ms883

OK, I've been banded for 5 weeks now. I really don't have any restriction, which is normal, but I have gotten some food stuck from time to time. I haven't PB'ed, but have come really close once. It was VERY painful, and I was at the point that I knew if I took one more bite, it was gonna be HORRIBLY PAINFUL, and I would most likely PB.

Is this what "feeling full" will feel like after I get a fill?? I know it is probably a little different, but I'm really wondering. Most of the time, when I have gotten something stuck, it was because I was in a hurry, and didn't chew enough, or maybe just FORGOT, to chew it good enough, and swallowed it too soon. Either way, it was BAD painful until it passed through the stoma.

So, for those of you who have been through this, what should I expect after my first fill?

Thanks,

Donna

Thank you all for the posts. I had my 3rd fill on Saturday. Almost immediately started to think that I was "too full." Everything seemed to come up - I would gurgle even when drinking water! (My husband explained the gurgling as a slow moving drain). Last night was the first food that I kept down. It took me 1 hour to eat 3 small bite size pieces of chicken, and 2 spoons of corn. I had to learn the very hard way that I must eat extremely slowly. I must pause between nibbles. This is not eating as I had learned, but a new way of life. It will take time.

Lynn

While I havent talked to my CPA yet, we are planning on writing the medical procedure off, for both my son and myself. We deduct dental procedures and they are done in Algadones, MX, travel, hotel, fuel, etc. anything related. We have dental and health INS here in the U.S. but have found a Dentist in MX, who is a perfectionist for a fraction of what it would cost here, EVEN with our INS.! My parents do the same, they have INS and thier INS CO. will pay for thier dental work in MX as well! They have to pay the Dentist first, then the Ins. Co. sends them a check for what they allow. Teri

Keep in mind, if you take a deduction that is questionable, that may be considered aggressive tax planning on your part. Refusal to declare all of your income is the real problem with the IRS. Declare all of your income and take each and every deduction you are entitled to. Ms883

You all seem so happy with Dr. Ortiz, my insurance approved me right away (Oxford) it took them 4 days to aprove it and they are paying the entire $25,000USD if i decide to do the operation. But im a chicken and if I do decide to have surgery - I dont know if i should do lapband or just get the laproscopic bypass done - i mean if im goign to do it i should just go all the way right? well i dont know but im a chicken! a fat one! I just dont want to have the lapband done and then god forbid have to have another surgery to take it out! Any suggestions?

Consider this: a lapband is 100% reversable. If you decide that you do not like it, you can have it removed. If you go in for gastric bypass, and parts are snipped out, you can't get those back if you don't like the surgery. Food for thought (no pun intended! )

Ms883

1. The "mental hungries" get me more than anything else. I keep a food and calorie diet to fight them.

2. Eating a meal without drinking was important to learn.

3. Chew, chew, chew. The dreaded "pb's" (productive burps) are as bad as you read.

4. My weight loss has slowed. So not to become discouraged, my scale has a digital read to ounces of a pound. I keep a log of my weight down to the ounce so I can see (and remember!) my weight loss.

6. My very most important lesson learned: The band is a tool. I can use it. I can cheat (and boy, can I cheat on vacation!). There is no such thing as "falling off the wagon", but the ability to make good or better choices in my foods. Even my husband, who has never dieted in his life, has started looking at foods differently - he looks at fat and sodium content. Then he wants more food for less calories. I've also learned that if there is something I really want to eat, it is no longer "forbidden" or something that I cannot have for the rest of my life. I just eat less of it, and then I can start making better choices right away again. I do not belive there is failure, only good and bad choices. I've hated myself most of my life because I made what most people consider "bad choices."

Finally, I learned that Dr. Ortiz and his staff are miracle workers.

Ms883

I do not need the food police telling me what to do and how to do it. I've fought my weight since I was 12. The same 50 pounds have come and gone at least 10 times. You lost 60 pounds in the last year, but the failure rate for dieters is over 90%. Let us know in a year how much of the 60 pounds you have gained back. And, by the way, you'll most likely gain more back than just the 60.

