Lori in Cali

I worked in a bridal salon for a long, long time. The first thing you do need to do is track down the manufacturer of the dress. They almost certainly have showrooms in Manhattan. Call them, tell them you have had weight loss surgery and that you are wondering if you can wait until May or June to order their dress. The odds are very good that they will tell you that won't be a problem. The vast majority of dresses, from both high end and low end manufacturers alike, can be had in under two months when necessary. Four months is usually quite comfortable. You need to talk to the actual alterations lady at the salon to see what she has to say about the dress you've picked. She may say to you that she can only take the dress down one size and if that is the case, then that's probably not a good choice for you. When I had pregnant brides coming through, I'd always have them talk to the alterations lady so that they knew exactly what they were getting into. Generally speaking, a size 14 can be altered down to a 10 or back up to a 16 - that's probably your best bet, but that doesn't into account the style of your dress. They are certain necklines and certain bodices that have very little room for alterations. Next, put an ad up on Craig's List Creative Gigs (it won't cost anything) for a local dressmaker. Find someone with a real portfolio and real references. There are lots of seamstresses who make their living knocking off bridal and evening gowns for individuals and they do a beautiful job. Also, check local fabric shops that carry HIGH END bridal materials and see if they have referrals. They will usually know all the best seamstresses in the area and who is the most reliable. Under your circumstances, that's probably the best way for you to go. Having worked in the bridal industry, my alarm bells are going off. I'm wondering if either the salon or the manufacturer is in financial trouble and that's the reason for the long wait period. Something isn't right here. Anyway, however you go, have a beautiful wedding. :thumbdown:

Your daughter is well within the guidelines that physicians look for when performing weight loss surgery on teens. If you can help her now - great. Here's a couple news articles: Lap Band Surgery Helps Bremerton Girl Be 'The Kid I Want To Be' : Top Stories : Kitsap Sun Lap band surgery effective in combating obesity in adolescents The top article is about a young girl in New jersey who went to Mexico with her mom and Dr. Ariel Ortiz did the surgery. At his website, he has the story of Cassie - a young teen he performed surgery on who has turned out to be quite a glamorous young lady - as well as, effective spokesperson. Here's an interview with him I have posted on my site. My apologies for the blog pimping: YouTube interview with Dr. Ariel Ortiz I think Dr. Van Wagner does some teens, but I don't remember the full story. I do know that he has smart people who answer the phone and answer your questions very directly. He has some videos up online. You can get a real sense of whether he someone you're interested in. He's the only physician in the practice, so you always see him. He does all the adjustments and follow up care for his patients. It's small and personal. Heart of America Bariatrics, LLC Video Website Best of luck. I think you're doing a wonderful thing for your daughter. Set that child free and let her be the young woman she really wants to be. This forum has a sub-forum for teenagers, so she can communicate with other teens.

I've been reading Dr. Paul O'Brien's book, The Lap Band Solution. He's one of the doctors in Australia that's done a massive amount of research on Lap Bands. He would say that you must get in and talk to your doctor and impress upon him/her that you are not losing weight. When was the last time you went in for a check up? Had you stalled at the time? What did the doctor tell you when you called to say you weren't losing weight? On another note, are you consuming any caffeine? Caffeine causes the blood sugar level of Type II diabetics to spike up to 36% after dinner. That can definitely have an impact on your weight loss. Dr. Atkins always told his patients that wouldn't lose weight on his diet if they were drinking coffee. He didn't know why but he did know it to be the case. Along that line, one can of diet soda a day is sufficient to trigger metabolic syndrome - the series of health symptoms that lead to full blown diabetes. Since you're stuck, if you haven't laid off those things - do it now. No caffeine, no artificial sweeteners. See what happens after a few weeks. I had a friend who struggled mightily for months on Atkins to lose 40 pounds. She finally laid off caffeine, and boom! it was gone. And she was in her fifties at the time. It's been several years, and she still won't touch it. But really, you need to get back in to see your surgeon, or a bariatric surgeon.

