peaches9

Driving in T. O. is only a problem for ME as I am a whimpy driver in BIG cities... you may not be like me. Depending on where you are in the States you may feel :ocomfortable on expressways etc. Both W/Loss Lapband clinics are easy to get to and all you have to do is MAPQUEST them both for step by step directions. EASY-PEASY That being said, I would recommend TLBC and Dr. Yau's team. MOST of his staff have HAD the LapBand themselves for many years. They are great, a wee bit cheaper than SWLC in Mississauga(adjacent to Toronto). I do beleive that Dr. Colbourn from SWLC does NOT take American patients (? I don't know what the logic for that is?) but Dr. Yau does. As I met one lady who comes up from FLORIDA for her surg and fills. She flies from Miami to Buffalo NY and then rents a car and drives from Buffalo to Toronto. Good luck in whatever you decide.

Whoo-hoo! Now you are one of us. Lots of great advise and friendship here.. Post often :clap2:

Don't forget, You can CLAIM it on your INCOME TAX return as a MEDICAL Expense!!!!

Hi , I hope this dosn't sound like a totally dumb question... but why would you need a body bug when you are banded? Dosn't the BAND keep you tight enough to lose the weight?

Hi Kathy, I just emailed JILL at TBLC to see if there was something on the roster for Wed 17th, that's the only day I don't work that week. I'l email you and let you know the results

I didn't realize where I got my Pak=rat mentality until I cleaned out my aging Mothers house when we moved her to a nursing home. My Mom had lived there 45 yrs and NEVER thrown out an envelop that a bill came in... it made me nuts.!!! and Every closet in this 3 story house was taken up with her wardrobe!!! and SHOES!!! and purses!!! I vowed then and there that I was going to de-clutter MY home for once and 4 all. Usually it happened whenever my DH got posted (military) it was a forced evacuation of JUNK every 3 - 4 years... I love the suggestion, you buy a new dress, you throw out an old one... etc. THIS STRATEGY WORKS!!! throw out, if you havn't used it, ate it, worn it, read it in 6 months or more???? YOU DON't NEED IT chuck!

Dear Angela; I know that price diff. is huge between Cda and Mexico surgeries. BUT if this was Gastric Bypass you were considering then I'd say no problem... BUT with Lapband the aftercare, appts for fills, seminars for nutrician etc.... there is actually MORE done for you after your surgery than just that one "operation day". I can't tell you how many phone calls I've made to the various members of the team at TBLC.. questions re eating, things stuck, PB's, burping.... tightness... Several fill appts. etc... this is a longterm life changing surgery, Mexico is a long ways away... if you lived in the states and it was just a mater of a 3 hour drive back there I'd say go for it... But in the long run, flipped ports, broken/leaky ports, eroded bands...etc. all these extra proceedures would need to be handled by the clinic you choose. I know these complications are NOT common but you still have to think ahead and plan for the eventuality. Perhaps that is one way they can offer things so much cheaper in Mex.... after care will be done in US or Canada in ER's or whatever... You said that you were in the lower mainland of BC, is there any clinics on the northern US border???

Kathy, I had an idea! If you get your FILL scheduled the same day as one of the Nutritional Seminars I am planning on going to those... we could meet up again.., what are your thoughts?

Patricia; Good luck with your FILL today, let us know how it goes... now you are getting to the exciting part..... I love getting on the scales now and seeing it always going down... even if it's a 10th of a pound its still encouraging to me. DonnaD: I don't think I can made the oct lunch either, we're planning a trip to Cuba leaving that weekend :-( LisainTO: I enjoyed meeting yu too! I will look forward to November's lunch for sure (if the weather cooperates!)

Just curious, where is this Dr. located did you have Medical Insurance to cover your LB or did you self pay and if so... how much?

