Camel_Cracker

I called and Dr. Shayani charges a $500 program fee, then $130 fills after ;( Im only here in Illinois for another 4 weeks... I guess I'll wait until I get back to Texas to see my surgeon. :thumbdown:

This is 2 weeks late, but better late than never. I was banded by Dr. Guillermo Alvarez in Piedras Negras, Coahuila, Mexico on Friday June 13th, 2008. This is the review I wrote for him, don't feel like retyping. Reading another positive review for Dr. Alvarez may seem redundant, but my was outstanding. Having found Dr. Alvarez online I was a little nervous, full of many "what if?" questions which were promptly answered by Susan and former patients. I was on a 2 week clear fluids diet, which helped me lose quite a bit of weight before surgery and I believe that prepared me mentally for the weeks following surgery. Honestly the worst part of my experience was the 7 hour drive from the Dallas area to Eagle Pass, but hey, anything to save money. When my husband and I arrived in Eagle Pass, we checked into the Holiday Inn Express, which was MUCH nicer than I'd expected. It was very clean and comfortable. I called the front office and was told that Rosie would pick me up at 8:15 the following morning. Of course I woke up hours earlier, like a kid excited about the first day of school. There was no line at the bridge and the drive to the clinic was very short. In the reception area, I sat with my husband, Rosie and Terry, another patient. Dr. Alvarez and Dr. Rosales came in and shook our hands, and my husband and I went in to Dr. Alvarez's office. There I was weighed and given the opportunity to clear up questions (I actually didn't have many). I was shown the Inamed and J&J band and went with J&J. It was cool to touch something that I will hopefully have inside me the rest of my life. After Terry's consultation, we were taken into the hospital and shown to our rooms. My surgery was to be 2nd. The hotel was what I expected and despite what I've read in other reviews, I didn't smell anything strange for a hospital. My room had two beds, a couch, TV, a computer with internet and access to a free phone to call the states. The bathroom was great, all ceramic tiles, a raised toilet and a shower. I was taken by a friendly nurse, can't remember her name since I waited 2 weeks to review, to get my blood drawn and to have chest x-rays. After returning to the room three nurses came in to help me change to my sexy hospital gown which was too small to cover my butt and to put an IV in my hand. They first tried to poke near my wrist near the thumb, but my vein was rolling. I got poked about 6 times on the wrist, then a different nurse poked me on the top of my hand and the needle went in fine. That was honestly the only pain I've felt before or since surgery. It wasn't excrutiating, but felt like being stung by bees over and over until it was in. I was connected to an IV drip and the nurses left. The reality of what was about to happen hit and I felt a little scared and emotional, my husband came over and I squeaked out about 10 tears, then with that out of my system, I started laughing and felt excited again. Several minutes later the nurses returned with a doctor in blue scrubs.. the anesthesiologist? I can't remember. I remember rambling nonsense in Spanish, anesthesia being put into my IV, struggling to heave myself onto another gurney in a drugged up state, then waking up post-op with 2 friends looking at me. They had driven 6 hours to come see how I was. I asked my husband when I had been put under because I really didn't remember anything. He said that he thought I was nervous and passed out because I was talking, then my eyes rolled back in my head :cool2:). I don't know what that drug was, but it was goooooooood. So back to post op because I have no clue what happened during surgery. I woke up about an hour after surgery, took off my oxygen mask, stayed awake for 5 minutes talking to hubby and friends, got up to pee, laid down and went to sleep for an hour.... that was my pattern for about 10 hours. I slept for several hours during the night and couldn't believe that I was sleeping on my back. I know nurses came in every so often to inject me in the IV.... blood thinners, antibiotics, pain meds? Whatever it was, I NEVER felt any pain. I took several walks in the hall, stopped to talk to Terry and met another lady who had had the Sleeve operation. She was frustrated because she was unable to communicate with the night nurses who speak Spanish. I told then what she wanted and went back to sleep. I felt pressure, like something was different inside and it felt weird cough but I honestly never had pain. My throat felt like I had swallowed a piece of sand paper, I think that was from the breathing tubes during surgery. The next morning I had ice chips, then later an apple flavored Jumex and grape Jello. Dr. Alvarez came in to check on me and Dr. Rosales stayed to explain post-op instructions. I was given the box that my band came in which had my pain meds and antibiotic inside. The antibiotic tasted like @$$. But I never gagged, so I guess it was palatable and most importantly I didn't get an infection, so kudos. The pain meds made me a little sleepy and I actually took naps in the afternoon while I was on it. So after the explanations, we hugged the doctors, and were asked to stay in touch. We got back in the big white minivan (with a picture of a woman pinching her rolls) and headed back across the border. The line at the bridge wasn't bad, but because my husband is a citizen of a blacklisted country, we were detained until the migra could run his passport. After that we were returned to the hotel, where we chose to stay an extra day, not thinking I would feel up to riding in the car for 7+ hours. I rested for a while, and my friends came over to say hi. We decided to go shopping, and I actually felt great to walk around. I still felt no pain. The next morning my husband and I drove home to Dallas, and stopped to shop in San Marcos for 3 hours. Because of the pain meds I felt no pain in my back as I had on the way down and decided to drive the final 2 hours on the way home. I turned the air vents away from my face to avoid the weird-feeling coughs, but again felt great. During the night I ended up sleeping on my stomach, but I didn't feel uncomfortable. The steristrips fell off within 4-5 days and my scars are very small and cute. I am now 2 weeks out. The week I couldn't eat much jello or drink much before I felt full but the swelling has gone down and I can't wait for an adjustment. This was supposed to be a review of the surgeon, but I wrote my entire experience. If you've read this far, I highly recommend that you talk with other patients of Dr. A and give Susan, the patient coordinator a call. I love my band!

