lndshark

Absolutely, NWWLS center have done, I think 5 or 6. I took a firend to one of the info seminars and the gal mentioned that.

Do it now before it's too late. I was overweight for years, and not just 10 or 20 pouns, but were talking three digits. I wish I would have done it earlier when I didn't have so much to lose. Then maybe I would have looked like a shar pei when I get done. It sucks I had to have my scrotum blow up to the size of a cantolope before I didnt something about it. Sorry for the visual, but the whole point is, don't wait and let things get worse. good luck. brian

I hate it when someone says, "you shouldn't be eating bread", "you shouldn't be eating potatos", etc. etc. etc. If you can get it down, go for it. I may only be able to get half a piece of pizza down now, but that makes me want to enjoy my food more. I don't eat very much anymore so I damn sure goint to enjoy what I'm eating. we had a BBQ with my folks last night, and I had a hamburger, on a bun, GASP!!! I;m sure the band nazi and shocked. I ate slow and chewed really well and no problem, well didn't exaclly go slide right down but I didn't get stuck either. I was as satisfied as I was in the old days when I would have eatn 5 hamburgers. So to any band nazi that tells you, you can't eat rice, bread, tell them to go to hell. I can't eat everything I used to love to eat, but I'm ok with that. Some stuff is just to big a pain in the ass to try to eat. Sorry to ramble, but I hate the "you shouldn't..." band nazis. If your band in adjusted right, eath whatever you will enjoy, cause you won't be able to eat much. If you are wondering if you need a fill, you need a fill. I was in bandster limbo trying to get some restriction. I had six or seven fills before I got any. I thought for months, is this what I;m supposed to be feeling, is this restricion. Trust me, when you get there you will know. brian

I don't hide it, I feel like I'm being dishonest. I've had a few conversations with some judgemental assholes, let me recap a few for you. haye you lost weight? yes, I got a band. Couldn't you have just dieted? Go f(*$& yourself. number 2 have you lost weight? yes I got a band. that stupid all you needed to do was eat less and exercise. Go F*^*#$ yourself. See it's that easy.

Hell with the best price, research all you'r options and pick the doc you like the best. Who cares about three or four thousand dollars in something like this. I mean, if you having heart surgery, are you going to price shop and go with the cheapest, or go with the doc you like and feel comfortable with. If your painting you car, sure compare price, in something like this it doens't make any sense. Maaco will paint you car for $300, catch is it LOOKS LIKE A $300 paint job. A paint job can't kill you though, a shitty surgeon........

It's all about or if your canadian, aboot, the fills. Fills, fills, fills. I have an APL band which has a 14cc capacity. From my surgery date, 10/6 to february, I bounced up and down, gained ten one week, lost 10 the next week etc. Once I got enough fills and got some restriction, not even good restriction mine you, just restriction, it was a whole new ball game. It took me six or seven fills to finally get restriction. I love food, obviously why I was over 500 pounds at one time, but now that I have restriction I could really give a shit about food. I still like food, heck, love food, but I don't let it rule my life. It's just not enjoyable to eat anymore. Once you get some restricion everything will be gravy. brian

HELL with saving money, check out all your options and pick the doc you like. In the long run saving 3-4K isn't a big deal. I could have save 3K and had my band done in my hometown, but I chose to drive to Seattle to have it done, four hours, because I didn't like the guy here, and loved the people over there.

I can totally relate. I had surgery on October 6th, and bounced around until about february. It took me six or seven fills to finally get some restiction, and man, when you get there, everything will be gravy. Since I got restriction, and not even good restriction mind you, I dropped about 60 pounds in the next two months. Then i got loose again, and plateaued for a good month. Got tightened up again, and Since two tuesdays ago, 12 days, I have dropped 18 pounds. It is all about restriction, and trust me I'm probably one of the fattest bastards on here. I was 503 at my consult. And I had even lost weight prior to that. So if I, who was so addicted to food can do it, you can too. Wait until you get restriction, it will change everything. Until then, hang in there. brian

I order a months worth of medi fast about a month before my surgery, plan was to stay on it a month. I think I stayed on like 2 days. Stuff is horrible, well, i should say most of the stuff is horrible. The shakes are terrible, it took me half an hour to choke on down mixed with water. The pudding is awful, the chili is not bad if you add alot of chili powder and some salt and pepper. If you can do anything else do it, the stuff is awful. PM me your address and I'll send you a couple things to try if you would like. If I would have tried it first I could have saved myself $300 dollars good luck brian

Anne, I think you will be fine. Like I said in my surgery story I didn't feel any "pain" per say. Just sore. As far as NSAID go, I absolutely love Aleve, naproxen sodium. I had dry socket once from a pulled tooth, I took the prescrived hydrocodone once but found that Aleve worked better for me. Check if you can take naproxen, and you should be fine. good luck. brian