Go to the CANADIAN BANDSTER thread here on Lapbandtalk... its usually a thread by Donna D or LoriLY.... also DODDIE63 hangs out there... all very nice ladies.

go to WWW.SparkPeople.com it is a FREE service... you can track your calories by clicking on ADD food it has Tim Horton's foods in there preprogrammed Wendy's.... McDonalds..... as there are many Healthly choices, sometime you still need to pop into a fast food joint...they are all listed Then the cal, Protein values, Fibre value, Calcium can all be tracked FOR YOU! Then it goes on to provide an Excersise Program, where it will calc. how many cal. you've burned... (I love this part) Recipes: the best part I feel... you can search for 1000's recipes of theirs complete with all the nutritional info. OR you can type in your OWN family favourites and see how many cal. per serv. they are.. you can tweek old fav. by substituting SPLENDA, low fat Margerine, use APPLESAUCE instead of OIL in a baking recipe...etc.. add GROUND FLAX MEAL to add nutrition and fibre.. I don't know about you but with smaller B.M.'s I REALLY need to up my FIBRE just so that I can "Go".... Have fun its a great resource, and to think I used to PAY weight watchers $25 per month for the same thing minus the excersise plan. :faint:

YIkes; When I browsed the Dr. Tin's site and read thearticles there regarding Band surgery... it quoted " Dr. Tin does 3 -4 LB per month in his surgical practice." WHAT??? I think I want my surgeon to have 1000's under his belt WITH some good stats to back him up... From what I've read here and on other boards there are only TWO places to consider for lap band surg in Toronto... Now in Michigan, I would whole-heartedly recommend BARIX Weight Loss CLINICs... my best friend had her W/L surg. there (OHIP paid) and they were fabulous! Excellent after care and follow up... Her Surgeon even calls her personally every couple months. (she had her surg. in Feb07)... just my 2 cents

ANy bandsters out there from NORTH of Toronto? I'd love to plan a get-to-gether for some of us more Central/Northern Ontarians. Come back to me babes & dudes!!! :help:

KathyBad; When is your next fill scheduled? Are you going back to TBLC for it or your own family doc??? Are you going to try and come to the next Bandster Luncheon in October???

Awh, I know it is a stressful time... Unlike the OP above I didn't start having any 2nd thoughts(regrets) until this past week after my 2nd fill... I am REALLY getting restriction now (what I wanted right?) but I am finding it a challenge to drink all the Water I am supposed to PLUS I have a lot of pills to swallow through out the day and having to stop drinking during/after a meal is a drag.... I was just feeling SORRY for myself and being totally honest here.... I was MISSING PIGGING OUT!!!! Well, I am down 20 lbs since surge. and 2 fills, and down 60+ overall since I started this "new improved" me lifestyle... My pity party did not last long and I am again down weight this a.m.... So as of today, this minute... I have NO regrets... and its not that hard.. we just need to re-learn loading forks, eating off smaller plates, chewwing more.. stopping sooner*(that's the EASY PART now) There is a learning curve, just like in a new job... I learn a bit more about life with the band everyday. My hubby is so happy with the slimmer me, he says "OH I can get both my arms around you and hug you tighter"... that meant everything to me. He is such a dear. We had some great friends come for dinner last night, they hadn't seen me in quite a while... the husband couldn't stop complementing me on how good I looked!!! Now he didn't reference my weight, just kept gazing at me ... wow, I love your hair etc. etc... but I know what it was.. My blood pressures have gone from 140/90 (Dr. was wanting to Rx more pills!) down to 127/74 I am excersising at the gym without 'dying' each time... Many blessings indeed

Awh, I know it is a stressful time... Unlike the OP above I didn't start having any 2nd thoughts(regrets) until this past week after my 2nd fill... I am REALLY getting restriction now (what I wanted right?) but I am finding it a challenge to drink all the Water I am supposed to PLUS I have a lot of pills to swallow through out the day and having to stop drinking during/after a meal is a drag.... I was just feeling SORRY for myself and being totally honest here.... I was MISSING PIGGING OUT!!!! Well, I am down 20 lbs since surge. and 2 fills, and down 60+ overall since I started this "new improved" me lifestyle... My pity party did not last long and I am again down weight this a.m.... So as of today, this minute... I have NO regrets... and its not that hard.. we just need to re-learn loading forks, eating off smaller plates, chewwing more.. stopping sooner*(that's the EASY PART now) There is a learning curve, just like in a new job... I learn a bit more about life with the band everyday. My hubby is so happy with the slimmer me, he says "OH I can get both my arms around you and hug you tighter"... that meant everything to me. He is such a dear. We had some great friends come for dinner last night, they hadn't seen me in quite a while... the husband couldn't stop complementing me on how good I looked!!! Now he didn't reference my weight, just kept gazing at me ... wow, I love your hair etc. etc... but I know what it was.. My blood pressures have gone from 140/90 (Dr. was wanting to Rx more pills!) down to 127/74 I am excersising at the gym without 'dying' each time... Many blessings indeed

