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Thanks both of you. It'll be good to be able to come here with my queries and worries to see if other have experienced them before rushing off to the phone to call my surgeon. I think I should have found this earlier.. Early days weren't too easy on me, some support would have been nice! Thanks again though. :thumbup:

Good morning ladies! Query me this: A week ago tomorrow I had a fill. It was a good fill. I have just the right amount of restriction. I am eating about 900 calories a day and power-walking off about 700 of those. How in heaven's name have I GAINED 3 lbs. since last Friday morning?!?!?!?!!

Hi everyone just thought I'd introduce myself, Im from Sydney Australia, and Im 7 days post op. Im excited about my new journey ahead and looking forward to everyones story's and queries. I've already lost 6kgs which I think is about 13ibs??? Anyways thanks for your time guys. And good luck to everyone pre and post op.:ohmy:

PJTP... You are both 100% right...and now that I've calmed down, that's exactly what I did. I sent Mgr an email, quoted below: I’ve attached a spreadsheet with all the records affected. The first sheet is the Unconfirmed / Unreleased records, the second has the records that have been confirmed and released, and the third sheet are the records on hold. I asked BB (my edit) yesterday when he gave me the list if the records not highlighted (now on the second spreadsheet) were okay to confirm and release, and he said yes. I asked twice to be sure and when he said yes, I noted it on the sheet so I would be clear. The ones on ‘hold’ are the same as on the sheet he gave me. Not trying to make excuses or prolong this, but the instructions I have for Entering, Confirming and Releasing Decisions do not mention Waitlisted folks except for when they are initially waitlisted. Once they have “WA” (waitlist accepted) status, they no longer show up on the Awaiting Confirmation query, and running ‘The List’ does not give me the same columns, so the spreadsheet I have attached does not look the same. Confirming and Releasing the decisions does not seem to work the same way because when I log in and go to ‘Manage Database’, the deny decisions for waitlisted people do not show up. I believe they will have to be confirmed and released individually. I’ve attached the spreadsheet – will await further instructions. I'm not sure what else I can do...we'll see what type of response I get, if any...and like you, I believe this is a kind of set-up. I've heard the budget is tighter than previously thought, so that means the heat will probably be turned up on me... Thanks so much, y'all! I just gotta keep plugging away...I'll do what I can, when I can, and try not to let it get to me... Will check in and let y'all know what happens...going for a lunchtime walk shortly - I need to get out of the office for a few minutes...:tongue2:

Hi I am linda, due to see my Dr for the first time in Sept, I have watched the surgery performed on you tube, they made reference to Hiatus hernia..does anyone know what happens if you have a hernia and does it interfere with you having the lapband op. I was told 20 yrs ago that I had a hernia but I dont ever remember having any problems with it. I hope someone can answer this for me cheers Linda

Are you this drama filled IRL? Do you expect total strangers to drop everything immediately and answer your queries ASAP? Might explain why people leave you alone. Not counting the complaint in this thread you posted 4 times and 3 times people replied within hours. The fourth time you didn't ask anything so no one replied. The windmill's thattaway, Don Quixote.

