susieq321

Lucy, It was meant to show how absurd accusing anyone of working for a clinic is... Just because some one has had good experiences doesn't make them a plant, it means they had good experiences.. just because someone has bad experiences doesn't make them a plant either it means they have had some bad experiences. Over all my experience with Slimband/TLBC/no clinic prior to that has been amazing and this is coming from a girl who has had 7 complications surgeries that required her to fly back to Toronto to have them fixed.... none of the complications were the surgeons fault and I attribute them to a faulty band and weight lost. Sorry but my experience is the opposite of theirs and i don't mind saying it doesn't make me a sales person it makes me a happy bandster. As for where swansong lives i looked at her profile and it was on there... 50, sudbury , 3 posts and you can even read the posts so that is where I got that info. I don't work for the clinic don't need to work for the clinic don't want to work for the clinic my clients are high enough maintenance without having to deal with patients who are super high maintenance pain in the asses myself included in that, god if I had to deal with people like us all day I would shoot myself.. I have sat in the waiting rooms and listened.. and not a hope... being a software consultant is bad enough people are horrid computers are simple, believe me or not...I don't care my pay cheques are signed by someone other than slimband. You are going to go where you are going to go, I just say go where you are comfy and where you like the staff and the surgeons you will have a long relationship with them. You owe it to yourself to be happy with your clinic and the amount of money you spent and if you have 3-4 choices in your local area why not talk to all of them and then make your choice... I am not saying choose one over the other I am not saying lean to one over the other it is obvious where I would go and where I will take my mum when she is ready to be banded. And I don't care if this thread goes on forever I wanted to start something more positive so sue me, something that was shorter again sue me.. as I have stated many times I prefer focusing on the positive but yes sometimes my annoyance gets the better of me like all people and do you honestly think if i worked at the clinic I could post what I have been posting... and they wouldn't fire me, or at least tell me to stop posting...think about it.. I have always been known to speak my mind and I am not going to change that. Read Canadian lapbanders on yahoo groups or read my posts here you can search my name and you will read that it is not all about the clinics neither are my posts on here for the most part until recently. Sorry when I see something I believe in being jumped on I will speak up... and I don't care who likes it. And yes I will continue to post about my positive experiences because guess what I have that right just as people have the right to post about negative experiences... and when I had a negative experience I posted about that.. and dealt with it and got over it and moved on. People have both.. so what... I have never ever said don't post about the negative I have said post it and move on... So good luck Lucy I hope it works out for you, I hope you meet and exceed your goals and I hope that for any one who is banded whether I like them or not or whether they go to my clinic or not it is a free market system may the best clinic win you business and I hope you do your research and ask a ton of questions and most importantly make the right choice for you and that you are comfy with. But since I came here for support I think I will get back to my basics and start working on my support... Heather

I have been at goal for over five years now, so I am not worried about losing weight but during the five years I have not for the life of me learned to love fitness and working out! I get to the gym a few times a week or doing some hiking and some yoga etc.. and I feel good working out and post working out... I hate going so I will postpone it for anything including a hang nail... How did you learn to love working out? What is your work out? What did you try that is different to make you enjoy it? I read an article on Oprah not long again that examined the brain cycles of why people can't learn to love it and what they said was interesting too... but I am still wrapping my head around it... and trying to figure out how I can find something that I truly want to do to improve my fitness levels. Heather

Well I am not looking to lose weight but I am willing to challenge myself to working out and eating better... so I am willing to challenge myself to take a class or work out at least three times per week Heather

Lucy, I am a TLBC patient and have been for 7 years, it is a good clinic. I have had one negative experience with the clinic since it has been open and it was easily solved.. I sent an email, got a solution and that was that. I would advise you to visit both before you make your decision. I know SWLC patients and they all love their clinic too... I think both clinics will do phone consults to save you an initial trip it is only a phone call and they both will pay for long distance. Before going into any clinic there are some questions I would ask knowing what I know now. 1) fills how long are they covered and if not for life why not? 2) complications who pays and how much and why aren't they covered? 3) post op support what do they offer and how this is very important for new patients to understand and distance patients it becomes even more important. And yes Slimband may have a few vocal patients who aren't happy today but there are a few hundred I know personally who are delighted with the clinic and wouldn't go any where else. Most of all I say go with where you are comfy and if you choose to talk to Slimband ask them about the negative comments and what you have read and see what they say Good luck and make the choice you are comfortable with Heather

