sunsett

It is enough if you feel comfortable with him. My Dr at the time had only done 30 bands. Someone tried to talk me out of using him and going to someone who had done much more. I am so glad I went with my gut and stayed with him.

Is it your port or are you feeling your ribs?

My understanding is that if your willing to pay cash for the band and you have a BMI of 30 of above you can have it, if your Dr thinks it is best for you. Insurance companies won't even look at you unless your BMI is 35 and you have co morbitities. To answer your question Mom, yes I have heard of people having the band under 200. If you trust your surgeon and he believes that it is the correct tool for you, then you have to trust your self and you will succeed! Good luck

It's our band!! LOL Actually your not abnormal at all. This happens to me and I know it happens to others also. Our bodies change everyday. Sometime we retain more Fluid than other days. I think it's just one of those band things. You may also be eating it faster than you did the day before or not chewing it as well. Thats my biggest problem.

Hi All, And thank you Alex for adding 2005!! I was wondering how everyone is doing? I haven't been on the scale since the beging of Dec and at that point I had been maintaining since the end of Sept. I am so not into the scale. I am hoping that I maintained though the holidays. It's been hard and I have been eating any type of sweets I can find. This morning I had my DH take out the last of the Cookies so now they are gone. 172 is where I've been hanging give or take 2 pounds. I'd really like to hit my 168 soon! My personal goal is 160 then I'll consider TT.

Are you eating solid foods? A lot of Drs reccommend liquids then muchies then regular foods. My Dr says liquids for 48 hours mushies 48 then start regular foods. The reason for this is because of swelling. Perhaps that is what is going on with you. You may want to do liquids and I would for sure call your Dr and let them know whats going on.

Oh one more question what is LBL?

Glad your feeling better. Your scars look like they are healing really well. I bet your excited! What are the prices if you don't mind me asking?

Christy where are you located. I maybe able to help you out. From my experience if your BMI is 30 or above you are not to thin for the band. Under 30 is between you and the Dr. You can PM me if you'd like more info.

Hey Alex, This is a great site thanks! Under the support section you have 06, 07 and 08 bandsters. I am September 2005 how can we get one for the 05ers?

Pat- I just read your post at 10:56 AM so I imagine that you are in the OR. I'm praying for you! This is exciting, one of our own having this done! PLEASE as Kat said keep us posted! Mandy-How are you feeling? How are you feeling Renee? Kat glad everything is ok, when are you starting your book! Eileen- How is your niece doing? I'm doing ok. loving my job, as you can see the banner at the top says NewHope Bariatrics, that's us! My FIL feel last week, he didn't break anything but he is in a lot of pain. I didn't see him this weekend but DH said he can't even sit up! I am so concerned. I plan on calling the PT today and asking what else they recommend. You know how guys don't' think of things like additional PT or massages or even a stationary bike. My MIL is doing great but she is getting depressed. It's so hard! I got up and rode 7 miles on my stationary bike this morning. Got to the office before 8. Feeling pretty good but I'm hungry! I'm off to drink a protein shake. My job is great part of it is visiting this site!!! What more could I ask for! OH FYI band2gether.net is putting together a Eastcoast Bash, right here in Charlotte, actually Concord NC. It will be the last weekend in April. Of course all are invited! Please let me know if your interested. Pat aren't you in VA? It will be a blast if we could all get together!

Hi I thought it would be fun to post a monthly chat thread. If any of you live near 485 and are interested in a short term weekly support get together let me know.

Happy Monday! How is everyone doing today? We had 28 people at our support group meeting on Saturday. A lot of the people were in the process. I missed most of the meeting because I had to take my daughter to Kings College for a tour. Just to let you all know, we are having a big band get together the last weekend in April in Concord. We are doing this through band2gether.net mostly. I will keep you all updated as I get information. Just mark your calendar for that weekend. The meetings will be held at the Embassy Suites in Concord. I got up wrode my stationary bike for 7 miles in 40 minutes this morning. Got to work before 8. I'm feeling good and energized, lol as I yawn! As far as fills goes, it takes me sometimes 3 weeks before I can feel a fill. I do know and I have heard that the new band takes more fills but I have heard wonderful things about it. So hang tight be patient.

I think mine stayed on about 2 weeks. Don't mess with the ones by your port area, just let them come off when they do.

I've never heard of the juices before. Thanks for the insite! For you newbes....Don't be afraid when you hear us talking about getting sick. It is not like the flu and you have to be in bed all day. Sometimes it is painful, but for me most of the time it is just annoying. Your food gets stuck and your saliva has no place to go so you need to spit it out. Sometime I do gag, but 98% of the time it is spitting.

