Devana

Hi there, and welcome to LBT. I'm sorry to hear about your thyroid and your change in plans. However, I'm glad things were discovered and dealt with rather than slipping by undetected. So you'll be waiting for a surgery date, I guess. Keep posting and reading. This is a great place for information and support.

Welcome Serisla and congratulations on your banding. That's quite an impressive weight loss so far! There are lots of threads on fill doctors and Mexican doctors. Maybe you'll find what you need there. Keep on reading! All the best.

Hi reo and welcome. I was banded in Mexico but at a different clinic. You may want to check out the "Doctors and Hospitals" threads. Good Luck!

This kind of thing always interests me as well, Edie. When I was 11 years old I heard "She Loves You" by the Beatles and it was electrifying! I turned from a little kid into a teeny bopper instantly. There are songs that I fell in love with and I can usually remember exactly where I was and what I was doing the first time I heard them. Life changing ones? Offhand I can think of the first time I heard "How Soon Is Now" by the Smiths, the duet from Bizet's "The Pearl Fishers" and the first time I heard Clifton Chenier. I'm currently alternately working and camping up at the lake with a bunch of teenagers. Our first night out one of the boys was laying out in the dark with the headphones, listening to some music my 14 year old had given him, and looking at the stars. He called out to me "Devana, I'm listening to the Doors for the first time." I told him that he'll remember this forever, looking at the stars and listening to the Doors. About half an hour later he called over and said "Yes, I'll definitely remember this forever." So cool.

Theshank...welcome and congratulations on your weight loss so far. I wish this was available years ago. Green, I really lucked out with my MIL. We just have the weird love mixture without the poison.

I guess some people always find the negative, hey? As for myself, I'm still not yet at the point where I can shop in a regular size store. As a matter of fact, I shouldn't shop at all, I just need to keep digging out all those bags of clothes I put away a few years ago. However, I still compelled to make the odd jaunt to Antels.

Deanna, I've been set up and sabotaged in other areas of my life and the interesting thing, and this is what I sense from your post, is my absolute surprise and astonishment that it happened. It's still hard for me to believe that anyone would deliberately do that to another person.

Sorry to hear about your gall bladder, but glad it's not your band. What are you going to do now?

Hi there and congratulations on getting the ball rolling. I know I've read posts from bandsters getting their gallbladder out first or at the same time as banding. I guess you have to keep reading. Try the "complications" threads or do a search. Hope you get your date soon!

Way to go Patti!

Derbygirl and Sandra, anything internal can cause pain in the back, chest, shoulder, depending on what's going on. If you have a sense that this is what's causing the pain, then going on liquids for awhile sounds like a good idea. Also one bandster on this site has spoken highly of aloe vera juice as being healing and soothing so you might want to give that a try. The other thing you might want to consider is that you may have a rib problem. If a rib is "out" or not sitting in the right place at the joint with the thoracic vertebra it can certainly cause pain in the back, pain in the front and even pain radiating around the side. It can mimic gastric reflux and even heart attacks. Good news, though, it's easy to fix with a good chiropractic adjustment. Good luck with this, you guys.

Welcome tommyboy. Yup, like she said, read and post. Are you considering the band or are you already banded?

Princess, I'm very happy with my care at the clinic, which was bright and clean. Everybody was friendly and helpful and they were particularly attentive with the aftercare. I had a bit of a seroma the day after surgery and I called Dr. H on a Sunday evening at home. He was there, he answered!! He sent Dr Romero over to check it out. I went down with a friend who got banded the same time and we were feeling well enough to go out and do a bit of shopping near the hotel. Please feel free to PM me if you have any other specific questions.

Welcome to LBT and congratulations on your surgery date. You might want to hook up with the July bandster thread to talk to people banded around the same time. Good luck with it all.

Hi Jamie, it's great you've got the support of your family. One of the reasons I chose to get banded was so that I could do more physical activities with my son before he was grown and gone. I've missed out on so much by having difficulty running and not being able to get in and out of canoes comfortably and lots of other things like that. All the best with your journey.

Summer arrived yesterday! Already it's too hot for me. I'm taking a bunch of boys camping at the lake tomorrow. I'll be there for the weekend while another mom will be there during the week while I work. Our husbands just show up once in awhile to eat and swim.

Welcome Carmalita. She's right, you and your dr will have to decide. However, if the band can be sabotaged, it certainly can be by constant snacking. You might want to think about getting into some kind of support group to help you out with this. All the best.

Welcome, marnie. Things can only get better. I'll bet you will look back a year from now with wonder at how your life has changed.

No, this isn't possible because the band is placed on the outside of the stomach. However, maybe they are referring to PB's which can sometimes feel like you've got a ball stuck in your chest. It's certainly one of the hazards of banding but one most of us learn to avoid as much as possible by chewing well only tiny bits of food at a time. Congratulations on your banding date, by the way. All the best with it.

Carolyn, congratulations on your surgery date. Keep us posted. Also remember that it's not uncommon for people to have serious doubts as surgery approaches. Green, I hope your birthday went well. Remember, scotch can also be used as a preservative, so "bathing" in it perhaps can counteract some of the effects of having looser skin. Just a thought.... As for me, I'm nursing a sore nose after a bizarre accident yesterday. Though my staff is responsible for keeping the office clean, if I see something that needs a little attention I'll usually look after it if it only takes a minute or so. I was in the loo and noticed that the rim on the toilet need a wipe. It actually needed a bit of a rub and I gave it a squirt of our air freshener to moisten it, so I had the bottle in one hand and my tissue in the other when my glasses began to slip off my head and into the toilet. My instinctive grab at them resulted in me cramming one arm of the glasses up one of my nostrils. Holy crap. I was writhing in a fetal position for about 5 minutes before I could even stand. Knucklehead.

Pardon me? I don't understand.

Hi princess, I'm a Huacuz patient as well. I didn't do any journaling, but I can see where it can be helpful. There are on line journals somewhere here on LBT. All the best next week. Keep us posted.

Hi lindata, why don't you check out the Doctors and Hospitals threads or the US Local support threads? I'm sure you'll get information if you post there. All the best with your plans.

Hi Steph, welcome to LBT and congratulations on your stunning weight loss! Way to go!

I can't flippin sleep, it's just after 4am and the bloody birds are making a racket outside. In this state of existentialist despair all I can think of is why waste a quarter cup of Laphroaig in barbecue sauce! Also, it's now officially your birthday green and it was yours not too long ago Bjean. A gemini and a gemini cusp. No wonder! Happy Birthday to both you girls.