I am writing to summarize our consultation today when we discussed having a bilateral brachioplasty, a mastopexy and a fleur-de-lys abdominoplasty with liposculpture to any excess areas of fat overthe hips, lateral breasts and flanks. A short scar brachioplasty involves making a horizontal incision in your axilla, as well as a vertical incision about half way down your arm to be able to both pull up your upper arm skin as well as tigten it cercumferentially. this will be combined with lipo sculpture to deal with any excess fat and then the excess skin is excised and the wound closed carefully using buried absoroble stutures. the closeure is tight enough to cause swelling of the hands but this is common with this type of brachioplasty and i have to be careful not to injure nerves that supply the inside of the arm and forearm but again great care is taken to avoid this as with any operation it is possible to get problems with bleeding and infection or wound breakdown but all of these are fairly uncommon. An abdominoplasty involves a lower abdominal incision which is deliberately put within the bikini line the lenth of the scar will depend on the size of the abdomen the wound itself is closed with sutures that are buried and underneath the skin and disolve to minimise the amount of visible scarring however i would stress that the quality of the scar depends very much on how u heal as a individual. Through this incision the entire anterior abdominal wall skin and fat is freed up as far as the rib cage an incision is made around the umbilicus which is left attached to the abdominal wall from which it gets blood suppl. The access that we get to the anterior abdominal wall allows us to carry out what is called a keel repair which is tightning of the abdominal wall using a permanent nylon stuture i several layers rather like putting in a internal corset this can feel extremely tight very much like a corset that cannot be loosened but this does settle a little with time it can make patients feel uncomfortable if they try have a large meal and for that reason it sometimes help if people loose weight. The abdominal skin is then pulled down and it is usually possible to resurface the entire abdomen using upper abdominal skin such that the lower skin can be removed and disgarded the wound wil then be closed over 2suction drains and these drains remain for 3to6days depending on how much they are draining if the drains are removed too early fluid can acumulate giving rise to what is called a seroma this is not particularly serious and if a seroma does develop it is usually quiet easy to drain it off in out patients but we do try prevent this by leaving the drains in for long enough even if it means u going home with drains in position U should expect to get some numbness of the lower abdominal skin which does persist for months but does not appear to be a long term problem as with any operation its possible to get problems with bleeding infection delay in healing especially risk in people who smoke and in the pressence of a great deal of excess fat . A keel repair can be slightly uncomfortable and it can be 3to4wks before patients can return to work we normally keep patients in bed for the first day after the operation and for this u will have a urinary catheter which wil be removed on day 3 when we get u up and a bout other risks involve deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolus but every precaution is taken to prevent this using intermittent calf pressure both during and after the operation as well as ted stockings On u i will be carrying out a fleur de lys abdominoplasty because of ur excess lateral skin so that i can pull ur skin in from the side to give u a rather better waist than u have at the moment and also considerably reduce the amount of excess skin and fat u have in a circumferential direction i have stressed that it is difficult to predict the quality of the vertical scar but i think it wil be very difficult to properly correct ur excess without doing this. I have talked to u about a breast uplift or mastopexy which will involve tightening up ur existing breast skin without removing any of ur breast tissue this produces a scar around the nipple areola with a scar coming down from this to join a scar underneath the breast so the whole thing looks like a anchor. we do our best to make ur scars as neat as possible using stutures that are buried underneath the skin and disolve but the quality of ur scar wil depend very much on how good u are at forming scars as an individual because we have to take time and gravity into account u will find that initially ur brests are a little bit flat underneath with a slight boxy appearence this is to take account of the fact that they will tend to droop slightly with time and we are trying to give a good long term result I know u are concerned about being to small afterwards but this is just an operation that tightens the skin and does not in any way decrease the breast volume so its equivalent to wearing rather a supportive bra i have said to u if u feel after that u are too small then it is certainly a straight forward matter without causing any additional scarring to carry out a breast augmentation and this is certainly a much safer and simpler operation to do as a staged procedure rather that doing it at the same time as ur mastopexy if u have any queries u musnt hesitate to contact me when u come in for ur opreation i will be seeing u before the procedure and will be marking u so u can see where ur scars will be and have some idea of how u will look after

I'm also wondering if my band is too tight, and I posted a similar query just moments after yours, so I don't really have answers but I am curious, does your doctor allow patients to eat regular foods (apple, cereal, etc.) after a fill? My doctor recommends only liquids the day of the fill, and then one day of mushies after that, then if all is OK, back to regular food. You might try going back to liquids or mushies (but make sure to say away from hidden bubbles like a Protein shake blended in the blender!). Kathy

Hi Linda just wondering how the op went? I think it was you that was posting with queries about your preop diet and having to eat extra to get through, am i correct? Did you end up sticking to the preop diet in the end or not and did it have an effect on your surgery?

