one gone dog

To get used to ? after the band was put in, what was the ONE thing that was/is still hard to get past? Was it smaller portions, the Im done eating before you thing, one glass of (insert favorite drink here) and Im drunk, Learning how to cook SMALL, That you can now wear your kids cloths, that gravity has let go of you and now has your pants. For me it will be cooking smaller portions. Being an ex-chef I love to cook (at home). but makeing a HUGE production for a few bites ????? :eek: our dogs are gonna need the band before long

The day after, in the noon time i went to the mall to start walking of the gas. And that night went out to dinner with my wife, I had Soup broth. Everyone is different. one lady that had the surgery the same day as me started complaining right away and wanted the band taken right back out. (however, she complained about everything before at the hotel)

Dr Fox does do blind fills unless they think something might be amiss. and they dont charge to add or remove some in the first week after a fill. there fill price just went up to 225$. its 350$ - 400$ for your first visit to get everything in order to take you on as a patient. theres also a Dr Chebli in the ballard area of seattle. i hear hes good and very fair on his price.

i dont do to much of the rice. nori isnt to bad in small amounts. the rest of it chews up pretty well.

Well lets first establish something, are we talking about the real sushi, sweetend vinager rice (rolls) or sashimi, raw fish fillets ? personaly i like the broiled eel, tuna, red snapper ,flounder,,,, ah hell i like just about all of it. try a eel spider roll or a fried salmon skin roll, talk about heaven :eek: I can live with out the sushi rolls from the store, thier no better then a cheese sandwich on dry bread.

as matter of fact Dr. Ortiz outright said Dr.Rumbaut would be his doctor should he ever have the band put in.

addiction vs obsession, a very fine line when it comes to the effects either has on the brain. the differance one is done for pleasure, the other tends to be a uncontrollable urge wether you get pleasure or not. Let me use this as an example, "I'm addicted to a spotless house, i love to pick it up in the morning ,during the day and at bed time." My Mother in law is obsessed with a spotless house. "she has to clean all day, she thinks about cleaning it all day(even when she is shopping), she truelly is obsessed with keeping her house spotless". the difference is i enjoy it, she doesnt. my recomendation if a person is obsessed with food they should seek the advice of a counsler.

Just about any activity can be an addiction. in an earlier post (this thread) it was mentioned about the dopamine level increasing when you eat is true. when you eat something, lets say chocolate have you ever said " this is better then sex" (most women have :eek: ) well at that moment it very well could be true. when you eat or do something that gets your blood going like eating, driving fast, smoking, drinking, working out or sex your dopamine level goes up giving you that "high" feeling or the "uphoria" feeling. this is very normal for all humans. the problem is when you find that one thing that gives you this feeling after time you need more to keep up the "high". so with food it goes to wanting more and more. so, if it started with the once in awhile piece of cake, in time it becomes the WHOLE cake. for me it was the food i was cooking. not only was i a chef but i also held the head baker postition at several restraurants. my Desserts were out of this world and if i wouldnt eat them i wouldnt serve them, so i ate, and ate and ate. The whole time i was eating i felt that uphoria feeling. (or untill i ate to the point of feeling sick) Theres a whole other subect about sexual addiction in wich i wont go into, but the base line of it is the same as food. Once a little was good, isnt enough over time, you want more or something a little more wild. or in worst case situations the person goes on to commit a crime against another. Unfortantly some addictions do need intervention. if you cant beat it and are really driving yourself insane over it its no crime to go to a counsler or a good support group to share and see that your not alone. as far as the original question "are obese people more subject to addiction?" No, if someone is addicted to drugs at some point they can no longer hide it. its the same with booze.neither one of those take very long over all to be "found out" with an addiction to food wich can be hidden for a long time, and besides you, who knows about it. When someone says (if they're brave enough) "have you put on some weight?" you can say "it runs in my family". but if they ask you about say, drinking on the job, its more likely to be "do you have a problem?". food addictions have never been considered "high priority" to do anything about untill the last ten years or so.and even with that food addictions are still considered "taboo" to be talked about.

with out repeating all the things already said about Dr Rumbaut ill only add a few things, 1) He has a lap band, so when you say "i feel this way or that way" he actually understands.hes had his band around 8 years. 2) he has done (verifiable) over 4,000 lap bands. no u.s. surgen has come close to this. not that there arnt some good docs here in the u s a, they just dont have the numbers. 3)hes had 15 erosions. the first 12 happened in the first 200.he believs it was how they were put in that caused this. its unkown what caused the other 3.but they also happend very early on. now these are the only ones reported to him or inamed. 4) hes only had 2 port infections. both happened in the same week. he then paid for a new air filtration sytem in his surgical room that replaces the air in the room every 2 minutes. hasnt had one since. once again thats all thats been reported to him or inamed. 5)hes on The International Laparoscopic Obesity Surgery Team. Founders: G. B. Cadiere, M.D., Ph.D Surgical Department, Free University, Brussels (Belgium) F. Favretti, M.D. Obesity Center, University of Padua, Padua (Italy); Surgical Department, Regional Hospital, Vicenza (Italy) Members: R. Rumbaut Diaz, M.D. Centro Medico San Jose, Monterrey (Mexico) A. Osterwalder, M.D. Ars Medica Clinic Lugano (Switzerland) J. Himpens, M.D. Surgical Department, Free University, Brussels (Belgium) G. Segato, M.D. Obesity Center, University of Padua, Padua (Italy); Surgical Department, Regional Hospital, Vicenza (Italy) both my wife and i used Dr. Rumbaut for or bands with a aftercare doc up here next to seattle. after seeing his hospital and knowing what i know about him, IF he was up here OR we lived closer to monterrey i would love for him to be our family doctor.

