ser123

Hey MrsD Sorry to hear about your MRSA. I have had it since May 2006 and was hospitalized for 4 days in October. I almost lost my arm as it was very near the joint. It lives in your nose once you get it, and pretty much hangs around on you afterwards. Often, it is acquired in a hospital, but here in the US, it has become common as a community acquired infection. I got mine from the gym, which is a common place to pick it up in non-immuno compromised patients. I had a Vanco drip but they did a central line with me. They didn't do vanco as a peripheral IV because it does give your veins a tough time. I also had a round of Zyvox. It is $100 a pill here in the US so my Rx was like $1500 and it wasn't covered by my insurance. Once you get rid of it, I would do a google search and find a MRSA forum kind of like this one. The big thing is not re-infecting yourself. Doing things like wiping everything down with Clorox wipes, washing your pillowcases very frequently, changing your razor blades, NOT SHARING personal items with family members... all help. Let me know if you have any questions or just want to commiserate. I feel your pain, literally....

Bikergirl, I count my calories on sparkpeople.com and I like it pretty well. It is pretty easy to use and there are a lot of things on there that are already listed. Some people also use fitday, but I have never been to that site so I have no opinion.

Hey, let us know who you end up going with, when you are being banded and all that.... :girl_hug:

tunanoodle, My first PB post fill was way worse than the PBs I had with no fills. Not caring to re-live that experience either. I tried to eat chicken today, had one bite and said forget it.

Hey Hpygrl, I finally know your handle on here! One thing I will add about going to Mexico, is even if you go alone, it was really nice to be with other bandsters there. Being with two other people was really helpful to me, probably even more so than having someone there to "take care of me." I am more about camraderie than being fawned over.

I paid $8000 for my surgery, including air fare and hotel. I felt that I got what I paid for in terms of medical care and service. I thought the hospital was fine, the nursing staff was fine, the surgery was fine. I felt safe and cared for in the hospital. The hotel was really nice and I had my surgery at the same time as 2 other Americans which was also really nice. I really really appreciated being flown back by Dr. Joya first class, because I know I was much more comfortable flying that way and I would not have thought of it myself. I had a fever right after flying, and contacted Dr. Joya's staff and they got back to me straight away. So I feel if you contact them, they will get back to you immediately. I am probably an extreme case in that I flew in at 3pm, had surgery 6pm Friday, left for the US at 9am Sunday. I spent almost no time in Mexico and I travelled alone. I also went back to work at 8am on Monday morning in a job that requires me to be on my foot and moving all day. I am very independent and I feel like I was able to "take care of myself" medically afterwards. For example, the stitches are supposed to dissolve, and they did for the most part but I did have to take a couple out myself. Where I think things may be lacking in terms of service with Dr. Joya is both the pre-op and post-op education. I have found this site to be extremely valuable and providing all the information I have felt I needed, both before and after. Dr. Joya has a yahoo forum but it is not nearly as informative or as large as this one. My thing is, if you are paying $8000 total, I don't think you should expect the same thing as those paying $10,000 not including airfare (in Mexico) or $16,000 here. I felt the Dr. Joya put the effort in where it counted for me, which was the hospital, surgery, nursing care. I also really appreciated the first class flight. If you want someone to hold your hand from beginning to end, then I don't really think Dr. Joya is for you. If you feel like you have some savvy with taking care of yourself, if you feel like you are going to take the responsibility to educate yourself pre and post op, if you don't like a bunch of hoops then I think going to Mexico and using Dr. Joya is great. In the U.S. you have to meet with nutritionists several times, have a ton of different work ups (for sleep apnea, etc.), prove you have been on medically supervised diets. I didn't want to do that, plus I have no co-morbidities and my BMI is like 32 so I couldn't have gotten surgery in the US anyway. I had my first fill about a week ago. I have lost about a pound a week, which is the expected amount. I also have not been the best patient in the world. I didn't do a great job on the pre-op diet, I had trouble staying on liquids the whole time, I had to learn the hard way about PBs... So I have lost about 8lbs in 8 weeks. I am totally fine with how I am doing. I feel like my incisions have healed nicely, my fill went fine and the doctor found my port with no problem, my scars are clean looking and I feel like I have an alright amount of restriction with a lot more room to go. I hope this answers your questions. I wouldn't call Dr. Joya's services mediocre but I also wouldn't say that they are going to hold your hand from beginning to end. I would rate my experience an 8/10 overall and my sister is thinking about the surgery and I would recommend Dr. Joya to my sister. Good luck with your decision too.

