Ginger_

I have not stayed overnight but have only heard good things from people who have. It's a simple surgery and I am happy I have done it. Can't say I love surgery but I would rather be asleep for it lol! My understanding is that a slipped band willl just be fixed no charge, but erosion is treated with band removal. After the stomach has healed you can opt to have a new band installed, and you just pay for the price of the band, which is about $5,000. That's what I was told at TLBC. Go on, have some more cottage cheese! heehee

Haizel - you're not alone in Ancaster, I am a fellow Ancaster bandster, and of course Peter too!! We've started walks and Tim Hortons with Elizabeth from Burlington on weekends. Maybe you would like to come too? Gillian

Hi Lizzie! I'm looking forward to mushies starting Friday. I'm like a tween with an incessant need for instant gratification. I am getting bored of not chewing anything. I have a dinner party to go to on Saturday that I'm worried about, hopefully there will be a lot of peeps and no one will be watching me eat, or not eat, more likely. It's going to be mid-October before I get my first fill - I'm going away and I don't want to deal with a first fill on vacation, so I'm putting it off. Not sure how I will react etc. As for healing - that's pretty good, the chest cramps and shoulder pains are mostly gone now, and my energy has returned. Hurts to burp a bit. I get little twinges here and there in my gut, but I had that once before after major abdominal surgery, so this time it doesn't faze me. I know what you mean about worried about not losing weight - this is it, what do I do if this doesn't work? I think we don't have to worry though, it's hard to screw it up. Worse case scenario - we lose slower then we want, and even that is healthier for our bodies. Do you have to be back at school on the Monday after your surgery? You may still find yourself attched to your bed. Cheers, take care, Ginger

I just walked into labs off the street - they did my bloodwork and ECG at one (takes very little time at all), and I went to a different lab (as the first one didn't do xrays) for the xray - no appointments. It takes about a week for the results to get to TLBC, they told me. I think you can have them done up to two weeks pre-op, just to be sure the results are in. Getting excited? :peep:)

Hi there, I was banded on the 13th an my chest pains are finally almost gone. It just hurts when I burp now. I think the pains are common. It felt like big cramps, not constant, but very painful. They do fade. Congrats on coming over to the bandside!

Hi Elizabeth, I'm mostly good - I have a lot of pain in my left shoulder, and some nasty cramps in my chest still, but they're starting to fade. The incisions feel great, I still have the steri-strips on. My port is about 2-3 inches directly below my belly button. I told Dr Yau I wanted to be able to wear low rise jeans one of these days instead of these high granny jeans lol. Sometimes I feel nausea, but eating often helps. I do get sweaty, nauseous, and faint if I try to exert myself too much or too long, so I try to remind myself that I just had surgery and to take it easy. I've only been working three hours per day this week. I'm REALLY looking forward to this post-op diet stage to be over, so I get really get going. :clap2: Please let us know how it goes!

THANK you for the book! I have seen a young woman post before who wanted to lose twenty pounds - she was only 117 pounds. I wanted to make sure you were not another her lol. Thank you for answering all my nosey questions. The band is the right choice for me, and it sounds like it may be the right choice for you. I wish I had it when I was 21. Or 31... Talk to your doctor, and perhaps your doctor could speak to your father on your behalf. I suppose though at 21 and with your own means you don't actually need permission. But it would be nice to have the support of your family. What clinic are you booked with? Best wishes!

Some questions: What is your BMI? How much weight do you want to lose? What is your goal weight? How have you tried to lose weight in the past? Have you consulted with your family doctor? Sorry for the questions, it's just that you are so young and you don't look obese in your photo, you look adorable. It's possible to look at lap band surgery as a quick fix but it is just a tool and you still have to do the work. I am newly banded but have been reading these boards for months and I know the veterans will say the same thing. I'm not saying that you are wrong at all - I'm just wanting to hear more of your story. As to naysayers - get them to research it themselves! Perhaps download a pamphlet from TLBC to show them. They may have it confused with the gastric bypass, which is much more risky and changes your anatomy forever. Personally I have so far only told friends but not family - and I'm 44! lol I figure maybe I will tell them later, maybe not. Friends are my best supporters anyway. I'm glad you posted - all the best!

