SouthTX LapBand

Something which your doctor can't always be counted on to explain in detail ---- expect to have to cut pieces of meat not much larger than your little fingernail. If you can manage that well, then you can try a bit larger.... But if you take too large a mouthful of something with muscle Fiber, no matter how moist and tender, those long fibers will GET'CHA!!! :faint: It is often suggested that you invest in a cocktail fork for eating and leave the regular flatware to your wife. Some people buy baby spoons, or a toddler spoon and fork set. Some people even use chopsticks. And creating a habit of putting DOWN your fork/spoon between bites and just "be" for a minute. You should expect it to take you 15 minutes or so to finish a bandster sized meal. We are so used to a lifetime of shoveling food in, eating TINY is difficult. For me, it also bothered me to not be able to finish a meal while it was still real warm, but now I've gotten used to cold food and I don't mind anymore. :hungry: Theresa

The role of dehydration in restriction Recently, MoonShadowRN has posted that when you are dehydrated, you are much tighter. When you are drinking lots of liquids, you loosen up. This finally helped me make sense of why I could have gotten SO loose, needing another fill - then suddenly tightened up as tight as I was a few days after my first fill. I have never been a heavy drinker -- tho when carbonated soft drinks are onhand, that can change. Since my banding, I have tried tea, Crystal Lite, plain bottled Water, even tap water, but it has been hard to keep up the volume -- but I drank anyway and needed another fill - badly. Now I am tight again, and I find I can control the degree of tightness. But you can't get SO dehydrated that you can no longer drink. I think the woman who started this thread needs to be hooked up to an IV (or an NG tube) and very well hydrated til she can drink easily again. It is highly improbable that a few weeks of banding can cause scarring and restriction.... and I say that the banding surgeon needs to see a fluroscopy (not xrays) of the barium going down to know what is happening. I advise a hydration ASAP -- several pints, til urine is pale straw colored -- and then a trip to the surgeon for diagnosis and treatment. Theresa

I think so much of this in the evening is head hunger --- we are often relaxing with the TV and used to having a little snack during the evening... Or spouse and/or children are home and there are issues to deal with and, as food addicts, we respond to the stress by reverting to our drug of choice to soothe the anxiety, ease the pain, dim the thoughts. On "Starting Over" recently, one of the house mates has been going to a unique addiction recovery program called Passages and I am finding it helpful in dealing with my head hunger. Check out the schedule in your area at http://www.StartingOverTV.com I am also using a free online self-help cognitive reconditioning program called "Inner Peace" -- helping ease my triggers and build my esteem. I strongly recommend it. Stopping Your Monkey Thoughts is especially effective. http://innerpeace.org/newusers.shtml Theresa

You are GORGEOUS and I can't believe how little excess skin you have -- I am sure it is a combination of great genes and your youth. I am purely amazed at your weight loss journey. Yes, you COULD be featured on some show on TV and get that surgery paid for you. You are an incredible inspiration. Theresa

The book mentioned is The 3-Hour Diet: How Low-Carb Diets Make You Fat and Timing Makes You Thin - by Jorge Cruise, weight loss & fitness guru. Here is the 5-page transcript of a Web-MD interview from this past May. http://www.webmd.com/content/chat_transcripts/1/108026.htm He is against low-carb diets, focusing on being in "ketosis", a metabolic state when your body is burning fat. No "bandster for life" diet is zero carbs -- everyone is eating vegetables, fruit, milk or milk products. The only time a bandster would encounter this state of ketosis is when you have a surgeon who orders you to stay on purely No-Calorie liquids the last week or two BEFORE surgery or the first week or two AFTER surgery. This will obviously lead to some rapid weight loss -- but also muscle lost. I have heard of people complaining of the horrible bad breath and smelly urine. It is a state that is unhealthy, to be breaking down muscle to survive -- it is a state of starvation. This is why bandsters are counseled to maintain 60-80 grams of Protein a day. When you are taking in that much protein, there is no net protein loss. Actually, ANY kind of dieting where you are losing weight will cause you to lose protein UNLESS you are getting in enough protein. Lettuce and celery stick diets are NOT healthy. But all that said, this is a very interesting interview - and his views tie so directly into banded life where BROWSING (nibbling all day) IS NOT ALLOWED. He is quite knowledgeable about metabolism, and I encouage you to check out his interview. For those of you who are AOL members, turn up your speakers and check him out -- for he is one of AOL lifestyle coaches! Theresa

OH YES!!! I KNOW what you're talking about!! But I got LactAid type tablets to chew (or you can throw them in the blender with it).... but STILL had "that sort of problem" :phanvan turns out, I'm very sensitive to Nutrasweet :tired Theresa

SOME doctors order it for the weeks or month before surgery. I used it post-operatively during the first two weeks of liquids ... It is good for the first few days after a tight fill. HOWEVER, I use ONLY Slim-Fast Optima -- It is more expensive, has Nutrasweet and more Protein. Stays with you longer. No liquid calories are the RULE for banded life. It's definitely not something to live on. But it's not unhealthy for you. More nutritious than Crystal Lite ... and not as much salt as broth and most Soups. Theresa

Your statement was unclear, to say the least... And I will say this - NONE of us knows WHERE we will be living in 5 years. The band is a life-time appliance and you HAVE to consider the long term consequences of appliance brand. If you have surgery with an un-approved band, even should you eventually get insurance to cover fills, it will not cover fills in un-approved devices. And IF J&J eventually get a band approved in the States, it is quite likely to not be the same model -- just don't chance it. Theresa

Yes, you need some more taken out.

