crazylegs

Hey! Just a quick little intro as I sit in my hotel room. My name is Mike, I'm 24, from the Rockford, IL area. I have struggled with my weight since childhood and am unbelievably excited to get this process started. My doctor is Dr. Ariel Ortiz in Tijuana, Mexico for surgery and Dr. Vafa Shayani in Chicago for my aftercare. Any other questions, just ask!

Congrats on success so far! Everything's been going well for me as well. Down 55 pounds and had my first fill this past Monday. It was a pain to adjust for the first few days, as I wasn't able to keep a lot of solid food down. Looks like I've moved past that luckily. Haven't been able to exercise as much as I need to between misc injuries, nagging colds, and generally being busy, so once I'm more stable with that I'm hoping for even greater results. Besides looking better, I'm just about as happy as I've been in my life ever. Hoping to keep the ball rolling!

Hey! Glad to hear everyone's doing pretty well. Haven't been able to get back here for a few days. I drink a lot of EAS Carb Control and Atkins Protein shakes. The flavor's not too terrible on either of them. They're especially better than the powder. Otherwise, everything has been going great. Been eating solids for six days and settling into the new eating habits, even with a few liquids still mixed in. I've been pretty lucky so far, my band hasn't rejected anything I've had so far. I still have a couple habits I need to kick, but that'll come soon. Khloe - Congrats on your surgery! sunshine - Congrats on getting back on track and persevering twostep - 5 more days for solids?! Let the countdown begin!

I definitely can empathize with the food looming, for sure. The first night I got back into town from surgery, I went out with a few friends to one of my favorite food places. It was pretty much torture. Haha. My post-op diet is going pretty decently. I'm also on three weeks of varying liquids, the last day of which is Thursday. Yay! I've been able to go semi-liquids like yogurt, oatmeal, and sugar free pudding at least. Kudos for three weeks of strictly liquid. That's even less fun. I've basically been doing a lot of creamy Soup the last ten days, along with a Protein shake and a few other odds and ends. I can easily say I'll never have the desire to have broth again! Protein wise, I had to go through a few different ones before I found one I could at least tolerate. I'm doing the EAS carb control chocolate. I'm sure if you look around a little bit, you'll find something that you can enjoy at least a bit. Besides the food, I'm doing well. Recovery went great; the transition been easier than I thought. That gas problem is finally subsiding. Hallelujah.

Hey! I just got banded on July 16. I'm 24 and from Illinois. Like you, I have great support from family and friends, but it is definitely nice to talk to someone that is going through the same journey. How's the first few days treating you?

Well, the first thing they will give you is a few PDF documents for pre-op information and paperwork that needs to be filled out. You would need to fill out a complete health evaluation. Next, you are given three options for a pre-op diet. 1. 30 days of Atkins induction 2. 14 days of 2 Protein shake meals/one low carb meal 3. at least 9 days of three Protein Shake meals per day The nutritionist will keep tabs on you as your surgery date approaches. Once the day arrives, you fly in the San Diego airport and are picked up by shuttle and taken to Tijuana. Depending on what time you arrive, you can either go straight in for pre-op work (blood, EKG, breathing test, nutritionist eval) or straight to the hotel they provide. The hotel is Marriott and it's an absolutely gorgeous facility. On the day of the surgery, you wait in the lobby for a little while until you're next in line for the surgery. They'll take you to your recovery room, hook up an IV, then Dr. Ortiz will come introduce himself, talk about how to be success, then ask for questions or input at the end. The surgery itself takes 30-40 minutes. I was back in my room in about 40 minutes, then 30 minutes after I was up and walking. They provide post-op diet info, as well as other tips for aftercare. You stay overnight at the facility, then get shuttled back to the hotel the following morning!

Maybe I'm a bit biased because I'm sitting on a computer at OCC now. But simply put: COME HERE. Why did I chose him? - 25-40% of the cost of banding in the U.S. - Dr. Ortiz trains American doctors on how to perform the lap band, and has personally done nearly 7,000 (including mine earlier today) - expertise: Dr. Ortiz has been doing lapband surgeries since 1992, whereas the FDA didn't approve the U.S. use until (circa) 2002 - the staff and the accomodations are both wonderful - everything here has gone above and beyond my expectations - they also monitor your success after you leave and provide aftercare at the facility. I came thinking I wouldn't come back for the fill here because of the distance, but after this experience, I will definitely come back. In Dr. Ortiz's words "one fill here is likely the only fill you will ever need". If there are any specific questions about OCC you have, feel free to ask me.

She's right, this is absolutely the best birthday gift you can give to yourself. Being nervous is natural of course, but just keep thinking of the great rewards that await. I had surgery today, although I can't say I was nervous. Everything was above and beyond expectations as well and you're up and walking about 30-60 minutes after surgery. Good luck!

It's nice that UHC is helping out a lot of people, but they were not willing to help me. I can't blame them, though, my crappy employer naturally picked the crappy plan. In essence, I was given the usual weight loss surgery run around -- we'll pay for all the complications due to obesity, but we will not pay for the surgery. At least finding and executing a back-up plan to get the surgery lessened the blow of them blowing me off :cool:

The whole process to this point has been phenomenal. I was able to have the pre-op and surgery done today. I started around 9 with consultations from the nutritionist, cardiology, and anesthesiologist, including the laps. Had surgery around 10:30, got back to my room around 11:15, and by 11:45 the groggyness worn off and I've been motoring around the recovery area since then. I'm feeling pretty good thus far. As someone who traveled from Chicago to be here, I couldn't be more satisfied with the trip and the whole process. Now, I'm just ready to get through the first few post-op diet bumps in the road and really starting losing some weight :cool: Elizabeth, I wish you the best of luck as well! Thanks for the well wishes Diva! So far, everything's great!

Friday, July 16, which makes it in about 12 hours. I'm not nervous like I thought I would be. I know this is where I am supposed to be and what I am supposed to be doing.