GeezerSue

Did your physician not give you the information that until you have a fill you may not lose any weight? This would be important information... Anyway, read around here...especially the basics, and you may learn about all of the details that will save you from becoming concerned unnecessarily.

I crossed off the names of those who required me to waste my time being TOLD what I had already READ. I'd call and ask how many bands this doctor has placed. If it isn't at least 50, I'd keep looking.

If you are worried about pain, call your doctor or go to an emergency room. You shouldn't worry about calling him.

The LEFT shoulder pain is from where the band is placed relative to a major nerve in the body. It settles down after a while...but it can still feel irritated years later, if you overeat or get "a plug," or irritate the area near the stoma.

I did the math on Trader Joe's Children's Chewables! I take two of them, plus two Viactiv-type chewable calcium thingys.

Ren and Fielding in NY seem to have very pleased patients.

One of the most experienced band doctors in the country--and one of the less expensive--is Jaime Ponce in Dalton, Ga.

If they are Extended Release, they cannot be cut or crushed or chewed, because that screws up the graduated release. There is a problem with '"doubling" 250 mg Augmentin Rx's. Augmentin contains Amoxicillan and Clavulanate Potassium. IF I REMEMBER THIS CORRECTLY...the a 500 mg augmentin contains 500 mg of Amoxicillan and 125 mg of Clavulanate Potassium. The 250 mg Augmentin contains half as much Amoxicillan but the same amount of Clavulanate Potassium. So when you take two of the 250's, you get twice as much of the Clavulanate Potassium, which is there to keep the Amoxicillan working...but that may be too much...and I think that part makes us really, really tired. Anyway, I couldn't find anything that said that a regular Augmentin shouldn't be cut in half. If anyone does, PLEASE LET ME KNOW. I'm taking them right now to get rid of the not-quite-gone infection from my breast reduction.

Penni, these tablets are 2 cm long by almost 1 cm wide. BIG pills!

Two points... I am taking regular old 500 mg. Augmentin right now, and I'm cutting them in half. Mine came with no such warning, and I looked up the PI Sheet (patient information) and did a search for the words "crush" and "chew," and they were not in the document. Any chance that label was applied in error? Also, there is a chewable Augmentin.

Well...we can TRY to justify it because we're all too special to follow the rules...or we can call it what it is, insurance fraud.

American and Aeromexico have flights MIA to MTY through DFW for under $300 RT.

Teresa, That's pretty much how our daughter's accident went. The car in front of her stopped. She stopped. The car behind her slammed into her. I'm not trying to drum up trouble where it doesn't exist, but our kid really did have a PTSD thing going for quite a while after that accident. She was always looking over her shoulder. She wouldn't go places with her friends with small sports cars. She was really reliving that accident. She's didn't "try to collect" for PTSD, and she's over it now, but it was real...and caused by someone who just wasn't paying attention. I'm glad that you are okay...but don't sell your suffering short. There IS value to peace of mind.

Our daughter was in an accident a few years ago and berated her parents for even suggesting she should have legal representation...until she was running a fever for unrelated reasons. And every place that had been hurt in the accident felt like someone was beating her with a sledge hammer. And she was in more pain than she had been after the accident. And then she was glad she had an attorney.

I think that when you knowingly go to an unethical doctor, you get what you're asking for and what you deserve.

I was just going to demand a "Dramatic Exit" board...

Everyone survive?

I'm pretty sure you were involved with the Kennedy Assassination. And Michael Jackson's accuser's mother is my prime witness...so as soon she has a free moment, your ass is TOAST!

My cell phone works from there IF (and this is the hitch) I'm at the right altitude. So, in the hotel Kuri uses...which I don't like anyway...it doesn't work, except at particular locations on the highest floor. But at the Gran Hotel (or is it Grand Hotel?), the really tall twin towers, it works fine. And, even on my old account, which did have roaming charges, the phone thought we were on the US side and worked fine.

And...I suppose I could have been a tad more delicate. So I apologize. (I seldom do that, so will someone alert the media?)

Monterrey is lovely. I want to go back. I'm glad all went well.

You know...this is Alex's board and he can run it the way he wants. And I think that many of us who were not in on the BS would really like everyone who DOES have a vested interest to take the discussion to a private venue or at least, so as not to make those investigating banding think that getting a band makes people f'ing crazy, to someplace other than the "General LapBand Discussion Board." Forever and ever, 'til the wheels fall off, AMEN!

You detected my ACTUAL goal. And it will be no problem.

I had both the echo and an EKG done a few weeks ago. When I was finished with one and was waiting for the other, the guy in another chair in the very small (five patient) waiting area, died. I had to mention it to the woman behind the desk. I kept telling her to call a code. (We were in a hospital.) FINALLY, she called a coworker who called the code. (Meanwhile, my husband and I moved the furniture so a crash cart could get in.) They got him going again, and then lost him and then got him back. Later that evening, I called the hospital and the guy said, "We are about to lose him." I made weird noises, I guess, and the he said, "I mean, he's moving to another hospital." All things considered, the Echo and EKG were pretty uneventful. I just told the tech that I had a sternum-placed port and that was that.

I think Cirangle in San Francisco is down to under $13,000. He has a lot of experience, and in case of emergency, he is closer than Mexico and more US doctors will listen to him. The travel costs will mount up quickly from there.