susieq321

I know Nisrine fairly well we were banded not too far apart. I haven't talked to her about this but I know she has another career that she loves as well as being the pre op co-ordinator I also know she missed that other career so it could be that she just decided to go back and pursue alternate options. And yes If I was pre-op I would call and confirm everything that is going on and make sure nothing is falling through the cracks.

A bunch of us get together to have lunch once a month and it moves around the GTA. This months meeting will be held on April 28th at noon, at the Sierra Grill which is located at Bayview and Sheppard (in the parking lot of Bayview Village Mall) www.sierragrill.ca I can't stress enough how much it helps to meet people who are going through the same things you are and can relate to you. If you are interested in coming out to meet us everyone is welcome. Let me know so I can have accurate numbers for our reservation. You can reach me at susieq321@hotmail.com Hope to see you

Donna, The May meeting will be held in conjunction with the Bandster Bash and I am not sure how we are going to do it but it is the same weekend, and would be easy to hold at the hotel. Look forward to meeting you.

Maggie, I had some hernia repairs and didn't feel what you are feeling but it depends on where the hernis is etc. Try and move slowly really pay attention to the pain, and if it gets worse or changes call your surgeon or go to emerg. It is more than likely nothing but I would rather be safe than sorry.

Argon, I got your answer this morning the last day to register is around 7 days prior to the event so we can notify catering of final numbers. Keep in mind that it is not just the dinner, there are Snacks and lunch during the seminars for the people who attend. With that said if you can't make up your mind until after that the bash committee will try and accomodate you as best they can.

What you have may be what they call referred pain, when you are banded the docs fill you up with oxygen, they pump up your internal organs so they can see if they nick anything and it gives them a clarer picture when they are playing around inside you. The oxygen has to absorb back inside your blood stream and sometimes it causes gas pain in the back, chest and shoulders. Sometimes a gas tab like gas x works. I found moving as much as possible helped the gas absorb back into my blood and work its way out faster too. By moving I mean walking as much as you can/ With that said if you are worried and don't feel this pain is normal call your surgeon or go to your local emerg. Chest pain is something I am not so big ignoring considering everything it could be.

Argon, I haven't forgotten about you I am still working on your answer and will post it when I get it

Just a quick reminder that there are only 6 more weeks till the 3rd Annual Canadian Bandster Bash & Bariatric Wellness Conference..... We have finalized our 3 Plastic Surgeons that will be holding round tables for discussions and questions - Dr. Marc Dupere, Dr. Zel Krajden and Dr. Kreidstein. We also have a lapband surgeon - Dr. Mumford and a bariatric surgeon - Dr. Yau joining in the roundtable discussions. We have 2 RNY patients giving a lively speech during our welcoming reception - Julie Janeway and Karen Sparks, and we are thrilled to have joining us, from Obesityhelp Dr. Monica Ganz for the entire weekend!! Only 4 weeks left to register and book your hotel rooms so hope you join us in a weekend of fun and information for all weight loss patients!! Please see our website at www.canadianbandsterbash.com for more information

I think there are some people who need formal help to deal with their issues surrounding why, what, when, where and how they eat. I think there are some harsh realities for all of us to face up to about why we ate so much and let ourselves gain until we reached some state of fatness that required surgery. But I also think that by being honest with yourself and facing up to the reality you can face the issues and move on without professional help. By the way I think if you are prone to falling victim to another addiction seeing a shrink won't stop you it will just give you a neutral person to talk about your new addiction with. I think that if look at alcoholics, gamblers etc until they were ready to give it up and stop on their own they didn't stop. If you mentally aren't ready to give up all the comfort of food, mentally and start channelling that time and energy you spent eating into something out there are tons of other things that are safe you can obsess about. I can say after 5 years I am still not a gambler, huge drinker, smoker, druggie or basically anything else but a person.

I can't wait to have tight thin thighs that are sized to match my waist... post thigh lift and try on clothes that fit in the thighs and the waist.. I can't wait not to have all my waists on pants and skirts taken in two or three sizes. What a fantastic thread!!! I hope everyone remembers to acknowledge the successes as they achieve them and make new goals.

I have it on the PVR to watch I am excited to see it I have heard great things about it

Mac Daddy, Just for your knowledge the approval in the US is kinda funny for me... Innamed bands were only approved in the US since July 2002 and both Innamed Bands and the Swedish and French Mid Band have been around much longer than that in different forms. I wouldn't take the FDA approval as too much it involves long clinical studies controlled that didn't work for the bandsters involved very well. Fills at certain times of .1 cc's and you had to wait 3-6 months to get that. There is a reason for the prescribed fills but I know a ton of patients could not get restriction and ended up fleeing to Mexico at the time to get fills, breaking FDA trial proctocals it is just the company who found the hoops worth jumping through that is all the FDA approval means. Health Canada 's approval is worth more to me than the FDA approval. I think the Swedish band (10 years) has actually been around world wide longer than the Innamed bands the first band was installed about 14 years ago.

