PamRN

How exciting! Best of luck to you Andrea! I wish you good blessings and a great outcome.

avoid all salt, it makes you retain water, drink more water, it helps your kidney's function more efficiently, then they will draw additional fluids out. There are some otc pms meds that take care of bloat, but I'm not sure it's something you can take once banded, better ask a doc about that one. I wouldn't want you to go from bloated to dehydrated.

I don't know about the rest of you, but tylenol never helps a headache for me, though it is pretty good for fever or muscle pain. Excedrin is my drug of choice for HA. I'm happy to see that the quick tabs are ok, I'll gladly deal with an after taste in exchange for some of the headaches I get.

<--- amazed yet again, at the invaluable education you all provide, and adding symptoms of protein/fat deficiency to my list...

Congratulations Kimber You're an official Bandster! :bandit

Well good luck to you, and best wishes for an easy surgery, and quick recovery. Do keep us posted with your progress! I suddenly realized today that I've less than 3 weeks til my own date, I kind of shocked me with that thought. it's the weirdest mix of pure terror, and absolute excitement...

Thanks girls, you're all a godsend. I've tried that chewing thing, it's something I'm going to have to consciously pay attention to for a while, and I do drink pretty well, though I need to increase my Water. I've been trying harder to get more water into all of us for a while now, but there are days when it's not nearly enough. It's now the only drink I allow with dinner, as it was one time I could get it in my kids. Dr Ponce de leon is in Tijuana, He's with obesity goodbye, and I see that he's also with Bajanor group. Both are similar in price. Thanks Bobby for the vote of confidence!

Ohhh I've seen the pics... some are quite lovely thanks lol I'm particularly fond of the red stripper gloves highlighting the cute little port poking out. As sad as that was, it truely cracked me up & I gotta say Donali's hot bra and jeans pics made me giggle too... she's a braaave woman, but then again if I looked as good as she does in some jeans like that I might be equally so. Thanks for the input on the soreness thing girls, I'm glad to know that at least I'll be able to put underwear on in time for work lol! My scrubs are pretty comfy, though they do have an elastic waist. I guess if the lifting is bothersome, I'll just have to ask for some extra help. I can't voice enough appreciation for all that this site has helped me with. Even this morning, I was pondering whether this is something I really should do right now, what with the cost, the potential problems, the pain, and just everything under the sun that I could worry myself about... Then I logged on here... You all are truely great inspiration and I thank you from the bottom of my heart. I'm going to Tijuana!

What a great new beginning at what promises to be a great new life. You bring tears to my eyes with the mental picture of your family on the picturesque ride. They surely must be soooo proud of you. Congratulations, you give me hope, and surely many others as well.

Hi Zoe, I'm glad all went well for you. I'm going down in 3 weeks for my band, and I'm worried about that soreness thing. I'm only taking 2 weeks off work, as a busy charge nurse in a hospital, where I do lots of heavy lifting. If you don't mind my asking, did the doc glue your incisions? I believe the other two incisions you can't remember are for a light and scope so dr can see what he's doing on a screen. Keep us posted on your recovery, I hope it continues to improve. Pam

Sue3 I just want to extend my sincere apologies if my response made you feel unwelcome or attacked. It was my total intention to help you understand the seriousness of the procedure, & guide you to make an informed decision. I made an uninformed reply, based on the information given, which really wasn't enough for me to understand what you needed. Seeing the whole picture of what you're going through changes everything, and I hope you continue to feel welcome and supported. This forum has totally guided me and informed me like nowhere else I've looked. I hope it does the same for you. Good Luck! Pam

Hi Zoe, I'm glad all went well for you. I'm going down in 3 weeks for my band, and I'm worried about that soreness thing. I'm only taking 2 weeks off work, as a busy charge nurse in a hospital, where I do lots of heavy lifting. If you don't mind my asking, did the doc glue your incisions? I believe the other two incisions you can't remember are for a light and scope so dr can see what he's doing on a screen. Keep us posted on your recovery, I hope it continues to improve. Pam

Saw the pic of whipple daddy... want to see a pic of his pink tutu and ringlets! Best Wishes and happy healing Kimber! I'll be thinking about you tomorrow :Bunny :Bunny :Bunny :Bunny

Hi all, Guess I'm changing Doctors... once I decided on Mexico, I researched and decided on verboonen, patient experiences and price were number one and two in priority for the decision. BUT... I found out today Verboonen is out of service until late in Sept. I've been scheduled with dr. Ponce de leon for Sept 21st. I don't know much of him, and haven't researched him yet. I'm getting to it though. I'm not sure how I feel about not being told immediately about Verboonen's absence and Ponce filling in either... especially since I have already started paperwork with their office for time off, and financing arrangements. I guess I'll have to decide after I research him. It may be fine, I might like him better, I guess we'll see... If everything happens for a reason, maybe this is a good thing?

