HeatherGurl

Sorry to hear that Alexandra!!! I am very glad to hear that it isn't eroded though. I hope and pray that you can keep your band or get a new one.

Dr. Spivak did my lap band also. He is the best and his staff is great. Good luck to you Josie!

HI Txbecca! I just wanted to wish you luck on your upcoming surgery and tell you my opinion of a few things... Like Renee said... you will savor every bite of food. You will still get to eat, and I hate that someone told you that your food will be cold before you finish it. Everyone is different and I do eat less, but I eat a lot better food. I do not eat cold food that should be hot... As for the liquid breakfast... I don't agree with that either. Some people can eat a solid breakfast, some can't. I have never been a breakfast person. With my current level of fill I do not get hungry until 11, so that is when I eat lunch. Good luck with your journey!

Candice, if you don't mind me asking... what kind of insurance do you have? Thanks

I chose Spivak because of a lot of reasons... I went to his seminar and was completely impressed with him. I have 4 friends that have used him from here at work. He was the first surgeon to perform the lap band in Texas. He won't operate on any Tom, Dick or Harry. He doesn't seem to want to just cut everyone open. I have met Spiegel and was not impressed with him. I am not trying to sway your decision... but I would not let him touch me with a 10 foot pole. That is just my opinion. I have a dear friend that he really screwed up and I am sorry, but I can't respect a surgeon that does the things that he does. A lot of people claim he is an excellent surgeon, but the one person that I know he operated on, would beg to differ. A lot of people say he doesn't have good bedside manner... well I wouldn't know personally, but again, my dear friend loathes the man. I sincerely wish your wife and you the best of luck in your decision. Just research as much as you can... and talk to some patients of his that have had it done.

I only have 20 lbs to go... I tell you what, these last pounds are stubborn. I know if I really watched what I ate, I could probably get them off... but I honestly eat what I want. I am a SUCKER for sugar. I know that is 100% my problem. Maybe I will get my act together and get away from it to lose a few more pounds. I have NEVER counted calories either. Maybe that would help, but that is just too much trouble for me.

A lot of people go thru the things you are talking about but do not have the courage to ask for help. If you are PBing daily, then I suggest going on warm liquids and re-evaluating your situation. I, myself, struggled with these issues right before the New Year. I couldn't get my head in the game and I needed help... I went for a slight unfill and let my poor body rest. I did gain a little weight, but my head was not where it needed to be then. You are doing a great job admitting that something isn't right. I hope you can find some help and get this worked out before you do damage to your band. If you are too tight, it will hurt your band AND you won't lose the weight. Good luck to you!!!

I do not know the girl's name that did my fill last Thursday, but she was a really pretty black girl. She couldn't find my port and after digging for a few minutes, she wanted to put me up to the flouro to find it. Spivak walked over and hit it dead on, first try. Gotta love him! Hey, TX-Kimmie... congrats on the loss!!! You are almost in onederland!!!

Welcome ALMISTY! Don't be nervous :success1: I am sure when you go for your visit tonight, that you will have tons of questions answered. What Dr. are yall planning on using? Good Luck!

I did this afternoon and I replied back :success1:

We use Dial Antibacterial bath wash. My 2 year old had a boil on her little bottom at the top of her butt crack when she was a month old. It was so scary. She has not had any more. We don't share towels, wash cloths and try to be VERY sanitary... not that we weren't before, but since we are all hosts to this junk, I want to be super careful. I clean our tub with clorox weekly. They also recommend putting bleach in your bath water a few times a week to help kill the germs. Best of luck to you.

That would be fine with me if he did all of his fills at his office... I only go to him anyways. I think it is great they are getting the flouro machine in the office.

Hey cherg! How's it going? I just went back on Thursday and got another .5 cc's. I am not as tight as I was before when I had to get unfilled, but at 1.5 cc... I think I am liking where I am at. I hope things are going good for you. YES, I know how bad it sucks to gain weight after an unfill. I gained close to 20 pounds I believe. Now, I am only 9 away from my all time low. You can do this. As always... PM me if you need anything!

My DH was diagnosed with thyroid cancer at 21. He had a tumor the size of a large grapefruit growing on his left nodule. Like everyone said, thyroid cancer is the "Best" to have. Cancer is a scary word and it scared the chit outta me, but he is 100% ok now. Just has to take a thyroid supplement daily... since they ended up removing both glands.

OK, I am up to 1.5 cc after my fill on the 8th! Great restriction. Note: I was up to 2.2, at goal I was deflated to 1cc... but gained a little so I wanted to get better restriction. So far, this new fill is doing great!

I had a lot of problems with MRSA... both Hubby and I have. We would get boils a lot and they always did cultures and found MRSA. Thank goodness it has pretty much cleared up. I have had one case of it since my banding... but it didn't interfere with it at all. I would strongly suggest you talk to your Dr.'s about this....

It is so neat to see so many Spivak patients on here! I am interested in his Tuesday night support meetings... but it just isn't a good time for me since I live an hour away and have a little one. I just wanted to comment on something some of you were saying earlier about certain foods you can't eat. I can not eat a lot of foods, but they are the ones that we shouldn't be eating anyways. I can not eat bread, and I don't even want to anymore. I can't drink sodas, they just don't do it for me. I just want to encourage people to stick with it, even if you are worried you can never eat your favorite food again... Most likely our favorite foods are what got us so overweight in the first place. Good luck to everyone with their upcoming surgeries!

You CAN have Slim Fast drinks... Get the Low Carb Diet one... You should not drink the ones high in sugar or carbs. The Low Carb Diet shakes are just like the Atkins... but they have 20 grams of Protein.

I am glad I found this thread... Is Dr. Long a Dr. recommended by Spivak? Does he have a website? Thanks!

I live on shrimp and fish. I can not eat chicken... I don't like it and it will get stuck. I eat shrimp prepared all different ways. No problem.

Yes, Redfish is VERY good!!! Bacon wrapped shrimp also!!!

I NEVER liked fish before being banded. IT is my favorite now, that is all I eat when we go out. The best thing I can suggest is Tilapia for a beginner. I personally can not cook it to my liking at home. When you eat out at a restaurant, order the Tilapia. I also LOVE salmon, catfish, and well... that is all I have tried

Here is my latest shot...

I weighed 8lbs, 8oz at birth. Looking back at pictures, I got fat around 3 years old. So, I have ALWAYS been fat. I don't remember being normal EVER. I weighed 175 lbs in the 4th grade. I am tall, and I have always been, but that is NOT normal for someone in the 4th grade to weigh that much. :phanvan My sister was a bag of bones until my mom started home schooling us (5th grade for her) She is now well over 400 lbs. We actually used to call her bones and it hurt me so bad that I didn't have a cute nick name like that! My DH is morbidly obese, so I am doing all that I can to ensure that my daughter learns the correct way to eat. I want her to stay active and know that exercise is a normal part of the day. So, yep... I have ALWAYS been morbidly obese. It is weird to me to look somewhat normal now.

Thanks!!! Take it easy and get to walking if you haven't already. That is one of the number one things I have attributed to my success. Exercise! The weight was slowly coming off before, but AFTER I started exercising, was when the weight REALLY came off.