anon

I guess it comes down to what's more important to you... Getting your fill when you need it OR Having the same person do your fill every time... All of the people mentioned are specialist band fillers, you might remember DR Somers he did the fat doctor programme on Discovery Health... he also does some work for the Hospital Group, as well as seeing patients independently.... Again your choice entirely, I just wanted to give you some other options! Hx

If Fern has had a band, then it is nobody's business but her own!!! I haven't told anyone and I'd be completely mortified if I found myself being discussed like this on a forum! Just because she presents a daily television programme, it does not give us carte Blanche to spread gossip about her! Just because we need a little help doesn't mean everyone does! (Steps down from soap box and slopes off to side lines:o) Hx

flipping heck Cookies!! Just go and find another provider, there are loads in London; Toni Russo Dr Marc focquet Dr Somers to name but a few... Dr Focquet only charges £70 too! Shop around, it's your body and you are in control!

I had a port replacement on Wednesday... Simple and under local anaesthetic, I'd already had one revision, but it was unsuccessful. My port was really deep in my fat and flipped sideways, he turned it, but left it deep. Still terrible. In the end I consulted another surgeon, who x rayed me and we could both see that the cuff had come away from the port and the tubing was kinked and leaking... I now have a shiny new port and 4mls in my band, which has made me very tight! Hx

I've given up drinking frappuccinos, precisely because I can't get them down! I was told that the cold makes the silicone band contract and stiffen so you end up super tight... I'm feeling really restricted following a fill on Wednesday, I'm having all my fluids hot at the moment because it just takes too long to get a pint of water down me... thankfully I like herbal teas!

I think a bit of background is needed for this! I had a real nightmare fill 3 weeks ago which, even though it was done under x ray took 16 stabs (yes I did say SIXTEEN!) with the needle to locate the particularly deep and oddly angled port. In the end they had to use an extra long needle to do the fill. My aftercare team are very experienced and said that this was the most challenging fill they've ever done. It has been suggested that I may have to have the port repositioned to facilitate fills if I need lots of adjustments. I have to say that if this was not the case I would have booked my second fill by now, but the thought that they may struggle or want to do a repositioning is putting me off tbh. With this in mind I am working with my current restriction by avoiding solids until the evening to maintain my restriction for the evening, which, like a lot of peeps is my 'danger' time! :nervous I have booked my hols to Australia in August this year and have decided to set myself a 'stretching' target weightloss for the next 9 weeks of 3lb per week. My surgeon says that this is safe and achievable with the 'right restriction' at my current weight (18st 4lb) although he did say that I could not expect it once I get down to a bmi of less than 35 (apparently I should expect 2lb per week after that!) As my restriction is not all that it could/should be, I am making a concerted effort to limit my intake and ensure I make at least a 2lb weight loss per week (3lb would be nice and the ultimate goal but my back up target is 2lb so I won't be disappointed!) I will then consider another fill once I get back from Oz, when hopefully, my port will not be so buried in my substantial layers of fat!!! Is this a reasonable aim or am I just setting myself up for a fall?

Holiday was amazing! Weight loss a disaster! Not lost a lb since I set that target... the only bonus is that I haven't gained anything either! Having port trouble at the moment and need a reposition so that I can get a fill! Off to France next week again! Wish me luck!

Really does depend where you live. I know of someone who lives in Herefordshire. She went to her Doctors in April and had her surgery in June! If there hasn't been much call for it in your PCT then the chances are, that if you know where the nearest surgeon can be found, you will get a quick referral and funding. If you live in Wales... tough luck there's no money for Bariatric surgery at all! My guess is that if you live in a rural PCT with little or no inner city then you are probably more likely to get a shorter waiting time.

Welcome to the site D! Good luck with your banding journey, I hope that you enjoy the support and friendship here! hx

I though it would be fun to start a thread ... a kind of food diary, that lets us keep track of what we're eating and also gives some of the pre op patients an idea of what life will be like with the band... it might be a good place to also put if the food you ate caused you to pb too! I'll start the ball rolling... 28/3/07 B: starbucks blueberry yoghurt L:Carrot and corriander soup 1 cup 250mls D: Roasted carrot and ginger soup 250mls with 150g VLF cottage cheese blended into soup for extra protein. Snacks... Drinks; blueberry ribena extra light 500mls, 2 large black coffees, 2 glasses water. 1 peppermint and liquorice herbal tea (300ml) No pb's but lots of burping, still on liquid diet.

