debz62

Hi Guy's, I have just returned from living Australia for the last 13 years. I had my lap band done in June in Sydney and now need to find a doctor to get a fill done in NZ. Can anyone help PLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEASE - I live in Palmerston North and the nearest one I can see seems to be in Hamilton. Surely there must be one closer than that. Looking forward to hearing from someone. Deb

Hi Everyone, Just thought I would check and see if anyone else lives around the Palmerston North area and how you guys over the ditch get on with having your fills done - how far you have to travel and how much it costs. I am about to return to Plamerston North to live. I has my op done in June and at the moment have 2 mls in my band. The surgeon I see is only about half an hour away from where I live and the fills for the first year are all covered on my insurance but if I come back there I want to know what I will be up against. Can anyone shed some light on the subject for me. Ta Deb

Hi Chris, Welcome to the site and Congrats on taking the step to being banded. I was banded on 26th June this year and to date have lost just on 20kgs. I feel great and I am sure you will too as the weight just drops off. I got my first fill on the 6th of August and OMG I thought I was alright when I left the doctors surgery as I managed to swallow water or I thought I did but found out once I got home I could not even swallow my own saliva. The water must have only gone down as far as my pouch but because I swallowed such a small amount it probably didn't feel like it was still sitting there. The doctor put 3mls in my band (not very much when you think about it - not even a teaspoon) but it was too much for me. Felt like I literally swallowed a brick. I sat up all night and tried so hard to catch a few zzz's in the recliner as there is no way I could lie down. I rang the surgery 1st thing the next morning and had 1ml taken out - instant relief. Since then I have been fine - I can still manage to eat about a cup of food very slowly. Am due back to the doc's on the 8th September but if I still have this restriction I am not getting any more put in. Trick to eating I have found is slow and steady - don't get distracted and start talking etc as you tend to forget how fast you are eating. Anyway best of luck with everything and I am sure you will be fine with the fill. My doc said 99.9% of the time he can put 3 mils in and people are great with it. Trust me to be the .01% that wasn't.

Hey Flax, Yeah had the band done on Thursday, home Friday feeling like I had just done 10 rounds with Mike Tyson but slowly feeling like the old me. I feel like I am having trouble swallowing and when I do drink I feel like I have a bick sitting in my chest. When I take deep breaths it hurst and I still have shoulder pain and in my collar bone so I hope these are normal things for the first few days. I am sure things will get better as the days pass. I was eating some tomato soup just before and thought I was going to throw it up the lump in my chest felt so bad so I stood over the sink trying to burp and just saliva came up. Took a couple of quick eze hoping that might help me through it and sure enough it made me feel so much better. Might give the tomato soup a miss for a while. You are doing so well with your weight loss and so are you Tracy (sorry to hear you haven't been too good). I hopped on the scales this morning and I don't think I have lost any weight since having the band put on but hopefully I will start to see some results soon. Anyway I go to see the Doc and dietician Thursday 10th so hopefully it will be all good. He gave me 3 weeks off work so I intend to make the most of it. Keep in touch. Deb

Hi guy's, I just got banded on Thursday 26th and I am too experiencing much of what you have said. I thought that the liquids would be easy to take but I guess our stomchs are still getting used to having a foreign object around them. I seem to feel restriction with even small sips of shakes etc. Like you I hope all of this is normal. I don't regret having it done but I too am a little older and this is the first operation that has really knocked me. Lucky my doctor has given me 3 weeks off work because there is no way I would be able to go back after one like some of the other people that have posted on this site. I have a house full of people, my partners son and my daughters friends all sitting around watching movies and eating pizzas while I am upstairs checking out the site and sipping very slowly on a lovely banana and raspberry smoothie. I hope as the days go by things will get a little easier I am still in quite a lot of discomfort. Deb

Hi everyone, Well I have done it. I am home and somewhat sore but am looking forward to my new life as a healthier slimmer me. These liquids for 3 weeks are going to be just wonderful I can tell already, although I am having trouble even drinking them at the moment. I sometimes feel somewhat constricted in taking deep breaths - is this normal. I have 3 weeks off work so I hope to get plenty of rest and relaxation. Deb

Thanks so much for the good luck wishes Rastis. I know it will be the best thing - I am just really scared at the moment I have had a lot of operations before so hopefully it will go as smoothly as those. Wow you don't have far to go to reach your goal. Good on you. I will let you know how I go when I get home. Check in is at 11.15 so I suppose I might be a bit groggy tomorrow night. Deb

