In my extreme dismay with my previous surgeon, I set forth on a quest to obtain a new, better, kinder, more considerate and caring surgeon with an office staff that actually gave a damn.
Thus I found my current surgeon, on accident quite honestly. I just began to search the Internet for local bariatric surgeons and their ratings and came across his name which sounded familiar to me. It sounded familiar because he was one of the surgeons I had considered when I decided to look into the procedure initially. The selling point for me with Dr. Owens this time around was that there was a story about a patient who had lost all kinds of weight from having the lap band. This was not too much of a selling point for me as I'd read the statistics, heard the stories and testimonies (God, was I tired of that), so what was it about this story that made me go with Owens? This particular woman was the nurse at my OB-GYN's office. Her name is Kim and I'd known her for over 10 years. The last time I'd been in to see my Dr. and saw Kim she had lost QUITE a bit of weight and I commented on it. She had told me then that she had had the lap band put in (why I didn't ask her then and there who she'd used is beyond me!). But anyway, here on this page I was looking at the Kim I'd known (a big girl just like me) and her final results: Good Lord almighty!!!! That's Kim???? Holy cow she has lost ALOT of weight and looks awesome!!!! As I read her story, I found we were doing almost the exact same workout routine and she was dropping like crazy because of a surgeon that saw her at each appointment and knew what he was doing. Ho hum, ok, I will email the office and see what happens, and that's what I did.
It absolutely blew me away that within 10 minutes of that email someone from Owens office was calling me. The Office Manager, Javier, called to give me info and to find out my story. When I told him the whole story he just sat there- almost dumbfounded. He apologized to me stating how sorry he was that my experience had been so negative up to that point but commended me on not gaining a bunch of weight back as most people would have at this point. He took all my insurance info and within 20 minutes I had an appointment 2 days away to meet with Owens! YAY! Thank God! Now maybe things will turn around for me!
I will never forget the first day I went to the office: I was blown away! I was thinking, 'Oh brother, with a gorgeous office like this, this guy has to charge a small fortune and Ima be screwed cuz we won't be able to afford his costs over and above what my insurance is willing to pay'. So, yeah, I was sweating it a bit. His office was incredible! Beautiful wood flooring, intricately designed wood panelling with crown moulding around the secretaries' station, gorgeous 3d art panels, custom wallpaper and window coverings and neoclassical King Louis styled furniture. . . .I was right at home but worried about the bill to come. I found out later, there was no need to worry- it was just an absolutely gorgeous office.
While waiting my turn, a patient of Owens came in and sat next to me and began telling me how she'd gotten her band done in Mexico (this scares the crap out of me and I don't know why anyone would do such a thing!). She also began to tell me how she'd had hers for a year and lost only about 40# (I couldn't help but think she must have been HUGE because she was about the same size as me). Later, she told on herself and I found out why she'd lost so little: she swore she knew the secret as to how to bypass the lap band. Bypass the Lap band?? Really??? Then WhyTH would you pay the money, risk your life going under the knife in friggin' Mexico and waist a doctor's time getting the damned thing in the first place????? 'What a dumb a**', was all I could think. She told me how I could bypass it too, "Eat anything you want- just makes sure you drink hot liquid with it and it will force it down." Stupid- everyone knows you're not supposed to drink when you eat with the band because it washes everything down defeating the fullness you're supposed to feel with the band, thus you're hungry sooner, eating more often and just plain eating more. Well, being the dumb ass that I am, you know I had to test her theory because we're talking experiments now and I'm here to tell you: DON'T DO IT! Food still got stuck and it hurt like hell! I don't know what that lady's issue is but it isn't mine and I have no intention of ever trying that trick again! Phew! Glad that was over!
When I finally met Owens I was quite happy. He was a gentle person, friendly, had a good sense of humor (a MUST for me) and very knowledgeable. When I told him my story, he of course knew my previous surgeon, but was on top of educating me about getting my band repaired or replaced so I could get where I needed to be. When he tried to pull fluid from my band, all that came out was 2cc's (remember they put in 9 at my last appt @my old dr.'s), so he gave me 4 cc'sthe back to get info on getting my insurance in line to repair this thing. Something weird happened: no burping, no gurgling, no really anything. The girl at the desk asked me how I was doing and I said, "Fine I get alot of air trapped so I just have to wait for the air to pass before the water will go down." NOT! I actually left the office, got 2 blocks away and threw up my saliva and water. Gross? Well, yeah- you should be the one doing it! Of course I turned around and went back. He took me down to 4cc's and I was good for about a week till I had to go back for another fill to bring me back up to 4cc's (by this appointment I only had 1cc left in). I was shocked that for the first time ever, a fill of a mere 4cc's was working. I couldn't explain it. Within a couple of weeks (and before the 'appointment' date my previous surgeon had me scheduled for) I was set and ready for surgery to have this band finally dealt with!
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