susieq321

Walk around as much as you can, take the drugs if you need them, if you don't just go slow and don't push it too much. DON'T STRAY it is only a few weeks of your life... you can do it. I used to freeze juices so I could get the sensation of chewing something solid in there I really missed chewing a lot. I wasn't overly hungry for most of the liquid phase but that was just me. Keep going Heather

Lorily, Sometimes yes sometimes no... mine never really loosened up only got tighter but that is me..but it is not uncommon for people to get looser... if you aren't loosing in two or three weeks i would get a little out. Try taking a zantac before bed I can't live like that but that is just me. Good luck Heather

Binge eating is consuming massive amounts of food 2000-3000 calories in a rapid period of time eating until you almost feel sick or do feel sick... consuming an entire tub of ice cream etc a few almonds isn't a binge but eating the whole bag in a matter of minutes. It takes time to learn control and sometimes we all fall down and we get up again and start all over again.. Heather

I am sure your tests are fine, be honest about any health issues and you will pass Good luck Heather

Susan, If you are having issues with solids a good kick start is the full Fluid diet or clear fluid.. hard but a great kick starter. You are taking the right steps, take them the in direction you need to take them. Sometimes we all need breaks and we all fall down it is just time to dust yourself off and start doing what is right for you and it sounds like you are partway there. Remember everyone struggles and as important as victories are to read about, challenges teach people more and people want to help. Keep going Heather

HippieMama, Welcome and great choice in TLBC it is a great clinic with an amazing surgeon. Keep making the right choices. Heather

Donna, It is not the vomiting that upsets, me it is morons who call it sliming and pb'ing and think there is a difference in the type of stoma contractions to bring up saliva, just chewed food or well chewed food.. it is all vomit... if I swallow it and it comes back up I am vomiting, puking, tossing the Cookies... not pb'ing.. my burps produce gas not food (reread that sentence and read it carefully, there is no difference in the type of stomach contraction required to slime, pb or vomit they are strong contractions to force the food upa nd those stomach contractions are where the danger lies)... I am not sliming my dog slimes.. I am vomiting. Regardless of what comes up the act of sliming, pb'ing or in truth vomiting it makes the stoma contract violently and every time that happens it puts you a little at risk, if you are doing this daily or multiple times in a day it puts you more at risk... it is a relatively small risk but in truth slippage is just on of the risk, eroding your teeth enamel is another anytime something gets swallowed it gets mixed with stomach acid and that can do serious damage.. it may not be a lot of stomach acid but there is still some there. I think the head game and learning to eat is one of the hardest things we will do it is harder than forming a work out habit it is a huge head game and one of the reasons we rush eating is because we think we still can, it is part of the head. I still vomit once in a while not often, and it is all my fault.. with my band I can eat any type of food and some days it just self tightens for a wee bit and loosens off the next day or ten days later. So it may be fine at lunch but by dinner or during dinner it tightens up suddenly and if it tightens while or post eating watch out. I have been fine with the amount of food I ate for a meal and a 1/2 hour later I need to vomit... didnt feel overly full with the meal but after eating the band tightens to the point where I am overly full and after over 6 years I can think about vomiting and be able to vomit. But these are the exceptions for me not the rule.. it doesn't happen daily or even weekly but once in a while I vomit tears streaming out of my eyes vomit. There are also times where I feel like vomiting and I know if i walk to the restroom I will puke but if I can sit it out or move walking fast somewhere the feeling passes again fine with the amount of food by suddenly for whatever reason it just hits me.. uh oh no more no more no more.. and I wait it out when possible. My band is fickle and variable and changing daily there is no predicting what sets me off but I do eat slowly.. on dates I look at my date who is done eating as I just slog away eating slowly and say oops I am a terribly slow eater and continue to chew chew chew same with business dinners.. I can't tell you the number of times that everyone else is done around me and I am just munching away or getting leftovers for the dog. Heather

Doddie, it is a challenge for most people it was a challenge for me to learn to take only what i could eat not what i wanted to eat.. the chewing was fast I had the old band and if i didn't chew i would puke immediately within bites not meals so i learned very fast..and it has served me well. Before you eat take just a minute and stop and think.. it is hard but it will help trust me. Heather

Betty, trust me on this questions don't piss them off, I have known Kathy for over 7 years, she is an honest person, and one of the best bandsters that I know. Good luck tomorrow, liquids is short in the life of banding and keep posting HEather

