AudricIan

I feel your pain. I went to Mexico and it was 8500 (December 07 price)with Dr. Ortiz, no one went with me and I drove myself home 2 days later (about 3 hours from mexico border). You will be there with a group of people and you will all stay at the hotel together (separate rooms of course). I hardly felt like I was there alone. I do not know much about Dr. Raumbaut but I know there is one in Mexico that you should avoid all together, really high failure rate. I would do a search on LBT with Dr. Raumbaut's name to see if there are any complaints. If you have a fill center close then you should be okay and if your primary MD is training to be a fill center you will be even better off! Good luck to you and your journey....I probably wouldn't waste my time with your insurance, they are not going to budge.

Denise, I did have a slight unfill, however, it just kept getting tighter and tighter. I am sure that I was dehydrated as when you do not get enough liquids the band gets tighter. It was a cycle, not enough water, tighter band, too tight to drink, band gets tighter and tighter. I have not had any reflux since the band was loosened. I have gained about 2 lbs back over the past month but honestly I am okay with that. Me at 129 lbs was kind of scary LOL! We did use a huber needle and accessing my port was very easy since it is just under the skin, there is no fat around it at all. I am thankful for a true friend who rushed over on her day off and took care of me. I did find out that my local fill center now has Fluoro which is exciting, the fill center is only 1 mile from my house. I know the warning signs now, any reflux and I will be scheduling an unfill. Sooverit, speaking of cheeseburgers, I had one today and OMG did it taste good!!!! Probably gained another pound back, I may have to go get .1 -.2 cc's put back in because I can eat anything and don't have to chew it to shreds first. Still some restriction and decent I feel full for 4-5 hours. I officially love my band again!

Denise and other LBT'ers, Well, today was a very scary day for me. All night long I had reflux, really bad, I would wake up choking. It has been going on for a few days. No other problems though, but I know that my band is still too tight. I can only eat 2-4 oz. of food per day. Since I was banded in Mexico, it's not like I could just load up the kids and run down to Dr. Ortiz without an appointment. I had been trying to get in at the fill center to get some taken out but, they are only open in my area on Thursday and I knew that I could not wait until Thursday, I may choke to death in my sleep. So I thought of going to the ER. Then I thought about the horror stories of people waiting in the ER. I could just see me with my two young kids, dad is at work all day today. They want to run you through a million tests and then maybe they can find someone to help you with your band issues. Since I am not a doctor, they probably wouldn't even listen to me when I am telling them what they need to do. Then I called my friend who is a home health nurse/former ER nurse. She rushed over I did the unthinkable and let her take some fill out of my band. She only took about .4 cc's out but WOW do I feel better. (She used the correct needle for anyone who is reading this....don't freak out). It was super fast and very easy for her to do, my port is popping out of my abdomen since I have lost so much weight. I am able to drink an entire bottle of water now without gagging. I haven't drank an entire bottle of water in about 5 months. My fears of band slippage are gone, I was still a little too tight. Today is the first time that I thought to myself "what have I done to my body". I thought if I could take this band out myself I would. I don't suggest anyone do what I had to do today. It worked for me, I still have some restriction and hopefully tonight I can rest without fears of choking on reflux. :thumbup: Has anyone else suffered from bad reflux from being too tight? Relieved, Nicole

I can't wait to use this one. I think getting food stuck is right up there with the feeling of....child labor or maybe facial waxing. I pb almost everday at lunch time...wonder if I can do this in the bathroom at the office? Sticking your finger down your throat to help gag it up is not only gross, it is also not good on the band. I will let you all know when I use this fancy new move! LOL

I forgot that I started this thread. Let me tell you all what happened to my side pain. I was overfilled and I kept PB'ing. So to help with my hunger, I began drinking a lot of milk and instant breakfast. Everytime I would drink the milk, my side would start to hurt, really bad. So, I cut out the milk for a few days and the pain went away. Then, I drank a milkshake and the pain came right back. So, it must be something to do with the milk, or lactose. I just quit drinking so much milk and I feel a lot better.