Just for everyones knowledge, FDA approval means nothing in Canada it is Health Canada's approval that matters and no band can be installed in Canada without their approval. FDA is the USa.. and the J&J band is slated for FDA approval in the USA for Jan 2008 release. They pulled their design on testing last year because they were in the middle of a redesign and didn't want to have to go through the testing phase for the FDA trials twice. Dr Yau and I talked about this on my last fill appt.

I actually lived in AB after being banded and I know Dr Yau has relationships with surgeons out there so the fills shouldn't be too bad. TLBC also has a DVD that can be used with your family doc to do fills. Dr Yau is great at helping his patients out, I travel for my job a ton and anytime I tell him I am on the road he tells me who he knows in the areas I am going just in case I need something. Good luck.

I love absolutes... I have friends who tell me all sorts of things out of concern rather than trying to change my mind. I think there are some people who have serious issues with food and when they don't deal with their food issues that can be transferred to other areas of their lives. I know people who went nuts with booze, sex and ended up in divorces etc. But I actually do not know one person who changed their issue to gambling. Is it a realtiy absolutely but I think it is the exception rather than the rule. I can say, that if you have been obese as a teen and an adult, learning to deal with the attention of the opposite sex can be hard and overwhelming and once in a while you might do something dumb. There have been time I haven't been the smartest with drinking but am I a drunk no.. I have 100's of bottles of wine but I don't care if I open them unless I am with family or friends. If I never touch booze again I won't cry. It is a lapse in occasional judgement which can happen with anyone whether they had WLS or not. Tell your friend to do some more research and remember you love her... and like you did laugh.

If anyone is interested a small group of us are meeting in Whitby this weekend, on Saturday April 14 around noon at Shoeless Joes in the AMC entertainment complex. It is basically at Thickson Road and the 401, the reservation will be under Heather and Canadian Bandsters. Let me know if you are interested. Shoeless Joe's Address : 75 Consumers Drive, Whitby, ON L1N 9S2 Telephone : 905-668-0082

It is a very personal choice, keep in mind when you make the choice a lot of things your relationship is something that is lifelong. Go with who you are the most comfortable with. I choose Yau because of his skill as a lap surgeon (he is ranked as one of the top one in the country) I was in the first 100 patients banded so Yau and Joffe were the only choices for banding back then. But knowing what I know now I would still choose TLBC, partially because they are the pioneers with the most experience. But some other points in favour with them for me: I like the fact that TLBC has several banded patients working for the clinic so they understand the struggles you go through and can relate on a different level. I also like the fact that TLBC also has skills in other weight loss surgeries, while you may never consider having another type of surgery it is nice to know if something goes wrong your surgeon who you have a relationship with already can help you and fix what is wrong or revise you to another weight loss surgery. I like the fact that TLBC uses bands from all the band manufacturers and has relationships with all of them so they choose the best band for your body type, not just the best band in a limited manufacturers array. I like that TLBC has post op support groups so they have face to face meetings, a nutritionist who can help you who specializes in WLS patients, I like the fact that they brought in a personal trainer to work with patients at one time. It show they are thinking about post op needs as well as pre op needs I like the fact that they are going to start putting on, online seminars for patients who are out of town so you can listen in as a podcast or do the seminar live and partcipate. I like that they have one on one counselling with staff if you are stuck to help to motivate you. I like that they have meetings (bowling nights etc) for patients I really jost like Patrick Yau and TLBC staff, Kathy P, Nisrine, Maral etc. and I trust them to keep my confidences and take care of me as a bandster I know some of this stuff isn't as relevant for out of town patients but it is important in outlining a committment to their patients to saying they will do what it takes to help make you a success at banding. I also know no matter what if I need them they are just a phone call away. Good luck on your decision, it is very personal, and very important.

It is the threat of never being able to eat it again.. well really not a threat but a fear. A What if... it is just like telling the kid don't touch the Iron it is hot.. once in a while they need to reach out and see what the heat is. Banding and last suppers are like that, what if I can't eat sushi anymore, roast beef etc etc. So you tend to eat like it is a last supper of the condemmed. You are perfectly normal you have just read about some people having some issues with food you love and the fear makes you crave it. Good luck and you are normal.. healthy normal, but normal.

It is only as rough as you make it.. I am really not one of those poor poor pitiful me people, I am more this is my challenge lets get on with it and go go gadget go. I think there are people who ask for problems and people who do everything right and still have some issues. There are risks but there are great rewards. If I had the RNY and similar complications to what I had with the band I would be dead now I have no doubt in my mind. Keep in mind again I am a rarity not the average bandster. I totally trust my surgeon, he is great at what he does.

