barelythere

hi....i'm a colorado bandster who just moved to lakewood. i was banded 06/12/02 in canon city. i met my goal weight at 15 months but have been struggling. i have checked out the support groups in the area and plan on joining asap. would love to meet any of you....i do know flori and can't wait to see her at a meeting.

hopeful1....hopefully moving in the lakewood area. its so expensive around there, and it seems more in line to what were used to. hope everything works out for us. its been really hard to concentrate on me and my weight loss with being unemployed & things so up in the air. just have to think positive thoughts. i don't know if i will need another fill. its such a strange thing. some days i feel like i can eat anything and some days not!!!! as far as testing. i just had some lab and a barium swallow. then another swallow after the band was placed. call your ins. co to verify that they rec'd all your records. keep on them. that always helps. talk to you soon.

its more than ok that your reply was late....you will do really well. sounds like dr johnell has a great program and i believe that its really important. at our support grp we have lots of people who have lost 100+ lbs and you can do it to. myself, i am kind of the rebel of the grp, and i don't want to steer you in any wrong direction. everyone is different. most of my friends drink lots of protein. i never was able to get into that stuff. we are getting ready to move to the denver area next month so maybe we could get together. does dr johnell see people that were banded by other physicians??? does he have a support grp? thanks....

i'm sorry if my comments bothered you. i just don't do a lot of analyzing of people's ht vs wt = bmi.....i assume she's an adult & i'm sure she's knows what she wants and thats all that matters.

sue3.......after reading all these posts, i am a little surprised that these women all jumped on the bmi issues. come on ladies, we all know how it feels to be getting fatter and fatter as the years go by.....i only wish i had taken some kind of surgical action sooner. my risks at being chubby were verbal abuse from many people at many ages, the lowest of self esteem & self hatred, hiding at home not wanting to go out, addiction to speed.....after hitting mid 40's i brought along high blood pressure and sleep apnea & more and more lbs. losing weight on your own w/exercise and moderation is wonderful......but the stats aren't so great at keeping it off if you were lucky enough to lose it all in the first place. you have made your decision and be at peace with it. i think you made the right choice. for me, all of this has been worth it and i would never take it back or ever have my band removed. if anyone is having reflux issues, that is because you are over eating and filling up your esophagus. our stomachs are the size of an egg. thats not much room for much food. i still am fighting w/emotional eating habits and i will fight til the end. please keep in touch with us. i can't wait to hear how your doing. by the end of this thread, your husband had come around and thats great. i was going to say, do it without his support. its your life - live it to the fullest and make yourself happy !!!!

hi heidi...i have over 3cc's in my band and none of the fills ever hurt. at first i had to be poked more than once and it still never bothered me. but i would say you at least want 1cc to start. thats what we were given and a lot of girls said they never even felt the first one, but its a great start. you will do great !!! all my bander friends have done so well, its amazing....good luck & tell us how it all went....

hey hopeful 1....you will do great !!! i lost 95 lbs in 15 months and feel great. i don't regret anything.....all of us in canon have learned a lot. my surgery was june 13, 02 and i have 3.1 cc in my band. the band is a very strange thing. some days i am able to eat more & some days not. but the tighter you are the more limited your choices become. i am practically (other than a bite here and there) a vegetarian. the meat doesn't doesn't sit well with me & most other things. i still have my 'bad eating habits' that i have to deal with. like eating to fast, to big of bites and ice cream..... seems like i can always eat A LOT of ice cream. so i really have to watch that. i can go without chocolate, but breyers neopolitan is something else. lol ..... how much weight do you want to lose? we had a lot of people meet their goals with the band.

hi janie & everyone. i just signed up yesterday. this is my first time to get on anything like this although i've been banded over two years. i lost 95 lbs in 15 months & my life has definitely changed. size 20 - size 8.....i now have 3.1 cc's in my band but don't believe i would ever have another one. food gets pretty limited when you have this much in your band. i'm still fighting my way through all the emotional eating habits that i have owned for 49 years, so that in itself has been a struggle for me. i had my band done in canon city. dr's wagner/brown were the first surgeon's in colorado to do the band, & i thought this is my last chance at being thin. i never did any research or even considered the gastric bypass. i just did it we started a support grp here & i have made a lot of good friends. we cheer each other and struggle together but we are all bonded together. we know and understand all the stuff. its so great to get into this group though. thanks for asking about me.....

hopeful 1......i live in canon city but have not heard of anyone having surgery w/johnell. my surgery was done by dr wagner, but he has now left to do bariatric surgery in st louis, mo. have you heard of dr smith in pueblo? i have heard great things about him. has not done a lot of lap bands (approx. 4 months now). Have met a few people at our support grps that have gone to him and really like him and his staff a lot. he was accepting insurance last time i heard, but that can all change after they get a few under their belt. his # is 719-564-0210.....his surgeries are done at parkwest surgical ctr. dr brown in canon was one of the first surgeons in co to do the lap band. while his surgical skills are as good as any, his bedside manner is not the best. his # is 719-275-4061. he does not accept ins at all. his surgeries are done at either parkwest or st thomas more hosp in canon. good luck and if you have any other questions....let me know. we have all had great success down here with the band and happy to answer any questions. good luck

do any of you have the low profile port?? it is so small and after you lose a lot of weight, you may want to change. i was banded 06/13/02, so the low profile port might be the only one they use now??? it may also depend on where your surgeon placed your port. i have heard of it being placed in several different areas. the reason for me changing to the low profile, was because i had a port leak 6 months post op (this was found when i had an appt for my 2nd fill). when they got me into surgery (local anes), they found my plastic piece that comes off the port had totally broke in half. i never felt a thing. so they went ahead and switched the port and its great. very small and comfortable. my first fill 6 wks post gave me bad news too. they couldn't get the needle in the port and so i had to have it done under fluoro. they found that my port sutures busted and my port flipped over on its side. so that was fixed ..... the good news is i lost my first 60 lbs with my band totally empty (although i never knew it was) and i would do it all over again in a minute. life is good.....

my port sutures ripped? from my muscle and turned to the side. i didn't feel it or know it until i went for my first fill and he couldn't get in. after fluoro, we found out why....not sure what happened but think it could have been my huge dogs jumping all over me after i got out of the hospital?? went into surgery under a local and they fixed me right up.....

congrats on your surgery date zoe. i was banded june 13, 2002 and have lost 95 lbs. now i am at my original goal weight and feeling great. do you have a support group to join?? i hope so. it really helps and it is a lot of fun. good luck and keep us posted.