Banded14yr

Hey I need to chat now about Flouro vs. No Flouro Great idea about chat sessions and certain topics. Since I'm up at the crack of dawn, I'm not usually up very late, so I might miss the sessions, but would like to try to make it occassionally.

Here's the scoop.... I went in Friday for a fill. I had it under Flouro and everything went fine. I'm back to solid foods and I don't notice any more restriction than I had before the fill, so I contacted my doctor about it. He said that he could try and put another .2cc's in his office (at no charge) but if he can't hit the port then I would need to go over to Radiology at the hospital so that he could do the adjustment under Flouro. Now, I'm a huge proponent of using Flouro. I can't simply imagine someone "guessing" where my port is and "hoping" that they hit it. What are the chances/risks of him missing the port and hitting the tubing? I also have the Swedish band and am not real sure about the port and how different it is vs. the Inamed band. I believe it's larger, but I could be wrong. If you get your adjustments without Flouro, I would like to hear about how often they find and "hit" your port or do they have to poke you several times to find it?

Who's your doctor in Monterrey? I think there is one doctor that has his patients fly into San Antonio then has an assistant drive them to Monterrey. I flew into Monterrey from Dallas or Houston.

Wannabtiny, Congratulations on joining the community of "Bandville"! I'm glad that everything went well. Keep us posted on your progress. Maybe you'll be able to go to Dallas in May for the bash? Dr. Rod and Adriana ARE wonderful. I'm glad they helped ease your mind while in Monterrey. Tricia

Rica, If I were you I might give it another week and see if your restriction returns. I too have gone through periods where I tend to be a lot tighter than others. I plan to go to Dallas in May also, so hopefully we'll get a chance to meet at the bash My local doctor here charges $250.00 for a fill (higher for the first visit) and then I pay the hospital $150.00 for the use of xray machine/room (Flouro). So $250.00 sounds reasonable to me.

Wow... You've really been through a lot. I'm very sorry, but I'm also very hopeful that with a proper fill amount in your band that at least your weight loss will start again and maybe that will be one less thing you'll have to worry about. I know it sounds simple, but get a fill. I hope things start looking better for you soon. Hang in there, I think you're doing great with everything that has gone on in your life recently. You're not a failure, so don't even go there!

Kathy, Very well written Without sounding like I'm just repeating what others have said, I'm officially going out on the limb with Becky, Darcy and Michelle since they were part of the brave few that posted their feelings about the whole mess that has happened on this forum. I totally agree with what they have said regarding what happened on this board and am also disappointed that people had to act out against others which just created a lot of hurt that was totally uncalled for. Alex I know I will sound like a broken record, but do what you gotta do. I will respect whatever decision you make and want to also thank you for giving us all the opportunity to speak about the lapband even though a select few were determined to ruin it for everybody even if it wasn't their main intent to do so. I feel that a select "couple" of people on this board thrive for attention to the point where we all have witnessed "Temper Tantrums" and over dramatized events to try and gain that attention. Only a professional that deals with mentally unstable people can help (these) people. Good luck in your endeavors to try and keep the peace on this board. It's got to be a tough job BTW: I think general "Message Board Rules" or whatever you want to call it needs to be posted or even agreed to when registering for this board. If a user breaks the rules then they need a warning from a moderator, if they break it again, then I totally agree with banning the user. Tricia

Sandy, Would you mind giving the Doctor's name that did your fill for $150.00 in Nashville? I'm assuming that since they did it in their office they don't use flouro? Thanks! Tricia

Nikki, You might want to contact Hugh Houston here in Nashville. I talked to him yesterday morning during my fill appointment and he said that they were working on getting the Lapband surgery down to $13,000.00. I don't know if they are currently doing surgery for that price, but it might be worth a call. Dr. Houston is wonderful

Here's Dr. Rodriguez' website: TheBariatrics.Com

I'm also a Pogo maniac.... I'm with Penni, I have to admit to my addiction Although the Turbo 21 blackjack game drives me nuts, my 13 year old son has to play it for me if it's for a badge I want. I love Canasta, finally reached level 50....scary to think about how much time that took. I also finished the last level in Tri Peaks Solitare. That one took months to finish. I'm an ex website junkie. I created and maintained websites for a few professional football players. Fortunately, they have all retired now or moved on to a different team, because now I have a lot more time for things like Pogo! LOL

Vera, I don't think it's Dr. Rodriguez' clinic. He performs surgery at Santa Engracia and at the San Pedro Clinic. You're right about the marble in Monterrey, it's everywhere! It must be cheap and found in mass quantities. How 'bout that airport? Yikes, better hope the floor doesn't have a wet spot

Congratulations you two! Just remember to take it easy and try not to do too much. Welcome to the "other" side

Marie, I too want to thank you for your endless support. I think you truly care for people in general and that's a gift in my opinion. Tricia

I had my surgery at Santa Engracia. Can't give you much info about the clinic except for what it looks like on the outside. I'll be happy to tell you anything I can about Santa Engracia if you have any questions.

