hagerteresa

I am sooooo happy people are going to come. I love chatting with you all everyday and just can't wait to meet everybody in person. Alex I so hope you can come. It just wouldn't be the same without you. I am so excited!!!!!! Anyone seen Lisa lately? Thanks for the link info on the book Donali. I finally found the original thread that mentioned it. I still have a border certificate and their online store said they carried. I of course wanted it NOW so went to the local store but they didn't have it. I will have to order it from online. Oh-well sigh.... T

I agree with Donali. I had NEVER heard of it until I just happened to bump into something about it when I was researching weight loss surgery. I have the hardest time not wanting to stop and tell every over weight person I see about it. Then reality hits and I remember that it is expensive and it was only by luck that I was able to get it. I still spread the news as much as possible though. I would love to go on Oprah. T

Hello, Yes the band can stay in forever if you don't have any complications. There are a few of us that haven't had a fill yet. Personally I am just waiting to plateau before I get one. Why pay for one unneccessarily. For some reason it is a lot easier for me to follow all of the rules with the band. I suddenly am a very avid calorie counter, Water drinker, and less of a snacker. You do get full easier. I know some people with fills eat a LOT less than I do but as long as I keep losing I am happy with what I am eating. I average about 1200-1500 calories everyday. I don't know why some people lose longer than others prefill. The girl that got banded the same day as me has only lost 18 lbs prefill while I have managed 35.5 and still counting (hopefully- I weigh in tomorrow). I remember from past weight watchers experience that you had to stick with small meal portions and stay within your points. With the band it is easy to do that. You have to be WILLING to work at it though. It is easier than regular dieting but it doesn't just fall off either. Best of luck to you, Teresa

Hey Lori, I live in Oregon as well and keep trying to figure out how to get in touch with you. I tried your email link once and it failed. Where do you live? Teresa

Sweet!!! I didn't want to be the only one to show up! Hey, I wanted to go look for that new book by Jesse A. but I can't find the thread that had the book title and the authors full name. Any ideas? Thanks T

Has anyone gotten their tickets yet? I want to get mine by the end of the week. Who all is thinking they can make it? T

I was recently chatting to another banded lady and she said she always thought her port was just under the skin and thought she could feel it, however; when she went for her first fill they couldn't find it because it was way down deep stitched to her stomach muscles. From my understanding I think that is where they stitch all of ours. I too always think I can feel my port just under the skin but it is most likely scar tissue. I have a big tummy so I am pretty sure mine would be deeper too. It does look like Penni's problem is something to do with the port but can't wait to hear what the exact prognosis is. Weirdly enough today I woke up with a bit of pain somewhere around my left ribcage. Not real painful but annoying. Not sure if I slept on my side wrong or perhaps my port hose got repositioned in an odd way or ??? Hurt the worst when I take deep breaths. I don't think it is very serious but if it persists for a day or two I'll have it looked at. Teresa

You took the words right out of my mouth! Fitday is the best and helped me a ton. I don't think anything sounds wrong with eggs, sausage and salsa for breakfast. I was drinking the Slimfast type shakes and those had a whopping 230 calories! At least your eggs would be more filling. I love those morningstar vegetarian sausages and they only have 80 calories per patty and a ton of fiber. For about the same calories as my drink, I could either have 1 egg and 2 vegetarian sausages or 2 eggs and 1 vegetarian sausage. They really do taste good. I am not a vegetarian but my dad was most of my childhood so I got the best of both worlds. Good luck, Teresa

Hey Donali, Thanks for responding back to my questions. Dr. Lopez or his staff never gave me a card saying I am a lap band recipient. That office is so inconsistent. I can relate with you about timing issues down there too. NOTHING EVER ran on time when I was down there. My brother had come with me and he has that Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. He is fanatical at anything with a hint of germs, time issues and the whole nine yards. He went CRAZY down there. He was ready to give Nora and Dr. Carmen the boot. On the other hand he thought they were pretty cute too so he had some mixed emotions about them LOL... Well, thanks again Teresa

