mtnman428

Hi all; its been pretty quiet here in Canada Lap-band land. Did everyone head to the lakes early for the August long weekend? I'm 2 weeks from my procedure and have lost 10 pounds on the pre-op diet. I am afraid a weekend of beer and BBQ is going to be too tempting to resist. I suppose a little binge shouldn't hurt.:biggrin: What do you think?

Thanks for the advice doddie, I have never been successful with diets before which is partly why I'm here now. Life tends to get in the way of dieting, from my perspective. Thanks Michee, I'm allowed a pound and a half of green veg a day which is keeping the munchies under control. I'm going to the Stamps/Rider game tonight which would mean normally a tailgate bbq - burgers and beer. Tonight its bottled Water and a bag of celery sticks. I hope I can survive. Go Stamps! or Go Riders! - I haven't decided who to cheer for. I've never seen Saskatchewan win a game, so if I cheer for the Stamps maybe the Riders can stay undefeated. LOL cujo (former saskatchewan boy now living in alberta)

Thanks! That's why I said the bloating is finally coming down because for 4 days after surgery I was still the same and it was so frustrating, LOL!!! 13 before and 8 after, 105 to go.

Oooh I didn't ask the Dr., nor did he tell! But I drove about 5 days from the day of my surgery. That's mostly because I didn't have access to my car for the first 3 anyways (I was in MX). The first day that I did drive it was fine, but was a little different because I was still a little bloated/swollen in the stomach area, and had to move my seat around. I'm only 9 days out now and the bloating seems to finally be subsiding!

Hi Tonya, I have quite the comparable story! I started at 241. I was just banded on 7/24/08 - 9 days ago. On my pre-op diet I lost 13 Lbs. and since surgery I have lost 8 Lbs. so far. I did tons of research before making my decision to have this done to my body. As I'm sure you probably will too. So far I'm happy with my decision because I knew that I needed help. Knock on wood, it hasn't been very painful at all either, just some mild discomfort here and there. Good luck in your decision. Keep us posted!

Thanks for the thorough response Snowbird. That is what I will probably end up doing; 1st fill there, then the rest here.

Thanks Lisa! Would taking an aspirin a day help (as a blood thinner)?? If so does aspirin hurt the band or stomach pouch (because I was told liquid Tylenol-if pain)? I haven't had anymore swelling, but that could be because I have done the treadmill for 30 minutes yesterday and today.

Hey Snowbird! I was just banded by Dr. Ortiz on 7/24. Did you go back to him for your 2 fills? He told me that if I went back to him for my fills than I would need fewer fills then if I got them here in the US. Do you agree? Does he make you so tight that you can't really eat much (is that why)? Do you have the 4cc band as well? I just wanted to know because I want to see if it is worth going all the way back to MX (6 hour flight +$$) instead of a local fill Dr. Thanks.

I'll be just ahead of you. I have Dr Ortiz on the 15th. Good luck

Oh, I hope that I don't have to go in every 2 months! That will get very expensive for me. I'm self-pay. Are your check-up-adjustments free? My first fill is in September.

Thanks for all of the help, it means a lot!

OK great thanks! I can't afford too many trips back to MX anyway, so that will be great if it gets accomplished with less.

Hi all, I was just banded on 7/24/08. My Dr. used the regular 4cc Lap Band. Is this going to be enough (VS 10cc) room for restriction?? Can anyone that has that size tell me please? Thanks

Thanks for the speedy reply Julie! I've not had shortness of breath, so I guess that's good. I did the treadmill today for a half hour only at 2.7mph, and I'll keep doing it. I don't want to chance anything, after coming this far! Do you know when the chance for a clot goes away/is reduced??

Nessa38, I was trying to figure that out myself before. Go to the main page, and to the left where all of the topics are (like, "general Lap-Band discussion"), click on one of those topics, then near the top of the page in blue it will say "new thread", click on that and write away!

Thanks for the encouraging insight PamTexas! I hope that happens to me too.

Hahaha, Diva you made me laugh-that's not good!:crying: I said the same thing to my sister, that she had better stop making me laugh...it is not always the best medicine! I too had my surgery on 7/24. I'm not having too much pain and I can kinda sleep on my side now. But yesterday and today I actually had a bit more shoulder and port soreness than the first few days post-op. I think that is due to my lack of walking the last 2 days for sure because the 1st few days I slowly walked quite a bit (site seeing in Mexico-no car), but since being home I took it easy and stayed in. Tomorrow I will be out for a walk. Have you lost any weight since the surgery?? I've only lost 1LB, and it is very frustrating!!! I've only been on clear liquids. I thought that would be the silver lining in the clear liquid phase, but no! I'm hoping that it is just bloating and water retention from surgery. Speedy recovery and weight loss!

Hey, I just got my band 5 days ago too!! I spoke too soon and was thinking that I didn't have any/much shoulder pain yet, but yesterday and today I have had a slight mild soreness in my shoulder area. The common thing with yesterday and today for me was that I didn't walk much. So tomorrow I shall go for a slow and steady walk. The first few days following surgery I was walking quite a bit (due to sight seeing in Mexico-no car) and I felt better. Question: Have you lost any weight since surgery?? I have only lost 1LB so far, which, I suppose I can attribute to bloating and Water retention, but it is still SO frustrating. I have been on only Clear liquids for 5 days now, and haven't been consuming very many calories! Are these pounds all just going to drop off at once, I wonder??:confused2:

Orea, and all of the other 7/30/08 bandings, good luck tomorrow!!! :biggrin2:

Folk, I just had my surgery 4 days ago. Surprisingly (to myself) I didn't feel that nervous while there, but maybe I subconsciously was because I had many questions! Anyways, ditto everything that Orea said and also my Dr. (and probably most Dr.'s) gave me a Adavan and something else for nerves beforehand, so that will take care f any worries. Just try to relax, it will all be finishedbefore you know it! Good Luck!

My Dr. told me no mushy phase at all! I was kinda disappointed! But I get to get back to solid food on the 4th week.

Hi, I was just banded on 7/24/08. Coffee and tea is on my clear liquid phase list. I just can't have cream or milk in it, but the nutritionist said that non-dairy creamer is fine. So I went out and bought some Coffeemate pronto!

Hi NanaB, I just had surgery on 7/24/08. So far (knock on wood!) I have not had too much shoulder pain. Just some mild discomfort at times. I think that the whole walking suggestion really is the key, and I also took 2 gas-x strips every 4 hours or so (just in-case). I just walked slowly-no marathon needed. Hope this helps.

Mackie, my prayers are with you and your husband.

Hey evryone! I was just banded yesterday, by Dr. Ortiz in Tijuana, MX. I'm about to leave the clinic now, but wanted to use his computer 1st, since I didn't bring mine, and let you know how I'm feeling. So far so good! I'm surprised to be only a little sore in certain positions, like getting up out of bed. Other than that I feel fine. There was a slight ache up in my left shoulder from the CO2, but it seems to have gone away-hopefully. I just tried to walk as much as possible and breath into that thing they give you for your lung capacity (10x/hour). Good luck to all of the surgeries coming up!