La_madam

Way to go..you both look fantastic!

Why did Margaret edit her post today and delete the Larry Letter?

At this stage with your band Natalie you should be able to eat most anything except maybe breads and pastas and rice...if you can not eat your hard proteins ( chicken, fish, Tuna etc..) You may be filled too tight. It doesnt really matter if you are losing weight by Pbing becasue the problems that could arise from it could mean you possibly having slippage and having all of your filled removed then you "may" start to gain the weight back. Slippage happens from Pbing too often..When slippage occurs one of the ways to fix it is to unfill your band for a significant ammount of time to heal and in some cases replacing your band. I know you do not want that to happen..Small bites, eat slowly and chew chew chew, if you do all of those eating should not be a problem for you whatever it is you choose to eat. I'm glad to hear your food stayed down today because like I mentioned in my earlier post Pbing often can due major damage to your esophagus. Hope you do as well tomorrow and NO pb's Iam at 2cc's and I eat almost anything except the pastas bread and rice are hard for me. I just eat real slow and tiny bites and chew the hell out of each bite

Oh I can guarentee you if Larry Folton is good friends with Lopez he is going to tell him of this firsestorm..and Im sure in the days to come there will be some new member or Margaret coming to Lopez's defense..the word will get out..Look out for the rat!

Here is another post from Mexicanbandsters from a woman dated the same day Oct 31st 2004 From: "annasong43" <annasong43@y...> Date: Sun Oct 31, 2004 2:53 pm Subject: Re: Dr. Lopez Dr Lopez has a lot of port infections. 4 people in our support group went to him and all got terrible infections that needed the port removed and replaced later, after months of antibiotics. None of them has done well after that bad start. They all said he is very nice but does not speak english. something is wrong down there. So you see the women here on this board are not the only people having problems with Lopez..It is very hard to believe Lopez's % is so low. Like Lisa said though there is good & bad out there about every doctor it just seems of late that it is all about Lopez. Wonder what Dr. will be next?

I found this post from Mexican bandsters very interesting and it was just posted on Oct 31 2004 From: "a24klady_49" <lyndsay55@y...> Date: Sun Oct 31, 2004 7:26 pm Subject: Re: Port infections - lopez When I was researching getting banded, my doctor talked directly with the Inamed doctor's representative and was told that Dr Lopez has a much higher rate of infections than other Mexican band doctors, and that they knew of other infections he had not reported, as required. Debbie, it sometimes takes much longer than only a few weeks for infections to develop as they brew and fester inside. Lyn ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Maybe Larry is good friend with Lopez but I do not care who you ask from Inamed..it is my opinion that if these doctors are proctoring for Inamed, NO one from Inamed is going to tel you anything bad about any of them, its their reputation at stake too. I was thinking of starting a thread and doing a survey..Asking all of you to post your surgery date, your surgeon and ANY problems you have had with your band and then sending it to Inamed What do you think? This way if people are not reporting it atleast we have some idea of lettingthem know what is going on and with what patients and what doctors.

We have a radio station here that is also playing Christmas music all day everyday until Christmas and it is all I have been listening too..I got my house decorated and the yard decorated and all of my presents are bought and wrapped just waiting to go under the tree which we will get this weekend! I know I'm anal thats what OCD ( obesessive compulsive disorder) does to a person

Its never too late Natalie Just post your weight tomorrow and then Wednesday can be your official weigh in day ! Good Luck. This challlenge is great and has really helped me!

LOL... Thats a hard habit to break..I did it once I was onto solids after being banded and I paid the price since the bite was way too big and I did not chew it properely. Painful.. Just try your best to follow the post op instructions, to me they are much more important then the pre op...no sneaking bites then, until you are onto solids. You do not want to mess up the healing phase and you want your band to set into place.

Vicky..I agree with Lisa I highly doubt they will tell you he is a goon. When I was researching the band I did email Inamed and got a good report on Dr. Ortiz but I'm sure I would of gotten it on any one of their proctoring Doctors. They are not going to make themselves look bad. As far as this woman on the other board..Has she had the tests done to see if there is erosion or a leak in her tubing? Those are both reasons for no restriction if she has had numerous fills. Does she have the Inamed band? There are other bands that are larger and hold more saline then the Inamed band and some have said it takes longer to get the proper restriction.

Depend is you are having it done in the states or Mexico or another country. In California where I live I could not fine it for less then 15,000 and it ranged to 20,000 I had mine in Mexico and paid 8995.00 I pay 100 for fills I have had 2 I pay 10 in cab rides everytime I go to TJ I pay 7 dollars for parking and the cost of my gas everytime I go Im looking at almost 9600.00 total cost. I am 30-35 lbs from goal weight

