Doddie63

No problem the first few months it is after that ones old habits start to creep in. Having the LB is a tool to be used wisely with dietary changes, mental exercises and physical exercise. I am a binge/grazer and now into my 5th month. I have chosen to go slowly in the weight loss and change my eating habits and exercise habits. I know the weight will come off eventually. Others chose the rapid weight loss road and do just as well. The critical part is to remember the LB is a tool and it is to be used wisely. Doddie

Angel Bear you are right on the money. I eat junk once in awhile because if I don't, I get to resent the fact and then for some stupid reason pig out. The band is my conscience and tells me when I have had enough. Usually only a taste is good enough. Strange the fact I can have it makes me not want it. Go figure my brain. Doddie

Out of towners have a great deal of problems with fills and defills. Some are very fortunate to have local doctors who will do fills but most others have to travel great distances, even down to the US. The greatest fear for us is the emergency defill. Not many ERS are trained nor are very empathic to our plight. We are also short on person to person support groups. Internet is OK but will never replace the comaradie one can get from friends in a support group. Still you would be hard pressed to find anyone of us that would not get the band. Doddie

Liz1571: You go gal. Go and get the band and to hell with everyone. Your family sound like "enablers". They are comfortable with the fat, jolly gal in our family and don't want change. You will find your health will improve. Your BP will go down, diabetes will retreat, you will feel more alive. If they won't support you, the bandsters can be your extended family. We will support you. Doddie

Congratulations Donna D. I guess we are both having our successes. Doddie

BC has three doctors that do gastric bypass and banding. All have wait lists for 3 or 4 years. One doctor had a shorter wait list, but I had read in the papers he was thinking of picking up stakes if he didn't get more hospital time. I did my research on doctors and clinics and felt the TLBC Dr. was the best although I know these are arguable comments. What I did not do was research the meaning of fills and if they were difficult to have done in BC. I believed the comments from all clinics that fills could be done by a GP or fill nurse and went no further. I had my GP set up to do the fills but he reneged as he was too busy and really didn't feel confident in doing the fills. TLBC helped set me up with a surgeon here but I have comlicatons of a tipped fill and he has been unable to get a fill in SO.......I travel back to TO where they do it. I could go to Alta but why waste the money if they too are unsuccessful. Might as well go to the people who know what they are doing in my case. Doddie

Lots of good jobs begging for someone. Microsoft is going to open an office here. On the news last night, a spokesman stated how all jobs from blue collar workers, to white collar, executives, are in demand. What are you interested in? You are Dr. C's patient so shouldn't have problems with fills. All you have to do is decide if you want to leave that beautiful province. Doddie

LMCHP No need for your to apologize it is CRA that should do that. My point I tried to make was don't panic, have your house in order and you will come out on top BUT be prepared for what could be a rocky road. I sure hope Weenette your road is smooth. Good luck.

Hi: I am A feb bander too. I am taking it slow and easy. Since Feb. lost 18 lbs but I have been taken off three diabetic pills, downgraded my BP pills to 1/2 the strength and my sugar areading are 6% for my diabetes. I am working on changing the bad habits and letting the weight come off at its own slow pace. It gets very frustrating to watch all the successes, but I have failed so much in the past that my doctor wants my habits to be changed first and let the weight take care of itself. I am averaging 1 lb a week. Congratulations all your successes. Doddie

My goal is to be consistant in my efforts. I hope to break 265 this month. Doddie

LOL I have too much fat to see it yet. But that is my goal to be able to see my port like I see in the DVD CD. My badge of honour you might say. Doddie

No everything remained the same. Doddie

I am struggling myself so can't give any advice. Had two fills and have some restrictions, but I am PBing again which means I am eating and gulping my food. Not good. So I have put myself back on Glucerna (meal replacement for diabetics) untll my sore stomach gets better then I start all over again tracking everything I eat on the Sparkspeople website. Others use Fitdat but that is what I am suggesting start tracking and go back to square 1. doddie

