Devana

Doddie, try Dr Woodhead in Ladner. He charges $400 for an initial consultation and fill (yikes!) and $75 for fills thereafter. I was banded in Mexico and he's who I see for fills.

Hi Seaangel. I had my banding done in Mexico and it cost me about $7500 Canadian which includes the flights. I'm in BC and I had arranged to get my fills over the border in Washington state, however after I returned from Mexico I found someone here who was willing to do fills on patients banded in Mexico. I got my surgery done in Tijuana. I flew to San Diego and was picked up by the clinic at the airport. I talked to the Dr., fairly extensively, on two occasions before I went down. I chose to stay an extra day, just for my own piece of mind. Good luck with your decision.

I am seriously ranting tonight. We had a school spring arts performance at a local church known for it's good acoustics. The parents of the kids in my son's class were in charge of refreshments, and I was the one organizing it. Consequently, I was the last to leave the church, along with the teacher who locked up. I was rearranging stuff in my car and ended up alone in the parking lot. My battery was dead. I put up the hood, got out my jumper cables and stood on the sidewalk, kind of waving them around, hoping someone would see me and stop. After a few minutes, I was delighted when a man drove into the parking lot. However, rather than stopping by me, he drove on over to the church office doors. I went over and asked him if he could give me a jump. He said no and then asked if there was anyone coming to get me. When I said no he said that he couldn't help me, walked into the office and locked the door behind him. I knocked but to no avail. I had to walk half a mile down a dark road to the nearest gas station to use the phone to call my husband who had already gone home with our son. When I got back, the fellow was gone. I believe he was the pastor. I don't understand why he didn't offer to let me use the phone. Ahh, writing about it has stopped me cussing, however.

So what did you call yourself, you skinny roller punk chick?

I never used spanking as a discipline. I have, however, in the heat of the moment given a smack on the bottom to get his attention. Not something I'm proud of. I have continually tried to build my communication and parenting skills so that I'm not compelled to use physical violence, because that's what it is. My general rule is that I strive to treat my child (and everyone else for that matter) the way I would like to be treated. As a child I could make sense of things when my mother gave me a smack out of frustration or anger. However, even as a young child I thought it quite strange when she would, like all parenting authorities in the '50's recommended, give me a spanking when she was calm and not angry. "Come here, Devana, you've been naughty and now I must spank (hurt) you." To me, that still seems totally bizarre! (My best friends, who were not disciplined physically, thought the whole concept was sick. When we got older, they saw that it was pretty prevalent in our society.)

I know that my skin is a lot less elastic than it used to be when I was younger. I haven't lost 100 lbs yet, but already the skin on the front of my neck is wrinkly and crepe-y. It startles me when I look in the mirror! I'm used to looking much younger than my age (54). So, it's going to be PC for me when I'm down to my goal weight. On a good note, my teenage son has persuaded me to get up on the trampoline with him. It's wonderful! My feet don't even leave the mat and I'm still getting a good bounce.

Thank you all for tolerating my venting. I feel much better now, in the light of day. I wasn't angry at Christians or members of that church, just him. And I guess I was surprised that it would happen there of all places. This is a good opportunity for me to practice what I preach: I can choose how to react to this. Last night I saw the situation in the worst possible light. The guy was a jerk and that was all there was to it. However, today I'm doing what I've always taught my son to do when he encounters behaviour he doesn't like or can't understand: explore all the possible reasons for that behaviour. Maybe this fellow had an emergency that made a dead battery seem trivial and unimportant. Maybe, like Jachut suggested, he had a bad experience with helping someone and is now frightened. In any case, I'm no longer angry.

When I was young, whenever I was whistling, my mother would say "Girls that whistle and hens that crow all come to no good end". I think she was just being a smart ass, she never really tried to stop me.

Welcome, Nik. Congratulations on your date!

Holy smokes, Becky. I'm so glad he's alright now. That must have aged you a few years! I heard of a girl who was sensitive to aspartame who died after taking a Flintstone Vitamin with aspartame in it. That was a few years ago, so they might have taken that ingredient out.

Our town has a type of "Scared Straight" project where at risk kids are taken to Vancouver's east end. They spend a couple of days there, seeing how people live and hearing people's stories. I don't have any idea of how effective this may be. When I lived in Vancouver in the early '70's the east end was definitely the run down poor end of town where it was easy to find drugs and anything else one may have wanted. I had no problem or fear walking through that area. However, a few months ago I ended up there late at night after a concert. I was in my car and it still scared the hell out of me. I'm an avid watcher of the show DaVinci's Inquest which takes place there and it shows it as being pretty rough, but the reality is far worse.

Welcome Michelle!

Welcome to LBT. I can remember reading a couple of posts by people who were frustrated by the band just not working for them. I guess we have to remember what everybody keeps saying: the band is a tool. I know for myself, the band restricts me, however, if I really want to sabotage myself I can. My suggestion is to read as much as you can on this site. There's so much information. Good luck with your insurance.

Welcome Morganmom. Have you considered Mexico? I paid about $7000 plus another $650 for the flight. I get my fills done up here in Vancouver. I suggest spending some time in the Doctors and Hospitals threads. You might find what you need. All the best and good luck with your decision.

Welcome Ted and congratulations on your decision. Good luck with your banding and keep us all posted with your progress.

Welcome les. This is a great place to come if you're looking for information. There are many long term bandsters here who are very generous with their time and insights and support. As well there are always bandsters who were done around the same time to compare notes with. So read, ask questions and the best of luck with your decision.

Hello and welcome. Congratulations on your banding. There are a couple of places you can hang out here. There's the March bandsters thread and you can also join us older bandsters in the over 50's thread. And of course anywhere else you want to go! Anyway good luck and keep posting.

Welcome Betty. This is a great place to come for information and support. My suggestion is to read and read some more, ask questions and get all the information you need to make a decision. Good luck with it all.

Have a wonderful day!

I was banded in Mexico and get my fills done by Dr Woodhead in Ladner. I had to pay an initial $400 consultation fee that included my first fill and then $75 for fills thereafter. Even thought I've had several fills and am still seeking my "sweet spot", it still will cost me considerably less overall than if I had it done in this country.

All my positive and healing thoughts heading your way, Penni.

Bandiva, I'm on the island and use Dr Woodhead for my fills. He's in Ladner so it's just a 15 minute bus ride from the ferry terminal.

Yikes, I just noticed that it's your birthday! Have a good day (what's left of it!)

I have spent a great deal of time in the hospital with my son and there are signs all over telling us to ask if the health care professional has washed before doing anything with the patient. So I guess they're trying to create a culture of patient empowerment.

I'm going to imitate the BBC and ask you what 5 records, CDs, whatever, you would like to have if you were stranded on a desert island. What can you listen to over and over again?