Frangipani

I am getting SO BORED with my playlist lately, which is why I was looking through this thread again. Time to buy some new songs!!!! Here's a great "cardio tune" one that I don't think has been mentioned yet: Days go By -- Dirty Vegas. I am going to check out some of the other suggestions listed here too !

Thank you so much JSIL! :smile::frown: Wow, surgery next Wednesday!!! Good luck with that and keep us posted -- what are you having done?

Having a fill done under flouro solves so many problems, including this problem of painful fills and missing the port. It also takes much of the guesswork out of the fill itself, as the Dr. can see the restriction right then and there (which is not to say that the fill might not need to be tweaked because you stomach begins swelling almost immediately after the saline is injected). I have had all of my fills done under fluoro, and truly wouldn't have it any other way. The last time I went in, the Dr. took a look and told me that I had enough restriction and was able to show me as well. I also like the fact that every time I go in, the Dr. can see my band, my stomach, and my "pouch" and confirm that everything is okay............

Hi Candle, Wow! What a difference!!! You look fabulous!!!! I don't know how tall you are, but I'm guessing that you are a shorty like me (5'4''), and I think we petite chicks need to drop down into to 30 BMI range to really starting noticing the difference. The advantage to that is once we start dropping below this, every pound we drop thereafter makes a HUGE difference. I have dropped several pounds since I took my picture, and when I look at that picture now, I can see the difference. Congratulations on your wonderful progress!!!!

Becky, I hope you get your situation sorted out too! If your Dr. looked at this just a few months ago and everything was okay, it sounds like this very well might turn out to be a non-issue. Also (and this is obviously just my own opinion based on my extremely limited knowledge of these things), even if it turns out that there is an issue with your band, I wonder how important it is in terms of your PS. I mean you are at goal now, so perhaps this won't hold up anything, and the band issue (assuming it even exists) can be addressed later. I called my Dr.'s office this morning and, as I suspected, he had (and continues to have) an emergency situation he is dealing with. I would guess that an oncologist often has unexpected things that come up, and when I think about my small problem in relation to the true health crises that many of these women are facing, I know that I must be as patient as possible, even though it is SO hard for me to do so!!!! I actually feel a little badly about putting in a follow-up call this morning, given what I know now about the emergency situation. If my surgery gets pushed back because someone else has a much more pressing need, than I just have to go with that (strong reminder to my extremely impatient self)..............

Hey Shrinko De Mayos, I just had to check in because I love your name -- so cute, funny and clever!!! Congrats to those who have been banded so far and good luck to those who will be soon. The Band is a wonderful thing, next year this time you will be looking fabulous and feeling so thankful that you did this! All the best to you! :thumbup::smile::biggrin:

Hi Bandster 1007, I'm so sorry to hear about all you have been going through lately. There are some excellent GYN specialists out there, and maybe you will want to consider talking to one, as it sounds to me like you have some fairly complicated issues.

Well, as my long-suffering DH will tell you, nagging is truly my specialty, so no problem Salsa -- I'm happy to jump on your case any time :thumbup:! Thanks for the advice regarding changing up my routine. I know that's a good idea, it's just that this long cardio worked so well for me for so long, I hesitate change it, even though I know I must sometimes. Double-header Thursday tonight. 30 minutes pilates/abdominals class, and a one hour Yoga class. Enjoy your evening everyone!

Thanks Becky! Have you heard anything yet????? Thanks for the support Salsa :smile::ohmy:! Jody, awwwww, thank you so much for those incredibly kind thoughts and compliments!!! I think I will let Judi ghost write any books for me, as she truly is a very gifted writer! I am SO sorry that I missed my Dr.'s phone call last night because now I am unable to get a hold of him to anchor down the details of the myomectomy. I know that he is a really busy guy and I did leave a message for him first thing this morning, but no call back as of yet. At this point it's doubtful that I will hear from him today since it's already 7:00 P.M in our time zones. My concern is that we won't be able to get the two Dr.'s schedules together when it is convenient for me to have the surgery done, which will then push this whole process back several weeks (or possibly even months). I have been working on this whole thing for some time now and I am quite anxious to get this show on the road!!!!

The above was the subject line of a promotional email I just received from Nordstrom. No more plus sizes for me ever again -- thank you very much :biggrin:! I also throw all of those plus-size clothing catalogs away with great relish whenever I go to pick up my mail :thumbup::tongue::party:! Whoo Hoo!!! I just love being average, don't you?????