Hi guy's, My doctor has recommended 3 weeks off. Hey if that's what he say's who am I to disagree. Said 2 weeks should be enough but to take 3 to be sure. I don't want to rush anything. I am a week away from banding now and starting to get really nervous. One week down on the opti and one week to go. I must admit being able to have my one low calorie meal a day does help although I must admit I don't really mind the taste. I have tasted far worse. Has anyone ever had pico-prep the disgusting drink you have to use before a colonoscopy. If opti was anything like that we would really have something to complain about. My darling partner sat there eating some delicious looking pork spare ribs and my nose started to twitch. I could have just done with a couple of them but no I have been good. Decided to just get out of the room and do something else. Is anyone else due to be banded next week????????? Love to hear from you. Deb

Thanks for the input - yeah I was told no carbs so dinners i have just been having a small piece of chicken or fish and salad veges -lunch has been a shake and leaves with a couple of teaspoons of fat free dressing. I would love to make some vege soup but I dont think it will be the same without the pumpkin and sweet potato etc in it. I went back and checked out the papers that the dietician gave me just to make sure I was doing what she said because I was starting to self doubt. You know the more you read that someone else writes the more you think that what you have been told may be incorrect. But sure enough it's there in black and white so I will just carry on doing what I have been told and hope for the best. Cheers Deb

Hi Guy's, I am 3 day's into my pre-op diet. Is it just me or something I should be worried about doing wrong. I was told by the dietician that I only have to replace breakfast and lunch with the opti and have a low calorie dinner and 2 cups of free veges during the day. I am finding it not too bad so far - at least I get to chew something during the day. Even the optifast is tolerable and I have not felt particularly hungry YEEEEEET. Time will tell. Deb

OMG Nat you seriously look like a different person. Congratulations. How good do you feel. I bet people really notice the difference. Good on you. Deb

Hi everyone, Hope you don't mind me popping in and posting on this site. I have been living in Oz now for the past 14 years but a more passionate kiwi you couldn't get. I miss NZ sooooo much. Just been back in April and came back this time with a silver fern tattooed on my wrist much to the dismay of my Australian partner. I am relatively new to this site and have been posting on the Australian site but started reading through this one as well and having just been home (Bulls is my hometown) and telling some of my friends all about it I thought I would see what some fellow kiwis have to say about the whole experience. From what my friends were saying none of them had even heard of the procedure. I have my date 26.06.08 with Dr Michael Cox at Napean Private (Penrith). I cant wait but am still a bit anxious - went to the seminar in October so it seems to have taken forever for the time to arrive but not long now - start the Optifast next week (mmmm really looking forward to that). I am looking forward to being a happier healthier more energetic person. I am so sick of feeling like a lethargic blob with no interest in doing anything. Hopefully it will illiminate the use of my c-pap machine for sleep apnoea (no fun travelling across the ditch lugging that bloody awful thing around) my blood pressure should improve and my insulin levels I am told will also improve. I have a hiatus hernia as well but the doc said if he gets in there and it is bad he will fix that at the same time. There is some really good information that everyone else shares - certainly is worth reading through some of the threads. Some of the before and after photos are truly inspirational. Deb

Hi Cherub, I too am relatively new to this site. Have my date 26.06.08 with Dr Michael Cox at Napean Private. I cant wait - went to the seminar in October so it seems to have taken forever for the time to arrive but not long now - start the Optifast next week (mmmm really looking forward to that). I am looking forward to being a happier healthier more energetic person. There is some really good information that everyone else shares - certainly is worth reading through some of the threads. Some of the before and after photos are truly inspirational. Deb

Hi Crushbro, Good to hear you are doing so well - that 5 weeks seems to have flown by. You sound like my surgeon (very protective)- he has had the procedure done as well and he said they would have to kill him to get near his. I cannot wait to feel more energetic and alive. Hopefully control my blood pressure. My insulin levels are twice what they should be (insulin resistant) not yet diabetic as my blood sugars are alright but hopefully this will help with that as well - having that makes me lethargic. If I can just get off my c-pap machine for my sleep apnoea I will be over the moon. I HAAAAAAATE it. Such a glamourous piece of equipment.

