SpecialK

Hi Sweetbean. I had Dr. Price and really liked him really well but I have also met folks who went to Dr. Curry in Cincinnati due to being self-pay and saved I believe about $8,000 so its worth considering for sure. (I think Mt. Carmel costs about $20K and Cincy runs $12K) Curry has an office here in town for follow up appts. Check out the next Columbus Polaris mall gathering for May and you'd be able to meet those who went to Dr. Curry. If you want to stay in Columbus, I highly recommend Dr. Price.

Here is something fun you guys might consider -- Big Band Bash in Cincy by Dr. Curry's team. I'll be on vacation in Florida at this time but it sounded like something fun. Big Band Bash - Invitation!

Great seeing you check in here Juli. Hang in there.

Here is a link over to a post on Juli's plastics site http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f12/oh-julis-plastic-surgery-87383/index4.html#post1197086

Isn't it scary how candy has reared its ugly head for us at one year out? I can now have alot of pity for our RNY surgery friends who find that eating candy causes them to dump and be very sick or worse yet, they discover that the candy doesn't make them sick and it becomes their weakness also. Need to keep our head in the game!== getting healthy!

Hi HollyRNOH-- assuming you're a nurse from Ohio. Shouting out from another Buckeye to say you really don't have to worrry about the pain. Laprascopic surgery was pretty easy and like the others, I had most of the pain medicine left and didn't need it post op. Really could have gone back to my office job in 3-4 days but I took a week off.

Hi friends. I have stubbed my toe a little here in the last week and I think its because I set myself up for a hit by making myself push hard to get to that -100 number by my bandiversary and then I didn't make it by March 31 and I'm still not there. I sat down and asked myself what the heck are you doing? You're sabotaging yourself because you didn't hit a specific weight loss number and in the past I got to this magic 100 lbs off thing and then I slid back down the slope and regained it back. Maybe I'm subconsciously worried that if I pass the 100 mark I will then slide backward? Weird. I have a long way to go so I made a conscious decision today to take control back again, think about better food choices. Put tempting foods away, like hide the Easter candy, put the chips away that didn't get eaten at the neighborhood party, and if the family doesn't consume them this Sunday, to throw them away. I went back and thought about when I hit my -90 lbs at Valentines Day and maybe I should be content with about -5lbs a month at a rate of loss at this point but I think I can do better if I don't keep slipping and eating things I know I shouldn't. So tonight, I thought, what kind of a snack is low calorie and filling and I tried to eat about a 1/2 cup of cantaloupe and I couldn't believe how fast that filled me up. I obviously have restriction if that can fill me up so I need to leave 'slider' foods alone that melt or dissolve on the way down. Okay, now that is off my chest, I am looking forward to tomorrow being a better day. Also I've been taking pain pills Tylenol with Codeine and antibiotics for an abscessed tooth and I noticed that my fingers are all swollen and I had a sudden Water weight gain so I'm going to stay away from the scale and just give myself a break for a week. I had my root canal surgery today and I'm sore but I hope this will settle things. Still have to go through the process to get the crown down.. Just when I thought I was paying off last year's medical things, this is an unexpected chunk to pay.

I had Dr. Price and from the date I was approved by my insurance until surgery date was about 6 weeks total. I think the other doctors at Mt. Carmel like Dr. Choban and other places in Columbus are about 4-6 weeks out from the time you get approval. Hang in there.

Juli-- your Central Ohio friends are pulling for you and praying too that all goes great with your PS tomorrow. Best Wishes.

I had Dr. Price at Mt. Carmel for my lapband surgery and highly recommend him.!

1. I am taking Biotin to help with my hair loss - suggestion from this site as well as my hair dresser. She said anytime you have a period of rapid weight loss, the body will react and hair can be lost but it will come back if you had big thick hair before, you will again. Keeping Protein up like the other post said is the key. 2. I think I will be able to lose as much with my lapband as I could have with gastric bypass. I've lost 98 in the first year with a starting weight at 355 so I have at least a hundred more to go and I think I can get there with this tool. From what I know of gastric bypass patients in my hospital's support group, they would have lost maybe 100-125 when I've lost 100 but then weight loss does start slowing down for them too, and it becomes more and more like lapband that they have to be careful choosing their food portions or they can gain back. In the total of 2-3 years, the lapband patients are definitely losing as much as gastric bypass. 3. No lapband is not just for those with a lower BMI or less to lose. There are many of us on this forum who are banded and were well over 300 and even 400 or more pounds and do well. 4. I take a multi-vitamin daily and I also take a Vitamin D and Calcium based on what my doctor said for me and my age (over 50) but see what your doctor says. In no way would I be dramatically malnourished if I wasn't taking my daily Vitamin but gastric bypass patients absolutely must take the vitamins because they aren't absorbing enough from what I know because it is both a restrictive and malabsorptive surgery versus lapband is only restrictive as a weight loss tool. 5. Average weight loss varies -- many of us who were banded at the same time I was and had alot to lose have lost 80-100 lbs in one year but the loss rate is slowing some. We have a couple ladies who have lost an amazing 120 and 150 pounds but that is exceptional. We have several others who had less to lose but are very happy to be down 50 to 80 lbs in their first year. Bottom line, it depends on how much you want to work with your band, go and get your fills to keep your restriction, get exercise in, etc. Hope this helps!