I would go for it for sure. I can understand you being nervous about it being his first time, however keep in mind that Allergan is very much on top of how and who does the surgery. I am sure that they will have a very experienced surgeon in with him. This is great news for you. To be able to have the band in the US, have followup care with your surgeon right here in the US. Anyone can do a fill and unfill. Most likely your first will be under fluro. Ask your Dr about all of your concerns. Do not be afraid that you will offend him. This is your body, your band, your life. My poor surgeon went through a 3 page list of questions with me. One by one. He wasn't offened took his time with me and made me feel very confident in my decision.

Those are great questions! Most likely they will go over lots of things. The more you learn the more questions you will have. Follow up care is very important. I would ask what type of follow up care do they provide. Also find out about support groups. A biggie is fills some Drs offices send you to the nutritionist and she determines if you need a fill or not. Thats just not right in my opinion. Determining fills should be between you and your Dr. If your not losng and a nutritonist is having pms and decides that you just aren't living the way you should so you don't need a fill you just need to change your actions, I'd kick her! I know some people whose Band Dr works like that. Good luck!

Welcome to bandland Renee! How is everyone doing? Patty there are some people in your area that want to start a support group. You should check out the CA forum.

Hey Tarheelluv, This is brandnew NewHope and Dr V. I am extremely excited about it! Dr V did my surgery over 2 yrs ago. This past July I started with NewHope Bariatrics. We have 2 centers now one in LA and KC. Now we have partnered with Dr V. It is so exciting to be able to recommend my own Dr and a band that I know is the only way to go! The cash price is very reasonable! I won't post it here, but if anyone is interested you can PM me. I hope that some of you will come to the support group meeting this Saturday. Tar how are you liking band life? Mel I bet your counting the days!

I'm thinking about having a tummy tuck one of these days. What are you general charges for this?

I realized after I had the band for about 6 weeks that I wasn't sticking to the band rules. At that point I started looking at my watch when I was eating. I would take a bite chew a bit, swallow sometime put the fork down other times played with the food on my plate. Whe the second hand on my watch hit 1 minute I'd start all over again. I not only started timing myself but I started timing others. One day I went to Boston Market. I saw someone pull into a spot and I started timing him. From the time he got out of his car came in stood online ordered ate and got back into his car it was 12 minutes. Have fun start timing your self and others. You may drive your family crazy like I do, but your sticking with the band rules and that is what leads to success! I take 20-30 minutes a meal, but rarely any less.

Welcome! I thought I was crazy at times before my surgery day. What am I about to do? How often will I get sick? Can I ever have pizza again? How about a bloomin onion? (which was part of my last supper) What will the port feel like and look like? What if I don't lose? what if I'm a failure? 2 years and almost 4 months later I can tell you that I am so glad that I did this! I had a problem with my band 4 months to the day after we found out I had a leak in the band. This is super rare! A month later I had the whole surgery over again. Would I do it again? In a heartbeat! I feel so strongly about the band that I have recently started working for a company where I talk to people considering having the band. Do I still fear something will go wrong? You bet I do! But the way I look at it is that I have had a major non lifethreatening problem and even with that, I will continue to live healthier and help others too. Good luck to you. What your feeling is normal I promise! GO FOR IT!

Hi Cal girls, I'm actually not from California, but I work with Dr Davtyan and NewHope Bariatrics. Dr Davtyan is in LA and he does do fills. As far as a support group goes. I do not know of any right now in the area. I do know that a lot of people were talking about putting one together. We started ours here in Charlotte. It was just 6 of us and now we have over 30. I strongly recommend you all try to get together. Patty, I can't remember her screenname, but she hangs out in the NJ section. She is also from that area. I maybe able to help you with a meeting place. Let me know. Hope your all doing well. I love my band. I have not been a great bandster this past month, but last night I had my last bite of cake finished the carmel popcorn and said ok this is it! So so far today I'm back on track! If you have any questions for an old timer, please ask away. I hope you don't mind me popping in!

Wow Jean a weekly support group that is wonderful. How does he run it? Is he there or do the patients run it? I'd love to hear how he does it. I've been thinking about a weekly meeting in the area of where I live. Our monthly group is wonderful and I think I invited you all to come join us. We meet at Dr Voellingers office, but it is for anyone who has the band or is thinking of the band. It does not matter what Dr you used. A bunch of us started it up from this website about 21/2 yrs ago. Last time we meet we had people coming from wilmington nc. Stats show that the people that attend support groupd have better wl results than those that don't. Needless to say, I'm sticking with it!

Welcome to band land Danny. Why are you having second thoughts, if you don't mind me asking? I struggle sometimes more than others, but it is the best thing I ever did in my life!