the best me

Nope, an adult couldn't get away with that! Rachel is 5, and she and Anne met a few weeks ago when Paula was visiting family near me. She and Anne were fast friends in the Play area at Chick-Fil-A! That whole note was composed by Rachel, although it was my idea for her to say something I could type. Jonathan, your daughter is adorable!

Here's the link to DeLarla's new thread. I signed up for tomorrow http://www.lapbandtalk.com/showthread.php?t=7516 Good luck!

Yesterday I ate a Hot Dog. Bun and all. It was very yummy and went down fine, can you say "time for a fill?" Duh. Tonight I ate some Cheetos. I was packing my daughter's lunch for tomorrow (for all day Vacation Bible School) and there were some left in the bag, and I sat down and ate them! Hello! I'm in. Tomorrow night I will post my food intake for the day and there will be NO JUNK! Only REAL food. Promise!

I want DSL SOOOO bad! Dial up sucks. Woohooo!!!!

Oh my gosh!! That is just too hilarious! No wonder you ended up in Vegas!!! You fit right in! Thanks for that, it is just lovely!

Wahoo! Good job, Christina! On your weight loss, on your NSV, and on being able to maintain your cover after surgery!! I can't WAIT to find our what happens at the doc tomorrow (monday). How's your hematoma? Still swollen and bruised? I read what your doc said about not cauterizing a blood vessel when he pulled away the facia to place your port. That makes perfect sense to this non-medical person. Still, it's good to know just why. Hope it's feeling better. You sleeping okay? See, I don't always post but I AM keeping up with you!!

Twenty years since Beuller? No way!! Wow, I'm old. So what's the running program? How do you do it?

Okay, so I try to say hello to everyone when they introduce themselves, but I'm sure I miss a few here and there. But I jump each time I read your screen name! Woo! My mom's name is Karla. Karla Jo. Her sisters call her KarJo and have for years...so when I see kari jo, I jump! What's my mom doing here!!!! hehe Anyway, welcome to LBT! So glad you found us!

Dear Anne Marie, I like your outfit. I like your hat and ballerina shoes. I like you, yes I do. When are you going to come to my house? What color is your room? I want a My Little Pony room. Love, Rachel

Hey Pam! Welcome to LBT! So glad you came out of lurking status! Congrats on your Band date! Here's the deal on band sizes. I notice your surgeon is in Texas, so you will be gettting and Inamed band (the only FDA approved band) and they come in 4 sizes. You have the 9.75mm and 10mm bands which both hold 4cc of saline, and there are 2 other larger sized bands that hold 10cc of saline. One is called the Vanguard, but maybe someone else who knows that stats won those will post. Apparently, your doc decides which size band you need after he gets inside and sees your plumbing. At 224lbs, you will probably have one of the 4cc bands. It seems that the more weight you have to lose, the bigger your band needs to be. That's not science, just an observation. As you see by my sig, I was 223 on surgery day and have the smallest band. It's up to the doc, and they don't decide for sure until you are out and have no say-so! You should get some docuemntation about your band, the serial number, size, etc after your surgery. Be sure to ask your doc for it, just in case. Good luck! Congrats! Let us know how it goes and be sure to ask all your questions, too. Folks here are very helpful!

My Band doc is in TJ and I'm in North Carolina...couldn't be much further and still be on the same continent! My band doc was available by phone and e-mail. My fill doc is a bit over an hour up the road from me, and my fist fill is scheduled for July. I'll let you know! It's not so much the drive, but the kids at home that I don't want to drag with me to fills. If I have to go back the next day for an unfill, it's workable. A 4 hour drive, however, is a full day by the time you drive there and back, so that would be tough. But again, do-able. My advice, go with the best doc for you and don't worry so much about the distance. It's a factor, yes, but it can be done.

Hey Dallasdoll, how are you doing? I scheduled a fill. I really need it. Just wondering about you. Give us an update!!

I have lost a total of 17 pounds, 15 of that I lost in the first 12 days after surgery. I maintained the loss and managed to go down another 2, but this morning I had gained that 2 back. So, yes, I am fighting the plateau. Time for a fill. This banding journey is something else! It really takes work and determination, just like dieting does. I am able to go the long haul with the band though, unlike dieting which lasts for a week or two, then, forget it! The thing that makes me certain about needing a fill for me is that I don't get full eating a Lean Cuisine or other frozen entree. I need something more (at least I feel like I do!) If I were properly filled, that meal should be plenty for hours. Good luck on your fill! Let us know how it goes and whether or not you are getting good restriction. I sure wish I could be-bop over to TJ, or I'd be there with you today!! It's a long flight from NC. sigh.

