susieq321

Lapband is exclusively excluded from the OHIP schedule from benefits with a vote in the Ontario legislature in Dec 07 I think. This means that it won't be considered for coverage etc. This was part of a article in the Globe and Mail back then where people were fighting to get partial coverage. Good thing if you are military I can think of two people the cdn forces have paid for the band for as part of a need for their position in the forces. Heather

As requested starting a new thread... feel free to post here the good the great, the not so great, problems, complications compliments etc. Again this thread is primarily for Slimband patients so if you are reading and not a Slimband clinic patient please do not get upset when we talk about our surgeon and clinic as our best choice and the best choice we see possible. Heather

I don't mind starting a new thread is everyone in agreement to let this one go and start a new thread?

It is funny since banding MSG makes me vomit instantly two bits of anything with MSG and I am hiking for the restroom... It never bothered me prebanding really now it is almost instant I know when something has MSG in it. Heather

Wanda, The question is how much are you eating and what are you eating and how much are you moving your body. If you are starving yourself you will stop losing you need to have food to lose weight... you need to have calories or your body will go into starvation mode. I think Doddie is right you may want to talk to your clinic and see what they can do to help and advise you. You should be getting in 1200-1500 cals at a min a day and be moving your body in some form. But if you are not getting enough in your body you won't lose even if you are exercising like a madman. Good luck I hope you start losing again and I not get a fill pre vacation because you might be stuck eating food that you aren't used to or that sticks a little more than usual. Heather

Mary, thank you for posting this I am in the US pretty much 300 days a year for my job so since we eat out a few times a week it is nice to know what is in things. I have been eating out since I was first banded much more than most people because I spend a lot of my life living in hotels and eating out. I have always used common sense, ordering things like french onion Soup with no cheese and no bread when I was on clear fluids because it is beef broth giving me some Protein. Other than that I learned that chicken, beef and lots of fish are my friends. I haven't been a calorie counter since my first 6 months post banding by then I had worked out protein counts in my head so I knew I was getting enough protein. Even now I think about what I am ordering and try to structure it based on what else I have eaten throughout the day, the time I am eating etc. But restaurants have a ton of hidden calories sauces done in butter, a quick flash fry in fat, and the dressings etc all laden with fat. As a general rule I never eat the bread or salad or soup that comes with my entree I can't eat that much food so I skip it. And I learned a long time ago I don't eat leftovers often so leaving them behind is much more practical for me... unless the friends or the dog want them. And the other thing I have learned is I am a high maintenance ordering machine... if I am paying for it I want it the way I want it, sauce on the side, substitutions etc...I am polite and never protest paying more when I ask for something different but if I am paying I am not afraid to ask for what I want and how I like it. Heather

Hanbe, I am friends with Kathy and I have a good relationship with Yau... two things I have learned in this life is that not everyone can like everyone else and they just may not be your cup of tea.. and that is ok. I get along with them and that is ok too, Kathy was one of the few resources for those who were banded way back when and she was amazing with people and her own research and I know from experience she does care but that is my relationship with her. Yau... first time I met him that I remembered I loathed him called him a bastard I do believe... I was going in for my first fill at Grace and after over an hour of Joffe and the radiologist freezing and poking me everywhere... they called Yau out of surgery he walked in found the only unfrozen spot on my stomach inserted the needle none to nicely said her tubing is disconnected she needs surgery and walked out... that was it I was like who is that bastard? I was told and I said well he is a total jerk. The moral of that story is Yau is a surgeon and as a general rule most surgeons I have met over the years aren't the most social creatures and like to cut people open and fix them, they don't always have a decent bedside manner. As I got to know Yau through my complications and helping a friend out who had complications I liked him, he became human with a sense of humour etc. That lesson took me a long time, and most of his patients won't ever get to see him the way I did because I spent that time with him and it is probably a good thing that they don't know him that way. Knowing him as a surgeon from other non banding patients there is not a surgeon I know that I trust more than Yau other than my plastic guy... and both of those two rank highly with me as people who care that they help you and are perfectionists and there is nothing more you can ask of a surgeon. I can honestly say this Dr Yau does care about his patients and if you are struggling and you aren't happy with your results or the help the nurses are providing you and at your wits end and you make an appt with Dr Yau he will sit there and go through things with you. He may tell you things you don't want to hear but he will take the time to work through issues and make suggestions etc. It isn't something he wants to do with every patient since there are well over 2000-3000 of us but if you do need him Hanbe he will make the time for you. The reason he hired all the staff he hired was so he could concentrate on surgery rather than on the patients and he arranged to hire people who had been banded and who could help in ways he may not be able to, but he will take the time for any patient who needs it and has exhausted the other options. And with that said even if you sat and talked to Yau you might not like him as I said I learned a long long time ago there are a lot of people who can't stand me and I am good with that not everyone can like all of us and we can't like everyone and that is ok. As for the pop you are welcome it is something I never believed until I watch that episode of Mythbusters it was eye opening. For liquids... I am a little different since I am at goal I do a lot of milk, water, some teas, wine, martinis and some fountain soda (the last three full of sugar and not the best choice but I do them in moderation and the soda I am trying to break that habit again)

