Scribby

My doc charges 300 for fills if your insurance pays, 150 if your on your own. I know, why does he charge the ins company more? I dont care honestly because even though they "paid" for my surgery there was still a couple thousand not coverd and they dont pay for aftercare which is rediculous, so screw em! He also saves a lot of money in admin fees if he dosent have to submut anything, so I guess he sees it as cheaper for him if I pay cash. So, being on my own, its 150. For floros' I go to a surgery center that charges 50 bucks if you dont put it through insurance. I learned about this after it cost over 400 bucks in the radiology department in the hospital, of which I still paid more then 50 bucks after deductibles and what not.

I have never had a prob eating after a fill, although I am told to do the whole liquid thing for two days. With that said, I didnt feel retstriction unil fill number three or so. Dont get discouraged if it takes a few to get to the point where the band is working for you. They cant (or shouldnt) tighten you up as much as possible at once. Its a process.

I had to be on a 2 week liquid diet. It sucked, I wont lie. I take that back, the first week sucked, but by the time the second week came around, I was so scared/excited that it didnt bother me. I lost about 7 pounds or so, so that helped with the motivation. I ate a lot of tomato soup.

Obviously the whole could/should argument is prob something you already know. Although I do stay away from most carbs, I eat sushi once in a while. I have no problem with rice as much as stuffing the whole piece in my mouth. I think its not the rice itself, its that we tend (or at least I do) to eat too much of it too fast as its very easy to do.

Thanks! Sounds kinda dumb, but I didnt cxare as much who did the surgery in thier office, its the aftercare that makes all the difference. I got a fill once a month until I was at a good place, never have that much of a problem getting appointments and feel like I am pretty close to being on the wl schedule I had set for myself. So Gretchen, how did your first fill with Paul go?

I think one thing you have to consider also, is someone like me who didnt lose any weight (well, very small amount) until I had proper fills which took months. because I wasnt filled enough I ate whatever I wanted pretty much which is how I got fat in the first place. Now with proper restriction I am eatling a lot less, seeing results on the scale and thats motivating me to get to the gym three days a week. I have lost half my weight since mid january when the fills got tighter. Also, keep in mind, there are a ton of people on this site that dont do shit for themselves as far as proper eating. I read on a lot of the food threads people looking for ways to make the wrong food choices band friendly. THESE are the people who lose 15 pounds in 6 months. Of course there are exceptions, so no one jump down my throat, but a lot of it is them eating what they can, not what they SHOULD. I was still be able to eat chips, so thats what I would snack on until I got VERY impatient about my weight loss and did something about it. Could I have dropped this without the band, probably. Do I ever get a bit discouraged when i see other August bandsters with a ton more weight lost, of course, Im human. Do I sometimes wonder if the band was the right choice for me, of course. I keep going though. I cant eat squat right now because I am tighter then I have ever been, and I like it that way. It keeps me from trying to sqeeze crap down my throat that I shouldnt even be looking at. Keep your chin up, as with any major goal/lifestyle change, you will have ups and downs, not just with your weight. Instead of getting down on myself about not having 80 pounds under my belt yet, I use those people as motivation by thinking about what I can change. It makes me see whats possible if I buckle down and focus on me and what I want to look like. Sorry for the ramble!

So glad some of you are seeing Dr. Pinnar. Both of them are just great. I happen to see the older one but have heard good things about his son Eric as well. The fill doc, Paul is so great. He is funny, truthful and I am more comfortable around him then almost any doc I have ever seen. If anyone is shopping for a band doc and Reston is close, please check them out!

I have this, although its not as often as you have it. It is a shooting pain in my left shoulder at completly random times.At first they said it was gas, then a couple months later they said that there was no way it was gas and was obvioulsy how they positioned me during surgery. Now its been since August and they have referred me to an orthopedic surgeon! I havent had my appt yet, but am curious what they will say.

wow, I cant beleive how much you guys have lost!! amazing! I wasnt losing so I joined Nutrisystem. I did it as a teenager and it worked well, though I was hungry all the time. Well....thats not a problem anymore! ha..the portions are perfectand I have dropped 12 pounds in the last three weeks. I needed a jumpstart after I found myself eating potato chips for lunch! I am dying to get to the 50 pound mark. I have also been going to the gym three days a week, so i know thats a big factor as well. Good job guys, I just love seeing how much you have lost!!!

you dont have any restriction yet, so yes, you will get hungry after the swelling goes down. I was "hungry" for a few months until about my third fill because it wasnt restricted enough. After the swelling goes down, it shoudl feel like there is no band at all. i could eat totally normal (unfortunatly), but now I have restriction and dear god, can eat nothing like I did before. Good luck! My surgery was 24k and my insurance paid for all of it but not my fills..