Take it from me, girls! I had a Jello episode on day 5 after banding. Granted, I was still swollen from surgery, had eaten some V-8 juice and was irritated (too acidic), then I swallowed some of the thick part from the bottom of the bowl. I didn't take the time to swish it and melt it. It was my first PB and it was horrible and scary. I like the advice others have given about sipping the warm jello, before it gels. You get good flavor, protien, and it's filling for the new band. At the very least, take care to melt it in your mouth before swallowing. Or avoid it until week 2!

Hey Susie, thanks for answering the ultrasound question. I, too, can eat chips, guac and salsa. Yummy! I had it for lunch today with a bit of refried beans and it filled me up, but I ate a pretty good amount. A whole avocado, maybe 1/2 cup beans and the rest, who knows. It was more than I should have been able to eat and it's fill time for me, too. I guess the bulk of what we eat goes on through the band slowly. At some point, it has to collect up there to give us that full feeling? I know for certain that I am able to eat more than enough to fill that pouch, so it has to be going down through the band during the meal. Eating the hard protien first is what makes that pouch fill up and stay fuller longer. I know for certain that the upper part of the stomach squeezes when you put something in it. As long as you aren't too tight, food goes down and not back up into the esophogus. hmmm.

News to me! I liked what he said about how being so heavy made him feel as if he appeared out of control (paraphrase). It's true! I feel the same way about being heavy. Good for him. Of all the Gastric Bypass surgeries, I'd chose the DS based on what I have read. But, I'll keep my band, thanks. Great links!

Windy, I'll PM you when I get just a sec and reply to your questions. We'll leave this thread to Christina... Don't go far...if I can get back on the puter tonight I will, otherwise, tomorrow for sure.

Welcome to LBT, and goodbye to lurking status! So glad you decided to make it official! I don't know the answers to your insurance questions, but, YOU GO GIRL! Just wanted to say HI!

I have actually PB'd, meaning had food forcefully come back up because it can't go down, 3 times in 9 weeks. Twice was during week 1 when I was super restricted due to swelling (Jello and a Gas-X). The third time was chicken salad. I had already eaten dinner and my sister brought over some yummy chicken salad she had made so I nibbled on it. Up it came. I had trouble with that batch each time I tried to eat it until I finally chopped up the chicken and apples in it until the pieces were chiclet sized. I went down much better after that. About every other day or two, I will manage to eat something too fast or not chew quite enough and will get stuck. It feels tight in my chest and very uncomfortable and I can't eat another thing until is passes. It only takes a minute and I'll raise my hands up high and back over my head, open up the diaphragm a bit, and it goes on down. Sometimes a small sip of Water helps, and I somehow know when to do that and when not to. I slow down alot after that! You'd thnk I'd learn not to do that for months, but I'm usually "stress eating" when I do, or eating something with bread, taking too big a bite, talking when I'm eating or otherwise distracted. The band really does make you slow down!

When I had my study or whatever done, I could see the valve at the bottom of my esophogus letting the contrast fluid past, but then when my upper somach would lurch or squeeze to try and get the fluid down through the stoma, it just pushed it back up past that valve and that's what caused the heartburn/tight chest/discomfort. I was definately too tight. So I guess the area above the band and below the valve coming from the esophogus is about the size of a Walnut? I have heard. Dunno.

Jasper, check out this old thread... http://lapbandtalk.com/showthread.php?t=6339 this has some pics of some tests I had run back when I was post-op and the swelling was bad, and barely any contrast Fluid could go through. It went through, but OH so slowly. The pics aren't all that great, but you can see the shape of the Upper pouch where the fluid pooled because it couldn't flow on through. Very similar to what you saw here on the too tight films. There are 2 pics to start, and another 2 a bit further down the thread. Hope that helps. I'm not really understanding how all this works either. I have always assumed that you fill the upper pouch and you stay full longer, but it may not be quite that simple...not sure.

I did V-8 juice on day 4 and have regretted it since. It started irritating my stomach, then I PB'd on Jello on day 5, then days 6 & 7 I was only able to drink about 50-60ml (that's ml's, not ounces) of Fluid, PB'd on a Gas-X, wasn't able to swallow my own spit for at least 20 minutes, landed in the hospital for 3 bags of fluid over the weekend, then by week 1 banded, I was finally able to start over at day 1. Needless to say, I left out anything tomato, or the least bit acidic. All is fine now, and this is just me, but I'd run for the hills before I'd drink tomato juice or anything like it. I think spicy is okay, just not acidic. Wait a few more weeks. You'll drink clamato again, don't worry.

