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kepola

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  1. Skinny Jenny and Dixie Darlin... Hey girlfriends....how are things going so far? Haven't heard from you in awhile so I thought I would drop you two a line to see how things are going. How is the liquid faze going? I bet you two can't wait to start to eat real food. I still have good restriction and slowly losing the weight and feeling really good. I had a few bouts with PBing but it just reminds me to chew slower and my husbands is always there to remind me to chew chew chew.....It is getting really nice now in Arizona so we take our walks late at night. And the BEST news is still no desires to smoke so I think the hard part has passed and I will never go back to it. How is the smoking going for you? Well me and the hubby are headed to Vegas for a few days but wanted to see how you two are doing. Keep us posted on your progress ok. Take care and continued success in your new journies. Your friend, Deb
  2. Hi Cyndi, Wow...I was all ready to tell you Good Luck on your surgery tomorrow...but at least you only had to wait a week before you went back...took me a month...LOL. How are you feeling? How is your pre-op diet going? At least you got an extra week to get ready for the surgery. I had my first two fills in TJ and will probably keep going down there to do my fills. I found that if we go in the middle of the week, it is not bad to just drive across the border and get my fill and then drive back to San Diego. The wait for both fills was only about 45 minutes at the border. Good Luck with your surgery next week and to all Arizonians that will take the same journey you are. Keep us posted on how it goes... Deb Hi Nicole, Just want to say Good Luck to you with your surgery in a few days. Keep us posted on how everything goes. I have the information on who the lady is. Her name is Wendy Hall and she is usually in her Snowflake office on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Her phone number is (928)536-5377. I am not sure how much she charges, but if you give her a call she will let you know when she is in the valley. I have never used her as I have done both of my fill in TJ with Dr. Romero. I feel more comfortable going to TJ to get my fills done. Take care and congrats on your decision to change your life. Hope this helps. Deb
  3. Skinny Jenny, SOOOOOOOOOOO nice to hear from you. We was getting a little worried cause we did not hear from you but I am happy that you and Dixie had a great experience at the OCC. It is so nice that you two can do this together and are there to support each other. Good to hear you made it home ok. Yes...it was very nice to see you both and hopefully we can meet up again in November. Well my second fill, which was a dooser...(did I spell that right lol) 4.2 cc's, really gave me alot of restriction. At first it was even hard to get water down. I found if I drank hot tea at night that it would make me feel so much better. But at least now I know what restriction is because I have already had a few episodes of PBing and it is not fun. I just have to make sure that I really chew chew chew before I swallow, because it lets me know when I forget to chew! So I am eating slow and have already lost 5 pounds since my second fill. And started to excercise again and starting to feel really good. How are you doing in with your liquids? Did you go back to work on Monday? Hope you are feeling good. Not sure if I should ask, but have you had any kind of craving for the bad habit that we both quit? Hang in there cause the weight will soon be coming off and you will feel so much better. My hubby says Hi to the both of you and said congrats on your new journey to a healthier life. You two take care and I will talk to you soon. Deb
  4. Hi Cindy, I too live in Arizona....in Cave Creek...which as you probably know is just north of Scottsdale. I had my surgery done on July 18, 2006 by the wonderful Dr. Ortiz. It is a great idea that you started the Arizona site so us bandsters can discuss and help each other out in with our new journey. Just a brief on me, I got my first fill on August 30th and not much happened. I fluctuated between 278 and 275 with no restriction. I went for my second fill last week on September 21st. I weighed myself this morning and I am now at 270 pounds and I did not know what restriction was after the first fill but believe you me...I DO know what restriction is now .. I have had a few episodes where I had to stop eating, but I am finally losing weight again so I am very happy. Oh by the way my second fill was big...4.2 cc's. I walk a mile so far everyday (just started a few days ago ) But the weather is so nice at night now, me and my husband love the walk around the neighborhood. Anyways, just want to say good luck in your new journey and keep us posted on how everyone is doing...especially us in Arizona. Talk to you soon, Deb
  5. Skinny Jenny and Dixie Darlin, How are you two doing? How did the surgery go? You are probably on your way home, but just wanted to say it was so nice to finally get to talk to you and meet you both. I wish we had more time to talk but I was so happy we got to meet in the lobby. Please keep us posted on how you are both doing. My second fill was a big one....4.2 cc's and I am very restricted right now. But hopefully the weight will start to come off again. Thank goodness I have not gained any since my surgery, but hopefully this second fill will help me to start shedding some of my weight. I hope you two had a great flight home and hope to talk to you soon. Deb
  6. SLL, Hi, I am from Cave Creek Arizona and just got back from Tijuana a few days ago from my second fill. I have had both of my fills done in Tijuana. Me and my husband fly into San Diego and stay the night there and just drive to Tijuana the next day to do my fill. Then after the fill is done, we head straight to the airport and head back to Arizona. The last two trips have been great and spent less than an hour to get across the border. My second fill was 4.2 cc's and believe you me....I feel restricted. What part of Arizona are you from? Keep us posted on how you are doing. Take care and talk to you soon! Deb
