snowbird

I was deathly afraid of death and that's why I had the surgery! Chances of dying from increased weight resulting in heart disease, diabetes, cancer . . . too darn high. Chances of dying from the surgery . . . pretty darn slim. I know that may not help your immediate fear of surgery, but it sure made it an easy decision for me.

<p>I figure she' s just been through hell the last few weeks, so I would be willing to cut her a bit of slack. Unfortunately, we get excited about our successes and say what a wonderful experience it all was getting banded, but we need to remember it is surgery and things can go wrong.</p> Her story is also a reminder of the main downside of Mexican surgery: if something does go wrong, your surgeon is a long distance away and US hospitals may be less than sympathetic since you had it done in Mexico. I'm not advising against it, since my husband, daughter and I have all been banded by Dr Ortiz. However, the risk is there.

I really don't think that was a fraudulent post. As I said before on the original thread, I found an earlier post from her on Dr. Ortiz's forum so you can see her problem developing. I think her reaction to her bad experience was assigning blame where there was none, and her expectation that she was going to be reimbursed because she had a bad reaction to the anaesthetic (which it sounded like she had had before in an earlier experience prior to her LBS) was unrealistic. When American surgeons do work but the patient DIES do you think they reimburse the family?? NOT! She had a bad reaction which caused a lot of vomiting, which caused a severe band slippage. Unfortunate, but not necessarily reflecting on the surgeon's ability. I know a number of people who have had surgery with Dr Ortiz and think he's the best. There are other good ones out there too.

Deb, I always say you can't change the past but you can change the future. Don't look back, just get on track. I guess that's enough stupid mottos for both of us! I am six weeks post op and have occasional bad days too. I don't have the smoking problem, but food still calls my name every day. My husband and I took a trip on the Camp Verde railway last week, complete with appetizers, Cookies, and a ranch house dinner afterwards. I at least sampled everything in sight, except for the chicken wings, only because I had just had an unfortunate blockage episode the day before with a chicken leg that scared me. I'm over in Surprise and about the same age as you. Keep in touch. I'm going for my first fill next week, and hope that will keep the backsliding away.

Yes, that's the best idea. Since the cost of the surgery varies greatly from place to place, the cost of removal probably does too.

At the bottom of the list of main lap band forums on the main page of this site, there is a forum for band removal. You might find some additional information there.

If I think about my digestive system on clear liquids, I realize that my salt intake is probably down and there is just about nothing in my intestines. When I went on full liquids I started retaining fluids more and there was some stuff down there in my lower g.i. So, it isn't odd that weight would go up a bit when you start giving your body more food. Also, as someone mentioned earlier, your body goes into starvation mode on the clear liquids and tries to conserve the fuel it does get. It takes a while to overcome this, and strangely enough, it takes eating more, not less, to do it. I'm guessing you were really low on fluids when you were weighed at your doctor's. The other problem I always have is that my scales aren't in perfect sync with the doctor's, so there is always a discrepancy between my weight at home and at the doctor's. My weight can vary by 3 or 4 pounds during the course of the day. Don't get discouraged; as long as you are eating less the weight will come off. If you are like me, there will be a lot of ups and downs on the way, but the inevitable trend is downward. I usually lose the same three or four pounds three or four times, but finally it goes away for good and I start on the next three or four pounds.

<p>Have you looked at the Bariatric Directory on the fepblue.com site? I haven't checked it out since I already had my surgery in Mexico, but I'm wondering if you use one of their bariatric providers if they will just cover the surgery as they would any other medical treatment. Anyone had any experience? What about fills-does BCBS cover anything there?</p> http://64.14.1.170/bcbsa_new/(jvi21145ge20ifeyxqgf43yi)/main/BarDir.aspx?bar=yes&prefix=FEP&productType=SOO&link=GPD-BNI-501455

Yeah, that's what we are hoping. I talked to BCBS before we scheduled the surgery, and they told me they needed a referral from my PCP, a psych evaluation, and then the forms I could find online. On Dr Ortiz's forum there were a couple of others who had FEP BCBS and they received their reimbursement, so I'm hoping they will come through. My only concern is that they require a BMI of 35 or higher with co-morbidities which my PCP tried to document in his referral report. My BMI was right at 35 when I saw my doctor in August, but due to my pre op diet had dropped by the time I had the surgery. So we'll see what happens.

