blossom

Great news!!!! Welcome to bandland, Petunia! Walk and sip, walk and sip....

Sure sounds like restriction to me!

LOL, Paula!!! My port is just to the left of my bellybutton. I'm pretty sure it's not my sternum I'm feeling, LOL! The weird thing is that I can feel my band when I stand up, but not when I lay down. I used to worry that it had popped open somehow, but I have seen it on flouro 3 times now and it looks just like it's supposed to. Hmmm...

I am having a difficult time eating hard proteins like chicken and some other dry meats. They keep getting stuck! :sick I chew, chew, chew, take small bites, and have tried dipping in sauce, but they still get stuck. What else can I do???

I mean that while standing up, I can put my hand on my stomach and feel something big. I think it's my band. I know its not my port, because it's way higher up from where they stick me for a fill. Anyway, I have noticed this ever since my swelling went away and wondered if anyone else can feel theirs?

You were Banded on 11/30/04 and have lost 55 pounds and feel discouraged?!?!?!? I guess I just need to go shoot myself, LOL!!!

Yeah, Leatha, how did that work out??? Pat, I just now saw your question. The answer is I found out I do not have a 10cc band, but I do have the 10cm which is still larger than the most commonly used 9.75cm. Make sense??

Good goin', Bobby!!!

Trish, I have been banded and I still feel just like you do about seeing all those numbers going down. I was banded November 5 and I have only lost 6 pounds. How's that for failure? I cry all the time, too, but it sure hasn't helped. I think that you will do wonderfully when you get your band. Because of your larger size you will see those pounds start melting away at a breakneck speed. That will be some powerful motivation!!! Your going to do just fine. When do you get your band anyway?

My dh saw Charo at the airport this week. He said she's still one hot granny and was disappointed she didn't "Kuchi Kuchi" for him, LOL!!!

So sorry to hear about your cousin. Your doing great on the weightloss, though!

It sure couldn't hurt to call your dr. He may call in a prescription for you.

Congratulations and welcome to Bandland!!!

It's funny that ya'll have such trouble with eggs. I start most mornings out with a cheese omlet and never have had a problem with it. Of course, its smothered in salsa so maybe that's what makes it go down so easy. My problems are dry meats & breads. But then, I can eat sweet breads like cake or cookies or cinnamon rolls just fine. Go figure...

OK, there is a 10 centimeter band, and a 9.75 centimeter band and they both hold 4cc's of saline. Then there is the VG (I think it is 11 centimeters) which does hold 10cc's of saline. Yes, these are all Inamed bands. It's easy to get the 10cm confused with the 10cc (I did it!), so it is very important that you clearly understand which one you have. Otherwise, you will just be confused everytime you try to talk to your dr. Having said all of that, I have the 10 centimeter band and my first fill was 1cc which did absolutely nothing for me. My second fill was 1cc which also did nothing for me. My third fill was 1cc and I finally got some restriction. It's different for everyone. Some people can get tiny fills and have restriction for months and some have a very hard time getting restriction at all!

Brenda, you look beautiful! You should be very proud!

Wow!!! You both look great. Congratulations!!!

I got this off a building forum that I frequent, but I thought it was funny and would apply to most any forum.... How many forum members does it take to change a light bulb? 1 to change the light bulb. 1 to post that the light bulb has been changed. 14 to share similar experiences of changing light bulbs and how the light bulb could have been changed differently. 7 to caution about the dangers of changing light bulbs. 27 to point out spelling/grammar errors in posts about changing light bulbs. 53 to flame the spell checkers. 6 to argue over whether it's "lightbulb" or "light bulb" ... another 6 to condemn those 6 as anal-retentive. 2 industry professionals to inform the group that the proper term is "lamp". 15 know-it-alls who claim they were in the industry, and that "light bulb" is perfectly correct. 156 to email the participant's ISPs complaining that they are in violation of their "acceptable use policy". 109 to post that this forum is not about light bulbs and to please take this discussion to a lightbulb forum. 203 to demand that cross posting to hardware forum, off-topic forum, and lightbulb forum about changing light bulbs be stopped. 111 to defend the posting to this forum saying that we all use light bulbs and therefore the posts are relevant to this forum. 306 to debate which method of changing light bulbs is superior, where to buy the best light bulbs, what brand of light bulbs work best for this technique and what brands are faulty. 27 to post URLs where one can see examples of different light bulbs. 14 to post that the URLs were posted incorrectly and then post the corrected URLs. 27 to post about links they found from the URLs that are relevant to this group which makes light bulbs relevant to this group. 33 to link all posts to date, quote them in their entirety including all headers and signatures, and add "Me too". 12 to post to the group that they will no longer post because they cannot handle the light bulb controversy. 19 to quote the "Me too's" to say "Me three". 4 to suggest that posters request the light bulb FAQ 44 to ask what is a "FAQ"? 4 to say "didn't we go through this already a short time ago?" 143 to say "do a search on 'light bulbs' before posting questions about light bulbs". 1 new forum member to respond to the original post 6 months from now and to start it all over again. :cool:

Sept. 2 & 3 Kylie Penni Sept. 9 & 10 Greg Neicy Blossom

Yep, diarrhea is normal. I have to look past my top belly to see my bottom belly, too!!!

Kathy, By aftercare, I mean fills, followups, any issue or emergency that may arise, or even a good understanding of what the patient is actually going through.... My main gripe is regarding fills, my dr and his partner claim that Inamed really dropped the ball on the training in that area and they have been taken by surprise at how difficult a fill is to do for someone will so little training (the original plan was to do free fill in the office). So, as a result, all of the lapband patients must go to the radiology dept. at the hosp and let some radiologist do the fill (whoever happens to be on duty) which is an extreme hassle. I have already had to pay a few hundred extra $$ because of this and my insurance pays 90%! The drs claim to be working hard to find a better way to get this done, but meanwhile they are putting their paitients through hell. Don't go with a new dr!!!

WTG, Becki!!!! You're doing awesome!!!

Mom, its all a learning curve! Sounds like your band is telling you not to eat scrambled eggs. I get that pain too. Sometimes I will be able to eat something just fine and the next time I try it I get the pain. Just depends on how my fickle band is feeling at any given time, LOL!!

Brenda, so sorry to hear about your slippage. I'll keep you in my prayers for insurance coverage and a speedy surgery date.

Tony, don't make the same mistake I did! I went with a dr new to lapband (although he was a laproscopic specialist) and now I am dealing with much frustration of feeling like a lab rat while he gets the aftercare stuff right, not to mention extra expense. I have to say, though, that he did the surgery beautifully. Try looking for a very experience dr. for both your surgery and your aftercare.