SElaine

Hey, laurieloo! Welcome and congrats on having a date and getting everything in place. I'm also in Arizona. I hope to chat with you again!

Ann, You did it and it sounds like you are doing great! What a nice gift to yourself this time of year. Welcome to LBT!

Wow, Nancy! Congrats on your success thus far and welcome to LBT!:roll:

Ghost, ((Hugs)) Wishing you strength and peace to get through this holiday season with happiness and joy. Do your best to not let them get to you. I know... I know... Easier said than done. And I agree with the others. This is an extremely insensitive, rude, selfish act your sister is pulling. I'm so sorry.

I am so sorry for your loss. I can only imagine the pain and sorrow you are experiencing. Thank you for posting your experience and letting others know. I also had an abcess in my stomach. I was told it could have either been from a puncture wound during the original surgery or subsequently a stitch that tore through the stomach. I had to go in for re-surgery and I'm lucky I got to the doctor when I did. That said, I had four barium swallow tests over 11 days before I was allowed to leave the hospital. After reading your story, I'm glad my docs insisted on them.

Carol, I won't have much of a chance to visit the board during the next few days, but I wanted to say good luck with your appt. tomorrow. Please check back and let us know how it goes! :biggrin1:

Carol, I have experienced (and still do!) so many mixed feelings. I guess it's just part of the process. You are right, though; We must take care of ourselves and make that our priority. Hopefully, everything else falls into place. Only 2 days left until your appt. Are you getting excited?

Thanks, Carol, that's nice of you to say! (Now if only it were true.....) For what it's worth, I'm right there with you in the husband department. My husband was completely supportive before surgery, but has had a difficult time since. I'm not sure if he feels insecure, or upset by the financial burden this placed on our family, or both..... But, it would be nice to feel a little more support from the one person you count on more than anyone else. This is a difficult process and a difficult decision to make, and it only makes it that much more complex if your loved one isn't 100 percent by your side. I get it. It hurts. Congratulations on getting your first appointment scheduled. You are on your way! :biggrin1:

Diane, I hope all is well. I just wanted to drop you a line to let you know I was thinking of you and wishing you well. I hope you can stop by and give us an update when you feel up to it. Carol, Nice to see you on the AZ board. Did you go to the seminar on Sunday? How was it? Take care all!

Hi Jacole! Welcome to the AZ board. Congratulations on your success so far. You will do great. You are right about it not being easy, but it's worth it.

Congrats on your date, Melanie, and welcome to the forum!

Diane, Good luck tomorrow!!! I will be thinking of you and wishing you well. You'll do great and I'm happy you will be a fellow bander tomorrow! Take care!

Hi Grace! We have something in common; I relocated to AZ from Salt Lake City last year. I love it here! As far as housing goes, what do you consider cheap? Are you looking to rent an apartment or a house? Would you rather be in the city or out in the suburbs? As far as school districts, Gilbert Unified is one of the best in the state. (That's part of the reason we moved here). There are others that are good as well... Chandler and Paradise Valley have good reputations. I go to WLIAZ (Weight Loss Institute of Arizona) in Tempe and I've been very happy with the care that I have received. I have heard they do take new patients for fills, but I don't know the specifics. Please let me know if you have any other questions. I'm always happy to help if I can. I know moving to a new area is a trying process, especially with kids.

Nobody else has mentioned the breasts. Is it just me? The first place I really noticed (after the face) was the boobs. They disappeared! I needed new bras before I needed new clothing. Then went the butt.

Littlelove, I just noticed a previous post of yours and wanted to expand my comment. I don't know what other doctors in the area do, but at WLIAZ they DO use the ultrasound machine routinely with every fill. They use it to locate and check the status of the port, and make sure that the needle is going in exactly where it needs to so as to not puncture the tubing. Some places don't do this. And yes, I have heard of some people that have fills and the doctor "misses" by just a slight bit and punctures the tubing causing a leak. Where did you have your surgery done and how long has it been?

Hi littlelove, I go to WLIAZ in Tempe. They don't do Flouro routinely with every fill, but they do have it available. It's possible they may do it if you request it.

Diane, Congratulations! I'm sure you are so pleased now that you had everything taken care of beforehand. I'm glad to hear your pre-op diet is going well. That was one of the most difficult parts for me, but I stuck to it, also. Where are you having your surgery done?

Ok, all. I thought it might be helpful if we had a thread dedicated to the surgeons in AZ for new people that might be interested in referrals or information. Feel free to post about your experiences!

Hey, neveragain! Let us know next time you are in town. Maybe we could plan a date in the future. :car:

Hi Diane! Thank you. I am also pleased with my weight loss thus far. Currently, I have no fill in my band and I've actually gained a few pounds over the past few weeks. No worries, though. I get a fill tomorrow!!! (I was ill for quite a while and had to have my fill removed.) Yes, when I have a fill in my band and I have restriction I do get full after just a small amount of food. And the best part, I have found, is that I don't have the cravings I used to have and I don't think about food all day long. I certainly have noticed the difference these past few weeks without having a fill. It makes the world of difference. Good luck to you. I hope we will be able to meet up at a support meeting when you get here. We have them once a month on Monday nights, and once a month on Saturday afternoon.

