snowbird

christine, I am a Christine also. I live out past Surprise, and I've been banded for a little over two years. Drop me a PM if you would like to get together. I'm down about 100 lb from my highest weight and have maintained for over a year. I don't know that I have any great words of wisdom for you, but I can certainly commiserate on the bandster lifestyle with you!

Debi, Sent you a pm.

I haven't been on this forum for a couple months and just saw your posts. We spend summers in Birch Bay and I wouldn't mind getting together for lunch with any bandsters in the area. We should be back in Birch Bay around the middle of June. I've been banded nearly two years and got to goal, but spent the last three and a half months living in our little motorhome and visiting our son in Georgia, and gained a few pounds back-darned southern cooking! I would love to get together to share band stories and support.

It's going to depend on your personal reaction to being banded. I can eat many regular restaurant foods, but I can eat only a quarter to a third of a restaurant serving. Plan on taking some home, whatever it is you order. This can become a real treat, as I often enjoy the leftovers as much as the original meal. We went out to a southern style restaurant the other day, and I ordered BBQ pork. I ended up eating the vegies and taking most of the pork home. I sauteed some green onions and yellow pepper, added a can of pinto beans and the pork, plus a dollop of salsa and had an improvised yummy chili type meal, which then lasted me for another meal. My husband always says it isn't worth the price to eat out with a band, but I think when you get three or four meals out of your order, it is well worth it.

If you go for the cheapest in Mexico you are going to put your health and perhaps your life at risk. There are reputable Mexican surgeons that charge around $7500-$8000 the last time I checked. Surgery is not an area to go with the lowest price!

That can be a sign of dehydration. Are you sure you are getting enough liquids, especially when you exercise? My mother is a little 96 year old lady who occasionally suffers from low blood pressure, like 60/40. It is usually because she is not drinking enough fluids, and she sometimes needs to get an IV going to get her fluids up. Dehydration can be dangerous, so please be sure to keep drinking Water etc.

Is that a single meal or a day's food? I'm confused. If it's a whole day, it's very little--about 500 calories depending on what the meat is and what kind of Protein shake. If it's for one meal, it's pretty heavy on the calories. I usually tried to stick to about 250-350 calories per meal, and often had a snack or two between.

Do you remember back in the 70's when they had this psychology babble about Parent, Adult, and Child aspects of personality? Basically, it said that we react to other people in one of those aspects. (I usually overdo the Parent part.) I guess what I am saying is that we should talk to our doctors as Adult to Adult, working logically to find the best way to be healthy. This allows us to be responsible for our own decisions and to work with our doctors to find the best solution to our health problems. If I had a doctor who did not respond appropriately as another Adult, I would find another doctor. But if you go into your appointment with your Child face on, don't expect the doctor to treat you as responsible Adult!

Your doctor is someone you hire to help you with your health. If he or she has a good reason to advise you against WLS, listen and evaluate what they say. But if your doctor simply doesn't like WLS and refuses to consider it, find another doctor. Your doctor is your employee, not your mother or your boss. If they don't want to work with you on your obesity in a way you find satisfactory, hire someone else to do the job.

Most doctors say no shakes because for many people they are not a satisfying meal that will keep you full until the next meal. So you end up drinking a 200 calorie drink and then eating also, which is going to raise your calorie intake and inhibit your weight loss. The "no shake" rule is a weight loss rule, not a band safety rule. Some rules your doctor gives you are to avoid slippage, pouch stretching, and other damage to your band. Examples would be not drinking with meals and avoiding solids for the first few weeks after banding. Other rules are to help you lose weight and do not affect the health of your band. The "no shake" rule falls under the second category. If you are tight at certain times of the day or feel your Protein intake is too low, there is nothing harmful about having a Protein shake in place of a meal. But if you count your calories and find you can't keep your other food intake low enough to continue to lose while drinking shakes, then cut them out. And remember I am talking about low fat, low sugar protein shakes, not regular milk shakes! A large Jack in the Box milkshake is over 1400 calories, and there is no way anyone is going to lose weight while getting proper nutrition if they are drinking those things.

If anyone is headed to Mexicali from the Phoenix area for a fill before the end of the month, I am looking to share a ride. Please pm me if you are headed down to Dr Aceves.

No, it's because he has horrible stats and a terrible reputation. I don't always go to my doctor for fills, and there are several others I would recommend for either surgery or fills. Huacuz is definitely not one of them. "Be careful" is right!