Susan, I will ask the committee, I am thinking possibly not because we have to have all the meals etc determined for the hotel. I understand you will still be on liquids or mushies. I can say by the end of the month you should be up to the bash unless you react really badly to surgery. I will try and get the last date you can register for the bash and post it here.

I eat better I eat less and I move more... it is the truth totally the truth. I tell some people and don't tell others and there is no rhyme or reason to it. I get some good reactions, I get some bad reactions. I love my business partners reaction his statement is I put my money where my mouth is literally. And if more people were willing to do this we would live in a better world. People will talk but when it comes to stepping up a ton of people just can't do it. Who knows my best friends, my family and that is basically it. There are a few others but not a ton. My bandster life people know obiviously since I meet with them once a month or so.

Don't cry for me.. it is just something I got through. Truthfully I think I had a faulty band, when I was banded all over North America there was a series of slips and disconnects etc etc. I did exactly what the docs told me and I still had every problem you could have. I want to stress I am a rarity not a common thing... I was banded Jan 7 2022 I disconnect and my port flipped March 7 2002 (first fill) at the same time this was happening to a ton of other people including a few other Joffe and Yau patients and it had never happened to any of the surgeons before. Tubing disconnect was an undocumented complication when I was banded. then Sept 9 I was diagnosed with a slip (total de-fill) then Jan 2 2003, diagnosed with another slip right after I filled with a small fill) Jan 7 2003 the band was re-positioned March 2003 (height of the sars crisis) slipped again total defill again) December 2003, Port flip was fixed during plastic surgery May 2004 band slip while I was defilled and after over a year of being peachy keen, this time the band came out for 6 months conventional wisdom at the time they don't do this anymore. October 2004 a new band went back in Now important to know.. I had a 4 cc band, never was filled over 1.5 cc's because at 1.5 cc's I could barely get through a bottle of Water. I didn't vomit a lot, maybe once a month or so. I lost the majority of my weight de-filled because I had perfect restriction with the 4cc band with no fill and I didn't realize that until I was de-filled and couldn't be re-filled. I had the Quest for the perfect fill.. and mine was constricted by travelling for work and only have certain days to fill etc etc. I lost my weight over 18 months, and I did work out and eat properly didn't touch a ton of different food until my band slipped the last time never drank pop didn't want to risk problems etc. I think that filling too tight and too fast and keeping it that way has a ton of issues, living on liquids, including soft calories like ice cream etc it is not living. I want to be able to eat a small amount of anything sushi, beef, pork, turkey anything and be full and live my life just eating lighter than most people. The band is a head game and the sooner people realize wrapping your head around all the good and really around the bad, the sooner the start working on issues and overcome them daily. I still have food issues after five years but I had a lot of time to think and read and work on them too. Keep in mind everyone is different I knew there was something wrong because things were happening that never happened before. You have to have a fluro to diagnose a slip there is no other way. With that said every time I slipped it was the same symptoms. Acid reflux, sudden vomiting (I would have a sip of water and vomit) vomiting foods I ate the night before, suddenly I could eat two bites or I could eat a ton of food and there was no predicting if it was going to be a lot or nothing. I knew there was a problem and talked to my doc about it. Now on a slip they go in and fix it right away the band doesn't come out for 6 months usually. Good luck remember I am a rarity, but because I am I have an amazing relationship with my surgeon. I am so glad Patrick Yau is my surgeon because he knows how to fix things.. really knows how to fix them. I do think it was a faulty band because people who were banded around the same time with the same band had the same issues. This are some people with surgeons who at the time had done 1000's of bands. I don't think it was my surgeon, I think with a less experienced doc I would have been in trouble and not done nearly as well.

Yea Colleen looking forward to meeting you... it will be awesome

I choose banding after about three months of research what won me over was the less invasive like most people totally reversible band easy to fix if it breaks if you need to change to another form of weight loss you can with relative ease. comfort with the surgeons experience with the procedure (I think I was patient 60 or so for Yau) the fact that I can still eat everything with the RNY I might have dumping etc. the results of the band and the RNY tend to be very similar over the long term

Having had 4 slips and not filled fast or slow I can honestly say, slips aren't so much fun... you get over them and get on with your life they are a challenge. I think there are so many people who expect to only eat a certain amount, and to find the sweet spot... I don't think there is a perfect amount to eat.. or a sweet spot I think it is a myth. I think eating a reasonable amount, and fills change daily, weekly monthy... I think there are people who fill too fast, vomit too much, eat too many soft calories etc etc... I think there are people who do everything wrong and when they have a complication I am not surprised. I think there are also people who do it all right.. and still have issues and those are the ones I feel for.