Elsie

Hi Julia To be honest I didnt ask about the lifetime of the band and it wasnt mentioned. Well if there is a complication such as erosion it may have to come out but Dr. Chris said this was very rare. As far as I know the current bands havent been around long enough to have a solid time limit put on them. The way I see it is that in 15 years if it has to be replaced then it has to be replaced but At least I'll be around for it. The way I was going weight wise I probably wouldnt have lasted that long. I certainly wouldnt let it put me off my decision to be banded. In relation to costs, Dr. DeBruyne prices everything separately. The cost for the op is from 3400 euro up to 4000 euro depending on the type of band I think. I have a Heliogast Evolution. Fills cost me EUR120 or if you travel to Belgium they are Eur50.00. I have had 3 fills so far and have spent less than 4500euro which included the fills, op, hotel, flights, taxi etc. The same thing in Ireland was costing nearly 3times as much. Dr. DeBruyne seems to be very concious of costs to his patients and will try to save them money where possible. Let me know if you have more questions. Elsie

Hi Julia I was banded by Dr. DeBruyne in March and I have no regrets. I am very happy with my choice of surgeon and the aftercare I have received. I am in Dublin and Dr. DeBruyne visits once a month for fills and consultations so I dont have to travel to Belgium. He also visits london and edinburgh. Although the price was excellent, the lowest i've seen in fact, that was not the main reason for choosing Dr. DeBruyne. I researched quite a bit and spoke to other patients of his(he has done thousands of ops). I have not heard a bad word about him and he has an extremley low complication rate. He is a true professional. If you have specific questions feel free to PM me. Best of luck with your decision. Elsie

Ailbhe: Sorry to hear all you are going through. Will send you a pm. Marge and Simone (And hopefully some others maybe): See you in Larry Murphys at 12.30. Coco: Good to have you back on the boards. Hope you are feeling ok after your vv op. Thank you for your posts, I found them helpful. Its good to know that even a very successful bandster like you got off to a shaky start i.e. PBing after every meal for the first few months. It certainly helps to know that a lot of people go through it and see results. I think a lot of people (I know I did) think they are never going to get the hang of it and are failures who have wasted their money and are paranoid that people are looking at them thinking “why isn’t she skinny yet?” Hope you see you tomorrow! Skinnyminny2be: Welcome to Lap band talk. Hope your consultation goes well on Friday. Let us know how you get on. Damienne: It was nice to meet you again. Good Luck on Friday. Unfortunately you are the only one who can make this decision. All I can say now is that if you do go ahead with it then you are in good hands with Dr. DeBruyne. Talk soon. Mol: Welcome. Congrats on your weight loss so far and good luck with the operation at the end of the month. I was also terrified of the idea of surgery but it wasn’t half as bad as I thought it would be. I was banded at the start of March and have no regrets. As far as the operation goes, there was some pain, the first two days being the worse. Now I barely remember it and like Ailbhe said I would do it again. At times its not easy dealing with learning how to eat/chew properly but its def worth it. Poor Fern Britton. Its such an invasion of privacy, I personally think it such a personal thing and she was more or less bullied into admitting it. However, fair play to her and I wish her all the best. I think in the long run the more celebs that come out about it, the more acceptable it may become and the less shocked people may be at the idea of it.

Gerri and Holly123: Sorry to hear that the ACS cr*p has started again. I hope they sort you out soon. Lunasa: Good to hear from you again. I’m glad the weight is on its way down . Hi Marge: Glad your doing good. A bit of pain around the port at this stage is normal. Yes you will need to ring Ms Tosh to get an appointment for the 5th June. I will also be getting a fill and would be happy to meet up. Simone and her friend (who is getting a consult) will also be up. My fill is at 2.40 in Pembroke Street. Allure: Hope you and baby Allure are doing good. I also think a recipe Seminar with Coco is a great idea. She posted a few recipe on the board a few months ago which were great. I’ll dig them out maybe and start a thread. Hopefully some more of the experienced Irish bandsters will contribute. Will you be able to make it into town on 5th June for a meet up? Ailbhe: Welcome back from holidays, hope you had a good one, apart from the PBing and fake pregnancy!! I wish I could help you with your food choices but I’m confused too. We are meant to stay away from Mushy food but chew everything to death, does that not make everything we eat a mushy food? You don’t seem to be too bad at getting your portions of fruit and veg in. Its so hard to give up the rubbish isn’t it. It goes down so easily. I figure that if I cut it out completely I will crave it so I allow myself something small everyday (about 100cals) and try to make the rest of it healthy. Anyone else up for a meeting on 5th June in town? Elsie

Hi Allure, I would love to meet up again but unfortunately I'm away this weekend. So maybe next time. I'd love to see the photos. Elsie

Thanks Skinny. I'm delighted its going well for you.

