GeezerSue

No, not criticizing YOU, New. But I would criticize a doctor who would tighten up a band that is doing so well. Some will...just to shut the patients up. But REALLY, you are doing PERFECT. I think any of us would want to be doing exactly what you are. Thanks, NewHope. Sue

Welcome, B... There are lots of So. Cal. folks on the board. And all levels of experience from pre-banded to the formerly banded (she's a wild one). Look around and enjoy. Sue

But just a comment...you asked for input and I gave you mine. I've been banded for almost two years, been reading about it for three, often in medical journals, have spoken/corresponded with a half-dozen surgeons, have suffered from and seen others suffer from GERD (which can kill you) and erosion (which can slice through your stomach/esophagus) and my comment/suggestion is to leave well enough alone. I don't know how much weight you need to lose, but, at this rate, in a year you will weigh 138 pounds less than you did pre-op. Good luck!

Again...unless you have studied what all the numbers mean and understand them, forget the numbers. If your doctor puts 4cc of saline in your just band because you've decided that a 4cc band should have 4cc's in it, he should lose his license...and you'll probably lose part of your esophagus. I'm thinking that someone did not prepare you for this surgery. This is the band, not the bypass. In an IDEAL case, you'll lose about 10 pounds per month. Having the band too tight does NOT mean you'll lose more weight or lose it faster. In fact, it can mean that you will start "eating around the band" and STOP losing weight. The band is not about losing weight overnight...it's about how healthy you'll be in two years or five. THIS IS NOT A DIET. And it's not a race. It's about the rest of your life. Slow down, take a deep breath and read all you can about the band. you do NOT want it so tight that you starve this week, because next week they'll be taking it out and you'll be back to where you were pre-op. We have all been where you are...but remember that FAST does not equal GOOD. Sue

Newlapper, Forget the numbers. You have the right amount of restriction, or too much or too little. If you've lost 10 pounds per month, you probably have enough (unless you have too much restriction.) Why are you saying you can eat too much?

You are now OFFICIALLY weird. Which is way better than"rumored to be weird," right?

No. But remember that I am still obese and nowhere near goal. Maybe when I lose another 80 pounds (I'd settle for 60, honest I would) it will be in the way. I'm thinking that I may have to do something to actually lose weight. Like exercise or eat reasonably, that kind of thing. I not yet committed to that concept, but I'm working on it. And I have no fill and probably won't until September or so. (I've got a consult and from that we may have an endoscopy, just for the hell of it, so I'm not going to mess with the band until then.)

As far as I know, Rumbaut almost always uses a sternum placement (kinda between the breasts). He's my surgeon; that's where mine is; that's where everybody who was banded the day I was has their port. that may even be where HIS port is located...I didn't ask.

I may sound a tad schizophrenic here, but I'll try anyway. It's important to be able to have follow-up care that you can get to easily, especially in an emergency. But, i would cross many county lines for a doctor with experience. I'm too lazy to look up NJ county lines, but...if there's a doctor many counties away who has done 300 bands and one down the street who has done 30...I'm going to be needing the car. The complication rate decreases exponentially as the doctor's experience with the lap-band increases.

Like I said, Jane, good luck no matter how you do it. (I'm too old to even consider flying for hours with an entourage every time I need an adjustment. Funny how values change as we get more and more worn out.) Y que muchahos tan bonitos...y que esposo tan guapo. Sue

The hotel is fine if you don't mind ROCK HARD mattresses. There is a coffee shop kind of restaurant with buffets and menu service as well as a very nice formal restaurant on the property. There is an unheated (I think) swimming pool. A couple of blocks up the street, here's an IMAX theater and an art museum as well as a kiddie-park entertainment place, but, as you know, their safety standards are not the same as ours. A little farther north, a few more blocks, there's a major shopping center. BTW, since you have your after care under control, are you aware that Sanchez and Rumbaut in Monterrey, MX are way closer to you and I think they have done more bands than any other doctors on the continent? (They do not work together.) The transportation would be easier, Rumbaut's patients stay at a Hampton Inn next door to a McDonald's, an Applebee's and a shopping center--and that hotel has a pool as well. Rumbaut uses a teaching hospital. Sanchez uses a hospital that includes a floor with hotel rooms for the patient and family for the post-op stay. Ortiz is competent, to be sure, but the logistics of getting there are not good. Monterrey would be not quite as bad. But the best is an experienced doctor you can get to if you really need him. (I've needed nine adjustments, aka fills, in less than two years; DeLarla just did a speed drive through two states and across the border with a port working its way out of her body...that kind of stuff.) Given your logistical considerations (I mean the need to bring the kids with you), are you sure you've examined US doctors who are closer and fairly reasonably priced? Good luck wherever you go, Sue

You have some VERY experienced surgeons in Australia...and in NZ. Did you know there are also (because we don't want you to leave here) Yahoo groups for the "down under" banded? Anyway, MY first criteria is/was "the more bands the better." I went FAR away to find a surgeon who had done over 1400. Next was the kind of facility. But not everybody agrees.