The best method is to contact your clinic and see if they have someone in that area who does fills for them and if they know there is a demand for a fill Dr in your area and they know about it they may find it worth while to train one... Not sure who your clinic is, but you could also contact the post op support rep there and ask for help there too good luck fills are important. Heather

Doddie, Thank you for the offer, right now forgive me if I am annoyed frankly I think Cindy is a plant... three posts all negative and meant to stir the pot please that sounds like a rival clinic to me. I was talking to a friends who isn't banded and she actually gave me the idea... I told her the scenario and she said the best offense is a good defense... so it sounds like this person is a plant trying to stir up ill will towards your clinic and like she might be employed by a rival clinic lets face it banding is big business worth a lot of money and as a clinic if I can steer people away from the busiest clinic with the most patients then they up for grabs for the others clinics to make money off of. Was a 50 years Cindy even banded last year who lives in Sudbury? I don't know only Slimband and she does.... and I am guessing based on her accusations of me that the answer to that is no. I have had a very different journey than most, 7 complication surgeries but overall my journey is relatively easy. I just have the need to refocus my energies on my journey. And I will do that however it works for me.. I have been posting on myslimband since it is a different forum and I wanted to try a different crowd than the Yahoo group with a different perspective than I was reading.. and so I came back here too. For me it works to go back to my basics but I also want to add a few things in there and I am struggling with how to add a love of fitness in there... So for now I think I will keep posting everywhere it suits me and sorry if that annoys the people who aren't happy but it makes me happy and just for kicks everytime I read something negative I think I might just find a positive story about Slimband/TLBC from my present and past and maybe even the future as it happens and post that for contrast.... Slimband has done awesome things... they have done a ton for their patients over the years. But there will always be patients who fail to meet their goals and blame everyone else for the reasons why instead of themselves. And I so understand about venting and getting it off your chest I don't understand focusing on the negative. People will post what they want positive or negative... I am just choosing to focus on the good instead of the bad because I know in my life it is how I get to the best places for me to be. Again Doddie thank you I will continue posting and taking what works for me out of this discussion and the others on the site..

Some bypasses are now reversible, not all are and even if your surgeon uses a reversible technique sometimes with scar tissue etc it is not reversible the body changes as we lose weight and some of those changes do not bode well. From what Dr Yau and I talked about a few months ago when I took my mother in for a consult about the bypass and the sleeve he is seeing more and more of his practice become bypass patients who are getting the band over the bypass to help with adjustability long term Heather

Cindy, It couldn't just be that I was offended... go back and read my posts there are 288 of them if you look at my profile. Think what you want I am not here to change your mind. I came back to get support at a time I needed it and offer what has worked for me in the past. Take from that what you want and if you want to think I am a clinic support staff come up and say hi to me next time you are there... And I plan on continue posting read it don't read it.. I am not sure what Slimband did to violate your trust as I said I haven't read all 14 pages and I don't plan on reading them. We all need different support at different times I have hit a low point where I threw out all my rules for about 8 months while I watched a love one die of cancer. So now I need to refocus and for me focusing has been posting on support groups and getting what I needed. When my port was moved in Oct I was talking to Patrick Yau about it and he as my surgeon encouraged me to get back to my basics... I wasn't ready to do it then and now I am. I am sorry you think I protest to much and I am support staff... I hope no one ever treats you when you are looking for support the way you have decided to treat others! heather

