leatha_g

Yes. Mimi's face is the exact shape of mine. So is her little body. Thankfully, she's managed to keep from gaining as much weight, so far, but she really does have the tendency. Other than that, her hair and freckles is all she got from her dad. lol. She's a keeper, for sure. Thank you!

This is me and my brothers and baby sister in May at our family reunion. I'm the short one.. My brother Johnny (with his arm around me) and his wife have a consultation appt with my band doctor this coming month. Kenneth, on the right has just recently lost about 40lbs on his own. Seems to be the year for re-generation in our family.

Then, we have Jeremy. 18 yrs old. Jeremy plays the guitar and drums in two different bands. He lives in California with his dad. He's my youngest and I miss him alot. I think he's a cutie.

This is Mimi - my bestest friend and biggest supporter. She is 23yrs old, married and living in Denton.

Dr. Dobson charges you $250 for flouro. He then asks that you write two separate checks - one for him, one for the imaging place. Which I can understand, but I just didn't get a good feeling about him. I saw Dr. Maese 4 weeks later and he completely unfilled me, telling me he had no choice - that I clearly had slippage and this person should have never put ANY Fluid in my band. To be real honest, I still don't really know the whole truth. All I really know is I was doing fine when I went to see him and wound up having to be re-banded after. I am not saying it is anything he did or did not do, but something went very wrong there.

That is the best way, to me, Tricia. If you can see what you are doing onscreen - real time, then you can back it off as the person swallows. I had the greatest guy in San Fran. He would take everything out to begin with - to see what was in there. Then, he would basically close me completely off, then back it off until he could see that I could swallow. Thereby, hopefully getting good restriction but not too much.

Penni, This guy has you lay on a table while he arbitrarily injects saline into your port. THEN - he has you get up and walk over to a free standing flouro and takes the film and has you drink. He does not watch his fill as he injects it on the flouro. I found him to be very over-confident and he stood there and said to me that it appeared I had pouch dilation, but never once said a thing about taking the fill out and having it checked or coming back later. He absolutely had no idea what he was seeing. Dr. Maese nearly had a coronary and said it was plainly slippage. This is what is happening to people who get their bands elsewhere and are not able to get local care. This guy is plainly an opportunist. If he is going to be doing fills, he should be knowledgeable enough to read the film and provide some sort of resolution, ie - take the fill out, refer someone for an EGD, adjust the fill onscreen, so he can see what it's doing before he takes the darn needle out. That's why it's called 'adjustment'. You don't just decide because it's a day that ends in Y that Ms SoAndSo needs 2.0 fill. It just don't work that way.. I'll get off my box now..

You'll find that there are lots of new docs jumping on the 'band'wagon, so to speak. So much so that the protocols for post-ops is really getting strange. A fill schedule is probably not worth the time it took to think it up. There is no way a person should have a fill on a certain day or week or even a certain amount at a time. I really believe this is going to cause some real bad publicity/gossip about the band itself. These people are not staying within the guidelines of the Inamed handbook, but making up their own rules and it's costing a lot of people some big misery. This band is far more sophisticated than that. The people at Inamed told me that they are really stressing patient follow up at their seminars, but it seems they may not have been specific enough about what the patient really needs. It's scaring me, some of the post op diets I'm hearing about and these fill schedules. Very scary indeed...

The new Inamed band is called the Vanguard band and it accomodates the larger BMI's but is also used in others. It sounds as if it is an improvement upon the original 9cm band. The documentation shows that is has more adjustability regardless of the BMI. Check this link out, there are photos on page 2. http://www.gisurgery.net/OverviewObesityBariatricSurgery.pdf Aftercare is quite a challenge in the states unless your doc helps you set it up beforehand. I wouldn't even just take someone's word for it. I'd make sure I saw my potential follow up doc if I didn't intend to travel to Mexico (which could be quite a job if you're in an emergency situation) BEFORE my surgery. Another thing - you may find some radiologists who will fill a Swedish band, but docs in the states will not touch a band that has not been FDA approved. Good luck to you!

Well. I've heard many people say that they're hoping for no sagging skin due to slower weight loss, but I've had doctors say that anytime a person is over a certain age and lose a large amount of weight, it's pretty rare for the skin to shrink enough that you'd be happy with it. They say it's because of elasticity that we just don't have anymore. then, I've also heard them say if there are stretch marks, the skin will definitely not shrink there, it's already too damaged. I'm really hating my arms. It appears I could cut 1-3lbs off each of them and it's affecting the type of clothes I can or cannot buy, which sucks. My thighs are getting droopy too, but oh well. Even if I have to cover them up, my health is still the most important reason for losing weight. Then, I wonder if, over time, the skin my continue to adjust? It doesn't hurt to hope. Leatha

You definitely DO look great!! Hope you had a great birthday! Have a safe trip home!! We've missed you!