I just cancelled my membership to Curves. Please no offense to the older banders, but at 31, I just cant work up a sweat to the oldies! I was always by far the youngest person there, so requesting a music change wasnt an option. After a year or so, the routine was VERY old for me. The gym I joined recently is fantastic (LA Fitness if there is one in your area). At first I was intimidated by the size and because I am shy at the gym, but its been great. i can get on the treadmill for a half hour and then go work on some machines. Yes, Curves is great for a beginner gym or for working up to getting a real workout, but being stuck in a year contract will make it tough to step it up when you will need to.

omg, My dad has also called me Porkey Pig or Piglet or Ms. Piggy all my life. It doesnt flip me out as much anymore but as a fat hormonal teenager I hated him for it. About a month or 2 after my surgery, I got the pregnancy bit for the first time. I was at a grocery check out line and I had put the 12 pack of soda underneath the cart. The girl offered to put it in the basket after ringing it up because she thought I was pregnate. I was stunned. I said (pretty disgustedly so) "umm..no" and she knew right away that she had put her foot in her mouth. Btw, she was pretty short and fat herself. I dont know why I expect more out of other fat people. I stayed collected until I paid then bolted for the door, feeling the tears coming. I sat in my car hysterical. I have also gotten (more then once) "your the prettiest fat girl I have ever seen". Ummm...wtf, is that supposed to be a compliment you asshole?

Fun thread... 1. DAVID BEKHAM 2. Joaquin Pheonix 3. Chuck Liddell (UFC Fighter)

My doc said it was fine to have as much carbonation as I wanted. I am not a soda drinker so its a beer occasionally. The burping is a bit unpleasent, but no pain and he said that it doenst stretch out the pouch. Theres obviously some disagreement on this of course!

Keep your head up...I fought the insurance company for a year before approval. I too had to do the 6 months with a pcp. I just kept in perspective that 6 more months of being fat was nothign compared to the LIFETIME of fat I had been so it was worth the wait! I also didnt have the money to self pay so that wasnt an option for me. Good luck!

my doc didnt make me stop my piils either and I take them for like 4 packs straight...

Well ladies, I am having my second fill already on the 11th. I only dropped 2 pounds in the last 5 weeks. I can eat as much as pre banding and still feel no restriction. I am not upset by it, as losing 20 pounds feels pretty awesome. I know it will come, just slow. Awesome job to those who have it melting off!

With regards to interigation...I am only wondering how a country that has no idea how democracy works is supposed to understand a new legal system when we hold 'suspected' terrorist in jail without a trial for 3+ years. These are people who have not had any type of representation, are claiming they are not part of any terror group and the numbers are well into the hundreds if not more. Are some of these people guilty of the crimes they are accused of, of course...but what do you do with those who are not? Also, what kind of example are we setting for Iraq who hasnt had a democratic legal system EVER? To allow a man to dicate how and when to use "whatever means necesary" to get intel out of people who havent even been proven to have a part of any terror plot is frightening. The same man who tricked the american people into thinking that invading Iraq was for the good of the people, will bring to justice those who planned 911, and to bring democracy to a country that has never seen it.

Carlene..I live in Sterling now but just moved from Reston. Was born in Fairfax. I was raised in MD mostly and would move back there in a heartbeat...I have lived all around Northern Va and Maryland..and no where else!

Being one of those people that march every year (hey, I live near DC, you almost have to march about something!..haha) I think this is all were trying to accomplish..majority of the people there have never had abortions, wouldnt make that choice themselves but also wont be arrogant enough to make "moral" (jeez I hate that word) and judgmental desicions for others. I applaud you for seeing what the real issue is with choice..too many people see it as being "pro-abortion" which it is not. No one wants to have one. No one wants to be put in that position, but it happens. Using it for bith control is the most rediculous thing i have ever heard. Every right we have in this country has people who abuse it or take it for granted..so is the case with this one. One can debate this issue over and over and I didnt want this forum to turn into that.....BUT, when reffering to GW...someone like me has cringe at the thought of him appointing Supreme Court Justices that want to pass "moral" (ughh) judgment which of course can change laws for the next 50 years or so. (I wont even get into how rediculous lifetime appointments are!!). So my point (sorry to ramble) is that even though those of us who despise gw are greatful for the ending of his term...this clown has made choices that can cause generations of grief for the American people which is frightening! Thanks everyone for being so civil! I think its great that I can air my views without ridicule!

