Dame J

I am a little nervous to get a fill. Last time I had one I was in the hospital the naxt day getting some removed. But it has been a few weeks now and I have less restriction than before so I think I will set another appointment.

I wanted to post this earlier but I have had problems logging on. :mad: Anyway Leslie when I was on Optifast I would make coffee and let it cool or make instant cold espresso and add it to the Optifast with ice in a blender. I would tell myself it was an iced coffee. It actually was the only way I could tolerate the optifast as it was the only thing that could cover the bad taste. With the warmer weather coming an iced coffee Optifast might hit the spot. :mad:

Hey Mr. Yoda sorry about the hair feeling. I got that after I had a soup that was pretty fibrous. Maybe that was it? Anyway I always remember dessert is spelled with two s's because one dessert is never enough (obviously that reminder was post banding but still it works) :mad:

Leslielee Dr. Cobourn seemed to think I was overfilled and so did I. I wasn't able to get down Water and that was a concern. He didn't take the whole fill from Friday out but most of it. I was at 5 and then on friday I was brought up to 5.7. I was fine but I guess it kicked in quick to the point where I was not able to get down liquid. Dr. Cobourn took out some of the fill so I was to 5.4 but I think I was still swollen and I although I was able to get some of the glass of water down it felt bad so he took some more out so I am now at 5.2. Kind of a waste of a fill but I didn't want to take any chances. Anyway we will see how this goes. I am in no hurry to run back for a fill though that is for sure. :eek:

I know what you mean Mandi. I told myself that the band was the only surgery I was going to do on myself. And I hope it is. But then again I see how great other people look after the lifts and things and I think hummm maybe that would be good too. I am in my 20's too and like you I never had that flaunt it part of my life. I think it would be great to live that period at least once in my young life. I don't blame you or judge you for wanting those things

I swear I should really start learning from others before taking it the hard way. Yesterday I went for a fill and it wasn't all that agressive or anything and I was able to drink my glass of Water. Anyway the rest of the day went by and I could drink water and I had a mushie dinner. Anyway last night as I was having a latte all of a sudden BAM I couldn't get it down. I was having the worst discomfort. I thought maybe I was just swollen and after it came back up I was able to get to sleep. Anyway woke up this morning and was not really able to get a glass of water down. I called Dr. Cobourn and he met me at the hospital and hour later. He was terrific. I felt bad cause I found out I pulled him out of a golf game but I was so happy to see him and get it taken care of. Anyway I felt better after and although I am doing okay now I have to admit I am nervous to try anything other than Soup. What a crazy weekend. No more fills! Love Dr. Coubourn though, I was willing to go to my local hospital but I have to admit I am so glad it was him.

I agree with Andrew. I would not be worried about weight loss so much but I would keep an eye on portions and nutrition content of food. As for exersize I would say it is a MUST. For the first couple months I was walking about 30 min every 5 days but after the two months when I felt my body was fully recovered I got into a more complete workout routine. I think it has helped me a lot.

Tagger I was not able to find that product on the shelves but I was told by a friend that some fine, upscale grocery stores carry it. I went to my local food boutique and was unable to find it. I think that you can order it online and they will ship it but I don't know if it is worth all of that. Sorry I guess that was not much help.

Yoda finally some pictures!!! You look great! what a success. :clap2: Don't worry I am sure that you will be slipping into a 12 in no time!

good luck Janice! You will be in good hands.

My Doctor did not know a lot about the surgery so she asked me about it when I told her I wanted to go through with it. After answering her questions she was satisfied that I at least had answers and had done the research. She knows about my weight history and the attempts at losing in the past so she supports it as long as I am informed of risks and all of that. My surgeon also has sent her updates when I go to his office so she at least has an idea of what he has done. Since my surgery I have gone back to my Dr.'s office and I noticed that she now has information booklets on the LapBand procedure.

Well I had been feeling pretty discouraged lately. I have been watching what I have been eating and working out regularly at the gym (my new obsession) . Anyway after doing all this the previous week I did not go down at all. I tried not to let it get to me and I just kept on doing what I was doing. Anyway this week I was down a couple pounds :clap2: and I decided to get the measuring tape out to see if maybe I was loosing there too. Turns out I was! I have lost 5 inches around my hips and 5 inches around my waist. After doing the total measure and adding things up I have lost over 21 inches from my body, legs and arms. So happy to see this. Still have a ways to go but I feel better knowing that things are working.

Mr. Yoda it sounds like a rough start. Glad that you are doing okay now and I am sure with Mrs. Yoda's help you will be better in no time. Just take it easy and be good to yourself.