Great point Darcy! I hate when I have to go back and edit my post (I should know better than to post at 3:00am in the morning, I can't spell!) because I know that everyone that posted on the thread will receive another email, except hopefully the second one will contain correct spelling I use a rule of thumb at work.....If I get a little miffed at a situation and feel the need to email someone or some people, I write the email out, then I just minimize it on my desktop and go get a glass of Water, or go take a walk or find something else to do. Then I return and re-read my email and change it before it goes out. It has saved my hiney a lot of times (I'm sure) because my anger or frustration doesn't get sent out for public viewing and also created a nice "document" for my file...nada, no thank you!

Your day will be here before you know it! I remember how excited I was when I was about 2 weeks away from my surgery date, I couldn't wait. I wanted surgery yesterday! LOL.... Congratulations, you've already done so well in losing weight before your surgery.... I can't say that I was so excited that I was able to lose poundage before the big day, I was like blossom, I probably gained. Good going!! Tricia

Congratulations! Just remember to take it easy and try not to do too much right now. I'm glad to hear your surgery went well. Take care!! Tricia

Vera, Good advice. I'll remember that during my next fill. I'm also glad to hear that your band was in perfect shape. Good news for you all the way around. I'm sure you're relieved to have everything back in working order. Thanks for the updates, I know it hasn't been easy for you, but by you posting what you went through gave all of us things to look out for. In otherwords, you have probably helped a lot of us just by sharing with us what you're gone through. Thanks!!

Like most have already posted, everyone is so different when it comes to recovery from surgery. I had minimal pain but had dry heaves for a while. A quick dose of Phenergan knocked that out and I slept pretty good after that. I had surgery on a Monday and was back to work the following Monday, but could have easily gone back to work the following Wednesday instead of taking a full week off from work. I just got back from Monterrey. I went (as support) with two ladies that were getting banded. Both went through the surgery just fine, but one of them was very sick to her stomach for most of the day and night after surgery, she was very dizzy and had a hard time walking a couple of steps. The other one acted like she hadn't been through anything at all. She was getting up and walking around with her I.V. pole about 2 hours after surgery. I couldn't keep up with her! LOL If you can take a week off from work I would do it. I would rather take more time off even if I felt like I could go back to work sooner. Just my opinion. Congratulations on your upcoming surgery! Please keep us posted. Tricia

Vera, Did the kink cause the hole? I'm very happy for you that they found the problem and were able to fix it. I'm assuming that they didn't give you the option of replacing your band with the Inamed band? After what you have gone through, I had my doc in Mexico check my band and tubing under flouro to check for kinks and leaks, I think I'm becoming a bit paranoid :cool: Again, glad you're home and that everything went so well. Take it easy! Tricia

Vera, I'm so happy that everything is ok now! Wow! Sounds like you have a terrific medical staff in Monterrey. How in the world they can see something so small on an xray and then go in and repair it is amazing! Glad you're home safe and sound. Tricia

Ryan, I hate to see you go, but I totally understand. This board used to be a great source of information for me along with a great source of support. I used to moderate a message board for years. It was quite different than this, it was for a fan page for a professional football team. Needless to say, the message board would get quite heated at times and I was forced to delete posts and became "the enemy" to many. After about 6 years of being the "bad guy" I decided that I had had enough of the moderating job and handed it over to someone else. I learned a very simple yet valuable lesson while moderating, it's impossible to please everyone all the time and frustration levels seem to be elevated because points that are trying to be made in type versus in person tend to be misunderstood. In my opinion, this board has become kind of "clicky". It happens with most boards, you get a group of people that become close and seem to create an inner circle of communication and for the most part shut down the support to "outsiders" or "newbies". I don't post much anymore but I do like to come here to be with fellow bandsters and to see what they are talking about. I've always enjoyed reading your posts and will miss them in the future. We all have a common bond and objective in life. It's refreshing to be able to come to a place where most understand what you're going through and what you're feeling. I too have become sickened at the public lynching that has gone on this message board, and as a result my interest in coming here has taken a nose dive. When I read posts and feel really bad for someone or see someone else belittle someone then this board is no longer a positive support resource for me. I wish you luck in your future weight loss journey, but I know you will not need much luck. You have such a wonderful outlook on life that I know you will be successful in anything that you do. It was nice "knowing" you..... Please take care! Tricia

Good luck Vera! I'm sure that Dr. Sanchez will get the situation corrected so that you can have the benefits of a working band again. We'll be thinking of you! P.S. Just got back from Monterrey and the weather there is beautiful

YOU are NOT a failure. I'm sure that most of us have done pretty much the same thing when we were on our liquid phases. The thing that I always had to tell myself is that I could be doing harm to myself if I ate solid food before I was instructed to. It's very hard because you don't feel pain, or it doesn't hurt when you eat solid food so you think everything is ok. My doctor told me that when you eat solid food, your stomach churns and moves to try and digest it, and you don't want your stomach doing that while it's in the healing process. You'll be fine. Just try to stick to your doctor's orders and don't beat yourself up over the tiny bites that you've already had. Take it day by day, you'll soon get through it!!