SALEMKITTY

I live in Berwyn near the Metra tracks. I have been banded since June 2nd. I have not had a fill yet mostly due to finances. My husband is out of work so I am hoping he will get a job soon so I can get a fill. I have lost about 30 lbs which is better than nothing. I know I could do much better with a fill. I plan to get one in a few weeks regardless of my husbands job status.

I have gone through the same thing. My daughter graduated high school with honors. In her Junior & Senior year she started hanging with some other people I was not fond of. They were not bad kids but they had no ambition to go to college or work. She just turned 21 and dropped out of a very good private University in Chicago. She tried to go to community college and could not handle that either. She is dating this boy who in her case is a little younger. He seems to be a decent kid but does not go to school and has a hard time keeping a job. My husband and I have tried to talk with her. Most of the tell she tells us what we want to hear but then she does the opposite. We have learned from our mistakes and have decided we have done all we can . We cannot force her to do what we want her to do or what we think is best for her. She will have to learn on her own. Our biggest fear was that she would become pregnant which is something neither of them is prepared for. Luckily that has not happened yet. Just keep talking to her and trying to get through. Don't threaten because threats never work. I am very verbal and threatened her a lot. It only made the situation worse so I backed off.

Hi Junebies, It's been a really long time since I posted. Unfortunately I have not been doing too well. :phanvan I seem to be going back to my old habits. I have been trying to get motivated again by reading everyone's post and seeing how much weight everyone has lost. Needless to say it has motivated me once again. I need to go for a fill as I have not had my first one done yet. My husband has been out of work and I was hoping he would get a job soon so I could get one. I have decided to get a fill in a couple of weeks regardless. I think this is part of my problem. I need a fill to get some restriction. I'd like to congratulate everyone on their progress. :clap2: It is very encouraging for those of us struggling.

Dear Diane, I am so sorry to hear about your medical crisis. I don't know if I could handle one of those problems let alone several you have had to deal with. I am so amazed at how certain individuals handle so many difficult obstacles in their life and confront them in such a take charge manner. I am sure you are very scared but you sound so brave and ready to take this head on. That in itself is probably one of the most important obstacles to overcome. I wish you the very best and will pray for a speedy recovery for you. Dawn

I have a blue 2004 Jeep Liberty. The same exact blue one they show in the Jeep commercials. My husband drives a 2000 Chevy conversion van. We purchased both brand new. My husband would like to get a Chrysler 300 next. I told him it will be a long time away. I do not plan on us getting another car payment for at least 5 years.

Hi everyone, I will be 4 weeks out on Friday. So far everything is going good. No port pain, gas pain, etc. The bad part is I am beginning to get my hunger back. I have begun to eat different foods. I feel great. I have lost about 22 lbs so I am happy for that. I know the next few weeks will be a challenge trying to stick to my new eating habits. We will see how it goes. To all the future bandsters, I want to wish you all the best. Just remember, any gas pains, shoulder pains, port pains, difficulty swallowing that some of you may experience only lasts for a short period. Once the pain subsides and you begin to actively lose weight, you will be glad you made this difficult decision. Good Luck!!!!

Hi Jenny, I am so sorry to hear of your ordeal. I am glad to hear you are doing better. I am a little worried now because I am allergic to metals also. I cannot wear any jewelry except 14 karat gold or higher on chains and rings. I cannot wear earrings at all otherwise I break out. If I am leaning on a metal cabinet at work, I break out. Even my desk will cause me to break out on my wrists if I am leaning on it too much. I was talking to my boss one day and he said his sister has the same thing. He said hers was an allergy to nickel. I do not know how widely nickel is used. I will have to pay attention to my body. Please keep us updated as to your progress. I am very interested in this.

Good luck with your upcoming surgery Funny Duddies. I will be looking into this surgery next year. I will be watching for any updates after your surgery to see how all goes. Since I will be self pay too, I will probably head back to Mexico.

Hi Chicago area bandsters. I started going to University of Illinois at the end of 2004 to have my surgery done by Dr. Horgan also. I started under my husband's insurance which would have covered the surgery. He lost his job in early 2005 and so I had to pick up my insurance at work. I went to UIC all the way to December. It was a long process because Dr. Berg was trying to get my blood pressure down. It was extremely high. I then found out my insurance would not cover it. No way, no how due to an exclusion. That's when I decided to go to Mexico.

