La_madam

Sue, best of luck to you with the DS...you will still come here right? We need your knowledge and wit here.

Christina, sounds like your first fill experiece was very pleasant..that is so great to hear. Have a great time wherever it is you are going next week, I think you did the wise thing not getting that extra .5 cc's since you are going away... It is better to be safe then sorry.

I have no problem with reflux and I have good restriction, I can eat or drink before bed and no problems The only problem I had was gastritiswhich is totally different from Reflux and it was only during the day for 1-2 hours between 1-3, I am now totally clear of that.

For me, if I chew my food very good and take small bites, I do not feel the food pass through the band and it seems to stay longer in my pouch , it is only when I forget to chew or take too big of a bite that I get the horrible feeling in my chest and then feel it pass through the band and my pouch does not stay full very long.

One of the symptoms would be your Dr. not being able to access it. The fluoroscopy will let him knowfor sure if it has flipped, until then try to remain calm. My girlfriend had a flipped port and she had corrective surgery in TJ to fix it, she was in and out of the hospital the same day

Smart daughter you have. as parents we teach our children that lying is not a good thing. You are an adult able to make your own choices. If those around you do not understand or support your decision, that is their problem not yours. Dont worry about what others may think or may say..you are doing this for you and no one else

Dannies Darlin, what is your current fill level? Once you PB it is wise to fo liquids for 24-48 hours to let the swelling in your esophagus and stoma subside, if not it just becomes a vicious cycle. PB..eat..PB eat.Iam sure you are very irritated if you have been PBing often You have to eat to lose weight. Since you are not eating nothing but cereal and milk could explain why you are not losing. Cereal and milk are liquids and soft foods I have posted this info on so many other threads but her is something from Inamed and it is dierctly from their hanbook it is valuable to your situation With the Lap Band system in place, you should be able to eat only small ammount so the food you eat should be as healthy as possible. Do not fill your stomach pouch with :junk: food that lacks vitamins and other important nutrients. Your meals should be high in protein and vitamins and low in carbs. Solid food is more important then liquid food or soft food. The lap Band system will have little or no effect if you only eat liquid or soft food. It passes through the stomach outlet very quickly and does not make you feel full. Here is another excerpt form the book If the adjustment (fill) results in too tight of a stomach opening you could have a hard time eating most foods, sometimes this causes people to avoid solid foods. They may drink liquid meals or soft food meals and this may result in weight gain or no weight loss. A band that is too tight may cause reflux symptoms and can also cause frequent vomiting. You know having just a little ammount of your fill removed can make a huge difference in being able to eat hard proteins & solids but still allow you to lose weight. I hope this info helps you

Jello or Jelly? For jello You can put 5 gallon buckets surrounded in ice ..the ice surrounding the bucket should allow it set, you will have to use lots of boxes jello for a 5 gallon bucket. I did this once for a party I had but nor for the reason you are asking it for.. it worked for me I used a big ice chest & set the bucket in the ice chest before I added the ice and surrounded the bucket with the ice then made the jello. It did not set as well as the normal way to make it in the regrigarator but it solidified enough for what its purpose was.

In Mexico, cheaper doesnt always mean better. I did NOT mention my doctor in my earlier post but since you mentioned his name I will tell you Dr. Ortiz is the Dr. I used and Iam very happy with him, his staff and the aftercare I have recieved from OCC Best of Luck on your decision

Here is a few numbers you can call in your area to see if they will take on patients banded in Mexico You can also email Don Mills at Inamed and ask him for a list of Dr.'s in your area and start calling them all Don.Mills@inamed.com Drs. Daniel Jones and Benjamin Schneider (617) 667-2845 or (617) 667-0115. Boston Nicole Pecquex, MD, and Kevin O'Donnell, MD, please call Michelle Gurel, RN, at (617) 562-7474. Drs. Scott Shikora, Mike Tarnoff and Julie Kim (617) 636-7505. Drs. Michael Jiser, MD, Roy Shen, MD, and Rebecca Shore, MD, Flanders, Surgical Weight Loss Coordinator, at (978) 287-3532. West Springfield Viriato M. Fiallo, MD, and Burritt L. Haag III, MD, (413) 736-3163. For more information, please visit our website at www.pvsurgical.com.

Like you said the saline was removed again, it was not left in you. Having a fill and leaving it in before the swelling has gone down can be dangerous. I could barely get Water down after my surgery just from the swelling of the surgery, I could not imagine having a fill at the same time.

With all that you just said in your post..why do you want to be with a man like that? You need to ask yourself that question .. If it were me, I'd a been long gone. You desreve better then that dont you think? Seem like a one sided relationship to me. You give and he takes. Not healthy!