Hi Skinny, I have told no one except immediate family about the band so am kinda dreading social situations that involve eating. I haven't been out for a meal with friends since the last fill but I'm sure it will eventually be noticed. I dont know how I'll handle it yet. Anyway, just wondering, what was his reaction to it? Elsie

Hi Terry, really sorry to hear this.:thumbs_up: You must have been all geared up for it by now. The time will fly and it will be January before you know it. Then the scar will be nicely faded by Bikini season next year!!:confused_smile: How much more do you have to lose? You must be close now, you looked great last time I seen you. Did she answer the question about your port? Will she move it? Has she experience with other Lap Band patients? Elsie

Welcome to LBT KristyLynn There is a thread for scar stages right here on LBT. Heres the link: http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f17/scar-stages-share-yours-6117/index32.html Best of luck with the surgery and the tattoos. Elsie

Hi Marge, Welcome back. I'm delighted it was went well for you. 5.4 Kgs is a great loss already. I only had to wait a month for the first fill so I'm sure Dr. DeBruyne will see you when he is in Dublin on 5th June. He might have said that to you in the hospital but if not email him and see if its ok. Glad your back on track now after those crisps. After the initial swelling in the stomach is gone most things will go down ok but I believe we have to go on liquids so the stomach doesnt have to contract to work at digesting food and give the band time to attach properly to the stomach or something like that. (Sorry, lecture over) Best of luck!!! Gerri: Yes, doesnt seem to be an issue with Dr Chris about putting in more than one ml. I think 2 is standard for the first fill and then he was saying after two months all healing is done so a good bit more can go in. I'm curious what he does for fill three. I reckon he might need to be more conservative with any ACS patients though. He has full historys on his Belgian patients and knows exactly whats going on with them. Good luck with your fill on 29th. Elsie

Siepie: Welcome back. Glad you are doing well. You've had great weight loss already. Enjoy that not hungry feeling!!:tongue: Look forward to seeing you in June. Hi Ailbhe, well the fill certainly made a difference alright. Good or bad, I dont know yet. Having a few issues getting things down. I'm assuming its just me not chewing enough, even though I think I've chewed it to death. When I find something that goes down well, it doesnt fill me. Somethings get stuck and I end up in a lot of pain and go back on liquids for a while. Ah well, I knew this wouldnt be easy. You doing ok? Lucky you going to Spain. Have a ball. Hi Terry, welcome back. Glad the wedding went well. We must have another meet up with Allure and Alesha to see the wedding pix. Have you decided yet whether you will get a defill? The bruising thing doesnt sound good. Can your GP check your iron levels just in case. Hi Damienne, Glad to hear you have booked a date. The 6th June is a Friday I believe, which means thats the day after Dr. DeBruyne will be in Dublin anyway. Maybe you can meet him in Dublin and then get that late flight to Brussels if you didnt want to spend the day over there, rather than going to his office. If you got the late flight and went straight from the airport to his office you would prob make it alright. Its only a few miles away. I will send you a pm with some other suggestions. Dr. DeBruyne does recommend a two week low fat diet. I dont think its a deal breaker for him though. Alesha: I see you lurking there. Hope married life is treating you well!! Marge: How you doing? Elsie

Hi All, Damienne, Skinny and Gilly, nice to meet you all on Thurs. Damienne, have you set a date? Well, I had my second fill on Thursday. I was delighted with the amount Dr. Chris put in. Another 3cc. Hopefully, it will make a good difference. So far so good anyway. Even with all the ladies waiting in ACS, he still managed to keep my appointment time more or less so was happy with that too. PrincessLK: I dont think you were the lady that Ailbhe was talking about with the port problem. This poor lady didnt even have a port anymore. Good luck sorting out yours though. There certainly was a lot of twisted ports in the waiting room when I was there.:Dancing_wub: Ailbhe: Hope that fill is still working for you.:tt1: Enjoy the rest of your weekend. Elsie

Hi All, Myself, Ailbhe and Damienne will be meeting up on Thurs before our fills/consult if anyone wants to join us. We will be meeting up in Larry Murphys pub in Baggot street about 11.30 which is just down from ACS. I know a lot of you have fills that morning so it would be great to meet up. Our fills are at 1.30 so we will be there a while. Anyone interested? Elsie

Simone: Best of luck on Tuesday. You too Marge!! (Hope ye get the same ward) I got your email last week and sent you a reply early in the week. Is that the email you mean? Didnt get anything since. Let us know how you get on. Don't forget to walk, walk and walk. Coco: Have fun in New York. I'm curious to see how the band reacts for you. I do long haul flights a couple of times a year and as it is my insides go nuts for a few days (TMI?)

