DeLarla

My mouth started watering till I got to the deep-fried pickles. Someone once accidentally served our table deep-fried pickles and we all gagged (we ordered deep fried zuccini.) Bad experience, bad, bad... we thought we were eating rotten zuccini. Must be a southern thing?

Thanks, Betty, for ripping open my incision. Ouch, my side hurts.

We have 2 votes! Kylie - Sept. 2 & 3 Greg Sept. 9 & 10 Greg, Those are 4 words that don't require a response. I think anybody can answer them. "Can we do lunch?" That's one of the three main reasons for my existence, along with Breakfast and dinner. food.

Yep, I'm up to bat. I hope when the wound heals I'll be able to concentrate on giving up my nightime munchies. Kim, you are doing amazing!

Blossom, I've been being rejected my entire life, so this was no surprise! I'm acting like it's fun to reject your band, this way I won't crack up. Now, if I can only put the thing to good use while I have it, but nooooooooooo, junk food fell down the pie-hole last night in large amounts. Even PIE fell into the pie hole!

Vera, you rock! I couldn't find Excaliber rates on-line as far out as September, so I called the hotel directly. You should be able to find an 800 number on-line since I just called Local. We have a vote! Kylie - Sept. 2 & 3

I got restriction last night and nearly PB'd (really bad, actually.) Ate a hunk of chicken too fast. But then I ate junk food all night after hours. When will the madness stop?

Let's take a vote Labor Day weekend, September 2 & 3 (more expenisive) OR the following weekend, September 9 & 10 (save a few bucks) Cast your votes and we'll tally them up and set the date in stone by the end of this week.

I nearly PB'd last night. Had to stop eating dinner, but later I was able to get down a good amount of junk food. WHAT? Why the heck would I eat junk after all I've been through. I'm so tired of the power food has over me. I hate food.

Thank you Q, and thanks again to everyone. This has been a frustrating journey, but there are people getting banded every day that don't even know about this forum. Now those are the folks I feel sorry for, cuz no matter how whiney or bitchy or nasty I've been, you guys have always been there to pick me back up. Everyone deserves a pat on the back, we are all doing a great job. We are all in the same boat - anyone of us can face rejection, infection, erosion, etc., at any time. At least I have a Band today, and I choke every time I look at the scale and see 70 pounds gone. Now when will this fill kick in? I guess I'm miffed that Dr. Kuri told me he gave me 1.8 cc. But then Lopez said I only had 1 cc, so he gave me 1.7. A new mystery - do I have less now than I did before? Where is my restriction?

And here I've been trying to figure out how to get all the ticker-tockers off my screen. Is there an option so all that doesn't show on my end? Not to be rude, but they are taking up the whole screen and not leaving much room to talk about sex!

I have been avoiding this post since I've been sneaking around getting my new port. Unfortunately, I had more restriction with no port (only me, right?) So I have been using the surgery, my liquid fast and the new port as an excuse to get lazy. Time to get back in gear. I have reached the MINUS 70 pound mark. Amazing, but it's hard doing this with no restriction.

Michelle, I was playing with you, but I went back and edited what I wrote cuz I didn't want it to sound mean. You know me, I never stop kidding. I thought everyone would think Kuri was my surgeon since his name was under my signature till a couple hours ago (I changed my signature today.) Or at least Dr. Billy, since he's the guy I planned on seeing. No cats are loose anywhere. The reason I wasn't ready to discuss Lopez yet is because I wanted to find the right words to say without sounding like a hypocrite. I looked into a lot of different options and shopped around for a new band surgeon. I guess everything happens for a reason since none of my other options panned out, and at the same time Lopez called me to make amends. At this point, I can't afford to have any hard feelings. Getting banded in a different country gets tricky. Billy said yes, but then backed away. I just got back from having the stitches removed from my local butcher I mean surgeon. OUCH. This guy sure likes to hurt me, but he kept asking, "hey, am I the guy that did this to you?" Uh, no, but gimme an injection already! He didn't say much, except he did say that it was good for a bad wound to drain. I'm supposed to encourage the thing to drain till it heals. But all the stitches are out now so I should be on the road to recovery. As far as my fill, so far, no good. I felt more restriction before the fill, but I've read that it often takes awhile for a fill to kick in, so PLEASE START KICKING. I really miss the golfball in my throat. Where did it go?

