Gaffer

Are you talking $4,000 for the entire surgery? The band device itself costs that much alone. Currently it costs about $16,000 in Canada to be banded. I dont think that they are going to get qualified band surgeons to drop thier private practice to do public bands at a cut rate, especially if they are only going to give them $600 like you say. I would be livid if Dr. Coburn started doing high volumes of cut rate bands as it would limit my access to aftercare which I paid my own money for. Fills are free for Coburn patients at the clinic. Only those who are out of town have to pay. Any public system would be foolish to not cover the fills as it is the adjustments that make the whole thing work. Why would they pay to have the band put in and then have people not properly adjusted because they are too cheap to get their adjustments. Aftercare is the key to success with the band, charging people would not work. Why would people pay. Ughhh, maybe they dont wait 3-5 years to have it. The band is covered here in Alberta, but they have more surgeries and need for surgery than the system can handle. The government recently annouced that they would be doing an additional 100 bands. Gues what, the wait time is longer than ever because there is no capacity in the health system to perform the surgeries and perform the aftercare. Lapband are a low priority comapred to surgeries that can immediately save peoples lives. I will guarantee that even if they are coveing the band that you people would still be waiting years before they are banded. That is why I decided to pay for mine. I wanted to stop dieing and start living. Here I am, over 100lbs lighter and adding years to my life when I would still be waiting to see a surgeon to book a lapband 2-3 years from now, with a surgeon who only does a handful of lapbands a year. I will take Dr. Coburn (or any of the other experienced private surgeons, even in Mexico) over a surgeon who has done less than 50 bands himself. I dont think you will find many people who would give up their bands or rethink them, especially on the outside chance that OHIP MIGHT cover it. Before I was banded I was on the fence about private or pay for service health care. Based on my experience with my lapbanding I can say that I am 100% in favour of being able to pay for services privately so long as it does not come at the expense of the public system and peoples access to care. To me it sounds like your Dr. does not know what she is talking about or you may not have all the facts. If I were in Ontario I certainly would not be holding my breath, especially during an election year. A lapband program would take years to set up properly. Andrew

If you want to wear your wedding ring, but find it too big you can go to a jewlers and ask for a "ring guard". It just clamps around the bottom of you ring so it will not slip off. You can adjust it by bending it so your ring stays tight and you can wait until you lose more weight to have you ring resized. Mine was only about $5. Looks like this.

I have noticed this too, I think that it has to do with the beer being "naturally" carbonated by the yeast vs. the pop being carbonated using gas. You may have noticed that beer has finer bubbles that does pop. I have the rare pop, maybe 1 per week but I dont like the taste the same as before. I would often drink 6-7 cans of diet pepsi per day and would crave it all the time. Now I could care less. Andew

I use Dr. Botha as well, and I find him to be great. You may want to call his office & see if her will do your fills. I know that he does not do fills for mexican patients. The primary reason has to do with the warranty of the port. If you surgeon will replace the port if something goes wrong then he may do it. Kep us informed about how it goes with Dr. K. I know some people who are considering him as an option & I would like to hear about your experience. Andrew

I have been banded for almost 6 month. I do enjoy a drink every now & then. Yes it is empty calories, but I make up for it through my workouts etc. I have beer & wine with about the same regularity as I did pre-band and I dont think it has slowed me down. Do keep in mind that you will likely feel the effects more due to your reduced food intake & your reduced weight. Take that into consideration. Andrew

I'll post a couple. I am 6 months out from starting my band process, pre-op diet Jan 24, surgery Feb. 14. I passed the 100lbs lost mark in the last few weeks and have never felt better. I have gone from over 60% body fat to 30%, so not only am I losing weight I am gaining lean mass. I was planning on keeping my band private, but that seems to be out the door having lost so much weight in so little time. My job requires me to appear on the news from time to time. After an appearance the other night I had people who dont see me that often phone me up to ask me what the hell is going on. My Mom also had to call me up the other night to tell me that all the ladies at her work think I am really "cute". Sorry ladies, I'm taken. Other NSV include not having any clothes in my closet since that all hang off me and having to get my wedding band resized because it kept falling off. There are more, but that is a pretty decent start. Andrew