I would love to go crazy and eat a huge Cheeseburger in like 5 minutes...sadly, with the right restriction, you will not be able to scarf down that cheeseburger. However, I can promise you that after 5-6 bites of that big juicy cheeseburger, you will feel like you splurged and ate the entire thing!!! You will be so full that you will not wan to eat another cheeseburger for a year. Common misconsception is that you will be starving and not be able to eat anything. With the right restriction, you will not be starving and you will be able to eat...just not as much:scared2:. As for me, long time no chat. I have some great updates, one: I no longer work from home, back in the office....which means no LBT :cool2: during the day...okay, that one was not so great. Two: I am 1 lb below my goal weight. I weigh in at 129 in the morning:lol::w00t::tt2:. Three: I have blown my dream to be a size 7....I am now a size 5:thumbs_up::thumbs_up:. I can't believe that I am now one of those skinny chicks that you envy so much. I go to a dept store and instead of worrying if the size 16 is going to fit me, I can't seem to find a size 5 that is small enough in the butt and legs. I actually got a new pair of slacks that are a 4P....the P means petite!!!! My hubby acutally tells me I am too skinny, I don't think there is such a thing. My confidence is through the roof! With my new found confidence, I have been promoted to supervise all of my fellow Nurses! That explains why I no longer work from home. So, to anyone who doubts the band, like I did, just hang in there, get those fills and watch it work! I did it in 8 months, over 50lbs lost!

Armywife, Wow, I must have put that comment in a while ago! I am now 140.8 (as of this morning) My husband is calling me anorexic (no clue how to spell that word). I have been pb'ing and sliming quite a bit since the second fill. I finally got the courage up to call and schedule a slight unfill and low and behold, I was able to eat that day! Maybe I was just freaking myself out or maybe the last 2-3 lbs I have lost made the difference. Either way, I am happy I can eat again and I am still losing. I was going through some old paperwork the other day and I ran across my military records. When I enlisted I was 18 and I weighed 139 lbs. I am now 30 and I weigh 140 lbs. I just can't believe it. I want to go run a marathon and shop til I drop! My goal was 130 lbs or a size 7 pants. I am now a size 8 pant (in the waist) my legs and butt are more like a size 6. This is actually working for me, now if I could only get my butt to the gym and tone up:bored:. I hope your journey goes as smoothly as mine has. Don't slack with your follow up care and if you ever get to the point where you are too "tight", don't wait 4 months like me to call your doctor. Everyone on here has given such good advice and so many people have gone through what you have so far and what you will in the future. Trust your gut and trust LBT! Take care.

This all sounds true to me. You have to look at it like this, it has taken 10 years to figure out how to "install" the band and figure out how to take care of the band once installed. The first people to have it done and the first doctor's to perform the surgery had no idea what they were getting into. Now, we have all the research and studies to help our surgeons do the job correctly and for us to take care of our bands. Do you think the first 100 people who had the band knew how often to get a fill or an unfill, do you think they knew what the pain in their shoulder or chest was? No way, it was all new and no research had been done. In essence, Europe and other countires were the "guinea" pigs. I have faith in my surgeon but, there are not too many people on here that have had the band 5 + years. This doctor in the video may only do RNY so of course he is going to "knock" the band and try and scare people from getting the band, he is losing business.

I forgot to add that I am 30 now, I went to a rated 'R" movie over the weekend with my 15 year old niece. When I went to buy the tickets I actually was carded, not kidding! What a confidence boost.

Do it! I chopped mine off, about 12 inches shorter than it was. I too went dark as my natural color is a "dirty blonde". I have gotten so many comments. Everyone says my eyes look stunning, big and blue. With my long hair no one ever noticed my big baby blues. Now they POP! I love my short hair too.