NoWorry

Was that Dr. Ricciardi? According to FillCenters, he has been open for 3 months and has seen 8 LB patients so far (I'm going to be #9). Did he get your port on the first try? How did he know how to get the right fill amount without fluoro? Any tips to maximize my visit with him?

Anyone know of a fill doctor (preferably with fluro) in Las Vegas?

I'm glad I found you guys and read your experiences. I did pretty well during the 3 week post-op (mostly liquids) healing period, thanks to the fear of slippage. But since then it's been tough pretty much from the moment I got the green light for solid foods last week. First, I obviously had to test the level of restriction that the empty band was contributing. Purely scientific research, of course, not greed at all. And it didn't take long to figure out that the band was contributing zero restriction. Everything slid down exactly the same as before the surgery. Burgers, fries, pizza... no problem. And now it feels like I'm back exactly where I was before my pre-op diet. No restriction, and yet one more 'last chance' to eat and drink all the stuff that I won't be able to have after my first adjustment. So the struggle is actually worse than before the decision to have the surgery, because I didn't have the 'last chance' factor back then. Add in the occasional depressing thought of being a loser for having had to resort to surgery, plus the regret for having got fat in the first place, plus the confusing inability at times to see the benefit of the surgery and 'hell' is definitely an excellent word for this state. I don't even have the courage to get on the scale to see the impact this is having on my weight. I'll just eat really 'well' today and weigh myself tomorrow. Oops, too late for that. OK, I'll eat really 'well' tomorrow and weigh myself the day after. I try and explain the struggle to friends, but they just don't get it. Just be tough. Think positive thoughts. Think about how you'll look and feel once you've lost the weight. Try not to think about food. How do I explain that a part of mind is doing nothing but taking a constant, repetitive inventory of every edible item in the fridge and the pantry. And another part of my mind is listing every single one of all the treats I won't be able to have after the adjustment. While yet another part knows exactly how many hours and minutes I have left to get to the store, and to each fast food drive thru in a 5 mile radius. Just 10 days to go until the adjustment, but each day is turning out to be an incredible challenge. It's reassuring, though, to know that I'm not alone.

I wonder if this information is already available through INAMED?

My nutritionist recommended frozen dinners like Healthy Choice for the pre-op diet. I'm thinking they might also be a good choice for post-op meals. They usually have an entree, a vegetable dish and a dessert. Next time I'm in the supermarket, I'm going to check the nutrition chart on one of them.

For those of you who are allowed yogurt, my nutritionist recommends it very strongly for restoring regularity. Yogurt replaces the healthy bacteria that was eliminated from our systems because of the surgery which is one of the main factors leading to diarrhea. Activia is the brand of yogurt she recommends most strongly.

Thanks for the info. Sounds like they are worth a try.

I was banded 10 days ago. Immediately following surgery, my port incision was a little puckered. Now it is actually bulging out and I can feel the port quite clearly under the skin. Has anyone else experienced this? Just want to get some more information before I call my doctor.

The reason I was inquiriing was not because I wanted to eat larger quantities. It was, rather, for the convenience of preparation. I also wanted to know if the meals were generally well balanced between Protein, carbs and fat.

Hi Sandy, Thanks so much for clearing this up. I had a sense that all was not right with JoAnne and BeLiteWeight. Although she was one of the my final contenders for the surgery, it was based largely on Dr. Valencia's credentials. I now feel even more validated that I chose not to go forward with her. Sanjay

My .02 - there's no such thing as crazy. Only strategies that are empowering and those that are dis-empowering. I am sometimes reluctant to weigh myself for exactly the same reason, but then I remind myself that by knowing the truth, I empower myself to take the appropriate action. And if it turns out that I have gained weight, then all I need is to take the necessary steps to fix the problem. The analogy I use is that I am driving from point A to point B. I think I might have taken a wrong turn somewhere. Now I can keep driving blindly and most likely get even more lost. Or I can stop and check my map, and if I have gone off course, all I need to do is change my course to get back on track towards point B. I think the secret is to learn to be kind to yourself.

One of the reasons why I chose Ortiz over Valencia, was that JoAnne was fairly sloppy about communication. When she was 'on', she overwhelmed me with emails, calls and data. When she was 'off', I heard nothing back at all. That behavior made me insecure and I started leaning the other way. Who knows? Perhaps Kuri became about this and decided it didn't serve his organization. I'm just totally guessing here, though.

BeLiteWeight is now affiliated with Dr. Valencia in TJ. It could be as simple as a higher commission, or it could suggest a problem with Dr. Kuri. I found JoAnn Narayan to be extremely direct and forthcoming when I spoke with her. I would suggest just calling her and asking. I was debating between Valencia and Ortiz when I spoke with her, and although she did recommend Valencia (her client), she was very proper about not bad-mouthing Ortiz.

SlimFast shakes are very high in sugar. They do make a low-carb version of their shakes, but these are harder to find. Boost also makes a low-carb version, but they are also hard to find. The Glucerna brand has low sugar, since these are aimed at diabetics, but they are still higher than Atkins. Another alternative is to get protein powder and make your own shakes. If you have a GNC store near you, they have many choices thaht are sweetened with sugar substitutes.

Just visualize 13 cm (the length of the VG band) forming a ring and see how large a ring this forms. Now within this ring is also the circumference of the stomach wall plus the fat that is adhered to the wall of the stomach. The amount of fat adhering to the stomach wall varies from patient to patient. The more fat adhered to the wall, the smaller the stoma in the center of this ring. Keep in mind that our surgeons both elected to use the VG band instead of the regular band in each of our cases. If the stomach wall thickness is roughly the same (as it is in most people) the only variable factor is the amount of fat adhered to the exterior of the wall. And this varies substantially from one individual to another depending not only on the degree of obesity, but also each individual body's pattern of fat storage. So, if fat storage around the stomach wall is excessive, the VG band is used. (Before the VG band became available last year, surgeons used to have to scrape this fat away to fit the 10 cm band, which lengthened surgery time and increased recovery time.) And then, the amount of fat trapped within the ring of the band restricts the size of the stoma - which is what determines the size of each individual stoma. The more fat trapped within the ring, the smaller the stoma. However, Ortiz says that if the amount of adhered fat is so extensive that it will create too small a stoma (and the size of a half dollar is WAY too small for this stage of the process) he would scrape away some of the fat on the stomach wall to ensure a larger stoma. I believe that that has to be a typo and should be 6 weeks, not 6 months. This fact is repeated several times in Ortiz's book.