jena

Once I got a good fill, drinking while eating was no longer a problem. I COULDN'T do it! If I do forget and take a drink, it sits right on top of the food and is painful. not to mention that it comes right back up. Good fill, problem solved! Jena

Hi Xray and welcome. If you can't find a fill doctor, talk to your regular doctor and explain the problem. Perhaps he/she would be willing to learn how to do it or have a nurse in his office learn to do it. Right now I'm talking with my next door neighbors. They own a business that does autologous transfusions (recycling your own blood during surgery and using it instead of donated blood) and they and everyone who works for them are nurses. They are selling their business and looking for other things to do in their semi-retirement. We've been talking about them doing fills and they are very interested. What I'm getting at is if you are somewhere where fills aren't available or easily obtainable, do everything you can to make it happen! Jena

Be careful buying protein drinks. You will only need them for the 3 weeks after you are banded. After that you will start eating real food. Dr. Miranda does not want us to continue to use protein drinks after the liquid stage is over. I've got a case of Slim Fast and a case of chicken broth that I haven't even opened! I way overestimated how much I would need. Trust me, at the end of three weeks, you won't want to look a protein shake in the face again! Jena

ANY time there is a major change in your life you'll lose friends, but you'll gain new friends too. Losing weight, getting married, having a baby, getting divorced - these kinds of things change the dynamics of a relationship. Stormy, look at how many NEW friends you have since being banded! Don't dwell on those who try to bring you down. It's their loss not to have you in their lives! Jena

You need a fill! You sound just like me. After my first fill I lost a little weight, but then nothing...for weeks. It finally hit me one day, I need a fill!! I made an appointment and got one and it did the trick. Just had my 3rd fill on Saturday and I think this one has done the trick. For the time being anyway. Jena

Your husband can get a loan against his 401K and he won't get hit with all of the tax penalties. The interest he pays back, he pays to himself!

Medicard is for Canada. Indiana is in the US. You can't get a line of credit without owning a house. It's almost impossible to get a signature loan with anyone but a company who specializes in medical loans and then you have to have pretty good credit and even then, the interest rate is unbelievably high. I suspect that because of the crisis in the lending institutions that loan companies aren't writing loans like they used to. I got a good deal for my lasik surgery - pay it back in 2 years with no interest. Shop around for medical loans and see what you can find. Stormy ran into some problems too but she was finally able to get what she needed. Good luck, Jena

Great going Stormy! Hows the hubby doing? I have to take 5 pills every morning and one of them is quite large. I found that taking them with about 1/2 cup of chocolate milk really helps them slide down more easily. Yogurt would work as well, not to mention being great for the tummy rumbles. Yogurt has live cultures in it that helps upset tummies. Please ask your pharmacist if it is okay to crush any of your meds. If the zoloft is time released (a TR or XR after the name) DO NOT crush or cut the pill!! These are designed to be released slowly and if you crush or cut them all of the medicine gets released at once instead of over 24 hours. Good job on the 10 pounds! Jena

Don't forget that paying and getting the band is just the start of the expenses. For my first fill I've paid over $500 for the initial visit, then over $200 for the second fill. Any other fills or unfills will be over $200. You won't be able to continue to lose weight if you don't have your fills!

I was banded May 8 and I have a little over 8cc's in my 10cc band. From what I've been told, the water should stay forever.

Hey Cathy, you may not realize this, but US citizens are forbidden to travel to Cuba. We can only go for specific reasons and the US is very strict about it. Actually we're not really forbidden, but we are forbidden to spend money in Cuba, so that pretty much does away with the travel there. Some people try to skirt the system by going to Cuba by way of Canada or Mexico, but it doesn't matter what rout it takes to get there, it's still illegal for an American citizen to spend money there. If you get any replies, it will probably be from the other Canadians on the board.

