KatieB

Hey Judy, Until 2008 all you need is your drivers license and a copy of your birthcertificate. I just got back today as a matter of fact, after having my first fill yesterday and we only had to show our license and when asked what our nationality was we just answered, American, no problems and we had to walk through the border area and put our bags on the x-ray machine.As long as you are driving across the boarder and not flying, you will be just fine. After January you will need a passport to fly or drive to mexico. Katie

WooHoo Pamela, Good luck to you and I cant wait to hear all about it. =D>

Roxane, Furellie and myself are going for our fill on the 16th, any way you could get your date changed and join us? would love the company and we are sharing the ride in and staying over nite. If not, good luck and I hope you have a better experience this time.

Thats too bad that you cant make it back to TJ, Furellie and I would love the company and to meet a fellow bandster! Let me know how your fill goes, Im a little nervous.

Ok guys, I just have to tell you my little story about shopping on Revolution Avenue. My husband was with me and he is a big Harley Davidson guy and was of course wearing a Harley shirt, so anyways, one of the vendors says come on in, I have Harley shirts for you, you buy from me, come in I show you, so we follow him into his small shop where as he said, he had some Harley shirts for sale. Then he shows me a leather Harley Davidson backpack, of course the price started at $40 so I immediately said no, well eventually we got down to $15 so I caved and bought the backpack. So, the next morning my husband and I are at the hotel getting ready to leave when my husband says, "wow, have you seen all the pockets in this backpack?" He sticks his hand in one of the front pockets and says, "what is this?" and precedes to turn the pocket inside out and stuck in the leather is remnants of what looked to be marijuana!!! Needless to say, we looked like a comedy act trying to rid the pocket of anything that would even resemble what was in there. We did get it all out, which like I said, was really nothing, but enough to scare the jeepers out of us. We have decided we will not be buying anything on our next trip, that was enough stress to last a lifetime. Something like that could only happen to us! UGH! We laugh about it now when we tell our friends. LOL But I do have to say, there wasnothing funny about it at the time. Besides that, the experience was great and we bought some really great things and brought back lots of goodies for the kids. It was such a good time and the walking helped with gas pains in the shoulders too.

I had my first "almost" PBing episode yesterday. I ate three bites of a thick breaded sandwhich, and let me tell you, the pain was unbelievable. I walked around banging on my chest. As I walked all over the house the dogs must have thought I was crazy because they followed me in and out of every room, everytime I turned around there they were, so on top of the pain, the inability to swallow, and the pounding on my chest, I had to keep myself from tripping over two very large dogs. The scariest part was that I couldnt even swallow my own saliva! But I could breathe so that was a plus. Finally after what felt like almost 10 minutes, I felt the lump of food pass..............Whewwwww!! That was such a relief. I hope to never feel that again. So now I understand why we are told to chew chew chew....I think I will keep that in mind the next time I eat anything. I am slowly starting to gain back some of the 26lbs that I have lost and I do have to say, Its so depressing. I cant wait until the 16th when I get my first fill. Im actually excited about the trip back to Mexico and I am scared to death of flying! lol

Hey Scuba, You should be just fine. I was banded on a Monday and was back at work, in the ER no less on the Thursday after surgery. I was a little sore of course, but nothing major. Have fun!!

Was banded on March 5th 07 and Im currently down 26lbs just 4 weeks out. WOOOHOOO!! Gotta love it. =D>

Hi Donna, You heard right, your companion cannot stay over nite with you, but you will have other band patients there to walk with and to keep you company. Its not too bad, and everyone is so nice and will take great care of you. KatieB

Hi White Dove, Once you have talked with Carolyn and have your surgery set up she will email you some stuff to print out, like your patient profile and questionaire and on it you will find different pre op diet options that start anywhere from like 2 weeks to one week prior to surgery. When you tell Carolyn how much your starting weight is she will tell you your goal for weight loss prior to surgery. As far as the bread thing, Im not to that point yet, just 2 weeks post op, but I have read a lot of comments about problems with bread but then again, everyone is different. Good luck on your journey.

Happy Birthday, Keep your chin up and your mind on your goal. I too have been a littel depressed about not being able to eat the foods that I love, but I made this choice to change my life and you have too. Food sometimes becomes our best friend, I drive an hour to work every day and all I would think about is what fast food joint am I going to stop at today and what will I get when I get there? Its not easy but you can get through it. As the story goes, "This too shall pass"

Be sure to bring a drivers license and your birthcertificate. No passport needed until 08, so you will be just fine.

I ordered mine and its on its way, cant wait to get it and start reading, i should have bought it before my surgery, but I didnt. Oh well, better late than never. KatieB

I drink the EAS shakes from walmart, they really arent too bad, the vanilla seems to leave less of any after taste than the chocolate and i have heard that they also make strawberry, but I have not tried those. KatieB

Dr Miranda actually called me personally and asked how i was doing with my diet at about 12 days prior to surgery. She was great and told me to keep working at it and get that 10 pounds off that was discussed with carolyn. If any doubts, give Dr. Miranda a call, she is really easy to talk to and very personable. Katie

I was banded on March 5th, I started at 236 but was down to 220 preop, now Im 218, I am doing everything I am supposed to and following the diet, I dont understand why Im only down 2 pounds since surgery. Anyone else have this same situation? Just curious and getting very discouraged . Katie