Hi ladies. I'm from the Columbus area and I got banded on St. Patrick's Day 2008! Almost 98 lbs gone forever! Mony - what part of Ohio?

When Bob and Jillian hug and say goodbye to their team members before they have to go and do the elimination room, I think they are both whispering or advising their team on what to do on who to eliminate. I think Jillian for sure reminded them that Nicole was a threat to them and this was their chance to get her off. Also, that I didn't hear them say to Nicole that if she gained she could lose immunity but I think this might be the show finally stopping the game playing where someone has immunity and drinks a bunch of water right before a weigh in that week so that the following week, they have an even bigger loss. Hurray for the show if they are finally nailing those who are manipulating the scale with a water gain if that is what happened.

Hi Karen, I will definitely pray for you and I know you'll do great. I decided not to take my own robe, slippers with me because the hospital gave me a second gown to use as a robe - tieing in front, and they give you those kind of slipper socks with rubberized strips on them. I just went home in the same clothes I came in the day before. I did bring a bottle of Chloraseptic for my throat or sugar free cough drops because I was told you might have a little sore throat from the surgery but I really didn't need that either. I took a book or magazine to read. Take care.

aJoneen........................0 75 pounds LOST! Bandana....................... 0 92 lbs lost BrandNewLisa............0 80pounds LOST forever!!! evelas5000...................0 50 pounds Lost Desdemona...................0 Fenton...........................0 100 POUNDS LOST !! HarleyGirl..................0 85 pounds LOST! Hopeinapril................. 0 50 pounds lost! Kpodski........................0 Lynnt1215.................0 NurseNiki...................0 Nycm00.......................0 Potatie..........................0 100 POUNDS LOST!! Scrappy_Friend......0 150 POUNDS LOST!!!! SpecialK.....................-5 97 lbs and closing in on 100! Sugarbean..................-2 112 POUNDS LOST !!! Sharona.......................0 stellabella...................0 HALFWAY TO GOAL! Tess415......................0 Thin2bme................. 0 100 POUNDS LOST !! WestCoastMom........0 Wishin4......................0 73 pounds gone!!

Sillypuddy - sounds like you are moving along great on getting all your clearances. Keep it up! I had a .25 cc (tiny tiny) lapband fill on Monday a.m. and then I was on liquids that day and went to semi-soft the next day and I'm up to full food as of today. I had a salad with a grilled chicken breast and dipped my fork and the tiny pieces of chicken in fat free ranch dressing and after an hour of working on it, I had eaten it all. Wow! Here's the part that you'll either laugh about or go Ewww! My salad had a little extra protein at the very bottom -- when I got almost done I spotted something black and was not sure if it had wings on it but yep ... it did and I saw that dead bug after I ate the whole salad! One other interesting factoid --- 1 fluid oz of saline is = 29 ml so .25 ml = .008 fl. oz. WOW that really helps me think about how tiny that amount of saline he put into my band really is. ml = milliliter. This is a VOLUME measurement. it is 1/1000 of a liter. when talking about water or similar liquids, it is equivelant to one cubic centimeter. cc = cubic centimeter. This is also a VOLUME measurement. Most syringes measure their capacity in cc's. If you have a 5cc syringe, it will hold ~5ml of liquid in it. (so 1 cc = 1 ml) And the good news is, the scale is moving on down again! Amazing considering that is such a tiny adjustment on the band.

That is FANTASTIC! I can't wait until my surgeon says the same to me!

Here is a link over to the Mt. Carmel group thread. Some interesting topics. http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f56/n-e-1-been-banded-mt-carmel-col-oh-31225/index93.html#post1180819

I'm a little behind in posting this but there is still plenty of options to attend. They are held the First Monday of the month (except for holidays) from 6-7 pm in the Mt. Carmel West Auditorium which is located in the Mt. Carmel Medical Staff Bldg which is just south of the Emergency Room entrance. Check out www.mchs.com for the site layout of the hospital. Parking is about $2.50 for the 1-2 hours of the meeting. April 25 meeting -- Annual Fashion Show at Tuttle Mall !!!! May 4 - Addiction Transference June 1 - Childhood Obesity July 6 - Vacation Planning August 3 - Community Action Raising Awareness September 14 -- Exercise September -- WALK FROM OBESITY -- Google for more info October 5 - Body Image Disturbances November 2 - Healthy Holiday Recipe Exchange & Potluck December 7 - New Years Resolutions