Anyone know much of Dr. Ponce de Leon's reputation? I've been working with dr. verboonen in mind, but found out today he's out of office until late September. I'm scheduled for surgery September 21, 04 with Dr ponce de leon, (YAY I HAVE A DATE! ) and haven't been able to find much about him in regards to personal posts of experiences. What little I've found so far has been positive, so that's a plus, but like all of you can probably remember being during your pre-banding countdown, I'm pretty nervous!

I think I've decided on Mexico. Dr. R is just too expensive for me as self-pay. I've called and talked to Dr. Verboonen's office in Tijuana and I'm feeling like this is the best choice for me. His packages are very reasonable, and his patient's seem happy with him. I'm looking at possibly going down on 9/21. Aftercare is a bit concerning, but not too much since I checked round trip ticket prices at cheap tickets and it's around $143 round trip, so if I need to I suppose I'll just go back down. I think it's very sad that we as such an "advanced nation" are so behind and expensive in health care that our own citizens choose services in another country.

Wow! You look beautiful, and happy. and yeah... we do know IT, I miss it and would give almost anything to get it back... IT is Priceless. (for everything else... there's mastercard)

As an RN with some health knowledge, I'm afraid I have to agree with much of what G-Sue says. I hear your distress, and I understand, I remember how distressed and crappy I felt at a BMI of 30. I knew I needed to do something, and I tried.... everything. I remember thinking if this weight gain keeps up I'm going to have to have something done...i.e. gastric bypass...it kept up... After many failed diet and exercise rollercoasters, I'm now at a nice and dangerous BMI of 43.6. After much gastric bypass research, I've decided on the lapband instead. Mostly because of the reduced risk, and ability to keep my intestines intact. Sue's right, that's a lot of money to spend, and I'm guessing you'll have a lot of trouble finding a legitimate surgeon to qualify you, and perform this, unless you have some serious co-morbidity's. Keep researching weight loss, you may find that there's something more appropriate for you than bariatric surgery. Perhaps the B.I.B? If you feel you must have bariatric surgery, and can find a doc to do it, keep reading here. The information is priceless. Good Luck, and don't lose hope.

Good luck and good speed Zoe! Can't wait to hear your story.

Best wishes Zoe! I hope all goes well, and look forward to hearing about your experiences. Have a safe trip, Pam

Good luck Zoe! How exciting! :banana I hope everything goes well for you, and you end up being a big loser! I also contacted the ILOST website today. I filled out the info and sent it through to see what they have to say. My main concern is aftercare. I'm in Central IL, and found a surgeon here who does the procedure, but I haven't checked yet to see if he'd do aftercare. His fee is $3500 more than rumbaut for the procedure which is substantial since I'm self pay. Here's hoping my ducks start falling into place soon... I can't wait to post a date of my own.

That would be awesome. I'd pick up health alliance at work again in an instant if that happened. I just don't think I'll be waiting that long. I'm ready to start getting my life back now!

Good luck and hang in there. It could be that hubby is a bit afraid that if you lose weight he'll lose you. There are risks to surgery, maybe that scares him. Maybe he just needs some reassurance that you aren't trying to lose weight so that you can find a "better" guy, instead you want it so you can be better for the guy you have. Help him understand that obesity will take you from him sooner than good health will, and hopefully he'll come around. In the mean time thank god for girlfriends!

Hi Jeff, I've been researching Dr Rohrscheib for about a week now, and I haven't found anything negative so far. I haven't actually met him myself, but his receptionist was very informative and friendly. She didn't rush me through my questions, and sent me an info packet very quickly. My husband's insurer is BC/BS of IL. and his particular plan doesn't pay for the lap-band. We just changed to bcbs a couple of months ago, prior to we had health alliance, and they didn't cover lapbands in my plan at work, or his. They can tell you over the phone if you call the 800 number on your ins card. The cpt code rohrscheibs office gave me to check for ins coverage for the lapband is 43659. Congrats on the 50# loss so far, That must feel pretty good! Good luck, and best wishes for insurance coverage

Yes, I did check Inamed, that's where I got Rohrscheib's name. His office is actually a over an hour away, but he also does some work at a clinic that's about half an hour away. He's the closest so I thought I'd check him out. If he does the procedure I'd have him do the aftercare, but I'm not sure if he would do aftercare for me if I have it done somewhere else. It's something I'll have to ask. Thanks again!