peaches9

I totally sympathize with you. When Insurance companies have OUR lives in the balance it is very frustrating indeed. If you were able to Self pay (like I did in Canada) you would be surprised where you could find the money. I am taking my loan over 10 yrs and my payment is $169 per month. It is coming off my grocery budget. When I add up all the times I went thru the drive thru for donuts, coffee, MacDonalds.... yada,yada,yada.. plus now that I am banded I am eating less than HALF the food I did before. Now lets look at it another way, all the stress of fighting with the ins. co. what's that doing to your B/P? Your health is worth every penny you put into it. Whatever you decide, I hope your journey is successful.

Yes, I attended O.A. meetings for many years. They are great for letting you "get to the root" of your emotions that control your eating behaviours... It is a spiritual program rather than a count the calories program... they don't focus on food... rather your relationship with YOURSELF and others. They use the 12 steps and 12 traditions of A.A. as their foundation. It is a comprable program. Inexpensive, but sometimes it is hard to find a good meeting location. As they are not available everywhere. Also sometimes you get into a negative bunch who are NOT obstaining from compulsive overeating and just think they are working the steps. Try it out, it may be just the thing you need. Go in with an open mind.

My DF had gastric bypass in Feb 07, she has experienced the same hair loss. Her surgeon said that at 4 - 5 mos. out it is common and not to be alarmed as it does grow back. I wish I could give you all a big hug though.. it must be tramatic.. I am not there yet only had my surg July 07.. I'll probably loose mine right before Xmas..LOL

Hi Shannon; Yes that definetly has something to do with it. While you are Un-filled you will have a bit more "wiggle room" with the Bandster rules... but don't get to used to them... once you have your 1st fill OH MY your habits will change. Trust me on that - I got stuck this a.m. at breakfast for the 1st time on Toast with an soft egg on top... I just forgot and took too big a bite and didn't chew well enough... Oh that dull ache in the centre of my chest was not nice... couldn't eat the rest of my breakfast... Good luck to you

There are two excellent clinics in Toronto TBLC (Dr. Patrick Yau) where I went Dr. MUMFORD & Dr. Colbourn in MISSISSAUGA I think its called the Obesity Clinic, but not sure... These surgeons are very well thought of on the boards... Read lots, do research

If you are close to the Maine border and its a DRIVEABLE distance to go for fills and follow up ... I'd go there... Its not just about the consultaaiotn and surgery, you'll need to go back for FILLS at least 3 times possible 5 and for 6 mos. and yearly checkups. I am in Ontario so went to Toronto for mine but I only have to drive 3 hrs to get to the clinic... so its just a day out of my schedule each visit. I have just had my first fill and it was a breeze.. I wish you all the best of luck. I have had a very uneventful journey so far. and the weight loss has been successful.. I still have quite a way to go.. but at least I KNOW that it will come off and stay off permanently now.. It is wonderful to live with hope!

woopes, that was a quick reply... what I ment to say was.. I went to see the Beach Boys last night- they were awesome!!! Brought back some fond memories. I ate out in my 1st restaurant since "fill" ate about 1/3 of the hamberger patty (difficult to chew, fiberous) but I managed with 30 chews per mouthfull.. Salad was huge, and the lettuce was not cut up very well.. no plastic knives... so I just ate the cucumbers and cherry tomatoes on top.. Chewed that very well too as I didn't want the skins on the tomatoes to get stuck. DH ate all of my leftovers... hummm I wonder if He'll puton weight now??? Anyways, it all worked out.. I am loving this banded life!!!! Got any plans this long weekend? (in Canada is Labor Day) I am going up north to my sisters cottage... hopefully the lake is still warm enough to swim in... plus!!!! we are having a big fish fry dinner... fresh Walleye and Pike... I can hardly wait. YUM

gOOD MORNING EVERYONE I

a great free site that I use to Track Nutrician is .... WWW.SparkPeople.com it has all the foods listed and will even DESIGN menus for you to YOUR specifications. It tracks Excersise & Calories burned """"" Goals etc... even has recipes

Yess ANDREW You are HOT!!@ You have done so well... congrats!!! but, is that a beer??? how did THAT go down???

Oh yes! Definetly.... I was worrying about that needlessly... Felt restricted right away.. as I said earlier... 1 tsp. of Water was all I could swallow initially right after my fill.. Then as I sat there to drink my 500ml water... each sip got easier.. I can swallow a tblspn of liquid at a time now... I have not had any PB'ing or slimming.. Eating my small meals o.k. too

I had my first FILL on Mon 27th Aug. I have a French MIDBAND that holds a total of 9.5 cc, They injected 5 cc's into my band, then I go back in 2 wks for another fill, 2 wks later another fill if I need it... then we go from there. I feel great! Water was tricky the first night but later in the evening I had a Protien shake and it went down, albiet slowly! Tasted great. Tues morning I had scrambled egg but could only eat 1/2 of it... felt a twinge of a full feeling and quit eating.. I been taking it cautiously as I don't want to over fill my pouch and Puke

Lorilie: Your W/L is amazing!!! What are you eating on a daily basis... I am so impressed

I was at my altime heaviest and wearing 'Granny pants' ... you know the kind of underwear I mean... Cotton, elastic waist that has seen the dryer just one too many times... Well I was visiting a client and had just parked my car in the P. Lot.. As I climbed out of my VAN and thumped down onto the ashphalt . my panties dropped to my ankles!!! Now it was summer time so I didn't have the luxury of Protective Pantyhose to keep-em in place... so there they went. I was so mortified that I did a quick look around and over my shoulder to see if anybody saw.. I didn't want to bend down and fumble picking them up or trying to struggle back into them... so I just stepped out of the suckers and kicked them UNDER my car... Later on when leaving I peeled out of the parking lot as fast as i could.. :omg:

