BSN

What if you increase by 1 minute every few days? Or even every week? That's what I did and it worked for me. Everyone has to find what works for them. You are doing great!

Greg... If you can just do 10 minutes of treadmill daily, then increase by one minute to 20 minutes daily it would actually make a huge difference. Studies are showing that it is not only okay to do 10-20 minutes at a time, it is preferred. You actually burn more fat doing multiple short stints. I can find the study if you are interested. I've read too many studies, I know that there are biological reasons we eat the way we do. But exercise, that's just self determination. I hate it, absolutely hate it. But I do 1-2 hours daily of hard cardio. Just bought a bowflex and I'm still at the stage of looking at it wondering what the heck to do with it, but I will start using it eventually. Even 20 minutes of cardio makes a huge difference. I had to work up to it, I believe I started with 10 minutes of slow walking. I'm can do up to 2 hours of non stop running now. I still hate it but I can do it.

I find it curious that in this day and age anyone would assume weight loss is that easy. The band does not do most of the work for you, it isn't advertised as such, and it isn't how it works. The band merely enables you to do the work yourself. Quite frankly, it is that very type of thinking that got us fat to begin with. The fat still needs to be burned one way or another. I think you might find that once you do get closer to goal it will take a LOT of work to burn those final few pounds. I mean LOADS of work. As for the big issue of the money, why in the world would you go to Mexico for surgery if you have all this extra cash laying around the house when you could have just gone down the street? Not sure I understand the reasoning for the diatribe on money issues. 252/164/150 Banded 12/06

Don't lose your enthusiasm, it will come back. When things are working well and you see that scale move, all the sudden you have all kinds of excitement and motivation. Try the water trick during your next fill. Bring water with you, room temp water so cold water doesn't cause a false sense of restriction. 252/168/150 Banded 12/06

I understand your frustration. We've been fat for soooo long. We have tried everything and nothing works. Finally we fork over big bucks and a willingness to bust our fat butts to get this moving and that scale just doesn't move fast enough for a variety of reasons. Just know, it will happen. We didn't get fat overnight, it isn't going to go away overnight. While I realize that doesn't help the frustration, it's true. My friend has a comment on his sig (different forum) that says he's never met anyone that was satisfied with their rate of weight loss. It's really true, we all want it NOW. 252/168/150 Banded 12/06

You get there by being on top of fills at all times. Get them every 2-4 weeks if you have to until you reach your sweet spot. The average person typically requires 3-5 fills before they get restriction they are happy with. I'm guessing you got a newbie fill for your first fill, most good docs do that. You have to take restriction in stages at first. Since you've already had a fill you are likely to get a much more aggressive fill the next time. Studies show chances of success... yes, but they were not referring to the weird things that go on with the human body. You can't always apply scientific studies to the human body because the body simply won't cooperate. It does what it wants and it does what it wants in its own good time. Fills especially. I'd go back for another if I were you. No sooner than 2 weeks after your last fill. You have a 10cc band as I recall, true? I'll bet it will take 4-5 fills before you are completely happy. When you get a fill WATCH the fluoro for yourself, see the difference in how fast the barium travels before the fill vs. after the fill, note the size of the barium stream as it drains into your big stomach. Guzzle some water before he removes the needle and see if you feel it. If you don't, talk to him, voice your experiences. When it comes to guzzling water you want to feel a difference but you don't want to feel pain or discomfort. If you feel discomfort with water it will be x10 worse with food or even soft foods. You want to feel some restriction but again, not pain or discomfort. You are looking for a difference in how it feels to quickly drink water before the fill and after the fill. I can't stress enough that you are absolutely normal, you are going through bandster hell. But I swear to you, this is better than an overfill. I lived with stoma swelling and stomach spasms for the first 6 months of banding. There were days I couldn't keep water down let alone spit. It was miserable and horrible. I lost 70lbs in 5 months and I swear to you, that is NOT the way you want to do it. And I had NO fill. I would barf 30+ times weekly. It was beyond horrible and I wouldn't wish it upon anyone. I got IV fluids so many times that I now keep IV Saline, and IV start kit, and an IV pump at home. A friend is also an RN so she can start the IV for me. It's because swelling and stomach spasms are the same as an overfill. It's sheer misery. I'm on meds now and it is a difference between night and day. I was sooo ready to have my band removed, then the problem was diagnosed and treated. Now I'm fine. But an overfill.. you don't want it. It's just awful. Bandster hell is part of the game, it's a necessary element of banding. It gets better, when you finally do reach your sweet spot you'll realize it was ALL worth it! In the meantime just keep practicing the bandster way of eating. Chewing your food into a paste, small bites, eating slowly, not drinking fluids with your food, protein first, then veggies, then carbs. Everything will fall into place but I fully understand how you feel. It's frustrating and beyond annoying for the time being. Give it time, it will happen. Then when you are skinny you'll look back on this time and laugh at your frustration. You'll be saying these same words to someone else someday. You mark my words, it will happen. 252/169/150 Banded 12/06