Pbing is when you throw up..Natalie if you are having trouble eating and are throwing up..you are too tight! Being filled too tight is not a good thing. It can lead to many problems..I was told by my Dr. 2 weeks ago that if a person is Pbing 1-2 x's a week she or he is at great risk of slippage. Not to mention the damage it is doing to your esophagus. Many people think being filled to tight will help them lose weight faster..NOT true! You said in one of your post that you are throwing up everything now and it is becoming a habit..THIS IS NOT GOOD. having as little as .2 cc;s removed can make a huge difference so you can eat comfortably. Do not be foolish. The band is not designed to be PBing all the time. I'm sure like all of us you want your band to be with you forever..Be smart call your Doctor..do the right thing Everytime you PB you should be doing liquids for 24 hours so the esophagus can rest..if you are not doing this, it could possibly be why when you eat it hurts. I was just diagnosed with Esophagitis yesterday, it is not pleasant one bit. But I took responsibility, I knew something was not right that it was not supposed to be like this so I called my Dr. over the weekend and drove down to TJ yesterday. One more thing that my Dr. told me yesterday is..he sees so many paitents who are having problems with PBing and their bands and such but they do not act on it until the damage is done, they let it go thinking it will pass. I hope you do not take this post as being harsh on you..but I know first hand on having pain when you eat and I took action. Mine was going on over the holiday weekend I was able to get ahold of my Dr. on saturday he gave me a plan of action to follow until I could be seen on Monday morning...This board has seen many people lose their bands and we all feel bad for each and every one of them. Please Call your Doctor

Hi Maurine There is a woman on this board from Denver Here names is Karen_Weg..if you look her up under the members you can send her an email or a message. She is a very nice woman. I met her in Dr. Ortiz's office 2 weeks ago.

I agree 100% with Betty..forget about the Pizza, if you dont it will just get worse. When I had a day of blowing it I used to say Hell with it I allready blew it so why not blow it all day..DO NOT DO THAT!!! No sabatoging yourself. You can do this Lauri..you seem to be on the right track with writing out your goals, exercising etc..Dont give up. Start over and you are not a faliure, we all have days like this! The best thing you can do is not beat yourself up about it and get back up on that " band wagon"

Theresa like Marie said Postponed NOT cancelled..you have the right attitude, just keep doing what you are doing and it will be here in no time! I am a firm believer that everything happens for a reason, even though we may never know the reason...Hang in there

Im so happy to hear of everyones weight loss especially over a long holiday weekend and also happy for those who may not have lost but did not gain, ..with all the negativity going on with this board in a "certain" post..it makes me feel so good to see some possitive.All of you have become my 2nd family..With out all of the love & support I have recieved I do not think I would be so successful in my weight loss..You guys are the best! Keep up the good work all of you!

Ryan I agree with Vera, I think you can write the Lap Band Book Congratulations to you..Im very happy for you and your success so far into this journey, it only gets better from here!

I agree Betty, the more who show concern the better for us and for their company! I will call later today!

Blossom you are correct..I was told by my Doctor that the 10cc band is mainly used for patients who have a BMI over 50.

Very interesting Penni.. I too emailed Don and he replied back telling me to call him this morning to discuss it..I guess I dont have to now. Thank for sharing this info Penni...Amazing how they are aware of 6 eriosion patients..Dam we know 4 right here on this board..Donali, Rita, Karen, Catfanluvr..then there is Kimberely from Yahoo boards so that makes 5..wondering if these 5 are part of his 6??

Hi Marlent Thank you for your thoughts and Kind words No not everyone gets the same ammount for their first fill.Everyone is different. Dr. Martinez is the fill master..he knows how much to fill you, he uses fluoro which is like an x-ray machine so he can see your band , port, etc then he will have you swallow barium which shows him contrast and how well the liquids are flowing through the band.this is how he determines how much fill you get. The fluoro also helps him to access the port with one poke..Dont worry about a thing, you will do fine . You are in good hands. Yes it is normal to be hungry now, the band is designed to be filled so when it is not filled of course you will be hungry. Totally normal. The fills will help with that alot. Best of luck to you..Let me know how it goes....Tell Dr. Ortiz & Martinez hello for me

Yes Karen..Im so so sorry to hear of your ordeal..sending you hugs and prayers. Keeping you in my thoughts..Im so glad you have contacted Inamed and will see this through..something is not right here.

My docs instructions before a fill is no food 2 hours prior Good Luck

How can that be? Thats strange since Ortiz just told me he does 4 to every 1 of Lopez's..maybe it is just the people who are having erosions do not know to report it to inamed thats why his percentage is so low. I'm sure after this fire of a post they all will..I would like to know then what Ortiz's % is & Kuri's for that matter. I know they both do many many bands a week. Thanks Lisa for sharing this info with us..

Thank You Carol Dr. Ortiz said the same thing to me..he was happy I made the trip to Tj and took responsibility for my band he told me many of his patients dont and pay the price later for it.. But in my own defense..I could no go another day without answers , physically, mentally or emotionally. I was a wreck!! Was not sleeping or eating or functioning for that matter .. I did not care how much he was going to charge me I needed answers, I needed piece of mind and I needed relief. I got all threee of those things today ..lucky for me he was so nice and did not charge me. I'm glad to hear you experienced ( well not glad but you knowwhat I mean) this too and the medication worked well for you, that gives me much hope What medication were you on? I am on prevacid and a mexican drug called DEBRIDAT which helps to regulate the esophagus and the spasms..he did say though unfortunately that it would clean out my colon too Oh well it is worth it if I can eat comfortably again and feel better .