Anything that I put in my mouth and swallow that comes back up is vomit not pb or sliming.. I do not PB.. I think it is a term that is bad to use it is a misnomer.. it makes people think that pb'ing or vomiting is not as bad for the band as it really is they take it less seriously. Anytime you bring something up/vomit you are putting your band at some small degree of risk and the more you do it the higher the risk is. Any time you put something in your mouth chew it an swallow it... it is vomiting I honestly think sliming and pb'ing are the stupidist terms ever applied to banding.. I vomit, I don't do it often but I do vomit once in a while. I slipped 4 times without vomiting very often, I sliped 4 times with almost no fill and absolutely no fill people slip and they can't do anything to prevent it... we can however change our eating habits and learn from our mistakes. We all vomit once in a while, but it should be the exception not the rule. I find I tend to vomit when I am stressed more than anything else and sometimes I am fine when I am eating and 1/2 hour later i need to vomit... there is no predicting but i eat slow and chew I have learned that lesson and so will you it takes focus. I know I sound harsh but I would rather be harsh than have even one more little complication Heather

Angel, I have said since my first year of banding the trick is to get your head around the who, what, why, where, when and how you eat... give yourself some time to work out the head issues and go for the band again. It is a ton of hard work for anyone. A lot of people do not realize that there are a lot of similarities between anoxeria and bulimia and over eaters and bingers have a lot in common. Good luck and keep in touch and know TLBC will be there for you along with us Heather

Bear, What a journey you have had, and you are right Dr Yau is an incredibly caring surgeon as are his staff. I am a walking complication so I know Dr Yau pretty well after a few surgeries. I am glad to hear you are maintaining and working on your health. Keep up the work you are putting in and keep yourself healthy Heather

Kathy works there and has seen it all if she tells you it can go there it can go there... but keep in mind that we end up with stretched skin etc so the tattoo may not look as pretty in the future as it does when you start and there is also an incision scar pretty close if not right over the port too so I have not one tattoo and I have no idea how scar lines etc would affect them. God luck it is kinda cute idea if I was into tattooing. Heather

Remember as you lose the skin moves and gets loser etc and the port is more in the rib cage area good luck though Heather

you look at her body language, is she leaning in or leaning back are her arms open or crossed, is she saying back off. Go for the hug and kiss on the cheek and see what happens from there.. it works for me Heather

Love and Betty, I offer this advice and take it for what it is worth it is free... before you get the surgery ask the clinic and have your questions addressed. I hate seeing people going into this feeling like you are being ripped off, in conflict and questioning things. People who go in like that seem to question their choice later on and think similar thoughts if anything bad ever happens like a complication or plateau for a length of time. Go into this with the right mind set you are making a choice and paying a lot of money for something that will change your life forever, changes the way you eat, eventually the way you think, your appearance and really your entire life there is no aspect of this band that will allow you to live the same life you live as an obese person when you do it correctly. Please please go into this with no questions about your clinic or their fees, sit down on the phone face to face email whatever and ask them to clarify why the fees are structured the way they are. Why is post op so much... you guys have no idea when I was banded it was 10K straight to the surgeon and there was no clinic, no nutritionist, no websites, no bandsters at goal to talk to we had nothing but each other. Post op is now a huge thing they have realized that it is almost more important than the band in some ways how you change your life after the surgery and how you deal with the changes. Just go into the surgery with a light heart and knowing that this is the right thing for you. All the clinics charge similar fees and offer some of the similar post op care but it varies. To me when I look at what TLBC offers compared to the other clinics it is the most comprehensive program of aftercare for their patients. They are one of the few clinics that even hires banded patients to deal with bandsters they know our issues because they have walked in our shoes. I love TLBC I never felt ripped off and I don't question where my money went. Dr Yau to me is the best surgeon I could ever ask for and is truly skilled at what he does. Good luck, and make sure you clear up any questions, or feelings of conflict pre banding. Heather

I don't think I would personally do it.. I was one of the rare complication cases and 6 surgeries later I am so glad I had my surgery in Toronto with cdn doctors there is another thread you may want to read that thread too and take all the advice there into account. I would get rock solid contracts if i was going out of country and make sure that they are applicable under both cdn and the other countries laws... deal with post op including complications and who pays etc. Good luck with your decision Heather

Ok you would have to phone and ask on that the pysch fee call them on it, who knows they may have something else they want you to do or they may have switched the billing breakdown to the new one just a little to early there is more than likely a simple explanation.. contact Kathy and ask about it or email and ask about it and she will explain it. 6000K for post op care that is a great deal post op care for life for 6k I know you are thinking I lose the weight and never go back and what do I need.. I am over 6 years out and I still get fills and defills and I have been at goal for more than 4 years almost 5 now.. but you will have this band for life and if you start breaking it down it is a tiny tiny cost. It includes access to TLBC only events, nutritionists, fills, their website and everything else it is a steal at that if you start breaking it down you will realize post op care should be the largest cost! Good luck and you will be on your way before you know Heather