Yep... I totally agree. The day after my surgery I wanted to go shopping. I didn't, but it wasn't because I couldn't. The more you walk right after surgery the better you feel.

NoWorry... You are still quite a newbie in every way! What you are thinking and feeling is absolutely normal. The time frame between getting the band and reaching your sweet spot is called "Bandster Hell" for a reason. You have this great tool but it isn't working and it is harder than it should be. Give it time, you'll get there.

No, not necessarily. A slight overfill that results in rapid weight loss and a looser band means that you are banking on the fact that your body will lose weight around the band. We don't get to choose where our body decides to lose weight, it might be the band or it might be your left toe. An overfill is NEVER EVER a good idea. It is a great way to lose a band though. Erosion... for a long time they didn't know how erosion happened. They thought it was due to smoking but lots of people lost their band to erosion and they didn't smoke. Same with NSAIDs. Now the current thinking is that erosion happens when the band is too tight. That can happen from placing a band that is too small for that patient or a fill that is too tight. That can be potentially life threatening. So to bank on an overfill being fixed by weight loss is absolutely dead wrong, it's a gamble and you are banking on physiology that is out of your control to prove you right. That's quite a risk. As for a scientific method of measuring barium traveling through a stoma.. it won't work. There are too many variables. First of all, ask any experienced bandster (someone a year or more out) about fills. Many times they don't kick in for two weeks after the fill. It makes no sense, I know. But it's true. Fill someone and have them drink barium and there is no guarantee it will look the same with the same fill in two weeks. Personally, my fills kick in every single time on day #3. There are other issues to consider, where the person loses weight (their stomach fat pad, their butt, their legs, everywhere, etc.). One must consider how compliant the patient is. Will they follow the post-fill diet? You might be surprised at how many simply can't do it. Natural swelling on the part of the patient. A fill causes swelling in most people that lasts a day or three. There are more variables but the point is that this isn't a science and can't be one. It's an art. I completely and totally without a doubt, 100%, disagree with you about overfills and weight loss fixing it. It's too dangerous and I don't know about you but I paid far too much for this band. I'm not risking my band or my health for losing a couple of pounds a little faster. It's just not bright. We didn't get fat overnight, we won't get skinny overnight either.

Whoaaa there, there is NOTHING preferable about being slightly overfilled. It is pretty dangerous. Overfills are responsible for slips and erosion. Drinking water causes one to slime and barf with even a slight overfill. But I do agree, fills are an art and not a science.

Who are you responding to?

No Worry... Any updates? How are you doing? We are all waiting, wanting to know DETAILS!

You can try www.lapbandtalk.com.

And you need some manners. Your point? NoWorry... thanks for posting this. There are lots of newbies that not only want to know what to expect step by step but they are also looking for the kind of honesty you write. Ignore those without manners and keep on writing exactly the way you do.

Don't you think Mexico's version of 5***** is a little different from the US version of 5*****? I have never been to the TJ Lucerna but I have another Lucerna. From what I can see the *service* is five star, the facilities are not. But they are quite good.

Thanks, Pammie!

