Gaffer

I dont really get any cues to tell me I am full other than feeling full and knowing that if I eat anymore I will be uncomfortable. I try to stop eating when I am somewhere between satisfied and "I knew I should not have had that last bite". Andrew

I dont really count calories per se, but I do from time to time do a tally for the day just to make sure that I am not starting to over eat. I normally fall into the 1400-1700 cal per day. I think sometimes I should be eating more as 6' man burning about 900 cal per workout in addition to my BMR but I will stick to what is currently working. Andrew

It was really good to see you all the other day. I still cant believe how fast Dr.C can do a fill. He was reaching for the bandaid before I even knew he was finished. Andrew

I am going to have to take a rain check. I am going to be at Sunfest all day Saturday and then I will be working like a dog to help my father-in-law install our central air conditioning. If you are planning on being in Inglewood, send me a PM and I will tell you how to find me. Are you seeing Dr.C on monday or one day on the weekend? I am planning on seeing him on monday, which is good since I have some concerns lately. Andrew

I doubt you should drink it. If it has 118 cal which is not what you want on the pre-op. The reason why they allow tea or coffee is that they have virtually no calories. If it was just the matcha tea I would likely, but this sounds like a prepared drink made with matcha tea and other ingredients. The idea of the pre-op is to limit you to about 1000cal per day. After you are banded you dont want to be drinking 118 calorie drinks because they add up fast. If you had 2 a day that is about 20% of your calories for the day. I would stay away from it. Andrew

I talked to Dr.C on the phone the other night. He is making the trip out west to train some fill Dr.s in Victoria, Whitehorse and a couple of other places (dont quote me on those cities) and he is stopping in Calgary & I think Edmonton to see some of his patients. I think it is great that he goes out to various parts of the country and he realizes that many of his patients are not from the TO area and are not able to make it back there for thier aftercare. Andrew

I ouwld check with the clinic just for reassurance, but I am pretty sure it is just some healing going on. Mine was tender and throbed a bit for the first month after surgery. Andrew

There are plenty of use here that have been banded by the Dr.Coburn/Mumford clinic that are not from Ontario. I am from Calgary & was banded by Dr. Coburn on Valentine's day. So far I can say that I have no regrets about the service & care that I recieved from them. One thing to note that is really nice about the SWLC clinic is that they set up your fill providers for you. I am not sure where in BC you are, but I am sure that there fill providers near you. IMHO, after care is the key to the band, and having them set that up for you is great. Andrew

I tend not to worry about it as there is little or nothing I can do about it. I just take the good with the bad. Andrew

Wow, that sounds like a bit of a gong show. That sucks about the Dealta dr. He should really refund your $400 if he is not able to or unwilling to do your fills. Andrew

I am doing okay, but I felt alot better at 5CC. Right now I am just really bagged and I am having a tough time getting through my workouts. I drank a bunch of wine yesterday & that opened me up a little so I was able to have some pretty good meals yesterday. I dont know if I am getting enough calories with the current restriction. I am actually going tonight to get .5CC taken out. I thought I could hold out until I see Dr.C on the 25th but I cant take the discomfort anymore. I hate having to pay the $100 each time but I need to get some taken out. Andrew

Geez Doodie. I am getting sick of shelling out $100 for my fills here in Calgary, I'll be at $500 tonight as of my 2nd defill. I guess I should not be complaing too much. Andrew

Thanks. As for CanMac, I have no idea where he is. Hopefully all is well. Andrew

I am hoping to meet my goals. I have had a tough couple of weeks with this last fill. I went to 6CC, that was too tight so I went in a week later to get .5CC taken out, It feels better, but I am going in tonight to have them take out another .5cc. I am still too tight and not able to eat as much hard prtotiens, and I have been relying on softer foods, which I dont think is good. I am hoping that when I see Dr.C when he is in town that we can add back .2 or .3CC. I am right around restriction and I am sure it is somewhere between 5.0 & 5.5CC. It just sucks having too much restriction and not feeling well. Andrew

That's because in Sask. they like thier tummys flat like the terriain. :heh: I am pretty sure they are covered in AB as well. I make sure to tell my Dr. that my back is killing me everytime I see him. I am pretty sure I am going to be needing some sort of reconstriction as I carry 90% of my weight in my gut. I look like a Salvado Dali painting with all this hanging skin. My wife even makes fun of me now because I have saggy bum, and my bum was not very big to begin with. Andrew

30lbs of skin per 100lbs seems a little high. When I have watched them doing TT on TV for people who have lost massive amounts of weight they seem to take about 10lbs of tissue. Andrew

I love it. I wholesale jewelry and other goods from the states. It should save me $3-4k in the coming months. I am also planning to go to the states to get some tires for the wife's truck and I gotta buy some clothes while I am down there. My closet is getting pretty limited these days. Even my damn underwear are too big. I am hoping that we are at par in the fall, but I will take what I can get especially when you look at where we were last fall. Andrew

My fill provider no longer does fills for Mexican patients as stated in my earlier post. Andrew

On an interesting side note, my fill provider told me that he will no longer be doing fills on Mexican patients. The reason why is that he has seen too many messed up ports, people dont know or cant find out what band they have, and trying to deal with the clinics in Mexico to get info is a nightmare. When I heard that I was glad that I stayed in Canada. Andrew

Lets hear it for 5.5 CC. That is where I am at too. I was at 6 for about a week but found it to be too restricted and had to have some taken out. Andrew

I imagine this is a OTC version of Xenical, not Olestra. Olestra is a food additive that mimics fat. Do a google search for Xenical and you will get all the information you need. Xenical is awful. I was in it for a couple of months before I was banded and I could not stand the out of control fatty diareha. Basically I was afraid to fart for fear of the orange fatty stool. I would avoid it at all costs. Andrew

You are not unique in that sense. I just had my 3rd fill, and am feeling good restriction, but it varies. For me, mine gets tighter when I am stressed out. I am also a bit tighter right after I get up in the morning. There are other times I am just tighter for whatever reason. Andrew

Okay, June goals it is. I managed to make my May goal by the excess skin of my teeth. I had a nice stall in the last 2 weeks of May. My June goals are as follows: - Get below 270lbs. I have set a mini-goal for myself to get to 100lbs lost by the end of July so that is half way to that. - Conitnue to make it to the gym at least 3 times per week, but strive for 4 or 5. - Conitnue to eat healthy, try to make better choices, and limit my treats to once a week. Other than that, I just want to try to take care of myself and not get too stressed out. The coming months are the most stressful in my job so getting through them will be a challenge. Andrew

No worries. Andrew

Dr. Coburn's clinic uses the Inamed AP lapbands, and they come in either large or small depending on the size of one's stomach once they get in there. I had the large Inamed AP band. I dont really have anything to compare it to, but I am very satisfied with the whole things to date. Andrew