Hi all. Thought I would post my surgery story, may help some people who have mental challanges such as myself, with the surgery. I was scheduled to have surgery on October 2 and Northwest Weight Loss Surgery in Everett, Washington. Since I live in Idaho I was driving four hours to have it done at this center. I had check out every center in the area and they are awesome. So anyway, I had my phone pre-op appointment the thursday before, not sure of the date. I was required to lose 30 pounds pre surgery, and as of my pre op, the week before I had only lost 12, tough to say goodby to old friends. So I had to check in the next monday, three days before surgery. So I went on a crash diet. Monday I had lost 22 pounds. I talk to a Tirsh over at NWWLS and she told me that my dr, Dr. Montgomery, was OK with doing it at their surgery center but the anesthesologist, I'm sure I murdered that word, sorry, had said they wouldn't do it at the surgery center because of my weight. So I had the choice to lose another 25 pounds and do it a month later, or do it that next monday, the 6th at Evergreen Hospital in Kirkland. I picked the hospital. So we changed our plans and traveled over to Kirkland, a suburb or Seattle, on sunday night. I had to be at the Hospital monday morning at 7:30. We got there, and I checked in etc. I was told where to go and walked to the surgery waiting area. Well as we turned the corner and came the preop surgery area doors flew open and i freaked out, I'm talking majorly freaked out. I wanted to run. After twenty minutes of hell I was called back and got into a bed. I answered some questions, put on a gown, some very sheik stockings, the leg squeezer things and the wonderfull socks. I had my IV put in, got a shot of Heparin, which stung like hell, but only for a few minutes. Then I started to have palpatations. I have gotten PVCs and PACs for about fourteen years now, they are essentially extra heart beats. My surgeon came in and we discussed the operation, I told him about my PVCs hoping he would call off the surgery, he said no big deal, stress related. The anesthologist came in and we talk for a bit. I told him I was terrified, he put me at ease a bit. Ten minutes later the anesthologist came back and said he was going to give me something to relas. I believe I got Versed, it help a bit, I asked for more and he gave me a bigger dose. I remember being wheeled into the operating room and looking around, and that is it. Next thing I know I was waking up in recovery. The nurse said everything went well and to try and stay awake. She put my CPAP on which I hate. It took me probably fifteen minutes to fully come to. They wheeled me to a different room where my family was able to come in and see me. I was worried about waking up form the anesthesia, i had heard horror stories. I had no sore throat, I was thirsty though. It was a little hard to breath for ten fifteen minutes, but that passed shortly. The nurses check me a few times and then told me I could get dressed and go home, ie, back to the hotel. I started to get dressed and one of my incisions, the port, started to bleed. The nurse taped some gauze over my steri strips and called the doctor. She came back and rechecked it a few minutes later and it had stopped. She said the Dr. said it was just skin edge bleeding and I was fine to leave. So i got up went to the bathroom and got wheeled out to the van we had borrowed. We went back to the hotel where I freaked out. I started to wonder what I did to myself, etc. I kept telling my wife over and over again how much I hated her for letting me do this. I told her that when I said I didn't want to do this she should have backed me up and we should have left. Anyway I laid in my own dispair for a while and then my PACs started coming and they wouldn't stop. I was feeling so awfull, I just wanted the thing out, I couldn't believe what I had done to myself. I called a friend that had his band put in a few weeks earlier to talk about how i was feeling and see if he felt the same way after his surgery. He suggested I call Linda, she is the counselor at NWWLS that had done both our psych evals. I called and left a message for Linda. Linda called me back a few minutes later and we talked for half hour or so, that helped a bit. Then she asked if I had called Dr. Montgomery, and I said that I didn't want to bother Dr. Montgomery. Linda said that Dr. Montgomery would want to know if I was having problems. She asked if she could call Dr. Montgomery and hava him call me. I said sure. Dr. Montgomery called about ten minutes later and we talked for about half an hour. I was amazed at how much they actually cared. Linda called back later that night to check on me. I ended up going to the ER later because my palpatations kept coming. I spent three hours there and they told me what I've always been told bloods fins, EKGs fine, just strees go home. Once I knew I was fine the PACx subsided. I went back to the motel and slept. I had a post op and NWWLS the next day. I spent another twenty minutes with Dr. Montgomery. We talked about how I was doing etc. He re-dressed some of my incisions etc. Then he said Linda wanted to see me, and he left and got Linda. We went to Linda's office and talked for another twenty minutes or so. Then we loaded up and drove home. I was prepared for pain, I had already gotten my lortab elixer, but I felt fine. Dr. Montgomery said when he puts you back together he shoots a lot of numbing medicind into the incisions, this keeps you for about 24 hours. After it wore off I felt like I had done a bunch of situps but that was it. I never once took the loritab or anything for pain, frankly, I didn't think it was bad at all. I had surgery one monday the 6th, drove back home on the 7th, and was back to work full time on the 8th. I do have a desk job but I do walk around quite a bit. I was actually suprised I had expected the physical part to be so much worse that it actually was. I did get gas pains across my shoulders in my back for the first few days but they lasted five maybe ten seconds. All in all my physical operation part was cake. Now I just have to get my mental state right. I have gotten alot better and feel positive about my future now. Just have a little bit more to go. Anyone in the northwest needs to look at NWWLS if you want to have a lap band done. They only do bands, no gastric bypass, which frankly I consider butchery. They have done over 4000 bands,so you would be hard pressed to find a more experienced clinic. One thing I always hated about being fat was having skiny or normal people talk to me about being fat. The neat thing about NWWLS is that 70% of their staff has the band, this is everyone form receptionists to nursed, to counselors etc. 100% of their nursing staff had the band, every nurse you come in contact with at their clinic has a band. It's nice talking to people that have a frame of reference about being overweight instead of skiny people teliing me what to do. Oh, and Linda, the counselor, she also has a band. She actually had to go to Mexico to get hers in 1998, before it became legal in the US. Sorry for the longwinded speil, if any one has any question send me and email or a PM. good luck all. brian

