Gaffer

Sorry about not getting back to you about. I have not been able to contact my friend about this as she has been away. Good luck with Dr, Mitchell. May I ask you who did your band in Mexico? Andrew

That sounds right. I have the inamed AP large that hold 14CC. I dont have an opinion as I dont have another band to compare it to, but I am happy with how it has worked for me. From what my surgeon there are some improvements with the AP platform such as more uniform inflation. There are a couple of posts around here that talk about it in more detail. Andrew

Maybe a little late, but I will give you the info anyway since I am Calgary. Here is the scoop. For Lap-band there are 2 surgeons in Calgary, but they are only allowed to do a certain number per year, 25 IIRC. All of those bands are placed under a program and the band is paid for by Alberta health care. You are not able to self pay in Alberta at this time. I was in the line to get a Alberta health care band, but it was going to be 3-5 years before I was eligible due to the waiting list being so long. If you want to self pay, there are a number of options, but none of them are in Alberta. I chose to fly to Toronto and have mine done by Dr. Coburn, but I know plenty of others that have gone to Mexico and other clinics in Canada. Look at the Canada section of this forum and you will find a bunch of Canadians there. Andrew

She mentioned that she got the band when she was young. Perhaps she grew a couple of inches after she go the band due to her young age. Just a theory. I just finished watching CSI so I am acting all Gill Grisim, although I relate more to Nick Stokes. Andrew

I know that Dr. Mitchell in Calgary will do your fill for you. Let me see if I can find one in Edmonton for you though. I have a freind who may know. Andrew

BMI is a crock created by the insurance industry and has very little basis in medcine or science. If I were to be in the normal BMI range I would highest I could weigh is 183lbs @ 6 feet. Based on the body analysis that I have throughout my weight loss, I would be at <5% body fat if I were to weigh 183lbs. That ain't gonna happen, and is not really healthy. I chose my goal weight of 210 before my body anlaysis which would put me at ~15% body fat assuming I dont gain any more muscle weight. This is the same BF% as many elite athletes so I think that might be okay. Healthy weight is kinda an enigma, even my surgeon admitted it is a guesstimate. Andrew

LOL, Thanks Donna D. I am glad you are still concerned with how things are . Anyway, I had been pretty busy before Christmas with a full time job, Christmas markets and getting ready for Christmas. I didnt have much time to keep up with posting here, so I would duck in for a quick read from time to time. I have taken a leave of absence from my job this January. Monday's & Friday's I will be a stay at home Dad. The other days of the week I will be working in a new business venture that I am starting and hope to get off the ground soon. I also have some work I need to catch up on with my current business. Other than that, I was a bad boy in December. I drank too much beer/ wine/ gin & tonic and ate way too many cookies, cakes, squares, desert and chocolates. I have sinned bad, but I am pretty much back to where my ticker is now. I am back at the gym, so things should be back on track. All in all I am doing well. I think I need to hang out here more often so you ladies can keep me on the straight & narrow. Hope you, and everyone else is doing well. Andrew

It makes total sense to me. Sounds like you are pretty close to where you want to be in terms of restriction. Remember that defills are not a defeat, and in fact they can be a good thing. If you are too tight, you may be eating too many "soft calories" as I call them. Things like carbs, mashed potatoes, ice creams etc. I know that is what I tend to resort to when I am too tight. If you are a little looser you can eat more hard protien, chicken, fish and veggies. Even a defill of 0.1CC can make the difference between felling good all the time, and feeing good some of the time. Andrew

It sounds like you might be a bit tight and need a little adjustment. Talk to you clinic about it and they will advise you. Also, I have not been able to eat oatmeal in any form since my surgery, so maybe you want to look at other breakfast options, maybe even a quality protien shake. Is it just in the morning that you have the discomfort, or is it anytime that you eat? Andrew

The dry throat may be irritaion caused by the tube that was put down you throat during surgery. My throat was pretty scratchy for the first week, but it went away eventually. Andrew

That makes sense. I never even thought about that. Andrew

Congrats on your success. I just find the head measurement pretty funny, but it is great. Has anyone noticed that their shoe size changed. I had to buy new golf shoes because mine are all too big. I used to wear an size 11, now I am a 10.5. I did'nt think that I would have to buy new shoes as well dammit. Andrew

I know where you are coming from. I was always the fat kid in school, although when I was young it was refered to as "Husky". I was on one diet or another for my entire life and was 360lbs when I was 33, which was the heaviest I have ever been. One of my major concerns when I was looking into the lapband was that it would fail like everything else that I had tried. I think that being overweight one's entire life we are conditioned to think that diets dont or wont work for us. I was very concerened that the band would be another failure, and my most expensive failure ever. As it turns out, the lapband has been a tremendous success and I have lost 125lbs since my surgery in February. I called my family doctor in my hometown to see when the last time I weighed 235lbs was. It was 1988, I was in grade 9, and I was 12" shorter than I am now. I have never been at this low a BMI in my entire life. That is my story, so yes there is hope for people who have been overweight thier entire life. Andrew