Hi Diane! It's great to see you back on the board. Are you in town now? It sounds to me like you have done your research and have about everything you will need. Have you already requested copies of all your tests be sent over to them? If not, I would do that ASAP so they have it before you ever go in. (Maybe have copies with you as well.... in case anything gets "lost".) Meeting with Mike the nutritionist is not a big deal and you will probably meet with him at your first appt. (Sidenote: Mike is really a great guy and has really been a help to me. ) Since you appear ready, I think your timeframe is going to depend on your insurance and how long it takes them to get you pre-approved. As soon as you get your insurance approval, it's usually two weeks till surgery. You'll schedule your pre-op appt. and start your two week liquid Protein diet. Oh, and about the hernia.... I have heard several people in support group meetings say that they had hernia's fixed at the time their lap-band was put in. So, I am pretty confident they will do it at the same time. Good luck and keep me updated on your progress!

Hi Eclipse. I certainly hope you are able to get an answer from the doc and I certainly hope you don't have complications like I did. But, if you do have any type of complication, it's good to find out early. Here's my situation: About 3.5 weeks after being banded I started to feel a sharp pain on my left side, under my left breast, near the bottom of my rib cage. It came and went, but at times was extremely painful. Sometimes just taking a deep breath hurt. But, in my case it didn't come consistently like you are describing (2 hours after eating). It would hit out of nowhere. Sometimes (but not always) it almost felt like it was radiating through to my back. Anyway, it was almost 3 months after being banded before the problem was realized. The first test I had was a CT scan. The CT scan showed a pocket of Fluid around my band. I subsequently had two barrium swallow x-rays and an EGD. The following morning I was in for surgery. The truth is, I don't know if the pain was related or not. I can only assume it was because I haven't experienced the pain since my surgery. I also have had no fill in my band since surgery so I don't know if restriction had anything to do with it or not. But, I don't think it's worth taking a chance. I hope this helps. I hope you get answers soon. I know it sucks being in pain. It's even worse when you don't know what the problem is. Good luck. You are in my thoughts.

Iluvcarbs-- I just sent you a PM.

Hey! What time is your appt. on the 12th? Is it the four hour appt? I also have an appt. on Wed. the 12th. Mine is in the morning, 8:30 am, I think. As for the dreaded PB.... nope. Can't say that I've ever had one. The thought certainly is scary, isn't it? The worst thing that ever happened to me was when I was on vacation. We were in a hotel room and I was STARVING! Well, of course I didn't have anything smart to eat in the hotel room but I did find a bag of chips my kids had. I ate two chips. I ate too fast, or didn't chew well enough, or both........ and started producing mouthfuls of saliva for 3-4 minutes. (Sorry to be so blunt..... I don't know how else to describe it. I guess it's what people here refer to as "sliming".) I just went over to the sink and spit it out. It wasn't painful or anything.... just weird. But, after that one experience it hasn't happened again. My diet has been pretty normal, just smaller portions. Of course, after surgery you go through a phase of liquids only, then "mushies", then soft food before you progress to regular food..... but it goes by quickly. The best part is because I don't get hungry, I also don't get cravings like I used to. As long as I eat when I am supposed to, I'm fine. There have been a few adjustments-- I really haven't tried rice or Pasta since the surgery. A lot of people have problems with them getting stuck because they are sticky. I don't eat as much bread as I used to. I still have bread, but not the really soft doughy white breads. I prefer making wraps with whole grain tortilla's instead of a sandwich. For me it just goes down better.

Holy cow! My progress..... I just realized I haven't updated that thing for a while. I've since lost 20 more pounds! OK..... after this I've got to update it. I had a crazy morning. I really haven't bought clothes since the surgery. I've been meaning to, but really it's been difficult to find the time. I've been sick lately, school started, busy with the kids, etc. Anyway, I do have that ONE outfit I refer to whenever I need to go anywhere. It still fits OK, you know? We had a party to go to this afternoon so I put the outfit in the washer and the dryer to be ready to wear. To my horror, one of my cute little innocent children had either put crayons in the dryer or left some in a pocket somewhere that I missed and melted crayon had ruined my outfit! Dang, and it was almost time to go. I was going through every drawer and every outfit in my closet trying to find something to wear. Finally I found a pair of denim shorts that didn't look too bad and a shirt that was obviously way too big and went to the party. Well, to sum up, some people at the party felt so bad for me trying to keep my pants up, they offered to watch my kids this afternoon so I could go shopping. Isn't that nice? So, off I went to AZ Mills this afternoon. I was absolutely shocked at what I found as I was trying on clothes. I could actually fit into a size 18 in some things! OMG! I haven't been an 18 since shortly after high school. Still a 20 in some things, but..... hey! Four months ago I was a 28. This is what you have to look forward to! Is your mom having the surgery, too? Wow, how nice to have someone to go through it with. Dr. Orris is great, too. I've actually seen both of them several times and had a surgery with Dr. Orris as well. They make a great team. I looked at several places and I'm still very happy with the decision to go with WLIAZ. So, how far along are you in the process? Do you have any idea when you will be having surgery?