  7. Jenny, If your flight comes in at 10am, they usually pick you up and take you straight to the clinic which is usually around a 20 minute drive so hopefully you will be there when I am getting my fill. I would love to meet the both of you. I leave the same day to go back to Arizona but not till around 3:00pm that afternoon. So we should have time to talk. As far as the pre-op diet....whoa...it was very hard for me too. I tried a few different protein shakes and finally settled on Slim Fast Optima Rich Chocolate Royale. I usually poured it over ice and was able to drink it with no problem. At least the taste was not bad. Needless to say I was not a very happy person having to only drink shakes and eat greens AND could not smoke....ugh. I am not sure how my husband put up with me during the pre-op diet. One night I wanted a cup of coffee and he told me that I could not have one, so I yelled at him and said "Well what do you want me to do"...LOL. Then I asked him if he was going to light up a cigarette (at the time he was still smoking but since quit for me :-) , and he said yes...I could not smell it so I yelled at him "Did you light it" and he said yes, and I said " Well I can't smell it" so he blew it in my face and asked if that was better and I said "YES"....It was a trying time for me...did alot of crying and ranting and raging, but he was and still is a GREAT support for me. I just told myself that if I was going to spend this kind of money for this surgery that I was going to do everything I can to make it work. It is hard, but the good thing is you have dixie who will be going through it with you so you too can be there to support each other. Not sure if you are married, but what I did was since I could not smoke or eat during my pre-op diet, I kept my husband busy in the bedroom ..poor guy LOL. But seriously, hang in there and just keep telling yourself that you will LOOK and FEEL soooooooo much better after all is said and done. You can do this and be PROUD of yourself for taking the first step. Remember we all will be here for you and rooting you on so keep taking one step at a time and you will become healthier and happier real real soon. See you in 8 days!! Deb
  8. Hi Dixie, So glad to hear you will be getting banded on Sept. 22nd. I will be down there for my 2nd fill on the 21st of Sept. so maybe I will see you when you go for your pre-op. You should be okay to go back to work by Monday morning. You will probably be a little tired when you get home but just rest up and don't do anything too strenous at work. The first few nights after I got home, I had to sleep with my pillows proped way up so it was as if I was sitting up in my bed. That was the only way I could be comfortable. I kept my surgery to just my best friend and a few of my family members. They have all been very supportive in my journey. The first week after the surgery I was on liquids and did not have too much of a problem with any of the post-op. Just had to sleep sitting up for the first few days but other than that all was good. I had my first fill on Aug. 30th and since I carry most of the weight in my stomach I had the VG Band. I don't have much restriction right now and have scheduled another fill for Sept 21st. But I am watching what I eat and still eat only half of what I used to. It takes a lot of discipline but I am determined to do whatever I have to do to make this work. Good Luck with your upcoming surgery and keep us posted on how it goes. Talk to you soon. Deb
  9. Becki, I had my surgery on July 18th and got my first fill on August 20th. I have the VG Band so my first fill was 3.5 cc's. I went on liquids for 3 days after that and then got to eat real food again. I did not feel any restriction but I have tried not to eat too much. Whenever I even start to feel full I push my plate away, even though I know I can eat more. Looking forward to my next fill which will be in 11 days. Continued success with your journey. Take care. Deb
  10. Cyndi, Hi. I am from Cave Creek Arizona and was banded by Dr. Ortiz on July 18th. Have you decided on a date yet? Did not do any shopping in TJ but I am sure a few of the bandsters on here have and can tell you the places to go. You can email me anytime if you want and I would be very happy to share my experience with you and help you with your new journey. I have not regret my decision to have the surgery and would do it again in a heartbeat. Good luck to you and keep coming back to the forum because there is alot of good people and good information on this forum. Talk to you soon. Deb
  11. Jenny, So nice to hear you are doing good. Glad to hear that you have stopped smoking. Are you working on any breathing excercises to build up your lungs? I am proud of you and you are well on your way to a healthier life. By the way I have not had any desire to smoke since my surgery. The hardest part was before the surgery but now it is so easy not to smoke. Anyways, my first fill was on August 30th and got 3.5 cc's in my VG band. I still don't feel much restriction, but they tell my it may take 2 or 3 fills before you find the sweet spot. I am kind of at a plateau right now, but the good news is I have lost 41 pounds and it has stayed off. I am not gaining but not really losing so I have my second fill scheduled for September 21st at 10:00am. I just started excercising this past week and feel so good and not experiencing any back pains like I was before my surgery. So I am looking forward to my next fill. Before you know it, your surgery will be here, so hang in there and good luck. Maybe we will cross paths since your surgery is around the same time. Good luck and keep us posted on your progress. Deb
  12. Trizzy, I am have my second fill scheduled for 10:00am on the 21st of Sept. I will probably do the same thing I did when I went down for my first fill. Me and my hubby rented a car and just drove to the OCC. It seemed so much easier to do it that way. I wish you continued success in your weight loss journey. Deb
  13. Wendy, I believe the 50 pounds is post-op. You have to need to loose at least 50 pounds to qualify. If you decided to look further into the lap band, you might want to purchased Dr. Ortiz's Book on Lap Band for Life. It has all the information you would ever want to know about the lap band procedure and what you might expect. It has been very helpful for me and if I had to do it all over again I would not hesitate. I was self pay so I paid out of pocket and so glad I have done it. Good luck and be sure to ask any questions you may have here at this forum because the people her are great and very helpful. Take care, Deb
  14. Hi all, Tomorrow I leave for San Diego with my first fill scheduled for Wednesday. I think I know how to get to Tijuana from the airport. What we are doing is renting a car for the day and spending the day in San Diego tomorrow and then return the car early Wednesday and head down to Tijuana for my fill. My fill is scheduled at 10:00am. Does anyone know how long it might take to get to the OC from the airport? Also my flight leaves at 5:30pm that day so do you think I will have enough time to get back? Do you go back the same way you come? It is kinda late for this post since I am leaving tomorrow but I would appreciate any feedback if anyone has any and has already gone down to have their fills done. I am just trying to figure out how to get back to the airport and if 6 hours is enough time to get back. Thanks all and continue success in your weight loss adventures. Deb
  15. Hi Michelle, What part of Phoenix are you from? I live in Cave Creek. When is your surgery scheduled? I am going for my first fill next week on the 30th. Good luck with your pre-op diet and surgery. Keep us posted on how you are doing. Deb
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