Oh my lord.. I am so not employed by TLBC or slimband I was banded long before they existed... look at my profile and you will see how long I have been a member of this site... want to talk to other bandsters who have met me and who also don't work for a clinic and I can provide those references hell I can even provide a SWLC employee as a reference and she will tell you I am not employed by Slimband... I am a software consultant... right now I work with a fortune 50 company in Colorado Springs... call Slimband and ask... people have met me... lots of them I hosted the Yahoo dinner I have been on here as a member since the site started there are times I have less time to post and more time to post... right now I am trying to refocus so I am making the time to post... people needs support at different times and I can tell that support is working so well on this page! I don't get why the accusations.... if you want a copy of my resume I will send it to you and you will see there is not one once of medical stuff on it.. and I don't plan on changing that. This is insane... people are people people get banded all the time, new people join, old people drop off, just because you don't like what I have to say doesn't make me a plant... Read and you might learn from me and as I read I might learn from you. Just as I might learn from others... and so can you As for why when people leave the clinics they can't set up their own businesses competing with the clinics I work contracts and standard in most of the contracts I sign as non compete clauses which means I can't take all the knowledge and contacts I made for a client and use that for my own gain... or that client can sue me for violating the non compete. The clinic may have similar things set up for employees I know when I was employer all the people who worked for me had long non competes which were very specific.. and almost every contract I sign has similar clauses.

Doddie, I think that everyone needs to hear about the good the bad and the ugly.. .for some of us this is easier than for others. I have always encouraged people to post their challenges. I haven't read all 14 pages and I said that I have read the last 3-4 and some of that was down right nasty.. people saying their experiences were good and being accused of being staff and a plant come on please... if you can't see that you are one person and not everyone has your issues then maybe you are a plant... to make slimband look bad, someone a competitor is paying to take an issue and blow it up and discourage patients! (see that sounds crazy just like accusing someone who has a good experience of being a plant is crazy) Slimband is working to overcome their issues just like any other clinic out there. I don't think harping on the same issues for page after page doesn't anything but feel the negative... and focus on the negative and breeds more negative thoughts. I encourage people to post their challenges their complaints but I also encourage them to address their complaints in a manner that will get addressed by the clinic and posting them on here does nothing but vent which is sometimes very needed.. After reading three pages it is like come on if you change your focus towards the positive maybe more positive things will come of it.... I am not a huge fan of the secret but I have worked affirmations and meditation etc into my life for a lot of years and it works for me... focus on the negative long term and negative things will happen to you.. focus on the positive and the changes will amaze you that happen they may be small but they add up. So by all means everyone vent... but vent and move on and change your focus the longer you hold on to the anger the longer it will hold on to you

Ok now i posted and it won't let me edit the title sorry I spelt Toronto wrong... and it won't let me delete either oh well

So I mentioned started a new thread for Slimband. Last years thread was getting up there to over a dozen pages, lets post our experiences, desires, victories what is working for us and questions that we have! This thread is primarily for Slimband patients formerly TLBC but anyone is welcome but please don't get upset if we talk about our surgeon positively or our clinic in glowing terms. Nothing against any other clinic but we choose our clinic for a reason and that is because it was the best choice for us and we thought it was the best period! I hope this year kicks off a year of losses in weight and gains in so many other areas of people lives! Heather

I lost 150 in about 18 months and have maintained that loss over 5 years now... that is a big thing you need to talk to people about on top of how much they have lost... maintenance Almost all the bypassers I know have regained weight and some significant weight at about the 5-7 year mark... their body has adjusted to the malabsorpation and the reduced calorie intake and they tend to gain. Ask about maintenance and regain it is a biggie for me... I can always get my band adjusted there is no adjust a bypass Good luck with your decision. I can say I love my clinic and my surgeon and he has been great with me. If you want more info on the clinics I can tell you about Slimband. Heather

I haven't read the over a dozen pages but I hope they are not all the same I know the last 3 or 4 I read were nasty and not helpful. TLBC and promises, I would encourage anyone who has a special deal ie fill Drs, anything out of the norm with any surgeon or staff member to get it in writing then there is no confusion as to what and who promised anything. Until you have it in writing there isn't a whole lot you can do about it because it becomes a he said she said situation. As for the rest of it Slimband is a great progressive clinic and they are willing to do things to help their patients. I was looking at the event calendar and things like lectures by Dr Barry Simon who I have heard speak and is amazing he actually gets that our heads are different than people who have never had a weight issue. Today marks my seventh year of banding and I can't tell you how far things have come. When I was banded there were no clinics and lots of promises, I could go on but as I posted somewhere else it is kind of like listening to your parents who walked 40 miles to school in ten feet of snow up hill both ways.... remember it is all about you and you are the one who can do this and you are the only one who is responsible if you succeed or fail! There is absolutely a need to get all the details out good and bad and where you succeed and where you fail but focusing on the negative will only breed more negative. Focusing on things like the compliments you got, how you feel in your body as you lose weight... how you move better how your back hurts less and your knees don't creak... those need to come out too. Maybe this is the time to start posting what works for you... what in the clinic worked for you what you would like to see more of? Maybe with the new year it is time for new goals and new attitudes. It might even be time for a new thread.. to start the new year right and focus on where things are going and good they are. Heather

