La_madam

Happy Birthday Miss Jenna! Hope you are having a great day

Depends on my mood It sometimes means Damn Husband Or Dumb Husband Or Dear Husband Or Darling husband

I have a fence around my pool and I also have an audible alarm that when any window or door is opened in my house it lets me know which door or window.

Yes, you will be amazed what a difference removing such a tiny ammount will do, it will make it more comfortable to eat but still give you enough restriction to still lose. May I ask why you went in for your third fill? Were you not losing ? Were you eating to much? I ask because you have such great wieght loss in such a short period. If this continues through the weekend, definately call your doctor.

What a great husband you are! You sound like my husband. Your wife is lucky to have you and your support

Becky, many people are like you and can tolerate those foods with certain level of restriction, but as the level of restriction rises it becomes a little more time consuming ot eat thosefoods, it requires a lot slower pace, much smaller bites. How much fill do you have...you will notice the more fill you have the harder it becomes, I could eat steak with no problem with my 1st and 2nd fill but my 3rd fill I stay away from steak, it gets stuck no matter how much I chew or how small of a bite I take.

What a great thread! How true is this, we all are successful and have many different occupations, we are all intelligent, just because we are obese does not make us stupid

Here is a couple of sites, that helped me to decide when I was researching. http://www.thebariatrics.com/the_surgery_more2.htm http://www.lapbandvsbypass.com/

Yes it is a common procedure Some doctors require it for all of their patients and some require it for patients who have a higher BMI. The reason behind it is to help make it easier for the doctor and it helps to shrink the fat around and near the liver

As you get tighter and more fill, you may have a PB so be prepared and be careful after each fill , really concentrate on smaller bitesand chew chew chew Good for you to all that have not experienced the dreaded PB, it is not fun!

No Pat, this commercial I saw today was from Inamed. The one I was asked to submit pictures for was Dr. Ortiz, he is suppossedly doing an info-mercial.

Yes you are right, that is probably the reason why my Dr. has me go and eat solids before I head back to California,while still in TJ just to make sure I am not too tight and food does go down then once I know Iam ok with food going through it is liquids for 3 days. Then back to solids, I can usually tell though if I will have problems with solids just by how the liquids are going through while he is doing it. I'd rather be under filled then over filled, that is for sure. I have been very fortunate to not have any problems with being overfilled with my 3 fills

Nykee With the band I find myself eating healthier, honestly the band resrticts healthier foods like chicken, cheese, beef, veggies more then it restricts junk food and I know others wil ltell you the exact same thing! When I eat junk food it is like I was never banded I have great restriction 2.5 cc's Give me cheetos, pudding, Cookies, ice cream chocolate and I can eat it until Im blue in the face with never a PB and zero restriction But give me a chicken breast and I will be lucky to eat half of it. What you put into your band depends on if the band will restrict it or not, so if you want true restriction you do have to make good choices mainly becuase the band doesnt restrict certain foods no matter how tight a fill you have and if you have a fill so tight where you can not eat or drink what is the pooint of that , you are only doing damge to your esophagus and your band and your health. We all love our junk food that is mainly why we are obese, but when I decided to make this change and get the band I also knew there was going ot be a lifestyle change, there are people who have the band who do not change their lifestyle and wonder why they are not losing or why the band is not working. You have got to change some things if you want success withyour band. Otherwise you are setting yourself up for failure. I have lost 91 lbs in 13 months not by eating junk food, do not get me wrong I have had my days of junk food but it is on a rare occassion. Here is a day of what I eat for example Breakfast 2 scrambled eggs w/ 2 sausage links ( never finish it) lunch Small salad with 1/2 chicken breast ( never finish it) dinner Steamed veggies with either chicken breast or beef patty ( never finish it) Only liquids I drink are coffee , Water and crystal light! This is how I have eaten since I was allowed solids , just smaller portions now that I have restriction There are days when I have a snack and it is usually a slice of cheese with a few wheat crackers or a Protein bar or a slice of cheese with Peanut Butter Again, I am far from perfect, I have had my days where I have struggled and ate like crap and binged on my chocolate & junk it is a rare occassion but I do it from time to time but the next day I start over, that is the best thing about the band there is always tomorrow. SO TRUE, junk food never gets stuck. Im so glad you said that too

Hi, What a nice sister you are I remeber you keeping us all updated on your sister the day of her surgery. It is great she has you for such support. Thanks for the support to all of us as well

Restraunt Owner, I spend my day around FOOD!

