Alexandra

Yay, Leatha!! Great news all around. Take care of yourself and that throat. I'm fighting my way through a bad bronchitis and feel pretty crappy myself. You have my deepest sympathies.

Michelle, I paid a pricey photographer and I have to say I'm sorry I did. The ONLY thing he did right was line up the various members of the wedding party and got us organized for group shots. Otherwise he screwed up in big ways, including telling me not to smile because it made my eyes close up! So in all of my posed shots I have this absurd "wistful" look on my face. Only in the candids do I look like I'm having fun. And he didn't get a single shot of my grandmother, in whose home the wedding was being held. My point is that yes, photographers can be expensive but don't go just by money. Get references from your friends!! Talk with the photog before committing and make sure they understand everything. We did all this but on the day of the wedding a substitute person had been sent, who I guess didn't have the info he needed. And of course our wedding day was no time for us to sit down all over again with the photographer. We were really disappointed, mostly because we'd assumed the pro would take care of everything. Give your friends the disposables, encourage anyone you know who takes nice pix to bring their own cameras, cover all your bases. Good luck!!

Congratulations!! That was a huge milestone for me, too, and I relish it every day. My DH loves it too, thatnk goodness.

Inamed is, sure. That makes perfect sense. And the FDA has approved the device for use in the US. But even if defective versions are being used overseas that doesn't sound like the FDA's jurisdiction. Is your hypothesis that there was a bad batch of bands?

The one carrier that most people seem to report is very band-friendly is United Healthcare. But that doesn't mean anything with respect to the options YOU have. You should investigate the choices you're being presented with and see what you can find out about them. Generalizations are next to useless in the insurance game.

I think it's HIGHLY unlikely that the FDA would consider complaints against a product which, even while approved for use in the US, was installed by a Mexican doctor who is not at all subject to FDA or AMA standards. Why would you think to complain to the FDA? Do you think your band was defective?

Gellergirl, it will come. Try to think of your band as your FRIEND, your teammate on this road to better health. Try to pay attention to it when it tells you you're done. There will always be more food later, if you want it. Finishing a meal so soon is a really new experience for those of use who have eaten our way to morbid obesity; we all struggle with it, believe me. Don't expect your thought processes to change overnight. This is a big change and it will take time! In the meantime remember that it's about your health and eating less is the WHOLE point. There will always be more food...later. Let the meal be done when it's done, and listen to what full feels like. You're not alone!!

August 2003 for me, too. I lost 70 lbs the first year, 50 in the second and have been intentionally maintaining since this past summer.

Laney, an exclusion can be pretty hard to fight. But do you know whose exclusion it is, and why exactly it's excluded? Is this a company policy where your employer decided what would be covered, or is it a standard plan from the carrier? If the former, you may be able to appeal to your company's decision-makers to make an exception for you. If the latter, you should find out exactly what is excluded and why, and perhaps you can fight that. Is it all bariatric surgery under any circumstances? Is it excluded for everyone even if medically necessary? Is it the band that's excluded but not RNY? As you can see you need to ask a lot of questions before you know how best to proceed. Depending on the situation, lots of people have indeed gotten around exclusions. What more do you know about yours?

Congratulations, Margo!! Jachut, I used to say the same thing. I'm so tall I never thought I'd be able to fit comfortably in an airplane seat no matter how much weight I lost. But this past summer I was amazed to discover that with weight loss my butt had shrunk, giving me much more room in the seat front to back. I was able to cross my legs with ease!! What a great flight it was, between that and not needing a seatbelt extender.

:) :) :)

Congratulations to both of you, and welcome to LBT!! You're both very lucky to have insurance carriers who cover the band. Being able to have your care nearby and not worrying about the cost of multiple visits, adjustments, exams or what-have-you makes ALL the difference. You'll both do great!!

Sleepy, I just want to send you ((hugs)) and tell you not to be afraid. Believe me, if you tell the doctor you are scared he or she will bend over backward to make you feel comfortable. They know how unpleasant pelvic exams are for women, especially if it's your first. And try not to worry. There are a million little things that can go wrong with our cycles and everything affects us. The chances that it's nothing are excellent, really. But do be prepared to give a full and total history, because it's against your history that they'll judge your current symptoms. There are all kinds of normal; what's really important is in what way things have changed, when, any triggers, any other feelings, etc. Imagine your relief when it's over!! The fear is by far the worst part. You'll be dancing out of that doctor's office, I predict. Let us know how it goes!

My docs do, but I don't know if that's universal practice. The only discomfort I feel during a fill is the tiny prick of the needle with the local anaesthetic.

Oh, Penni. I think we ALL know how you're feeling...it's this sort of feeling that led us to get the band in the first place. I don't have any words of wisdom, but I am sending strong sympathy vibes.

It depends on when after surgery you're talking about. While you're still healing you should only sip for a while. As you heal, you'll find that you can drink normally, and when you get on to solid food you may be able to eat almost normally too. It isn't until you have a fill (or more) and get restriction that you'll find any difficulty in drinking, and even then it's not much difficulty. You probably won't be able to chug when you have good restriction, but most liquids go down pretty smoothly.

My whole reason for getting banded was to see a huge chunk of my excess weight come off ... and stay off. This is my third holiday season since being banded, and the first since I've not been actively attempting to actually lose weight. And a miracle happened. I didn't gain weight!! The holidays were every bit as enjoyable as ever; I indulged and partook and engaged in whatever came my way, but in the moderate way the band has taught me. The very idea that the holidays are no longer a time of constant self-denial is just incredible. My idea of long-term success is to get through the end of each year without adding poundage, and now it looks as though that may really be possible. I LOVE MY BAND. P.S.: I just might set an actual goal for myself for 2006, just for fun. I think it'd be neat to see the south side of 200 sometime before my 45th birthday in November. Think I can do it? YES!!

Flower, nothing personal, but your questions are always so vague. In what context are you asking for the "average" fill? Do you mean the first fill? Total fill? Tweak? In what size band? In any event, the answer is there is no "average" fill. It all depends on what is right for the person at the time.

It's all readily explainable, if you follow the bouncing ball. The last one is the easiest. Polls are shown as "unread" again every time someone votes in one even if they didn't add a post. We have a lot of polls going now so we're seeing a lot more of that. As far as the read/unread thing goes, I'll bet it will make sense if you look carefully. If you make a post to a thread and then hit New Posts, that thread won't be bold because there are no "unread" posts in that thread. Only when someone else adds to it will it show up again bolded.

"Ish" means give-or-take three or four pounds. I weigh myself daily and am consistently between 213 and 219 depending on all sorts of things. I don't consider that swing anything but normal fluctuation and certainly nothing to get upset about. I am aiming to stay within the range, because that's the way nature works.

Good to see you back, Zoe!! Sounds like you've been through some tough stuff, but came through OK. Best wishes for a happy, HEALTHY 2006 and 20 lbs off in 26 weeks!! (I'm shooting for 20 lbs off in about 45 weeks...I'm happy to be a turtle.)

That must have been very hard news to hear, Rica. I'm so sorry. Someday you'll be showing us baby pix of your new addition, and we'll smile right along with you.

Guile, that's not a "complication," that's a normal bandster learning event. You're not going to cause slippage from a few PBs, believe me. If that were the case there simply wouldn't be any successful bandsters. You're doing fine, healing up, and this transition to solid food will take a little learning. EAT SLOW, chew thoroughly, and keep your chin up!

It sure is funny, that's for sure. But what on earth could the connection be? Unless many more of the patients of these doctors are experiencing problems than we know about, the odds would seem pretty slim that this would happen.

I hope that doesn't mean what I think it means... :nervous