I dont even want to know where they put 'em.:omg:

theres one other reason not. it is believed that you could stretch your pouch. inamed recomends waiting 1-2 hours after eating. theres no way id make it 2 hours.

after listening to a plastic surgen for 6 hours and a hour long private talk with a different one i'll tell you what they had to say about loose skin. It can take UP to 3 years to shrink down. the arms and legs will shrink more then any other body part. and theres really nothing you can due outside of surgery that will have any big results. there are creams that can help some, preperation h having the best results. yes i said butt cream. outsid eof that we talked about surgery options and cost.

At the Bandster bash there was a number of folks who had the chance to "step up to the mic" and tell what the band has done for them or what it means to them. but there was one who id like to mention that really stood out above all others. i dont remember her name but she has so much courage and determination that you could really see in her eyes. I cant even tell you how much wieght she has lost. by her before photo im going to say around 50 - 60 pounds. She couldnt even finish what she wanted to say and had to have someone else finish for her because she started to cry. BUT there she was, with the same band we all have to loose weight. MOST of us are above the 30 year old mark, and there she was at only 12 years old. out of everyone there i had the most respect for her, her courage and her determination. I'll always have memories of the fun at the bash, the doctors and the people. Alot of those memories will fade with time, but i pray I never forget her. She will always have my respect.

I was only two tables away from her, remember the only guy in a cowboy hat ? that was me. i talked to a few "pre-banders", were you one of them ?

i know people (not on this board) that started out even higher then you and have done great with the band. one person started at 445lbs and is down to 180lbs. alot of what is left is extra skin weight. the weight loss is slower at first with the band but after (i believe) 12 - 16 months the weight loss is about the same pace.

Where ????? :biggrin1:

The only thing i can say tommy, is try eating it earlier to give it time to pass out of your pouch. I also love my Peanut Butter but if i ate it to late i know id pay for it right around 1-2 am. is peanut butter the only food that "gags" you ?

At the seattle splash party this web site was talked about. The name was not said publicly, but what was said it was known by some that it was lapbandtalk. Id like to thank those that have given several doctors reasons to say "i will never post on another message board again" and " it was the first time and the last time i'll do that". now it was said that it was only 3-5 "bullies" that acted this way, but that is all it takes. Id like to also say that there have been other doctors that have only read the boards (not just lapbandtalk) and chose not to post because of what they have seen happen to others. So the next time a doctor comes on here and tries to offer some insight into something, even if you disagree, try to be a little respectfull about your replys. The doctors can be a big help to us. Im sure ill get "flamed" for this thread but Its ok. Because I dont care :rolleyes . so flame away.

one word. YES. both my wife and i used it as a write off. plus anything related to it such as the airfare, motel and car rental. we also write off all our fill payments.

Doctors that make racist statements (i havent seen this) should be ready for a "backlash" Doctors that make statements like "get over it" need to be a little more respectfull. if i remember right that one sent a email saying he was sorry. and somewhere in that thread re-worded his statement. But when a Doctor puts a post on here to try give some info on a subject and the thread becomes a heated battle and borderlines on personal attacks on them AND each other, why would they want to come back to even attemp to answer any questions ? My point is when a doctor trys to do this and is respectfull in his or her post, dont attack them because you dont like what they said or (with all respect to those that have had problems) because your upset that the band went wrong for you, wether it slipped , eroded or what ever the problem may be. One of the doctors at the party was thinking about joining this board to offer advice and reply to some of our questions. (in his words) "after reading the board for several months and seeing they way some people are treated for trying help, there was no way in hell i was going to" "i can think of better ways to spend my time then getting involved in a internet argument". This doctor made his choice over a year ago, so this isnt really something new. Yes we have every God given right to disagree, but we also have the right to disagree with a little respect.

when my wife had our little girl they the doctors and nurses all agreed that she needed a slight unfill to get her calories up around 1800 - 1900 a day. she has the large band and was at 7.5cc and unfilled to 6.cc. . shes now back up to 7.75 cc. and we have a very healthy little girl. just let your doctor know what you can eat during the day and they'll tell you if you need more nutrition or if your good where your at. im not a doc but it sounds like your most likely getting enough. good luck to you. the Big Dog.

I'm wondering how many people here had him put it in and why they chose him. my wife and i chose him for his experience.

I think someone had a good idea on another thread about paying some more to the doc to cover a band removal. so lets look at it like buying a car. would you pay more for a "bumper to bumper" warranty ? alot of people pay several more hundred or even up to 1500$ for a extended warranty.and thats on a just on a car. whats it worth for your health? so how much would you pay for a warranty that covers ALL fix's, removal and replacement. I know i would've paid 30 - 50 thousand each for my wifes band and mine for the assurance it was covered for LIFE no matter what happens. it breaks ,they fix it, it errodes ,they remove it, then they replace it OR switch to bypass, all at no cost to me, because i paid for it. i think its a great idea, pay a great deal more to be covered for anything. would you have gotten the band if this is the way it was and the price was 30,40 or 50 thousand? so what would you pay.?

good luck to you.

if your doctor will "only" do fills and nothing else, such as some real answers to your concerns, id find a different doc. i sent you a pm.