DeLarla

WOW, you look amazingly DESTRESSED! Smooch Trav for me, will ya? Thanks so much for posting pics, you know I'm a picture junkie. We'll cluck this weekend, k?

I forgot about my 3 endoscopies, 4 Upper GIs, whopping anesthesia fees, etc.

If my port removal cost $40,000, I'm sure my band removal will be way more. Keep the smelling salts handy for when the bill comes.

I'm envious of anyone who can afford full body tucks! GIMME!

I got the Switzerland box all packed and ready to ship! I WILL get it to the post office today. I WILL exercise tonight. Please make me exercise tonight?

My mean old doctor (he's actually young) wants me on 1200 calories, which is way too few to keep me full. Last night I ate about 1400 to keep from losing my mind. It's way, way too easy to overeat unless you count calories or have pre-measured foods. I easily went beyond 1200 during my liquid phases. Right now I'm obsessed with calories. I'm eating fewer in the day because I can't survive physically or mentally on a 400 calorie dinner. I'm rambling because I want to be under 200 pounds, and I want all the prizes from my 3 month weight loss challenge!

Hey stranger, nice to see you! I described my sensation of erosion elsewhere but I don't think anyone got it. However, you are the guitarman, so maybe it will make sense to you. Only a professional mucisian can really tell if his instrument is out of tune. Sure, it might sound and work okay, but something is just off. That's how I felt. I still had restriction, but it felt different. PBs came from a different place, my burping and digestion was weird and off track, and the old familar gurgling sounds were different. I felt a lot of action in my lower belly that I never felt there before, so I knew something was off. Just listen to your body and get annual endoscopies. My band came out 12/27. I don't miss that foreign object at all, but I certainly miss not being hungry.

Hi Bright. Thanks for the kind words. I'm almost healed from band removal but still have swollen hard scar tissue around the port site, but I think it's giving me some phantom restriction so I can't complain. Sorry about your depression. I've got my own breed of chemical imbalance so I know what it's like not to be able to control your moods. Nice to see you again.

When I was super tight and restricted, I was able to eat bread in tiny bits, but only when I chewed it well. When I was still learning my band, I wasn't able to eat a lot of foods. However, once I trained myself to take nibbles instead of bites and to chew everything to the consistency of mush, I could eat anything I wanted. Now that my band is removed, I'm trying to continue to chew and eat slow, which is something I never did pre-band.

I don't even know what I've spent, or what I owe, but here's a tasty list of what a band can cost: $7,500.00 - original surgery in Mexico $400.00 - travel for original surgery $100 - copayments to primary for infected port and Urgent Care $800.00 - 1st port removal $400.00 - travel for 1st port removal $150 - more co-payments for 2nd port infection, minor surgeries, meds $2000 - port replacement $200 - third trip to Mexico for port replacement $40,000 - 2nd port removal $200 - travel to California for 2nd port removal $250 - medical supplies, packing gauze for 3 months wound care $50,000 - band removal 12/27/05 (approx since bills still pending) $900 - travel, hotel for 2nd band removal since hubby came $100 - long distance calls to Mexico and California $103,000.00 or $1,355.26 per pound lost. What a deal.

I just spent 15 minutes looking up the calories in 1/2 cup cubed boiled chicken (pulled out of hubby's chicken Soup.) Fitday.com has every kind of chicken in the world except plain ol' chicken. Can anyone tell me the calories in chicken? Feel free to add calories for all common foods to help those of us who are going back to the 1980s and actually counting the things. Thanks!

DD, you still have 1 1/2 hours to join our 3 month weight loss challenge. Trust me, if I can stick to 1200 calories, anyone can. This is a new chance for you to find that thin healthy young thang inside you! Use the band while you have it... we'll all help you! xoxo

I'm just sick to my stomach over yet ANOTHER Lopez patient with an infection that Lopez ignored. The nerve of that #$%@#$ for prescribing antibiotics when he told me numerous times that, "antibiotics can't cure a port infection." Let's just ignore the American patient and hope she goes away. Sorry, ddflinn, but let's all say it together, THANK GOD FOR DR. BILLY.

I've stuck to 1200 calories. Now I can't keep my wedding ring on straight because the diamond keeps sliding around to my palm side. I've been wearing this ring for over 7 years, and it's never slid around before.

That picture makes the mess seem much smaller. I have another bucket that size under my desk. I didn't finish it, but I worked on it for an hour, though it doesn't look any different. I did bring about 10 items to work that I'll take care of now. It's a start. Today I will empty my in-tray at work and actually work for how well they pay me

I'm not gonna read any new posts cuz I don't want hints. Kare, I finally found my MP3 player but couldn't find the CD for my workout yesterday! However, I tackeled a mess and found the CD. I'll use it for my next workout... that's if I can find batteries!