I just called Synchrony for information. There is an ititial 500 transfer fee plus 95 for the adjustment. Subsequent adjustments are an additional 95 each. Hmm... If I were here to live and not just for 2 months I would consider it but that's a lot of money!! Will see what my other options are..... dont' want to spend more than 200-250.

I have never had any twinges of pain because my doctor gives me a shot of lydocane before filling me. I have also only had the fills/unfills with the barium and xray thing (the real name has totally escaped me)

This happened to me! Back in January I started having a little reflux, which by March turned into bad evening and nightly reflux (vomiting acid at night). When I went to my doctor, he saw that my band had actually tightened and I had too much restriction. My last fill had been more than 6 months before. When he unfilled me by 1cc, it made a huge difference for me, and after PBing pretty much everything I had eaten in the previous 2 months, I went nuts and enjoyed eating. I still had ok restriction until about 2 weeks ago, when I was "able" to comfortably eat almost normal sized portions and hadn't felt any urge to PB. I scheduled a fill with my doctor this weekend thinking I needed more restriction, but he saw on the fluroscopy that my pouch was dilated, so instead of getting a fill, I lost another 2cc. I'm lucky that I still have 4 left, but this experience has scared the bejesus out of me. He told me to come back in about a month, so I need to know more about what to eat now. I am going to try mostly liquids, but does it matter now much of the liquids I drink? I feel so overwhelmed and scared. I don't want to sabatoge my tool, and I REALLY don't want to gain more weight.

Look into the Gastric sleeve before you get a bypass!

I have pita bread from the arabic stores all the time... I eat about a half piece of a small one and have no trouble, but they are much thinner than the ones from the regular grocery stores. (They have a lot of stores in Richardson). Tuna makes me barf, donuts, french fries, soft breads. I can eat crunchy tacos, but flour tortillas are a no-go. I pretty much have to do liquid breakfasts because if I eat solids too early I throw up. I'm probably going down to Mexico for a slight unfill next weekend though.... maybe I'm too tight.

Has anyone else noticed/been irritated by Jenny Craig's new obnoxious ads? They have recruited Phylicia Rashad for this season, and have dressed her in VERY baggy clothes. Of course she's going to look amazing next month when they put out new ads of her wearing clothes that fit, regardless of the extent of her weight loss. This pisses me off/amuses/annoys me as much as the diet drug ads that show before pictures of miserable looking women frowning in ill-fitting bikinis, a greasy ponytail and no makeup, then magically after losing 30 pounds, they are wearing a flattering bikini, sporting a huge white smile with a full face of glamorous makeup and their hair is Miss America Runway ready... :bored:

I was told only to expect 1-2 pounds of weight loss per week. You haven't hit a plateau if you're still losing.

