oktwigs

Question is...does he do fills for MX patients?

The gals at Northwest Fills don't use fluro, but I've been very happy with their fills, plus the price is so very reasonable. Great bedside manner too.

I called Dr. Trotter in Spokane...he's looking at MX patients as a moneytree. First he wants to have an appt. to 'check' things out and charges $320 for that. Can't get a fill that day either. Then a fill is $250 and isn't done under fluro. If you want fluro the nurse said the hospital charges $100 (she thought). Pretty pricy. I'm going to the ladies in Arlington and may have to go see Dr. Heap if I need a fill during the winter since I don't often travel over the Cascades in the winter. Twigs

I had the flu 10 days after my banding...it is recommended that you don't vomit because it could cause slippage, but it came on me so fast I had no chance to take meds to keep the nausea down. Dr. Ortiz recommends getting a prescription from your local doc to take just in case. I had no isses with slippage from it though -- went back to TJ for my first fill specifically because that worried me, but all was fine. I think it is repeated wretching and PBing that will cause you problems, not a one time illness. Twigs

1 cup soy vanilla soy milk 1 scoop chocolate Protein powder 1 T unsweetened cocoa 1 banana Zip together in blender. Excellent!

I went to Dr. Ortiz in TJ. Very good experience and I would recommend Dr. Ortiz to anyone. Going to Mexico turned out to be a non-issue. Twigs

A gal I know locally went to Dr. Joya and was very impressed. She works as the nurse for a surgeon and he actually came along and observed her procedure and was equally impressed. She commented she felt she should have stayed in PV an extra day though because the long flight was pretty miserable. I personally went to Dr. Ortiz in TJ and was extremely pleased and impressed, but wanted to pass along what I heard about Dr. Joya. He has a Yahoo groups message board too. Twigs

Hey everyone, those of you who have great smoothie/protein drink recipes would you please post them here. I'm heading for my banding the first week of April and don't really care for most Protein drinks. I figure I'm not the only one that can use help in this area. OkTwigs

When I make flight reservations I go to www.seatguru.com and using my flight reservations (they always tell you what the plane is) I can see how the individual airlines have configured the seating in that airplane. Then I select my seats and avoid those narrower seats or ones without leg room (My DH is tall -- I'm short). I NEVER fly without it. On my flight home from Dr. Ortiz's office last week I selected the bulkhead seat along the window. I was very comfortable the whole trip...and that was two days post op. Also, save yourself line time by printing off your boarding pass at home or at the hotel before you go to the airport. Most of the airlines have specific lines for those who have already pre checked in that are always shorter! Also, I notice that many times the airline give me extra bonus miles just for using the preboarding option. Twigs

I hate protein shake thingys normally, but this is a recipe I got on one of these boards that Dr. Miranda from Dr. Ortiz's office passed along... 1 cup vanilla soy milk 1 T unsweetened cocoa 1 scoop choc. protein powder (I'm using Designer Whey) 1 Banana Blend like crazy in blender. Add ice cubes if desired.:clap2: I promise it really does taste good!!! (I'm a super picky eater) 7 Weight Watcher's points for the whole thing and 24 grams of protein. It's big enough that I had it for breakfast and my lunch yesterday. I can see using light vanilla soy later on after I am healed. BTW, I prefer the 8th continent light vanilla to Silk's light. On the other hand, Silk's Very Vanilla tastes like a milk shake. Twigs

I was with Donna on April 3rd in TJ at Dr. Ortiz's clinic and agree with her whole heartedly. The staff is excellent, the care was outstanding, and the experience as a whole was fairly painless. I'm back to work today teaching my kids and enjoying my first Protein shake. Really, it is good....I promise. (1 cup soy milk, 1 T unsweetened cocoa, 1 scoop choc. Protein powder, 1 banana -- all blended together in my Magic Bullet). I'm going to try it with frozen mango chunks tomorrow. After reading about other post op diets, I do think Dr. Ortiz is fairly strict, but he wants to be as safe as possible so you heal correctly and minimize the chances of a slip. He doesn't go to the extreme of expecting people to be on Clear liquids for two weeks like some docs do though. Twigs

I'm six days post op and doing well with my recovery, but then my son and DIL come over when they haven't been feeling well from the stomach flu! I'm now worried about having to deal with that and running to the doctor for an antinausea shot or something. What a pain! Twigs