It sounds like you are still too tight and you may want to go get some taken out and let your stomach rest for a while. 38lbs since March is nothing to sneeze at & you should be proud of yourself. For me, the key really has been the exercise. I believe to maximize your results you need to exercise. Not only does exercise help me lose the weight, but when I am sticking to my workouts the whole thing stays together. I make better food choices and find that I am not eating as much crap. I had to go last night to get another defill. From talking to the clinic & my fill Dr. what they think is happening is that my esophagus is irritated and has not really had time to fully recover, despite my defills. I was very happy at 5CC, but now I am at 4.5CC to let things recover for a while. I guess I will have to be more mindful of my diet with less restriction. I will evaluate in a month & see about going back to 5CC. I dont know about anyone else, but for some odd reason I see a defill as a bit of a defeat. I know I should not feel that way, but for some reason I do. Oh well, time to build a bridge & get over it. Yes, I hit the 100lbs lost mark a couple of weeks ago. It feels pretty good mentally & physically. It has kinda kept me going through this rough patch with my fills/defills. At least I am still losing weight which is important to keep me motivated. I have about 45lbs to lose to get to my goal, so I hope to make it there by Christmas. I know these last 45lbs will be the hardest. I may also adjust my goals a little. If I were to be at 15% body fat I would weigh about 220lbs so I will have to see as I get down there. Andrew

Bringing Up My Post = BUMP Andrew

To my knowledge OHIP still does not cover the band, but I am sure that some Ontarians will confirm that. Some Provincial plans like Alberta cover it but there is a pretty good wait. Andrew

I have not really been dieting. I make a mental tally of my calories every couple of days to make sure I am not overeating. As for what a typical day looks like, I always have a protien shake for Breakfast. I am tight in the morning and it is an easy no-brainer kinda meal that I can take in the car with me. lunch is often a small Wendy's chilli with the occasional small frosty. Supper is pretty much whatever the wife makes, with consideration of those foods that I cant eat. It is sometimes chicken, ground beef, maybe some Pasta. It really varies. Snacks are usually some sort of yogurt. I am dealing with some extra tightness lately. I have gone from 6CC to 5.5CC to 5.3CC to 5.1CC so my meals tend to be a little smaller and softer. Previously I had been at 5CC and found it pretty good, but just not restricted enough. I have the large AP band which holds 14CC total. I am hoping that as I lose som weight that my tightness will go away, but from experience, I seem to get tighter about 3 weeks after an adjustment. For me the real key has been working out & being active. I dont worry about my diet if I am keeping to my workouts. I spend 50 minutes/day on the eliptical trainer at very intese rate and a HR of 140-160BPM. This has been a big thing for me. I the past I have always shopped at the big & talls shops. (We dont get many sizes past XXL in our department stores in Canada, that is what I loved about shopping in the states is that It was way easier to find oversize clothes even in regular stores). I was always left wearing what fit, rather than what I wanted to wear. As for Buffet Mode, it is something that I had to get over. Leaving food on my plate, especially in a resturant, was tough. Also not wanting to get the biggest meal was something that I struggled with. Value & the right choice are often at odds after the band. Dont worry about losing your identity. Sometimes it is nicer to blend into the crowd and let your personality set you apart. You will be the same person, just a lot smaller. Andrew

But you told the internet. Anyways, congratulations. I hope you guys have a long happy life together. Andrew

I have been thinking about the change in the "Big Guy" stature thing all day. For me it is not so much the change in being the "big guy", but rather the things that people expect from you as the big guy. While I have been losing weight there have been times when we have been in a restaurant, and the server cant believe that I only ate what I did. This is even more odd when I ask for a to go container. It is like they expect me to eat the whole meal, and then a desert & 3-4 beers, kinda like I did before the band. For me it took alot of adjustment to get my head around that I am not going to be able to, or need to order the biggest meal on the menu. For a long time I was still in that "what can I order to get the most food" or Buffet mode as I think to think of it. Also, I have found it is nice to NOT be the biggest guy in the place, especially when you go into normal size clothing store. I no longer get that "What the hell is he doing here cause nothing here will fit him" vibe. Andrew

Pete, I am floored by your success. Your stats sound very similiar to mine but you are losing somewhat quicker. Dont worry about boasting, you deserve a pat on the back. How is the loose skin situation. I have been a rather fats loser my self and it is pretty loose. Andrew<!-- google_ad_section_end --><!-- / message --><!-- sig -->

It should get better soon as you begin to get into ketosis. Just remember that this is temporary hunger, and after you are banded & adjusted properly you wont have to live with it again. Also remember that this is a diet that is designed so that you can make it through surgery safely by shrinking that liver. Andrew

I would love to eat up until bed time too. I know what you mean, some days I metally go over what I eat & I think that I should have some more to try & stop myself from losing muscle mass. I also like to have desert around 8:30 - 9:00 after the baby goes to bed. Those costco Healthy Choice Ice cream bars are a favorite, or just a glass of wine beer to unwind. About the only thing that I have really found to work are Zantac 150's. I think I may talk to the clinic about the reflux. Even last night I was out in the yard building the fence until about 10:00 and had to have some Water. What a pain. Andrew

I have been trying to, but I dont have a hard & fast rule about it. I try not to eat or drink about 2 hours before bed which is about 8:00. Sometimes it is tough though as we eat late occasionally. I am not sure if it has helped or not or if it was the defill that I had on Friday. I am taking it easy and have done liquids the last couple of days to get my stomach to settle down from being too tight. I am hoping that will help and then I will be able to get back to eating right until bed time. I had found that a glass of milk before bed seemed to help. If I come up with anything I will let you know. Andrew