Jeff, Well, lucky you. I'm savin' mah pennies to get my surgery done. The numbers on diabetes remission and Lap Bands are fantastic. Something like 73% of Type II diabetics see their diabetes move into remission. I have a friend who was taking 120 units of insulin a day. She was in her fifties, and weighed 350 pounds. Within a few months of having her Lap Band surgery, she was totally off insulin. Her diabetes is now in complete remission. Good luck. Gastric Surgery Can Send Diabetes Into Remission - Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 Diabetes, Type 1, and Metabolic Disorders Treatment and Medications on MedicineNet.com

BubbleButt, I'm not trying to mislead anyone, nor did i say that World Med Assist works with Ortiz. I mentioned several options and World Med Assist was just one. I mentioned Baker in Dallas, as well as Rumbaut and Ortiz. It may well be cheaper to have the surgery without World Med Assist but the fact that they have a clientelle for this is evidence that not everyone has the nerve to get up and fly there on their own for surgery. For those of us in the southwest, it's probably a good deal less foreign that for people in other parts of the nation. And for those people, having an additional interface may make the process less intimidating. The point of my post was to open up options for someone who needs options. That's all.

bariatric surgeons in Texas and includes their credentials, how many of each type of surgery they have performed, where they went to school, what their professional affiliations are and reviews from their patients. For instance, here's Dr. Wade Barker's page: http://www.obesityhelp.com/morbidobesity/bariatric+surgeon+profile+Wade+Barker+dhs.html Using the list should probably allow you to assemble a lot of information over one afternoon. Here's all of the doctors for Texas. Good luck! http://www.obesityhelp.com/forums/TX/a,doclisting/type,46/

I'd encourage you to have a talk with your doctor about your need for treats. it may well be that there is a way to tweak your eating plan that's helps deal with that. I can't speak for others, but when I'm on a low carb diet with sufficient fat in it, I experience very little need to munch. I've been reading Dr. Paul O'Brien's book - he's the researcher/surgeon in Australia that has done more studies on the Lap Band than anyone else I know of. What he emphasizes over and over again is that if something is getting in the way of you losing weight or doing what you're supposed to, you should talk to your doctor about it. Don't assume this is just you being an undisciplined bum. I'd also encourage you to understand the mechanics of weight loss and weight gain. Because if you know what catalyst you're unleashing every time you drink a Starbucks drink or snack on something you shouldn't, it may make it easier to avoid that stuff. The first problem with coffee or tea is the caffeine. Studies have found that drinking caffeine with Breakfast makes blood sugar levels spike through out the entire day - including a 36% spike after dinner. When your body has lots of glucose floating around in it, your pancreas releases insulin to convert all of that energy to fat. With Snacks - particularly processed food - you're causing your blood sugar to rise quickly, and that's food that's going to be plastered directly to your hips, thighs and tummy. Here's a 60 second video from the Mayo Clinic about how food turns into glucose and what happens from there. http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/blood-sugar/MM00641 And here's an explanation of the whole process from Calories Per Hour: http://www.caloriesperhour.com/tutorial_sugar.php "Our pancreas creates a hormone called insulin that transports blood sugar into our body’s cells where it is used for energy. When we eat refined grains that have had most of their Fiber stripped away, sugar, or other carbohydrate-rich foods that are quickly processed into blood sugar, the pancreas goes into overtime to produce the insulin necessary for all this blood sugar to be used for energy. This insulin surge tells our body that plenty of energy is readily available and that it should stop burning fat and start storing it". Watch the video a few times. Reread the text. The next time you're tempted to snack on something you shouldn't, remember that stuff. Thinking about your fat cells getting fatter because you're drinking Starbucks will likely slow you down as least part of the time. Remember, that drink isn't bad for you just because it's calorie dense and liquid so it slides through your band easily, it's bad for you because it has caffeine and that caffeine may very mean that your body holds on to MORE of the calories you eat ALL DAY LONG. As for snacks, they're processed and quickly broken down by your body, so your blood sugar will rise rapidly in response, and your body will store more of what you eat as fat. And talk to your doctor. See if he/she has any advice for you or if they want to make some changes in your diet.