Thanks Jonathan. I think you ae so cool.

Good one, Tony! Were you a grumpy bear?! Chritina, slow down. Pillow up the sofa. Think back to a week ago and see the progress you have made. Good in some areas, not as good in others. Know that next week will be good progress in some areas, not as much as you want in others, but all in all, it WILL be better. You won't be sleeping on your back forever. You will be able to sleep on your tummy in time. It took me about 4-5 weeks, I think. Everyone is different. Just listen to your body on eating, sleeping, moving around, all of it. Drink your Water because that will help that hematoma (sp?) the best, help your body get rid of the blood/fluid. Remember back when I first got banded, I had all that trouble with stoma swelling and ended up getting IV fluids in the hospital...what a mess. I had done so much research, like you, that I knew what to expect. Yet I still pushed it. I thought it was okay to move forward with eating and didn't listen to my body say...V-8 juice is yucky!!! Wait on coffee!! and that started my downward spiral. Man, if I could just go back and do it again, I would do a MUCH better job of it. I can't go back, but I can encourage you to take it easy on EVERYTHING! A few days, a few weeks, is nothing when you are a few months out looking back. Don't create your journey right now. Stop and listen to your body, then make your decisions based on THAT, not what you feel like it ought to be. Just my two cents, given in love with hopes for a smooth recovery. You are doing great!!! Enjoy it!

Hey Lisa! Okay, here's my list of comments and advice. There are lots of threads here on Band vs Gastric Bypass. If you need help wading through, let me know and I'll bump some good ones or post a link for you. Don't know if you are having trouble negotiating the site here, looks like youare doing fine so far, you found your thread again!! I find LBT really easy to get around in. As for beginner band docs, if they are VERY new to the procedure, they will have an experienced proctor assisting them. Inamed (the maker of the band) requires training to be sure their product is used properly. If they sell a band to a doc, apparently they have to be "approved" by the company. So if you are the doc's first band patient, it's not like you'll be "alone" with him/her. However, there comes a time when they don't have MUCH experience, but enough to be banding without a proctor, and this is the "no man's land" you want to avoid. In my opinion, I would be much less hesitant to use a newly trained doc if he/she had experience with laporoscopic surgery in general. Getting around in there with the tools, etc. is half the skill, I'd guess. Still, experience is better. That said, I love my MX doc. He has been banding for 8+ years, longer than the band has been FDA approved in the US. He has done well over 1200 band surgeries, has a great record and a solid reputation. He is not the only good MX doc, but I was very comfortable with him and could not find anything bad said about him. I researched ALOT. You should too. I scheduled my surgery and paid my $500 deposit and received all the paperwork, a book, other info in the mail. My surgery was on a Friday. My sister (who didn't have the surgery, just went with me) and I flew out of Charlotte Thursday morning, Kuri's driver picked us up at the airport with 2 other gals having the surgery the next day, and drove us to the lab. We had our blood drawn, had to give a urine specimen, then went upstairs and paid the balance of our bill. (total surgery costs including transportation to and from San Diego airport, to and from all pre-op appointments, hotel for my sister for two nights, one night for me, the surgery, the band, fills for life, hospital costs, all of it was $8950. This did not include the airfare and a bit of spending money for food/tipping, etc) Then we went to the hotel, checked in and relaxed. The front desh called and said the driver is here, so we went down and he took us to our pre-op physical and EKG. back to the hotel for down-time until the driver took us to Dr Kuri's office. We met with him and the other two staff surgeons, a plastic surgeon and a general surgeon. They explained the band, answered questions, and told us what time to be at the hospital in the morning...who goes first, second, etc. Walked down the block to this dink-y little hole in the wall hospital the next morning, had surgery, went fine, spent the day and the night there, and the next morning the driver picked up me and my sister and took us to the airport, where we got on a plane and flew home Saturday. Done! I guess the hospital was the hard part. It wasn't much, but it was clean, the nurses were sweet and skilled and they didn't wake you up every hour all night long to take your temp and blood pressure, it was fine. I went with experience and got a very good band placement. Money well spent so far. Okay, side effects of the band will have to be another post. Gotta take care of the kiddos and all that, so I'll post the rest later.