Penni60

WHOO HOO!!! :banana :banana :banana :banana :banana :banana :banana :banana :banana :banana :banana :Bunny :Bunny :Bunny :Bunny :Bunny :banana :banana :banana :banana :D :D :D THAT IS WAY COOL!!! CONGRATS Teresa

Soula: We are having a meeting at my house on July 25th. That is a Sunday. Email me and I will send you the directions. Penni60@aol.com Michelle: would love to have you attend as well. E me and directions will follow.

Hey guys, was waiting to get a head count of who wanted or thought they might be able to go to Vegas. Once I get a number then I can call and see about room deals. I live in Los Angeles area and I am thinking about flying myself. IT is a long and boring ride for sure. Southwest has great deals if you get them early. I just checked from Los Angeles / Burbank and it is $92 one way so that would be about $200 roundtrip. American Airlines: from LAX is $165 roundtrip (nonstop) from San Diego is $399 (no nonstops) I will look at hotels and see what I come up with for prices. What is the range of prices you guys are willing to pay? How many of you are going?

I did nothing pre op. Post op about a month out I did walking. I now do 45 min to 60 min of Power walking and I am 3 months post op. Do it gradually post op. Take time to heal. Don't overdo it after surgery.

marie: I too had a jerk for not only a bf but later he became my husband and now my ex. SO thank you lucky stars that you did not get married. You found out now what type of person he was or is. As to online dating? I placed an ad online through AOL. I received lots of jerk responses. Then I forgot about the ad for about a month. I received this email from someone and I thought he sounded interesting. Well long story short we celebrate out 6th anniversary of living together this November. It can happen. Keep your chin up. Give yourself time to heal. Give yourself time to grieve as well. You are a strong woman and can handle what life throws at you with grace.

Darcy: I too had the emotional aspect of the post op phase. IT does get better. Just wait till you get to exercising and release all those natural endorphins and then go see those crappy, rude, obnoxious, mean, crude, stuck up, no personality, people in his office. LOL!! I know I went out to eat sushi one night after doing an exceptionally long workout that morning and I guess the endorphins finally kicked in. The waitress was taking her sweet time in getting out drink order. I waved my hand in the air and said really LOUD, "EXCUSE ME, YEAH WE ARE THIRST AND HUNGRY OVER HERE." My bf was shocked. I must admit I was too. But MAN did it feel good. Don't take that crap off the office staff. And please don't give them anymore power over you like that. YOU did nothing wrong. Love ya

Tina: welcome and come on in and get your feet wet. You have more experience then me since I was only banded 3 months ago.

Ruthy: I am so glad that you decided to come and visit. Hope you get the answers you need. You have read my story on my website and you know how I feel about the LAP BAND. I love my little friend and it has made me not only lose weight but to be more responsible in other aspects of my life. I am being more honest with myself these days as well. So it has many benefits. Michelle: Happy Shared Anniversary!! I had forgotten that today would make it 3 months banded for me too. I have lost 40 lbs so far. Ruthy: This is the best site for support or to have your questions answered. Visit often and post often as well. Lots of nice people here.

Vera: And everyone else, I will come back and post and let you know what Dr. Billy says after my appt this Friday. It is getting more sore as the days go by.

Sunni: Thanks for all the JOurney info. Will check it out.

I have been using Fitday.com for over a week now and it is an awesome program actually. I love it. Works like a charm and keeps me honest.

Lisa: I have read your two other posts but can only offer my input as to Mexico docs and only one of those. So, I wasn't really confident in responding. I went to Sanoviv Medical Institute www.sanoviv.com in Rosarito, Mexico and was banded by Dr. Lopez. His after care in my experience leaves ALOT to be desired. I am doing my follow up care now with a surgeon in Ventura, CA which is about an hour from me. I don't know of any surgeons that offer a package deal but that doesn't mean they aren't out there. The only thing I would suggest is to get some names from banded people and call the office and see what they can do for you. Lopez' charge was $13,550 for the surgery. So far I have not been charged for an office visit of which I have had one so far. Donali might be able to shed some light on this matter more since she was banded by him longer than I have been. I do have a list of Los Angeles, CA area surgeons but since you live in New Orleans, LA that list might not be what you want. I too was self pay. I wanted to get the surgery done and not have to wait on the insurance to cover it. Hope this helps.