I was able to see Dr. Miller for a tiny fill of .25 cc's yesterday to bring me to 10.25 ccs in a 14 band. When I explained to him that my calorie count was climbing consistently above 1500 and that I wasn't staying satisfied long enough with a meal or snack portion, he agreed it was time for an adjustment but also said now that I am getting pretty full on my band, he will go very conservatively on each adjustment because he doesn't want to have to do an unfill. After having read where others got .5 cc and were in the E.R. the next day or two getting an unfill back out of that adjustment, I'm willing to go the conservative route. So here is a real mental victory for me... I had a business lunch at a Japanese Steak House on the east side of Columbus just 3 hours after getting my band adjustment which puts me on liquids only for the day. So here I am ordering Hibachi Chicken (yum) and watching everyone else eat their whole meal while I sipped on ice water. I got a take home box for my whole lunch and just had to explain to the vendor who was buying lunch that I had a doctor appt and needed to be on liquids but that I'd enjoy the meal the following day. What I didn't tell them was that meal will probably make me about 3-4 meals! So will-power prevailed and knowing I can't risk eating on a band fill day kept me strong. The scale is down this a.m. but I expected it would be after a day of liquids so now the gradual increase in food types will help me see if this adjustment did the trick on staying full and portion control.

Carrie and Terri -- WOW you both look great. Thanks for sharing the photos. SharonA -- to post pictures you have to use the POST REPLY button to create a new reply instead of doing a Quick Reply and then there is a paperclip icon to let you attach .jpg files. The Post Reply is at the Bottom Left of the last thread reply you can see.

I think the stories on here of what it feels like to be at 1 Year Out are so helpful -- more so than any surgeon could have explained pre-op that we would lose slower, and that it could take 2-3 years even to reach full weight loss. That reality that Year 1 (March 2008-Feb 2009) was our "Lightening speed round" and that Year 2 (March 2009-Feb 2010) are the marathon half-way point for me and maybe Year 3 (March 2010-February 2011) will be my marathon 'wall' (like the 24 mile marker in a marathon) where I am at 90% of my goal and not sure I'll cross the finish line but even so, I am determined to keep putting one foot in front of the other, slow down and walk if I need to, (slow losing periods), and even stop and take a breath (plateau on weight loss) if that is what it takes to get through a 3 year plan for me. I am going to ask my surgeon for a small fill tomorrow, maybe as little as .25 cc to see if that adjustment will help me retain my food in my pouch longer. Its not so much the quantity I can eat at one sitting, but its how long it stays with me and how much time before I'm hungry and looking for something else to eat. Last, this end of Year 1 point, has made it that much more for me to have empathy for those who went the RNY route, lost tremendous weight in the first year, and then slowly figured out how they too could keep on eating a little bit more, and more, and then realized they didn't have restriction any longer or figured out they could eat sweets and that knowledge sabotaged them finishing their journey too. I am that much more committed to the idea of the Adjustability of the lapband, that if I keep going for follow ups, I will get there. For my RNY friends who I've known now for a year from monthly hospital support group meetings, are now hitting their slow loss period and its disconcerting to them too except they just have to go it as is from the perspective that there isn't anything the surgeon can do now for them except tell them "stay committed to small portions."

aJoneen........................-3 75 pounds LOST! Bandana....................... +3 92 lbs lost BrandNewLisa............0 80pounds LOST forever!!! evelas5000..................-3 50 pounds Lost Desdemona...................0 Fenton...........................0 100 POUNDS LOST !! HarleyGirl..................0 85 pounds LOST! Hopeinapril................. +1 50 pounds lost! Kpodski........................0 Lynnt1215................. +2 NurseNiki...................0 Nycm00.......................0 Potatie.........................-3 100 POUNDS LOST!! Scrappy_Friend....-5 150 POUNDS LOST!!!! SpecialK...................-.5 Sugarbean..................-2 110 POUNDS LOST !! Sharona......................-4 stellabella...............,-.8 HALFWAY TO GOAL! Tess415......................0 Thin2bme............... 0 100 POUNDS LOST !! WestCoastMom........0 Wishin4......................0 73 pounds gone!! I see my surgeon tomorrow and am hoping for a tiny fill adjustment as I am finding my hunger comes back in a shorter amount of time that I want so hopefully just a little tweak will keep me moving on down!

Here is a link over to my March 2008 group forum where I posted some pictures of before & after. http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f114/march-bandsters-master-thread-53908/index287.html#post1174993 I have 2 postings so look before and/or after where this link starts. Congratulations Greg! I'm doing lots of exercise too and it does seem like I am building muscle for the short term but hang in there!

Sorry, I found out that they only let you attach 5 in one post, so here goes the rest. The bright green jacket and shamrocks scarf was my St. Patty's outfit and it go lots of fun comments. Plus I had on my lucky shamrock socks today too. The dark green sweater is what I wore to the hospital on my surgery day. My brother took the picture with the Good Luck Care Bear right before we left for the hospital. Silly but it made me feel good.