Hi All, I had my surgery Tuesday, April 3 down in TJ with Dr. Ortiz. I can't say enough about him and his staff! They made it very easy for me...I was so close to balking at the last minute, but they got me through it just fine. I stayed overnight in their clinic with a nurse and a doctor on staff all night long to look after us. I can't remember the last time I stayed overnight at the hospital and had one RN and doctor to keep an eye on just six of us! Dr. Martinez and Carmelita are two wonderful staff members that I'll always hold dear in my heart. Amazingly I have little to no pain. Seriously.... I am hanging in there with the post op diet of clear liquids...tomorrow I'll start some liquid yogurt and some soy milk and by the time I go back to work on Monday I'll be able to add a protein shake in there to hold me over through some of the tougher parts of the day. Since my BMI wasn't too terribly high I didn't have to do a serious pre op diet...just lost 8 lbs. and they were very happy with that. No regrets, just looking forward to making it through the 3 week post op liquids phase...as I sip on my Better than Broth beef soup. Twigs 203/195 day of surgery/193

Hey I'm having my banding on April 3...how long until I can go back to weight lifting again? I always manage to get back into my exercise routine after the worst of the winter is over (I'm a hibernator), and while I know I can walk, walk, walk to my heart's content, I love weight lifting. I'm seeing Dr. Ortiz...any experiences out there? OkTwigs

I saw a young gal at the gym with a large and bright sun tat that radiated out from her belly button. I chuckled under my breath at what is going to happen to it during a pregnancy, if she should ever decide to become a parent. :biggrin1: OkTwigs

That's good to know...I hate working my abs anyway. It'll be interesting to see what directions Dr. Ortiz's team hands out. This would be a good time to put a personal trainer to work on my redesign. OkTwigs

Now that sounds delicious and if you added a scoop of whey Protein, you'd really make it a band friendly meal. I know many people have said they are "tight" in the mornings and can't really eat solid foods so this would be great for that too. My intention in asking for these recipes is to make my time at the liquid stage as pleasant and healthy as possible so I'm not tempted to cheat. I understand my dr. has people stay on clear liquids for one week, then to a liquid diet for another week, with the third week being mushies. Thanks! OkTwigs

Only my DH knows too. I am worried about "covering" on Easter Sunday, five days post banding, but think I'll beg off with a case of the stomach flu. :nervous I'm having the procedure done during my Spring Break and I doubt if anyone in my building will notice what I eat for lunch since I usually eat with my class in my classroom.... OkTwigs --who's cleaning out her pantry and getting rid of naughty foods!

I'm there on the 3rd of April. OkTwigs

I'm considering lap band but wondered how long many people have had with their band...most people posting on here seem to be within the past few years. I'd like to know how people are doing 5-10 years down the road and whether or not they've been able to make lifetime lifestyle changes and remain successful with the LapBand as a weight loss tool. Just curious and I figure others who are considering this procedure would be interested too. Thanks, OK Twigs

I'll be banded by Dr. Ortiz on July 27th. Anyone else? Janice

It has always been recommended to me that I do 20 minutes of cardio (treadmill, ellipital, whatever) before lifting. For one thing it warms you up and gets those muscles loosened up and ready for the lifting portion of your workout. One of my favorite killer workouts (when I was 70 lbs lighter) was to work a body part (bicep for example) with three sets of an exercise, then jump on the treadmill for 3 minutes and walk as fast as I can, move to the next body part, repeat the treadmill, and so on until I had worked my body from head to toe. Do this only after your warm up with a 10 minute gentle walk on the treadmill though. One word of advice: Don't hesitate to lift heavy weights. Women don't develop the bulging muscles you see on men weightlifters ... the women you see on TV who are body builders live on a very specific diet and training schedule to get that look. You can build up to heavy weights and more reps (15 max) with three sets before you know it. Janice Looking forward to getting back to the killer workout after I've lost some of this nasty weight. Band date: July 27, 2006

I took the huge step of setting up my banding date this week. I will be banded by Dr. Ortiz on July 27th. I am both a bit nervous and excited. I think I am ready for the challenges that will be presented by this WLS -- I need this tool in order to succeed with keeping the weight off -- I can always lose it, just struggle mightly with keeping it off! Anyone else seeing Dr. Ortize on July 27th? I just went to Mexico on vacation in June so I'm actually looking forward to going back again. :scared: Janice

I'll add my vote for a huge "yes" for weight training. Keep a log...write down each exercise you do, weight, reps, etc. You won't believe how fast you fit into smaller clothes with it! Janice