Penni60

Tim what is your BMI?? If you don't have any co-morbidities then it will be difficult but not impossible to qualify. Most Band Surgeons require your BMI be at least 40 and to be 100 lbs overweight. If you self-pay then the band surgeons may overlook the below 40 BMI.

Ginny: Have you thought about asking the doc to check to make sure the fill is still intact? IT almost sounds as if the liquid leaked out somehow. That would explain being able to eat more. Just a suggestion though I would ask him to try to take out the fill and see how much of it he gets back out. One other suggestion then I will shut up. LOL!! Just because you can eat more doesn't necessarily mean you should. I have to remind myself that because I don't get that "golfball" feeling first doesn't mean I can't just stop eating when I feel full. That feeling of "fullness" is completely different than the "golfball" feeling. So I tend to listen more to the Fullness meter now. It is all a matter of being more intune with your body. Hope this helps and you take the information as a loving caring banded sister meant it. HUGS!!

Ok ladies here is how to change your avatar PIC. Click on the USER CP located at the top of page. Then click on the Edit Avatar link located on the LEFT side of page Under the SETTINGS & OPTIONS box. Scroll down the page past the cartoon avatars and you will see CUSTOM AVATARS. In the box that says CUSTOM AVATARS FROM YOUR COMPUTER click on the browse box and find the pic you want to use for your new Avatar. Then click Save changes. VOILA' you are done. Any problems give me a holler.

Cissylea: Here is a couple of docs in Mexico I would steer clear of. Understand this is a suggestion strictly based on my own experience with one of them and what I have heard and read on the other. Dr. Juan Lopez Corvala (aka Dr. Lopez): Although he did do my surgery and several others on this board and I was pleased initially, his after care is practically nonexistent. If you have your aftercare set up then I would suggest taking a LOOK at him. He is very personable and appears to be caring but when it comes to complications after the band is placed then that is where the inconsideration, not returning phone calls, giving information that turns out to not be true, his staff shields him from emergency calls, his staff barely speaks or understands english, his staff is rude and will ignore you, has gone through two assistants in the time frame of 4 months, the list could go on and on. I am sure others can fill in their experience with Lopez. I had my surgery at a place called Sanoviv Medical Institute with Lopez. (www.sanoviv.com) There are much cheaper facilities that offer the surgery. I chose this facility cause it came highly recommended by a close friend of mine. I was there for a week and loved it. Of course it is expensive to stay there for that long. You can elect to have the surgery there and then only stay for one or two nights then go home. THat would be cheaper. Or there are other facilities in Tijuana as well that are just a good a place to have the surgery. Others can fill you in on those places. I don't remember their names. Dr. jaime Ponce de leon: Works with www.ObesityGoodbye.com clinic and the www.Bajanor.com clinic who set up his surgeries. He or his staff has been misleading his patients in that he claims to be placing INAMED LAPBANDS when in fact Inamed is no longer supplying Dr. Jaime Ponce de Leon with LAPBANDS. He will place the Swedish Band which is not FDA approved in the US although it is in trials here now. So it is best to ask the surgeon and staff to show you the band that will be placed inside you. Most reputible surgeons will do that without you asking. Also ask to get the box it came shipped in. Ask if it is the LAPBAND or the SWEDISH band. His partner Dr. Sergio verboonen has been arrested in connection with Health Care Fraud. Dr. Jaime Ponce de Leon should NOT be confused with the Dr. Jaime Ponce that works out of Georgia and has a GREAT reputation. Some Docs to look into: Dr. Kuri in Mexico Dr. Ortiz in Mexico Dr. Billy in Ventura, CA I am sure there are others that people will chime in and report on. Hope this has helped.

Lauri and Michelle: THe pain is so minimal it is soooooooooo worth it. The only pains I experienced was from the GAS. SO take some Gas X or Mylicon tablets or drops for the gas pains. The incisions are so small and the only one the even gave me the smallest discomfort was the port incision. That one is about two inches long. MINIMAL pain I tell you. The port incision pain lasted for me for less than 4 days. The gas pains lasted for about a week but it got progressively easier over those days. On the last three days of the gas pain it was almost nonexistent. By the way, you can still function with all this pain. You can still dress yourself just slower. You can still take a shower just use a shower chair and only do that for the first day or two. I was swimming in a pool the third day of surgery. I had no stitches my surgeon used the glue to hold my incisions together. So no stitches to come out later. Pretty awesome. No heavy lifting for however long the doc tells you. I didn't do anything like that for at least two weeks. I took it easy when I got home. I did get up and walk some around my neighborhood. I did not do anything too strenuous. The walking helps get rid of the gas actually. You should try to get up as soon as you can after you get out of recovery. It will aid in your healing and clearing your head from the surgery and clearing of your lungs as well. Hope this all helps. Good luck guys Come back and check in after your surgeries. Hey did you guys put your dates on the calendar???

Thanks guys. SHould be fun.

Not sure how many know we actually have a calendar for posting events, birthdays (which the website does for us), and things like bandaversaries. Let's all go and post our banding dates. This will be someplace for all of us to go and see who is getting banded this month. Ideas, suggestions, Etc.

I was wondering what happened to you. I am sorry to hear about your husband though. I will keep you and he in my prayers. Keep us posted.

MIchelle: I will keep your son in my prayers. I know you must be thinking the worst given what you have been through in the past so me telling you to think postively will seem meaningless but it is said with all the passion I can give you. Postive thoughts coming your way. Have they tried Epogen to boost his immune system? That might help fight off whatever it is that is giving him fits now. What was his initial diagnosis. SOrry once a nurse always a nurse. You dont' have to answer this if you don't want. It won't hurt my feelings one bit. Love you big time. IN my prayers daily.

