snowbird

Best wishes on your upcoming surgery! My husband and I are about a month ahead of you; we were banded October 10. We are originally from Gig Harbor, though now we bounce between Arizona and Washington. You have probably read that there are good fill technicians that visit Port Orchard and also a good support group there. My daughter lives in Purdy and has used the Port Orchard fill services and attended the support group meetings, and she gives a "thumbs up" on both. It is really nice when both members of a couple do this together. I know my husband and I support each other with it, plus we can cook small, good, nutritious meals for ourselves without the other person feeling deprived.

Sounds like you just need another fill. It's been a couple months since your last one, right? Some doctors are very conservative about fill amounts. Don't panic; you probably just need your band adjusted. It can take a number of fills to hit your "sweet spot" and you just aren't there yet. It's not that you are getting fills for every five pounds you lose; it's that they haven't gotten to the right fill amount yet.

Select your font or size, then type between the two brackets. Or you can type your message, then highlight the text you want to change and then select the font. The two brackets I referred to would be the bracket containing the name of the font and the one which has a slash and the word "font", which will appear after you make the font selection. The easiest way for me is to do the highlight and then the font selections. Highlight by holding down your mouse button and then moving the mouse over the text you want to select. There may be an easier way, but I don't know it.

Hi, Suzie. I'm doing fine; I've lost 17 lb since surgery and am trying to keep to an Atkins-like diet until the first fill. Actually, we have been eating low carb for the last several years, so we'll probably continue even after the fill. My biggest problem is a return of acid reflux at night. It went away on the liquid diet but is coming back now. I was hoping I would be through with that with the hiatal hernia repair and some weight loss, but I'm probably going to have to break down and refill my Nexium prescription. We are headed back to Tijuana for our first fill on November 29, plus we are going to get some dental work done while we are there. Dr. Ortiz has a dental clinic in his lap band clinic, which make it easy to schedule. It's a five hour drive for us from where we live, but we are retired so we'll make it a mini vacation to San Diego. I am fitting into clothes I haven't been able to wear for the last three years, which is fun. Congratulations on your continuing weight loss! I'm hitting a barrier at 190, which is where my last diet fizzled out. Interesting that my body doesn't want to go below that point, but this time I know I have help to make the weight loss continue. Keep in touch and let us know how you are doing. Chris

Girl, don't kick yourself because you had a piece of cake at a wedding! That was the sociable thing to do. We didn't get into our predicament because we had one piece of cake at a wedding; we got here because we had two or three pieces, after a fried chicken dinner, with a few snacks before and after. We deserve treats from time to time, but with the band we have some help to stop ourselves from going overboard. The most successful diet I ever went on included my husband and me going to Baskin-Robbins once a week for a single scoop cone. No kicking required! And while I haven't had any fills yet, I have watched my daughter go through this. Sometimes you just don't get enough in your fill, so you may need an additional fill before you get enough restriction. Some fill doctors are very conservative about what they put in, and they don't fill enough. It isn't an exact science.

I know what you mean. I may speak words of wisdom, but I still weigh myself about five times a day just in case I lost an ounce. I was going to add that you might want to think about carrying a bottle of water around with you during the day, and just taking a sip at a time. I can't drink much at one time without feeling very uncomfortable, but I can get down a sip here and there.

I really don't think anyone can give you a weekly rate of weight loss, because everyone is different and your beginning BMI is going to play a large role in the number of pounds per week that you lose. I started my pre-op diet with a BMI of 35, while my husband started at 45. Consequently, he is losing quite a few more pounds per week than I am. I did find these figures for lap-band success rates: After monitoring 271 patients who underwent LAP-BAND surgery between November 2000 and September 2002, results show: The mean body mass index (BMI) decreased from a baseline of 45.3 to: -- 36.5 at 12 months -- 35.9 at 18 months -- 35.1 at 24 months Mean excess weight loss (EWL) achieved was: -- 40% at 12 months -- 43% at 24 months -- 47% at 36 months Your weight loss rate is also going to depend on how well you are eating with the band. In other words, if you are like some people who drink milkshakes just because they go down the easiest, don't expect a whole lot out of your band! Your age, metabolism, activity level, diet, and starting BMI are all going to influence your rate of loss. And as you can see from the figures above, the average person does not become a swimsuit model even after 36 months with the band. Just relax and realize that any weight loss is good, as long as it continues. Don't set artificial goals for yourself and then get disappointed and discouraged. Even a couple of pounds a month, as long as it continues steadily, is a wonderful success rate. Remember, if you didn't have your band, you probably would have gained weight instead of lost it.