I have told anyone and everyone who asks I have helped so many I have sent 5 patients in my home town to my Dr. to have the band and everyone of them has been successful and they are greatful I told them about it. I want the world to know how awesome the band is! It's a personal choice but for me it is motivating to tell everyone, it keeps me accountable to my food choices while Iam out it only makes me want to succeed that much more We all have our reasons to tell or not to tell

Mandy, I live in California and I have Blue Cross and I was denied , they do not cover it regardless if it is medically neccessary ( atleast 13 months ago they didnt't) I have a girlffriend who has United Health Care here in California and she got approved in 2 weeks. Do not give up! I chose self pay when I was denied, I did not want to fight them because I would probably still be fighting them 13 months later and now I am 91 lbs down. I have my life back, When there is a will there is a way! I wish you luck

Hi Barb,Welcome! well you have come to the right place to get lost of useful info on the band. I wish you the best as you begin this awesome journey

Happy to see you back, Glad to hear you had a nice time on vacation. NSV for you that you did not gain while being on vacation

3 fills 1 = 1.1 2 = .9 3 = .5 total of 2.5

How may of you have your fills done by mexican docs and how many of you have your fills by U.S. docs? Those who have Fills by U.S. docs- are you happy with your restriction levels? Do you feel they fill you enough each time? How many fills have you had in what time frame? Those who have Fills by Mexico Dr.s - areyou happy with your restriction levels? Do you feel they fil lyou enough each time? How many fills have you had in what time frame? I ask becasue I have read that U.S. Dr.s are much more conservative on fills, they like to sneak up on your restriction level, where as Mexico Dr.s like to get you to good restriction much sooner. Personally I have had 3 fills for a total of 2.5 in 13 months and have done extremely well with my Mexico Dr. However I have nothing to compare it to since I have not used a U.S. Dr. for my fills. I just would like to hear others feelings on this subject.

All I can say to those who had the bypass is atleast I have my intestines in tact and no staples and I have no dumping syndrome and I have no malabsorption issues and I do not have to worry about my pouch stretching and re gaining my weight all I need ot do is have an adjustment and my window of opportunity of weight loss is for as long as I have my band unlike 1-2 years with bypass patients.My skin is not saggy nor do I look gaunt like many bypass patients do.. I lost 91 lbs in a year, to me that is great! I LOVE MY BAND , I know I made the right choice

He will not know exactly how tight he made you without barium or fluoro most US docs give a standard ammount when not using fluoro or barium they like to sneak up on restriction where as Mexico docs are much more agressive and they all use flouro and barium. Since you have had a fill in Mexico and used the barium you will get to see first hand the difference in how it is done. I hope this fill works for you

Today I was at work and the Inamed Lap Band commercial came on, it was the first time I had ever seen it. Robin ( coffeewench) was on it and one of Ortiz's patients, it was so great to see that the word is finally getting out. Anyone else seen it yet?

Many doctors have this policy, if they see you are eating around the band and having mental issues. Even Dr. Ortiz will not continue to give fills if he sees you are abusing the band, he wants you to work with your band, you know the old saying, just because you can doesnt mean you should. I'm sure there are many of us out there me included who can eat more then they would like to but the key here is to do some of the work ourselves and not totally rely on the band also there are certain foods the band will not restrict no matter how tight you are. When I want to eat, I always ask my self am wanting to eat because Iam truly hungry or because I think I am hungry. Distinguishing that is half the battle, also not eating until you are full but only eating until you are satisfied. None of us are goping to starve to death and all of us are so used to eating until we are stuffed, that has to change in order for the band to work as well. Lots of head issues we have to work on and old habits we have to break if we want success. There are also some rules we need to follow with our bands like no drinking with our meals and waiting a good hours afterwards to drink. Nykee This could be why you are eating so soon after a meal.The band is not a magic wand, no one said it would be easy. Again, just becuse you can, does not mean you should. God Luck Nykee