I will send you a PM with the forms and the fax number. AHC recently redid thier web site and the form is no longer there so I have to track a recent one down. Talk to Rose at the clinic & tell her that you need a detailed billing to submit to AB Health Care. She will know what you are talking about and she will either send you a hard copy or email you a pdf. Once you get the form from me, there is a section that Dr. Mumford needs to fill out, but it is not a big deal. Dr. Coburn did mine no problem. You have to fill out the rest. Take the detailed receipt from Rose, the form filled out by you & Dr. Mumford, and a copy of the invoice you got from the clinic and fax it to AHC. Mine took about 6 weeks to come back. I am also in the process of trying to get about $1200 back from Blue Cross from my health spending account so if you have one of those you may want to look into that as well. Andrew

But really, there is no one doing Lapband in Alberta on a self pay basis, they are all done for the public health system in Alberta. If you want to south pay you will have to look east to SWLC, TLBC or the couple of docs that do them on the west coast (thier names escape me right now). Andrew

Good to know Janice, how are you doing? Andrew

I was done by Dr. Coburn, but there are plenty of people that were doen by the TLBC & Dr. Yau here. I have the info for the 3 Docs that will do the fills in Calgary. Dr. Botha who does my fills will only do Coburn patients, kinda as a favour, but Dr. Mitchell & Dr. Descoutoeux will do them irregardless of who did you band . I was banded by Dr. Coburn in Missasauga Ont. I think that coming to Calgary would be easier & cheaper. Is there no one in Edmonton that will do fills? There is not much point in flying back to TO when you need a fill & besides if you are too filled you could be SOL. A fill in Calgary is $125 at the most plus the drive. Flying to TO for free fills at $500 per flight is too pricey for me. I'll pay for mine in Calgary. Andrew

That cracked my up. I am having some of these issues as well. I know that I have lost a lot of the weight, but I still see myself at 360lbs, even though I am buying XL and L sized clothing. I am hoping that my head will adjust to the new sized me. I really dont know what size I am yet I find myself looking at other guys thinking am I bigger or smaller than him. Andrew

We could always crash the TLBC bash? KInda out of the way for me though. Andrew

It is scary, but go with it. Andrew

Wow, it looks like some of the old timers have come out of the woodwork. Good to see some of those people that held my hand about this time last year as I was crapping in my pants about having the surgery. Anyone ever hear from the Yodas? Andrew

I was not trying to offend you, so take it easy. The reason why I claimed it to be better is that NWWLS has one year of aftercare for $18K USD, while SWLC and TLBC have lifetime aftercare included in your $16K. Really when you look at it, one year of included aftercare is not that much when you consider the number of years that you will have this device implanted in you body. Andrew

That sounds like the worst part right there. Remember that getting to you ideal fill amount can take time, and it is not an instant thing. You will get there. Also, as you get more "experienced" with your band you will know when you have eaten enough food, not just by measuring. Tell those people who are making the comments that you are still eating less than you were before (and likely less than what they are) and that what you eat is between you and your surgeon. Andrew

For the syrups I used the Raspberry the most mixed with vanilla. I also had some Chai flavour that was nice for a change. If you go to the Diabetic Depot they have so many flavours it will make your head spin. Definately worth a visit. Glad to hear that you are doing well on your pre-op. I really viewed it as one of the most impartant aspects of the whole journey, only second to the post -op healing phase. I really belive that the pre-op helped break my dependancy on food and put me in the right mind set for recovery. Andrew

Here are some tips that I used during my pre-op. - Dill pickles are a life saver. They are low in calories & carbs but taste like real food. Use them as part of you veggie allowance or when you need a snack. - When eating your salads, those new salad spritzers dressing thingies (Am I technical or what) are supposed to be really good. Try them to liven up those veggies - If and when you get your Optifast, get some calorie free Davinci Syrups. I got mine at the Diabetic Depot in Calgary and they made the Optfast better. - When using the OPtifast, blend it with ice, they taste more like a milk shake that way. - Remeber that what you are doing is a means to an end and that it is only temporary. It is for your health and you are better off for it. As for shopping, I can shop my wife under the table, but I did not find the shopping in Missasauga to be great. Also remember that in Ontario they have PST so you will pay that as well. We stayed at the Novatel which was within walking distance of the Square One shopping mall. It was okay, but really nothing better than Market Mall in Calgary. They had some stores there that we dont yet have in Calgary though. I cant say for certain, but I think that the reason why Dr.C uses Optifast is that Slim Fast can have a little too much sugar in some cases sepending on which ones you get so I suspect it is too avoid that, but dont quote me on that. Andrew