Doddie63

Sheri: There is always hope. If I were you, I would contact the Head Nurse and request an appointment with Dr. Yau. I really like her. See what Dr. Yau says about putting the port properly. If he tells you, what he told me, I will get Nancy to check your port by doing a fill, let her do it. Then demand to see Dr. Yau again. Even if Nancy gets the fill the first time others won't in all probablity. My Dr. Woodhead blunts three needles and takes 25 minutes. He gets so upset and I have to calm him by saying it is OK, better than going to Toronto. He is very concerned about damaging the tubing. All I can hope for is if he thinks the tubing or port is damaged he will send me back to Toronto with a letter to Dr. Yau. Not much else I can say. Good luck. Doddie

Kaya. Which Toronto clinic did your band. If it was the SWLC in Toronto, they may be able to give you another name. I go to Dr. R. Woodhead a surgeon in Delta. On the referral from Dr. Yau I was able to see Dr. Woodhead. I had to pay a $400.00 consultation fee and now pay $75.00 per fill. It is a lot cheaper for me than going back to Toronto and I really like him a lot. Hope this helps you a bit. Doddie

no, support groups are few and far between. The best one is a combination of gastric bypass and banded patients. There website is BCWLS. Try their website because they post all meetings. Doddie

contact their customer service and ask who represents them here in Vancouver. Wish I was going with you to Australia. Hope you have a great trip. We did many years ago. Doddie

can't wait until you reach goal. I will hear the cheer from here.

Thanks wishes. Your stats are pretty impressive, WTG to you too. It is encouraging, in a circumspect way, to know I am not unique in this word of bandsters. Hope others keep posting. Doddie

AthinnerDenise: I may have suggestion but take it for what it is worth as I am a slow loser also. Are you eating "hard" protein every four hours. If you are, then you should not be hungry. If you are giving into your desire to eat sweets because you find it hard to watch everyone else, then you must plan for those moments. Have in your refrigerator an alternative sweet which is low calorie. Take a small bread and butter plate and eat very slowly. Make your treat stretch out. NEVER DENY YOURSELF. If you are anything like me, denying yourself preys on your mind until you end up binging. If you do take a 'normal' sweet, savour it by eating it as slowly as possible. If you know you can eat sweets, more than likely you will find you really don't want it as badly as you thought. I think, we all know the tricks but this time, with the band, we should be able to control the amount we take in. So have your sweet but in moderation. Doddie

Whoopee! I just did my weekly weigh-in and lost 8 oz. In total for the month, I have lost two lbs. Not any record but I'll take it. Sure beats a gain. It does get a tad bit depressing when I see others losing 2 to 4 lbs a week. Jealousy is more like the word I am looking for. I wish I knew how t speed things up but I am eating the required amount of protein and veggies,fruit and exercising within my capbabilities. If it wasn't for this link I would have given up long ago. Doddie

Peaches. Your post will help many I am sure. Sure glad you are doing ok. What is a "general". Don't you go to sleep just as you did when the band was inserted around your stomach? Doddie

Just a suggestion, but is there any chance there are fill nurse clinics around that charge less. I know some Canadian that go down to Seattle in Washington state. There are two fill nurses who have excellent reputations and they charge considerably less. Have you all checked around your city? Doddie

Good Post. I for one will continue to warn people of the downside of going out of Country and the importance of doing research past the reputation of the surgeon and clinic. Aftercare information is vital and ensuring after care is enshrined in the coverage is just as vital. As this link has shown, people that tend to bully me into keeping quiet are representative of clinics from out of country. The average joe reads my posts, takes or leave it as their choice but at least they have more information to work on. Doddie

Great post susieq. I sure hope people read this that are contemplating going out of country. There has been so many posts praising the Mexican clinics but very little information on the downside. Desparate people need all the information they can get including the negatives to make informed decisions.

Phyllser: Hi: The Toronto clinic referred me to a new surgeon named Dr. R. Woodhead. He had been trained to do the band by my surgeon. So after an initial consultation fee he accepted me as a patient. I now pay $75.00 per fill. A lot cheaper than flying to Toronto for a "free" fill. Go for the treadmill. It is a terrific machine to have when you are not doing other exercises. I take aquafit but have been home with a viral cough so I use the treadmill. Love it but exercise is like everything do only the one thing and you get bored. Also the muscles need a new challenge in order to keep burning calories. I am told that doing the same exercise challenges only certain muscles and a plateau could occur. So by using different muscles the caloric burning increases. Oh, I also have arthritis in the knees, but if you keep the level at 0 or 1 and don't go too fast your knees should be OK. Sounds good anyway. Bimby you will be fine. Your surgeon, clinic are there for your medical needs and we are here for support. One thing about us over 60's, as stated by IKgrubb we have been through all the diets, exercise gimicks etc. Good luck and keep us informed. Doddie

Jane some of your comments hold true for the link about Mexico. I was criticized by two individuals for posting negatives on going out of country. It has since come out that they represent a clinic in Mexico. My personal belief is that clinic salespeople should be paying advertising to have their clinics displayed and stay out of the personal postings.