Donali's statement Yes you are correct in that definition. IT can also mean excess growth of tissue from an internal damage of some sort. I had endometriosis and lots of adhesions. Donali's statement If the stomach had been compromised I think the band would have had more damage to it. I also think you would have more complications than you currently do. Did Lopez say anything about having to sew up your stomach wall? If he did then your stomach was compromised and it did erode through. I would ask for your medical records be sent to you regarding this surgery in particular. At least you will know for sure what they did. You need to know this anyway in case you are in a situation where you can't talk to let someone know you had this type of surgery. As a side note, I wanted to let everyone that is banded that they should carry on them at all times a card that says they were banded and who their doctor is in case of a situation where you cannot talk and no with you thinks to tell the powers that be you have a LAP BAND. If they try to do some procedures on you without this knowledge it can put you at risk. I have one that Lopez gave to me. Glad you are recuperating well at home Donali. VIVA LAS VEGAS in October.

Donali: Remember the anesthesia can make you retain fluid. So, the excess you see now will disappear in a few days I think. Keep that positive focus and you will succeed. I have faith in you banded or not.

NANNY IS BANDED. HIP HIP HOORAY!!!!!!!!

Donali: Typically when you have any kind of surgery you are susceptible to getting adhesions. The adhesions you are describing do not necessarily mean you were rejecting the port or band. In fact I would say you did not reject it but I could be wrong. You would have had more symptoms of rejection I would think. But this is still a relatively new process in the States and if the Mexico surgeons are not reporting the problems they are having to Inamed then we will never know how common this really is. I sent Inamed an email asking them for stats on adhesions being related to band rejection. I will post any response I receive. On a side note, I am soooooooooooooo glad that you are home and on the mend. So did they do an open procedure to remove the band or was it laparoscopically again?

Darcy: It looks like the other site is bruised as well. Do you bruise easily? Did they say anything about you being anemic before surgery? THat could explain the extensive bruising.

WELCOME: Ereka and join the gang. Glad to have you here. Sounds like you are doing really well with the band. You have lost what 33 lbs. THAT is awesome. Good job!!

Youza!!!! I did not have any of that bruising at all. That looks painful. I in fact had ZERO bruising. WOW!! That is impressive.

Sunni: I love Journey as well. I just wish Steve Perry was still singing with them. How is the new singer? Does he do justice to the songs? Are they doing any new stuff? Tell tell. Congrats on the 85 lbs weight loss. That is awesome. I was banded on April 6, 2004 and have lost 40 lbs as of today. WHOO HOO!!! Partaaaa!!! I live in Van Nuys, CA (San Fernando Valley area).

Donali: It sounds like the same thing I have happen to me all the time when they poke around like that. IT also sounds like the nurse should have gotten someone else to do the sticking after she could not get it the first or even the second time. I give them two chances and if they don't get it then go find someone else. The thrashing around your friend describes sounds like you had a vagus nerve reaction and it was actually a seizure. I have had that happen to me as well. It does not mean you have epilepsy or any other disorder like that it just means the vagus nerve was irritated and when you were coming out of it the nerve was overly agitated. Nothing to get concerned over. It is scary for the person watching it though. I scared the beejezes out of my daughter one time doing that. LOL!!! Anyway, I am sooooooooooooooooooooo glad that you are on the mend. Did the doc say why there was bacteria in the stomach? There shouldn't be is what I am getting at. Unless it was from the rejection of the band. Hmmm!!! Are they sending you home on some antibiotics? Keep you in my prayers.

Nanny: GOOD LUCK and best wishes. Keep us posted when you are able to come back to us. We will miss you while you are gone. I will keep you in my prayers. We'll keep the light on for you.

Yana: It sounds like you live in a very diverse city. That is awesome. I was looking at the site you sent and it looks like a great place to visit actually. Might have to keep it in my travel plans sometime.

Carolyn: I have the same fears about getting a fill. I vasilate between getting one and not getting one. I get hungry between meals, I still feel restriction but not consistently, and I am losing weight but maybe a .5 lb a week. Slow loss. I go see my follow up doc this friday so I guess I will discuss all this with him then. I would like to know from others what their criteria was for getting a fill the first time. So spill the Beans so to speak.

GREAT SUGGESTION and I am guilty of letting the thread drift or of drifting it. LOL!! Will be more diligent on this matter.