BBK, Still thinking about you and sending you very best wishes. I hope the pain is starting to go away -- or if not, I'm hoping that you have ample supply of good drugs, and are resting comfortably. :biggrin::smile::thumbup:

Hi Lexy, Thank you for the excellent and insightful feedback. I do tend to vomit after surgery. In fact, I vomited just before and immediately after my Lap Band surgery -- which couldn't have been a good thing, but apparently didn't cause any problems. (Sorry if this is a little gross talking about this.) Anyhow, you brought up a really good point that I had not considered. Thank you!!!! :biggrin::smile::thumbup:

Whoo Hoo Kat!!! Congratulations and Good Luck!!! You really planned this out in a great way. Having a wonderful vacation with your friends is an excellent way to distract yourself from any pre-surgery anxiety. I am SO jealous that insurance is covering this for you. I have excellent insurance BUT (and this is a huge but), my policy has a weight loss exclusion, so my Lap Band surgery was not covered. Because my hanging skin in the abdomen area doesn't seem to be causing any medical problems, I didn't even bother trying to get it covered. I know your medical problems related to the hanging skin must have been really bothersome, but looking back, I bet you're glad you had them now :biggrin:! Look forward to hearing from you again soon! :thumbup::smile::party:

Congratulations Indigo Girl!!! You did an AWESOME job with this and you look fabulous!!!! I'm was banded a month later than you and am still plugging away. I had more weight to lose, so it will take me a little longer, but you're right, this Band really does work!!! Happy Dance!!! :biggrin::thumbup::party:

This area of the board is so awesome because you can often get answers straight from the doctors themselves, as we have right here in this thread! Jachut you made some good points too. I know that everything can be fixed beautifully and well, but I do worry about my body looking like a road map when it's all done. Extensive scarring is definitely an issue that concerns me, but I haven't really considered this question in enough detail to know for sure whether it's an acceptable trade-off for having everything fixed to satisfaction. Right now I am just focusing on getting the high priority PS done, so that I don't feel like all of this effort to get the weight off has been for naught. Jachut, you are one lucky lady -- you did come through this with flying colors. If I looked as good in a bathing suit as you do, I would be saving a lot of money! Dr. Schulman, I read someplace that it's a good idea to do the inner and outer thighs in separate surgeries because addressing these areas simultaneously can adversely affect the result. Is this true?

Hi Sweety (and I can tell that your screen name fits you well, you are a sweety :redface:). I am just waiting to set a date and work out some details for a LBL and breast lift with augmentation (yes it's true, even B cup breasts need a little lift sometimes :cursing:). I plan on starting a thread once I get everything all set up. Have a great night, I look forward to following your progress!!!

Hi Misty, I hope that it came through loud and clear in my post that this is a personal decision. It was really not my intent to imply that there is a right or wrong answer to this, I just wanted to share my point of view as a person who has already traveled to Mexico once for surgery, and one who thoroughly considered whether or not to have a major surgery such as LBL done there. (And this is the only point on which we disagree, this is major surgery and just about any Dr. will agree with me on that point.) I'm glad that you had an excellent experience in Mexico and I'm very happy for you. I too had an excellent experience with surgery in Monterrey Mexico, just last August and I cannot say enough good things about my Dr. his staff and the hospital where I had my surgery. Have a great night!!! :cursing::smile::redface:

This thread caught my eye because I'm going through just the opposite right now, 4 have doctors have recommended that I have a hysterectomy for my large fibroid tumor and I finally found a wonderful and skilled Dr. (#5) who will be performing a myomectomy on me, which is what I wanted all along. This is however, a very personal choice and the important thing is that you are comfortable with your own decision and that you are not pushed into it by anyone else (the way I felt I was being). Bandster1007, your comment about what your Dr. told you concerns me a bit, though. Do you have a medical condition that has prompted your Dr. to advise having a hysterectomy ASAP after having children? Without knowing the full details, this seems really strange to me..........

Becky, you go girl! You always do really great with these challenges. In fact you are my original exercise role model. I got my hour of cardio in today. I did not do my second session of Couch to 5K, because I'm plateauing again and I wanted to do longer cardio to (hopefully) break through it. Have a great night everyone!