Dr Joffe's trial was today and he decided to plead guilty and not show up. He has lost his license to practice medicine in Ontario. I am not posting this to stir up anything but so that those patients of Dr Joffe who are not covered by the alternate clinics he has worked with which recently has been CIBO can make alternative arrangements for care and are informed. Heather

Prince arhtur won't do fills except on patients they have banded anyway!

Tyler, Phone a broker that deals with all the companies someone like Money Concepts, their allegiance is to the deal rather than specific companies and they can get you quotes on a variety of types and coverages etc. Good luck it all depends on your overall health expect to pay more as an obese person though. Heather

Tracey, Thanks I know you are active on SWLC I am not sure if TLBC had an option for posting etc earlier I would have been active on that or not in my case I think it just came a little later I used to go on and post the monthly lunches but overall I don't do a lot of posting on it or reading. H

Sorry It starts at noon

This coming Sunday sorry for the short notice I have booked us into Milestone at Scarborough Town Centre everyone is welcome regardless of Doctor/Clinic or if they are banded or not... Reply here on email me privately at susieq321@Hotmail.com Heather Milestones Restaurants - Scarborough Scarborough 300 Borough Drive T: 416.290.0464 F: 416.290.0438 Menu Online Milestones Restaurants - The Menu

Who logs in an regularly checks their clinic websites and support centres (TLBC and SWLC are the only two in Canada i know of with this service offered) ? If you do use it what attracts you and why do you love it? And if you don't what would make you use it more....? I have to admit I log in once in a blue moon but not very often being 6+ years out I find it hard enough to read here and the Canadian Lapbanders so I tend to ignore my clinic's sites. I rarely go for fills mostly defills and then I only see my surgeon since I am a walking complication and I enjoy comparing notes with him... I never even go to my clinic... I don't know the staff other than one or two from a social occasion and have no desire to know them. But I also know my situation is radically different than most people they still go to their clinics for fills and see the nurses over the surgeons and get the advice etc.. but since I have been at goal since long before the clinic even opened there isn't much they can do for me or advice they can offer me. HEather

Tyler, That is great and you are very fortunate.. and I am glad he wants you to do the research understand what can go wrong along with what goes right. This is a life time commitment and requires changing your life sometimes in smaller ways and sometimes in bigger ways. I think there are too many people who jump in without doing the research or understanding the complications and what they can do to your physically but mostly mentally... good luck it sounds like you have placed your trust in a good man and in turn he is placing his trust in you and putting some skin in your game! Heather

Double check with your doc/clinic most say yes to coffee in Clear Liquids no to milk or cream or anything but black coffee during this phase as adding things to it makes it not a clear liquid. Same with tea etc Heather

Go to a GNC or similar store and tell them what you are doing and that you want a high Protein low carb low sodium low sugar Meal Replacement shake and they should be able to help you... if i remember correctly optifast has to be prescribed by a dr. Heather

I am vain there is no question about it.... once my thighs are done I should be size 6-8 (already there in skirts and dresses chunky thighs are now the bane of my existence) Some people are less vain and don't mind the extra skin but it drives me nuts to try on pants and have them way huge in the waist and then too small in the thighs.... it doesn't make sense so getting my thighs done is a vanity thing and a mental health thing to make me happy. When you are more content in your body and the way you look the happier you are the better a life you have..... if you can be happy without PS go for it...... I have a great life with or without plastic but I love the way I look with it!!!! And if it came to it I would do face work too! Heather