I too used Dr. Lopez in Tijuana. I thought his surgical skills were good but can't vouch for his after care. I live so far from Mexico I wanted to find a more local doctor to take care of my needs after surgery. When I was looking at doctors and doing searches I found a few that had package deals including fills later on. Just keep searching. My surgery with Dr. Lopez was $9000 and included 2 nights in the hotel and 2 nights in the hospital, airport pickup in San Diego, all presurgery tests, etc. I used www.belighter.com and they helped me arrange everything. Good luck, Teresa

Hi Tina, That is very good! I was just banded this last May so you probably are far more experienced than me. Have you had any fills? Keep up the good work and we would love to have you hang out on this site more. Teresa

Hi Ruth, I have been banded just over 8 weeks and would do it again in a minute. I worry about having the erosion problems that Donali had but statistically it is unlikely. If I did have a major problem they could at least remove and reverse it, where other forms of weight loss surgery makes that impossible. If you had it done, would it be done in your home town? For us Mexico patients sometimes finding aftercare can be difficult in the U.S. Make sure you have all of that lined up before surgery if you are going out of area. My insurance wouldn't cover the cost of the procedure but I made sure they would cover the cost of any emergencies. I thought that was another important aspect to have figured out before surgery. As Donali said, all surgery has risks but compared to most surgeries I thought it was much easier healing wise and the overall length of the operation was much shorter. When I weighed last week I was down a total of 35.5 lbs lost. Like Donali said for some reason following the rules for this procedure are much easier than any other diet. You will have to give up soda (most likely) and most people can't handle bread either but for me that has been no problem. Don't get me wrong because I loved and ate a lot of both of those items before the band but now hardly give them any thought at all. Good luck on your decision, Teresa

Sorry, can't help you.... But would love the link when you find something. I can use the free version on fitday but it is a real pain in the rear. You kind of have to find all of the foods from the lists, add it all together and then divide by portions. I want something easier. Alex was is trying the pay version of fitday and I think she was hoping recipe figuration would be simpler with that version. Hopefully she can help answer your question. Teresa

Yeah!!! Your officially banded!!! How is it going? Hopefully you are resting. Take it easy!!! T

Here! Here! Becky! Good words! T Donali, you were saying that port infections are ussually co-related with erosion. Did you ever have any port infections recently? It is scary that you never really felt any of the erosion going on and if you never had the port infection, look how bad the erosion had already gotten. EEK! I will try a little searching later on today. Best wishes to you and keep mending! T

Every one of my sites had been bruised like that. I bruise pretty easily though. The doctor saw mine when I had been in the hospital and didn't say anything about it. They stuck around for a couple of weeks and went away. T

I had a lot of bruising like that too. It eventually faded over the next couple of weeks. Best wishes, Teresa

Hi Donali, I am also glad to see you up and around. Sorry all of this has been so aweful. I wouldn't wish what you had to go thru on anybody. I am just glad you made it thru and am now on the mend. I've missed you and Lisa the last couple of days. Well keep resting and come back to chat when you feel better. Teresa:Bunny P.S. You deserve lots of hugs and kisses, xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox

Oh Yana, Trust me, I don't think your guilty. Us jabber jaws will go along answering some poor fellows post and someone says something slightly off topic and off we go. I think we all treat it like an actual conversation... LOL Who knows. It is hard to go back and find the responses though if you can't figure out what post you are supposed to be looking in. As well, sometimes something is only slightly off topic or just a different aspect of a topic. Teresa

Make sure all of your wounds are completely healed and not scabby. I waited till about the 5 week or so. T

I miss you already lisa, Can't wait to chat when you get back. What part of Oregon did you live in? T

I am right where you two are at. I also get hungry a little prior to my next meal and have inconsistent restriction. I am still losing. 4 lbs 2 wks ago and 3.5 lbs last week. I am 8 wks post op today. I am a little nervous about fills too. I have heard several people say they do not use flouro and that is how I would like them done to save on cost. Here it is about $150 w/out flouro and more like $400 with it. I do want flouro sometimes but don't think I'll be able to afford it all the time. On the other hand I don't want a leaky tube from miss stabs and would like to see where things are at. Ugh! Dilemmas! T

Sorry Alex, I gab too. Guilt as charged. I'll try to do better. T

Good Job!!!

I wish I could have heard that. We are truly lucky to live in America.