cammy

Lisa I finally plucked up the courage to take Ray up on his offer and sent him my details. It's good to hear that he's never yelled at you or anything - so many people talk about being yelled and it's really not right. I hope he can help me, ill let you know how I go & hopefully i'll make it there on Tuesday night.

The Aussie equivallent of FitDay which is also a million times better is CalorieKing.com.au - i've been using it since day #1. There is both an aussie and USA version of calorie king and it beats fitday hands down - it's more accurate in being able to enter food poriton and brands (not all that guessing which makes cheating too easy with fitday) and with a much greater food database. You can download the desktop version (faster) and it's free trial for a week or so. Eating less than 1000cals (30% fat, 30% protien, 40% carbs) worked best for me even though the software recommended eating 1400cals.... that was too much for my body since a lot of my weight was loose skin and that doesn't use energy the way fat & muscle do (a flaw in the calorie requirement calculation as it is unable to calculate for our MO circumstance). I lost all my weight (over 50kg) in just under 12 months. I used fitday pre band for years and it allowed me to cheat myself - one of my biggest regrets because I really didn't realise I was cheating myself until I started to use Calorie King which really tells it like it is, espeically if you weigh and measure all your portions (like you need to to accurately calorie count).

I know a lot of what the others have said really doesn't apply since your in Australia and we can't take the food we don't eat with us since it's against health regulations and those foods really aren't normal on our menus unless your at taco bill. I don't think you'll ever be able to grab a fatty chop off the BBQ again, not because physically you couldn't eat it, but the amount of chewing you have to do you'd notice all the gristle and how really festy it does taste - you probably just wouldn't want to eat it! Australian McDonalds with their new recipes and menu it's just too dry and awful to eat unless you ask for extra sauce which is where all the calories are. Thai Mc Donalds goes down easy! I just had a double cheeseburger there last week and it went down just great, no pain or sliming, the whole thing, and I was satisfied. You an grab a zinger or filet burger from KFC and eat half of it without an issue, you wouldn't eat the whole thing though and not chips etc. as well. Most take away food there is something you can eat without worry. Most resteraunts I can find something on the menu I know i'll be okay with and isn't a totally fattening choice. I can eat anything at home - stress closes your band up (as fluids rise in your body) - if anything stressful happens (children screaming, a squable with your partner etc.) when your out that's what your preparing for when you choose something that will be okay in any situation. I was up at the gold coast a few weeks ago so we ate at seafood resteraunts almost every night... I was able to eat avocado prawn coctail, bugs, chicken breast stuffed with prawn meat etc. just fine. I wouldn't try an oyster or a scallop since i can't imagine chewing one up like you'd need to with the band. If your family or company are overweight a small portion of a full sized resteraunt meal will look like you didn't eat at all in thier opinion most likely. You'll never be 'normal' again until your a skinny thing, then people will think you hardly eating anything is totally normal

I've been in maintence most of this year and my hair hasn't grown back. I was told it would grow back once i finished losing weight. Pffh! I take in plenty of protien, it seems like permanent hair loss. I've got a huge bald patch all through the front of my head. I'm only 25. Going to see what I can get done about hair loss treatment.... the doctors have tried everything to help me and i've spent more than $2k already on all kinds of remedys and supplements to no avail. My diet consists of a lot of protien especially red meat since i'm Iron deficient. I do the comb over - pretty sad eh? It makes it less noticeable and I try not to think about it.

Are you sure your not hypoglycemic? I am hypoglycemic but not diabetic, I have similar symptoms to you even post banding. I am tiny now but it was hard. I got dizy and felt constant hunger... basically if i didn't eat i felt weak and nearly passed out. Good part is you don't have to eat very much! Make sure the food is protien and solid (not sloppy) so it sticks in your pouch and you'll be better (sloppy foods or liquids go right through, liquid calories will make you feel even worse than not eating at all)..... eating sugar or carbs when you feel like that makes it worse too. Basically you can have a band and these sympoms and still get through and lose the weight if you manage it right. Watch your caloires monitor them with calorie king software and you'll do great. Following the low GI way of eating for the most part really helps. 6 tiny meals *yes tiny, you don't know tiny until you have a band* - at least 4 of them good solid protien (that fit on a 3" plate with room to spare), less than 1000cals a day (usually only around 600-800 cals a day) and about 11 months was what it took for me to lose about 130lbs. Lots of exercise in there too. Good luck, i'm sure you'll do great.

If your in or near mulgrage the direct outlet is only about 2km from the valley private hospital on police road - you can buy direct there usually cheaper than anywhere else if anybody in that area needs any.