I finally have my date Yehaaaaaa. :smile2: I attended a seminar way back in October (feels like years ago) and I was convinced that the band was right for me. I had to wait for my insurance to kick in and that doesn't happen until June 21 so I am doing all the pre op things at this stage and have been booked in for the op on the 26th June. I can't come soon enough. I feel about the lowest I have ever felt about my weight. It seems to have skyrocketed in the last few months. My surgeon Dr Cox asked if I had always been overweight and what I had tried. I told him I had been dieting since I was 12 with everything I could find. Shakes, grapefruit, weightwatchers, xenical, duromine, cabbage soup. I told him what happened and the best way I could explain it was that I could diet and lose weight but then something clicks in my head and bang it all goes on again. The best way to describe it is like an alcoholic who has given up - they cannot just have one drink the go on a bender. I am the same way with food - last year I lost 18kg with weight watchers but at my daughters 21st I though OK I think I look alright now and started eating a bit too much and before I knew it I just couldn't get enough and I am now 25kgs heavier. HOPEFULLY this tool will help me control this as I shouldn't be able to overeat

So I am back - have been to the dietician and seen the surgeon to finalise eveything. I discussed my concerns about having been told I had a hiatus hernia by the doctor that did my endoscopy last year and my Surgeon said that if he gets in there and finds that I do have a hernia he will repair it at the same time. Hope so - it might stop me having constant heartburn. Anyway he said it is all go from here on in he said even if I have a hernia it won't stop the operation so I am all happy and my banding is set for the 26th of June. Optifast starts next Wednesday. Hope I can handle it but seeing as my dietician said to only replace the 2 meals I think I can survive with knowing that I will actually be able to eat something. Will have to get all of my social events out of the way before next Wednesday so that I am not tempted. Is anyone else getting banded around this time?

Hi Crushbro, I hope my hernia is as simple to fix as yours and that my surgeon goes ahead and fixes it at the same time. From what I can understand from the doctor that did my endoscopy last year is that it is coming up through the valve that shuts my stomach off. The reflux is the pits. Some nights I wake up and can't breathe cause I think I have inhaled the acid into my lungs. If that happens I can feel it for days. So how are you feeling since the op? How's recovery going? Sounds like you are doing well if you think you will be allowed onto mushies. Not looking forward to the Optifast but hey it sureley will be worth it in the end. Thanks for giving me some positive hope that it will all go ahead. deb

Hi mss, I rang the surgery on Monday and my doctor is away but I faxed through my last endoscopy results and the RN is going to see that he gets them on his return. She advised em to still go ahead as scheduled unless I hear anything sooner so I have had my bloods etc done - been to the GP for my medical - have my dietician appointment on 26th May and I think my doc gets back on the 20th so until he tells me differently I am hoping and praying it will still go ahead as scheduled. This site is absolutely marvellous and I have had some awesome support already. Its a huge journey all the better shared. Deb

Hey Boo Boo, Just noticed you have had the surgery - How are you?? Deb

Hi Luscious, Thanks for the support - I am going to ring the surgery on Monday and mention that I have been told I have a hernia just in case I need to have an extra test done to speed things up. Will keep you up to date as my journey continues. Jet sorry to hear your journey so far has not been a positive one but I am sure you are probably over the worst now and things will start getting better. Let us know how you are going. Debz

Thanks Luscious, Cool name. Congrats on just getting banded. How's it going? I was just in the chat room and am feeling a little disappointed. One lady has been put off because they have discovered she has a hiatus hernia and it needs to be done before she can have the band fitted. I have a hernia but my surgeon hasn't mentioned anything about that at the moment. I have had all my bloods done and the ecg and have a appointment with the dietician in couple of weeks, I cannot afford to be put off. I feel so depressed about my weight I don't know what I wwill di if it can't be done. Deb

Hi Too Cheeky, Not long now until your appointment. I couldn't wait to see my surgeon. I am just so sick of feeling like s**t all the time. I am tired and my self esteem is zero. I know its going to be a challenge but hopefully this is the tool to help me achieve becoming a different person. Debz

Hi Boo Boo, Thanks for the congrats. I am so so so sure it will be worth the weight. You have done soooooooo well - any secrets I should know. I guess as I begin my journey I will learn along the way. I am sure it is really hard work but I am looking forward to a rewarding challenge. Debz

Hi Danna, Great to hear you are doing so well. For me it is still a waiting game. I have my first appointment with the surgeon on the 15th of April and hope to have a date the minute my insurance kicks in in June. I just can't wait, it seems like forever away. Debz

Hi Danna, Hows it all going now you are banded? Really anxious to hear how everything went and how it feels now. Debz