OrderIsChaos

We've been here in Dalian over a year and I did eventually find a great surgeon. He names is Dr. Li and he is normally based in Hong Kong but travels around 2 times a month to Beijing to the International SOS clinic there. He has been fantastic through maintenance fills and through an ulcer issue. I imagine finding someone in Shanghai or Beijing won't be too problematic, but might take some digging. Also, chicken dishes often contain cartilage and my band HATED that (and it was stupid for me to even try to finish the dish I had), so be aware if you don't have someone for emergencies, it can be a bit scary! Good luck and feel free to PM me if you need anything!

Recently banded and I'll be moving to Dalian, China soon! I'm excited about the move, and I'll be traveling to the US often, but I'd like to know of any clinics in northeastern China or South Korea that anyone could recommend so I don't have to travel quite so far every time I might need an adjustment. Thanks!

I've lost quite a bit in the past few months and I notice that some areas are thinning up faster than others and while I have no problem doing overall exercise to help the overall weight loss, I have to admit that the one area I'm currently horrified by is under my arms. I'm seriously afraid I will pull a flying squirrel if I move my arms wrong. I know I need to do more arm work to help tone the muscles in the tricep area to give support to my bat wings; anyone have some good advice on what worked for them? Thanks!

Curse having to have patience! :w00t: It's nice to know other people have the same bumps in the road, although I hadn't noticed the side boobs until you mentioned it! My arms need work anyway since my legs get all the workout love so I'll start some pushups and see how it goes from there. Hopefully I don't look like a flying squirrel much longer.

Same here: lots of loose flesh now that flops when I do bouncy exercises and put a strain on the muscle with the port in it. I actually found an old sports bra with the straps cut off and pulled down around my ribs worked fine. Just something to give a little extra support to that muscle area.

Ha! So very true. I actually do think the lap band is the easy way out and cheating. Then again, so is using a match to light a fire instead of rubbing twigs together. I'm going to use all the tools available to me to lose the weight I gained. If other people lose or maintain weight with just exercise, or strict diets, or prayer, I don't care. This is working for me and it would be really stupid for me to stay fatter longer just to show I could do it, or to set myself up for failure. I'll use what works, thanks.

You might need a better fill, but you could also reassess what you are eating and try and stick with what makes you feel fullest the longest. For me, I can eat ice cream, Cookies, crackers and popcorn without the slightest feeling of restriction. Raw spinach on the other hand, is a misery. But lean Proteins, nuts, fruits and most veggies stick just right. Those are the items I can eat the right portion of and feel full. And if I overindulge I most certainly feel it. Also, are you eating often enough? I found I was only eating the 1/2 cup portion during my old normal meal times and I was silly ravenous by the time those rolled around. Now I break up my eating times into at least 6 mini meals per day and I don't feel that outrageous hunger and exercising is easier.

Check the forum sections on removal and reversal and complications. Aside from the general surgery risks, you'll find people who've had the gamut of experiences from health problems that required an unwanted band removal, to people who are so tired of dealing with first bite issues they want the band removed, to people who have had horrid experiences with their nurses and surgeons. Also, remember that your surgeon is looking to make a profit, and while your health is certainly a consideration, it might not be their main motivator so: 1. Make sure your choice of surgeon and follow up care is well recommended and suits you. 2. Get a 2nd, or 3rd opinion on your suitability for the surgery, not just health wise, but habits wise (are you a binge ice cream eater who will just try and work around the lap band?) Overall, I think you'll find a very positive community here of people who are using the lap band as a tool combined with the support of others who have gone through the process. Good luck to you no matter what you decide!

It depends vastly on your surgeon and insurance. My insurance required 6 months of a supervised diet and exercise program. My surgeon required a EGD, counseling sessions, nutritionist visits and approval from my GP. My GP had his own host of requirements to make sure I was suitable for surgery, including of all random things, a normal pap smear. All told, my time from initial consult to surgery was 11 months. What did your insurance say was the reason?

I saw a picture of myself today and for the first time in memory... I HAVE ONE CHIN! YAY! *dance*

I am sooo looking forward to regular sized clothing stores- congrats to you!

I feel much, much more restricted about 48 hours before my period. And if you peek in the powder room section of the forums, you'll find this is very common. Not sure on how endo would affect this, but probably any hormone issues would make the flux in tightness more noticeable.

I have only found a few fill places in the biggest cities so actually the one you recommended in Korea is still much closer with that short little plane hop. Thanks again for all the info!

Hi all! I'm on my 2nd fill and was banded 12/17/09 with Dr. DeBarros of WLIA and I'm down almost 50 lbs (yay!). I have to say that a lot of that success is because I've had an amazing personal trainer for the last year. He was with me through all of the 6 month insurance procedure, surgery and now and he's just been awesome, so I figured I'd give him a shout out here in case any locals were looking for a trainer familiar with the band process. His name is Scott Abel and his website is Home Page He is definitely a more core oriented trainer and less strength or aerobic but he still is helping whip my fat ass in to shape :scared2:

So I'm 1.5 weeks post op and my tummy still has a funny shape- almost like the area near the port is swollen. I'm not in any pain anymore, but wondering if it is just taking its sweet time to flatten back out, or if the port will always make a weird lump. And how often do you notice the pain around the port area and is there anything specific that you find uncomfortable with it?

I'm on my first fill and have found bread and Pasta to be difficult, rice not so bad. Right now, I can have even a small amount of bread and pasta though, so start slow and find out.

It's not a meal or food, per se, but the fat free, low cal powedered butter substitutes have been very helpful for me. I switched to things like Egg Beaters instead of whole eggs and a sprinkle of the faux butter and I can't tell the difference.

I absolutely love the Vitafusion fiber gummies. I combo those with my gummi multi vitamins and it's actually a nice little snack.

So my surgeon warned me that breads, apple peels, celery and rice might cause the dreaded slime and PB. And then I discovered, in public, that raw spinach should have been on that list. Not the most fun meal I've had What foods have you had difficulty with after being banded?

If you have a no fat diet, Alli is not useful. Alli prevents you from absorbing a percentage of the fat in your meals. Plus you do need a small amount of fat in your diet to process Vitamins. If you just want to use it to eliminate a bit more fat from a low fat diet, you shouldn't have much issue with it and it would certainly speed up the weight loss. If you hit up two doses with a cheese pizza, well, disaster. Try it out, at home on a weekend with a meal that has the normal amount of fat you eat in a meal....you'll know quick if it'll be a problem for you. And read through the stuff that comes with it- very informative!

Started cutting my food smaller and learned to chew really slowly. It's a good habit to have anyway! I also would have been more aware of the 'no sex' for four weeks post surgery *blush*