DeLarla

Big Dog, did your doctor send you pre-op instructions? I read them and it says not to eat the day before your surgery. Also, it says to maintain a low, low calorie diet for one week prior to the surgery. Otherwise I'd be looking forward to some real Mexican food next week. But maybe you'll be in Mexico longer than me? I love my replies. Thanks for taking the time to read them. Funny thing about fung sei/fang shway/feing seua is that I can't say it or spell it, but I sorta live it in my own special way. I don't follow all the rules, but "cute" is very important to me, and I spent last weekend making my house as cute and clutter free as possible for this new journey. I might have to go to OA or AA or GA meetings every night of the week to stay on a low cal diet. In case you're not familiar, Overeaters Anonymous... and if there's no meeting scheduled I'll sit in the back of an AA meeting or Gambler's Addict meeting just to keep myself out of the kitchen! Maybe listening to other people's problems will get my head out of my own!

I have absolutely no words of wisdom for you, but I'm so sorry that you're gaining weight back. I've never been through pregnancy and I don't even have a band. I'm scheduled for band placement next week. It's my last hope. My husband is very worried that I'll eat through the band, like I'll pop it. I just don't understand how the band works so differently for every single person. My friend lost 60 pounds with her band before needing a fill. Others need a fill a month after surgery. Let's just hope that after your healthy baby is born your band will be more constricting.

Does this mean I have to fly to Mexico every few months for a fill? I doubt any local doctors would fill me due to malpractice issues. What do fills cost? That plus airfare? Eeek.

Did I read correctly? Will somebody be in Mexico having surgery on May 4, 2004? If so, please contact me. I'm flying in on the 5th. My surgery might be the same day I get there. It would be wonderful to know I have company nearby!

Dr. Lopez is doing my surgery. But I might have been confused in prior posts and said Dr. Ortiz was doing it. My flight to Dr. Lopez is May 5... next week! He comes highly recommended. My friend is a dentist, and she did extensive research before allowing Dr. Lopez to do her band. If my dentist friend with a medical degree trusted him, then I so do I.

Shoot, now I'm confused. I thought my initial band would be good for at least a year or so before needing a fill. Are you saying I'll need a fill a month later?

Hi Joyce, you are the closest one to my surgery date... you are exactly one week ahead of me. I'm going to Mexico, are you? I'm on-line now in AIM chat. My screen name is Delarla, but I'll be shutting down soon. I think we are doing the right thing. I'm very excited, which is good, because usually I'd be nervous. I have this nervous-giddy-excited feeling, so my instinct tells me this is my only hope. Good luck. Please keep in touch.

Murhpy and all his damn laws! The one time I need my puter most and it's been down 2 days. My husband just found the problem & fixed the broken phone line, so I'm just now reading all my replies. Thanks, everyone! When I said 15 more days of eating, I meant 15 more days of EATING... the way I'm used to doing, which means giving food no thought, eating till I'm stuffed, then eating more, then eating sweets to conquer the saltiness, but then having to have more salty snacks to overcome the sweets, till I go to bed with horrible belly problems, pain, reflux, ad infinutim. I realize I'll still be able to eat, but not the way I'm used to. Like going to Buca di Beppo, my fave restaurant where they serve platters of food instead of plates. My flight to Mexico is Wed, 5/4/04 and they may do surgery that afternoon. I'm a lil concerned that I'm only spending 2 nights in Mexic, leaving 2pm Saturday, but Nora the coordinator said that's plenty of time. As far as Sarkoidosis, I have done lots of reading and nobody knows the cause, but I did read that it could be caused by inhaling some foreign substance or also from aspertame. I was a Diet Pepsi addict, but now I'm just enjoing the real thing in moderation.

My surgery is in 2 weeks so I'm glad to see someone that just had it. As far as the gas, may I be frank? Heck, we are all either obese or were once overweight enough to need surgery, so I'm sure we've all had more than the world's fair share of gas. My suggestion is to let it rip! I'm sorry if that's so crude, but I want someone to talk to so bad that it doesn't even matter if it's just someone criticizing my rude manners. Hello... is there anybody out there? Just nod if you can hear me... is there anyone at home????

I'm new around here. Plus, I hate puters cuz there's too much learning that needs to get done, for example, getting around these threads! I have so much I need to talk about. I'm getting banded in 2 weeks, but I might kill myself with food before then. I'm sure a lot of people have gone through "The Last Supper" trying to eat everything in site before the operation, but geeezzzee... it's killing me. Maybe I'll eat so much that I'll get tired of eating, kinda reverse psychology so I won't need the band. Oh, and I'm supposed to go on a low, low calorie diet a week prior to the surgery???? HELP! If I could do that, I wouldn't need the band. Anyone wanna come to Las Vegas to babysit me till then? Wah wah wah, I want my mommy. Wait, I don't have a mommy, she's the one that screwed me up so mentally that I weigh over 300 pounds. You can tell me to shut up now. I just want someone to talk to.

Ha Ha... it only took me all day to figure out why you had such a pathetic screen name... Wannabe Loser... I get it now! What a dork I am. But my friend's favorite word is Looserish. She teases me all the time, calling me a loser. I hope she soon has real reason to call me Looser since I'm getting a band in a couple weeks. This place makes me laugh.

Thank you, Vera. I'm glad you are positive about my going alone to Mexico. I plan on traveling extremely light. Probably just clean undies, a book, and some bottled water. Why Gatorade though? Oh, I gave up anything sugar-free. I was diagnosed with something called Sarcoidosis, which is one of those lifetime things that can either come back, or stay away forever. I'm not sick now, but I've read that Aspertame could possibly have caused this auto-immune disease. Are there any people out there that still use moderate sugar in their coffee or tea? I don't plan on drinking sodas, but I'd like to enjoy an occasional Starbucks. Any feedback?

Thank you for the information. I'm getting banded in 15 days. I appreciate all then negative as well as positive. I'm going to die if I don't lose weight though. I have too many health issues at 312 pounds. Like Red said in 'Shawshank Redepmtion', "either get busy living, or get busy dying."

Thank you, Chantal. This reply made my tears well up in my eyes. I have 15 days of eating left. I think my food addiction will eventually drive me insane unless I do something crazy like putting handcuffs on my stomach... hey, that's eactly what I'll do by getting a band. Thank you, thank you. Wow, this is unreal.

Has anyone in Nevada been banded? I'm getting ready to schedule my surgery and would really love to talk to someone else that's local. I'm very close to California and Arizona, but it seems nobody has posted in months.... is there anybody out there?

OH, I'm so excited that I got such a fast response. Thank you Tangerine! I just got off the phone with Nora who is the coordinator for Dr. Lopez. Dr. Lopez was who did my friend, Karen's, surgery. Thank you for fixing my post. I'll look around for the Nevada posts that you mentioned. I'm actually giddy right now cuz I can't believe I got the money issues in order, so as soon as Nora calls me back, I'll schedule the surgery.

Howdy all, this is my first post. I just got financing and will be making my appointment for band surgery in Mexico as soon as the funding paperwork is complete. Holy smoke... this is life changing. Please tell me if I have anything to worry about while in Mexico. I'll be going alone since it's only a 45 minute flight for me. Is there anyone from Nevada or the Las Vegas area out there that would be willing (please please please) to exchange phone numbers? I do have one friend that I met online that had the surgery. She flew to Vegas last weekend, so me & my husband met her in person. She looks amazing, and I think her sharing her lap band history with us was what convinced my husband that I should get one. Hope to hear from someone soon.