Jac the same holds true with you. YOu never had Canadian surgery so what gives you the knowledge to compare the Mexican surgery with the Canadian. I suspect you get a pretty good bonus for referring patients to Mexico. In any event, I have as much right to speak about the dangers of travelling out of country as you do about telling people to go. Not for one minute do I tell people not to go out of country, what I do is give the flip side of the coin. They then can pick and choose what they want to do. Not like you that make out that it is all honey and roses. Well it isn't there are upsides and downsides both from Canada or Mexico. If you were being honest, you would admit that. Doddie

You are probably correct, but are you declaring ouf of country surgeries gas free or was it just you that had no gas. Can you state to me that patients that have surgery out of country are gas free. Certainly doesn't hold true to what I have read on the net. I am sorry, but my position is that gas pains are common no matter where the surgery was performed and until I see some studies refuting that, I am wondering if you are doing any favor to people researching where they will have that surgery. The good and the bad should be revealed so that people following us in this fairly new proceedure are better informed. I don't want people to go to "my clinic" but I do wish them well in a well informed decision. Doddie.

I was banded in Canada and had no gas pains whatsoever. In fact I had no problems whatsoever. Also, I was laying down during surgery. Would you please tell us how you know the Canadian doctors are sitting patients up and that we have more gas pains than out of country patients? I am not aware of such a statistic. doddie

Thanks, it will be great to talk to someone of my "generation". Yes I had surgery in Toronto. At the time there were no clinics in Alberta. Still none in Vancouver. Two doctors do surgery for the band privately, but they have to wait for OR time in our hospitals. Traffic jam is very true. Four hours to cross yesterday but it is worth it to get to the sun and surf. We used to travel a lot thru the USA but lately health reasons prevent us from traveling. Can't get health insurance. I like the note you have about exercise challenge. That is true for me, as "I am exercise challenged" LOL. To me exercise is the worst form of torture and it is a mental exercise just to get my butt moving. Thanks for the invite in. Doddie

Hi: 64 and counting. Any chance a Canadian from British Columbia join in. We are, after all, close to Washington State. Doddie

Hi: The reason I am submitting a letter from Dr. Yau.In it he states the surgery was medically necessary. I think the receipts are good enough, but I am not taking the chance. He was good enough to send me a letter as proof of surgery and why. It was very short but told everything I think the CRA needs. We shall find out. Doddie

Can't argue with your common sense, but I do know this. DVD fill instructions in many provinces are being reviewed by the Colleges as not proper instructional tools. Now many doctors are refusing to do fills. Speaking from experience. Doddie

NJ: STOP.....you are putting too much pressure on yourself with this deadline. Stress affects the band. You partner loves you as you are and will marry you as you are (if not your partner does not love you). Go back to square one. Small plate, measure, weigh no more than 3 oz protein and no more than a total of one cup of food. Drink your water and exercise out that frustration. MAKE SURE YOU EAT PROTEIN EVERY FOUR HOURS. Go back to your clinic for assessment and find out if more fill will assist. Fills do not loose the weight but can help you with portions. Doddie

Susiequ: You probably are right, but what if you aren't. ERs should be able to relieve the pain and diagnose the problem. Our surgeons all give their after hour telephone numbers for the ERs to call but instead they choose to send the patient away. As I understand the problem PBing daily could cause the most serious problem of erosion everything else can be solved by a defill but when a person is doubled over in pain and probably seriously dehydrated, there could be issues with the shut down of organs, etc. I am not a nurse but I do know if you have a gall bladder attack ERs treat the person but not the band. The pain is just as severe. Doddie

fstanley: I feel sorry for your mother if your attitude continues in this vein. First if she was ready to loose weight, she would be doing the research herself. Not just because you think she should. Secondly, it is vital that anyone contemplating major weight loss surgery (or any other for that matter) have all the facts not just the ribbons and bows put out by clinics. I personally do not work for a clinic, I am a retired Justice of the Peace and know what occurs if people do not have all the facts. I live 3000 miles from my clinic and I have posted my concerns about their after care. If you had done proper research, you would have seen them. Frankly, I don't know why I am bothered about responding to your ill informed opinion other than I am concerned for your mother.Doddie

From my point of view, I am very open to input from others and I am not a close friend to the others posting. I post negatives to give people the opportunity to see both sides. These negatives are my personal experiences. It is better to have the negatives up front before surgery than after. I didn't have that when I was making my decision. By withdrawing from posting you are making yourself feel better maybe, but you are not helping other potential banders make an informed decision. No need to get your back up because others support their clinics with zeal. The trick is to digest what their message is and make an informed decision based on research. Doddie