Marimaru

If you are going to have aftercare in the US, you need to have an Inamed band installed, because that's the only brand of bands that is approved in the US. If you are going to travel back to the original doctor for your aftercare, then it doesn't matter quite so much, but also, many doctors have a preference, and don't really give you a choice, or have all the options available, and decide once they are looking at your insides what they believe will be best for you.

I basically second what StrawartS says. On occassion I do take NSAIDS for issues, like headaches, or when I took Aleve for the tendonitis in my wrist, but it is recommended that you not take that stuff, because it can be hard on your stomach. Feel better!

I'm a tiger.

I'm here, I'm here, mine went out today!!

Sho, I'm sorry to hear about this. Look at the silver lining though. Your tummy might lay flatter after the surgery because your doctor flattened it down before, and now they are going to pull this thing out! *hugs*

There are also centers in costa rica that do package deals. It also includes a suite to recoup in, with nursing assistance. I guess there are a few of these facilities there. I'm seriously considering doing this. I'll need to probably take 6 weeks off work to have this done, so I might as well spend a month in costa rica, lol.

I think the fillcenterusa plan has monthly visits, but I could be wrong. I have been hearing for over a year that they are going to have a doctor in a town about 10 minutes from me "soon" or "just around the corner" some a little leary of the whole thing, but their program does sound nice. Either way, I've been banded for about 20 months, and I've had 3 aftercare visits. 2 fills and 1 unfill. I know I should go see a doctor just to get 'checked out', but I haven't done it yet.

If you went to a place that has MSG in their food, you might try a place that doesn't have any. I love egg drop soup, and hot and sour soup. Without the crunchy noodles they are really light, calorie wise. Of course, there may have been something in that particular batch of soup that wasn't good, and you might have had a mild case of food poisioning or something. Hope you are feeling better!!

I wasn't given alot of instruction on portions, and I don't have a nutritionist. I also don't portion anything out, other than to know how many calories are in it. I try to stay around 1300 calories, hopefully a little less, sometimes a little more. Last night I snacked on a big bowl of green Beans. It was probably about 2 cups worth and 70 calories. I don't want to think about how many calories are in 2 cups of ice cream. I had around 1430 calories yesterday which is really higher than I'd like to go, but alot better than days when I don't count, I know.

Glad to hear you are doing ok.

*hugs* I hope that everything goes well tomorrow. I'll be thinking of you. Please keep us updated.

Crystal, I can't imagine what your emotional scale looks like right now. In my mind, if I were in your situation, hearing about the tumor would trigger a thought process to the effect of "well, that might explain a few things", but then of course there's the worry of it, and the surgery, etc. And all this on top of everything going on with your mom. I'm with the others in saying that time and love is probably all you can give her. I'm not sure that anything material would mean as much. I'm sure I speak for lots of folks here when I say that if there is anything we can do, let us know. *hugs*

Kryssa, I TOTALLY understand where you are coming from. From August to April I lost ZERO pounds. It's so demoralizing. And it's so hard sometimes to hear about people who lost 60 lbs in 6 months, when I've lost 60 lbs in nearly 2 years. It's also hard to know you need a fill and not be able to get it. And self pay is also hard. It's hard to look at a .3cc fill or unfill and say "Yup, I'm paying $250 (+/-) for that little bit right there". Does your new job have insurance? I didn't have insurance when I was banded, but I have it now, and I am going to try and get my next fill covered. My insurance policy has a 6 month 'pre exsisting condition' clause, but I'm past that, and according to the liturature, they'll cover the surgery if it is deemed medically necessary, so I'm thinking I can get them to pay for the fills. *hugs*

I'm glad that you are feeling a bit better about the whole band process. I've gotten pretty down about it myself at times. I lost 55 lbs from July of 04 to August of 05, and then nothing until last month. Eesh. It gets so frustrating at times!! I don't like that doctors are 'fine' with 60%, and tell their patients not to expect any more than that. That 60% is an AVERAGE, which includes lots of people who lost 100% of their weight, and any people who haven't lost any weight, and everyone in between. I do think that as we get closer to goal, it will be harder to lose, but easier to maintain our weight with the help of the band, if that makes any sense. I'm sure that no one will have much of a problem for you to join the slow losers club. Well, to find out what's going on, I think we need more info! Are you tracking your calories n' stuff? Have you started exersizing (I know, it's horrible)? How much are you eating, and what are you eating? What does your doctor say? *hugs* Also, if you are working very hard, and not losing, go to your doctor and start demanding answers. Find posts on this site by Vinesqueen. She has worked her band as hard as it can be worked, and has lost I think 15 lbs total since being banded (she was down to 30, but gained 15 on a ONE THOUSAND CALORIE DIET!!!). She has been diagnosed with cushings disease and is being run through a gamut of tests, to try and find out what she can do to take the pounds off. Well, feeling better and having your blood suger be in control is good, right? What kinds of stuff are you eating? How many calories are you eating? And what does your doctor say? Like I said above, if you are following all the rules, your calorie levels are good, and you are exersizing, there has to be another part of the equation that isn't being addressed. Another thing to thing about is medications. Are you taking any medications that cause weight gain or anything? Is there an alternate medication you could be on? There are so many factors to weight loss sometimes, and it doesn't ALWAYS come down to calories in/calories out.

