Re: Re: Blood work followup

[Guest guest]

Amen!

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Now it is 7 yrs later, and many programs still give minimal care. People still

go to Mexico to try to save a few dollars, but they still get minimal care -

and it usually ends up costing far MORE overall than if they had gone to a local

surgeon and paid a bit more initially. By the time they count in long flights or

drives back to the surgeon for fills, possibly for urgent needs on short notice,

the cost of unpaid local ER visits when they could not get back to their docs in

time, lost wages for days off to get back, etc etc - the cost is often much

higher than the Us docs.

I personally do not any longer EVER recommend going to a surgeon far away .

There are just too many serious risks in not having a nearly surgeon quickly

available.

Sandy r

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[Guest guest]

Didn't you have your band from Dr. Kuri and wern't you one of his advisors?

From: moonshadow.sandy@...

Date: Thu, 1 Apr 2010 05:33:18 +0000

Subject: Re: Blood work followup

I should probably keep my mouth shut here..oh well..

This type of thing makes me quite angry. When we go to a surgeon for banding, we

are purchasing more than simply the surgery, which is quite a simple thing. To

do well, we need a lot of education and counselling. The band is not an " implant

it and forget it " procedure, as many surgeons make it seem. It needs regular

followup for life.

It's our responsibility to chose only a surgeon who has a complete followup

program, including surgeon, fill technician, nutritionist, psychologist, and

more.

If such a program is not available, it then becomes OUR responsibility to learn

about the things we need to know.

When Dan and I were banded 7 yrs ago, very very few surgeons did any teaching.

We both went to Mexico, as there were few US surgeons even DOING the procedure,

let alone any experienced ones. The US prices were absurd, anyway.

Now it is 7 yrs later, and many programs still give minimal care. People still

go to Mexico to try to save a few dollars, but they still get minimal care - and

it usually ends up costing far MORE overall than if they had gone to a local

surgeon and paid a bit more initially. By the time they count in long flights or

drives back to the surgeon for fills, possibly for urgent needs on short notice,

the cost of unpaid local ER visits when they could not get back to their docs in

time, lost wages for days off to get back, etc etc - the cost is often much

higher than the Us docs.

I personally do not any longer EVER recommend going to a surgeon far away .

There are just too many serious risks in not having a nearly surgeon quickly

available.

Sandy r

>

> //No one cares as much about how we are andhow we are doing as WE do //So

true. I recently got my bloodwork done because I asked for it to be done. My

surgeon did not tell me to do it despite my seeing him bimonthly since my sugery

in June '09. I read it here that I should have my bloodwork done. My surgeon has

not educated me on anything regarding the lap band.

[Guest guest]

I was also banded in TJ. I was banded by Dr. Ariel Ortiz, who is an

excellent surgeon. At the time, April 2003, I paid 10,000. Of course

it is less now. At the same time I could have gone to Seattle for

30,000 or Salt Lake City for 28,000. Easy choice, since any would

have been a plane flight away (I lived in Boise, where no one started

doing bands until 06). And when they started in Boise they weren't on

a fixed price basis, and they were running 30K to 35K depending.

HOWEVER, I agree with Sandy. I would not go to Mexico these days, and

most don't have to travel too far for a band. I had a wonderful

experience in Mexico, and on two return trips, but wouldn't recommend

it these days for many reasons.

UNLESS the local surgeons have a bad reputation, are brand new, don't

do adequate support, or some other problem, go somewhere as close as

possible.

dan

Thursday, April 1, 2010, 8:47:56 PM, you wrote:

> Yes, I used Dr. Kuri, and was his unpaid and paid Patient Educator

> for several years. I no longer support him in any way, and do not

> advise using any surgeon but a local one, after all the horror

> stories and exceptionally poor care I have seen from distant surgeons.

--

" It's OK to be a little broken, everybody's broken in this life " Jon Bon Jovi

Dan Lester, St. , Utah, USA www.riverofdata.com/lapband

Banded 4/27/03, Dr. Ortiz, Tijuana

Started at 355, at goal in the 210-220 range for almost 4 years

Ultimate goal of 195 Tummytuck in Boise and SmartLipo in Tijuana