Penni60

Me and my dirty mind here. I used to disect crawfish in Biology class. EWWWWWWW!!!!!!!

Kathy: I couldn't agree more but the one thing that keeps bugging me about Lopez is he never gave me follow up care instructions of any kind. I was never told when to come back for a check up. Never told when to come back for a fill. Wasn't given guidelines for how to determine if and when I needed a fill. I was banded then released and given a hand shake. That was my follow up appt the day after surgery. Knowledge is a powerful thing.

GOOD point Teresa: Dr. Billy was proctored by Lopez. When I went to Billy for my port protrusion thingy he stated that the reason this happened was because Lopez does not push the excess tubing up into the abdomen or trim the excess tubing both of which is the standard technique Billy uses. I think that the docs Lopez proctors take his training and then use it to perfect upon. Lopez is very personable and caring but he doesn't follow it through when complications arise. Or at least he didn't in my case. In fact I was ignored and dismissed.

I am just shocked once again about the recent string of Lopez' patients that are popping up with complications. Port infections = Someone contacted me this morning who had this problem. Port revisions = Myself, Donali, and others out there I am sure. Band erosions = I think the last count I remember there were 7 from last year. Incisions infections = Too many to count including myself. Life-threatening issues = One that I know of most recently. These are just a few of the complications I am aware of. Not to mention erroneous information being distributed by Lopez and his staff. Sigh!! IT just goes to show you to be extremely careful with regards to going to Mexico or any doctor for that matter but to be extremely scrutinizing of Mexico doctors because there is NO recourse if you are facing more surgeries or out more money for health care. SIGH!!

Hey La_Madam: I didn't know Lopez was trained by Ortiz. How long has Ortiz been doing bands? This is a surprise to me. I thought they were both certified by Inamed at the same time. CONFUSED!!

I am a Mastermind. LOLLOLOLOOL!!!!!!!!!!! I am laughing so hard. Visionaries who put energy into achieving their goals Prefer to work independently and dislike inefficiency Think of themselves as logical, thorough, and bright Values practicality and common sense above ideas and theories

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR zoeeeee!!!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOUUU!! AND MANY MORE!!!!!!!!!!

This is a great poll. Personally I don't care that you know what I voted on. But I know some people do. I looked and couldn't figure out how to fix that. Maybe Alex or Alexandra can do that. Good Job Lisa.

I made this thread a sticky. I am out of town and have no way to post my scars or I would. I will do that when I get home.

Maybe the reason you didn't get much response is because some of us are either in a committed relationship or are married. Those of us that are in a relationship don't really care about the gurgles, burps, farts, etc. Well I can really only speak for myself. Sorry I can't be anymore help than that.

OK this has gone on long enough. Where the heck are you? I know Bill came and posted that you were home and doing well, but enough is enough. You gotta come here and post so we KNOW for sure you are back to your old self. And besides I miss seeing your lovely face. HUGS SWEETIE!!!

OK Scotty spill the beans. We want to know what the details are. Come on don't be shy. CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!!!!!!

Yeah Vera and GYPJ are re-banded and banded respectively. WHOO HOO!! Doing the happy dance. Where is that banana?:banana :banana :banana :banana

Rica: I think you are in December with me and Staci. IS that right Christina? That is a shame I just talked to her on the phone yesterday and we discussed this and now I forgot. LOL!!!

Johnathan: Everyone goes through this process. Others reach it the day after banding and some reach it after the first fill. And some might never come to realization. And some are like me that realize that is how the band works and still chose every now and then to ignore that little tidbit of knowledge. IT is an ongoing process to work at losing weight. SIGH!! I like the magic wand better. LOL!!!

Will have to look around for a scale to weigh in today. If I don't find one I will just keep the same weight. LOL!! Good job to the losers and WHOO HOO to the ones that stayed the same. NO GAIN!!

600 calories a day????? That is what the problem is. Eat more girl. I know when I hit a plateau I had to evaluate what I was eating. Fitday.com helps tremendously in tracking what you eat. Marie is right. Your body is in starvation mode and will horde anything you put in your body as fat. Try to double your calories a day and see how that works. Drink your water as well. THat helps ALOT!!!!!!!!!!

I would check with your Band doctor and let them know that you were taking the antibiotics. The important thing now is how are you feeling? Are the flu symptoms gone? Did you take the whole prescription of antibiotics. Typically they only give like a 10 to 14 day prescription. That is how long the flu or specifically how long it takes for the antibiotic to get rid of it. The thing I always get a kick out of is that flus and colds are all viruses. They should really prescribe an antifungal instead of antibiotic but I guess they have their reasons. LOL!! Bottom line is call your band doctor tell him that you were taking the antibiotic and see what he says. Bloodwork could show you have this drug in your system but I am not sure it would show that. But they might want to see how the drug affected your red cells, white cells, and platelets. I don't know what drug you were prescribed. IF your white cells are elevated then they might hold off on the surgery till it is lower. I don't know what the criteria would be for them to hold off on the surgery. That is another question for the band surgeon.

I think that is her name. I can never remember if it is Marge, Margaret, Maude and any other M names I might have forgotten. She reminds me of my maternal grandmother. She would come out with stuff just like this. LOLOLOL!!! I love PURPLE!!!!

OK I am in Clarksville / Nashville area visiting friends, family and attending a conference in Atlanta this month. My best friend for about 12 years now lives in the area. I just got back from a kick ass night out on the town with my girlfriend and her sister and her boyfriend. We went to this bar that has two floors. The lower floor is redneck as can be. Complete with line dancing and cowboys and girlfriends all in boots and fringe shirts. We played several games of pool and drank several drinks there. Then we go upstairs where there is a Hip Hop club. Completely packed and have to wade through a sea of people to get to the bar. I flirted and danced with several guys. SIGH!! Had this one guy come up to me and whisper / shout in my ear "damn you are fine". SIGH!! I am loving it. WHOO HOO!! Had a blast. Now I am back tucked safely in my hotel room. I was a good bandster I only had a couple of drinks. I had a blast and was asked to dance several times tonight. IT was so much fun. Got my workout in. LOL!!

I can't answer that question cause I didn't have any dressings over my incisions.

The striped shirt came from Target. It is a size 1X WHOO HOO!!! It is so comfortable and it is sleeveless. Very sexy and cut LOWW!!!!!!!!

You are all sorta right. The stomach lining has gastric cells that produce the enzymes needed to break down food. These cells are located throughout the stomach. So yes the top part of the stomach can still develop this stomach acid for breakdown of foods. It just isn't as much cause the food is less. The acid reflux whether banded or not needs to be treated. I think more so with being banded. I had horrible GERD prior to being banded and was being treated with Prilosec and was going to be started on Nexium next. THen I was banded and now NO more reflux at all. I think it is because I try to drink some Water prior to bedtime to flush out my pouch. So there is nothing in it. The stoma is the opening between the top pouch and the bottom stomach.

You know Maureen, you are right. I should have expected the attention but after years of being ignored when I would go out with my GORGEOUS model looking friends it was a shock when the guys paid attention to me first. LOL!! I was just flying high from the attention that this morning I reflected on it all. There was this mirror where we were sitting and dancing and I kept looking in the mirror and wondering who that person was. Then I realized it was ME. I was vain last night and kept looking at myself cause I couldn't believe I looked that good. LOL!! I still can't. Hugs guys.

That's it. THanks I keep forgetting her name but I just love her. LOL!!