Good walking record..!!! Now about the fills and tightness. If I understand, you have only had 1 fill to date... so you havn't aceived proper restriction yet... This is why you were able to Eat and Eat those nasty little chicken wings... Once you have proper restriction 2 or 3 (sometimes 4 fills) you'll only be able to eat 1/2 cup to 3/4 cup of food(total) at a meal. And you will steadily lose weight. I too have trouble making 'good" food choices.. Instead of the Chicken wings, why not try chicken thighs w/o the skin.?? the meat is nice and moist and lots of protien, without the fat calories from the skin. Are you eating veggies with your meals? Icecream sundae, oh I hear yah there GF, I had a slip this week too with choc. icecream... I only did it once, but had a stern talking tomyself.. Hummm, is this a $16,000 tub of choc icecream??? NAH!! So I threw the rest in the trash. The next nicht when I was having a Chocolate attack I baked up some BLACK BEAN BROWNIES, I got the recipe off of the Free Diet Plans at SparkPeople web site, they have marvelous receipe selection and also a place where you can build-in your OWN family favourites so that you can tweek them with Splenda, lower fat marg. etc.. add more fibre... yada,yada.. this way you can have an old family favourite but work it out just a bit healthier so that you can incorporate it into your new lifestyle. Also on Sparkpeople you can input and track your food, calouries, protien grams, fibre etc... its totally awesome.. play around with it for free... costs YOU nothing.

Unfortunately, its two medications that I will have to take for life. One pill is an anti-depressant and the other med is an anti-epileptic medication which is also used to control Manic episodes. Bi-polar meaning TWO.. UP and DOWN. It is not caused by feeling poorly about ones self, but rather is a chemical imbalance in the brain, usually hereditary. My father, my father's mother (Gramma) and my daughter have it as well. Left untreated it can be quite devastating to the individual and the family. I was diagnosed at 34 and am now 52... life is much more on an even keel when taking meds. so I don't mind. Much better than the alternative right? Also, the combination I am on causes very few side-effects so I am very, very lucky in that regard.

This is a great thread for support and encouragement.... From time to time WE will ALL need it.... so don't feel badly about whinning.... There will be lots of days when there will be something to BRAG about ie. Lynette's getting to ONE_dr-land.... that is so close!!! Kathy, glad you had a loss of 2#'s even while traveling... that is an accomplishment in and of itself. Me, I am hanging in with my too tight in the morning band. I have a fill (#3) scheduled Wed. 26th, but I am wondering if I should have 1/4 of a cc removed... I am torn with what to do. I am getting in 1000 cals per day (give or take) and I've been behaving better with my food choices. I also think having a slight de-fill will help me get my "8 pills" down easier too. I was in the habit of downing all my meds first thing in the morning, then I'd not have to remember it later or if I was out of the house... etc. Well, now I can't swallow breaky very easily let alone Pills!! I dont' take them until around 11 a.m. now, and then only 1/2 of them.. Anybody else having medication issues???

howare u doing todau have u eaten yet

G'day Mate! Wow are you ever lucky that your BANDING is covered so well by insurance there... very progressive. I don't know why we have to suffer so much here and then to be denied the operation that will SAVE hEALTH CARE $$'s in the long run anyways... How much is spent on Heart Disease, Diabetes, Arthritis, Knee Replacements, Hip Replacements.... OOur politicians are pretty short sighted !! Actually my surgeon went to YOUR country to learn how to do the Lap Band;, now he has done 1000's in Canada... but he charges a heafty fee.

Hi Lianna; I am so happy for you. Sounds like you are sailing thru your 1st day. Keep you fluids up and get some Pedialyte if you get headachie or weak feeling.

Are you sure its not "head hunger"???? I have had 1000 cals. today, 3 meals + snack. But for the last hour I have been thinking about eating something else... hummm chocolate... but am i hungry? in my stomach??? NO not really... is it growling??? NOPE So I am sipping crystal light and keeping my hands busy and OUT of the KITCHEN. Then I'm going to bed. :notagree

Thanks, but its o.k. that all you Canadian folks know me... but I was lurking and posting on a BIG board and I felt funny having my picture up... so I took it down. Perhaps I'll post it again sometime... I dunno.. Not a good food day today... feeling REALLY Full , only had 400 cals its all I could do to get it down... Oh well, off to work now... se you later gators!!