Lydia Levy Perez

I'm an 8. 5 4 and 138 lbs. from 200 biggg ones.. ok not as big as some, but when youve lost the same 60+ pounds 10 times in your life.. thats 600 pounds.. so...is 8 possible.. its probable.. but heres the kick.. you want it.. it doesnt come for free. theres a price.. its called a food diary a committment to healthy eating an exercise program believing in yourself making the decision that you know its in your hands.. no one elses going for it.

while your calling your doctor.. sleep on elevated pillows.. 90 degrees,. see what happens,

a nice warm cup of tea.. and nothing gets stuck.. i wouldn't miss breakfast for nothin.. sides.. i go to zumba just after and need something to burn.. now what you eat for breakfast is another story.. trying to stuff a salami and a pork chop down might present an issue.. but i eat fruit only in the morning. usually fat burners like papaya or pineapple... no issue here folks.. and would never recommend not eating.. just find a way that suits your anatomy.. like your rings.. when your hands are swollen, sometimes your esophogas seems to be edematous too.. no telling when though.. since theres just no way of telling from out here,, just have to pull on the "ring" a little to see hows the fit today.. if its tight.. hey.. get out the soap... thats when i eat the creamed soups and water filled salads.. when its loose.. its time for the chicken and cole slaw.. work with it.. find its quirks.. see if time of day means anything.. but more importantly... check out the tight factor before you make your food choice.. so you have a pretty good idea what is NOT going to stick today.

insurance is a raquet... for 5K you can make your decision on monday and be banded in 2 weeks. I don't understand the games they play with the fragile minds of overeaters.. Its not bad enough you are overweight and sometimes unhealthy.. they have to put you through hoops to give you a surgery that is clearly going to relief most of your problems.. i don't know why they insist on playing armchair psychiatry... makes no sense at all to me.

lap band surgery in mexico is about 5K... save your pennies.. and pay cash

btw... what you're describing doesn't sound like classic stuck.. not sure what you're having but stuck doesn't usually happen 2 hours post meal.. it s happened to me and its usually right away. I don't advocate barfing..some people use papaya.. meat tenderizers.. and other things to try to "rotor-roter" themselves... ask your doc.. after all, whatever mess you make of your lapband.. he's going to have to fix... go with what the pros tell you.

How does it feel to get stuck? It's not something you want to happen, but it will occasionally when you eat to fast, too large bites, or something that is just not going to go down no matter what you do to it. It starts out like a heaviness in your upper chest..it starts to feel like a tightening and then the nausea starts. You start to think, uh oh.. I've done it now... and it's all you can do to swallow at all. Saliva starts to build up in your mouth and you are amazingly uncomfortable. You begin to think of "where is the nearest toilet" because any second you feel like you are going to barf... and you may get an overwhelming desire to put your fingers down your throat to stop the pain. and if you are lucky enough that whatever you ate does come back.. its going to be covered in this awful white frothy stuff.. some sort of mucus that your esophogas produces to help slide this object through.. its a vain attempt.. it won't go down..it ultimately is going to come back up one way or another...and if you do this enough.. you can screw up your band, screw up your surgery and screw up all the goals you have for yourself... and surprisingly, lots of people seem to do this to themselves regularly so I hear. Overeaters who just don't listen to the rules or just plain don't get it. I've been there.. done that so they say. Stuck is like taking a short trip to pergatory and back.. its where you learn to repent your bad ways.. and hopefully, don't go back too too often. when you get "stuck" trust me you'll know it.. It ain't pretty.

Dr Ortiz cost is about 5K... includes everything but fills.. fills are $100 each and unfills are $30... but all you'll need is 2 or 3... not 10 or 12.... he's that good. Lydia