Your in melbourne right? If you have private health insurance there are 2 options: 100% free (except your daily excess) since the health fund will pay 100% you get no belly button (because a belly button is an asthetic thing - these are routinely done by surgeons a lot of the time when people get hystorectomes etc. Clem Smith does a LOT of them) - no waiting list - if you see Clem Smith at Knox Private Hospital or that small private hospital in bayswater (can't remember what it's called). You can get a 3D belly button tattoo so it's not like your left looking like an alien or anything. The belly button the plastic surgeon gives you could end up looking hidous and cost a lot. Want a belly button? You have to go to a cosmetic surgeon. Expect after health insurance and medicare rebates to be out of pocket between $8,000 and $10,000 with hospital and everything. Medicare give you $650 back, Medibank give you $212 back (i know i just got the cheques which took forever! those 2 figures add up to the scheduled fee since medibank pays the 'gap'). If i did it all again I would probably have got the 3D belly button tattoo and saved $10k. I love my belly but my belly button isn't that great, certinally not worth $10k!!

I go through ESV and you get 100% back from medicare as they bill 25% under the scheduled fee so there is no gap for us to pay.... you pay them and then go over to medicare and get it all straight back. Lucky us! I've had 12 adjustments so i'd be a bit broke if it was $250 a pop like some other people have to pay.

Ollie i would get a referal to another lap band surgeon (that has a proper support base and full medical staff associated) before having it out to see if they can help you. Your problem sounds very common and I think a visit with a dietician and a lap band psychologist would help you since your doc doesn't seem to have explained how it works properly.... very irresponsible of him. At the first dietician appointment post banding they go through this exact thing with us. I'm sorry your going through this, hopefully you can get help first to see if you can get it working correctly before going through the seriousness of another surgery. If you have it out have you thought about your options? Converting to a bypass etc? That is a common conversion for people who the band doesn't seem to work for. Good Luck! Cam

Jojo I felt like that about my plastics and cancelled the first appointments I had... Once I actually went to the next appointment I was like - what was I so scared of? My band & plastics are the best things i've ever done for myself. Alcholics get help, smokers get help, why not obese people? We have a food addiction and shouldn't be ashamed about getting help also. Good luck for your appointment, it won't be nearly as scarey as it seems at first

Phili i'm from kilsyth and days are better than evenings for me. I've had my band for ages but feel like a newbie post plastics it's so tight. I have to learn how to eat all over again.

I always felt like that once the post-fill swelling went away. It will probably take a bunch of fills before you get good restriction, totally normal

What days are the melbourne get togethers?

Mine was just over $3k to the doc and assistant, but with all the extra costs (hospital, dietician, psychologist, compression stockings etc) it added up to over $4k. I'm in Melbourne. Medibank paid $12,000 towards my surgery from my end of year statement and medicare paid a big chunk too though I don't know exactly how much.

Kirsten - I have a 2nd edition copy of Ortiz book and it doesn't have any faults that I can note. He must have had it well revised. I wouldn't blame the publishers for Ren/Fieldings book - many of the errors are factual, not just spelling. Like how many calories you can expect burn an hour from walking and things like that, and how many calories you need to burn in theory to lose 1kg of fat... stuff like that which will really confuse people who haven't done their research. I sure hope they put out a revised issue, I felt embarassed for them too.

Kirsten - Dr. Ren no longer has her name on the cover of the book and there is no reference to her or NYU medical centre inside the book any more (at least the copy available for sale through their brisbane office here in Australia). It seems like they are selling the book only through Australia to recoupe their costs and rid themselves of the poor quality copies. If they are selling a better quality revised book through the USA id be interested, the one they are selling here with the same title has a lot of errors and 100's of spelling mistakes - lap band is even spelt wrong on the back cover! Very dissapointing. Most of the books out for banding seem to be aimed at pre-op's or immediate post op. I'd love for a long-term focused book to come out, especially with maintenece information.

If you really want to order it: thinforlife.med.nyu.edu Order details for 'thin for life' are on the front page - it is $25 and only being sold through Australia. It too has a dodgy ISBN.

I'm in Melbourne. Medicare covers the full cost of my fills thankfully, they are about $160 upfront then I go in and claim the whole lot back. You'll find in Australia due to our warranty regulations that the extra $3000 - $4000 we all pay out of pocket (after the health fund/medicare part) is like a warranty payment, if you have to go in for another op due to a band problem (or need a replacement band) inside 10 years you shouldn't have any out of pocket costs for potential repairs (knock on wood we never need any repairs!). I was banded Jan 19th, it was the best thing I ever did, down 18kg already (started out at 116.4kg). I couldn't manage to chew my food 30 times pre band even though I really tried, now I chew each bite about 40 times (stopped and counted one day) - it's crazy but you learn fast that you really have to super chew your food after a good fill to avoid discomfort. Good luck with your surgery in 10 days!

Try and fill up on high protien soups, vitamize any chunks before eating. CIB is also good. Cammy

Hi Kate, I'm from melbourne and my surgeon had me on the Optifast diet for 2 weeks before surgery also. It's hard but it is very important to shrink your liver to make the surgery easier & safer. You'll also loose quite a few kilos over the 2 weeks also, and not just Water weight Good luck with you surgery! Cammy