U.S. Fills

I am having surgery mid-May in Tijuana and am getting mixed messages about the capability to fill your band back in the U.S. Anyone have any comments on this? Any fill centers you know in northwest Florida?

There are many doctors who will not touch a band done in Mexico, or any other surgeon's patient, for that matter. I've learned the hard way that if you call them and are open about your desire to get your band in Mexico and would like them to do the fills/aftercare, many get very hostile. Many people call and tell them they have relocated and need a fill doctor. This seems to get a much different answer. In fact, I emailed one local surgeon and told them I was relocating and asked if they do fills. They said YES, NO PROBLEM, and gave me the name of the person to call, the price, etc.... Then I emailed that same surgeon (using a different email addy) and told them that I hadn't gotten my band yet, and that I would be going to Mexico since I am self-pay and cannot afford it here, and got a very curt response telling me they would not do the fills. This sounds sneaky, and frankly, I don't feel right about lying. Luckily, I found a great surgeon 2 hrs away that is very supportive of Mexican bandsters and is happy to do their fills. I think the trick is to find a surgeon *****ally has a heart for obese people. That type of surgeon is much more likely to want to help you with your journey. One more thing: there are people who go to MX for their fills as well. And for many, this works great. As for me, I would be uncomfortable doing that, since I would want a local surgeon that I could call in case of an emergency. Have you tried fillcentersusa.com? Also, the Wish Center does fills for Mexican bandsters. Not sure if they have one in FL, but their site is wishcenter.org. Another thing is to ask the person who is coordinating your surgery in MX for help with finding a fill doctor. Also, if you email Inamed, they will send you a list of doctors in your area that you can call to ask. All in all, I'm not advocating lying when you call, but I found that if you don't, your chances of finding one is low. I could respect a surgeon's desire to not want to treat other surgeon's patients, but I find it disturbing when they say NO to some requests and YES to others. Good luck! Elizabeth