Wow Becca that seems very scary and uncomfortable. I made an appointment for a fill for this coming Friday but in the last couple days I have begun to feel a bit tighter. I am wondering if I should cancel or maybe if I do go just ask for a tinsy fill. Your story has made me think harder on this situation. Glad that things were taken care of for you though. Glad that you are feeling better. Hopefully this fill will do the trick for you and last awhile at a comfortable fill level.

Don't worry about the blood work you get that done a week or two before the surgery and send that in to your Dr.

Good Luck Susan. You will do great!

My goals are: To finally have some weight loss (haven't in awhile) To loose 8 pounds Continue to go to the gym 4 times a week Drink more water Do not get so discouraged when things don't happen as planned

As I was getting changed this morning my eye was caught by my scar. It is still very pink and big and slightly raised. Now I know that the rest of my belly is white as snow so any colour tends to pop out but seriously it looks like I just had surgery a couple weeks ago and not 2 and half months ago. There is no pain or anything but 2 out of 5 scars are still looking a little to new to suit my tastes. So I am wondering when did peoples scars tend to fade and did you do anything special to make them fade? Right now I am using a Vitamin E coca butter cream to help it fade not sure if it is really working or if I am just telling myself it is in desperation.

Hi Susan I would find out what restaurant you are going to and look up the menu. Maybe you will see something there that would fit the description of Mushie. Or try a soup at the rest. That is what I did when I had to go out for a party at the restaurant. I ended up having the french onion soup and only ate a bit of the bread and cheese. It was a lot of soup so it was looked like a meal to everyone (even though I did not eat it all) and no one commented. Well only to say that they wished they ordered that too. If someone does question you ordering soup you can say that your tummy has been acting up lately and so you are just taking it easy.

As for the scars it is weird in the gym locker room. I feel like I am back to Junior high trying to cover up but really I just don't want people to see the scars. They are fading but the port scar is still pretty noticable. I wear a bathing suit (1 piece - blue) and the scars can not be seen. Don't worry about eating in front of people. If you are serving yourself just take a bit and at a restaurant you can eat and push around the rest and then take home the leftovers. If anything people will be impressed with your willpower of saying no to eating more. At least that is what I get from my friends when we eat out.

Hi Nick's wife. Congrats on getting banded. I told 2 people and two people only (my parents). I did not tell anyone else including my best friends. It was and is hard because I tell them EVERYTHING, so the choice not to tell in this case was hard to make. People are funny when it comes to weightloss surgery and I find that even those who love you can be judgemental and will police what you do and eat. I decided that I would not tell for these reasons. I figure once you tell there is no taking it back so think long and hard when you tell people. Anyway to the point... excuses! When I started to loose weight I lost a lot of it during the pre-op diet. I told my friends that my weight was a little out of control and that for my health my Dr. wanted me to work on reducing the size of my liver so for a while I have to be on a strict diet (technically this is all true). Now that I can eat normal food again (kind of) I just tell people that I am watching what I eat and that I am watching my portions (also true). Also I was not in bed long after the surgery just a day or two so I was able to just tell people I was under the weather. All in all not telling has worked out well for me. My mother told her best friend but I know her very well (she is like a 2nd mom to me) so I know she will not tell anyone. Good luck with what you decide to do.

Check out this link it should help http://lapbandtalk.com/showthread.php?t=16218

LMCHP I was banded by Dr. Cobourn and things happened the same for me as well. I met him and I felt very comfortable with him. Congrats on setting the date. It will come and go in no time. :biggrin1:

There was an article in the Toronto Star yesterday on this topic. They were saying that even in situations where surgery is covered the wait it something like 3 years and they have to send people to the US to get it done. Anyway to my knowledge the lapband is not covered in Ontario. It would be great if it was. According to the Star article the governement is not covering it because they don't believe that it is as successful as the other surgeries. I agree though it is a really difficult situation. I paid for the surgery with the help of Medicard.

I was very nervous before the surgery, but more than that I was excited. I admit that the night before surgery every bad thought about outcome running through my head. I think that is pretty normal though. the next day as I was getting ready and then finally waiting in the office I just kept saying to myself picture the best case in your head and focus on what you want to come out of it with. It was hard but I managed to stay really calm. Of course no one prepared me for walking in to the O.R. and lying myself on the operating table. That was werid and I think that is when I started to really get struck by what I was doing. 5 min later I was out like a light and when I woke up no biggie. It's normal to be nervous but don't let it get to you to much. Just follow the rules that your Doctor gave you and focus on the good things that will come out of this. You will be fine.