There are two port placements and sternum and abdominal the sternum is right between the place where the ribs meet and the abdominal is on the left or right side of the lower ribs. The ports are nestled in place and some surgeons stitch them and most don't stitch tightly or too tight if they use stitches. The port has to be able to move with your body as you lose weight as your skin shifts and your fat layer shifts the port has to be able to shift too. If it is stitched it can't move or the stitches may tear if enough pressure is put on the port. (remember your body exerts a lot of pressure from muscles etc) So a port flipping or moving as you lose weight is not uncommon with the abdominal placement it can flip under the ribs as you lose weight. The other thing is as you lose weight it sticks out a little more or it may become uncomfy to sleep on a stomach or just not in a place you are comfy with it being. So sometimes ports need to be repositioned or moved. Personally I would only go with a abdominal placement because on me it is more hidden and comfy. Heather

Kathy isn't an RN, but she is a very experienced bandster with 8 years banded herself and 4 years doing pre and post op. She is certified in many different areas and goes for extensive training throughout the year on dealing with patients, evaluating them, running support groups etc. TLBC is implementing a formalized psych testing program to ensure you are getting the band for the right reasons, not because someone else is telling you, that you need it. No bandster who gets the band for anyone else other than themselves will be as successful as one who does it for the right reasons. Since we are all self pay and there is no insurance the hoops we jump through in Canada are much less than the US where there is insurance coverage if you can meet their regulations. Very few people are turned down by any clinic unless you are too obese (ie 1000 lbs and can't travel to a clinic or hospital) serious health issues where the surgery might kill you or you need to be done in a hospital in which case they will not turn you down but it make take a little longer to get into the hospital. Doddie is right Kathy has enough experience dealing with bandsters to look at a BMI and say your liver isn't as fatty as a heavier persons and cut a pre op diet here and there. The pre op is nice and it makes the surgery easier on the surgeon and less risk of complications to you but when I was banded we didn't even have one.. so it is a nice to have not a must. If there is a reason you can't have the surgery I am sure Kathy would refund your money. I think the deposit comes into play more when she books a date because once that date is booked and she books all the support staff who have to be there to cover you during and post op.. the clinic has to pay them regardless if you show up or not that includes the supporting Drs and pre and post op nursing staff. So if you book and cancel at the last minute the clinic still has to pay their staffing needs who were booked to take care of you. (some staff are full time and some are part time) Heather

The immediate post op burp hurts because they have intubated you and bruised all your abdomen muscles with the surgery (all the trochars punch painful holes in you) and the gas is worse immediate post op because the docs pump you full of it and it has to escape somehow, so it reabsorbed and you burp and fart. The move you move the faster the gas goes away.. But don't worry about burping dislodging the band it would have to be an earth shattering burp to rip out the stitches in the stomach they anchor that little sucker pretty tight. Good luck on your journey and keep posting. Heather

Burping is exactly that air moving from the lower part of your stoma up and escaping.. I still burp but it is a silent thing, I am not letting belches rip, can't do an alphabet or anything like that. I find that sometimes the position of my body matters too laying down for a massage I need to make sure the air is out.. or I get a pressure and a silent burp of air moving up and out. I do burp with carbonated beverages and that is normal. Doddie was exactly right about swallowing air with drinking and eating, make an effort to chew with your mouth closed and not talk. I like drinking with a straw I have heard it introduces more air into the system but I find for me it works the opposite and introduces less air when I am drinking. Or I try to sip keeping my lips close to the glass and not gulp air with the liquid. Either that or make sure when I am drinking the liquid covers my mouth such as chugging a liquid (god I miss chugging a whole glass of milk can only get 5 chugs in and it is stop or puke) The gas coming out the other end is just what we eat.. remember with the band nothing in our digestion is changing we absorb the products that create gas for farting the same exact way as we did prebanding. You might look at what you are eating to see if it is a food type that is producing more gas than you want. I have wondered over the years if that the reason that some bandsters feel they have more gas is because they are eating so much less that it really concentrates the foods that are causing the gas and allows them to produce as much as possible with very little interfere with that gas producing ability! Heather

Don't worry so much, complications are rare but they do happen, I have had almost every single complication there is excepting a few... and I still lost 150lbs in 18 months and kept it off over 6 years now I am in my 7th year of banding... and a size 8-10 I would do it all over again in a heartbeat. Good luck not everything you read on the net is true and even if it is, it may not apply to you. Heather

both clinics work with medical financiers they will take jsut about anyone be aware the rate of interest is much higher than a bank.. so if you ca nget a bank loan do it or mortgage etc. If you are talking to TLBC or SWLC just phone and ask what their financing companies will accept... I know they are higher risk loans so much much higher interest rates good luck. Heather

Peaches, speedy recovery and good luck, Dr Yau is great with bands! Heather