You would throw up many times long before you burst your band. I have heard of the clips that hold the band shut breaking once in 7 years. Pain in the stomach is relative we don't have pain nerves in our stomach, pain nerves are closer to the surface we have the full receptors, gag reflex etc but deep where are organs are there aren't true pain receptor nerves. The dull pain sounds more like what I eat too fast and am over full slightly. It is an ache of fullness and my warning that I really shouldn't have eaten that much and if I take another bite I will vomit. Talk to your surgeon and get his opinion. Heather

It doesn't sound band related to me to, usually the band won't give you the runs.. it is the food you eat and your bodies reaction to it. I know for me if I eat popcorn because I have a slight allergy to corn I will have a bit of a reaction... so I agree with Argon it could be something like IBS, gallstones, etc I have no idea but I would talk to you family Dr and get it checked out. Hope you feel better Heather

To anyone considering going I would say go I can't tell you over the years how much the lunches helped me in going and meeting people who understood what I am going through and how it feels. People who aren't banded will never get it totally they try but it isn't the same. I still go to the lunches when I get a chance and I am in the country. Meetings at the clinic are the same idea. Heather

I agree it is a good idea to be informed... and when I had my post plastic surgery issue and I talked to my PS about the treatment and the base statements that were made to me about going home and getting care from the surgeon who did the work. And it was along the lines of if they had seen me and taken care of the post surgical issues they then become medically responsible for seeing me on an ongoing basis and if the complications escalated they would be responsible for repairing those complication and it was something they had no desire to get involved with. So they treated the symptom and got me out of there. Fortunately my complication was an abscess that burst and then healed on its own but I got the idea they wouldn't touch me unless it was life or death and even then it would be a debate could I get to my surgeon. Since I went to the emerg I had no inclincation of seeing a PS I knew I would see a general emerg doc. That emerg doc sent me to the infectious diseases unit who in turn talked to a PS who was described what had happened to me but who I never saw and who never personal evaluated my issue. And if I ended up in emerg during my extensive travels (I am on the road 300 days a year) I would never expect to see a band surgeon to help me and to that end I am prepared with a CD and a thorough understanding of my band and how it works and where my port etc are. Heather

I just want to clarify do you think that in an emerg situation (which life threatening band issues are rare very rare) you are thinking that you can go to a clinic and ask the surgeon to help you? Now I can understand thinking that you can go to an emerg and ask the emerg docs to help you. But at emerg the odds of getting a band surgeon are somewhere between slim and completely never ever happening. The other consideration is from my limited understanding of the Cdn medical system and one of the reasons that most clinics won't take on patients is that once the band doctor sees you he has a moral and ethical responsibility to keep you as a patient. I know this was an issue I ran into post plastic surgery when I was in Calgary and my surgeon was in Toronto. The Calgary docs saw me in emerg but the answer I was given was basically go home to Toronto and have your surgeon help you we won't touch you we don't want to see you or help you get on a plane and get out of here. I agree patients who are distance from their clinics have other considerations than those who are closer to their clinics but understand we all choose our clinics for a reason and most of us wouldn't make another choice. Heather

