leatha_g

Is this the same Dr. Lopez Corvala referred to here in the afore mentioned 'rumors'? And if it is, why would one so concerned about their reputation and making amends not contact said patients with such issues of rejection, infections, needing copies of their medical records? Changing your situtation is good, but making amends for those you've harmed is even better, no? We still have people on this board with open wounds who have not been contacted by this person or his staff? Is it okay to let those with complications fall through the cracks as long as you take care of those new one's with the check in their hands? Expertise in a field is great, but character of person counts a whole lot more in the long run.

Sultana, This sounds like reflux to me, but for it to come on suddenly concerns me. If you had had a recent fill, I might not be as concerned and would encourage you to get a slight unfill, but a sudden onset of severe reflux seems to warrant at least seeing your doctor and maybe asking for an Upper GI just to make sure all is well with your band. In the meantime, do not eat anything for at least 3 hrs before bedtime, be sure to wash your pouch out thoroughly with Water and yes, even water will backwash with reflux, so you may have to discontinue water pretty early too. I'm sorry, this is very unnerving, I know. It would also help to raise the head of your bed (pillows is not the way) you actually need to put something under the mattress or head of the bed to raise it several inches. Reflux like this can cause aspiration pneumonia, which you do not want and it can cause irritation to the esophagus also. More importantly, sometimes this is a sign of the band having moved up or down on your stomach or of your pouch bulging due to extreme tightness. I think I would see if I could get it on film. You may need to ask for a slight unfill as you definitely do not want this to continue. Do you have some prilosec, prevacid or gaviscon on hand that you can take in the meantime?

Yep. I love that black and white one too. It just warms my heart to see my older brothers have 'sensitive' moments. I do plan on having several printed and framed. Thank you!

Welcome William! We have quite the DFW contingency here! Hopefully, we'll all figure out a day to get together sometime soon! Hope all is going well with your new band! Please feel free to read, read, read so you'll be armed with all the knowledge you need about your band!

I do know of another lady who has severe lymphodema who has had the RNY. I do not know her results as far as her severe swelling, but here is her website. You may want to contact her to see how her weight loss is effecting her lymphedema. I can tell you that I have a history of clots in my legs and severe swelling - never called lymphedema and since I've gotten my band, I have never had the degree of swelling as before. Thank God! http://www.amylhwilliams.com/

Well. We had a wonderful day at my brother's house. Lots of food, laughter and love. Then, we have the inevitable toddlers with their fingers in the door, or Mimi getting stung by a wasp. But, all in all, it was a great day. There were 32 of us there, not counting the two brand new babies. I am so fortunate to have such a large and loving family. I'm posting a few pics I've been playing with since I got home.

Just wondering. For those of you who ordered Dr. Ortiz's book, have you received it? Seems like it oughta be here by now, but I've not received mine???

Looks like you have alot of research to do. 'Fill' is what the adjustments for the lapband are called. Since the band is adjustable, there is a tiny bladder on the inside of the band which can be 'filled' to different increments according to the person's tolerance and weight loss/or lack thereof. Some people come out of surgery with some restriction, some have alot, some have none at all, especially once the swelling from surgery has subsided. Getting a fill is a very simple procedure, basically an injection of sterile saline into your band's balloon/bladder to tighten it up around the top part of your stomach. Normally it's very painless and only takes minutes. On occasion, a person's port may be tilted or even flipped, which could cause things to take longer or require a minor procedure to put it back in the right position. With the band, this is part of the continuing aftercare/follow-up/maintenance of the band that allows you to tighten it so that you can continue losing weight as long as you need to and/or maintain the loss you have already accomplished. Please feel free to read, read, read, all the forums of this messageboard and there are many others online. You need to be absolutely informed about all phases and possibilities of the lapband. This knowledge will definitely make your success with the band alot easier to achieve and any surprises won't really be surprises. Happy reading! and welcome to the board. Please head over to the 'Introductions' thread and fill us all in what brought you here and where you hope to be headed with your band! Welcome! Check this out to see some pics of the different bands Inamed uses. http://www.gisurgery.net/OverviewObesityBariatricSurgery.pdf

Congratulations! Please read, read, read so you'll know every single thing to expect, before and after. Get ready for your life to change!

They will! You've done a great job!

That crab dip was DE_LISH!

Dr. Frering is definitely the one I've heard of the most.

Glad to hear you had a positive experience!! I do hope you got copies of your records, in the event you need a doctor in the states. Will you be doing fills and follow up in Mexico or local to home?