Oh, there was only one person and I counted to a million before responding to her. Oh, now here we will have to disagree. There are a lot of bad docs in Mexico just like there are a lot of bad docs in the US. I can sit here and give you at least 100 examples of US docs that are bad, screwed up, made big mistakes, covered it up, and not a darn thing is documented.Many of the anti-Mexico people have the attitude that if a surgeon is from the US, they walk on water. They believe they are regulated and monitored. Nothing could be farther from the truth. The same concept holds true for Mexican docs. Just because it isn't documented doesn't mean it didn't happen. There is one surgeon with a ton of infections, people come home with MRSA. Yet according to his supposed track record he's just trippy. The hell he is, he is a horrible surgeon. You really can't depend on what is documented to determine if anyone is any good or not. That's like saying if a US doc doesn't have a paper trail following him he is an excellent surgeon. It's simply not true. Ask any OR nurse who she would go to for surgery and you'll get some great and interesting responses. But I promise you, the list of who she will go to will be mighty short. No, no... we disagree again. I can't see anything but exactly the opposite. People worship their band surgeons. People rarely have anything that is clearly negative to say about them. That includes patients of bad docs too. The mere thought of anyone saying anything the least bit negative about their doc turns a switch on in their head and they go in over drive. I do the same thing with my doc. I've referred several people there in the last few months and will continue to do so. He's actually becoming more of a friend than my doc at this point and that is why I have half considered going to Ortiz for further surgery. I'm not sure, I'll probably stay with my current surgeon. Yes, I noticed that too. I understood what you were doing by just looking at the hospital, I think everyone did. However, it goes to prove my point further. People are a little uptight over the notion of anyone even considering another doc than theirs. If you'll notice the more time they have with a band the less "strong" they come on regarding people considering other doctors. While I'm still very pro "my doctor" I also realize personality plays a role in it too. Some patients require a different personality in their doc than perhaps I do. Location is another. That was another key factor for me, Tijuana scares me, quite frankly. My surgeon is in a different part of Mexico that didn't frighten me. Now, it doesn't matter if my fears of TJ were justified or not, they still exist. So Dr. Ortiz wouldn't have worked for me. There are enough good surgeons out there to stay plenty busy.If you really want to do some checking on surgeons find one you do like, trust, and respect and ask who his friends are. LOL It will be all the *really* good surgeons. Ask them about a specific surgeon you suspect is a bad doc and their eyes will glaze over and they'll change the topic. HA! It's true! Try it. BTW, my doc and your doc are very good friends. LOL I don't follow these boards enough to catch on to those issues. But again, when people have a bit of "band" time under their belts they tend to be quite a bit less zealous. Well, how about this one. I went with a friend from Washington last week to get her band. She had not only never been out of the US, she had never been out of Washington! Same with another friend from Kansas the week prior. (I have every intention of getting every fat friend banded!) Can you imagine having never left your home state and suddenly going to Mexico for surgery after watching the bogus, one sided, yellow journalism on 20/20? How frightening is that? I have learned that you really don't have the slightest idea what someone's personality is all about until you get to know them the day after surgery. The day before surgery they are often times unreasonable, they tell jokes in poor taste, they blurt out horrible things, they are overly emotional, they are a real big pain in the butt. I've been in nursing for many years and this holds true in Mexico as well as the US. Once surgery is over you suddenly find a much calmer and nicer person laying in that bed. I think there are times we need to keep that in mind as well.

Yep, that's how I feel about my own band doc. I had it narrowed down to my doc and Ortiz. I picked my doc because he practices out of an actual hospital vs. a clinic and that made a big difference to me. I realize the culture in Mexico is different and clinics are acceptable but they aren't to me. Otherwise I probably would have gone to Ortiz. However, I've seen people that went to the WORST surgeon in Mexico. Most of his patients come home with life threatening infections but the doc is cheap so people flock to him. They worship him like a God ... until their infection kicks in. It's weird about we fatties and our surgeons, we swear by them like we do a religion. It doesn't appear to matter if the patient is male or female, young or old, low BMI or high. People are pretty predictable about how they will discuss their surgeon.