Paula, you crack me up. Hubby would rather have a big Lisa than a dead Lisa as well. As far as the phone call, no, I did not personally hear it, and Nora wouldn't show me the post (gee, I wonder why.) But Lopez discussed finances with me before I ever went to Mexico. At this point, I'm letting that whole part go. I'm concentrating on getting this stuborn ass wound to heal! I think it hurts so bad cuz of all the inflammatory tissue they removed. I have an appointment today with a local surgeon to take out the last 2 stitches. I'll let you know what he says. He's the real mean one that made the gaping hole in the wound a couple weeks ago. I decided to see him once more so I can stare into his eyes and show him the useless pain he caused me. And yes, Greg, I AM looking for a 21 year old toy. Okay, kidding, but tell your son thank you for the compliment!

Inamed's literature says that "connective tissue" autoimmune diseases are a contraindication for the band. Sarcoidosis is not a connective tissue autoimmune disease. Dr. Lopez knew I had Sarcoidosis before placing the band, but it's not supposed to be one of the problem auto immune diseases for the band.

Oh, I forgot to high-5 Megan & Molynn, cuz YES, I finally have ANSWERS. Can you guys believe it, I finally have answers! Thanks to all you for keeping me sane (well, pretending to be sane.) I would have cracked up and told an ER doc to rip the band out a long time ago if I couldn't come here to freak out. Thanks you guys, all of you.

And YES, I have been shot by a gun! Okay, so it was only a BB gun, but whooosh, that hurt like hell!!! A bad-ass neighbor missed my head by a few inches when I was a kid, and the BB skimmed across the top of my shoulder. To top it off, the skin closed over some metal, and I grew a cyst that had to be surgically removed, causing a kiloid that had to be injected with 9 needles. Eeesh, ain't anything easy? If a little BB caused that much pain, I can't imagine a real bullet wound, but I'm thinking this boo-boo on my belly is pretty close! It's been almost 2 weeks and still has me bent over.

