Chris S. - L.I.

Mashed .....Garlic mashed to be exact! Gold or silver?

I do Stained Glass and I hope I can figure out how to post these pics. LOL

I suggest getting a good scale and weighing yourself the day you go for surgery. From what I see, different scales can have different numbers. I like to keep my own record by weighing myself everyday at the same time. You can't weigh yourself one day in the morning and then another day at night. I weight myself every morining in my jammies right after I "relieve" myself and before I have Breakfast. Chris S.

She is the one they used as a spokesperson on Spotlight Health. They used her for the Lap Band and Carnie Wilson for the GBP. They also had her story awhile ago on the Discovery Health Channel. I don't think there have been any updates lately on her progress so I do believe that is a sign she might have gained weight back.

My port scar is right to the left of my belly button. WHen I get filled the needle goes in about an inch to the left and and inch below my belly button. I think it's a great place for the port. I can't imagine having it above my belly button anywhere.

Sheri, I am from the East End (Shoreham) and I go to a stained glass shop in Eastport. I learned stained glass from the owner and have been doing SG for about 6 years now. I'm out there ever Thursday night. I had my surgery done at Syosset Hospital with Dr. Geiss and go to his support group every month. There is also a Yahoo group I belong to called LIBanders. We meet once a month at a diner in Huntington but I haven't been going there lately. Chris

Anybody know how to set a pedometer for the stride, etc? I found mine, it was dead, got a new battery but now I have to set the stride and I lost the instructions. Thanks Chris

I believe what they are talking about is the fat pad that is around your stomach. Some doctor's are removing the fat pad before they place the band in order to help prevent slippage. Some people think that people have slippage because after they lose a significant amount of weight the fat pad lessens and causes the band to slip. Chris

Babs, I think you answered your own question. My daughter (who is my clone when I was her age) has been trying to lose weight and is on Meridia. She has been doing great and lost about 6 pounds. We had Chinese last night and she was so dissapointed that she gained a pound. I'm actually surprised it was only 1 pound with the Chinese food. Don't get too discouraged because I think you figured out the problem on your own. Good Luck....you WILL do it!!!! Chris

This is such a great idea. I will put my pedometer on today to see how far I get just walking around the house (It's raining here on Long Island) but tomorrow I will get myself ingear and out the door. Thanks for this challenge!!!!

I had my doc prescribe the 100's so that I could split them in half when I take them. If they are SR or XL you can't split them. Chris S.

Lisa, What time will it be on the East Coast when you will be on? I'm very bad with figuring this stuff out (maybe cause I'm Polish LOL). (I hope I don't get threatening PM's cause I said that.) I'll try to check in at different time but I will probably be available around 9:30 EST. Chris S.

HI. What instructions did your doctor give you for after your surgery? You should be on liquids now. How about getting some egg drop soup? That always made me feel better. The pizza was a mistake. You must not vomit when you are in the healing stage. It will get better. You will be able to eat whatever you want after the 6 week healing stage but you will just eat less.

There are absolutely no words that I can say to give comfort. May she rest in peace knowing how much she effected all of us here at LBT. She will surely be missed.

Sharon, I'm not sure how far you want to travel but my surgeon is in Syosset, NY which is on Long Island. He is wonderful and the whole staff supports you any way you need it. My best friend traveled from Wilmington DE to have the surgery done with him. He has done over 700 bands. Chris 9/2/03 Dr. Alan Geiss

I've lost 61 pounds since my surgery. We're having a tough time getting my sweet spot. I'm getting another fill next Monday and I and already at 3.75 in my 4 cc band. My doc was Dr. Alan Geiss in North Shore Syosset Hosp.

Amy, I'm next town over in Shoreham. Where are you getting your surgery done? I had Dr. Alan Geiss at North Shore Syosset Hospital and I highly recommend him. He doesn't make you wait up to 6 months months like I hear some docs do and he has a magnificent staff with a few different support groups. Chris

I am out on the East End. Still Icy out here!!!

Me too! My message was too short with just the above two words so I guess I have to say "I pledge".

HI, I mostly spend time reading all the posts on all the different lap band groups I belong to and when I have some extra time (LOL) I do stained glass and also glass fusing. I am now trying to make some jewelry out of my fused glass pieces. Oh yeah, I'm married and have a 23 yr old daughter who I have to listen to when she complains about her job (LOL). I don't work since both my husband and myself are retired. Chris S.

they concluded that when i was getting filled before, while they were accessing the port they were not getting the fill Fluid into the part of the port that would send it to the band. when they would withdraw fluid it wasn't coming from the band but a pocket in the port. after i was filled to 4.1 cc's still with not much restriction (and AFTER my dr did the FIRST swallow study and told me nothing was wrong) i ended up contacting inamed. the contacted my dr and the VERY next day they spent 2 hours poking and prodding me BUT i left with restriction!!!! michelle Michelle. Do you know if Inamed said this could happen? Is there a space in the port that could "hold" the saline? Did you get in touch with Inamed or did your doc? P.S. My doc has done over 700 bands at this point and I'm still a mystery to him.

Can someone who has a large amount of fill please tell me what it is? I am at about 3.60 and getting nervous since I really don't have a lot of restriction. Yes I did have an Endoscopy and I do not have erosion and yes the doc takes out my fill and then replaces it with new so I know I'm not losing any. Thanks.

Alex, That's exactly what I'm saying. They could not see a difference in restriction when they filled me with the saline. I'm curious, how much saline are they putting in to completely fill you up before they back off? My doc said he is getting in touch with a doc who was one of the pioneers in this surgery (I think Prof. O'Brien in Australia) and explaining my situation to him to see what he thinks. Thanks for your reply.

In case you don't remember my past posts I had been filled to 3.60 and was worried that my fill was so high. Well, I told my doc that I could still eat alot and didn't feel much restriction like I thought I should and asked him to do a barium swallow. Well, that was last Friday and everything looked fine so they decided to set me up for a fill under fluoro this past Monday. So get this, they give me more of a fill and there was no difference in restriction. They take me down to 2.0 just to see if there is a difference and there is none. So now they are not sure what the problem is. One reason might be since I've lost 60 lbs. that the fat pad has gotten smaller and maybe there is a very small slip (just a small portion of stomach) and that maybe the reason for no restriction. So they fill me to 3.70 and tell me to try to watch my foods better and exercise and come back in 3 weeks to figure out what we will do. One suggestion is going in again and repositioning the band. Not thrilled with that one! But then again, why have this band in me if it is not woking properly. I want it to work right. Any thoughts?

I had this same problem about a week after surgery. It felt like I had a burp stuck. I called the doc and he said it was normal. I used Gas X tablets and they seemed to help. Congrats on having the surgery!!!!! Hope you feel better!