Congratulations to the new bandsters. Good luck to the future bandsters. Hang in there. It gets a lot better.

I too have UHC insurance. We had a written exclusion relating to any type of weight loss surgery even if the person is morbidly obese. I asked me boss and he asked the upper mgmt. but they said it would not be covered. They also said any surgery relating to complications with the band would not be covered. I decided to self pay. I am worried about the chance of complications related to the band.

Good luck to all those getting banded this week.:clap2: Remember, it may seem rough in the beginning for some but it gets much easier as the time passes. You will feel a lot better in a couple of weeks.

Hi Carlene, My weight gain came during the pregnancy of my first child. I gained 50+ with my first, 30 with my second and 20 with my third. In between the pregnancies I gained and lost. Unfortunately, I gained more than I lost. I think being under 130 is fantastic. I would be thrilled to be there. It is people like you who give those of us just starting the journey hope that we can succeed. As far as PS, if I am financially able to get a TT, breast lift down the road than I will. These are the 2 things I definitely think I will need to be comfortable with myself. I know I will never had that pre-pregnancy body. I can live with that. I will be happy just to feel better and fit into my clothes. My NSV is to be able to tuck my shirt into my pants without my stomach hanging out.

It appears I may be the shortest or tied for shortest. I am 4'11". I've always wished I could be 5'4" plus. In high school I weighed 103. I would be very happy to be in the 130's as I know I will never be in the low 100's again. To be honest I wouldn't want to. It's unrealistic. I would be totally satisfied to be in the 130's.

I can feel mine really good. It is to the left of my belly button. No problems, no pain so far.

It looks like I am closest to Pope John Paul II. Economic Left/Right: -3.88 Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: 1.90

Hi everyone, My name is Dawn and I will be 38 on June 25th. I have 3 kids 20 years, 16 years and 3 years old. You are probably wondering what the heck were we thinking on the 3 year old. My husband and I were very happy to find out we were having our 3rd child. Now we joke around and say what the heck were we thinking. We were so close to being free and able to do what we wanted but I wouldn't change her for anything. My husband and I will have been married for 20 years on August 1st. He is a great guy and supports me in anything I want to do. He did not agree 100% with this surgery. He had his reservations and concerns but he still supported my decision. I am lucky to have him.

Do not feel bad. I am guilty also. I had homemade chicken soup today and chili too. I have tried to stay on the soft food diet but it is really difficult. The same food begins to become so boring. I have not had any pain either so I think we are probably ok. We probably shouldn't push our luck though. I am going to try to get back to soft foods only starting tomorrow.

Hi everyone, Congrats to everyone who is now banded and best wishes to those future bandsters. Just an update for everyone. It's been 11 days since I was banded. For those recently banded, just let me say it gets much better. I am feeling so good. I do not have any pain at all. My wounds are healing very nicely. I do not get that feeling in my throat or chest when I eat. I have been trying chicken soup, mashed potatoes and today I even tried chili with no problems. I tried tuna a few days ago and I thought I was going to die so I've decided to stay with soups and other soft items. I have not tried any breads and don't intend to. I have not had any serious hunger pains, just normal hunger. I just want to those who got banded in the last couple days and those future bandsters that it will get much better. In the beginning, I wondered what the heck I had done to myself. Now I feel much better. I am down 18 lbs since starting my pre-op diet. I feel at this point it was very worth it. Hang in there and good luck.

Hi Shell4Me I was recently banded by Dr. Ortiz for $8500.00. I found airfare thru Southwest Airlines for $240RT (includes taxes, etc). I ordered the tickets 3 weeks before my surgery. I weighed about 216 @ 5' 0" the week before my surgery. I now weigh 204. I originally planned to have my surgery in the U.S. I was originally seeing the doctors @ University of Illinois @ Chicago. I was going there for about 1 year. Unfortunately my husband lost his job and I did not have his insurance coverage. I then decided to self pay. I found a couple of Dr's in Mexico that I would have gone with. But I found out Dr. Ortiz proctored at U.I.C. with my doctor (Dr. Horgan) so that is why I made the decision to go with Dr. Ortiz.