bikergirl and deckedout, Thanks for your comments. Again, my PBing is about me not thinking. Everyone says chicken (turkey) is a problem food so I shouldn't have picked it. I tell you, I am a person who has eaten mindlessly for years. I am learning to think and then eat, but I definitely need reminders now and then apparently. It is 11:30 where I am so I am off to bed. My stomach is still sore so I may be on liquids tomorrow. Sleep well everyone...

OWIE guys! I am a little over a week out from my fill. At first I didn't think that I was that restricted but as the week has worn on, I can tell I was more restricted. Fast forward to today, the first day of that time of the month. The weirdest thing about all of this for me is that PMS is the opposite for me. I am not hungry at all. I have hardly eaten for 2 days. Normally I would be fine with that, but Saturday I competed in an Adventure Race and spent 4.5 hours on a mountain bike. My heart rate monitor said I burned 4500 calories. I really haven't eaten much during the last 2 days. I went jogging tonight so I decided I should eat some turkey even though I wasn't really hungry. I haven't eaten since noon ant it was 8:30pm. I got out about 3 oz of turkey and started eating on it. I ate about half of it and was done so I gave the rest to the dogs. About 5 minutes after I finished, my stomach started cramping pretty hard. I PB'd, slimed and had stomach cramps for about 25 minutes. It really hurt. I haven't PBd for quite a while and I haven't had pain like this before. So, I guess the lesson I learned from this is if I am not hungry I am not going to force myself to eat, even if I think I should eat. Hope everyone else is doing good!

November Lilly, I would say don't eat and drink at the same time. I didn't start not drinking with my food until after my first fill. I have to do what Decked Out does and have liquids nowhere near me. I haven't been perfect with the rules... it has been a process for me. Just keep working the banster rules and it will come to you. Today is the first day of the rest of your life.

I had my first fill last Friday. My doc didn't use a numbing agent. The needle looked a little scary. He poked and poked and poked (with his fingers) feeling for my port, which wasn't entirely pleasant. The needle hurt some, but not a ton and I am a pretty big baby. The fill itself didn't hurt and the needle didn't hurt coming out. So overall I would say the nervousness was worse than the actual pain.

I just had my first fill and am not that restricted. I have lost about 7 lbs total since the surgery, including the pre-op. I gained 3lbs back before my fill. I am so thankful for this site because you can find out so much from everyone's experiences. Sunshine, you are doing great! YAY you! I know that it may take a couple more fills before I am at my sweet spot, but I am focusing on learning the bandster rules during this time. I have a little restriction, which does help me to eat slower, take smaller bites, etc. I know we are on a journey and we have a lot to learn. I for one am thankful that I am not snarfing my food anymore, even if I haven't lost a ton of weight. I used to be embarrassed about how fast I eat and now I feel okay about it. Good luck to all of us as we learn about our bands and work our way toward restriction!

Interesting thread guys... I recently had my first fill and am now perusing the fill threads. MaryS I have been watching your posts and I am glad you haven't given up and you are feeling a little better these days. I am really pulling for you!

Since my fill I have been really concentrating on not drinking for an hour after eating. I have been doing it, and I do think it makes a difference in my hunger. There are a lot of rules we have to follow as bandsters, and I feel like I am gradually changing all of my bad habits into good habits. I am not hugely restricted but I feel like that is okay right now because I am building the foundation that will allow me to be healthy as my restriction gradually increases. For me, the initial stages of my journey have really been learning a lot about how I got fat. I have been forced to really slow down, to concentrate on my food, to take smaller bites. Mindful eating instead of mowing through the buffet line. If I never lost a pound, just learning to eat this way has been worth it to me. Right now I am having a bit of a time getting used to not drinking with my meals. It does make me think before I eat something though becasue I know I am waiting for an hour to drink. I have cut back on grazing because of this and I think that will stick as I get more used to it. I have also been walking the dogs immediately after dinner. I walk them anyway, but now I am out there for a few extra minutes. It makes my hour go by faster to be up and moving rather than sitting and waiting to eat. So slowly the good habits are forming. Which is a good thing.

