DeLarla

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?

First, let me apologize to my band buddies for not posing this sooner, but some drama (B.S. to be exact) kept me from being honest about the latest on my port situation. I told only a couple close band buddies that I had an appointment a couple weeks ago to see my band surgeon about my still-open wound (it had closed over a couple times but kept opening and draining.) While I was at my surgeon's office, he received a phone call. It was very disturbing, because the caller knew my business and asked my surgeon for a "free port since you're giving Lisa one." Till this day, I don't know who that caller was, or where they got that information. I haven't seen any posts, and the few people that knew of my appointment swore they didn't say anything, but the whole dramatic nonsense had me pretty ticked off. I've been playing "Detective" since that day. Nothing is free. And as far as a new port, when I made the appointment, I was going in with a blindfold on. I was under the impression I'd be put to sleep for an endoscopy, then I'd either wake up with a new port, or without the band depending on the endoscopy results. To top it off, I came home to find several different PMs to me from various people, all asking about my port and about my surgeon. Sure, they were probabaly coincidental, but it was too strange. So, I'm sorry that I had another surgery last week without telling you guys, but you can all probably understand why I felt better keeping quiet. On to the important stuff: Most people know my whole story, but for anyone new, I got my band on May 5, 2004 but the port became infected. On June 16, I had a second surgery to remove the infected port. But the port incision never healed, even after the port was removed. When they removed the port, they left the tube in (this is the standard procedure for an infected port - to remove the port and clamp off the tube so that the area can heal.) But my incision area never healed. It remained an open wound most of the year with a little Fluid draining every day. I saw several doctors about the open wound, and nobody was able to tell me why it wounldn't heal, although everyone agreed the area was definitely not infected. So January 6, I went to my band surgeon for an endocsopy. I gave my surgeon results from an Upper GI that I had last month. My surgeon reviewed the Upper GI and said my band looked good. But then he took one look at the incision, and he told me that I'm rejecting the tube. And that, my friends, is why the wound refused to heal - because I'm rejecting the tube. I will eventually need my entire band removed. The tube is made of the same material as the band, so I will eventually reject the band also. Based on the good Upper GI results, my good weight loss, and my desire to lose more weight, my doctor said he would try to help me lose even more before having the band removed. I had to sign a waiver stating that I had already faced one port removal and tube rejection, and that I understand a new port will also reject in a matter of time. I willingly signed the release, and then I went into surgery, where he gave me a new port. He said it could reject in one week, or one month, or one year... it could even reject today or in three years, but there's no way of knowing when it will happen. Meanwhile, he removed a lot of inflammatory tissue from the old port site, and OUCH, this was a painful one. Yahoo, it still hurts like a bullet wound. He removed the tube from the old incision and removed all that inflammed tissue, then put a new port in much lower and to the left in some clean, healthy tissue. He used the same incision but made it bigger. He didn't make any other new cuts. I came home with five stitches (about 2 inch incison) that was much more painful than any other incision, and after a week, the incision opened and drained like a faucet. So far the new port site (he put the port away from any incisions) is calm and quiet, but this incision is taking it's time healing, and is still draining. I took 3 stitches out myself, and I'm seeing my local sureon tomorrow to check the wound and hopefully take out the other two. He did not perform the endocscopy since my band looks good right now, and since we are on borrowed time. He said we will do the scope once I start having signs of port infection, and that we'll keep my band inside me as long as possible. Two hours after the surgery, I got dressed and walked to radiology, where he gave me a fill under fluoroscopy. My surgeon was very pleased with the way the entire procedure went. I was very pleased, as was my husband (who stayed with me the whole time.) I told my surgeon that my first fill was 1.8 cc, but he disagreed. He told me I only had 1cc of saline in my band, so he gave me a total of 1.7. Honestly, I can't feel the new fill because my port incision is so hard and swollen and bruised that it's all I can really focus on. This was the hardest of my 3 surgeries. I actually layed in bed for 3 days and every single night after work cuz this bugger hurts! It's been 10 days and it still feels like a bullet wound, so I hope my local surgeon says it looks good and takes the last 2 stitches out tomorrow.. crossing my fingers. Part of the reason I haven't posted is because I don't want any sympathy. This is the hand I've been dealt, so I'll deal with it accordingly. Just for today I have a band, and a port. This is my last chance to get my eating back in control, and for 2 days I haven't done so well (after a whole week of fasting I went a little junk-foodie.)

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!

Hey, that's a decent price. Thanks. But I still don't understand how it knows the difference between muscle and fat. Maybe there's a tiny man in there.

I have confidence that you bought me one, too. I just KNOW you did... you better have, anyway.

I don't know about The Avenue, Alex. I had to get a part time job there just to decide really hate the store. I've been shopping there for 15 years, and they've been carrying the exact same clothes since then. It's always the same shirts, they just add a button, or change from horizontal to vertical stripes. And I have some loose Avenue 18s and some tight Avenue 22s. The Avenue would be a great opportunity for a fasion makeover from some TV reality show. Alex, 100 pounds is a huge mark. Who cares how you got there, but you got there! I'm in the same boat, I think the last "skinny" weight I have documented is 235. If I got to 230, that would be heaven.

How does that scale know what is fat and what is muscle? Do you stand on it like a regular scale?

What's a Tanita scale, and how do you use it? I assume you would have to use that kind of scale before starting to lose though, so that you'd have current numbers to compare? I never knew there was a device that measured muscle mass vs fat. Interesting.

The only thing I don't like about Tankinis are the name. Why the hell do they call big woman suits Tanks? Wrong, wrong, wrong. Penni, how 'bout posting a pic... you don't even have to be in the suit, but lemme see it. Do they have pink ones?

Pat, where did your fill go?

This is just general information to give you a ballpark idea of rates for September. I checked The Excaliber, since that hotel historically has the lowest rates on The Strip for decent rooms. Rates are subject to change (they lock them in when you make a reservation.) These are for 2 people in a room, staying Friday night and Saturday night. September 2 & 3 (Labor Day weekend, higher rates) Friday night $139.95, Saturday night $169.95 = $309.90 for 2 nights All the remaining weekends in September are $40.00 cheaper for the weekend Friday night $129.95, Saturday night $139.95 = $269.90 for 2 nights Trish, yes, you are welcome. It's a fabulous experience for anyone interested in the band.

I'm lonely, and I need new clothes, plus it's never too early to start planning this summer's Vegas Bash/Clothing Exchange. We should do it earlier this time when the pool Water is still warm. Lots of pool fun this time! I would suggest Labor Day weekend, but I think hotel rates go up for holidays. FEEDBACK, PLEASE. Same as last year. We'll all meet for dinner at Buca di Bepo Friday night, then party at my house on Saturday. This year's theme is salad Bar Buffet, potluck poo-poo platters, and appetizers. And Carol's famous margueritas will be our yearly tradition (I hope she can come!)

Zoe, I still love your quilted jacket and the long black one! But your pants are all to big on me now, HAHA and WOOHOO to that! So you're the one buying the only 42B bra they make? Give it to me!

This post took my breathe from me. Alex, have you been holding secrets? Didn't your stats say 267? You must feel fresh and alive. Your new avatar shows it. I might have to cry now.