I can't believe it!!!! My Dr. called while I was working out and I didn't have my phone with me!!!! The good news is that he was kind enough to leave me a brief message telling me that he wanted to talk to me, but there was "in general, nothing to worry about." (i.e., meaning the biopsy is negative). I knew in my heart that it would be, but still, when the "C word" is mentioned, it always puts you a little on edge. Doctor #5 rocks!!!! I knew he would be good, but he is even better than I expected. He is absolutely first rate -- serious, skilled and very thorough and yet quite personable and warm at the same time. I am SO glad I found this guy!!!! I also feel really good about my decision to keep my uterus. I have been reading up a bit more on this, and it is reinforcing my intuitive feeling that I should to hang on to it for as long as I possibly can (even IF it has never worked quite right :cursing:).

Plastic surgery is dirt cheap in Mexico and I'm sure that there are some excellent surgeons who do excellent work. I had my LapBand done in Mexico and had an excellent experience. I was therefore mightily tempted to have my PS done there (or elsewhere) as well. I dug in and researched this about as much as I could, but decided in the end that having a major surgery (such as an LBL) abroad just wasn't for me. One of the things that was most disconcerting to me was that fact that most of these Dr.'s do not do the surgery in a hospital -- they use their own clinics. While I'm sure that many of these clinics are very high-quality and safe, I simply did not feel comfortable having this amount of surgery done in a small, private clinic. Many Dr.s will offer you the option to have the surgery done in a hospital, but when you factor in the additional cost for doing so, you will probably find that the price difference between Mexico and the US becomes negligible (at least this is what I found). The language barrier is also an issue for me. Again, with this type of major surgery, I just feel more comfortable working within the familiar parameters of my own culture and my own language. I was also concerned about how well post-operative issues could be dealt with -- especially after I left Mexico. I would not hesitate to recommend Lap Band surgery in Mexico using a high quality surgeon (such as Rumbaut, Zapata or Aceves), but with major surgery like an LBL, I found that I have much more peace of mind staying in the US. JMHO -- your mileage may vary.

Hey Candle, Your old buddy here ! I think you're going to find when you start digging into this, that no two surgeons are exactly alike in their approach to fixing multiple areas of the body, (which is usually what we bariatric patients need). I think you might also find that your priorities will change a bit as you start looking at photos, researching, and talking to doctors. For example, I started out thinking that breasts were not a priority for me, but after looking at photos and being reminded of what "younger, perkier" breasts looks like, I have now placed a very high priority on breasts. As far as the inner thighs, I have the same issue, but my Dr. wants me to wait a bit on those. He explained why by showing me photos of several of his patients where he got some inner thigh lift with the TT (or LBL) and in many of those cases the amount of lift he got satisfied the patient. That said, he cannot tell me with any real degree of certainty how much lift he will get with me because it varies from patient to patient, which is why he wants to wait until we are finished with the LBL. This PS journey is very interesting and I think you will be learning a lot through your research and talking to doctors in person. But do keep in mind that if you do everything you are wanting to do, you will likely be having more than one surgery, so the "wait and see" approach will probably be part of this whole planning/staging process. A final thought regarding this issue is that it really does help to learn as much as you can about the various techniques for addressing the body areas you are concerned about. There are so many different things that can be done and ways to do it that it is a bit mind boggling, but having this information (and developing some idea of your own preferences) will help both you and your surgeon to figure out the best way to approach your concerns.

Hi Sweety, I think there is just so much activity on this part of the board with so many people having or planning PS that it just takes a while to get responses at times. Congratulations on setting a date!!! I am trying to get my date worked out and I know that feeling of anxiety and excitement very well. July 22 will be here before you know it!!! Definitely do keep us posted.

Thank you so much for sharing this information with me, Dr. JLo. It's very helpful to have feedback on this issue from a plastic surgeon. I have visited your website and looked at your before and after photos and your work is excellent! I had actually considered traveling out your way and consulting with you, but for logistical reasons I decided that it was easier for me to have my LBL and BL procedures done in the Miami area, which is much easier to travel back and forth from where I live (USVI). Salsa, thanks for letting me know that even if I'm unfilled, I might not have anything to worry about as long as I keep up with my exercise !

Jody, don't worry about that -- sometimes my scale moves up three pounds in a day and then back down again! It takes about 3500 excess calories to gain one pound, and that is over and above the number calories your body needs to maintain your present weight. Now could you possibly have consumed that many calories? I think not!!! Thanks MollyMolly. Look at that ticker running along side of you. You should be arriving in Onderland any minute now -- Woo Hoo! I got one hour of cardio in tonight. I will do another session of the Couch to 5K plan tomorrow. Have a great night everyone!