http://www.cmcwls.com/insurance.php A patient is 100 pounds or more over ideal weight for height and body structure, and has one of these associated medical conditions: Diabetes mellitus, hypertension, cholecystitis, narcolepsy, Pickwickian Syndrome (and other severe respiratory diseases), hypothalamic disorders, and severe arthritis of the weight-bearing joints. A patient is 200% or more of the ideal weight for height and body structure. An associated medical condition is not required for this category. A patient has complications from a non-covered surgical treatment for obesity, such as intestinal bypass, and needs one of the three surgical procedures that are covered. Tricare Standard does not cover any others services, medications, or supplies related to obesity or weightreduction. Non-surgical treatment of morbid obesity, such as wiring the jaws, camps for obesity treatment,or special diets, are not covered. Gastric bypass procedure is covered, Lap Band procedure is not covered. And hypertension is high blood pressure. If you're doing loud, ugly moose snoring where you can't breathe, that is sleep apnea. If they turn your down, call the Obesity Law Center and get their help. Call 'em even you think you can't afford it. They work hard at making themselves affordable for us working class types. http://www.obesitylaw.com/

will help you get it done in Mexico for $8k. They'll fly you there, drive you to the hospital, make sure all your paperwork is in order and drive you back to the airport the next day. If there are any problems, they'll function as patient advocates and help straighten the problem out. if any aspect of your health is causing your concern above and beyond obesity, you'll also spend the night in the hospital there with the physicians keeping an eye on you. That would cost thousands of dollars here in the US and make it much more expensive. You'll find a lot of people on this board who had their surgeries done in Mexico. The doctors there were doing Lap Band procedures before the doctors here were. When the FDA finally approved the Lap Band, Inamed brought physicians up front Mexico to teach the doctors here how to do the surgery. People like Ariel Ortiz and Roberto Rumbaut have performed literally thousands of the surgeries. Rumbaut, himself, has a Lap Band. The centers in Mexico where these doctors work are beautiful, modern and specifically designed to get American healthcare dollars - so they are built to satisfy American consumers. Here's an interview with Dr. Ortiz and you can see the facility where he works. http://lovemylapband.wordpress.com/2008/02/19/youtube-interview-with-dr-ariel-ortiz/ And here's World Med Assist: http://www.worldmedassist.com I know someone who posts on this board has a signature that says her surgery was done by Dr. Wade Barker in Dallas for $9500, so you might want to check that out as well.

Denise, Most bras today aren't very comfortable. I have no idea why, either. I'd really encourage you to hit a real lingerie store with real undies and try a few things on there. I just took a girlfriend of mine to Nordstrom a few weeks ago. She's 45 and had never bothered to buy herself a really good bra. She would say things like, "Victoria's Secret bras last a long time." I kept trying to tell her that good bras could be comfortable but she didn't believe me. She got fitted right, and she's sworn off Victoria's Secret from here on out. I know, I know. :coolgleamA:

about going to Mexico. A lot of Americans think it's scary but there are oodles of healthcare facilities in Mexico that are designed to attract wealthy foreigners to their confines. There are companies like World Med Assist that help arrange American trips to Mexico for healthcare as well. Lap Bands were approved in Mexico before they were approved in the US. Cathy Pickren, who works for Dr. Rumbaut (who has a Lap Band himself), lived in Seattle and was referred to Mexico by her physician in the 90s. When the FDA finally approved the Band, the manufacturer brought in the surgeons from Mexico to teach American doctors how to perform the surgery safely. You look at people like Ortiz, Rumbaut and Corvala and they've performed, literally, thousands and thousands of surgeries. Most of the hospitals and surgery centers that they use have lots of photos online and you can see testimonials from their patients. However you go, best of luck!

yes, of course, they'll help you deal with insurance. It's how they get paid. They know what your insurance requires and they'll help you find a way to meet the requirements. Northwest Surgery Center has a really good page on what you need to do: Adjustable Gastric LAP-BAND Surgery Insurance Coverage Information If you want to learn more about Lap Bands, you should check out the manufacturer's site: Home As well as read as much here as you can. There is great stuff in the magazine here. Have fun.

congratulations on all the life changes. You know what they say - living well is the best revenge. I've loved being in my fifties. I think you'll find it's a whole lot of fun.