Your w/l is going very well... you should be proud!! And wasn't your fill exciting? That first sip is strange for sure... I'm two days out from my fill and I am eating solids well, albiet not very much... I get FULL easily.. On my Lunchsized plate at dinner time I had 3 oz. chick breast, 1/3 cup cooked carrots, 1`/4 cup brown rice... COULDN"T Eat it all... so I wrapped it up and I can always nuk it later if I am hungry ... trouble was that I already counted the calories on my SPARKPEOPLE.com site... I am tracking my nutrients for a wk or so to make sure I am getting enough protien.. don't want to lose my hair!! Take care

Dear BlueEyedBaby; Welcome to BANDSTER HELL!! Been there, done that & have the Tshirt & Extra lbs... LOL I feel for you! But don't despair your 1st FILL will clear that problem right up! I figure, enjoy your food for the next wk or so... don't PIG out or anything... but if you have a favorite..have it now... cause it'll be BYE BYE soon enough. THe weeks of healing after surg. and before FILL are just for THAT ! Healig... it is not the weightloss time... I was down 17 lbs. post surg while I was on liquids, then as soon as I started eating Solids my appetite returned - big time.. very hard to control. So be gentle with yourself, what you are experiencing is text book signs. Hang in and look forward to your 1st fill.

Is it common for your Stomach "Noises" to wake you up at night...??? I was at work the other day and the gal sitting at the next computer turned and said "wow, you'd better eat something you sound starved"! its really weird? I dont' remember being this noisy before surgery? Not that its a huge problem, I am still happy for the restriction and weight loss. :rain:

Hi there, I just had my first fill (six wks post op) and it went very easily. Its just a tiny needle and I didn't feel it. She found my PORT easily too, she had to tell me when it was done and to get off the table... (I don't like to look LOL) Drinking the Water afterwards in the reception room was a bit weird though. My first 'sip' was about a teaspoon of water and I thought THAT was going to get stuck! But it did go down, and subsequent sips went down easier with each swallo... I had to drink a whole 500ml bottle before they let me drive home . Eating, oh yeah, I DO feel restiction.... Could only eat 2 oz of meat, and some veg. about 3/4 cup of food. But this a.m. I was able to eat 1 cup of oatmeal & 1/2 apple & skim milk. lunch was tuna salad 3 oz. and yogurt... tonight I am having Coq au Vin... a recipe I found on SPARKPEOPLE.com Its a great site for tracking your cal. nutricion, excersise, measurements, weight goals etc... check it out FREE~

Its funny how Dr's orders differ. At my Clinic they said that we can drink our Water right up to when we start eating... but once we start the meal NO MORE Water for at least 30 mins. after your last bite of dinner... It really does take some getting used to...

Sweet4life; Dosn't it just SUCK the way our appetite comes back after we've been on solids!! (Pre fill) I'm doing o.k. now 2 days after 1st fill... Ate o.k. yesterday tuna, puddings, mushy veggies and chicken breast, yogurt... plus my Water and some decaf coffee. This a.m. I had Large Flake oatmeal with 1/2 Apple chopped up in it while it was cooking, skim milk on top. About a cup of hot Cereal... it was good... I "wanted" to eat more, but stopped when I got that "soft full" feeling. No burping or PB'ing or slimming.. doing just great Good luck!

LeslieLee; I am curious why are you referring to a forum for a weightloss drug??

Oh Donna, my weight is not melting off... my 240 start wgt is NOT what I started at in my Band Journey. I had lost the first chunk (lol) by WW, Hypnosis, Meridia, excersise etc. but then after a whole year of plateauing I got scarred that I was going to put my 50 back on plus more!(again, like I've always done in the past) So that's when I made up my mind to do the Lap band once and for all, so in my signature, you'll see 240/190ish/ my current wgt today/ and my goal of 130... So there you have it in a nutshell

It dosn't seem that long ago that I was a "virgin" too (Donna you made me laugh!) I quess I am a FILL VIRGIN as I just got my top up yesterday at TBLC Everything went well, and I am eating ever so gently today... Scrambled egg at 6 a.m. and now a Pudding/w Pro. powder... I am looking forward to TUNA salad at lunch (can't beleive I am looking forward to fish?) but the more experienced bandsters say fish is tolerated well and is moist. Getting in all the Water is tricky, as I am used to just Chugging it all down. Oh well, lots of NEW habits to learn for us all. Good luck on your journey, and post often... I love coming onto this site. as it keeps BOTH my hands busy [wink, wink] and my computer is far away from the fridge LOL :heh:

Hi there, I said I'd post later when I'd actually eaten something. I had 1/2 of a scrambled XL egg this a.m. with a titch of ketchup - ate very slowly... and it WAS good. right now I am eating 1/3 cup Choc SSFF pudding with my antidepressant sprinkled on it(creative huh?) plus I added some Protein powder to my pudding mix... just to boost it up a bit. Pudding is going down fine. I've had about 3 glasses of Water Later babes

You never need to appologize about THOSE pictures.... they are awesome!! YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL! Your hard work has paid off... keep up the good work, you are inspiring to all us Lappers who have just started our journey.