All I know is what I have experienced... I have a friend who is an xray tech in San Deigo and based on the horror she personally has seen coming out of surgeries in Mexico she wasn't willing to go there and get banded... (her experience is surgerical not specifically banding but she has seen some people horribly disfigured, maimed where Plastics won't help and several die.) I have talked to multiple patients who went to Mexico and thought it would be easier and cheaper. They are frustrated with the lack of fill sources available to them in Canada and several who have had complications and been left out in the cold by their Mexico surgeons and some of those have been surgeons who praises I have heard sung to the heavens... I don't think it is fear mongering I think people should be informed if Mexico works for you then go, but don't expect me to be upset when no Canadian surgeon wants to fill you or help out with your aftercare that is your problem. I am with Tracey I have read a lot of posts bitching about people who can't get the aftercare they were promised so the deal they got in the end is not quite the deal they thought it would be. If I was going out of country I would make sure I had a well written contract and I had proofed it with a Mexican lawyer because that contract means jack in Canadian courts and is not enforceable. I made my choice to self pay and stay in Canada and I am happy with my choice and even knowing what I know now I wouldn't change that choice or clinic or surgeon. Dr Yau is the only surgeon I would want to have the surgery with. Heather

I have a slightly different perspective.. when I was banded I had US health insurance and could have had a lap RNY in less time and for free.... I couldn't be banded in the US since it was approved until much later in 02 than I was banded... but I could have self paid and gone to Mexico. There were no clinics when I was banded and only two choices of local Toronto surgeons who worked together and both did my banding. So even though I could have had a lap RNY faster I choose to self pay in Canada and a large part of that was the difference in the medical syste,. I didn't trust Mexico at the time (this was over 7 years ago) and now that has been born out with the number of patients I have talked to who have no one to do their fills locally, who have had complications and their Mexican surgeon while very experienced in placing bands since he doesn't see most of his patients again isn't so skilled in complications... and sent them to find a new Dr in Canada. I have heard great things about the hospitals and the skills but crappy things about the follow up. The US I know a little about the US since I work there much of the time... their medical system is a crap shoot.. so I get banded I pay for everything including fills in most cases. If you are fortunate enough to have Health insurance and have a WLS you better hope you keep your job and your carrier because if you switch jobs you new carrier can refuse you covered services because you had surgery under another carrier... even if you stay with the same carrier... and switch jobs they can refuse you coverage because it is a pre existing condition.... I am glad I made the decision I made 7 years ago, I could not have more confidence in my surgeon Dr Yau and my clinic and their support of me... I have had one issue with Slimband and it was resolved as soon as I complained... I agree with Tracey check out all the clinics and make your decision on who you are comfy with this is a long term relationship so you need to like who you are going to have it with. Heather

I know there are plenty of people who have been banded to help get preggers but caring for a baby, mostly I would be prepared not to lift the baby if they weigh over ten lbs on your own for a few days (I would say weeks but I know that likelihood) The reason for this is that for about 2-3 weeks most docs say do not lift over 10lbs.. because you can give yourself a hernia and damage the already bruised muscles. I would have someone prepared to do some shopping for you or at least load and unload the car and put things away. I would also have someone to help you out.. it depends on how you react to general and the surgery some people are fine some people need painkillers for weeks. Me I was great didn't take painkillers post leaving the hospital, drove from Toronto to Boston on day three no problems... but that was me you might be as good or not so good! Heather

Absolutely... even with my complications and no aftercare when I was done at all I would do it again in a heartbeat... I look at it this way we can all lose weight, losing isn't that hard truthfully it is the expenditure of more calories than we eat... we have all lost a ton of weight over the years... the band is amazing and I mean amazing at helping you maintain that weight loss over the long term with relatively low effort... and this is where most of us fail in maintaining that jenny craig, weight watchers, atkins etc loss that we had... it is in keeping the weight off over years rather than months.. the band makes that simple easy peasy and that I would not give up for anything else in the world! I have been banded just over 7 years now and at goal for over 5 1/2 Heather

Peter, I had heard from a friend in the industry who works with a lot of the cosmetic surgeons etc who I used to date that he was assisting and still placing bands on his own (not sure if the surgery on his own was in CIBO or just Sarnia).. but that is the rumour mill I put some credence in it based on who I heard it from but take it for what it is worth. I know he was advertising that he was placing bands in Sarnia but I didn't see him advertising that same service in Toronto. Heather

Paula, you have done awesome congrats and you are so right it is so not all the band it is mostly you and what and how you do things and live your life and the choices you make. Congrats you look fantastic! Heather

wow interesting that a post from two years ago with no responses pops up... So much has happened since then.... Joffe immediately was gone from TLBC, went to work with CIBO after this and since then pleaded guilty and lost his license to practice in ON. Heather

