Florida Pete

I am sure you will do well Mike! Best of luck to you and let us know how it goes. :cursing:

Thanks for the best wishes. Just a few more days for myself but best of luck really goes out to those whom had theirs yesterday and those whom are having theirs today! I wonder what a Christmas Ham Dinner pureed in the blender will taste like. LOL

It's hard for me to relate to people who want to keep this very private. I have been very open and upfront with everyone about this surgery. Sure there has been some negative reactions but that's par for the course. Those are the same people who critize you for being fat in the first place. Really if you want to use a white lie about where your going simply tell people your having your appendix removed. That's a good one if you have never had it removed.

It's great to hear your doing so well Trina! Congrats on finally getting your band and paving the way for the rest of us. Keep us up to date on your progress. :cursing:

yeah I think the 25 lbs and maybe some 3D art.

I am having my surgery done this Friday. I plan on being back to work by Tuesday next week. I also have a desk job so there will be no lifting or any strenuous physical activity that I would have to do. So for me it's simply going back to work to sit at my desk and do my work. Of course I plan on taking as many breaks as I need but everyone understands that need right after surgery.

Hey All! I am getting banded on Friday. If you haven't already go down to the monthly support forums and check out the December 2008 forum. There are tons of people in there all having their surgeries this month. Lot's of great support for our month!

Hi there China! I'll join in too! I am Peter and I will be banded this Friday, Dec. 5th. My goal for Jan 1 is 20 lbs weight loss. *it's going to be very interesting to see what kind of loss I will have after the band - I see some lose tons of weight really fast while others trickle it off.

Don't thank me. Thank LapBandTalk.com for the calendar. This is a great place for us all to share our experience together! Now let's see if we can fill that calendar up with everyones dates!!!

A big congrats on getting your date! It is an exciting time!

I've seen this talked about many times over. I think this really comes down to a personal choice. For me I tell anyone that is interested. Family, Friends, Co-Workers, etc etc. To me it's a big event in my life that will help me in my journey to be healthy and fit. At the same time my close aunt who had this surgery done 3 years ago by the same surgeon has hardly told anyone. She didn't even tell the few of us in our family that she had it done until 2 years after the surgeon was done and she had lost most of her weight. Beyond the family and I think some extremely close friends she hasn't told another sole. So really to me it's a personal choice one in which you have to decide for yourself if your willing to share this event of your life with others or not.

Here is an animated one too. Hope you enjoy! :biggrin:

I had a request to make the December Diamonds logo a little smaller so I resized it down. Here it is for anyone else that might want to use it!

This really is easy to add to your signature. Simply right click on the logo you want to use and click copy. Then go to edit your signature and right click in the edit box and paste the logo. Badda Bing Badda Boom you have it done! Please feel free to message me if you have any troubles with this! Oh and star this topic to get it sticky on the forum :thumbup:

Hey Look at this.... Lap Band Surgery and Lap Band Discussion Forum - Calendar Looks like we can all add our dates right here!

This would be really cool to have a calender with everyones dates on it. I wonder if there is an online application that could allow us the use of something like this.

Oh Wow! So sorry to hear about this happening! I hope you have a very quick recovery and will be able to get your lapband on schedule! Keep us up to date!

Good luck to all those with December 1st dates! We are all thinking about you today and wish you all successful surgeries and quick recoveries! Let us know how your doing!

Thanks all for sharing your stories to your success! This is all really encouraging and will be very helpful!

Heya Firedad! First off welcome to the thirty-somethings! Great to see another guy around here. Don't let the gaining weight get you down. You have already accomplished over half your goal and are doing great. Even with the band we're all going to experience steps forward and a couple back. We just have to push onward! It is hard work but you came to the right place to get some encouragement to get back on track! Keep working it and make the band work for you!

Thanks Vickie for the good luck! This is a great time ahead of us. I will be flying back to Florida on Sunday Dec. 7th so we will just miss each other. I know you will do so well there. The hospital looks just beautiful from everything I have seen about it and I hear the staff there is top notch. Make sure you check back in with us after your surgery!

I am going to Tijuana, Mexico for my surgery next Friday (Dec. 5th). Dr. Pedro Kuri is performing the surgery. He has performed this surgery over 4,000 times and has trained several surgeons in the US on how to perform this surgery. The cost is $7,500 to cover everything. I only have to add another $250 for my flight from West Palm Beach, FL to San Diego, CA. Dr. Kuri's staff will pick me up at the airport and will take me there to perform the surgery. If you want more information please feel free to contact me or do some research on the internet about it. Lap Band Surgery - Dr. Kuri & Associates

Hi Bill- I have heard the horror stories from the local surgeon here in Jupiter, Florida about people coming back from Mexico with just the port. The only thing I can say about that is I have only heard that from American Surgeons and have never once heard anyone come out and say it happened to them. On the flip side like I have said it's all about knowing doing the research to make sure you have a repitable surgeon. Even in getting surgery done here in the USA people should still research the surgeon they are going to use and make sure they are getting one who is well experienced and who is a good surgeon. Dr. Kuri only uses the Inamed LapBand which is the same that most surgeons use as most of you already know. Trust me Bill in that I had my doubts and was very skeptical about going to Mexico before I did my research. I wanted to make sure that the surgeon, their staff, and the facility was as good if not better then what I would get at home here. I believe from the people that I have talked to here on the forum whom have had their surgery done by Dr. Kuri, from talking with my aunt who had her surgery done by him, and from my research online that I will be going to one of Mexico's best.

It amazes me the amount of people who talk about Mexico who have never been there. Granted I have not yet been to Mexico but I have done my research and I have talked to peopel whom have. First off I will be going to Mexico next Thursday, Dec. 4th, 2008 for surgery on Dec. 5th from Dr. Pedro Kuri. In February of 2005 a close aunt of mine went to Dr. Kuri for the exact same procedure and she to this day praises him, his staff, and the facility. She has been a huge success on this surgery of course because she made it work for her. Recently a tv station in Sacremento, CA did a news article on the good and the bad on "Medical Tourism". In the news article they specifically used examples of good and bad surgeons in Mexico. It just so happens that Dr. Kuri was shown as their good example. They show the hospital that he works at, his staff, him, and even interview a patient of his. The main point of the news article is to tell people if you are going to go to Mexico or outside of the USA for medical treatment to do your homework ahead of time. I will be sure to be reporting back in here after my surgery to let others know how it went. Here is the news article: cbs13.com - Video Library Also here is Dr. Kuri's website: Lap Band Surgery - Dr. Kuri & Associates

What are you keys to success to losing this much weight? Starting at 485 lbs I have a total of 290 lbs to lose to get to my target weight. I have not been banded yet but will be in just over a week. Since January I have lost 33 lbs and am currently at 447 lbs. Yes that has been great to lose the 33 lbs but I know it would be nothing to gain it right back. So I have started asking myself what will be the keys to my success? Now I ask the same question to you. What are the keys to your success of losing weight and especially those like me who have over 200 lbs?