Doddie63

To me knicking the liver is very serious and after 5 days, you should be going to the emergency at your hospital. Scarey.

Now everything is back to normal??????

I can't stand it. I thought something was wrong with my PC. Post to the owners on their link, they like to hear our polite comments.

Guess the place to start is the Royal College of Surgeons and Pysicians. I understand there is a difference in the specialization of plastic surgeon and cosmetic surgeon. I understand that a comsmetic surgeon anyone that is a surgeon can open up shop while the plastic surgeon has to have special training. That added with the rec's of others may be a good start. I am very interested how anyone else starts researching and I am approaching my need to loose 50 lbs of loose skin. Yuk! but not for another year or so.

Well these are old wounds and I don't wish to revisit them suffice to say, I was led to believe that support was part of the $16000 along with life time fills/deffils and any emergency to the band. In those days we didn't get anything in writing. If I had to do this all over again, I would in a flash, but I would ask for a written cntract. Slimband has a long way to go to catch up with SWL when it comes to suport. Now if you wish to continue this discussion I suggest we go private, because we seem to be the only two mainly on this link.

Heather I was part of that telephone conference call. There were 7 of us and more indicating they wanted to take part. Unfortunately the young girl who set up the calls was very disorganized and failed us miserably. Shortly after she went to Alberta and intended to continue but that never materialized either. What she had difficulty with was the time zones and notifying all of us. There was a great deal of difficulty as well with the connections. The last attempt she made, nobody came on line and she cancelled the sessions. That last session was around Christmas time and I was never notified of the time nor if I recall were two or three others. The rest were away with family. Also, she wasn't very knowledgeable about counselling. She was a young bandster like the rest of us. She had no education as a thearapist. The dismal failure was not the fault of the clients.

I did not intend nor imply a one on one session. What I was suggesting that if this doctor can hold support sessions once a month for a group at the clinic so should he hold support sessions for long distance patients by conference calls. It seems that long distance patients' money is taken for support services but they are rarely provided. And I don't need the comments that I should have realized that at the time because frankly I was looking for the best doctor and the literature they put out satisfied me as to support. However in real life it never materialized.

One of my concerns is the local residents have access to a psychologist (so the event calendar indicates) but we don't. As tango indicated if she had access to some mentoring on how to deal with frustrations and stress without the use of food, the situations may have been handled better. Many people spend their life savings or go into debt to have the band so can't afford private sessions. When Slimband have such an individual available to some clients the effort should be made to make it available to all. And yes, I have expressed this opinion to them.

What gripes me the most is I put it on a whole lot faster. LOL. Still I wouldn't trade my band for anything. It tells me when I am full which I never ever had that feeling. Even after eating a whole turkey dinner, five minutes later I was picking. Just staying the same makes me excited. Seriously you all are doing great as long as the scale points downward we should be happy with our accomplishment

Hi: the costs vary with the surgeon and where you get the procedure done. Dr. R. Woodhead in Ladner/Delta charges a consult fee and around $14,000. You could call and ask his assistant the fees. Dr. Leung is another local doctor. You could call their office as well. You could go to Toronto or Winnipeg. Then there is the possiblity of going to Mexico or the States. I went to TLBC in Toronto 2 years ago and they offer excellent aftercare to patients in their Toronto area, the long distant patients are not so lucky. There is the SWL clinic in Toronto and they have a network of support throughout Canada, you could contact them as well. Hope this starts you on the right path of choice. Whatever you decide to do, make sure you do your homework and emphasize aftercare. The procedure is a major change in your life. The surgey by itself is not a big deal but still major surgery. It is the care you receive afterwards for fills/defills/and other support.

Sorry to hear about the need to repositon your band. Will they remove the old band and put in a new one? Thanks for the reminder, forgetting to chew food fine and swallowing chunks is dangerous. Try as I might, I haven't been able to overcome my habit entirely. Scarey.

hold that thought. It is great to have a site that we are not blacklisted because we have a moment of anger, frustation and post something that is inappropriate. I don't mind being corrected provided I am told why but I still hold dear the concept of "freedom of speech".

If you like, I go to a Dr. R. Woodhead, general surgeon that does bands. He gives aftercare but does not have a clinic. However, you won't require that as there are support groups in Albert. Another doctor here is a Dr. Leung, excellent surgeon but does not have a bedside manner. He can be very verbally abusive if you don't follow his instructions. Hope this helps.

congratulations on your loss. You seem to be chugging right along (and I don't mean booze). LOL.

mamma g: Welcome to BC. I was born & raised in Yorkton. I suggest you contact your clinic to see if they have a fill doctor here, I know TLBC does. There is a Dr. Arsneau. He works out of St.Pauls Hospital and charges $150.00 (last I heard). He is an obseity specialist but not a band surgeon. You must contact him by email at richarda@interchange.ubc.ca. I understand he is very good. There are two nurses in Seattle that also do fills for a fee. Also, if you post on the BC WL site you may find an answer. This is a website that is mainly Vancouver Island, but anyone can use the site if you join. Hope this helps

I don't think you are in trouble. You spoke what you knew without naming someone, which I understand is within the rules of this site. No matter which side of the coin we are on, there has been some nasty dustups in the past and hopefully the firm will pull up its socks and get on with the business for what they are good at. I and other clients need them to be focused on our needs.

sounds interesting, how large and heavy is it?

nrpnrp: Productive burp - another nice name for vomiting. Some like to make a distinction in that food disgorged from the pouch is not the same as the main stomach as there is no acid/bile in it. I am not a medical person, but I call it as I see it. Vomiting under any name is not good for us. By calling it PBing it seems that the action is not as serious but in fact it is. Try not to. I know from whence I speak, because I vomit at least once or twice a months simply because I don't chew. I am walking on thin ice and desparately trying to change, getting better but haven't conquered it yet.

what do you mean "the pouch was stretched and he would have lost the band". How do you lose the band or is that what is called band slippage?

I put this down a the body reacting to weight loss. When it has to use the fat for energy, it replaces with water. If we already have a water retention problem, it goes without saying the body will hold the water in the extra spaces fat has vacated. Just my theory and I am sticking to it. LOL

I understand from other patients is that he expects you to diet for a certain period of time and show a weight loss and that you are committed to changing your lifestyle. Even with the band that that is pretty hard to do. For instance, after two years, I am still forgetting to chew my food thoroughly annd some of my food choices are not the best. I am sure you will convince the good Doctor of your sincerety.

Dr. W. is accepting patients but will only do fills for patients that are his. At one time,he used to but he stoped about a year ago. He does not have a clinic and he does not have fluoro. Although, I can't see why you require a fluro for a fill. The procedure is usually only done if there are suspected complications. For support, we do have a support group that meets once a month at the Lions Gate Hospital and anyone that is researching the band and/or has the band is welcome. There is no membership fee, just a few of us get together to discuss the pros and cons of our journey. We also are available to answer questions for anyone researching the band.

Update. We had a lively meeting, but only five of us attended with one new member. Sure hope after the spring break, we will see ourselves back up to 18 plus. To me, having individuals with the same issues talking really helps me. Canadagirl hope you can make the next one. We missed you.

no, it is not worth it. SB has a good site going.