threedogpeople

Mark's surgery was $9,950 for everything (pre-operative screening & physical, nutritionist, surgeon, surgery center, anesthesia, everything except post-op meds.). He had the surgery done December 2007 in Denver. He has his fills done at NW fills in the Seattle, WA area. The first visit was $250 (if I remember right); his last fill was $150.

Hello, All, Hubby was banded in Aurora, CO on Dec. 19th by Dr. Kirshenbaum (self-pay $9950 US). We had some trouble finding a fill provider nearby (we live on Vancouver Island). But, we just went across the border to NW Fill Center and they were GREAT! First visit was $150 US and follow-up visits adjustments are $125 US. :frown: If anyone needs contact info, please let me know. He's down 40 lbs. (wow! Easier for men, huh?) and has 60-80 to go. Judy

My hubby felt terrible for about 3 weeks, then all of a sudden he turned the corner. Try sugar free ice pops, they were his best friend during that time. Something about the cold. Also, are you drinking your Protein shakes? You may want to visit the doctor to make sure that you don't have an infection somewhere..... Hope you get to feeling better soon.

I talked with their office about 2 weeks ago and their first new patient appointment is in 2010!! Plus, Dr. Amson doesn't want to maintain fills for anyone other than his own surgery patients.

Hubby is in the mushies stage moving to the real food stage (banded 12/19). He's asked me to pass on some of what he calls "free foods". These are all Atkins friendly, lower carb/cal and they go down easy: asparagus canned green peas mushrooms zucchini (with tomatoes if you can find them) and, the ever popular... sugar free popsicles and even Dreamsicles (5 cal. more)

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It would have made me angry too but you made a decision that you were important enough to invest this amount of time, effort and money in. Be proud of yourself, hold your head high and don't let someone else's weakness take away any of your positive motivation. You are too strong to let someone slow you down or hold you back because of their weakness. Who knows what her motivation was but, in my experience, people that break confidences do so because they have insecurity issues. They tell other people's secrets because it makes them feel important or feel like they have power. Judy

I'm in San Antonio visiting Mark's family and I just saw a short about it on the news. From the news report, my understanding is that it is only "just now" in clinical trials so it is a long way from being approved by the FDA. BUT I don't know much about the approval process in the U.S.

I created this a few days ago for my hubby. Fat free, sugar free instant chocolate pudding mix. 2 FULL scoops of chocolate protein powder 2.5 (two AND a half) cups of fat free milk. It will take it a little longer to set but it will. The pudding is great and the protein powder gives it more substance than "just" the pudding. Next time I'm going to try 3 scoops with 2.75 cups of milk, then 4 scoops and 3 cups but I'm sure that there will be a point where it won't set because the pudding ratio is too low. ONE MORE: Clean a head of cauliflower, cut into small pieces of roughly the same size. Put in medium saucepan, add enough chicken broth to cover about 2/3rds the way. Bring to a rapid boil, reduce heat to a simmer. Cook until the cauliflower starts to fall apart (very, very mushy). Remove from heat. Using a slotted spoon remove cauliflower and put in mixing bowl, using your electric mixer mash the cauliflower adding back the hot chicken broth until it is the consistency of mashed potatoes (or softer if you want). Add 1-2 tablespoon(s) of reduced calorie Miracle Whip. Salt & Pepper to taste. YUMM! I've served this to friends and they have no idea that it is cauliflower. You can add a dash of red pepper, Hungarian paprika or curry powder if you want to change it up.

Could be that your body is replacing fat with muscle which weighs more since you are working out. I would ditch the scale for at least a week then check again. Hang in there "this too shall pass" and you'll be on your way to your ideal weight. Try drinking flavored water - that may help turn off your hunger. Plain Water doesn't seem to help as much. Hubby has been drinking tomato/veggie juice mixed with chicken broth (about half and half). It's very low calorie and helps fill him up. Judy

Hi, Nancy, Having your hubby to talk with in the lobby made the day go much faster. Tell him thanks for me. I sent you'all an email with a poem I promised him for the girls. Did you get it? If not, let me know since sometimes things can get filtered out as spam. How are you feeling now? Better I hope. Mark is on the straight and narrow to recovery. He's been very compliant (down 26 lbs as of 3 days ago) but has had some trouble with nausea and constipation both of which were solved with medications. He moved to mushies yesterday - really enjoying an avocado. My Mom also made him some "soup" by mixing tomato juice and chicken broth. That was a hit too. Judy

Sooo sorry to hear that you've been having such a rough time, very glad that you're feeling better. Hubby is right on track although he's had some problems with nausea and constipation (thank goodness for stool softener). Last time he weighed (3 days ago) he has lost 26 lbs. That's over 20% of his goal (100-120 lbs). His surgical wounds have been healing pretty well although he had one of them that bled off and on for several days. It finally stopped. We called Dr. K's office about it and Natalie told us that he probably had a small bleeder vein and that if it got worse or didn't stop in 5 days to come in. He's been very strict on himself as far as the diet is concerned. He just moved to "mushies", adding avacado and pureed mango to his food list. He's had most trouble with juices and finally gave up all except tomato juice diluted with 50% chicken broth. We'll be back in Denver in February for his 1st fill, although if he keeps up this rate of weight loss I'm not sure he'll need one. Does anyone know about that? :ranger: Happy New Year! I hope this one is the skinniest one of all for everyone (me too since Mark's change of eating habits is helping me too). Judy

Hubby found that 1 teaspoon of Milk of Magnesia in the morning beginning on day 2 was very helpful. Also, infant Gas-X (only liquid we could find), adjusted the dose for adult but it causes burping not ... you know. Plus, walk, walk, walk and the breathing exercises (the spirometer) also helped move the gas along.