Next, we'll be scolded for having surgery done in, ohmigod, Mexico!

How little some people know and how arrogant they truly are.

Ms883

When I was banded (10/24/06), I asked Dr. Ortiz to refer a dentist in TJ. He told me that he was going to be adding more specalties to his practice... including a plastic surgon. Dr. Ortiz, I'm waiting! When is the good news going to come out? And, I still need that dentist!

Lynn Conant

a/k/a ms883

I was banded on July 26, 2006. I have lost 20 pounds (30 more to go). Like Rose, I am struggling. I had my first fill on Sept 9th and my "eating/not eating life" hasn't been the same since.

Sometimes I get sick, sometimes I don't get sick. Just when I think I have a food or an amount figured out, BAM!...I'm wrong.

For the most part, I know I can't eat bread or pasta. Chicken...NO WAY! So why can I eat Phad Thai? or why does popcorn go down so well?

I haven't lost a pound in about 2 months. I think I'm loosing inches, but some days it feels like nothing has moved.

I eat like a bird.

Have I "NO" metabolism? Is my body panicing and storing all my fat so that it has fuel? So many people tell me sooooooooo many things about not eating.

Then I read about one of you who are doing great! For example, like my new lap band friend in Alabama who was banded on the same day as I was. Surgery day, she is 170 & I am 173. Today she is 137 and I am barely under 160! Ugh! That's like only 13-15 pounds for me and 33 for her. HOW did that happen?

Boy I am a whiney pee pants today. Sorry. I'm just glum because I am not doing well today and I am depresssed that my success isn't reaching as far as others. To those of you who are doing well....Congrads! To those of you struggling like me....thanks for your support!

:-)

Suggestion: with every meal, get 20 minutes of very light movement in - walking would be an excellent choice. In my pre band days, 20 minutes of walking before or after a meal, and my weight would fall off. When I stalled out with my band, I started exercising and the lousey old pounds started to fall off again. Good luck to you.

Lynn C

I had my third fill before I felt any restrictions on what I could eat. I thought at first that the band hadn't worked, but it has. I was banded March 05, if youd like to read my story you can find it in: newly banded tell your experience: My lapband experience in OZ. If you have trouble holding clear fluids down I'd maybe get some removed, but otherwise stick to it. Remember to go slow. Sometimes now even, if I drink milk too fast it will come straight back.. Eating and drinking very slowly are a big key to success here!

Good luck hope all goes well after your fill...

Hayley

How true! I make sure that I do not get overly hungry between meals... otherwise, if I eat like a wolf, whatever just went in comes right back out.. And, boy, is it painful. Moral of the lesson: eat slowly and don't allow yourself to get too hungry!

Lynn C

Help , having surg Nov 3, want to talk to someone who has had gastric bypass surg and is now going to be lapbanded by Dr. Oritz. What does it feel like? When do u get back to normal how long? Any info would be of help.

Donna R

Donna - I never had the gastric bypass, but I had the lapband surgery by Dr. Ortiz on Tuesday, October 24. I've had two other surgeries that knocked me out for extended periods of time (appendix, tubal pregnancy - each quite invasive and I was opened from side to side). These surgeries kept me from work/school as was the case for weeks - up to 6 weeks for the tubal pregnancy and for each I was in the hospital a week! I was discharged the next day after my lapband surgery. I felt so good that we drove home to Las Vegas. On Thursday, October 26, I went to work for a few hours. I would have stayed longer, but my husband wanted the day off. By this weekend, I was doing light house keeping. I returned to work full time on Monday, October 30. I took pain pills on 10/25 only, none after that, not even aspirin. Now, I'll be the first to admit that I have a fairly high tolerance for pain and not much keeps me down. I hope this helps.

Lynn C.

I made an appointment for Friday, October 13, 2006. I've waited years for this surgery, and it will drain our savings. My husband and I live in the Las Vegas area, and we are driving to Tiajuana. Let me know if we can help anyone.

Lynn Conant/Las Vegas, NV