I have had 2 fills and 1 unfill with Dr. Kuri, and he uses a little local, with a very fine needle that you can hardly feel, and then you don't really feel the big needle at all. It's just a little prick. I usually do get a little bit sore after the fact though. I have to add... I was SO SCARED of my first fill. I hadn't found any chat forums and I didn't have a support group at the time, so I didn't have anyone else's take on it, and I just had these horrible visions of my stomach being sore like it was after surgery. The whole process took like 3 minutes, and I felt so dumb afterwards for being so scared, lol.

Cool, I knew there were people around here who had it who had surgery in the US. Strawarts, if I were there, I'd definately want to feel it! lol.

Anytime I find myself 'addicted' to anything, especially if it's hindering my weight loss, I cut it out completely. Just for a while. Go like at least a month without it, and then slowly work it back in a little if I feel like I want to have it. I've done this with ice cream, alcohol and candy. My fiance has this HUGE back of reese's peanut butter cups in the fridge, it's been there almost 2 weeks now, and I think I've had all of 5 of them.

I would think that removing the port would be a bad idea. If you need an adjustment in the future, whether it be a fill or an unfill, you'd have to go through surgery again to get it. I'm with Sho, I think you should find a doctor who's got a better idea of what to do with a port than just "not touch it". I've heard lots of times that the plastic surgeon can kind of nestle it in with the muscle, or move it to a better location, or even have a band surgeon standing by to switch the current port out with one of those low profile ports.

Sharilynn, I get them ALL the time. Usually after a meal, I guess it's just trying to help things get moving or something, lol. If you are without a fill for a month, my recommendation would be to take the time and just work on maintaining. You could try and lose more of course, but I think it might be easier and less stressful to just maintain until you have the use of your tool back. You know? Of course, I'm way more than 20 lbs from goal, and if I were that close, I might just want to grind through it, lol.

Well, first of all, this is normal. You aren't a freak of nature, and you aren't a science project. You say you wont stop weighing. I didn't stop weighing either. It probably adds to frustration for a bit, but at the same time, I understand the 'need' to get on the scale. Now... You've been on liquids, so your body probably dropped a whole bunch of Water, since it's getting plenty of water, it felt like it didn't need to hold on to quite so much. that's usually what the first 10 lbs or so are.. And, I bet you weren't getting in hardly any calories. Now that you are eating something, your body is basically saying "wow, there's the food! hold on to it!!". You need to probably be up around 1200 to 1500 calories. Some people say that is too much, but I believe that you should eat the most that you can and still lose weight, so you have room for adjustment later down the line when you hit a plateau or whatever. And then you say "But I just said I'm gaining weight, why are you telling me to eat more", your body is holding on to everything because it thinks you might starve it again. Not that you were starving per se, but I'm sure you get the idea. You MIGHT go up a little more, you might level out for a bit, but as long as you are eating healthy, and staying in a good calorie range, your body will catch up, and the scale will go down again. Do your instructions from your doctor give you anything on how many calories you should be eating?

The low profile port is a flatter port. I know that I've heard of it used on people I was pretty sure had inamed bands. I also want to say I'm sure that I heard of people in the US having it done..... but I can't say where I heard that from. I'll have to see what I can find and report back.

Cool! Keep us posted!

You probably wont find it in your normal chain stores, but definately the health food stores. There's also an italian one that comes in glass jars that has that sour taste (but it might be whole fat). I like the total yogurt with the honey, but that naturally defeats the purpose, lol. It's too tart for me by itself, but maybe I'll try it with some splenda like someone suggested.

Just avoid stringy stuff. Things like celery (but you can remove the strings on that), asparagus (maybe chopped into tiny pieces??), etc. It just doesn't chew down well enough if it's stringy. I love me some chopped salad!

I didn't have any preop diet, nor did I have any preop weight loss requirements. Has your doctor given you anything, or are you just trying to get ahead of the game? If you are just trying to get ahead of the game, some doctors require a weight loss of up to 10% before surgery, usually with the comment that it shrinks the liver and makes surgery easier. But if you are going to try and lose that weight now, make sure that you have your weight documented somewhere (like your PCP's office) so that you can prove that you lost the weight (instead of being forced to lose MORE weight because they don't believe you).