Ebay is great for stuff like that. Sometimes you can find really amazing deals. It's not as much fun as shopping at Nordstrom but I've gotten Wacoal and all sorts of stuff on Ebay. Look for a vendor with a lot of feedback - over 30 at least. Stick to brands you know and don't hesitate to ask questions. In addition, www.justmysize.com has some amazing sales on undies and I think they carry your size.

have a 72% decrease in the risk of dying over people who don't. Pretty dramatic, huh? http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/news_press_release,228703.shtml First off, no one should have surgery that isn't comfortable with it. It's not likely to go well if you're having serious misgivings. But there are a few relevant facts that you need to add to your decision making process. First of all, losing weight is something most obese people can do. What most people can't do is keep the weight off and over 95% who lose weight gain it back and then gain more after two years. The reasons for that are pretty simple and have nothing to do with eating well, exercise or employing self-discipline. Once you lose a certain amount of weight - somewhere around 10% of excess weight - your body begins cranking down your metabolism so that it becomes harder for you to lose weight. At the same time, it begins flooding you with chemicals that make you hungrier than you would normally be. If you can eat a big Mac with medium fries and be happy before you diet, you're gonna super size it to feel full after a dieting. And your metabolism will stay cranked down until you put the weight back on. Taht's what the yoyo syndrome is all about and the danger with the yoyo syndrome is that your body begins packing weight on at a lower and lower calorie level. http://lovemylapband.wordpress.com/2008/03/11/more-on-genetics-and-obesity/ The beauty of weight loss surgery is that it's the first thing we've discovered that allows the human body to reset it's set point - meaning that, once you start losing weight, your body doesn't crank down your metabolism and flood you with hunger signals. Your body continues to function normally. When you lose weight through diet and exercise, your body, counter-intuitively, ceases to function normally. http://lovemylapband.wordpress.com/2008/02/08/set-points-and-weight-loss-surgery/ That's the big picture. Good luck with your decision.

Yes, you need to call Walter Lindstrom at the Obesity Action Center. His law firm specializes in handling that situation and keeping their work affordable for working class people. Walter, himself, has had weight loss surgery and understands how beneficial it is. Before you decide he can't help or you can't afford him, you should definitely give the firm a call. Getting an approval isn't a cake walk for a lot of people so you have to do everything you can. He can help more effectively at this stage than he can once they've really dug their heels in and thrown up more barriers. Everybody in the industry knows him. He's been a godsend for a lot of people. Here's his website: Obesity Law and Advocacy Center Obesity Law and Advocacy Center

I have a website that's about life and weight loss with a lap band. I'd love to do a couple of phone interviews this week with people who have had lap bands for at least six months. You can have your anonymity or not - your call. I'll type up the interview and send it to you. If there's anything in there you really want out, i'll be happy to pull it out. Here's the site: Love My Lap Band! My blog is pretty new but I'm getting a decent number of hits and I want to begin expanding dramatically what I'm doing. And you know as well as I do, that people considering a band are most interested in hearing from others who already have one. Thanks! I look forward to hearing from you!

takers, so let's do it. Drop me a pm and let me know when you have a half hour to talk. I'll send you a message with my professional website so you know who I am personally. I'm here in California, so I'm guessing that I'm three hours behind you. I look forward to this. Thank you for being willing!!

I'll keep you in mind. This is actually going to be the first interview I do on this site, so I want it to be someone that has some real experience with the band. Good luck with your surgery tomorrow! I'm so jealous!

Hmmm, no takers. I'm not looking for anything dramatic here. I just want to ask you questions about how it feels, how it impacts how you eat, and how it's changed your life - that kinda thing. So that people who are researching gastric banding for the first time can begin to have a real sense of how it feels and how it impacts your life. It'll be less than a half hour and I'll send you a link to my professional website so you know more about me personally. Hopefully, just one or two of you want to spread the word a little bit more.

