Hi from Ireland!

[nikki32 0]

sorry girls cant make saturday ,i swear something always comes up i have clashing commitments ranging from visitors coming,kids birthday party to attend and sons footy match and even enlisting hubbys help i only one person sorry again girls next time i promise !!!!!!!

[ellen 0]

Hello everyone.

Well done Coco, as Penny says your story is very inspiring. After I finished feeling sorry for myself and my somewhat less impressive performance in 2007 I made an appointment for my next fill which I hope will put me back on the straight and narrow.

When I was making the appt today with Healthier Weight centre they told me that they are coming over to Dublin next week to meet with people in hospitals in Dublin with a view to setting up a centre here in March or thereabouts. Dont know yet if that will just be for fills or for ops too. I can't wait to be able to get a fill here without the whole trek to the UK which has been involved for me each time so far.

Penny, congrats a your first step towards your band. I hope the consult goes well for you.

Best of luck everyone in 2008.

Ellen

[sally 0]

Hello everyone - I was banded on 28 December in Belgium by Dr Chris deBruyne. The whole experience from consultation through to the procedure itself was great. The hospital was the cleanest and most efficient I've ever been in (there's no mrsa in Belgium and it's not difficult to see why). The surgeon was great and he answered all my inquiries via email personally - no dealing with sales people and administration. I travelled on my own to/from Belgium, stayed two nights in a hotel afterwards (I could have travelled after one) and the whole thing was a breeze.

I'll be travelling to Belgium or London for the fills initially but Dr C did say that he may be doing fills in Ireland from mid February (yet to be confirmed) which would be great. I decided on Dr C after a lot of research (he has done over 3200 of these procedures so far) and the price was very competitive (€3400) in comparison to having it done in Ireland. I'm also an ex ACS customer and like many others was happy enough with the medical procedure but less than satisfied (putting it mildly) with the aftercare and administration. If anyone wants more information about my experience in Belgium feel free to get in touch

[Coco 0]

Hi Girls,

I'm delighted to hear the experiences of those of you who were banded elsewhere. It's also great to see that we might have other providers available in Ireland in the near future. I am also of the opinion that ACS are taking far too much of a bashing from the media. I do hope they can weather the storm and continue to offer the op and the aftercare.

I will be up in Bewleys Hotel Sandyford (off the M50) on Saturday 5th at 12.00 so anyone who wants to meet up is welcome. I'll be the one with the 2 kids attached to my hip:) they are not bad really so if anyone else wants to bring kids with them feel free. Bewleys is a great place to meet because there is a large seating area where we can get coffee and still have some privacy.

Hope to see a few of you there.

[allure 0]

I just wanted to reinforce what I said to you when we met in Dundrum during Christmas week. You really were a true inspiration to myself and the other ladies when we saw you arriving in such a fab outfit - size 12, I might add, and those great breasts of yours in one of your fab new bras!!!! What a difference a few pounds loss can make to one's confidence because wow, you just were on cloud nine and as we both know it's not like you suffered from a lack of confidence before hand but you were just beaming with delight. You just motivated me so much that day and as a result I went home and didn't touch another Christmas treat for the next few days and lost the 4 pounds that I had gained in the month of December and lead up to the Christmas period. Would you believe I actually managed to loose the Christmas gain in time for the New Year's eve party!!! Now I think you and the rest of the ladies on this site can empatise with me here, it is usually a stone in weight that we put on in the month of December and for the very first Christmas in my life I managed to loose weight in December!!!! So yes I am very happy with myself altogether!!!

Another good thing that was organised that day we met up for coffee is that myself and Louise Patricia are supporting each others weight loss by going walking together. We all know how difficult it is to get motivated on your own but if there is some one doing it with you it is a whole lot easier. So if anyone is interested in walking and lives on the Southside or Dublin in the Stillorgan/Dundrum/Sandford area and would like to walk just PM me and I'll hook up with you.

So good luch to everyone with the weight loss in 2008!!! I'm really looking forward to moving the nexty 40 pounds I need to get off so I can get on with some baby making later on in 2008!!!

Newbies, feel free to ask us old timers any questions you might be curious about. I would recommend that anyone who can make it on Saturday tries their best to do so as it really is a great help and motivation to do well. When 4 of us met Christmas week in Dundrum nobody would have know that we met earlier in 2007 due to a common need to loose weight - why, because in under a year we have all managed to loose enough weight and move ourselves out of the morbidly obese, then obese categories and we looked like 4 healthy friends with not a care in the world!!! Well done us!!! Oh and in case any of the new people reading this thinks it sounded easy, we'll agree that it wasn't!!! There were very challenging months of no restriction for us all at different times, but we belived in getting the band working for each of us individually and helped each other through the rough spots! So looking forward to seeing those of you who can make it on Saturday and meeting a few new faces too.

[Elsie 0]

Hi Coco

I'm new to the boards. Thanks for the open invite to meet up on Saturday. I would really like to meet up with yourself and anyone else who will be there.

I haven't been banded yet. I'm still at the stage of researching where I want to have it done.