Oh Jeez! Too bad about her divorce! My husband's name is Ahmad too :biggrin:)

I am half-assed following Weight Watchers along with my band. It's so hard to eat all of my points eating healthy, since I still get 31 per day, but throw in an ice cream and they're gone ) I feel a little guilty that I have my tool in place, but I don't tell people at my meetings. I divulged that I have a band this summer at an out of town meeting and I was treated like a leper. I stay on WW for the accountability, good tips and accurate weekly weigh ins. Plus... I look forward to getting my "Lifetime" membership for free.

Breakfast- 1 cup of skim milk Lunch- 1 chicken nugget that came back out Lunch round 2- Banana liquado (1/2 c skim milk, 1/2 banana, 1 tsp vanilla blended) Snack- Cheese Nachos Dinner- WW Recipe for Moroccan Meatballs 2(ground turkey, prunes, grated ginger, garlic etc) and 1/4 cup of coucous Snack- 1/4 cup of couscous with skim milk and 1T honey

I can take and keep down a tiny bite of anything my husband orders (keeps me from feeling deprived), then I chew the fire out of it before I swallow and am usually fine. I can't keep down Chick Fil A fries anymore, but ate Fuddruckers fries no problem. I order a Childrens Chicken Tender basket with a fruit cup instead of fries then steal 2-3 of my husbands. It's a lot easier to eat chicken with a dipping sauce than it is to eat them plain. I can handle nachos pretty much anywhere or a small quesadilla if it's made from corn tortilla. I cannot handle flour. Ditto on everyone's Wendy's Chili response.

Hmm.... I hit a plateau after setting my goal. I've lost 8 pounds since then and have 8 pounds to go before Valentine's Day. 244 is my new realistic goal.

Wow, really? Well, since you seem to be SUCH an expert and the final word on everything, I'll crack open the old Yellow Pages and find a shrink... that is, a head doctor because I have the Realize band, which according to your scientific reasearch is a fool's tool. Then again, I guess the real Tool is someone who overgeneralizes and make judegment calls based on personal opinions and "facts".

I can hardly eat in the morning or afternoon, and I still dont chow down well at night unless it's nachos, so I don't think I could finish off a Lean Cuisine. I'm not knocking the programs as much as the misleading advertising.... it's irresponsible!

It's funny that you should ask... I swallowed some last night, and followed it off with a shot of light Whipped Cream from a can that I used to make a "Man Junk Sundae" with that and edible body paints from Victoria's Secret... back to the question though... I have PBed DH's swimmers a couple of times, but that's in the morning when my band is super tight and after waiting for a few days before ejaculating... Mens' ejaculate is thicker the longer they wait, and harder for me to swallow. It also helps if your man doesn't smoke or drink, as that can give an awful flavor to the baby batter.

Our frequency has doubled and I find it a little easier to orgasm. My flexibility is great since there is less of a gut there preventing my knees from touching my shoulders, and I don't feel as much like a whale when I'm on top. Before, my thighs would crowd his sides and cause some friction, making it a little uncomfortable for both of us and distracting me, also delaying orgasm. We have gotten a little more adventurous... just last week I propped up on the balcony at the top of the staircase while he went at it standing up :bored:! Someday I want to be light enough for DH to support my entire weight in a standing sex position, or even up against the wall (he's 6'3" and I'm 5'6"). Kama Sutra won't have nothin' on us!

I have a different TOM because of my IUD, so I have light cramping, very rare spotting (like one or two spots) only a couple of times a year, a very very tight band (I called the doctor's rep and she said she'd never had anyone ask about that). It sounds like a dream not to be able to eat, but it's actually frustrating and i usually end up resorting to ice cream on those days, as it's the only thing I have NEVER PBed.

It can cause some 'roids.