snowbird

The problem with kid's menus is the food they offer. Usually it's fried, high fat stuff I really don't want to eat anyway? PB and J? Hot dogs? No thanks. DH and I do better by just ordering off the appetizer menu, or splitting a meal. It doesn't make me feel cheap; it makes me feel . . . skinny. healthy. And smug and self-satisfied.:-)

We took off for Vegas for a few days, so I haven't had a chance to reply to you. I had my surgery in Tijuana with Dr Ortiz. He can get you in within a week or two, usually, but he does prefer you to have a preop diet to lose 5% of your body weight. My husband and I were banded the same day, so of course we had each other to rely on. The cost of surgery includes a hotel room for a friend or family member to go with you. It was a great experience for us. We had gone down to Tijuana with our daughter a year earlier when she was banded, so we knew what to expect.

If soup works for you, I would eat it. You already quoted the conventional wisdom about it--too much liquid making the food wash through the stoma, too many calories. But I think soup is a great food. I do not find myself getting hungry sooner with it, so we have it a lot. My doctor said the same thing--too many calories, doesn't keep you full. I read labels or make my own and have a good idea how many calories I am consuming, and it is certainly no more in a soup meal than in something else.

Yes, of course it is possible. What are you eating? Do you measure the amounts of your food? What is your daily calorie intake? All weight loss comes down to burning more calories than you are taking in. The band stops you from eating large amounts of many foods, but you can thwart it by eating the wrong things that will pass through the band or by snacking continuously (my own demon, unfortunately.) It comes down to you on how much you burn (your level of exercise) and how much you eat. I've hit a plateau, but I know it is because I snack a lot and eat things that pass through the band without being restricted. Sometimes being too tight results in less weight loss, because you give up eating the foods you should be eating and start eating the stuff that goes through easily. You might try really keeping an accurate food diary to see if that points out what your problem is. I keep a mental calorie count each day. If I eat more than 1200 calories a day I don't lose weight. It doesn't seem fair when I see what other people eat, but that's the truth of band life for me. The band isn't an easy fix, at least not for me. It takes daily awareness and dedication for me to continue to lose weight. My daughter's boyfriend has lost 150 lb with the band and has never had a fill, but that sure isn't the way things are going for either my daughter, my husband, or me!

Hi, Denise. My Mom is in assisted living in Surprise. We go up to northern Washington, right on the Canadian border south of Vancouver, for the summer to get out of the worst of the heat. This is the first summer my mom isn't going up with us, so I'm not sure how it is going to work. I think I will fly down a couple of times during the summer to check on her.

It's not that oj has added sugar; it's just naturally high in sugar. I checked my "100% pure orange juice" carton, and it has 22 g of sugar in an 8 oz glass. If you had a 4 oz glass every morning that would be fine, assuming you are watching your sugar intake the rest of the day. Using it as your main source of fluids would not be fine. If you drank 3 or 4 8-oz glasses every day, that would add up to 66-88 g sugar and 330 to 440 calories a day, before you ever got any food into yourself.

That would have been way too much for me. I'm at 1.9 now, 7 months post op, and if anything I need an unfill. Everybody's different.

There is a Ticker Tutorial thread in the LBT Suggestions, Feedback, and Questions section. In a nutshell, you paste it in your signature.

Eventually it moves through. I would go back to liquids for 24 hours if you are still experiencing any pain. Lots of times after a bad stuck episode your stoma is swollen and you continue to have difficulty with food passing through, so liquids avoid that problem and allow the swelling to go down without causing further irritation. I have done this a few times, and each time I swear I will NEVER eat anything that will cause such pain again.

I am a snowbird, but we only spend June through mid September up in Washington. My mom, who is 95, just broke her wrist last weekend, so I will be sticking around until her cast comes off, June 4 I hope. So if you have anything scheduled up until around June 6, I'm game!

I asked a similar question a couple of months ago, and didn't come up with anyone in our neck of the desert. Here's the link to my thread. A couple of people had East Valley doctors to recommend, but no one in the West Valley. http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f24/west-valley-pcps-55452/ I had my surgery done in Mexico and was very happy with my doctor. I live out in Sun City Festival. Please let me know if you come up with a knowledgeable, band-friendly physician.

I just saw this today, so I guess I won't be making it. Hope you all had a great lunch!

My husband and I both had hiatal hernia repair with our band surgery. Neither of us felt the need to take any of the post surgical pain meds they gave us. We were a bit sore after surgery, but nothing severe.

Both WalMart and Costco have sugar free calcium chews. I like the taste of the ones I get at Walmart better, but they are both fine.

Yes, I tried them, and I didn't like the taste--too vitaminy! I have been taking capsules that I can wash down with a sip of water. I can't even stand the smell of vitamins, so this works best for me.

Listen to Kat817. There are fantastic surgeons in Mexico, and there are horrible ones. My insurance would pay for my surgery in the US or in Mexico, and I chose to go to Mexico. However, if you do some research you will find some truly horrifying stories about surgery in Mexico. If you are careful who you pick for a surgeon, and be sure to work out where you can get fills afterwards, surgery in Mexico can be a great decision. Ignore that advice and it can be a nightmare.

Several of us go to Mexico for our fills. both Dr Aceves and Dr Ortiz's clinic do fills for non-patients of theirs. I believe Dr O charges $100 for others as well as his own patients, but you would have to check on the price. Since there are several Arizona patients that go down for fills, you can often coordinate trips and share the ride.

CONGRATULATIONS!!!! Major cause for celebration! You must be so proud of yourself. :biggrin:

Losing weight fast is nice, but getting sick all the time isn't. Pbs and excessive restriction can really damage your esophagus and lead to some long term problems. Slow and easy really is the best.

Water! Be sure you are really hydrated, and drink during your workout. Don't wait until you are done.

I just wrote this somewhere else, but my doctor says the gas from soda can cause slippage. He prohibits it only in the first six months to 12 months after surgery, but I prefer other drinks anyway so I don't see myself going back to it.

My doctor's rule is 20 minutes before a meal and an hour after. However, he also points out that drinking ice Water or iced tea prior to a meal, right up until you eat, may tighten the stoma and aid in keeping your food intake low. I usually order ice water before a meal, if I am eating out, and may take a small sip during the meal if my mouth is too dry. But I follow the rule as far as drinking any more than that. Once I got into that habit, it hasn't been hard to follow.

From what I understand, carbonated drinks are more a hazard for slippage than erosion, due to the action of the gas in your stomach.

Maybe it's a psychological test to see how many secretly tuck a candy bar in their purses . . . :-)

Thanks, Ms Mel. The problem with this board is that it is so big, I lose track of even my own messages. We won't be around for this month's meeting, but maybe I will make it in June. I've been banded since October along with my husband, who was banded the same day.