DeLarla

Hi Gloria, so nice to see you glowing. Peace.

Salt-Shaker-in-Tomato-Garden is one of my favorite things in the world. Reminds me of Gramma.

My friend, who just had her band removed due to erosion, said she was throwing up and PB-ing a lot but had no other symptoms. She didn't even know she had erosion. She went for a normal fill, and her doc saw that the barium wasn't flowing correcty. They can often see early signs of erosion during the flouroscopy, which is something you won't see while getting a "blind" fill. Other implants can erode as well. I know someone who had surgical screws in her ankle that eroded. Kind of like leaving a knife in the sink too long, where the rust starts to erode and ruins the sink. That's the way I kinda see it.

Reminds me of a cure for crabs. Shave half the area where the crabs are present. The crabs will jump to the newly shaved area. Stab them.

From now on when people post, "What should I bring to Surgery," we have to remind them to ask for the serial number. I didn't get the box, but my surgeon gave me an Inamed card that shows the size of my Band. When my port went sour, Inamed called my surgeon, but they were not sucessful in obtaining my serial number from his office. Just the fact that they wanted the serial number probably says they'd go back and check the lot/batch. Many gold stars to you, Leatha - great reply.

Hey, cut the sarcasm, I'm already getting beat up in another thread.

Your doctor will tell you what Band you have. I could be wrong, but I think any band doctor can tell under x-ray... anybody know the answer? Is there a serial number on the Band or something?

So far none of this sounds good at all... but tell me what Frito Pie is and I might change my mind.

Penni, cut and paste... keep the ball rolling. September 2 & 3 Kylie Penni September 9 & 10 Greg

I know that Dr. Lopez uses Inamed bands, but I have heard rumors that certain doctors use different bands and claim they are Inamed. But how can we be sure that all Inamed bands are fault-free? Is it possible that Inamed could have made a bad batch?

I craved asparagus and brussell sprouts, so there's more proof I belong on another planet. When is the next space ship out of here?

I met with Dr. Lopez this month and asked him why he has so many recent erosions. He didn't lie or dance around the issue, he was honest and simply doesn't know the answer. I'm under the impression that Inamed was on his tail about all his erosions because they questioned his technique. He explained to Inamed that his technique hasn't changed. Lopez asked Inamed how many erosions he had the previous year - they said, "zero." I asked Lopez if perhaps there was a bad batch of bands. His eyebrows raised and his shoulders lifted as if he wanted to say it was a possiblity, but all he could say was he doesn't know. I read his body movement and facial expressions as we talked, and he seems genuinely concerned and perplexed. He didn't take the erosions lightly. I also learned that Dr. Fisher (here in Vegas) just had his first erosion (he's a relatively new band surgeon.) I don't know if the time period matches with any of Lopez's erosions though. Meanwhile, I also asked Inamed about Lopez's erosions. They told me that Lopez does more surgeries than all the other doctors, so he will naturally have more erosions, but at the same time, not everybody is reporting erosions. They also told me that while Lopez is in the "hot seat" right now, that not long ago, another very popular Mexican surgeon was in the hot seat while Lopez was glowing. They said doctors go through phases where everyone seems to be complaining. I'm not defending Inamed or Lopez, I'm just passing along info cause I found it interesting that Lopez didn't have one single erosion last year. Just makes me wonder if a bad batch is possible and how many people might have erosion that don't know it yet.

I eat the stuff often with no problem.

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.