I am a Mexico "graduate" I would do it again in a heartbeat I didn't have insurance, I didn't weigh enough, etc etc.. I'd yo yoed up and down all my life. I was so depressed I was sure I was going to be the fat girl forever. I tipped the scale at 197... .for the 10th time.. I'd just lost and gained the same 50 pounds....Id just done the HCG diet..I was so sure I'd lost if for good this time and gave away all my fat clothes.. a year later.. I Jlooking at 200 again.. What was wrong with me???? Go back with me to January, 2012.... miserable, depressed, out of control eating. No motivation to diet, just regained 50 pounds...knee joints aching, can't fit into anything. Dumped by the boyfriend...Beginning to think, thats it life's over for me...I should throw in the towel and accept it all... And then I glanced at the pictures of my two wonderful sons....and thought of how their lives were just beginning.. both in school... one studying law, the other premed...was I really going to let them down.. and just dissolve into this depressed mess of a person... or was I going to fight???? I was going to fight.... and I did fight... I decided to fight with a vengence.... and Mexico played a huge part in this determination. I got off my butt... I searched the internet.. I didn't have insurance to cover lap band surgery. I didn't even have the money.. I did however have a line of credit on my house.. and I did make the decision to use it!!! January 24th I made the phone call. Feb 9th I was banded I didn't have to go through 6 months of psychological counselling and reams of insurance issues. I took my $5,000, wrote a deposit check and a bank note for the balance. I got into my car... I drove to a border crossing A van picked me up (if I'd flown they would have gotten me at the airport) I was driven to a surgery center.. I was preoped, I was banded and recovered the same day I stayed in a wonderful hotel overnight with some great people I met who also had surgery that day I drank soup, I ate popsicles, I went home the next day I drove myself 90 miles to my home...I recovered in a week and went back to work So began my journey... It is 6 months later.. I have had 2 fills and a slight unfill....I have lost 59 pounds. i went from 197 to 138, from a size 18 to a size 8 I would do this again in a heart beat... I believed going to Mexico to the surgeon I went to, saved my life...it gave me back my life.. and if it had not been for this affordable alternative, I am sure I would be completely miserable right now... instead I am healthy, happy, and going to zumba 6 times a weeks. What can I say? Viva La Mexico!

it doesn't matter how big you started.. the perceptual distortion is universal... i didn't think it was that awful in me until my slender college age son came home this time and begrudgingly noted "mom you look good"..this from a boy who perceives "fat girls" as invisible aliens who will wander the planet boyfriendless forever because they are undisciplined gargoyles" For that boy to notice I had shrunk to normal size was monumental.. for him to say it out loud was unthinkable. I went from 200 (not huge by some standards) to 138 pounds in just 6 months. A size 18 to an 8 . Im 5 feet 4 and would still like to lose 10 more pounds..body perception is so strange.. my coworkers say I should stop losing weight.. when i strike a pose, my hand on my hip and I say: "So how much do you think I weigh?" they'll say: "128" so I say "good, because I weigh 138, so if I lose 10 pounds I'll be just right"....it never stops.. a person who has been heavy can not see what the world sees... our software programs that define our size are filled with distortion. We have to trust and rely on the perceptions of others...others we can trust. Am I ready to stop? Not yet.. I need a margin of safety... so I can bounce up and down 3-5 pounds and not feel Im breaking the bank....

you can have your surgery for lots of money in the US or you can go to tiajuana like i did and get the best quality surgeons and surgical procedure. I would fly around the world for these guys. THey pick you up at the airport, place your band and deliver you back to the airport after an overnight stay, all for 5K. add in the air... and a couple trips for fills and you haven't even spent your tax refund and you are on your way to a new life... i weighed 200 pounds.. not huge compared to some.. my goal weight is 137.. i currently weigh 139....id do this again in a heart beat.....i wear a size 6-8....and all this since feb 8th, 2012.. my life is mine again... i won't even tell you their names.... unless you want me to..

it seems every doctor and every clinic has its own idea of post fill diets.. mine said 24 hours of liquids and go back to regular eating.. im not sure there is any scientific research in this area to really say what is right and what is wrong. some docs are very conservative and push the fluids and mushies for days.. others think its a waste of time. all i know is that i use liquids after i get stuck.. to just calm things down for a day.. and my band seems to be well placed and is working.. im no doctor.. but im not sure all the docs know the answers either.. this lap band thing seems to be very individualized to the specific patient and there is no 'recipe; for any one person or any one band.

thats 47 :0

I'd go see a new doctor who has fluroscopy and barium and get my fills from someone who knows what they are doing.. That's nuts that you are a year into this without decent restriction. I go to mexico for my fills but i live in california. I had 2 fills and I"m 8cc in a 10 cc band. I'm tight but not excessively.. warm tea opens the band most times if i really feel too tight. but the bottom line is i was banded feb 9 this year.. have lost 40 pounds.. and don't see any reason not to get to goal by september 5th ( my birthday)..

please refer to my post the gut-wrenching truth.. get used to it... while you have made the big step to get the lap band.. this early recovery period is just that, don't expect much from the band.. its just a healing period and not a period when your band is functional as a weight lose tool... .

