La_madam

I got a gift certificate to Victoria's Secret also and I am proud to say I now fit int otheir bras..I was in a 42 DD I am now in a 38DD, their largest size is a 38DD so I just made it..I love their panties too and now I can wear their Large & X Large so I went on a shopping spree yesterday..it felt good! As far as saggy boobs..I had my boobs lifted & implants to make up for the loss of a lift back in 1998..long before I ever thought of the band , good back then but bad now cuz all you see when I come towards you is boobs..

Iam in..I need this challenge!

Monday 12/27 192.50 1/2 lb loss for me I'll take it since the scale has not moved in 3 weeks and I have bee a little bad on my food choices

Ryan...Great story...thank you for sharing it with us.. You always capture me with your words

Creamed Spinach, hummus, refried beans all worked well for me

Im right here with you both..believe it or not, my tree is all ready down in the garbage at 9:00 am , gifts are all put away, decorations are put away & the house is vaccummed, you would never know it was Christmas here this morning. Breakfast is done along with the dishes..I have showered an am ready for what the day brings..which is absolutely nothing and I love it! Finally a day to relax..I do not even have anything planned for dinner tonight, so Im going to do a search and see what is open tonight...Merry Christmas

I'm heading out too for a few hours, going into Los Angeles to my Aunt's house for a Lebanese Feast..should be interesting, I have not eaten Lebanese food since my band. Any one know anything about Lebanese food, the use alot of rice and wheat germ..it expands in your tummy, you are not supposed to drink for a good hour after eating ..so that should be good for me now ..Merry Christmas to all of you. Be safe & have fun! Zoe...you are so right in your post. I feel so confident this New year about my weight for the first time in my life .

Hey Lauri Hope you are feeling better. Did you go to the Dr. that your mom was going to take you to see? Any news?

Congratulations Lisa ... Ha Ha Seroiously , sorry to hear you had a PB but atleast you know your band is still working right? That is a good thing! Your concerns for erosion should be at ease a little bit now, if you were eroded , anything and everything would be sliding down that hatch with no pain, no slime. I'm so glad you heard my voice..I hope you listen to it What I experienced after my major PB was NO fun at all! Just think with you doing soft foods and liquids today, you will have cushion for tomorrows goodies without any weight gain..pretty good huh?

Congratulations Darcey from one happy Ortiz patient to another. I'm so glad to hear everything went so smoothly for you, that is great news! Rest up and take it easy! You are going to love your band!

Isint it great?? Good for you Lisa, Awesome NSV This is the first time in my married life I weigh less then my husband, its a great feeling!

Congratulations to you and welcome to this board. I wish you the best on your upcoming surgery. You have made the best decsion for yourself...it truly is a life changing experience.

Of Course I would come..any excuse to get away from hubby & kids I need a vacation anyways

Melissa I got that exact same pain for 4 moths post op, it felt a side ache pain when you ran too much or too fast. It goes away, I have not had it in months.

Dr. Ortiz who is my surgeon has his patients do 3 days of liquids after a fill. In the event there is swelling caused from the fill he has his patients do liquids so there is lower risk of Pbing. If you are swollen from the fill and then eat you have a higher risk of having a PB episode. His reasoning, so I listen

Count me in

Best of luck to both of you. You are in very experienced hands, I have heard wonderful things about Dr. Kuri. Hope everything goes great for you both tomorrow.

Paula here is anoither excerpt from the book about Reflux and Pbing...after readin your last post, I thought you might find this helpful and interesting. Reflux symptoms are caused by inflammation of the stomach lining and usually occur after a fill or there has been an episode of food dislodging, Pbing and vomiting, Treatment for this is a self imposed liquid diet. Unfortunately after the banded person has reverted back from the liquid diet and returns to eating solids, most will fall victim to the same eating habits that caused the swelling. They ultimately will need band deflation. Otherwise, at the fill level of the band eating solids will continue to irritate the stomach. If the Dr. does not deflate ut , the banded person is condemmed to a liquid diet on which he or she will not lose weight. So deflation is the safest way to go.

Penni, I have not lost an ounce for 2 straight weeks. I know the feeling of frustration you are going through.Matter of fact, there are several of us here struggling right now through this Hoilday Goodies Crap! Hang in there... those 5 lbs will be gone in no time. NO MORE FUDGE OR chocolate FOR ME!!! I've been a bad bad girl :ermm

Yes Congratulations to all of you official bandsters. We can't wait to hear all about all of your surgeries. What a great day, 3 people being banded from LBT! I hope you are all doing great and everything went smoothly for all of you.

Because of that Crab Cake Bene at the Bellagio..We are now going to try our own version of it been bragging about it ever since , just had a rep out to my restaraunt this week sampling all different brands of crab cakes till I found one that would be sufficient ( none compare to the Bellagio) but did find a new steakhouse near by that theirs are out of this world!... I will start serving it on New Years day and run it as a "Hangover Special"

Aww Penni We all can relate..seems we all are sturggling this Hoilday Season with weight gain or no weight loss, the stress of doing all the shopping, wrapping, cooking, decorating..Like I toild lisa when she told me she gained 6 lbs, that if just "fluff " weight. Don't sweat the small stuff. Soon this time of year will behind you and all of us and we can then focus on ourselves and bands again. Oh and Beautiful Tree!

Love the new pic Lisa

Most US docs are very conservative in giving their fills...most will want you to wait 2 weeks before the give another fill ... Mexico Dr's are much more aggressive with their fills. However it can take a week or so for your fillto kick in, my first one took a week but my 2nd fill was instant. Maybe give it another week or few days atleast. Is your cycle near? That affects restriction levels, I can eat like a horse a couple days before mine arrives but when it comes I am tight as a drum.. Here is an excerpt from Dr. Ortiz's new book on fills The standard protocol in the US adopted by most surgeons is a gradual adding of volume. This works well but I prefer to get the restriction level to the correct ammount as soon as possible. This can be achieved more easily with the aid of fluoro One of the advantages of having a fill without fluoro is it can be done in a Dr's office without Fluoro the protocol used in the US right now is 1cc to 1.2 cc in the first fill and then visits every 2 weeks where incriments of .2 ccs are added the desired restriction is attained. Fills preformed outside of the US are usually more aggressive. Hang in there, this is a tough time of year for all of us..I am struggling too these past weeks with all of the Holiday goodies . NO MORE FUDGE FOR ME!

Here is a number to call 949-715-7924 different then the one I posted earlier.