Ruthie

Thanks so much!! I appreciate the help!

This is my first cold since being banded and I can't find my approved meds list. Are we restricted on taking Cold medicine?

Dr. McKeen in Provo does the surgery. He has an office in California and a office in Utah. He rotates offices. I've heard good things about him. I went to Mexico and have my follow ups with a radiologist in Payson. Let me know if you need numbers and i'll see what I can find. Good Luck!

any chance that Dr. Jay does fills and follow ups on Mexican bandsters. I recently moved to the Dallas area and don't have a local dr. he sounds like a nice guy.

That's so exciting!!! Doing a happy dance for you!

I loved my dr in Mexico. Obviously it wouldn't be my first choice but I couldn't afford it here in the states. I researched for months, prayed about it, researched some more, did a lot of praying I'm happy with my choice. It is hard not to have your dr. local for follow ups. And we moved cross county so now I don't even really have a dr. So that its hard. Just make sure that you do a ton of research about the dr. and make sure you feel good abut your choice. Good luck and let me know if you have any questions!

You guys are the only people in the whole world I can share this with (except my husband)... Nobody knows I had surgery and they wouldn't understand my excitement anyway.... I did it!! I'm below 200!!!!!!!!!! I haven't been here in years!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I"m so happy!!! Ignore the bad nails and the hairy toes (which I did not know were hairy until this moment). Anyway I'm stoked beyond belief!!!!! OH HAPPY DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! thanks for letting me share!

It's not a lot. Just a tiny bit. not even taking anything for it. I just have never had it and I'm six months out. I'm just paranoid about slippage.

That's so exciting!! Congrats to you!!!

Congrats!! Keep up the good work!!

Today for Thanksgiving dinner I had about 2 tablespoons of mashed taters, a small helping of green Beans and a small helping of turkey. That's it. No rolls, no pie, no stuffing, just the basics. And I didn't feel deprived! I sat there a looked at my plate that didn't have hardly any food on it and I realized that I was ok with my small amounts of food. Maybe deep down I was mourning a bit but it was so nice not to be stuffed to the point of wanting to puke like I usually do at thanksgiving. Last year eating that small of amount of food would have devastated me but this year it was so freeing. I was so happy and so proud of the progress that I have made, slow as it may be. Anyway it was just such a happy moment for me. And I still may indulge and have tiny piece of pie tomorrow but I just didn't want it tonight and that my friends is a small miracle. I know there has been sadness and disappointment on here in the last couple of weeks and on an earlier post I wrote about how stressed I was if I were to lose my band. But there were some wise words of wisdom given... just get you butt in to gear and take advantage of this opportunity we've been given. Anyway I'll stop rambling but just needed to share my small personal victory.<o ="">></o>> Happy Thanksgiving!

I read these posts on erosion and slips and I just start to freak out. Every day I keep a prayer in my heart "Please God, don't let me lose my band!". But I'm sure everyone has that prayer in their heart. It's almost to the point where I'm too scared to enjoy my success for fear that one day my band may be gone. I know there are no answers. I'm just feeling stressed about the what if's. anyway there's really no point to this post except that I worry about this on a daily basis!

my first fill was 4 cc's. I'm now up to 9.5. I finally have restriction (maybe a little too much) but I'm hoping this is the magic spot.

I have a cushin on my rocking chair that can never ever be turned over. Oh, it's been scrubbed and cleaned to death but my days on Xenical left me a little souvenir.

I am so sorry! I hope that everything turns out ok!

Do any of you regret having a Vanguard band? I go back and forth. When I first found out that my dr. had had given me the VG band I was surprised and a little disappointed. But then I heard good things about less erosion, yada, yada, yada. I'm at 9.5 cc's and am now just starting to have restriction. Just wondering if I had it to over again if I would ask to be fitted with a smaller band. Not that I don't think my dr. did a great job just wondering if I would be losing a little faster if I had a smaller band. What's your thoughs?? Are you happy with your VG band? Is it hard for you to get restriction? Don't get me wrong, I'm VERY happy to be banded. And I'm going to be successful. Just curious to see what others think of their band.

I too have a Vanguard band and have been having my fills quickly. It's frustrating but the Vanguard band takes a lot of fills to fill up! I'm at 9.5 cc's. A lot fuller then I ever thought I would be but hopefully it does the trick!

Doing good. With my work schedule I haven't been able to start a exercise routine. I walk when I can but I really need to committ to do it every day. I'm on my third fil and I"m pretty full. Hoping this one does the trick. Congrats to all the June Bandsters!

Good luck! How full can they fill the Vanguard band?

thank you guys for your encouragement!! here's some pics I found of before and during. I posted this on the Before/After thread as well but thought I would post them here as well... Before -25 lbs

would you have to pay for a whole new surgery or would they do it for you for free since they are the one's that put in the bigger band? Good luck!

Hi! I have the Vanguard as well. It does take a lot to fill it up... i'm at 9.5 cc's. But from everything I've been told (and my fill dr. told me again this week) that Dr's really like the bigger band. Ya they take a lot more to fill up but everyone I've talked to said that there's less chance of erosion because there's chambers in the band and the Fluid has more room to spread out. I had a different fill Dr. tell me that my band was too big and he wanted to take it out and redo it with a smaller band. Went back to my band dr. and my original fill dr. and they both said "no way" that the Vanguard was a good choice for me. Anyway it is frustrating. I have 9.5 cc's and am now just getting restriction but I know it's not that way for everyone. Good luck and maybe research it and figure out what's best for you.

I'm having a really hard time seeing any difference in my body having lost 30 lbs. But I got to go home this last week and visit my family and my inlaws. Most I haven't seen since I had surgery and only my mom knows I had surgery. Everyone I saw kept saying "your face looks soo thin!" that made me so happy! My mother in law (who has no clue I had surgery) kept going on and on about how good I look and wanted to know what I'm doing different. I exercise six days a week and I'm eating a third of what I used to eat. Some day when I reach goal I'll tell her I had surgery but she's very overweight and VERY against weight loss surgery. So it was fun to have her notice and go on and on. It made me feel good. Anyway my very first NSV!

Hi! You can do it! I think every one of us was nervous and had cold feet before surgery. I remember being wheeled into surgery and the lights of the hallway were flashing by and I was laying there with small tears coming out of the corner of my eyes and all I could think to myself was "What the HELL am I doing!!?!?!?" I was in Mexico having surgery. Was I insane!! Maybe I was a little but I just had to give myself a pep talk and remind myself that I was doing this to insure a healthier life for myself. You'll lose. Just follow the rules and you'll lose. But remember not to be hard on yourself and just do the best that you can. I've lost slower than most but I've also had a really hard summer. My mom was diagnoses with cancer, I had surgery, we moved cross country, and my husband started a new demanding job all in the matter of weeks. So I'm doing the best that I know how to right now and even though I'm not losing as fast as I would like I"m just trying to get through life right now and I"m doing the best that I can day to day and I'm still managing to lose. In a few months you'll just look back and be healthier and thinner and you'll wonder why you didn't do it sooner! Good luck!

Just following up... What did your Dr. say? What are you options are far as getting the band put back in place? I hope everything works out!!!!