Christy, Hello and welcome. This appears to be from Dr. Dobson. in Arlington, right? Personally - after my experience with him. I would not allow myself to be too alarmed and I would get myself a second opinion. The barium will go through the band, that's not a problem. But, if he had done a fill, maybe he missed? His technique for fills definitely leaves something to be desired. In my case (and I also posted my film here) he way overfilled me, but when there was plainly pouch dilation/possible slippage he didn't seem to know enough to leave the band un-filled. It's absolutely a no-no to fill a band that has pouch dilitation or slippage. I found him to be way over confident in himself and lacking the knowledge to even know what he was seeing on film. Scary, scary, scary. I would not even worry about it until you can find someone who knows what they are looking at .. The Band appears to be in place, to me, but I'm not a qualified medical person. If there is no fill or little fill, of course the barium will flow through. Even after a fill, you want to be sure the barium will go through, you just want the volume restricted so it would become a trickle or something slightly larger. I have heard of one case on Smartbandsters where someone else seemed to have an 'open' band. I'll see if I can relocate that info for you. Just my opinion. But I say if the man can't read the films, he should not be doing these fills.

aww.. garsh ... thanks girls. ya'll made my evening.

Liquids in, liquids out? Yep. I had it too. This too shall pass. Maybe try cutting down milk products?

Thank you Teresa! You're doing great as well!

I've kind of wondered about that too. I've heard they do bloodwork etc immediately before, but what happens if it ain't so good? Or, if you have undiagnosed sleep apnea that everyone claims to be a danger under anesthesia? I've often wondered how they handle this type of situation. Dr. Rumbaut certainly has a great record, so whatever he's doing must be working for him. Does he do any sort of questioning concerning prior historys before you arrive?

I would definitely have him re-iterate what he really means. CLEAR liquids for 6 weeks? I've never heard of such a thing. You could always refer him to the Inamed Patient Handbook. They sure don't condone clear liquids for that long. God bless you if this is what this person requires.

I totally agree with everything Sue said. It's the only thing that keeps me sane. Trying to remember this is for life. There is no finish line, there is no race and no competitors. This is all about US and our bodies and how we do or do not get our brain wrapped around the idea of changing our habits where food is concerned, forever.

It's very normal to be nervous. I think it's our bodies way of preparing us for something so big. Surgery is always scary. The thing that helps me the most is gratitude. Not everyone is fortunate enough to have this surgery. Either their insurance won't pay or they aren't able to self pay, but they still really need it. Those of us who can find a way have a really great opportunity to change our lives and to be an example for those who come after us. I think if you can re-frame that in your mind, it definitely helps going in. I happen to have a higher power whom I thanked all the way into the OR and whom I woke up thanking on the other side. It helped! You'll do fine! We'll be here waiting to here how it all went too! Good luck to you! Leatha

I'll second that emotion. Do you have a single brother? Thank you for such kind words, Ryan. You always leave me with a fresh new sense of something wonderful. Please never feel ashamed to vent about those dark things that you seek refuge from. As you said, we've all been there or somewhere close. Have a wonderful Labor Day!

Wowee.. 3 weeks and 35lbs??? That's awesome!! I bet you are feeling great! Way to go!!

Yep, we do that too. lol. I'm working on them. At one of our facilities, the boss brings in Krispy Kremes every darn morning! One of my co-workers now swears that she hears a voice in her head saying, "Krispy Kremes are not our friend'. lol. It's the one lady that I really have to be careful around. I think she is happy for me, but maybe a tad jealous. (I don't know what would make me think that, except that she calls me a b**ch regularly!) I thought when I took this job that all the travel, in and out of airports, running to busses etc would help me to lose weight. I was wrong! We frequently cater to clients who come in for training, our cafeteria at the campus is to die for and then on the road it's all expenses paid. Ughh... It's been tough, but I'm working on it. It's me who has to say NO, no matter how painful it is.

"An eye for an eye, and the whole world would be blind." (Kahlil Gibran) "Your children are not your children. They are sons and daughters of life's longing for itself. They come through you but not from you. And though they are with you, they belong not to you. You may give them your love but not your thoughts, for they have their own thoughts. You may house their bodies but not their souls. For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams. You may strive to be like them, but strive not to make them like you. For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday." (Kahlil Gibran)

oooh, I love quotes.. That one is great! "... and then the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom." (Anais Nin) My favorite. "Each friend represents a world in us; a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only in meeting them that a new world is born." (Anais Nin) "We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are." (Anais Nin)

LOL. I think I can, I think I can...oh! I really can! I hate appetite suppressants. They make me shaky and nauseous and I feel like if I eat something it'll make me feel better. They never helped me, ever. That said, I have seen on some boards that some docs actually do presribe Meridia or something like it for the liquids phase. I think that is a considerate doc. It is definitely tough once you're all healed up and regain your appetite.