Where are you flying from? We can drive from our home to the border in San Ysidro in about 5 hours, so by the time you figure in the drive to and from the airport, the waiting time and the flight delays, it's easier and often faster to drive than fly. Our first fill is November 29; we're actually going to camp outside of San Diego for a few days to make sure we are okay. I've heard too many stories about too tight/not enough so we thought we would hang around there for a while.

The health dangers to you if you remain obese are far greater than those you might have from lap band surgery. Of course, those increased dangers might be years away, while you may have problems with the surgery immediately. Lap band isn't major surgery when compared with other types of bariatric surgery, but you can have difficulties with it. I had my surgery at age 53 and wish I could have had it when I was your age. However, no one can decide if this is the right path for you except you yourself. I was "lucky" because my husband had the same weight problems as I did, so we had our LBS together. But I did this for myself, and not for him. If you decide to have the surgery, do it for yourself and not for him; if you decide it isn't for you, again, make the decision based on your own health and your own feelings, not his. He will have to go along for the ride whichever way you go!

My husband and I have FEP BCBS. We went to a psychologist for a pre op evaluation. Just a warning: I asked for a copy of a report to submit to BCBS, and he charged us $390 each for the report, which was not covered by insurance. So talk to the psychologist to see what unanticipated charges you might incur with him. I just submitted the claim to BCBS two weeks ago and haven't heard anything yet. We had our surgery in Mexico, so we submitted our claimes as an overseas claim submitted after the surgery.

By the way, the name "Vicky" sounded familiar, so I did a little search through Dr Ortiz's forum and found her original post there. She did have some serious complications from what she said on that forum shortly after her surgery. if you want to check it out, here is the link: Banded 10/1....mostly good-- some not so much.. - Lap Band Forum

I haven't ever posted here before and I am a patient of Dr Ortiz. Hope that doesn't mean everyone will think I am a fraud! I was banded October 10 in Tijuana, along with my husband. My daughter was banded by Dr Ortiz in October 2006. All three of us have been very happy with the experience and would recommend Dr Ortiz without hesitation. My daughter has lost 109 lb since her surgery, and my husband and I have lost around 20 each since October 10. The surgery takes less than an hour, and he has several surgeons assisting him, so I do not think five patients a day is excessive. You arrive the day before the surgery and meet with his cardiologist and nutritionist, and all three of us talked to Dr Ortiz personally. We also spoke with his assisting surgeon and the anaesthesiologist. We spent the night at the clinic and the following night at the nearby hotel, which was included in the price of the surgery, so we were near the clinic in case of any emergency for almost 48 hours after surgery. Since Dr Ortiz gave us his personal cell phone number to call if we needed anything, I don't see any reason for him to call me after I returned home. I'm a big girl (in all senses of the word!) and I can call if I have a question or problem. Every surgeon in the US or in Mexico probably has patients who were unhappy with him due to a problem they encountered or sometimes just a personality clash. Sometimes the unhappiness has a real basis in fact, and sometimes it doesn't. Dr Ortiz is well known, knew of several surgeons in my home area of Washington State that he had trained, and never gave any indication of being hurried or uncaring. I found the entire experience in his clinic much better than any US hospital stay I have been through. I have been reading through some of the post op questions and problems that people have encountered on this board, and I can say that the three of us have had no such problems. I have seen very few postings on his own website that are uncomplimentary, but I have seen them. I believe his forum is open to all opinions and have not seen any evidence of editing out uncomplimentary posts. I know several of the patients posting there either from my daughter's surgery, my own, or from her support group up in Washington. I know these are real people, because I have met them or she has. We always have to be careful of what we read on the Internet because it is open to anyone, and it is easy to manipulate what you see and read. Let the reader beware and do your homework, but be cautious about buying into any flaming posts immediately without supporting information! The biggest problem with getting surgery in Mexico is follow up care due to the distances involved, regardless of the surgeon. We each have to weigh the pluses and minuses of getting surgery there. I know that I was impressed enough with Dr Ortiz's clinic and with the doctor himself after accompanying my daughter there last year, that my husband and I went to him in October even though we had insurance that would pay for the surgery in the US. However, the fact that we live in Arizona within driving distance of the clinic for follow up care also factored into our decision. My email address is candlowens@hotmail.com if anyone wants to verify I am a real person. You can also see my posts under the same login name, snowbird, on the Obesity Control Center forum.