good for you. .. the band must have some restriction for you to lose all that weight.. (I hope). I lost 37 pounds before my second fill. but the difference now is night and day. before i had a restrictive fill it was all about me and dieting. Now its about, me, good food choices and by buddy and friend, my lap band. without her I think I would be self sabotaging and stating to gain back the pounds I just struggled to take off. Restriction is the name of the game in lapbandland.. without it , its just another diet.

i sometimes think i am overfilled. but the alternative is not so good. i'd rather feel this way then to have to rely on my self control to manage my intake.. a little tightness isn't that awful.. some food goes down better than others. later in the day is better than early morning. standing up helps food get unstuck...walking around a little.. i have 20 more pounds to lose.. I'm ok with being a little uncomfortable now and then... i figure its the price to pay to lose the weight.. so I'm just going to deal with it.

i still have soreness and Im in my third month. I dont' have much abdominal fat.. and its pretty obvious something is under the skin. ,,life.its not unbareable.

I g,ot a first fill on march 22 (banded feb 9, 2012). For the first two weeks it felt like nothing....then miraculously after two weeks.. i started to eat chicken.. not chewing it to death... and wow.. it got all stuck in my throat.. and i thought aha!! this is restriction. But here's the kicker.... it varies from time to time in the day and what I eat. for example.. something warm opens it up... something hard and formed like chicken not chewed enough.. makes it growl at me.., if I eat mushies.. they slide right on through.. if i drink liquids with food like they say not to do.. that screws it up... soooooooo.....if you want your band to work for you... wake up... start with something mellow.. like tea... don't eat breakfast.. wait till midmorning.. try a protien bar. NO LIquid... and just wait to feel how that goes down.. No liquids at lunch... and some chicken thats a little dry.. give that a shot.. you should be feeling it by then.. midafternoon have a liquid-fest just so you don't get dehydrated.. throw in a protien shake... wait a couple of hours until dinner.. and go for the dry foods again.. if you wait between liquids.. you should feel the tightness again... this is a learning game.. you have to "Feel" that ring..... and use your head to feel the fullness... its a reeducaton process, training your brain to understand the new you. good luck its a day by day leaning adventure

I am 4 weeks out of surgery... mild discomfort at the incision where the port is embedded. my fill is scheduled for march 22 . I weighed 197 pounds ( I am 5'3") when this process all began. Lost 9 pounds prior to surgery, and now I weighed in at 174 this morning. my goal is 137 and if this keeps up.. i'll reach my goal before the lap band even has a chance to work....(wishful thinking.. a girl can dream)...so far, without any fill.. the band is basically there.. but has no effect at all on me, my appetite, my food choices or indeed my life. I keep thinking of all the money I spent to install this little contraption...I sure hope fills are meaningful events in a lapbanders life.. cause every day i feel better, the hungrier I get... when i show up for my fill appointment I may have to not only get some descent ccs put in.. but i might have to get my mouth wired shut too.... it continues to be a struggle....

OK... so whats the scoop here.. the equation is pretty simple... how tall are you.. how much do you weigh.. what do you want to weigh.. and how long do you think you need to get there.. mix a healthy, calorically tuned diet with ample amounts of exerice.. and no excuses...and begin to melt.. from the inside out... attitude... good food choices.... a positive mental attitude... a no quitter approach to weight loss.... patience through the plateaus.... no friends/family sabatoge....get an app for your smartphone or go on your computer to track your eating and your nutritional values.. do you really know how much cholesterol is ok to eat in one day? how about sodium? fats? carbs? protiens? A good eating and exercise tracker is an essential must.. a food diary.. an exercise diary.. a weight loss chart.. all tools to retain motivation.. a weigh in ONLY ONCE a week.... (ok twice if you must!!)... its a program.. a mental attitude. .. and a mission in life to turn yourself into a newer and healthier person.

I laughed about the laxative. I think almost every bander can say they've had a touch of the constipation along the way.. I said to my friend at the gym the other day... "It' truly is a sad situation when having a formed bowel movement becomes the highlight of one's day. " But I certainly relate. I think sometimes our bodies just hold on to what we eat... until we win the power stuggle.. Be patient, do what you're doing... and the scale will finally show your effort. Banded February 9, 2012... Down 25 pounds just plain old dieting with no restriction in the band... can hardly wait to know what a fill feels like.. so far I can eat just about anything I want to and it all goes down just like any other day pre-band. I have a scar on my tummy and a port I can feel.. .but I haven't had a lick of help yet from this procedure.... but there is no other choice than to wait this out.. so I am patient.. patient to get some help from this band, to see the scale move downwards.. and yes to have a formed BM.