Morally Liberal Democrat, Morally Conservative Democrat, Morally Liberal Republican, Morally Conservative Republican, Independant. moral I have a HUGE problem with this word and phrase. Having "morals" is way too subjective. I am a supporter of choice not because I am immoral or because I like the idea of terminating pregnancies, I am pro choice because I dont think its up to others to decide whats "moral" for me or others. No one can dictate whats moral and not. I also want to point out that "liberating" Iraq wasnt for the people of Iraq in case no one has figured that out yet. He tricked the poeple into thinking that Saddam was connected to 911, took the oportune time after 911 when people wanted to see somone "pay" for all the hurt that we were all feeling. Obviously was mistaken about the WPD and ruined Colin Powells carreer over that one. The deception over Iraq should be enough for people to be angered. If it was truly about Sadamn being a tyrant (which of course he was) why in the hell arent we demanding action in Darfur where millions of people are being torured, suppressed, raped and murdered by their own govenrment? One answer...bcause they dont have anything we want... Shameless really...

I do not think GW has done anything regarding 911 that Al Gore or any other president at the time wouldnt have done except...confuse the situation in Iraq with 911, not go into Saudi who harbor terrorist (umm..most of the 911 hikackers were from Saudi, so why wasnt he putting ANY pressure whatsoever for thier govenrment to investigate..well I guess cause he and daddy have so many investments there), make sure that all his good ol' boys made lots of money from invading Iraq (umm...Dick Cheney aint crying porr mouth any time soon). I am a young person, did not have any classes in high school about voting yet I seem to know how to do it. Its not about not knowing, its about thinking that your vote will not count so why bother..another thing we can thank Mr. Bush for doing when all of us who voted for Gore were disgusted at the Florida mess....gee, funny how it was in Jeb's state... The first president I voted for was Clinton. I felt an extreme pride just for voting, regardless of the election outcome. I have gotten involved in my local jurisdition to drive people without transportation to the polls... I am very greatful we can have this discussion and even that there are people who voted for Bush (yes I said that out loud) because it means we have civil liberties...

For sure I had the "I cant believe I fought my ass off to do this to myself" moments. I also had a few crying spells of "I am such a failure that I had to result to surgery to stop stuffing my face". Let me tell ya, all of that will dissapear when you see the scale move. I had to turn it into empowerment of me admitting that I was over my head trying to do it myself, I took control, made a choice and did something for myself. Its not easy and I think you have to let yourself go throught the rollercoater of emotions. I am extremly glad to have this site as there isnt one person I know who had even heard of this surgery! Boo hoo, and then watch the scale move..its quite the ride!

Well, had my first fill today! Was a tad grosser then I thought. No pain, but the sensation of him trying to get inmto the port made me want to barf. I couldnt eat for 4 hours before (did a floro) so I was starving..in fact, I am still starving. I had a cup of tomato soup and it didnt fill me up at all. He said to come back in a month for another fill. He said average for people to get to the spot they stay at a long time was 3-5 fills.. I got 3.4 cc's in a 9cc band today! Still excited..hope to get some restriciton

