leo

does it really grow back?? I don't think I could stand having thin hair the rest of my life!!

It does grow back, I think taking Vitamin B12 also helps.

Sorry for going off topic a bit. But talking about portions, the other day a co worker (slender female) was eating lunch with me and was telling me to "eat more". I had this little bowl of Soup and a small portion of mash potatoes, which for me seemed a lot, but there is this skinny little girl telling me to eat more

Never thought something like this would ever happen to me.....

I used them, personally I think they are the best. But thats because they are my doctors The facility is headed my Dr verboonen and Dr Ponce de leon. Both are great doctors and are good at what they do.

But as others might point out, Dr verboonen has been involved with insurance fraud and he has done his time for it.

But if you are looking for a doctor that is good at what he does, just look at me, I am a perfect example of his work.

click on the link below to see my before and after

http://www.lapbandtalk.com/showthread.php?t=4130&highlight=leo+pic

I would beg to differ on the comment you just made about Mexican Dr's giving bigger fills and not following fill schedules. I think that was a pretty uninformed comment. I noticed that the post before yours said she had 2 fills of 2cc's and from the name of the DR doesn't appear to be mexican. My first fill was only .8cc and my sister's was only .5cc and we both had mexican dr's. It has been over two weeks and I don't feel any restriction. I have been told that I cannot get another fill until I am at LEAST 6 weeks from the previous fill and have not lost 1 to 2 pounds a week for 3 to 4 weeks. So, I advise not making such across the board comments about "Mexican" dr's. And keeping in mind that most of the Mexican have FAR great experience that the american drs. Suffice it to say... they know what they are doing.

My Bad, I retract my previous comment, sorry for ticking you off maam

I'll try to stop making any more general blanket statements from now on.

Actually, the comment was just posted in haste I should have spend a little more time to make it politically correct.

And also, the posting I made was in no way supposed to be negative, I am banded in Mexico also, I have nothing but praise....

Mexican bandsters get larger fills, because Mexican doctor don't abide by any Fill schedules. While people banded in the USA normally get smaller fills because doctors are more cautious. (lawsuits maybe?? )

For me personally, I always felt the restriction right after my fill.

Brenda,

Thanks for the update.

I'm glad your doing so well, and congratulations on getting a new band.

Leo, I've never heard of "corosion"...stomach that had prolapsed over top of the band. I'm guessing it's a form of severe slippage.

sorry, i meant erosion , but then I did some further research and it seems slippage and erosion are a bit different.

Band erosion - the Band can erode through the wall of the stomach. This results in loss of restriction to eating, or Band infection caused by leakage of stomach juices onto the Band. It is reported that such erosion rarely results in a sudden life-threatening situation for the patient. Erosion of the Band almost always requires removal of the Band, with plans for a later conversion to a different weight loss procedure.

Erosion seems to be worse the slippage...

my stomach that had prolapsed over top of the band was so swelled up and inflamed from my almost nightly vomiting that it would not pull back down through the band at all

Thanks so much for your thoughts and prayers.

Hope you have a speedy recovery!!!

btw this is called "corosion" in the lapband community.

actually the midband is from a french company( http://www.midband.fr/mid_anglais/present.htm) , the johnson and johnson is the swedish band (http://www.ethiconendo.com/morbid.jsp)

I am not taking sides either, all I can say is what I always say, I don't know this doctor personally so no comment.

But for the newbies considering lapband surgery, there are lots of resources on the net, like the yahoo groups for example. And lapband surgery is different for everyone. It's like the stock market, past performance and does not guarantee future results and vice versa.

It actually looks quite similiar to the infection I had. Same location , mine was just a bit smaller. I think mine took close to 2 months to totally close up. I remember wondering if it would ever heal..... But in the end it did.

I think if I had used neosporin from the start, I could have prevented the infection..

Good luck and hopefully everything will heal up fast!!

Hope everything is fine with you Kelly!

When I am super tight, I always have a milkshake from mcd's. Or anything liquid with a high sugar content. Seems to open up the band a bit.

and all the people that got invites will be able to out invites of their own pretty soon :cool:

Great pose alex!!

thanks this is the best explanation for Water. i was banded yesterday and needed this info. i donñt understand however the connection of not drinking with the meal. can you help me understand this? thanks, kate/seattle

leatha totally hit it on the nail with the post i qouted below:

Actually, you DO want to do what is called 'water loading' up until the time you eat - some say 30-45 minutes before, some say it's okay all the way up until you begin eating. This, in fact, does cause you to feel more full and less 'hungry'. THEN, when you do begin eating your protein/veggies, you DO NOT drink at all. This allows the hard Proteins to sit longer in your small pouch - above the band. After 1-2hrs you can then begin drinking again.

Also imagine this situation. You have only a small opening between the upper and lower stomach. if food settles in the small pouch , and you suddenly take a big gulp of Water by mistake. Everything could come up thru your mouth

:eek

Right now my band is kinda loose, so it's time for a fill also. Hopefully I will be able to start loosing again after my planned fill in january.

I am glad your brother is ok

I still eat all the same food i used to love, just less. But I can't eat much bread, rice, and other carbs because they tend to get stuck and make me PB.

your look wonderfull. I love your smile

I used a cashiers check. I didn't have to talk to customs directly because I had a driver from the doctors office pick and drop me off from the San Diego airport.

Hello,

Just a quick word of encouragement...I have had my band now for one year and have reached my personal goal of 155lb. I now plan to go beyond my wildest dreams and attempt to get down to my "medical" goal of 135lb!!!

I am posting because I want to give encouragement to everyone- it is a long, hard road, but well worth it!

Merry Xmas to all

Seanmama

Congrats!!!!

here is a older pic for comparison,

p.s. hopefully no one thinks i'm shallow for showing off pics I just think being banded was the best decision I ever made...

here is a side view.

still have a lot of toning to do, but I am totally happy even if I don't loose anymore :banana

FYI Erosion happens when the band grows into the stomach lining, thereby blocking off the "hole" between the upper and lower stomach. It's kind of like a slippage but worse.

*for newbies wondering what erosion actually is

Michelle hit it on the nail about the fill part, in the states they abide by a certain fill schedule and you will need a couple of fills before you reached the right amount of restriction.

Normally they recommend you to get a fill if you haven't lost weight for at least 1 month. But since you only have .8cc in your band you might ask your doctor if he can give you another fill soon.