Oh! I should also say I live in North Vancouver, BC and know what you mean by feeling alone. Also, I couldn't eat anything but cottage cheese for two weeks and found it difficult, but not impossible. Call the clinic if it gets so bad you are going to break down and eat other stuff. They will give you some ideas that they allow only to patients having difficulty. Doddie

Kero. You are not out of the ordinary. You will find that all of us have gone thru the gauntlet of emotions. Even after as we struggle to change our old habits we go to the net for assurances from others that have experienced what we are going thru. There is always someone who can help. You wil be scared, happy, apprehensive, second guessing yourself but after you cross to the "other side" I would be very surprised if you don't join the chorus of "I wish I had done it sooner". You will also find the rare few that have complications and I believe you will find they still believe in the band. If you join the CanadianLapBanders (run by a TLBC nurse) you will get into the support group for the TLBC. Other clinic patients also belong. This website is excellent along with this one. Hope this helps. Keep posting and you will find support. Doddie

When I was put on a pre op diet, it was based on my weight. Some people were on the diet 3 weeks, I was two and I know of one person who was one week. The purpose of the pre op diet is to shrink the liver to allow the doctors more room to work around it. It is very fragile and can be damaged. Thus the importance of sticking to the diet. By breaking the diet, you make the work difficult for the doctor and maybe a bit more risky for you. I was told it didn't matter how much I ate as long as it was the prescribed drink/food. So if you are week and hungry, call your clinic and ask them what you can have to help you thru the hunger dizzyness. Doddie

Tulips. Hang on to that dear OB of yours. They are a rare flower in the medical profession. Doddie.

As I learned a long time ago, family members can be enablers and do so with a smug feeling they are only giving advice. But their adviced is hurtful, uninformed and dangerous. Stick to you guns and tell no one that might sabatogue your efforts. Your dad sounds like a typical doctor. Not many have much use for medical aids to loose weight. Maybe, someday, as we prove them wrong, the medical fraternity will come to realize they were wrong. Just look at the medical history and see how some things that were done in centuries gone by are no longer practiced today. Doddie.

Hi: I think with most of us when we deny ourselves the cravings become stronger. Have what you desire, but don't keep it in the house. Go and buy what you want, eat what you feel takes away the desire and then have the psychological uplift by having the power to throw out what you don't want. You can get a lot of this stuff at the bulk section in a grocery store. Buy only a little. Enjoy. Your weigh will still come off.Doddie

Hi Donna D. is correct. If you are from out of town, and able to take the fills as scheduled, make sure you don't take too much of a fill each time. I understand with th Fr. Midband, 6 - 8 ccs is the norm but I feel restriction at 3. I will try for 4 next week but as I am from Vancouver, I have too far to go if I made a poor decision. Doddie

Wecome to bandland. You will find the TLBC has a tremendous support system. Doddie

I had my band by Dr. Yau and in my humble opinion, he is very good at what he does. He is one of the pioneers that brought the band to Canada. The TLBC has a tremendous support organization for their clients in Ontario. I don't know the nurse you had, but their is one that left at the end of June who did not have good people/communication skills but the others seem OK. The fill nurse is very good at what she does and can be a bit short at time. On the whole, my experiences have been good and I would say without hesitation, that you have made a great choice. Doddie

I have eaten apples and would suggest your peal them. The pulp is very easy and chews down to a liquid fairly quickly. The skins could be a problem if you have a tight restriction. At this time, I can eat the skins. I also eat nuts such as cashew which chew down to a fine pulp as well. Doddie

Hey you two. How you think you pronounce words and how others hear you are two different things. I never thought I had an accent until travelling in the deep south. Everytime I said something I was immediately asked if I was English or Canadian. It was so funny, because here I was thinking the southern accent was strong but at the same time they were thinking what accent I had. LOL

Hi Argon: Forget Vancouver if you want a place to live cheep cheep. The rents and real estate have taken off and doesn't look much like things are going to eas off. We are one of the most expensive cities to live in but I here Calgary is catching up with us. Interesting reading your comments. I am finding it most frustrating to loose weight this time. I start the month at 265 and by months end I am 268. Net month I will start the month at 268 and be 265. Been this way for two months and getting pretty ticked off. Any ideas anyone.