Kym, I think you should get those pictures taken and post them around your house, to remind yourself how beautiful you are! Congratulations on your success and best wishes on your future attainment of your goals. Chris

You are probably feeling your stitches which pull when you lie on your left side. Your port is stitched into place under your skin even if you don't have external stitches. I couldn't sleep on my left side for about a week after surgery. I hate to say this, but if it hurts to lie on your left side . . . don't lie on your left side. Seriously, if the pain worsens, get back in touch with your doctor. But I did feel quite a bit of the same types of pain as you are describing the first few days after surgery. It felt just like you said, like a sharp burning feeling. I couldn't sit up without grabbing onto something and pulling myself up, very slowly. I felt like my port incision was going to split open and my guts were going to spill out at any moment. My husband, who had the surgery the same day as I did, of course felt no pain whatsoever and couldn't imagine what I was talking about. Everyone is a little bit different, but remember you did have someone cut your tummy open and grope around in there, so it is to be expected that you may feel some "discomfort." Again, if it gets worse call you doctor, but I am guessing you will feel better in a couple of days. Hang in there!

Why is this an issue with you? Those of us who praise Dr Ortiz are doing so because the general reaction most people have to surgery in Mexico is horror and distaste, like the US has the only surgeons who know enough to keep an OR clean. We are trying to overcome a prejudice held by many US citizens who have a "you get what you pay for" mentality and think you can't get anything but second-rate medical care south of the border for the reduced cost. And while I have had a couple of good US doctors, the usual practice is for a doctor to schedule three or four patients at once so you get only 1/4 of his attention at any given time. You were lucky in your choice of doctors, but I have NEVER had a doctor other than Dr. Ortiz give me his cell phone number and tell me to call any time I had a question or concern. You are acting like we specifically attacked you and your doctor, which is silly because we don't even know him. We are saying that you can get the surgery done for much less than in the US and possibly get better care with more expertise by traveling to Tijuana. This is a major consideration because insurance often does not cover the surgery and many patients have to self-pay. They simply cannot afford to shell out $20,000 for lap band surgery, and that is the price I was quoted at several different US clinics. But there are other considerations, such as close proximity to your surgeon post-operatively and in some cases (but not all), free fills nearby. And there are very good surgeons in the US; after all, Dr Ortiz probably trained a lot of them!

I have found that I get a bit light headed once in a while. A few sips of Gatorade usually fixes that.

No problem, Suzie. You and I are about the same age, the same height, and were the same weight before surgery. I was banded October 10. I have lost 30 lb since starting my pre-op diet, and 15 since the surgery. I wasn't diabetic, but my blood sugar was getting higher and higher and I would have been there soon, so I am very happy I had the surgery done. As most people here say, I wish I could have done it 20 or 30 years ago, but right now I am just looking forward, not back! First fill is November 29, though I still have quite a bit of restriction from the surgery. I am starting to get my appetite back now I am back on solids, so I'm glad the fill isn't too far off.

Donna, My daughter tells me the Port Orchard support group usually meets the third Wednesday of the month at a caterer's place next to the Comfort Inn downtown. She couldn't remember the name of the caterer, but she did say the November meeting was scheduled for the 14th due to Thanksgiving. Looking at the Yellow Pages, I think it is at Le Garmache, 1327 Bay Street.

OCC gets you a "shortcut" in the line for the border, so maybe you could work out a place for their van to pick you up and drop you off, since airport transportation is included in the price of surgery. The clinic is a short walk from the border, but as others have said, the walk through the border crossing on the way back to the US can be a pain, especially if you just had surgery. A car trip through isn't too bad from what I have heard, but I would think the OCC van is the quickest way. There are places all over San Ysidro to get short term Mexican car insurance, but the parking can be difficult. The clinic has an underground parking garage but it is usually full. I don't think I would want to drive to the hotel; drivers in the circle by the hotel are really crazy.

Wait a minute, Sue. You have lost 10 lb in a month and you think that is really bad? I know we all have great expectations of the band and think the weight will just fall off of us, but think about it. A pound of fat is 3500 calories. To lose 10 pounds we need to reduce our caloric intake by 35000 calories. We lose a lot in the first month or two because much of it is fluid, but no one can keep up that rate of loss. A rate of 10 pounds a month is 120 a year, and that is a heck of a lot. The weight didn't go on overnight, and it's not going to come off that fast either. While it sounds as if you may be a bit overfilled, I don't think you should think of your weight loss rate as failure. Have some patience; you are doing very well.

Click on your member name and select View Member Posts. I can see them all; in fact, I replied to one this morning.

Most of us here had the band done by Dr Ortiz in at his clinic in Tijuana. This forum is on his clinic's website, so if you click on "Obesity Control Center" logo in the upper corner you will go to the home page of his site. Dr. Ortiz trained many of the surgeons operating in the US and is an international expert on the band. While it was cheaper to go to his clinic rather than have the surgery done in the US (usually $8500 with Dr Ortiz) my husband and I, who have insurance coverage for the surgery, went to him due to his expertise and the outstanding qualities of his clinic.

It's a larger band that holds more fluid for fills. It is usually used on patients with higher BMI's. The surgeon decides which band is best for you. My husband received the VG band, while I got the regular one. Some of the contributors to this forum who have the VG can probably give you more info, but as I understand it, the VG takes more fluid and often more fills to get to proper restriction.