Happy Thanksgiving to you all! Thanks so much for such delightful visions of what it is really all about. I'll be driving over to my most special brother's house. This will be my second banded Thanksgiving and I hope I do as well this year as I did the last. I recall leaving without that 'stuffed' feeling and really proud of myself that I didn't devour everything single thing available. I made myself a small plate with spoonfuls of most of the things I liked. I also had Desserts, but they were small in comparison to years before and I left feeling completely satisfied and NOT GUILTY for having eaten like there was no tomorrow. I was able to actually sit back and observe my loved ones and actually 'see' that sparkle in their eyes, enjoy their laughs and their warmth toward others. I left feeling truly thankful for so much. My own life and health returned, my totally dysfunctional, but awesome family, new generations, new traditions, renewed faith in a God who got us as far as we have come. Finally, what Thanksgiving is all about. Bounty IS more than food, and it is far more visible to one who is not in a food induced stupor.lol

Tracking on www.fitday.com really doesn't take that much time and you really don't have to do it EVERYDAY. It's especially good to do it for a few days at a time to see where your carbs, Protein and fat lie. Sorry to say, but yes, all those things you have read abotu NOT losing weight once you enter back into mushies/soft foods is VERY common. I believe I posted an article written by Robin/Coffeewench just this weekend on 'bandster purgatory' - the UNFILLED stage. It's pretty hard to get in all your protein and make very good choices during the soft foods/mushy stage. Most of the time, the items we have are things like mashed potatoes(starch, starch starch), yogurt (dairy, dairy, dairy). This is one of the reason they say that once you are on real solids to try to cut out as much 'soft' foods as possible. They are calorie/fat/carb laden - and it's not the good carbs. Once you moved into hard Proteins, in fact, one 8 oz glass of lowfat milk per day is all the liquid calories you are encouraged to get. Everything else really should be hard proteins and veggies. Liquid/soft calories are not our friend and usually, most of that initial loss the first week or so is Water. You will really begin to see the weight loss once you have gotten a fill that is noticeable to you and the band begins to do it's job of restricting your intake. That is, if you stick with hard proteins and quality carbs such as veggies.

Sorry to hear you've been so sick! Yikes.. We've missed you on the board. Have a Happy Thanksgiving!! Be well!

********I took this from Yahoo Smartbandsters. Jessie Ahroni posted it and has posted it over and over and over to new bandsters. For those who don't know, Jessie is a Nurse Practitioner who has had her band for 6 years and works daily with new and not so new bandsters doing fills and patient education. She also has a book on Adjustable Gastric Banding which can be found at www.ahroni.com ******************************************************************************************************************** Jill:you can follow Weight Watchers if you want but I did not get banded to make dieting more efficient. The gastric band is not a diet. I eat whatever I want. But not much of it. I eat when I'm hungry and stop when I'm full. I try to make wise choices about what I put in my mouth most of the time. Dieting doesn't work (you ought to be convinced of that by now). For me banding was about totally giving up diet mentality and all food and weight obsessions. I had to work on doing that but I've pretty much accomplished it most of the time.**************************

I did have some occasional waves of nausea when I was first out of surgery, but it seems to have passed once I started getting regular protein. Like Marie said, just be sure not to let yourself become dehydrated. Sometimes, it even helps to have something with a bit of sugar in it when you're nauseated. I hope you're doing better soon!

I think I pay $10 - which still seems like alot. You poor thing! That sounds terrible - but I have to admit. I did laugh at the thought of it! lol

Kathy, I hope you're beginning to feel better by now. It is normal to be a bit sore a day or so after a pretty strong pb, but if this feeling continues and you continue to be uncomfortable. You might want to have your doc do an Upper GI just to make sure everything is where it should be. Do you feel like you may be overfilled at all?

Yup and any time your doctor writes you a script for Meridia or Xenical, that's medically supervised.

After awhile, the growling tummy thing will subside. It's funny, how we're conditioned to think that because our tummy is making noise that we're hungry or empty. In fact, the tummy may just be doing it's job of digesting OR we learn that just because it growls we don't HAVE to feed it. I know I surely have enough storage already on board that I won't starve until the next mealtime. lol

Very sorry to hear this, Lauri. I know you were really looking forward to getting the band. Alot of times, these insurance companies deny you first try just hoping you will give up and they will save money. My brother's insurance told him the same 12 month story. I'm not sure of the objective here. To see if your determined to lose weight or are they hoping you'll lose weight on a Dr. Supervised diet and you'll no longer need surgery? I'm not sure, but it stinks. I agree. There are appeal letters on this site and some of the other Yahoo Bandster sites that you might be able to model something for yourself to appeal with . It stands to reason, if you are taking medications for weight related co-morbidities, it would benefit your insurance to help you to get more healthy in the long run. Something to this effect with backed up facts relating to the band and people who've had success with it might help you get approved. Don't give up! Show them how determined you are. But first, do make an appointment with your PCP, find out if you have ANY documentation discussing your obesity in your current records and see if he will back date his documentation of your weight loss to any reference he has documented in the past. I don't know how much this might help, but it's a start in the right direction. Good luck!

Great job Betty!! That's spectacular loss so far!

http://www.inamed.com/products/obesity/us/patient/lapband/prodinfo.html