From personal experience please read

I had a second surgery on Wednesday the 10th. Emma Patterson was my surgeon. Two years ago, I had my band put in down in SanFrancisco. I lost around 100 lbs. I had been having a lot of trouble with acid reflux and vomiting after my last band fill back in October 2005. The doctor I had fill it no longer was doing so. I eventually got used to the acid reflux and vomiting, lived on pepcid and continued to lose weigh. In April, I developed pneomina and had an asperation in my lung. It baffled the doctor at Kaiser and all the specialists due to my age and over all good health. Medication cleared all of that up and I was fine. At the end of August, my husband and I took a trip to SF so I decided to make an appointment to see my surgeon about my band. I didn't know if I needed it tightened or loosened, but I knew something didn't seem right. He told me my band had been over filled and that's why I had all these other things happening. He took out half of the fluid and told me to get in touch with Emma Patterson immediately. The acid reflux eased quite a bit and I was able to actually keep food down. Then the weight came back fast and furious. In three months time I had put on 20 pounds. I finally was able to get in to see Dr. Patterson. She discovered my band was too low and I had a hernia. She refused to touch my band until the hernia was fixed. So, last week she fixed my hernia and replaced my band. Now I'm starting over much wiser than before. For those of you considering weight loss surgery somewhere other than home, make certain you have a doctor that is knowledgeable and will take you as a patient. I found that reputable doctors generally will not take patients that did not have surgery from them. Dr. Patterson is one of those doctors. She is fabulous and I really like her. Trying to save a few bucks by going somewhere cheaper may end up costing you thousands in the future. I have been self pay for both surgeries and I can testify to this, it would have been cheaper in the long run to have had Dr. Patterson do it the first time. Karen

Sorry you had to experience this but it is very true. Also, if you have complications in the middle of the night and you're scared and in pain, having a local doc be there to at least assist the ER staff is much better than trying to tell the ER staff about the lap band when all you feel like doing is puking! I have met Dr. Patterson and she is incredible. Dr. Jan just happens to be my surgeon. This is why, when I hear of people wanting to go to Mexico or someplace else for surgery, I make certain they understand the responsibility to their own health when they make decisions like this. To top it off, if you happened to have been self-pay, you just might find that insurance won't pay for repairs or only pay for portions of them. If that's a decision you're comfortable with, then I'm not going to stop anyone. Research, research, research! Hopefully you're feeling much better soon, Lori