susieq321

lynda, for your thighs it depends on what you need done.. a body lift would never work with my thighs I need the full thigh lift.. I still have some mass on my thighs and a ton of sagging skin. So I need the full cut down the inside of my thigh and across the groin line to get the results that will make me happy. I will see my same surgeon who did my TT and Breast Lift, for my thigh lifts. We had a lovely talk about the two methods of cutting for a thigh lift and how the results would look with my shape of thigh, skin removal etc. And he explained to me where just the groin cut would fail and be pulled lower and he would need to operate a second time to make me happy... (I am fussy and he knows it) There is some pain with PS.. don't think there isn't but it is managable. I am lucky I have a high toleralence for pain, so I don't need a ton of painkillers after surgery. I would say if you are doing it give yourself a few extra weeks to manage major pain.

I have 200 + plus bottles of wine in my basement.. so yes I drink wine. I find that with less weight I get loopy much faster. Soda and carbonated beverages. I drink some fountain soda.. it tends to have a lot less carbonation. I didn't touch pop for about 2-3 years, I tried it once when I was filled and it physically hurt so then I stopped drinking it quickly. If you can cut out the soda you are better off.. most people I know have issues with soda once they are filled to any tightness. Keep in mind one stat I saw on TV recently was showing a medium fountain drink with 26 tablespoons of sugar!!! I know there is diet soda but that is just as bad for so many other reasons. If you can stop drinking sodas you are much better off. I know people who have reached goal and never stopped drinking soda but most of us have stopped drinking it at least through the weight loss phase. Remember the more you have to lose the faster you lose and never ever compare yourself to anyone else. You are unique and you will lose it all in your own unique way.

Thank you for the compliments. I have the swedish band with a fairly loose fill and I honestly believe after 5 years the best thing in the world about the band is not how it helps you lose weight... but how it helps you maintain the weight loss with such ease... it really helps you. I can say I was at a christmas gathering with a bunch of WLS patients and every WLS you can imagine was there the RNY, the VBG, the DS, stomach stapling these were all long timers 4+ years out for all of us. There were two bandsters and we were the only two who ever reached goal and maintained our weight at goal. The rest of the surgeries had regained and in some cases substantial amounts of weight. I go for fills on occasion I have been to see Dr Yau for one fill last year... and I think three de-fills. (My band likes to self tighten if I am stressed) I am at about 5 cc's roughly maybe a little less maybe a little more. Be prepared to have a relationship with your surgeon and their staff for a long time that is unlike any other doctor patient relationship. I can't speak for Dr Coburn I can speak for Joffe and Yau.. they are amazing kind surgeons with great staff, who in the first two years tend to see you as often as you need a fill. I have heard similar things about Dr Coburn also. But in truth once you learn to work with the band and make a consistent effort with eating and exercising losing the weight follows. Then once you reach goal maintaining is simple, I tend not to think about my weight or what I eat other than to think am I getting in enough Protein, liquids etc.

Mostly for breakfast I have a large glass or two of skim milk, sometimes I throw oatmeal in there but most mornings I am too tight for anything but liquids and I am not a huge fan of the drink something hot to eat more theory. lunch really varies if I am working at home or in the office.. when I am at home I am very very bad because I forget to eat. So I tend to have salads, cheese and crackers with some meat, eggs, fruit and veges etc. dinner again is just a normal meal tonight is brisket, last night was a fondue with veges, fruit and Protein. I can still eat bread no matter how tight I get, I don't eat a lot of it but it doesn't pose a problem for me. I also tend to try and have types of food, I focus on a protein first, then veges, then carbs. I also need to mix textures of food it seems to work better with my stomach and band. So if I am having beef, I need to have the veges with it just the beef sitting in my stomach alone doesn't work nearly as well.

My understanding of the AP is this is innamed's latest and greatest contribution to the lapband community. I know J&J just brought out a new version of the swedish band too. The nice thing about the latest and greatest band is they have taken all the flaws and complications and weight loss challenges into the design of the band. So you are getting what they have deisgned to be the best. I wouldn't worry about having a new design of band, I know for me that would give me a little encouragement. It is kinda like buying a new car, do you want the one with all the features or the baseline model... I like all the bells and whistles, so knowing I have the latest technology and design would give me some peace of mind.

Actually I need to change my ticker tape ( I am lazy)... I am pretty much at goal.. I am generally a size 8-10 on the bottom and 6-8 on the top. Thank you for the compliments. It is very doable for anyone, just keep on your track and do what you need to do to get there. I think sites like this are awesome for helping people out with information and support. There are people here who know where you are and where you are going. Sometimes it is harder to relate this to your friends and family if they aren't banded sometimes.

I would take it slowly... I like to mix my textures of food. So if I am eating salad I like to have greens, with different veges and some Protein like fish or chicken. It seems to sit better in my stomach when I mix the textures but you won't have to worry about that for a while. The other thing I can say is I travelled during my post-op and don't worry about strange restaurant orders. I ordered a lot of french onion Soup minus the choose, bread and make it mostly broth. I checked out a lot of menu's on the net (only really works with chains) I am not sure what the standard food of egypt are but I would think you can get several variations of dips, vegetarion dishes etc. I would personally avoid rice as it is hard to chew enough at first and tends not to sit great with most people. Remember you won't be filled so any restriction you have will just be natural restriction and you may find that you can transition without problems. Be very slow to go things like beef or solid meat. Try stews if you have to because meats softens with the cooking. Good luck and keep asking your questions.