Everybody's journey is different, you shouldn't compare yourself to others on here. Be assured that when you reach your sweet spot you will lose weight consistently and probably slowly, but permanently, which is the most important thing here after all!

Well, I've been fighting my band since I had my last adjustment! Have struggled with 'proper' food and have resorted to eating crapola... ice cream and chocolate always goes down! So today I'm back on the liquid diet.... shakes for brekkie and lunch then soup for dinner me thinks... the others are having steak tonight and I just know that's not going to go down.... no way Jose!!! Hope you're all losing... no matter what you're eating!

No I have my fills in the UK, it's quite easy to find a fill provider here for them. Post op was a breeze, no problems at all in fact I had to check that I'd actually had an operation when I woke up! Sorry for the late reply!

Did you have heartburn before you were banded? If not then I would ease back on the quantity of mushies you're having and see what happens. I was told that the most likely cause is over filling my pouch or using food that was too thick for it to cope with.

I just can't get ribs down.... I've eaten them but they're not a 'keeper'!!! Make the most of it!

I'm thinking that you might have a midband.... with this in mind I've email mid in Lyon and asked them about MRI's. I'll let you know what they say. Just had email response.... I've copied and pasted the reply below! We thank you for your mail, and we confirm you that there is no problem to have a MRI when you have a MIDBAND, because it is made 100% in Silicon and the Port is made in Titanium T40, which both material is compatible with MRI. Best Regards, Nathalie TASSA Assistant MID Company 13 Rue des Aulnes 69760 LIMONEST France TEL 33 4 78 17 48 04

I have to say that if you are looking for a UK surgeon to do the op, you'll be hard pressed to find one, as you BMI is less than 35 at the moment, the guidelines for doing WLS are BMI of more than 40 with not co-morbidities (weight related health problems) and BMI of 35 or more with co-morbidities, so you'll have to gain a bit more weight (15st 2lb makes your BMI 35.2) and have a weight related problem to be considered. My BMI was 38.5 when I first decided to have the op and 43 by the time I'd saved up enough money to get it done, scarily that was only 6 months! I've been banded now for 17 weeks now and have lost 3stone and 4lbs so far. I'm delighted with my progress and have to say that the consistency of my weight loss has been down to the band.... Yes I can diet, but my attention span is around 8 weeks so I'd be back on the gain path by now. My band has stopped me falling from grace and although I've tried to binge.... it's not been possible and I've paid with my head down the loo! I'm learning and it's not always easy, but I don't regret having it, despite having the fills from hell! the op itself was a dream, no bruising, no pain and I was back at work 5 days post op, but that's because i don't have a physically demaning job. If you do a lot of lifting then it would be a longer recovery time. You should ask how many of these ops have they done Is there a pre operative diet? What is the weight loss average of the patients What sort of changes will I have to make to my life to be successful What complications can happen, can they be fixed If things go wrong, how much will it cost to put them right. Where will I get fills... what's the protocol? Do I have to pay for them? I hope that this helps a bit!

Morning everyone! What a busy weekend I've been having! Forgive me, for I have sinned..... it's been easier to make bad decisions! Friday: Porridge with grated apple 4 spoons 2 ryvita with light philly and slice strawberries ..... got kicked out of house by son as he was having friends round for dinner! so went for curry..... 4 spoons of curry with one spoon of rice mixed in mostly sauce with one piece of chicken breast! oh and 2 glasses of wine, after which I was completely trollied!!! Saturday; Meal Replacement shake 100g chocolate at the cinema MORE CURRY! about the same amount of a different curry, no wine tonight! Sunday: small bowl of oatibix flakes with S/S milk Went to a pudding club lunch! spoon of beef in beer 3 tiny new potatoes, one broccoli floret, dsrt spn carrots ... then a spoonful of each of the puddings on offer over the course of the afternoon.... Lemon mousse, chocolate mouse, summer pudding, gin and tonic jelly, spotted dick, and sticky toffee pudding! with pudding wine! Surprisingly I had a taste for food by then so for dinner I had:hungry: 3 spoonfuls of lasagne.... then chocolate and a glass of cointreau!!! The biggest surprise of all is that I got on the scales this morning and have lost another 1lb!!! :rolleyes:

There's no metal in your band it's made from silicone, so should be no trouble. But do get in touch with your surgeon to make sure!

have to say Susan that, although some of your food choices are unfamiliar to me.... it doesn't seem excessive, how many calories does it total? As for me well I'm WELL restricted! Breakfast; two mouthfuls of porridge Lunch; 1 walnut size piece of bread, 2 spoons of minestrone Soup... Dinner; about 50g of salmon, and 2 bites of corn on the cob.... pb'd the lot!!! bit later 1/2 ryvita with philly light and 2, yes I did say 2 glasses of red wine... as I type I'm feeling quite squiffy!!! hope you're all doing well... I'm looking forward to standing on the scales this week!!!

Hi guys! Thought it would be interesting to start a 'progress' thread for all us UK bandsters! Not a weight log, although you can put it on if you want to.... more of a record of our banding journeys. The highs and lows and the bits in between! I'll start the ball rolling with my account of the last week! My ankle is finally pain free and no longer swollen, which can only be a good thing... now all I have to do is motivate myself to get back into the cardio part of my fitness routine! Food intake this past week is creeping up again, with an average calorie intake of around 1300 calories a day... which doesn't sound too bad, but has been enough to mean that I've gained this week!(0.7kg) :cryI can't bring myself to put it into my ticker just yet, but if I'm going to track my progress then I ought to track it honestly! I've got into my size 20 monsoon trousers (there much smaller than my other size 20 trousers from the same shop... why is nothing the same cut!) this weekend, despite the gain, so all is not lost.... I really must book my fill today or I'm afraid that my target for Australia holiday will be a wash out at this rate! So plan for this week.... Make healthy choices with my food all week. Eat 1/2 an apple before meals.... (it will stick in the band and make me satsified with less at meals) Stay away from meal replacements... I need something to satisy my appetite, not make me feel deprived! Get back on the cardio wagon and start making progress in that direction! On the employment front, I need to chase a couple of jobs I've applied for and if they're going nowhere, then I need to apply for others. On the home front, I have a bit of tiling to get done while the weather is horrid! Well that's me for this week, what about you?

Hello everyone.... not a good start to updating myself. I've not been too good. I needed a fill and put it off and put it off. Mainly because it was such a nightmare the first time! Well I managed to pluck up the courage and it was as bad as I thought it was going to be, but it's done now and I don't have to worry about it for a while at least! My weight has stayed the same for some weeks now, mainly due to me not concentrating on putting good things into my body, and having reduced restriction! So we're back on track from today with me concentrating on only putting good things into my body... you know the 5 -8 portions of fruit and vegetables. 60g of protein per day etc etc....you know the drill! I'll keep on going!

That's exactly why I went abroad for my surgery! The cost in total with the travel, the hotel and the time off work still came to half the cost at home (£3200 TOTAL) It's such a minor procedure and provided that you have it done in the EU, you're covered by all the usual laws. Even if you're not a home owner, you can still get a loan at a good rate if you go to moneysavingexpert.com and have a look at the cheapest way to borrow money it will give you all the options according to your credit score.... the chap who runs the site is a journalist and doesn't make any money from the information he gives out. The other option is for you to go to your doctor and ask for WLS, it's available on the NHS and depending on where you live you could have it within a matter of 8 weeks (Someone in Hereford got hers that quick on the NHS!) hope that this helps a bit.

congratulations on your band Simon and a very Warm welcome from me too! You sound very chipper at the moment! Long may it continue!

Right, am doing the liquids only thing for the next 5 days, as that's what I've been advised to do! So Meal replacement shake for brekkie, Soup for lunch and another shake for dinner.... I might have a 4th shake if I'm hungry later, but I want to do as I'm told and stick with fluids!!!