To be truthful, my husband and I did not do the liquid diet. We started about 6 weeks ahead of our surgery date and just ate lean cuisines and smart ones meals to lose the weight. We are lucky in that we didn't have to cook for anyone else during that time, so those not terribly attractive frozen meals were all we had in the house. If at all possible, try to get out of the job of meal preparation for others during the pre-op diet period. That's a real diet-killer for me. The things that made the pre-op diet doable for me, rather than the zillions of diets I tried in the past, were simple: It is for a limited time. I can do anything for a week or two; it's thinking about doing without the stuff I love for the rest of my life that usually kills my diets. There is no fudging on what day I start doing it. It isn't a case of, "Well, I was bad today but it's okay--I'll start tomorrow . . . or the next day." A knowledge that someone is going to be weighing me before surgery and either patting me on the back or giving me hell . . . I guess you could call that the "weight watcher's theory" of dieting, like weekly weigh-ins. the knowledge that I am going to make the surgery and post-recovery easier on myself if I do what I am supposed to. That's a little more immediate reinforcement than vaguely knowing my health will suffer in the long run if I don't lose weight. The other thing that the pre-op diet helps is adjusting to the post-op liquid phase. The pre-op diet gets you into the mode of eating less, and for us, it also helped us to get the tempting bad stuff out of the house. If you have other people at home you are cooking for, make them understand that they may have to do without some goodies for a couple of weeks too, because having that bag of chips around is just going to kill your diet efforts. They may not think that's fair, but remember junk food isn't good for them either. Tell them if they need a pizza fix to take it outside away from you!

Yup, that's me. he is doing well, except he is hungry more than I am. I am starting to get the hunger pangs, though. Yes, it's nothing you can't drink until October 31 for us. Today I took a half cup of beef broth and mixed about a tablespoon of instant mashed potatoes into it. I could have got it up through a straw, so I guess it was legal. However, it had enough texture that it satisfied my cravings for "real food." I also made some baked custard yesterday and dissolved it in my mouth with a sip of water before swallowing. I try to take everything very slow: small portions, small sips, lots of time between sips. I also drink water along with any drink thas has any texture, including cream soups. I know once we get to solids we aren't supposed to drink with our meals, but I would think it is advisable at this point to get some water in with the thicker stuff. I also don't think we have to worry about the "only three meals a day" rule while we are on the liquid diet. We are only taking in about 50 calories with a half cup of cream soup, and obviously 150 calories a day isn't enough to keep your strength up. Generally speaking, I am getting down about 500 calories a day, which is still next to nothing. I have lost 8 pounds since surgery. Our best to Hannah; it's going to be a long three weeks, but it will end eventually! If you two come up with any great liquid food ideas, let us know!

We were told you could start things like liquid yogurt as early as the fourth day if you were feeling okay. We found some organic soups in boxes at Sprout's (don't know if you have them wherever you are) that are good and easy to pour small servings out of. The tomato and the potato leek are quite yummy.

You are 10 days ahead of me on this journey, but I am feeling the same way. When I lean back or lie down, my stomach makes all sorts of noises. I keep saying I don't feel hungry, but that's because my stomach always feels weird and inflated and uncomfortable so I can't tell if it's hunger or not. But like you said, it doesn't go away when I drink anything. My daughter recommended Gas-X but that doesn't seem to make any difference either.

We were banded the same day, one after the other. We did Atkins together a few years ago and each lost about 60 lb, but were slowly gaining it back, so we decided to do the band after seeing the great results my daughter had (Clynn). Speaking of Atkins, one thing I did find is that if I stay away from sugars and carbs, I don't get the bad hunger pangs when dieting. Unfortunately, it doesn't stop that "mental hunger" and lately all I have been fantasizing about is oatmeal cookies, popcorn, and mashed potatoes with gravy. However, I can stop myself from buying that stuff at the store (usually . . . sometimes) so it isn't here to eat. Good luck on your band journey; we are only a short time apart in banding dates, so it will be interesting to hear from you on the board.

Hey, you don't suck. You are just healed but not filled yet. If any of us could lose weight just by willpower we would all be thin. At this point fear is my greatest motivator; I have this aversion to pain and don't want to risk it. Just hope it lasts a few weeks until I can get my first fill.

Hang in there. It isn't much longer til that 6 week mark, and like I said before, you are doing really well. My husband is experiencing what you are: we are only on day 6 and I have trouble getting down the 4 ounces of liquid, while he feels like he could eat anything and everything. He went to the grocery store today and bought "legal" stuff like liquid yogurt, sugar-free popsicles, and cream soups for next week and spent over $100, while I am wondering why he bothered as I don't even feel like eating the clear broth I already have. Everyone is different. And by the way, he has lost more weight than I have. Life isn't fair, is it!