Don't worry Stormy, everyone is different. I can eat any meat as long as I take small bites and chew well. Steaks, chops, burgers, chicken, you name it. The real problem is bread or bread like things (cake, soft cookies, donuts) if it's not toasted I can't eat it. It sits in a big damp ball stopping anything else from going down. Jena

Just remember, if you are flying, you either have to pack the alcohol in your luggage and check it in. I felt like a total idiot standing in line to get through the checkpoint in San Diego with a Coke Zero in one hand and a giant bottle of Tequila in the other. I was so proud of myself for remembering to throw out the Coke Zero before we got all the way up to the security check.Then it hit me. OH CRAP!!! I can't take the bottle on the plane! Long story short, the nice TSA person suggested that I find some packaging, wrap it up in newspaper, put my name and address on it and check it in as luggage. A nice lady in one of the shops found me a box, wrapped up the bottle, put it in the box and taped it up really good. I wrote my name and address on it, hurried to the luggage check in and handed it over and crossed my fingers. It made it safely to the Atlanta airport and I from time to time enjoy a tiny bit of awesome sipping tequila. It's good to know that the "silver" jewelry being sold on the street is not silver. I got a cute Coach knock off purse for $10. Do not buy legal drugs from the men on the street, hanging around the side streets by the pharmacies. Buy them from the pharmacy. Take your prescription bottles and don't forget to consider the price there vs. the price of your deductible on your insurance.

Wow, those weeks after the post surgery diet were really something. You have to be very careful because you are soooo hungry, you want soooo many things to eat and you have very little restriction. It's true what they say, don't really expect to lose too much between the time you are banded and your first fill. Since my second, very aggressive, fill I have PB'd quite a number of times. all because I wasn't following the rules. I was taking big bites, I wasn't chewing enough and I kept stuffing food in my mouth. One thing I don't do, though, is drink while I'm eating. I don't know about any of the rest of you but I *can't* drink while I eat. If I do it hurts and the only thing I can do to relieve the pain is to let it come back up. It didn't take too many tries to cure me of that habit! Back to the topic, I do look at food in a different way. I love bread, but if it is not toasted there is no way it is going down. So now there is no eating a hamburger with a bun or anything with a bun, a sandwich, rolls or anything. I thought if this happened to me that I would be angry because I love bread so much. But I'm not. I think it's like shock therapy. LOL It's very clear that if I do that (eat soft bread) I will do this (PB). PBing just isn't the food coming right back out, it's painful. Sometimes very painful. It feels like what I imagine a heart attach feels like. Horrible pain and pressure right between my breasts, feeling like I could choke, like I have food stuck in my throat. I have no choice but to take small bites, chew slowly and thoroughly, and pausing between bites Having the band is not a miracle cure. You still have to learn how to eat, you have to learn to listen to your body.

The truth of the matter is the band will only work if you get fills until you get the right spot. The true cost of the band is not only the surgery, it's also the fills that go along with it. I know it's too late for you now, but it's a good thing to know before you have the surgery. If you can't afford the 2 + fills you will need after the band, you should wait until you can. It seems that the average fill runs around $250. So when you're saving for the band, save an additional $500 - $1,000 for the fills. Hang in there, you've got the band now, save a little each week for the next fill. Each one you get will bring you closer to your goal.

Interesting that the other doctor would say that. The Lapband AP (Advanced Platform) band has only been approved in the states since last summer. It has what they call the "omniform" technology. Previous to this AP band, the VG band is the latest and was developed for people with a higher BMI, larger organs or more abdominal fat. The VG was the first in the line to use the omniform technology, this means the balloon has ribs or baffles and the band itself is curved. The AP bands come in 2 sizes, the SMALL is 10cc's and the large is 14cc's. So the small AP holds the same amount as the VG band. Apparently they have found that the bands that hold more saline are better because they allow more room for adjustments so that you can reach your sweet spot without having to go through lots of fills/unfills to find what's right for you. BTW, I'm pretty sure the bands in the picture that Michelle posted are the 10cc and 14cc AP bands. The AP bands are the only ones that have the 360 degree balloon. The ones in the picture look like the balloon goes all the way around. The 4cc band has the largest gap and the VG band has about a 60 degree gap.

> Hugs to you Mona. I know Dr. O and other people have said that you should only need 1 - 2 fills for the rest of your life, but that all depends on who is doing your fills. As you know Mona, I have the 10cc band too. I have been filled twice, both by Darlene who was trained by Dr. O on how to do fills. At two fills, I'm already up to over 8cc's. It took you 5 fills to get where I am at 2! At first, after this second fill, I had really good restriction and my hunger was under control. To tell you the truth, it took so long to eat a small meal, I would just get tired of eating. Now sometimes I have restriction and sometimes I don't. My weight loss has stopped again. I'm thinking of going back and having a tiny fill. I think that is all it would take, but who knows? I feel your pain, sister, I just wish it had not taken you 5 fills to get where you are. Jena