I got 11 out of 12 of the questions correct. The point of this discussion misses the entire reasoning behind abortion law. The question is whether the government has a right to overrule an individual's bodily physical autonomy. The reasoning and the concerns behind the reasoning are not restricted, in any way, to pregnancy or to women. First of all, you must remember that abortion was legal and entirely unregulated in the United States (in fact, the entire world) when the US Constitution was written. The founding fathers did not perceive it as something that needed to be regulated. It wasn't until the early 19th century before there was any regulation in the US - I think the first state was Maryland. That regulation was designed to protect women who were being preyed upon by careless physicians. This is the problem with overturning the right to abortion - you have government deciding that the well-being of a fetus is more important than the physical well-being of a citizen of the state (that phrase is key). You're deciding that a woman's body can be exempt from the fundamentally democratic ideal that we are all entitled to bodily autonomy. And if Roe were to be overturned, the protections that come with that decisions would impact all of us - regardless of age or gender. That bodily autonomy exemption cannot, Constitutionally speaking, be limited to one gender. If a woman's bodily resources can be plundered to the physical well-being of another, so can a man's. A fetus, who shows early signs of some affliction that requires resources that the mother's body cannot provide, would have the legal right to demand that someone else turn over the resources of their body for it's benefit. That's the immediate, short term fall out of overturning Roe - none of us have a right to bodily autonomy without Roe's protection. The next problem is this - how do you restrict the right to demand the bodily resources of others to fetuses? A fetus who has a certain type of cancer than is caught early in utero would have the legal right to demand that others turn over what ever is needed to mend the cancer early, but once the infant is born, that right would evaporate. Now, we're providing a fetus with more rights than actual born citizens have. That's not going to stand, because then you're saying a fetus' life is more important before it is born than after. How are you going to sustain that in a court of law? You aren't. And then everything is on the table. You'll have wealthy older men demanding that organs be turned over to them. You'll have three year olds with leukemia forcing neighbors into the hospital for bone marrow transplant. You cannot limit the duty to surrender bodily autonomy to only one gender, nor can you limit the right to demand the bodily resources of another to only fetuses. When you look at the fall out of overturning Roe V Wade, it becomes immediately apparent that in this day and age of medical intervention, the fall out is going to be far larger and far more dramatic than the current discussion ever incapsulates. For those who are anti-choice, I will point out that any government that can make abortion illegal is a government that can made abortion mandatory - both of those decisions involve the government having control over our bodily integrity. Feminist factions took a strong stand against forced abortions in China for the very same reason they take a strong stand against abortion being made illegal. There is no one that I know of that is pro-abortion. There are only people who are in favor of a woman deciding whether to carry a pregnancy to term, or the government. It's one or the other. And by the way, Roe being overturned could very well result in abortion being made illegal. It entirely depends upon what the decision is. If the justices decided that fetuses were entitled to constitutional protection, abortion would instantly be illegal.

I made a post in the introduction section saying hello and letting people know that I'm a filmmaker who is looking to interview people about their lap band. I kept looking for a subforum to ask permission from the moderators, but somehow or the other missed this one. I have no idea how. Anyway, I really am a filmmaker and have the links and the IMDb to prove it. I just wanted to let you know my post is up there, and that I'm happy to change anything or provide any information you need to feel comfortable with it. If you feel you need to delete it, that would make me sad, but I'll understand if you do. For the record, this is a site I'm creating on my own with my own money, time and equipment. I'm not hired by anyone to do this, nor am I funded by anyone other than my husband. And I'm not selling anything either. This is a great site, and I'm hoping my post can stay. If it's acceptable, I'd like to put one in the support group for SoCal as well. Let me know. Cheers!

I'm looking to create a website about people's experience with Lap Band surgery. I've looked around for an adminstrator to clear this post with, and I don't really see any. If I've missed you, please accept my apologies. If you feel this post is inappropriate, feel free to delete it. Anyway, I'm looking to interview people in the Los Angeles area about their experience with the lap band - whether they were banded today or eight years ago. I don't have funding for travel right now, so they must be local to me for the time being. I want to create a site where people can go and watch lots of videos of people talking about their experience with the surgery - sortuva visual equivalent of what we have here. Our cameras are all broadcast quality, so the interviews will look like what you see on news shows. I can post links to my site with promos for other projects we have shot, but I don't know if that is appropriate. I'm happy to answer any questions that you have and provide you with a resume and links to my other work. Anyway, I'm hoping I get to meet some of you!