Yasmina, as you noticed I am 5 years out.. but I was lucky I heal well and fast, I drove to Boston 4 days after surgery and then 2 days later had to fly across the country for work. I didn't need painkillers after I left the hospital (all the bandings were done in the hospital back then) So it depends... my advice take a pillow for the ride home from the clinic it helps with the bumps and the seatbelt. At two weeks out I was walking slowly on a treadmill and doing pretty much everything else too. Move slowly and heal well, I can't say enough good things about Joffe and Yau as surgeons and their staff at the TLBC.. several are banded so they get where you are and where you are going which is so nice. Good luck.

Yasmina, Congrats... that is awesome. You will love Nisrine she is banded and look at her.. hotty mchotty there and such a nice person. Tip from having done this write down your questions in advance so you have them all it is so easy to get in there and forget half of what you want to know about the band and the clinic etc. Good luck

I was done by Dr Sliwin (not the best beside manner but oh my god an amazing surgeon, he actually has been to seminars for surgeons on how to deal with WLS patients and patients who have had massve losses of weight, our skin changes and has to be dealt with differently etc) I paid $10 500.00 for both the TT and Breast lift/reduction that was including all taxes. I am going back to see him for my thigh lifts and pretty much any other work I need done aside from the face and I will go to someone who only does faces. Yes I am now a firm beleiver in the power of PS... I was happy with who I was before and now I am delighted never underestimate the power of perky boobs to make a girl feel good. I don't plan on touching the face as part of the WLS surgery but I beleive in the power of aging gracefully. And thank you so much for the compliment. Puddin, I have a quick question and I will ask the guy who had the Beltline this too.. but recently he had a thich lift that also continued around to give him basically a butt lift with the thigh lift. I am just trying to figure out because the beltline does basically a butt lift with the tightening of the skin in the back of the body any reason you can think of why the surgeon would do a double butt lift kind thing? (by the way he had two seperate incisions the beltline incision and then with the thigh lift the incision goes around the front o his groin all the way through the crotch and around the back about 3/4's of the way along the back of his buttock line. (yes you would think I saw it but no only had it described in detail...) I thought it was strange to go and do the double butt lift sort of thing.

thank you for the information interesting I hadn't heard that Joffe or Yau was going down to Sarnia. As for the 100 patients someone has to be in the first 100 and I know the 3 patient in Canada to be banded and she has never ever had an issue lost all her weight and has kept it off for 5 + years now. I kinda went with the method of being somewhere between 50-60.. and the docs only get better with time.

I had a TT of course there is scarring but when I think of their scarring vs mine massive scars some that span several inches in width on top of the scar that goes around the body. My scar is a thin scar that goes hip to hip. The one scar I saw yesterday is about 6 months younger than mine (I was done 3 years ago) and his is stll purple and raw looking. But that is all in how you heal that person heals badly. I heal well, if you were just looking at the area of my scar from a few feet away you wouldn't see it... you have to get close to notice there is even a scar there.

I was talking to the organizer of the Canadian Wellness Bandster Bash the other day and we were discussing what we would like to see happen at the bash at the end of May. But what we would like to see might not be what everyone else wants, so Kathy would like some suggestions as to what people would like to have seminars or round table discussions on. We know we are booking a yoga for larger sizes in the morning, there is a reception on Friday night and sometimes we have a discussion or just the party and head to the pool Saturday is seminars, and Sunday is open round tables with different topics open to discussion. If you have any suggestions of what you would like to see this year or at future bashes it would be great to hear from you. You can email Kathy directly at munjacake@rogers.com with suggestions etc. Or post them here and I will make sure Kathy comes and reads and is aware of them.

There are few docs in Canada who do the Beltline Liptectomy (body lift) it has a huge complication rate even for plastic sugery. It has about a 50% complication rate. There are a few people who have had it that I know of but all of them have scarring. I had a breast life/reduction and tummy tuck, I love the results. It doesn't change how you feel about your body in some ways, but in other ways it does. It made me more comfy, I lost about 150 lbs so I had a lot of hanging skin on my stomach and now I feel more comfy. I think it is really individual and you need to be generally happy with your body and really happy with your mental state before you will be happy with plastic surgery.

I know Dr Joffe and Yau used to do some surgery out of the Bluewater are they still doing surgery there? Is there someone else doing surgery there. I am just curious because i thought it was great that somewhere outside of Toronto was getting banding done. Heather

If you talk to TLBC about the pre-op diet they will let you eat high Protein low fat instead of the yogurt and Water diet. So something like grilled chicken breast works. They just want you to shrink you liver a bit if possible. Heather

Since I have the joy of helping plan it I think I just might be there. We love meeting new people and I know the guys love meeting new guys and seeing how they are progressing. HD

Argon, I think I know who you are talking about her initials are MS... she is a good friend of mine and she would be flattered to know you consider her an inspiration. This is one of those people who when you meet is truly a good person, she is a good kind spirit and has worked damm hard on her head and her body to get where she is today. She is one of the bandsters that I respect the most out of the dozens that I personally know. If it is who I am thinking of I am not sure if you read this but she has started to work with the TLBC clinci on life coaching too.

Tracey let me know there was some confusion as to the bash... the dinner price is also seperate because there are a lot of people who only want to bring their significant other to the dinner and not to all the conferences. So for the price of the bash everything is included, except the hotel room. This means lectures by surgeons, there is usually a specialist in plastic surgery and specialists in dealing with body image and things like head hunger. The speakers aren't booked yet, but they usually are great at getting very good speakers and they try to split the focus for new bandsters and more senior bandsters topics. The total price also includes all of your food and we customize our menu so that the food is bandster friendly as much as possible. It is usually a great weekend which lets you connect with people who have been through or are going through what you are. And it is always great to put faces to names. The Canadian Lapbanders also arrange a monthly meeting for those who are local to Toronto and we have several people who attend. We try and mix up the location around the city for people to get there easier. Heather