La_madam

You do not want to be on vacation far from home and your doctor and be filled to tight. No fun then! I waited til I got home from vacation to have my fill I went to Vegas also .

Sue said it best Chantal! You also said it best when you said you deserve to be treated better then that. If you truly believe that then you will make the right decision. It is tough I have been there. I left my first husband for almost he same reasons. I was scared but once I made my mind up I did not turn back and now I have a wonderful supportive husband of 12 years! Best of Luck Hang in there (((hugs)))

Good for you Vivki I did not have theenergy to fight with my insurance comapny for months. I'd still be fighting them probably..5 months later I would of not gotten approval due to the fact I had NO co morbitities with being overwieght. I basically was a healty fat person according to my PCP. He said I would pay hell trying to get approval since no high blood pressure, no sleep apnea, no diabetes, no joint pain or arthritis, no heart problems, no cholesterol problems just FAT! 5 months later after self paying I'm down over 50 lbs and have not one single regret that I had to self pay. I would do it again in a heartbeat, my surgoen is very well respected by other surgeons in the field of bariatrics through out the US and abroad he has preformed over 1500 band surgeries and his aftercare is phenomenal..I have been fortunate. Things are going well for me! I wish you the best of Luck with your insurance companie(s) I hope you dont have to fight too long!

Way to go Debra! 4lbs is fantastic. what a difference a fill makes huh?

Thanks for the info Vera I saw Ali's daughter on the Today Show 2 days post op last month . It will be interesting to see how she has been doing since her surgery and how she is adjusting to the band. I got the TiVo programmed and ready!

Nancy, there is a woman here on this board who was frustrated and dealing with issues. She made a comittment to herself to call one of us each night of the week for a week. It helped her to get back on the wagon. Maybe if you need extra support you can do the same. I know I would be willing to have you call me anytime you are struggling. Sometimes that extra boost of support on a more personal level is all it takes. You need to look at the big picture and see the progress you have made thus far. You have done an incredible job. Where else would you have lost this ammount of weight without giving up to only put it all back on and then some? Hang in there. You know you can do this..tomorrow is a new day. Don't give up!!

Hey Welcome Good Luck to you..I have heard great things about Dr. Rod Many here have used him and are very happy! I hope it all goes smoothly for you. The band has changed my life!

Hi Welcome I hope you are approved very quickly. Best of Luck to you!

Thanks Donali, that is a great idea. I jotted down the address and password. I emailed Lisa to see if it was just me or if she could not get on either yesterday . We are all a bunch of LBT addicts all having withdrawls yesterday ! I do recall it happening one other time in the last 5 months but it was only down for about 4 hours not the entire day.

Thanks Letha for explaining it all to me...maybe my ice cream headache is the soft stop, cuz once I get that headache I stop eating , too painful. Very interesting!

Hi Tall Guy :mad: Its so nice to see another man here among all of us women The band is the best thing I have ever done for myself. I love my band! No other diet or weight loss plan has ever given me so much success in such a short time. I can honestly say for the first time in my life I'm not in fear of putting the weight back on. Best of Luck to you I hope to be reading lots of post from you. Its so great to have a mans insight. We Love RYAN , that man can write (whippledaddy) he is another male member here

For me, I have Blue Cross of California and they do not cover the band yet and even if they did..I do not think I would of qualified for it. I had NO co morbitities from being overweight. No high blood pressure, no sleep Apnea, No Arthritis, back or joint pain, No diabetes. Just Plain ol' FAT! I did check it out in the US (California) as a self pay but the price difference was huge. Way cheaper to have it done in Mexico and most of the docs I spoke with here in California spoke very highly of Dr. Ortiz since he is a proctor for Inamed and has trained many of the US docs in how to preform the surgery. I only live an hour and a half from the border so aftercare for me was not an issue, in the event of an emergency however I do have an ER hospital here in my area that is experienced with the band, so far so good though 5 months post op..2 fills and down 51.75 lbs. I'm happy with my aftercare in TJ. That's my story

Sue does that mean you wil lbe coming to Vegas in Oct? Are you a Kenny Loggins fan?

Hey Leatha I have heard you mention a soft/ hard stop..can you explain the difference between the soft and the hard/ You also mentioned you would get a pain in the shoulder of a sneeze or cough to signal to your brain you are done eating I have notcied I get an ICE CREAM HEADACHE but how do I know if it is a soft or hard stop? Or is there any difference. Confused:confused:

Way to go Darcy..arent the teens awesome..Last time I was in the teens..I was a teen :mad:

Lisa..we are in the exact same boat. My hubby is doing the exact same thing. I sat him down on Thursday and had a long heart to heart with him about how we are going in different directions ..I'm taking the healthy route and he is not, now mind you he is not overweight one single bit, but is a heavy smoker, does not exercise at all, lies on the couch and watches TV from time he gets home from work until bed and then falls asleeep on the couch, he drinks way too much coca cola , it is driving me crazy but after we had our heart to heart he has been putting forth and effort to be more productive, active and cut down on his smoking and sodas..so far it is a good start lets see how long it lasts, but I reccomed you sit him down and tell him from your heart what is going through your head ..it helped me so far ..keeping my fingers crossed. The anti depressants for me got me here..I put on so much weight on those damn things..I refuse to take them anymore. It is up to me to make myself happy not some pill! Talk to your hubby in a quiet secluded setting in a calm rational voice..I used to scream and yell to my hubby the same things I mentioned above with no change on his part but once her heard the fear and sadness in my voice in a calm way it woke his butt up. Good Luck to you

Penni sorry to hear the news. I hope everything out in Kentucky goes well for you and your family. We will be thinking of you & missing you

Monday 9/20 213.25 Finally hitthe 50lb mark and then some 2 lbs for me this week

Cute Picture Lisa! You look like you have been riding harley's forever...

Hi and Welcome This is a great site for support..everyone here is so friendly and knowledgeable..I hope you enjoy coming here as much as I do

Penni you look Fabulous..What a difference THE RACE IS ON 3 weeks from today It looks like its going to be close between you & Lisa You have done a great job, I'm sure you are so proud of yourself. I'm proud of you:) Keep it up! You both are winners, no matter what Maybe we will have a tie :mad:

Bumping

go into the archives and do a search there is a thread I will bump it up for you It is "help I swallowed gum

Dr Ortiz is the surgeon they use I just called and spoke with Jodi from TWIGS..makes me feel good since he is my doc :mad: Thanks betty for posting this site..its gots lots of info

I just called the number on their web site to see who the Dr. was they used for their surgeries was since it was not on the site anywhere and I spoke to a woman named Jodi who told me the specifically use Dr. Ortiz..wish I would of known on this site 5 months ago would of saved me over 1000$ ( well that is their price they are quoting for September she said) but I'm happy to see that they use my surgeon..he is a great doctor..Makes me feel even better about my choice..I spoke with Jodi for a bit & sounds like they have a top notch operation from what I heard..lots of local support in the US from the staff most of the employees are Bandsters themselves & Americans who have reached their goal weights and understand the importance of good aftercare from a doctor who preforms surgery outside of the US