So, Megan... i bought some JNJ stock when those trials started. Am I a smart girl or a dummy? Sue

First, you are likely still working the anesthesia out of your system. I remember that for her breast reduction surgery, our daughter's third week post-op was her very worst. For no specific reason. Allow yourself to be unreasonably emotional for as long as you need. Then, when it's over, if you feel the same way...get the doctor alone and tell him that you WISH it were as easy to talk to his staff as it is to talk to him. That you never mentioned it before, but now that others are asking what doctor you went to... Maybe you could even mention that a friend called and was so turned off that she decided to go elsewhere (even if you have to convince a friend to call.)

Hi, again, Lori... We (you, Vonna, Mr. Sue and I) had dinner at Applebee's the night before your surgery, remember? You are looking WONDERFUL!!! Sue

Yana, My best experience with large sizes outside the US was in Germany, at a Ulla Popken store. I mention them because they are online. They also have a store in Kuwait. That IS a little far to go for a daytime shopping trip, but it seems logical that a company with a presence in Kuwait would ship to the UAE. Sue www.ullapopken.com

Fantastic. Take care and get well.

Confession/caveat...Hospital Oasis is an "alternative cancer center." I am extremely, extremely, extremely skeptical of such businesses. I know others disagree with me, but I really feel that most of such places are just out to take advantage of desperate people. Snake oil and all. So, while the banding surgery is not part of the alternative cancer treatment thing, I just could not go there. To each his own, but I just could not. I don't doubt that it is clean and that good doctors go there. But the hosptial I chose was a teaching hospital associated with a medical school, cuz I'm a coward.

Thomas Jefferson is one of my biggest heroes. When I go to DC, I can just stand at that monument forever thinking aobut how his brain worked.

So what DO you plan to do to for Thanksgiving?

Me, too. But I couldn't get much more out of him.

Okay, now don't flame me, either. But...there are only a couple of Mexican doctors--I think it's just Rumbaut and Sanchez--who practice in hospital facilities that are anything like what we call a hospital here. That is one reason why I, and several others here and on other boards, tend to promote those two doctors. (Although I've only been to one.) Next in line are the kinds of places that Kuri, Ortiz and Lopez use in Tijuana. Some are bigger, some are smaller, some are newer, some are older, but they are all very, very, very limited hospitals by US standards. If you have a problem in the middle of surgery and need a cardioligist or a gynecologist or pulmonologist or neurosurgeon, you can bet that there will NOT be one in the hospital and there are none "on staff." They are just not set up for that level of problem solving. The saving grace is that you are only about an hour (depending on border issues) from San Diego. Then, there are places like Rodriguez has in Acuña. I know he has a happy fan club. I also know doctors who say that he has had problems there that he was not able to handle. It's a one man shop, and--although there is a hopsital across the border-- it's three-hour drive to the nearest big city hospitals in San Antonio. I'm not very familiar with the facilites used by verboonen or Joya (I think he works in several cities), although I know of happy and unhappy patients from both. Remember that this is NOT a post about the doctors...just the facilites. But I'm a brat and want ALL THE ODDS to be on my side. And the Yahoo boards? Several of those are set up by the doctors themselves and run by some of the sappier, in-love-with-my-surgeon-who-no-longer-charges-me patients...it would be safer to speak kindly of Saddam Hussein than to speak unkindly of their little gods. Been there, done that. Hope you get well.

Hey! Just got a message from Donali's sister...and I don't know why my stupid phone didn't ring so I could talk to her. Donali was in surgery for five hours. It was very difficult because of all the adhesions, and it took a lot of time to test for leaks. I'm sorry to report that she is in "incredible pain," and not currently a happy camper. But, she is looking good and the surgery is over and she will soon be on her way to health. Yeah, Donali!!!!

One little comment (maybe someone else made it, as I kind of sped through the posts) is that you don't need will power and can't cheat if you're not on a diet. So stop dieting. Just eat the food in the order you listed. If you can eat much, you don't have enough restriction. Don't get discouraged when your wife starts losing weight quickly. This isn't about quick. It's about five years from now.

Maybe we should start a SELF-APPOINTED-EXPERT-FREE Yahoo board.