Hey Tea Time, I didn't realize your surgery is on Friday. Yay you too! How is the liquid diet going? For me, the pre-op diet was absolutely horrible. I was really glad to have surgery just to be done with the pre-op diet.

Hey Bikergirl, Good luck tomorrow! Yay!

I am glad other people aren't that restricted after their first fills... I had 3ccs put in and I am not restricted. The doctor didn't think I would have much restriction based on how well I took the fill. Maybe in 2 weeks it will kick in. I actually feel less restricted now than I did before the fill. But I also notice the band waxes and wanes with me a little bit. I have been keeping track of my calories and yesterday I ate a lot of calories, which could be because I was hungry after liquids. But I notice that exactly 28 days ago I ate the same amount of calories. Those are the only 2 days I have spiked that high on my calories... maybe I am ovulating. How is everyone else doing?

Hey Deckedout, For some reason I thought you were a teacher? Did you have to do Saturday detention? Or am I confused? Either way I hope you have some fun time this weekend...

Boo Boo Kitty You are doing so great with your goals! You guys all motivate me so much!

Bandiva, Do you mean it took you a couple of weeks to feel your restriction after your fill?

Bikergirl! YAY! I am so excited for you. Definitely we will need to see the motorcycle chick pics.

Hey Audree, Glad your fill went well. I am interested to know how you are feeling today. Do you feel restricted again?

Toqu, I can eat a lot myself. I know to some degree we need to be patient which I am not. How do you feel about your weight loss so far? I lost 10lbs on the liquid phase but have gained back 5 so far. I am kind of bummed about it but I also am eating well over 2000 calories a day so I have no expectation to lose weight eating like that. I don't really think doing liquids jump starts my weight loss. I think it makes me really hungry, lol. I am getting my first fill tomorrow. I do feel I have some restriction but I hope after the fill tomorrow I feel more restricted. I notice that like most people I am pretty tight in the a.m. and then I am able to eat more as the day goes on. I kind of wish it was in reverse, that I could eat more in the a.m. and less at night. I have trouble with a lot of different foods, especially in the a.m. but also at lunch and sometimes even dinner. I was driving to work today eating breakfast and I was taking really small bites and really nibbling. I kind of felt like I finally have some sense of control over how fast I am eating. Although sometimes when I am hungry it is really hard to take such small bites. I want to gobble everything up.

Marrakesh, Good luck to you on your path whatever you decide. I am glad you got the unfill so that you have some sense of less restriction while you are thinking. Keep us all informed...

Toqu, How do you feel like the fills go for you? Do you feel restricted? Do you feel unrestricted by the time four weeks pass? I saw a thread think that said the average person in a VG band is around 8 ccs full.

Derick, I pretty much use the internet to date and have had good results. But I think it is a little easier for women than guys on the internet. I am a big fan of Match.com (my sister met her husband there). A good friend of mine likes Yahoo personals. There is a free dating website called Plenty of fish. I personally hate Eharmony but I guess some people like that site. Where I live there is a group called Meetin (www.meetin.org) that is basically a social group. It is not a dating site but if you want to go to a movie, you post it there and anyone can sign up. I live in Virginia Beach so people post going to the beach, or going to a happy hour or whatever. It is a totally awesome way of meeting people with no pressure to date. And you can get out and have fun and know someone will be there. The group is all over the country and in some foreign countries. I have met a ton of people and done a ton of stuff. For example, I am going orienteering this weekend and I someone posted a charity pub crawl. At the pub crawl you are randomly assigned to someone and you each have one leg tied together and have to be at that pub like that. When you get to the next pub you are paired with someone else. So I hope I am going to meet someone at that.... but I am glad to be going with some people I know. Just a thought. Especially if you aren't quite ready to date yet, which is where I am right now too.