I do understand how you feel but I've spent enough time on other message boards to realize that it isn't intentional. Nobody is trying to shoot you down. I think it is a combination of a couple of issues. #1) I think most of us have spent so many years unable to lose weight and feeling absolutely horrible and worthless over the issue and when we suddenly find a doc that can actually help us, it's an amazing feeling. You almost feel indebted to your bariatric doc. #2) Most of us did a great deal of research before being banded and we heard about the extra horrible docs out there. Docs who have patients that come home time and time again with serious and life threatening infections. Patients that come home, go for their first fill and discover they paid $8K and they have NO band, just scars. We have all heard these stories and those of us who really worked hard and did the research we KNOW the true scoop on these doctors. When someone comes to this message board or any message board and they announce they are going to Dr. <name the worst banding doc you can think of> we all kind of panic. We fear for our fellow fatty and their health. We know the doc they are considering is no good and we want them to get surgery, be thin, get healthy, and STAY healthy. We know if they go to Dr. "Bad" they might even die from the infection they are likely to come home with. It's almost a panic mode to change their mind. There is no financial value to us regardless of where they go but the mentality that we are all in this together makes a huge impact on us and the mere thought of them going to Dr. "Bad" is spooky. Combine the two above concepts and you get people that are very "pro" Dr. "Good". Sometimes it comes off differently than intended and I really believe that is what has happened here. I don't think anyone was trying to shoot you down but I think in an effort to show appreciation for what Dr. Ortiz did for them they might be just a tad over zealous.

I don't really regret being banded, I'm glad I did it. It was my last shot at weight loss. If hubby doesn't see things my way then he doesn't. Our current battle is plastic surgery. I *will* have plastics done, no way around that. He can deal with it or not. His choice. We have a date this weekend, maybe we can talk. Time will tell. Thanks for sharing. I love fat folks and previously fat folks. They get it, the rest of the world does not. Thx again.

NoWorry... Most WLS patients tend to swear by their surgeon as they swear by their religion. Not sure of the pychology behind that behavior but I'm sure there is one. Dare to insult a surgeon (even though you weren't) and you'll have hell to pay. You explained your experience. I'm not sure I agree with you regarding the hotel issue, there really are two sides to that one. But the rest of the experience I can see your point of view. The point is, it was YOUR point of view and you have EVERY right to your point of view. It is not right and it is not wrong, it is yours. I appreciate the honesty. Don't let those who swear by their surgeon as they swear by their religion stop you from your honesty. It's okay for adults to agree to disagree, it is not okay to tell you that your opinions are wrong or that they are not issues that matter. They mattered to YOU and that is what counts. I am banded but looking at further surgery and I read your experiences with great interest. I think Dr. Ortiz is a great and skilled surgeon but you answered some questions I had about him and the process of surgery. I have some more thinking to do. Thanks for your time and efforts here.

Katie... This is such a touching post. I really don't have words to describe how I feel when I read this. All I can say is thank you. You are so sweet!

Thank you, Teri! Not sure what the future holds for us but I think things will work out. Sometimes a wake up call is needed and I have a hunch this is one of those times. Part of it is cultural. He's from a verrrry different culture and treating me the way he was raised to treat women in unacceptable. While he's not really like that 99% of the time, during stressful times that part of his culture comes out. We've always worked through that previously so I'm hopeful this will take care of things.

Just a couple of thoughts for anyone keeping banding a secret. First of all my personal opinion that being banded is a private matter if that is what the person wants. It isn't the business of anyone unless you want it to be their business. Always remember that once you tell someone you can never take it back, but if you don't tell anyone you can always tell them later. Think twice before saying anything. Make sure you won't regret it later. If scars were to be an issue for any reason (bathing suits, changing clothes in front of anyone, etc.) the scars are the SAME exact scars as that of a lap hiatal hernia repair. If the need ever arises you can claim that you had a hernia repair. Nobody bats an eye at that medical procedure. It's okay for us to have a hernia repair, it can be a horror to do something such as banding that will save our lives. LOL My other thought is this, a friend was banded in Feb. Her coworkers figured it out because of the changes she made, dietary, soda consumption, etc. She denied it and began making changes in what they saw. She keeps a can of Diet Coke on her desk, nobody realizes there is water in there instead of soda. She orders lunch like she always did and when she is at her desk she puts the majority of it in a Tupperware container and takes it home for dinner. They have no idea she isn't eating a larger quantity of food than 1/2 cup. She does things like this because it was the drastic change in her eating/drinking behavior that led her coworkers to figure out what she had done. Now they are back to believing she had a hernia repair. There are so many advertisements for banding that people are learning about it and they can spot it in others that have been banded so just keep those ideas in mind. It's working for my friend.

:::Waving madly to Michele:::