Kim: Please do come back and keep us posted. Good luck and HUGE CONGRATS!!

Bright said: Penni - I will defo bags you my guest room if you get here!! Not even sure what that means but hey I will be there. I just gotta plan the vacation time. THat would be next year though. LOL!!!!

Lisa: I take liquid Vitamins. Then I drink a protein drink so I get the best of both worlds. www.vitaminshoppe.com Look for Source of Life Vitamin Liquids. I love it.

Blossom: I would give yourself this weekend as well. But in the back of your mind get your ducks in a row and call that office as soon as it opens on Monday and demand some answers. Also, does his office have a support group that meets regularly? Maybe you can contact some of those people and see if they are satisfied with the after care. That is SOOOOOO important to your success on this journey. It isn't the MOST important factor but it does play a part. If they are this way now pre-surgery I have to agree they might be this way after. You certainly don't want to have to jump through hoops when there is a problem. Keep us posted. Be researching other surgeons in your area. You can also call your insurance company and see if they will require you to refile. They might surprise you and say NO.

OK, after I got back from Vegas I noticed that my port was tender and sore the next day. I just attributed it to all the activity over the weekend. But when I can't even roll over in bed without it hurting or a shirt brushes against it and it HURTS like a mo fo then it is time to see a doc. So I called Dr. Billy's office and asked them if I needed to come in or if this was something I should not be too concerned about. They just called me back and said to come in and see them tomorrow at 1p. So off to Billy I go. They were saying something about it could be an infection going on. SIGH!!! When will this ever end???????????? Lisa, when I am there tomorrow I am gonna talk to him about YOU and YOUR WOUND. I am taking a picture of your wound with me so he can see what is going on. I am also gonna ask him about how much he would charge as well. SO NO EXCUSES NOW!!!

Megan: Just let me say WOW! Your post brought tears to my eyes. I can so relate to exactly what you posted. It is a struggle every day for me to not revert back to my depressed woe is me way of thinking. I have to stop and think about all that good that has come out of me losing some pounds and inches. You are a true inspiration and a model for lapbanders everywhere. I use the term "lapbanders" loosely to include all of us that have a band of some form. God does work in mysterious ways. Thank you so much for sharing. You are so blessed.

SIGNS on the way!!

Lisa: Dr. Billy and I discussed the Fisher issue as well. He said that Fisher won't take on Mexico patients cause of his personal issues with people going to Mexico period. It "might" have to do with Med Mal Insurance but I get the impression it is more of a personal issue.

I agree Dublin with a stopover in Houston is a great trip. That would mean a looooooooooooong weekend oops that would be a week. LOL!!!

WOW does not even begin to express my emotions. Good for him to change his life. It makes me wonder though if he is losing weight with the 1200 calorie diet and has lost 300 lbs already and has to lose another 400 lbs before he can have the bypass, then why get the bypass?? If he proves to himself that he CAN lose weight just by exercise and dieting then why get the bypass?? Am I missing something here?

I talked at length with Lisa earlier and gave her all the updates on what Billy said. Yes I had my drool bucket in hand. He is such a sweetie. I was waiting for him and when he walked in he just stared at me and said, "I thought we took care of you with your last visit." LOL!! such a sweetie. Anyway, he suggested Lisa call the Vegas doc Frances Teng, MD. This is the same doc that refused to see her the first time. But Billy is going to call him since they are best friends, IT IS GOOD TO HAVE FRIENDS IN HIGH PLACES. He is going to tell him to take Lisa on as a patient and treat the wound and then see if he will order an endoscopy to see how the band is doing. Billy seems to think it could be erosion causing all the problems. If so then the band must come off. Lisa and I both discussed her options if that happens but we are taking it one step at a time. She is calling Teng tomorrow and see how far she can get. I told her if she can't get through to get them to see her then for her to call Billy's office and let them know. So we will see what happens from there. Billy said he would be happy to see her if she elected to go that route. He said it was awful what has happened to her and it makes him angry to see anyone not be taken care of properly. I had a fill about two weeks ago. I asked him the same question Teresa about it being that long and showing up now. He said it can happen. So there ya go. I have noticed the slowness of the website as well.

OK back from my appointment. SIGH!! OK Dr. Billy seems to think I am allergic to the ONE needle that is used for the fills. He seems to think that is causing the redness and tenderness. He is gonna try a different technique next fill and see if that works. I will have to take 50 mg Benadryl before the fill then he will use alcohol instead of betadine and then take 50 mg Benadryl after the fill. I will be flying high for sure with all that Benadryl in my system. LOL!!! And because I will have that Benadryl in my system I will need someone to drive me there and back. SIGH!! I also talked to Billy about Lisa's case. I took a pic of her abdomen and explained what has been going on. He was very sweet and suggested several options, even offering to get involved on a personal level. I don't want to go into specifics here till I speak with Lisa about what he said. I will come back and fill all you guys in then.

Thanks for the other avatar pic. I have Cherokee, Choctaw and Iroquois in my veins. So pick one! LOL!!!

I have always wanted to go to Ireland.

WHOO HOO!!! AWESOME Job keep it up. I am so jealous.

Vera how did you do that? I woke up this morning and the redness was gone. The soreness is almost gone. TOO weird. I am still heading to see the Dr. though. Maybe he could do some testing or whatever. I would like to have an xray to check placement actually. All things to discuss with him today. Lisa I will either call or email you when I get home. Thanks guys for all your support. It really means alot to me and Lisa.