I get banded on the 2nd at NWWLS in everett. The average time you are there is between four and five hours. They have their own surgery center, the other half of their offices. They require you to stay overnight, they prefer you stay in the holiday in literally right across the street. I am driving back home, four hours the next day. I want to be home. Just for the record I wont be driving, i have a whole entourage going with me, so i guess i will be driven.

just be carefull. I got my surgery date august 8th, we set it for october 2nd, in that time i had to lose 30 pounds. I am seriously addicted to food. Anyway, i spent this period doing the be good for two days thing, fall off the wagon because "well, I still have a lot of time left." so eating whatever i wanted. I would always tell myself, this is the last time, sh&*, I've been telling myself that for the last ten years. I finally weighed myself the day after my preop phone consult, tradition scales do not weigh me. I had to order one and have it overnighted. I had only lost ten pounds. I had to call my doctors preop nurse back on friday and tell here I had only lost 10 pounds. She told me that my dr office is really being sticklers about the weight loss thing and 30 pounds means 30 pounds. So if I don't lose twenty pound by the second I will be canceled. I weighed friday at about 5 in the morning, and again saturday at 3 in the afternoon and had lost 5 pounds so far. So, I may make it. I guess my whole point is, for me anyway, the one last time, or one last week to eat how i wanted to didn't work, because the way I am now, it's never one last time. Just make sure you lose the weight you need to in time, so you don't have to do what I'm doing, aka 500-600 calories a day, it is rough. Espically since I know if I do make my surgery date I will never get to have one of thoes binging days again, ever. And they are about my favorite thing in the world. So I am really depressed right now, seems like my best friend just moved away, i hope it gets easier, the whole not being able to eat the way I used to thing. I just love food. As my consult weight of 505 pounds would attest to. Anyway, I had a succient point at first, sorry for all the rambling crap. hope everyone is doing well. brian

Hi all, my name is Brian and I guess I am going to be a smashing pumpkin, maybe even the first one, I get banded on the 2nd and NWWLS in Everett by Dr. Montgomery. Never really though much about getting it done until july of this year when, well, not to be gross, but a certain part of my male anatomy swelled up to the size of large, large grapefruit, no exageration. Just in case this wasn't clear enough, one part I would have been thrilled to get that big, this wasn't that part, enough said. I went to the doctor and he showed me that part, and some other hard Patches of skin on my legs etc. and told me that I was filling up with Water, I had put on so much weight my body could not handel it anymore. He bluntly told me, "you will continue to fill up until it reaches your lungs, and then you will drown in your own Fluid." So I had to pick my long time mistress food or life, it was actually a tough decision, but my 4 year old son tipped the scales in favor of life. My wife has a rather large mouth, and told my parents what was going on. This initiated a conversation with my mother the next night about the doctor, and losing weight etc. She said, you know, there are surgeries to help, and I said, yeah, but theyre like 20 grand, I don't have that kind of money, she said do it and don't worry about it. So I went to my information session in Walla Walla in late july, set up my consultation on 8/8/2008, and set surgery for 10/2/2008. My good friend and his wife also got on board when I started talking about getting it done, we all had our consultations the same day. My friend Brian was banded on Sept 11, his wife is getting banded Sept 25, and I am a week later on the second. I have a substantial ammount of weight to lose, probably close to 300 pounds, so I be around here for a while. I figure when I reach my goal I will look like a bloodhound, but I'm ok with that. Nice to meet everbody, and good luck to all. have a great day brian

Hi all newbie here. I am scheduled for surgery on October 2, 2008. I live in Coeur d Alene, Idaho, think Spokane Washington, real close, and have decided to travel to Everett, Washintong to have my surgery done at North West Weight Loss Surgery by Doctor Montgomery. Little background now to my question. I have searched the internet a bunch, even asked two different people during my consultation. And still am a little fuzzy regarding the remedy for getting food stuck. This is the only thing I am really worried about post op. I have heard that after you are back on regular food and something gets stuck, you have to get it up, by vomiting. I would like to heard about this in as much detail as possible please. Do you have to make yourself vomit, or is it something you body makes you do? I have heard that it just happens, but I would like to be clear on this point, prior to surgery. I would appreciate as much infor as you all can provide. thanks brian

Of course, but everyone I have talked to has had to deal with getting somethings stuck from time to time, I just want to be prepared for it.