I wish I had something to add but just want you to know how sorry I am that nobody can figure out your pain. Unfortunately, the surgeon charges one large fee, which some surgeons might be willing to work with. But you're still left with the hospital fee and a separate anethesia fee. I wish you luck with your calls.

Ug, it's not just paperwork. It's note and repairs and packages needing to be shipped to Switzerland & NJ, reservations needing to be made, 5 vehicle registrations, taxes, business and God knows what. Here, it's all yours! Doggies have been walked, 100 sit ups, weights, etc. I'd gladly exercise all over again instead of dealing with this...

Thank you, thank you! My co-worker said I could have one of her extra calorie books (her son's diabetic so they count everything.) I'm hoping she remembers it tomorrow. For now, can someone help me with 1 cup steamed Alaskan King Crab? I saved it from New Year's Crab Fest, and it's so good on my amazing salad! Thanks everyone, I had a bitch of a time finding calories on-line without registering for another site. Thank you!

Bump, bump, bump... surely someone here knows how many calories in plain ol' chicken? HELP! People, I will not eat or breathe till you tell me!

Damn, damn, damn! It's 12:26 and I've made every excuse in the book to put off working in this room full of papers. Since last posting I've made a huge batch of homemade chicken soup, Rice Krispy Treats, Fudge and Peanut Brittle (for poor hubby going out of mind - hasn't smoked in 24 hrs.) I've done laundry, cleaned out kitchen cupboards, mopped, scrubbed kitchen. Anything, ANYTHING but dealing with this 2 foot high stack of papers! I will now take doggies for walk to the park and do the exercise, but Celest, I don't know if I can meet my own goals! I'd pay anybody $500 to make this pile disappear. I don't even know what's in there... tax stuff, Slumber stuff, bills, checks - who knows? I'm just afraid of it!

Squirrel Meat Stew ranks far, far above weird next to pickled eggs!

"if we are looking to place blame - let's put it where it belongs. U.S. doctors that don't want to do fills or aftercare for patients other than there own." So you're saying my Mexican doctor is to blame? The guy that gave me a written referral to a US doctor by lying since the US doc still refused me? I don't think anyone is dogging Mexican surgeons here. You can't lump all the Mexican surgeons into the same bag. There's a bad nut in there in my opinion, but to claim all the surgeons are bad just because they are in Mexico isn't accurate. Once again, the band is a very expensive tool that requires a lot more maintance than many people realize. Flying back and forth to another country in the event of a complication or emeregency isn't cheap. It's an expensive tool that either requires insurance that covers it or a generous savings account or line of credit. I've seen just a few out of hundreds that went to Mexico just because of the experienced surgeons. I've been reading these threads for almost 2 years, and if you read closely, you'll see that most people go to Mexico because it's all they can afford. My American doctor explained that the problem in Mexico isn't the qualified surgeons, but the fact that Mexican medical standards fall far below that of the US. Nurses don't always wash their hands or put on gloves, things that are usually disposed (like leg stockings) in the US are often washed and reused, etc. According to a few US surgeons, these Mexican guys would be at the top of their game if the practiced under the strict guidelines of the FDA, but they don't have to since Mexico is so relaxed. Ask any patient banded in Tijuana if their medical facility could hold a candle to a US hopsital. In the US, you have sterile rooms with temperature and ventilation control, charts with correctly spelled names, staff that speaks English, properly stored needles and medications. Mexico tries, but they are way behind the game. I was three times for three band related surgeries, yet they still don't have my last name spelled correctly. It was spelled on way on my file, another way on my wrist band. Typical for Mexico, no biggy. In the three times I was there, I was only asked to see my ID once. No biggy. There are no operating reports in my file, nobody can give me the serial number off my band. Typical. It's not the surgeons, it's the country that allows them to practice under below-par standards.

Only really lucky people find this site. You're a lucky one! I would never have survived if it weren't for my family here at LBT. Welcome to the family, tell us more.

I'm following what Michelle does. She was banded and lost over 100 pounds, then had her band removed over a month ago and is still maintaining. Since Michelle and I were banded around the same time, and since she's lost over 30 pounds more than me, I asked what she's doing. It's very simple. Only Protein for Breakfast (For example, she has 2 bacon, 2 eggs; I have smoked salmon with a slice of cheddar.) salad with protein for lunch. I enjoy 2 tablespoons real dressing, diluted with a little Water to go farther. dinner - whatever my husband is having on a small salad plate