Soda has been a no no as long as I was banded... I can think of one senior bandster who has some diet coke last year and had pain like she thought she was having a heart attack... she honestly thought she was going to die.. she works for a Dr and he defilled her and low and behold it was the soda expanding in her pouch and causing the pain instant relief! With my original band I could never drink soda at all it was too painful. The carbonation expanded too much and it was physically painful all the time. With my J&J band fountain soda works for me I tend to avoid it because my thoughts run along these lines.... There is no redeeming health value in the crap that is in soda/pop I don't like the taste of diet pop and if I am going to put crap in my body I might as well go for the full sugar crap as opposed to the chemical tasting diet crap. If you understand how much you stretch your pouch with all the carbonation of soda you might not want to drink it. Mythbusters did an experiment about pop rocks and soda exploding your stomach and watching the pig stomach expand from the carbonation of just the soda alone was pretty freaky! Drinking soda can make you prone to slippage and other complications... as long as you are aware of the potential damage you are doing to your band then go for it but it could be worse than you ever thought... If you are a Slimband bandster go talk to Dr Yau about drinking pop/soda and see how long that lecture is and how shamefaced you come out of it... he has some very strong views about bandsters drinking pop! Heather

Jorja, A lot of the time a small tilt is easy to deal with for the surgeons and the nurses and they just leave it, even a port flip can be manageable and I was filled with my port flipped several times. My port after four years since was sticking out and rubbing on belts, clothes etc and very irritated and for the first time ever someone asked what that hard bump was.... it was bothering me. So I had Dr Yau move it, there is the option of being under a local that works well for some people... it wasn't an option with me because of where he wanted to reseat the port how I wanted it and also because I had no desire to be done under a local... it is a quick 10-20 min procedure you are out you are awake and moving around again... the worst part is the after affects of the general but since I am sensitive to both locals and generals it is no worse with one or the other for me. Port movement is not a big deal and easy to deal with for the docs. Heather

Different clinics use different bands, SWLC uses only the lapband system done by innamed last time I heard. Slimband uses all sorts of bands the realize, J&J/ swedish band, the Innamed system and so on. One of the nice things about Dr Yau is he looks at your body type and shape and then based on his experience choose the right type of band from his arsenal that he thinks will suit you. I had won a free Innamed band at the first bash and Dr Yau knew that and decided when my Innamed original band had slipped so many times it wasn't good with my body and he wanted to use a J&J Swedish band since based on how I had lost weight and where I had lost etc he felt it would be better with my body and knock on wood other than my port having to be moved I have not had a complication since.... That said almost all the bands work the same way with differences in how they are constructed being minimal some of the tubing and band portion around the stomach is more or less flexible. Heather

Doddie a diabetes reversal is amazing and exciting.... failure to chew I know sometimes I fall into old habits and don't chew enough sometimes it helps me to mix up textures of food in one bite. So I will have protein, veges all in one bite and it helps me subscribe to chewing well... I find if I just have a bite of steak and only steak or protein or just veges I have a harder time remembering to chew... There is something about mixing the food textures that makes me chew more not sure what it could be my imagination but it works for me....as you can tell I don't subscribe to the pea sized bite theory... I find the smaller the bite the less likely you are to chew a lot. Good luck Heather

Doddie, Not my thread but I would suggest we check in as we go... so we are accountable and cheering each other on! I suck I haven't made the gym yet the bag is packed but I can't do yoga until my wrist heals long story but there is aquafit on Thursday and just plain jane cardio! So tomorrow gym... and thurs.. Tonight I have dinner plans it is a special occasion dinner which I am glad don't happen every day. On the upside I am eating better... fruit, back to my loved desired and adored spinach salad for lunch with some more veges and hard boiled eggs.... so I am getting back to some of my basics now I just need to stop the sugar... darn xmas leftover home made chocolates!

Dr Leung has been banding patients for a lot of years.. he has very little bedside manner from what I have heard but his patients as a group have done amazing... He used to not fill unless they had met their goals they set or if he felt they didn't need it and a host of other reason I don't know if that is still true. I haven't read a lot of complications from his patients over the years nor have I read any complaints other than his bed side manner sucks. There was a group on yahoo groups just for his patients called the BCbandits they would have more info if it is still going. good luck with you band and take it easy post surgery Heather