tarrn13

luluc, that recipe for the ricotta sounds rad!!! i am totally going to make it!!

wear whatever you want, this is hardly major incisions we're talking about here, nothing too tight is about your only limit.

mnn2501, this board is not the place for ignorant statements, people are asking questions to make educated decisions based on the experience's of those that have gone before them, not for the scare statements disguised as "jokes"

not at all steph, I was totally confident in my choice.

manatee, good call being done with your blind date girl, just means your life wouldn't be any better for meeting her. Good luck!

hey usmc23, I was only curious about why you decided to do your own, I am an N-ICU nurse and had planned to do my own too, figuring that since I was a self pay in mexico, insurance and liability blah blah blah... but then I went for my first fill and the way my port is postioned is slightly angled and my doc ( who has been in bariatrics for 38 or so years) had a bit of a hard time finding where to stick so I have opted to just keep going to him although I would really like to be able to do my own too. Like I said before, just discard the saline and do a complete refill, and it should be fine.

I might be interested in it, depending on when it is, and cost of course.

what made you decide to do your own fills? I don't think a little blood would hurt the band but I might just take all the saline out, discard it and start fresh by reinjecting the volume you discard.

5 weeks is a really long time to be on some form of the post op diet, mine was 3 weeks of liquids, if Icould drink it I could have it. It is a little distressing to me reading peoples posts about "good and bad" foods or cheating, it's not about cheating or good and bad, it's about choices, somedays I have frozen yogurt as a treat but factor it into my cals for the day, or if 1 day I have 1400 or 1500 cals, the next I have somewhere in the 1100-1200 range that I find I now naturally am compensating for the higher cal days without too much thought. By focusing on what we do wrong, it increases our risk or failure, look at what your doing right and realize that no one is perfect every second of every day.

aphrodite, tell your family to get over themselves, it's not about them but about you. My mom came with me and we NEVER once felt we were not safe. Sandiegophotog, I appreciate that some people have horror experiences in Mexico, but people have horror experiences here in the US too, do your research on whatever doctor you choose, I was banded by Dr Ortiz in Tijuana, had a fantastic experience there, I chose him since he teaches many doc's how to proform the surgery both mexican and american docs. I personally would rather see the teacher whose done thousands of bands vs the student who hasn't, but that's just me, also as a nurse who works in a hospital, the post op care i received at the clinic in MX was far more attentive than any care I have ever received here in the US for both surgery and ER visits. We are all entitled to our opinions and I am just sharing mine. Good luck all on your journey,

hi steph, I had my surgery with Dr Ortiz 3/25 and had a great experience from the time we arrived till the time we left, I had no complaints at all, the weekend I was 1st home I got sick with the flu (so did my mom, we think we got sick on the plane) I emailed Dr O on Sunday am and had a response from him within an hour about my being sick and if I should be concerned about anything. You can't beat that, what doc's here in the US give out their email/ mobile numbers unless your dating them, I work as a nurse in a busy N-ICU and we are like the gatekeepers to the docs. I would go back to Dr. O and his staff in a second!! As for the follow up care and fills, I use fill centers usa, as they are in 30 locations throughout the country and as a travel nurse I can be secure in knowing that when i have to move for a new contract all my files will travel with me, that way I don't have to search around for a private practice that may or may not take on clients that were banded elsewhere.

I use the fill center here in WA and I love love love my doc!! he's eccentric, funny and has been in bariatrics for like 40 years, as for insurance or self pay, I was a self pay for surgery so am a self pay for the fills, the initial visit is 349 and the following fills are 165 and just office visits are 85, check out their website Fill Centers USA - Lap Band Fill - Lap Band Support - Lap Band Post Surgery - Weight Loss Surgery - Fill Center USA - LapBand Adjustments - Bariatric Surgery - LapBand Fill, what I really like about them as a travel nurse is when I have to move for work I can just go to another fill center and all my files travel with me and I never have to search to find a provider, there are currently about 30 open centers. Hope this info helps!

good luck sunflower!! i am from montreal too and currently live in seattle for my job, at least for about another year anyway, I was banded 3/25/08 by Dr. Ortiz in Tijuana and have been so very happy with the results so far, for sure the best 8000 I have ever spent!!

welcome wisemom. Hershey Med in PA? I used to live and work in Chambersburg. you'll find lots of great info and support on these pages.

steph co, your comment in the above post about adding the 180 useless pounds to your ticker when you lose your husband cracked me up!! congrats on the police academy, if I had not gotten into nursing school, cop was next on my list.

ouch 4 on, that's hard, I'm usually pretty fried after 3 and sometimes even that is pushing it!! when I come back to Canada in approx 2 years my plan is to drop down to part time and then I'd only have to work 2 a week which would be RAD!! I also forgot, my other work snack is raspberries, it's a joke here as people know just how much I love them, last year that is what some of the nurses got me for my birthday. You too be safe driving home, luckily I live just a few miles from the hospital and being sunday there won't be traffic so I shold be home in approx 5 min

shannon, you got such a quick reply since i am at work too tonight just waiting to do my next ABG on my pt.

If your young enough and your clothes are stylish, I take mine to buffalo exchange and/or plato's closet and sell them there, whatever they don't buy ( if it is too old or has any marks on it) they will donate to the local organizations for poor people so you don't have to drag anything back home.

hi shannon, here are some night shift Snacks that I use, oatmeal with raisins and milk, string cheese and an apple, yogurt and 1/4cup of kashi Cereal, 1oz of lime and chili almonds, a sugar free rice pudding cup with cinnamon sprinkled on it or some whole grain crackers with hummus, olive tapenade or tziziki (so not spelled correctly) on them. that's about it since I know what works for me at work and really don't vary it all that much, as for beverages I have 1/2 unsweetened tea and 1/2 lemonade, 1/4 pomegrante juice with sparkling Water and most of the fizz stirred out, a soy latte or sometimes a bottled starbucks drink. hope you got some ideas from these suggestions. good luck with your surgery!! we'll be looking forward to hear how you do.

here's my favourite recipe for mushies ( I did not even get that phase) that I still eat now and in fact just had before getting ready for work tonight, some refried beans (the roserita ones from the mexican section at the grocery) melt some shredded cheese over top in the micro for 1min and top with salsa, yummy......

hey tamboclan, congratulations on your banding, and hope your feeling good!! I had my 1st fill the other day and after speaking with the doctor he said he anticipates I will be a size 4 when this is all done!! a size 4!! last time I was that little, was ummm never, I can't wait for the rest of this journey and to buy stuff from the front of the rack at banana republic instead of the back of it!!

I wore an underwire from the clinic also, why would everyone in your support group give up their bras?

carvalho, you only have to not drink after eating for 30min not 2hrs, if it was that long then you would hardly have time to drink anything throughout the day. One of my little tricks is sometimes I have a popsicle after eating so it kind of feels like a drink, also on rare occ I would have a glass of wine while out with friends and such, the not drinking while eating was the hardest to get used to but now 5 weeks post op it is ok. I have to ask you though, where are you getting the surgery for 5000? My research was 16-21000 in Canada, 25 in the USA and 8000 in Mexico ( guess which one I chose) even with having to pay my own fills, there is alot of fills that can be done for 8000, also since I was a self pay there was no hoops to jump through, no psych consults or medically supervised diets etc...

macmadam: the port does not get anchored to your stomach (the wall of your stomach would be inside your stomach so obviously that would not really work), it is anchored to your abdominal muscles.

I'm going to assume the "drinking water method" is what I just had done this week, the doc puts a fill in, gives you some water to drink and if you throw up, he removes some of the fill, otherwise see you in a few weeks and off you go.