umm...here are some stats that may have some of us not giving a flying monkey about some of his moral do gooder work... mind you, these are as of January lasty year so we all know its actually worse now... 232: Number of American combat deaths in Iraq between May 2003 and January 2004 501: Number of American servicemen to die in Iraq from the beginning of the war - so far 0: Number of American combat deaths in Germany after the Nazi surrender to the Allies in May 1945 0: Number of coffins of dead soldiers returning home from Iraq that the Bush administration has allowed to be photographed 0: Number of funerals or memorials that President Bush has attended for soldiers killed in Iraq 100: Number of fund-raisers attended by Bush or Vice-President Dick Cheney in 2003 10 million: Estimated number of people worldwide who took to the streets in opposition to the invasion of Iraq, setting an all-time record for simultaneous protest 2: Number of nations that Bush has attacked and taken over since coming into the White House 9.2: Average number of American soldiers wounded in Iraq each day since the invasion in March last year 1.6: Average number of American soldiers killed in Iraq per day since hostilities began 16,000: Approximate number of Iraqis killed since the start of war 10,000: Approximate number of Iraqi civilians killed since the beginning of the conflict $100 billion: Estimated cost of the war in Iraq to American citizens by the end of 2003 $13 billion: Amount other countries have committed towards rebuilding Iraq (much of it in loans) as of 24 October 36%: Increase in the number of desertions from the US army since 1999 92%: Percentage of Iraq's urban areas that had access to drinkable water a year ago 60%: Percentage of Iraq's urban areas that have access to drinkable water today 32%: Percentage of the bombs dropped on Iraq this year that were not precision-guided 1983: The year in which Donald Rumsfeld gave Saddam Hussein a pair of golden spurs 45%: Percentage of Americans who believed in early March 2003 that Saddam Hussein was involved in the 11 September attacks on the US $127 billion: Amount of US budget surplus in the year that Bush became President in 2001 $374 billion: Amount of US budget deficit in the fiscal year for 2003 1st: This year's deficit is on course to be the biggest in United States history $1.58 billion: Average amount by which the US national debt increases each day $23,920: Amount of each US citizen's share of the national debt as of 19 January 2004 1st: The record for the most bankruptcies filed in a single year (1.57 million) was set in 2002 10: Number of solo press conferences that Bush has held since beginning his term. His father had managed 61 at this point in his administration, and Bill Clinton 33 1st: Rank of the US worldwide in terms of greenhouse gas emissions per capita $113 million: Total sum raised by the Bush-Cheney 2000 campaign, setting a record in American electoral history $130 million: Amount raised for Bush's re-election campaign so far $200m: Amount that the Bush-Cheney campaign is expected to raise in 2004 $40m: Amount that Howard Dean, the top fund-raiser among the nine Democratic presidential hopefuls, amassed in 2003 28: Number of days holiday that Bush took last August, the second longest holiday of any president in US history (Record holder: Richard Nixon) 13: Number of vacation days the average American worker receives each year 3: Number of children convicted of capital offences executed in the US in 2002. America is only country openly to acknowledge executing children 1st: As Governor of Texas, George Bush executed more prisoners (152) than any governor in modern US history 2.4 million: Number of Americans who have lost their jobs during the three years of the Bush administration 221,000: Number of jobs per month created since Bush's tax cuts took effect. He promised the measure would add 306,000 1,000: Number of new jobs created in the entire country in December. Analysts had expected a gain of 130,000 1st: This administration is on its way to becoming the first since 1929 (Herbert Hoover) to preside over an overall loss of jobs during its complete term in office 9 million: Number of US workers unemployed in September 2003 80%: Percentage of the Iraqi workforce now unemployed 55%: Percentage of the Iraqi workforce unemployed before the war 43.6 million: Number of Americans without health insurance in 2002 130: Number of countries (out of total of 191 recognized by the United Nations) with an American military presence 40%: Percentage of the world's military spending for which the US is responsible $10.9 million: Average wealth of the members of Bush's original 16-person cabinet 88%: Percentage of American citizens who will save less than $100 on their 2006 federal taxes as a result of 2003 cut in capital gains and dividends taxes $42,000: Average savings members of Bush's cabinet are expected to enjoy this year as a result in the cuts in capital gains and dividends taxes $42,228: Median household income in the US in 2001 $116,000: Amount Vice-President Cheney is expected to save each year in taxes 44%: Percentage of Americans who believe the President's economic growth plan will mostly benefit the wealthy 700: Number of people from around the world the US has incarcerated in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba 1st: George W Bush became the first American president to ignore the Geneva Conventions by refusing to allow inspectors access to US-held prisoners of war +6%: Percentage change since 2001 in the number of US families in poverty 1951: Last year in which a quarterly rise in US military spending was greater than the one the previous spring 54%: Percentage of US citizens who believe Bush was legitimately elected to his post 1st: First president to execute a federal prisoner in the past 40 years. Executions are typically ordered by separate states and not at federal level 9: Number of members of Bush's defense policy board who also sit on the corporate board of, or advise, at least one defense contractor 35: Number of countries to which US has suspended military assistance after they failed to sign agreements giving Americans immunity from prosecution before the International Criminal Court $300 million: Amount cut from the federal program that provides subsidies to poor families so they can heat their homes $1 billion: Amount of new US military aid promised Israel in April 2003 to offset the "burdens" of the US war on Iraq 58 million: Number of acres of public lands Bush has opened to road building, logging and drilling 200: Number of public-health and environmental laws Bush has attempted to downgrade or weaken 29,000: Number of American troops - which is close to the total of a whole army division - to have either been killed, wounded, injured or become so ill as to require evacuation from Iraq, according to the Pentagon 90%: Percentage of American citizens who said they approved of the way George Bush was handling his job as president when asked on 26 September, 2001 53%: Percentage of American citizens who approved of the way Bush was handling his job as president when asked on 16 January, 2004