Hi Skinny. When I was your cousins age, I was about the same weight as her and even then I would never have thought of doing this. It was just too drastic and scary to have surgery. I was still thinking it would just happen one day, that I would just wake up and not want to eat and have a sudden urge to exercise. It took me getting to what felt like the lowest point in my life to consider this route. Maybe she just isnt ready to take such a big step or still has to give the other options (WW) another try.

Hi Damienne I also had the band with Chris DeBruyne in Belgium back in early March so my answer are much the same as Ailbhe's but I'll let you know my experience anyway! (1)How far in advance3) would I have to book and pay for the surgery? I actually booked with him by email and then met him a few weeks later in Dublin. I figured I should just book the date and if I didnt like him I could just cancel as I hadnt handed over all the money for the op. There is a consultation fee of EUR120.00. I think generally there is about a 4-5 week wait. (2)what payment method---cash/cheque/etc?Cash only, at his home office the night before the op. (3)reading posts here I would be most concerned about what I would have to do if I had a problem which couldn't wait until the Dr's return visit,e.g. a very tight fill. I figure I will just book a flight to Belgium regardless of the cost, its not that far away. It never gonna cost as much as I saved by having it done in Belgium. Also, Dr. DeBruyne works in conjunction with two other Dr's over there so if he isnt available you will still be sorted out. Dr. Chris also mentioned to one of the other girls that he would have an emergency type of service available in the next six months. However, this is a question you should ask him at the consultation to put your mind at ease. ABSOLUTELY!! I swing between thinking(1) "maybe I should accept myself as I am" I never thought this unfortunately, it makes me miserable and I can never accept it. If there is something that can help, then why not use it. (2)"maybe I could get a handle on my weight by taking more exercise/eating less I have tried this way for 15 years and it hasnt worked for me. I do well but lose motivation when I stop seeing results. I'm sure you've also tried this or you probably wouldnt be here. I'm done flogging a dead horse. (3)"maybe it makes sense to give this REVERSIBLE surgery a chance ....since I have certainly given the other options(above) years and years without great success. After years of thinking surgery was too drastic I eventually came to the realisation that it would take something drastic. I went for a consult for a gastric balloon which I believed would be better as it didnt require an operation. But they didnt listen to me at the consult and only talked about the band. That was with ACS. As a result I decided that I would not deal with ACS as I didnt like their approach but I did want the band. I still agonised over it for months after that and met up with some of the girls from this board and seen how happy they were. The scariest thing was telling my family and seeing their reaction. One thought I have is that my stomach has probably stretched because of 'emotional eating' and that makes 'cutting down' very hard. If this is so then the band will have the effect of making my stomach seem much smaller and that makes sense. Yeah, it makes perfect sense really. After the first few bites of something do we really want the rest of it or are we just eating it to fill the gap, because we paid for it or because its just there. I'd be delighted to leave food there if I was full and just as satisfied on a few bites. MY appointment is in the raglan clinic at 12.30 on thursday.Maybe I will see some of you there? My appointment is at 1.30 but I will prob be around town a lot earlier if you want to meet up. I think a few of us will be meeting. Just have to agree a time but it will prob be before your appointment. Elsie

Allure: Welcome back. Congratulations on the great baby news. I'm so happy for you. Ailbhe: You still seem to be doing great with the weightloss. Can't wait till i'm dumping clothes. I have every size in my wardrobe waiting on me. Only 3 more weeks to fill. All my willpower is gone at this stage. I'm just hoping I can maintain at the very least. How were the exams? Roe: Best of luck with that fill. Was it Dr. DeBruyne doing them? Elsie

Hi Ma Yes, I had my consultation here in Dublin before I went over. I could have done it via email but I felt I needed to meet the surgeon before committing. The consultation just goes through the op, how the band work and some other stuff. You will be given time to ask as many questions as you need to. He will also give you the available dates for the operation. I did speak to my GP but it was a case off I'm having this done and I'm letting you know rather than what do you think? I'm the one that has to live with this body not her. She asked a few questions and the only thing she suggested was having in ireland instead of belgium, not because of the aftercare, but because of the flying after surgery. I went for the consultation with the Beacon hospital but I really couldnt afford it as they couldnt guarentee a re-op would be covered if needed. I could afford 3 ops with Dr. DeBruyne if needed. It put the sh*ts up me to be honest but decided to stay one extra night and also got opinions of another independant dr. who said I'd generally be grand to fly the short distance after 24 hours. You are given meds to prevent DVT in hospital and also sent home with 5 shots of it as well (which is easy to do). My GP wished me the best of luck and after the op I went to get a cert and she was all questions. Dr. Chris also gives you a letter for your GP to describe exactly what he did to you during the op. Oh and in relation to aftercare. If you decide to go with Dr. Chris he mentioned to someone there that he would have an emergency contact in Dublin within 6 months. Hope that helped. Elsie