Hi Zexxah, I went to Dr. Ortiz in Mexico. His cost at the time was $8500.00. The airfare was another $240.00 RT on Southwest Airlines. I got their best fare. I ordered the tickets 3 weeks ahead. The $8500.00 covered the hotel and transportation to and from the airport, plus the surgery. That was basically it.

Dear Misfortune, I am so sorry to hear of your ordeal. It must of been the most horrible experience anyone could deal with. I am sorry your family had to go thru this. I am glad that you made it thru. I do not know if I would be as brave as you to have survived and then have to deal with all the complications you have to deal with. I would like to thank you for reporting your experience. It is very important for us to hear these experiences good or bad so we can make up our own mind. It was very difficult for me to make the decision to go to Mexico to have surgery having read some of the negative posts. But they helped give me a somewhat realistic idea of what I could be dealing with. I say somewhat because I could never truly understand what you are going thru without going thru it myself which I pray I never do. I know that I am still not out of the woods. Anything could go wrong and I just pray that nothing does. You just never know who is going to have a bad experience. It could be any of us. This is the chance we take with getting this surgery. With that said, your ordeal is completely unacceptable. How any doctor could accept the money to do the surgery and then not have the morals to deal with the situation with things go wrong is beyond me. I pray you will have the best life you can possibly have with your family. It is so sad how one decision can change your whole life. You try to make your life better and put your life into these doctor's hands and look what has happened. Thanks for your comments. We need to hear the good and the bad to help us think about what we are doing and the doctor to whom we are entrusting our lives to. I hope that I will not have a story like this somewhere down the line. I don't think I could handle it.

Hi Julia, I also had surgery with Dr. Ortiz on June 2nd. I was the short fat one, pretty quiet and with my husband. He is from Mexico. You probably saw me. Which one were you? I remember there was a lady with a purple outfit. Then there were 2 ladies talking to each other. Finally, there was a man and women together. Were you one of them? Actually, my stomach is pretty swollen still too. I am not starving but I wish I could eat a few more things. The diet has not been too difficult to follow. However, I do get this tightness in my throat and chest sometimes. Also, my wounds are beginning to heal. How are you doing? What did you think of Dr. Ortiz and his office?

Hi Janelle, I didn't ask about the eating before the surgery. I had wondered about it, but I decided it wasn't worth the risk of having any problems. After all, you have done the pre-op diet this long. Why risk it? I brought pajamas, robe, lip balm, tylenol to Mexico but forgot to bring it with me to the Dr's office. I really didn't miss them. When I arrived at the Dr's office the 2nd day for the surgery, I was among the first to go in. They took me to a room and had me change into the robe. I also had to wear these white type tight stockings. They gave me a couple of shots and then hooked up an IV. Shortly after that, the anesthesiologist asked me to follow him to the operating room. I don't remember anything after that except being back in my room in bed. Dr. Ortiz was talking to me and my husband. I can only recall Dr. Ortiz's face vaguely. I don't remember actually talking to him. My husband says I did. Everyone at Dr. Ortiz's office was wonderful. The facility on the inside is very nice and clean. All in all it was a better experience that I thought it would be. We will see how the future goes. Good luck to you on your surgery with Dr. Ortiz!:gluck:

Hi everyone, I want to say good luck to all those having their surgeries in the future. I hope those of us who have had our surgeries are doing well. As for me, I had my surgery on the 2nd. So far everything is going well. I have had no shoulder pain which some bandsters have experienced. In the beginning I did experience a lot of tightness in my throat which I assume is gas. My stomach also rumbled alot in the beginning. It does not rumble as much anymore. The thing I hate the most is I look like I am nine months pregnant. I am really swollen. The other thing is I have not lost any additional weight since the surgery. I have only taken in liquids and probably not more than 500-600 calories so I am not sure what is going on. I had lost 12 pounds in one week pre-op on the liquid diet. After the surgery in Mexico, my family and I stayed in San Diego for a few days. We went to the San Diego Zoo. It has been a long time since I've walked so much. Yet I didn't lose a pound. I have read other posts where others have experienced this so I am not too worried.