Eloquent enough!! Inamed added it as a CYA (cover your ass) legal defense against silocone law suits. Theresa

Hi, Libby --- so nice to hear about your experience with Dr. Sanchez. I have been referring patients to him and he is doing my aftercare. Theresa

My Mexican doctor gives every patient the actual box that your appliance came in (with the documentation and Inamed booklets, and the expiration date is right there. He packs the box with your operative report, your prescriptions and your medications, as well as the signed Inamed wallet card for child-menu and senior-menu prices. I think all US docs would be doing their patients a service to do the same for them. It's hard to keep track of things on your trip home, so having everything in a box is nice. Theresa

A port that gets infected after the first few months, especially after one year, is more likely to be an early sign of Erosion, with the bacteria traveling up the tubing from the break in digestive tract integrity. There is one very popular Mexican surgeon who has a HORRENDOUS early port infection rate, which obviously indicates a SERIOUS surgical suite problem that he refuses to address and deal with. BUT, in my limited experience, this one case is an anomoly. I was sent home on a course of oral antibiotics and only experienced the amount of redness, swelling and tenderness that is NORMAL since the port is stitched into place and, as a foreign object, will have some scar tissue development as the body deals with it. If you wish to know more, I would suggest you go to PubMed.com and do some searches and read the abstracts for findings about post-operative infections. Theresa

I just finished this rant on another thread, so will repost it here with one added paragraph. Once a surgeon has placed a few hundred bands, he is as good as he is going to get - tho good doctors keep going to training sessions and learning new techniques and modifications to keep their slippage rate down. Once a doctor has been banding for at least 3 years, he will have encountered his share of problems with fills, slips, and erosions, and will hopefully have gained skill in handling them. What is MORE IMPORTANT after those early years is the QUALITY of CARE when dealing with complications -AND- how easy it will be to get back to see him. I agree that there are many EXCELLENT surgeons in Mexico, but when it comes to planning your aftercare, you MUST figure in how much income you have that can go towards getting your fills and fluoros, and having ready access to a lap band surgeon after banding. You should ALWAYS locate a State-Side doctor before you are banded who will agree to help with your after care --- and ask about charges. An initial office visit, fill and fluor can range from $150 to over $500, so go over ALL possible charges. But back to selecting your Mexican physician. If you have slippage or erosion, these are both things that must be taken care of PRONTO -- and both may involve repeated surgeries, to remove and then replace the band. You need to be able to get a QUICK flight, good connections, and a SHORT DRIVE to the Monterrey or Tijuana doctors. Tijuana is MUCH cheaper for people to get to from just about anywhere in the US. And when you can't keep anything down or have bloody vomit, you won't be able to get those "early purchase" specials but will be paying top dollar for the flight (but will be saving BIG TIME on the procedures, hospitalization and aftercare). These are ALL things that you MUST consider. What I most dislike about SOME patient coordinators and SOME doctors is how they pressure you to make a quick decision and schedule surgery as soon as possible ----- you must NEVER EVER let the idea of a "quick decision special rate" or some such promotion guide your decision. Believe me, if you want a special deal, contacting the DOCTOR personally first and bypassing the website companies is the best way to negotiate a price.... and they ALL want your business and will "extend" that special for you. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE. I think I am going to create a website telling people what can happen, about the patient coordinator horror stories out there, and how "charming bed side manner" is a WORTHLESS indicator of surgical skill or morals or integrity or follow-up or employee oversight. On a rant based on MY OWN experiences. My doctor is from Mexico, but not Kuri & not Rumbaut --- and he does not practice in either Tijuana or Monterrey. Theresa

I find myself SO very very puzzled about why your doctor operates on this "take all the fill out" stuff --- why not just back off a bit?? Sometimes it can be just one or two tenths of an inch between good restriction and overfill. I think this round robin of jumping from nothing to full, nothing to full, nothing to full, is nonsense. You should be very very slowly increased past 2.5 ccs UNTIL the right spot is found --- and this time do NOT go home so soon -- get the fill as early in the day as possible and hang around and have a meal of Soup before you head off home. And I agree with the doctor -- your pain sounds EXACTLY like diaphraghmatic pain.