Honestly, I don't think Lopez had anything to do with the drama. My best guess is Nora may have concocted the story to get even with me (sounds like something a catty woman would do, not a busy doctor.) Lopez doesn't have time to read the boards, he's extremely busy. I know it wasn't Lopez cuz we discussed how I'd respond once I saw the post, so Lopez himself believed there was a post for me to respond to. But Penni and I scoured all the boards, and no such post can be found. Water under the bridge. Now that you all know Lopez is still my surgeon I'll fill you in on my experience. No, Michelle, I'm not mad. Nothing's really a secret around here anyway... I'm just trying to prevent any more rumors, so I'm keeping certain things quiet. Don't get me wrong, I'm not defending him, but Dr. Lopez changed his staff and took responsiblity for me. I can't speak for anyone else's care. My plans were to go to Dr. Billy (Penni's doc in Ventura, California.) Billy's staff made my endoscopy appointment and said Billy would call me to discuss the details and my options, but after 2 e-mails and 5 phone messages, the man never called me back. So Penni called Billy on my behalf, but he ignored her messages about me, too. My appointment came and went (I didn't go since nobody ever called me to confirm) and he still hasn't contacted me. He topped off my hell like the world's biggest rotten cherry. And that's when Lopez called me. Lopez told me on the phone that it sounded like rejection, but he wouldn't be certain till he saw the wound. This time my husband insisted on coming along. Lopez stood in front of us and humbly apologized for the past. After all the "Lopez bashing" I've been involved in, he seemed sincere and very concerned for my band (and many other bands that we discussed.) He took as much time as we needed and answered a page of questions. I even questioned all his current erosions, but that will have to be another whole post. He didn't make excuses or lie to cover his tracks whatsoever. I must admit, I'm very pleased with his new staff. Everything is so much more professional now. Nora has already been replaced by Marcelo (impressive guy.) She was there, but only temporarily during the transition. What a shame that Dr. Barba isn't a permanent fixture (he's also moving on with his internship.) Dr. Jaramillo was also excellent. And Diane Beck, the new patient coordinator, took care of everything. She picked us up at the airport and made sure we were safe; she stayed with me the entire time and was in my room when I woke up from recovery. She even kept an eye out for Chris and had lunch with him. Nice touch. After Dr. Lopez and Dr. Barba spent an hour answering my questions, Lopez reviewed my Upper GI results (I brought them with me.) He looked at my wound and said "this is not infection, this is rejection." At least all the other doctors that saw the wound agreed it wasn't infected. Could you imagine how many antibiotics they could have wrongly prescribed? Yikes. At that point he explained that I'm rejecting the tube. And the tube is made out of the same material as the band, which means my body doesn't want the stuff inside me. I really wanted an endoscopy to check the band, but he said it's not necessary based on the excellent Upper GI results, plus he planned to check the band during surgery. He could have removed the band that day, but he told my husband that my weight loss proved that I was trying to follow Band Rules (he talked a LOT about BAND RULES.) He probably wouldn't have given me a new port if I hadn't lost the weight I lost, but he agreed to give me a new port. AND NOTHING IS FREE. I was glad he asked me to sign a waiver, because that shows he's taking responsiblity for his actions and running things the way they're run in the US. The agreement is between Lopez and myself. He didn't have to give me options. After everything I've said about him, I'm surprised he didn't yank my band out and tell me to get lost; but he gave me options instead, and he doesn't want there to be any confusion in the future. I think the waiver is more about principal and protecting his reputation at this point, but either way, I was glad to sign it. And his staff has contacted me several times since surgery to follow up. One thing I asked Lopez was, "why did you refer me to US surgeons that refused to see me." He was obviously bothered by this and actually had a valid reason. He said he proctored the Vegas doctors, and during that time, they promised him the world and said they would gladly take on his Mexican patients for aftercare. But now things have changed. Mexico is taking so much business away from Las Vegas, that surgeons are blaming Mexican surgeons. He didn't mention anything about problems with med-mal insurance. The surgery in Vegas is about $28,000 while I paid under $8,000 in Mexico. I also asked why he charges each patient differently, and that's when I learned that you pay based on the facility. You can go cheap like me, or spend thousands more to say at a different facility.

Nancy, to top off my dysfunctional family, I'm also Polish. When all the other families were getting in line for brains, my family was waiting in the cheese and sausage lines. My "normal" aunts are food pushers. Who can say no to a plate of steaming pirogis?

I sat alone crying and eating while another little girl sat cutting herself. I'll never understand why people have to be so lonely when there are others crying out for friendship. But there was food, inviting us in, comforting us, and stabbing us in the back at the same time.

I didn't get my suckers yet, Penni... but did you get your box? It should have arrived Saturday.

Is it selfish to think that "I'm glad I'm not alone?" Sneaking around shoving Ho Hos down your throat sounds like perfectly normal activity to me.

Have you guys decided Labor Day, or do you wanna save a few bucks and do it the following weekend? I'm going to tell the Vegas Bandsters (there are just a few.) Should we wait till next week to set the date in stone (to give more people a chance to vote?) I'll probably take that whole week off, since last year there was too much going on in my life, so I was a stress-mess at the bash.

Holy moly, that's one smart scale. Thanks for the info. I hope to get back to the gym soon. I actually miss it.

Carol, those lower cupboard doors in my kitchen are still sticking together, but hell yeah, we need more Margies! Ain't nothin' like them. And, was I supposed to ask hubby if he minds another bash? Like he had a problem with a houseful of woman last time? All them women smoking cigs in the garage with him... no problem!