as you Bakerman. I am trying hard to convince myself that everything will be alright but it is hard. Reading this forum has helped me so much. I haven't paid any money yet, I heard about the $500 retainer but they didn't ask me for it. I spoke with Laura to schedule but I hung up and forgot to ask how to pay. Do they ask you for the money or are you supposed to tell them? It was a little odd for me. Once you schedule do you pay? What if I don't pay will I lose my place? They never really talk about money, do they? I'll just call her back.

:omg:Yes I was very surprised when I was able to actually speak to Dr. Valenzuela (doctor G's lead clinical doctor) so soon, he was very patient and very informative since I had many questions :eek:, I filled out some forms he immediately emailed me and I'm waiting for him to call me back so I can schedule my surgery:guess he mentioned that he was going to review my preop forms but that everything pointed towards me being a surgery candidate just by the answers I was giving him during our phone conversation. He did make it clear that the pre-op exams would be the last step to determine my eligibility. I have been waiting for this for many months now since I started doing my research now that I know I found the best group of doctors. I can start thinking about my healthier future, It's time to put my self first if I want to be with my family for many years to come , I'm very confident that with the surgery I will have a buddy to remind me that it is for my own good to make the change in my eating habit.:hungry: so I'm very happy that I found this forum too, all of you guys have helped me so much, so I will be sure to keep you all posted and I'm sure that togheter we can help each other and who knows maybe some other people too that may not even know the good that this procedure can bring to their lives, I haven't even had my surgery yet and I have so many plans for my family and I that before I wouldn't even consider:clap2:

Thanks NM sunshine , I'll look in to it tonight:notagree

After Reading Many Posts, Yours Just Encouraged Me More To Call Dr. Gonzalez, Do You Have His Or His Assistant's Number??? Thanks!!!

For a couple of weeks I've been reading many posts trying to decide which Dr. to go to I have been saving for my surgery I'm self pay and cant afford to have it done here in the US so I 'm having it done in Mexico, I've heard many good things about Dr. Gonzalez and his team that they really do care and are very good with the follow up, that for me is very important , I don't want to be left on my own if anything should happen (knock on wood) but it is a surgery and you never know so I think that to have some one at least to give you advise and guide you makes a whole lot of difference. I dont want to feel that Im alone , I don't know about you but I've been like this all my life and for something so important in our lives I do need some support and just by reading other posts I know after the surgery there will be many more questions from me,(why do you think I ended up on this forum)I hope I can continue counting on your support...you all seem very nice people, and more important I think we all know what we are going through...

Please excuse my question but I'm new to all of this and I ran accross this thread, why do you need liquids before the lap band? I keep reading about liquids before, can someone tell me why? I've read most of the posts here and this doctor Gonzalez sounds good but I still don't see why you need liquids before the surgery. Thanks for reading.