My band is the Inamed AP Large band which holds a total of 14CC. I now have a fill of 5.1CC. I am still getting some reflux issues, but not nearly as bad as when I was 5.5 and 5.3CC. I am taking it easy for a couple if days to see if I can get my stomach to heal a little and hopefully the reflux/aspiration will go away. Andrew

You are right. I am not trying to scare anyone, and I would mot trade my band for anything, but there are times it will throw you a curve ball. At 5.3CC I felt great and was sure I was at the sweet spot, and then 2 weeks later I am up at night apirating and just generally feeling crappy. It happened again last night, fortunatley I am going for a defill of either .2 or .1CC. Andrew

Trust me, although .2CC does not sound like alot, but once you are banded it will change. That small amount can seem like a galllon (or about 4L if you want to keep it metric ) if you are overfilled, or if you are creeping up on your "sweet spot". It can mean the difference between eating fine, and not being able to drink. So far, being overfilled has been the worst part of the band, and what is worse is that many of us who do not get back to the clinic for free fills are paying to have this done to us. I paid over $500 to my fill provider in June alone. Andrew

I had a night of the lung aspiration thing last week and I can relate to it. I was up every 30-45 minutes and my body is going "Holy crap you are drowning" but it was acidic which was oh so pleseant. I am frustrated with my current fills as I think I am at a spot where I am eating the right amount, but I am having trouble with eating whole foods especially hard protiens like chicken. That, along with the constant acidic stomach and the ever present fear that something that NEVER got stuck previously will stick. I guess my guage for a fill is it is working if I have more good days than bad days with it. Right now, there are more bad days with this one. What I do like is that the weight is coming off well with this one, even though my diet has been dreadful. Why is it that a Wendy's frosty is the best thing out there for when my stomach is sore? I have basically been eating a mushies diet for the last week, which included alot of ice cream. I am not sure what to do though. I was too loose at 5.0 and I am too tight at 5.3. Dr. Coburn said to me that with the band that I have .1CC can mean the difference between too tight & just right. So... do I go to 5.2CC and hope that I will be fine there and not have to go back for another defill, or do I go to 5.1CC and run the chance that I will have to go back to put some more in. Ugh. As for the support network, I am not much of one to sit around with a bunch of people and talk about stuff (Oh wait, that is what I am doing here.) For people like myself, I am better off on my own to work through it. I know there are groups here in Calgary, but for the most part they are middle aged women who go out for cheesecake. As a 31 year old male, this is not the support group dynamic I am looking for. Dont get me wrong, I am sure they are great people, but I dont want that type of support group. For me LBT is about the best support group I have found. Andrew

The one thing that kept me going during my 3 weeks of Optifast was thinking about my safety and knowing that if I follwed the diet that I would be better for it by the shrinking of my liver. Also, knowing that you can make through the Optifast is a real confidence boost going in to the surgery. All you pre-op folks just remember that all the food you love will be there once you are done your pre-op and you will be able to have most of them, just in smaller amounts after you are all healed up. It is not good buy forever, more like see you later. Also, pickles were a savior for me on the pre-op diet. The crunch and the saltyness really helped with those cravings. Andrew

Those of us who are out of town, and not able to easily return to the clinic have to pay our fill providers in our respective cities. My fill Dr. charges $100 but others charge more or less. I am welcome to go to the clinic and get a free adjustment, but being in Calgary makes it a little inconvenient. Andrew

I am in the same boat with my fills, although my situation is not quite as bad as I only need to drive about 15 minutes and pay $100. I have been struggling with my fills as well and am on the defill ride to find the "sweet spot" I was filled to 6CC (in 14CC band) and that was hell so down to 5.5CC that was okay for about a 2 weeks so down to 5.3CC. That was good for about 2 weeks but it slammed shut on me last week and I have not been able to eat properly so I am going on Friday to go down to 5.1 or 5.2CC, I have not decided yet. If I was close to the clinic I would not be so worried, but man it is a hit going in for each defill and I really have to tell myself not to try and ride it out until it gets better. Argon, I would definately consider you a success so dont think of yourself otherwise. Also, why is it up to US to report to the clinic, maybe they should have a list of people that they contact if they have not been in touch with the clinic for so long. Kinda like my gym, they phone me to ask if everything is fine if I dont come in for a couple of weeks. It may be helpful to the clinic to follow up with people in order to imporve thier own stats. As well, people are sometimes embarrased if it is not working for them, so maybe a call from the clinic could get them on the right track. Andrew

A pain in the neck at that. Andrew

Janice, I hope it all gets worked out for you. Andrew