Devana

Welcome Kim. You have just a few days to go. Keep us posted on how you're doing.

When I was in school in the UK we studied the differences in the health care systems of the UK, the US and Canada. One of the problems with the UK system is that it's two tiered. The private sector is really siphoning off the benefits of the NHS. In my province of BC in Canada there are repeated attempts to privatize health care to some degree and it's usually met with protest by people who do not stand to benefit financially from privatization. It's recognized that it would erode universal health care. The system isn't perfect. There are sometimes waits for things like hip and knee surgeries and in some of the faster growing urban centres the hospitals are bursting at the seams. However, for example, if a person needs cancer treatment or something like that, they have access to the best treatment available, and quickly, regardless of their income. Many people do have private extended insurance and this usually covers dental, eyeglasses, orthotics, massage, naturopathic and chiropractic treatments etc. My son had a health crisis just over 4 years ago and it has since been an ongoing thing. To date he has used up well over a million dollars worth of health care and it has cost us our $109.00 a month medical services fee.

I'm actually a little bit worried. I'm hoping that there's nothing else going on in her life that's causing her stress. Her reaction was a little extreme and I've seen that in other people when life was getting a bit out of control for them. Mysherrijo, let us know if you're ok.

Too funny!!

Congratulations on your banding! How are you feeling? I'm glad you decided to post at last. I also lurked a long while before posting. It was the information I got from this site that made me decide to go for it. I'm sure there's a March bandster's thread somewhere here that you may want to hook up with. Keep posting!

This is a tough one. How much does he charge for fills or are they included in the price and how quickly can you schedule them? I was banded in Mexico in June and the total cost including transportation was $7100. At that price I don't mind nipping over to Dr Woodhead for my fills. Because he's in Ladner, he's just a 15 minute bus ride away from the ferry, so I don't have the expense of taking the car. However, it does mean that I have to take a day off work. Catching the 7 am to Tsawwassen means the earliest I can get home up island is 2:30. Also there's the issue of experience. Dr. Oritz will certainly have done more bands. Whether that makes a difference or not, I don't know. A holiday sounds nice. For me I guess the deciding factor would be the convenience of fills. Being in the Cowichan Valley, there's not a huge difference between going to Victoria or to Ladner. For you, however, it's different. But if you have to wait ages for a fill like some Dr Amson patients do that would give you less control over your life and weight loss. As a Mexican patient you'll be able to get fills easily in Ladner. In an emergency you'll still have Dr Amson and the dr you're considering nearby.

It comes from a group of women I know who in the '80's would meet every year in a different town and get off on each other's crackling intellect, laser wit and huge capacity for outrageous fun. The poor towns wouldn't know what hit them.

I did the same thing when I flew down to Mexico for banding. It's quite unlike me to take things in this way, but I've rationalized it by considering it a loan. I fully intend to fly that same airline again when I'm slimmer and no longer need and extension, at which time I will just leave it there.

Is everything alright? I think I remember reading somewhere that you were going for an MRI today.

I dub thee the piranha sisters. That's a compliment!

Sounds divine, green, I'm going to make some. I'm frustrated right now. I got a fill about 10 days ago and it was so tight at first that it scared me. That first night I awoke a couple of times choking on my own saliva. It hurt to take a nano-sip of water. By the next morning I could drink and managed to get about 3 glasses of water down by day's end. The following day was even better. Now I feel like I've had no fill at all. I am able to eat far more than I want to. I'm wondering if I maybe have a leaky tube or something. Or maybe it could be that I had initial swelling that subsided and I just haven't reached my sweet spot yet. Dang. I think I'll go back soon. It's just that it's a pain in the ass. I have to take a day off work, leave at 5:30 am to get to the mainland so I can get back in time to take my son to his music lesson. Nuts.

Good luck tomorrow, gailann, a whole new life awaits you!

This is especially lame considering you tell them to hand them in (if they're done) at the beginning of each lab. It's not like they're not reminded regularly.

They're AT your house right now? Can you ask them to leave?

How did weddings turn into this? How did they turn from the joyous uniting of two families to princess for a day where every minute detail is of the utmost importance? I watched a wedding show on television once and could not believe the anxiety the bride was getting into over the littlest things that very few people were likely to notice, nor could I believe the huge expense of it all. As I get older I've come to appreciate the ceremonies that mark life's events much more than I did when I was younger. It makes me wish I had a wedding with family involved (instead of getting married in another country). I have several friends and relatives who specifically requested no funeral or memorial service when they died, and I missed the closure and the camaraderie that those ceremonies bring. The loveliest weddings I've been to have been the ones that are a little raggedy around the edges, with a little bit of room for unexpected joys. They have also been the ones where the families and friends have come together to help put on the event, rather than it being the total responsibility of the bride and her family or the bride and groom to entertain everybody.

Way to go, laurend!!

I'm wondering how you all are doing. I've had a fill recently and am at last losing again after a several month standstill. It feels so good. I was actually beginning to get into my self-blame thing a bit, feeling like I should be losing despite very little restriction. Anyway, now that's it's beginning to be lighter in the mornings I'll be able to resume my early morning walks. Walking an hour every morning works wonders for me, but I hate going out in the dark.

I really believe that studying birds makes you crazy. I've never met an ornithologist who wasn't absolutely dotty! :) :crazy:

Sunta, my heart goes out to you. My best friend is going through the same thing at the moment. She is 45 years old and it's only now that she has come to the point where she can no longer live in denial. The daughter of another good friend has just told her mother that she is gay and has known so since she was 5 years old. She is 22 and has the love and blessings of her family. It would break my heart to think of this lovely young woman living a lie, spending years trying to be straight for any reason whether it be church or family approval.

Now I'm confused. MEN decided what was inspired, accurate or spiritually authoritative enough to be included in the bible as we know it?? What if they were having a bad day or something.

Good luck tomorrow Steph. Let us know how you fare. Your own banded family can probably give you some idea about rate of weight loss. It depends on getting the right fills and on following the band rules. I'm just getting going again after a long plateau because I had trouble finding that "sweet spot" with the fills. Heal well.

Welcome Susan, hope you get a date soon!

Way to go Paulax!!

Holy smokes, Carl, that's tough. Is there any way you could get it done privately in Belgium? Remortgage your house or something like that? It certainly would be money well spent.

I and my friend Jane were banded in Mexico on the same day, June 29. I have a very high BMI and hers was about 32 I think. We both had similar amounts of post op pain, but I had a bit more of the referred diaphragm pain to the left shoulder. I lost 50 lbs very quickly then plateaued for a long while and am only just beginning to lose again. She has lost slowly and steadily with little plateaus and is now very close to her goal weight. She has just gone for a slight unfill because she has company coming from overseas and she wants suspicions on why she's eating so little. She has told me a number of times that it's the best money she's ever spent and she's looking wonderful. She can even fit into her teenage daughter's clothing now! Good luck with your journey.