Yup I've had enough yog and cottage cheese to last me a while. At least I liked them to begin with, I can't imagine how I would have survived if I didn't! My time is 9am tomorrow at TLBC - I'm looking forward to joining you on the other side! Anyone else going there tomorrow? I had my annual mammogram this morning - OUCH!!!!:omg: Why isn't there another way in Canada? My friend in California gets MRIs I think it was, she just lays there, no pain, no ball bearing pasties, no nasty looking pink pancakes.......

I'm good! The incisions are fine, but I am still having some shoulder pain and nasty chest cramps. They are getting a little better I think. I did go to work today, lasted 3 hours, but I got the important stuff done. Surgery was fine, spent most of the day sleeping. Thank you for asking!

Okay the deed is done. I am now the proud owner of a Midband as of yesterday. It all went well, I looked at the clock lying in the OR and it was 9:25am, next time I saw the clock it was in recovery at 10am. Incisions feel alright, I haven't really explored there yet. I think my port is below my bellybutton. Dr Yau doesn't put them up high as often anymore. I told him it was fine lower but I was planning on wearing cute low rise jeans at some point in the future! It hurts a bit to take a deep breath and I get periodic painful cramps behind my ribs. I suppose those are gas pains? I've been taking Gasx and deep breathing, but I guess they'll just go away in time (how much time?). Pain is managable otherwise, I haven't dipped into the meds yet. sleeping is hard as I'm used to sleeping on my front, and that's just not an option right now. It's hard remembering to sip slowly, I'm so used to chugging my Water down. But the band reminds me, even now! Peace in bandland! :whoo:

Thank you - I feel better everyday about this decision!

Oh ya - and the anesthesiologist told me I was his 500th lap band patient!!

Wow. If I could have had a last meal, what would it be? A mac and cheese sandwich? Just to get the Pasta and bread into one lol. Turkey with all the trimmings? Fettacini Alfredo? Shut my mouth it's making me hungry. See you in bandland - mine's tomorrow!

I wish I could come to the lunch, but I know I won't be up for it...

Me too - this Thrusday the 13th!

Someone once said to me "Was it the knife and fork that did you in?" Ya, thanks, old friend.

Thanks for the thoughts and encouragment!! I guess there's not too mant ways to combine yogurt & cottage cheese. I have invented "cream cheese" by mixing herbs & spices with plain yog, then draining it with cheesecloth. I used Costco's spicy spaghetti seasoning dill, but there must be a thousand different flavours you can make. I'll try something sweeter next time. The anesthetic bit scares me - I hate going under, it's like dying. Four days to go!

I just had the nutritional seminar and we were warned off bread and pop - they just don't go down well. Maybe look into it more and think about different options. Cheers!

Hi Gayle - that would be great! Which one were you? I was AV girl, changing the pages. I will figure out how to send you a personal message with my email through lapbandtalk, keep an eye out for it. Cheers!

I was at TLBC for the nutritional seminar Tuesday - Jill Seward talked about this - she had called a higher-up at OHIP that day and was told it is "on the bill for the next election". I would think it could be ages before and if it gets approved. She also said the BMI would have to be very high, she said 50, but probably less with other risks, so personally I wouldn't get approved anyway. It's so much better than the gastric bypass, WAKE UP POLITICIANS!! 35 sleeps to go!!! :clap2:

I think for patients of TLBC - I'm getting it done in September, and they wanted me to attend one of these seminars first. But who knows? Call Kathy Palermo there or email info@tlbc.ca and ask. I'm going next week, too hot to leave the pool this week! Maybe I'll see you there! Cheers!

Kathy tells me there are two nutritional seminars coming up at TLBC, Tuesday, July 31st at 6:00pm or Tuesday, Aug. 7th at 4:00pm. Anyone going to either? Cheers, Ginger

Yikes! n Anyone we know?

I have always slept on my stomach - is the band or port going to annoy me?