Thanks Coco, Thats very useful. Elsie

Hi Ailbhe, Absolutely no restriction here unfortunately. I'm going back to weightwatchers tomorrow just to keep check on things until I get some restriction. I've been concentrating on protein so much that I realised yesterday I havent eaten fruit since before the op. (except for banana during mushies) So need to get back into proper meals and a varied diet. I havent had any trouble with anything and the other day I wasnt concentrating and only half chewed a bit of chicken and swallowed. I though "uh-oh" but nothing. I'm nearly thinking of flying over for a fill but I really should just be patient. I haven't tried steak or anything cos I'm more of a chicken and tuna person. Best of luck with the exams!!! LC p.s. let me know when you book for your next fill and I'll get one around the same time again and meet up.

Hi Ma1977, Welcome to LBT. Like you I went for a consultation with ACS last year. It made up my mind to definitely go for the lap band, but it also made up my mind not to go with them. I was banded 5 weeks ago in Belgium by Dr. Chris DeBruyne. I dont have a bad word to say about him. He comes to Dublin once a month for fills and consultation. I went to Belgium on a monday and came back on a Friday, you can come back on thurs but I'm glad I stayed the extra night. His website is Welcome to Obesity Assists's site. He is next in Dublin on 8/5/08. Let me know if you have any questions and feel free to PM me. I was charged EUR3400 for the op but then you pay separately for the fills. I also went for a consultation in the Beacon Clinic in Sandyford. You need a referal from your GP. They seem to have a good set up with the surgeon, nurse and nutrionist. However, it cost e11,500 which is three time what Dr. Chris charges. However, it is a good option if you dont want to go abroad. Depending on where you are in the country, I think there is also someone in Galway doing to op but I dont have any info on that. Feel free to ask questions. Elsie

Hi Alesha Glad the fitting went well. How close to the wedding do they do the final fitting? Are you going to get a fill between now and the wedding? I'm also up for meeting again anytime. We had a good few at the last one at all different stages. Have to say Terry looked great, such a difference from the last time I seen her. I got my first fill the same day but unfortunately no difference that I can feel. Can eat a lot and get hungry very quickly after. Trying to keep it healthy though... any who... if we dont organise a meeting in the next 4 weeks I hope you have a fantastic wedding day and all goes well. Elsie

Oh Marge, thats awful news. But you have to take care of it obviously, I'd rather be fat than blind. It doesnt mean you cant go for surgery, its just gonna be delayed a bit. Email Dr. DeB and maybe reschedule for the end of May or something at which stage hopefully your eye will be sorted and hotels and flights will prob be cheaper. Let us know how it goes with the optometrist. Dont lose hope, you will get there.

Skinny, Thats brilliant news. I am delighted for you. Well done!!!:wink2::ohmy: Elsie

Hi Everyone It was great to meet so many bandsters last week. Hopefully we can do it again soon. My first fill went fine. Quick and painless. Liquids for 2 days after the fill, back on solids now, no restriction just yet but not as ravenous as I was the week before the fill. Coco: Thanks for requesting and getting our own support group. Hopefully more of the Irish bandsters will be able to find us now. Terry: Best of Luck with the decision to get plastics. Hope you can sort out the few extra days you need. Marge: Aer Lingus fly into the main Brussels airport. The hospital/hotels/Dr. DeB are only 5km away from the airport. It costs about e20.00 in a taxi which are plentiful at the airport. It was very easy, no hassle with trains etc. You must be so excited/nervous/scared/happy/impatient at this stage. Nikki32: Welcome back and congratulations on the birth of Kai. Hope your feeling well. Ellen: Glad the swelling is gone down. Good luck with the last 7 lbs. Lil: I might have missed a post. What happened with the overfill. Did ACS get back to you? Did they organise a defill or did you go to the your GP/Hospital? Siepie: Did you make up your mind? You going to Belgium and getting the band with Dr. DeB? Ailbhe: How you doing with your fill? Do you still feel the same as before the fill?