See you Saturday

Elsie

p.s. Never been to Bewleys in Sandyford, is the hotel big? Is there a particular area where I'll find you?

[allure 0]

p.s. Never been to Bewleys in Sandyford, is the hotel big? Is there a particular area where I'll find you?

Elsie, the hotel is not too big at all and there is plenty of parking down underneath.

When you come in the door head to the main seated area in between the bar and the restaurant and you'll see loads of arm chairs there and that is usually where we all sit.

Looking forward to meeting up with you and letting you know about my own experience to help you make an informed decision for yourself.

[Alesha 0]

HI all, myself and Terry are up for tomorrow too. What time?

[Elsie 0]

Thanks Allure

See you tomorrow!!

[Coco 0]

Hi Girls,

Allure, you're so sweet, thanks for all the kind words. It looks like there will be a few of us tomorrow, thats great, to any new people, I will be wearing a black dress with a green cardigan, hope that helps to identify me. so 12.00 it is, look forward to seeing you all tomorrow.

[ellen 0]

would love to meet you all tomorrow but unfortunately i cant make my way up from the wesht as my youngest has tonsillitis. hopefully next time. best regards

ellen

[Coco 0]

Hi Girls,

Thanks for a great meeting, it was lovely to meet you Elsie and I hope we helped you make the right decision for you. Keep us posted on your progress.

Nikki and Ellen, sorry you guys couldn't make it but maybe next time.

Allure, I wish you lots of success with your band especially as you are going hell for leather on the exercise if your band supports you as much as the exercise does you'll be size 10 in no time. Let me know how you get on after your fill.

Alisha and Terry, you guys are doing so well, it was great to catch up and have a laugh at ourselves as only we bandsters can. Continued success to you both.

As for me I'm slowly recovering from this blasted flu but it helps to have the kids back at school. Some well earned me time with just Fern and Phil for company. (What do you mean who's Fern and Phil, am I the only one who watches day time TV?):)

[roe 0]

hi everyone just stopped in 2 say hi. going for my second fill on friday with lou, im realy excited hope i get some restriction. i

m hoping ill have a new sexy body by this time next year.or ill settle for the new body the sexy can come later. seems like you had a nice day on sat in dublin do you ever meet on the north side? i would like to meet some time im not great getting round the city

[ailbhe 1]

Hi all.

I've finally managed to get the money together for the surgery but I'm now petrified about actually going through with it. I really want to but I'm so nervous.....

I am undecided between Belgium and Manchester now that ACS are no longer doing it.

I'm also undecided between the band and a bypass. I know this is a band forum so i hope nobody minds me asking why they opted for the band over the bypass when the bypass has a higher success rate.

Thanks all. I've piled on a few pounds over Christmas and BMI is 41 which is the highest ever :rofl:

All advice appreciated! :help:

[Coco 0]

Hi all.

I've finally managed to get the money together for the surgery but I'm now petrified about actually going through with it. I really want to but I'm so nervous.....

I am undecided between Belgium and Manchester now that ACS are no longer doing it.

I'm also undecided between the band and a bypass. I know this is a band forum so i hope nobody minds me asking why they opted for the band over the bypass when the bypass has a higher success rate.

Thanks all. I've piled on a few pounds over Christmas and BMI is 41 which is the highest ever :rofl:

All advice appreciated! :help:

Hi Aibhe,

It's a huge decision for anyone to have to make so I hope this web site is making your decision easier for you. If you check back on some of the posts on this site you will see that there are some providers thinking of providing aftercare in Dublin. I can't tell you which provider to go to but I will tell you that it is important to find out all about the aftercare services. If you go for the band you will need to see someone every 4-6weeks for an adjustment until you reach your sweet spot. Then you will see someone every 2-3mths until you reach your ideal weight, and then all going well just a yearly check-up. So effectively you are talking about maybe 8 visits or more in the first year. If you are going abroad make sure its somewhere with cheap flights.

The difference between the band and a bypass is this:- the band is a device that sits around the top of your stomach which can be tightened or loosened as necessary. By tightening the band it slows down the rate at which food can enter the rest of your stomach. As a result you will feel full with less food for longer periods of time. Side effect.... you lose weight. The bypass on the other hand is where the surgeon cuts away some of your stomach and re plumbs your intestines and as a result you can only tolerate much smaller amounts of food and because of the replumbing you will not absorb as much calories from the food that you do eat. Your body will suffer badly if you eat high fat and sugar foods after a bypass, called dumping, it causes a lot of pain and vomiting. The bypass is also a permanent surgery unlike the lap band which can be removed if necessary.

In most cases you will lose weight quicker with the bypass but you will probably be left with a lot of loose skin because you have lost the weight so quickly.

I had the band done a year ago and am currently just 2lbs shy of losing 5stone. I think that is an incredible amount for such a short time and I don't have any loose skin.

I'm no expert, just a satisfied lap bander, so I hope I have clarified some of your points for you. To my mind the lap band is a far safer method of losing weight. BTW, we were all terrified of the op, in my case right up until I woke up after it.

Good luck and keep us posted about your decision.