Estela, Iam so glad you are home a recovering. Like all the others, it will be worth it in the end. Rest up and looking forward to thebefore and after pics. I know when I had breast agmentation ( lift & implants) I thought the same thing, "What did I just do" the pain was horrendous, that is a memory that keeps me from wanting any plastic surgery done now. Like Penni, I have thought of getting my arms done but the scar and the pain is what keeps me from pursuing it. I hope once the swelling goes down you are very happy with the results too hard to tell right now I'm sure

Well first if all it is quite strange your Dr. filled during surgery, this is not standard protocal. WHo is your Dr. Almost all Dr.'s wait unti latleast 6 weeks after to fil lthe band, it is vital to heal and let the swelling from surgery go down before you fill the band, I would ask your Dr. why he fills the band at surgery. Inamed does not reccomend this practice I can assure you. You have not done anything, it was your Dr. who did it, In my opinion he was incorrect to fill during surgery. I am sure others here will agree

I have never heard of this Dr.. You can call his office and ask for his credentials and a list of references. When choosing my Dr. in TJ, I went with one of the most expereinced and he came highly reccomended to me by a Dr. here in Calfiornia who was taught by this Dr. in TJ. I have not regretted my decision for one singlesecond. I have gotten great care from day 1 Best of luck to you on your decision

Brittany Best of Luck to you, I hope your surgery goes smoothly for you. Is Dr. Ortiz the Dr. who will be preforming your surgery? The reason I ask is because I know Dr. Ortiz does alot of lap bands on teens, he was my surgeon .

Isint it great..I get that whenever I go up to the cabin in Big bear.. Strange how altitude, flying, humidity, barametric pressure affects our bands

I will be in Vegas from July 24th until July 27th Nice Pictures, looks like you had a blast..You look great in your pictures!

Has your mom been checked for gastritis..it is very common among us bandsters..burping like you explained is on of the symptoms so is the nauseas feeling . I had gastritis and had zero symptoms until I was unfilled then the burping and nausea were horrible. I was on prilosec for 2 months and it worked. Gastritis can be detected through an endoscopy which is how I found out I had it. I was unfilled for 2 months until I healed

Prilosec worked great for me for my gastritis,, You sure it is reflux? I had gastritis and only had symptoms of heart burn during the day at he same time every day...alot of people think gastritis is reflux but it is not the same. I never had symptoms at night and my symptoms only lasted for an hour or so

I pretty much follow a low carb diet which is how the bad works best, protein first, veggies, fruit then carbs if you have room, by the time you get to the carbs you may find yourself not having room...

Ali, I m glad you called your Dr. Prilosec over the counter worked better then all of those other acid meds, I took the others in conjunction with the prilosec, the others just coat and soothe , but the prilosec heals the esophagus and stops the acid from producing. Happy to hear you are feeling better

I agree with Penni on this 100% Sometimes it is an attitude adjustment we need instead of a band adjustment. Being truthful with your self and accountable is what works. Just because we are eating less doesnt mean it is the right things. In the beginning, eating less the weight does come off but after several months of being banded, eating less just doesnt cut it,I know this very well, trying to get the last few lbs off. It takes hard work and being honest with yourself in what you are eating..making good choices..or the scale plays with the same 2-5 lbs Penni is right, those little bites of this and that add up..I know this very well too What you eat is important, we can eat around the band. So many rely on restriction to do all of the work, the band only restricts certain foods no matter how filled you are. I could eat soft foods all day long and never feel restriction but give me hard Proteins all day long and I feel restriction..restriction for me comes with the foods I eat and the choices I make..mashed potatoes = no restriction, chicken breast = restriction ice cream = no restriction , beef= restriction, cheetos = no restriction, turkey breast = restriction..follow me? The longer we are in this the harder it is, the weight loss slows down so it isimportant to make better choices , keeping track of what I eat helps me tremendously. I can see it in balck & white, then see where I went wrong if I did, then make the proper changes the next day. Tamiko, what size band do you have, do you have the VG band that holds 10cc's? I have heard from others here it takes more then a couple of fills to get a nice level of restriction with the VG band since it holds so much more. There are several here who have the VG band, do a search in theupper right hand corner on VG band and many threadswill come up that may be helpful to you Good Luck, dont give up..

Hunni, just wanted to see how you were doing today? Any better ? let us know:)

Mary Ann, do not let her comments get you as hard as it is...look at it like this, soon you will be able to laugh in her face..she is ignorant Do not let what the others at work are going to think to get you down, Iam sure they were just as appaulled as you were at her comment and will see her for her true colors.