I was curious about band erosion and I read quite a few articles that gave the potential causes of band erosion and none of them mentioned taking Advil as a cause. They all talked about the erosion happening on the outside of the stomach. I finally found one place, a Mexican doctor, that listed "events that happen inside the stomach" as a potential cause. Apparently things which irritate the stomach and can cause ulcers can cause erosion. That's where taking Advil, aspirin even spicy food can cause erosion. Here's the link - http://arturorodriguezmd.com/lap-band-proc...ap-band-erosion

I'm hoping the lap band is being studied for this. I was totally amazed a my drop in blood pressure! Like I mentioned, I have been on bp meds for 36 years!!! Nothing changed it. All of a sudden, just weeks after the band it drops and stays there. Dr. Ortiz said after surgery that he repaired a hernia, but I had no symptoms of having one before hand. If he hadn't told me, I would have never known. jena

It's not the hernia and bp that are linked, it's the lap-band and bp that are linked. Exactly the same thing has happened to me. My blood pressure is about as low as yours right now and I'm going to the DR. to see about reducing my meds. I've had high bp since I was 14 (a long, long time) and it's been determined that it is hereditary. (I've lost over 100 pounds before and it never changed) My dad has it and his dad had it. A few weeks after the band, boom, my blood pressure dropped and it's stayed there ever since. There was a segment on 20/20 about the effects of bipass surgery on bp and diabetes. The bipass patients saw an almost immediate reduction/disappearance of high bp and/or diabetes. They also mentioned that the same type of results are being seen in lap band patients. It's not the losing of weight that causes the drop, it's the surgery since it happens so soon after! Jena

Hugs Paula. > I've missed you too! I'm so glad you are seeking treatment. It's so hard to take that step because as I'm sure you know, it's not easy to get things worked out once you do start. I've got bi-polar disorder and while the meds are working it's great. I feel normal, or as close to it as possible! ha! But just when you think you've got the right combination, they stop working and you have to start over again and find the next combination that works. It's a never ending battle, but one worth fighting. One thing to think about is that as you lose weight, your meds might need changing! Not necessarily a bad thing.

I see the old aspartame "truths" are rearing their ugly heads again. http://www.snopes.com/medical/toxins/aspartame.asp http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/the-tru...dditives?page=2 If you are not used to eating sugar alcohols (maltitol, mannitol, etc) be very careful!! The are not fully digestible and will cause horrible gas and diarrhea until you are used to eating them. They are natural sweeteners and as such have calories. Maltitol is my sweetener of choice. Its sweetness is close to that of sugar and it has most of the cooking properties of sugar so it is great for baking and cooking. Splenda (sucralose) is an artificial sweetener and all artificial sweeteners have NO calories because the body does not recognize them as a nutrient. Because splenda is so very sweet, most of what you see in the packets and the bag is maltodexatrin, a filler that is slightly sweet. That's another thing about artificial sweeteners - they are so much more sweeter than sugar what you are getting is a tiny amount plus a filler to make the measuring of it closer to sugar. Finally, about those candybars, it may say "Splenda" on the label, but the real sweetener is the mannitol (are you sure it's not maltitol?) and sugar alcohols have calories. As a matter of fact, on the label it should say something like "this is a Sugar Free food - not a low calorie food." You will probably find upon closer inspection that the sugar free candybar has almost as many calories as the regular, not to mention as much fat. If you are craving chocolate, buy yourself some dark chocolate. It has less sugar and is very good for you! Look for the Lindt 85% bar. Here's some info on the health benefits of dark chocolate http://www.webmd.com/news/20040601/dark-ch...eps-doctor-away Like someone said, anything in excess is harmful.

You're not overweight, your undertall!

Wow! Va-Va-Va-Voom! What's so funny Kathy is that in the first picture you look MAD. In the next picture you look okay and in the last picture you look happy. I wonder what you will look like in your "I've lost all the weight!" picture? :lb21: Good going girl! Jena

I love the clothes at the Avenue and they are having a good sale. $40 off if you buy $100 of clothes! That's 40% off! They also have tons of stuff on sale right now too. If you want to check it out, it's www.avenue.com and you can use coupon code AV81244 to get the discount, or go to http://shop.avenue.com/a/hBIv-vLASctMwB7Sx...A7iRFI/coupon-2 to print off an in-store coupon. Who couldn't use $100 worth of new clothes for $60?