Oh That's Great News we are flying out at 7am so will be booking in Campanile Vilvoore same day.. when is your Op?I am Glad to there is someone Else..You are from Glasgow I see other end of the Country? We have a Meeting with Christian the same Evening I understand...To discuss any queries and Pay the Monies?? My Name is Dawn.. you can see some Pics on my profile! See You! I will leave a message at Reception. if you want to let me have your Full Name..x

Hey devonpilgrim, Good luck today, try and book the campanille hotel as that is where the consultation is!!! Unless you have booked the package (they put you in the campanille anyway) About the weight loss everyone is different! I was banded on tuesday and have now lost my first stone!!!!:rolleyes2: I'll expect it might slow down a bit for me soon but as soon as i am well enough i will be going to the gym to help me on my way!!!!! They say all your weight should be off in a year!!! If you have any other queries just let us know!!!! Jo x

PHILIPPINES LOCAL LAP-BAND SUPPORT (yay!) Hey there! I am Oscar Lopez and I have been reading posts in different forums here in lapbandtalk.com. I was looking for a local support forum for Filipinos who have been banded and those who intend to undergo the surgery, but to my dismay, I failed to see any. It's disappointing considering that we have the best health care professionals around and we have the best hospitals in Asia. Well, here it is! Share your thoughts and tell us your story. For a starter, maybe you can post the following details (since these are the FAQs): For Banded: 1. When did you undergo surgery? 2. Who was your doctor and where was it performed? 3. How much did it cost you and were you covered by insurance or you paid for it with your own money? If insurance, what was your insurance company and what process have you undergone to be able to claim the benefit. 4. Give your medical background before and after surgery. 5. Post any comments, suggestions or anything that you think is relevant to consider to help our fellow Filipinos. For People Wanting to Get Banded: 1. What is your medical profile now? 2. Have you consulted with a bariatric surgeon to check if you're a candidate for lap-band? 3. What is your main motivation for considering lap-band? 4. Do you have any apprehensions about lap-band? Post your concerns or queries here. I hope this forum can be a catalyst for open discussion among Pinoys! If you know of anyone who has undergone the operation, you might want them to share here. Invite, invite, invite! Tulungan na lang to! Ingat! ** If there are any Filipino surgeons around, you might want to ellucidate us on the ins and outs of lap-band surgery, the cost involved and the preparations for the surgery. :wink: :wink: :w00t: :w00t:

Query, can we ask them to just make us a group & call us "Kaiser Richmond" so folks can find us no matter what stage of the journey they are in?

Hi everyone! I just had a quick query and whilst I know everyone gets restriction at different times and after different fills, I was just wondering if you could all just quickly say what size your band is and at what filled capacity you think you got restriction.... just as a point of reference and general guidence!! My band an AP Lapband and is 9cc/ml in size and has been filled once to 4.5cc/ml (had 2.5cc/ml filled during surgery and 2cc/ml during my first fill). I have no restriction! Any info would be great!! Thanks guys!!

Hi Debbie, Just outside Glasgow , Scotland . NHS no one intrerested , despite constantly being reminded everytime you meet with any of them , diabates , heart attack , blood pressure ... blah blah blah ......GP was against it , my Dietician at Hospital was against it , always saying you dont need it , yet Ive been fighting my weight most my adult life , depsite being at heaviest in excess of 20 stone , Im kinda chunky all over LOL , even when in Hospital getting the band fitted the nurses chatting , ooh you dont look like you need this .. but at my weight a couple of months ago , my BMI was in excess of 40 , ie morbidly obese , like you say they chop and change like the wind the medical profession at times. Anyway what did bring it on and my decison to finally go with it privately , I have also been having problems with back , to extent last year I was flat on back for three months , I have compression and protruding discs , the specialists will not operate and fix due to my weight, they even feel if I lose 5/6 stone the problem will become manageable , the pain will ease and I will regain full use of my leg again if I get weight down. Im relatively young only 43 , still 2 very young kids and well it wasnt a really hard decision , it was get the weight down at whatever cost .. the back problem is degenrative and will get worse but neuro specialist says , the lighter I am and get my body down to , the less wear and basically the longer I put off the situation worsening to the extent I have very serious problems. Even getting the weight down and still have problems later , they will if I wish operate to try and fix ... its not a easy fix answer so my last resort .. the weight loss best option I felt to attack and conquer first. oops forgot , yeah the tablets , no I was aware re size , I had even read it in my research , just simply on the packet it saying do not break up, I coonvinced myself ah well must be ok , in hindsight what I should have done was not take any , and called the consultant next day and queried, but at times one just doesnt think right do they LOL .. ( LOL laughing now wasnt last week :scared2: ) and Hi JayTee , You left our great Nation ???? ........... Lucky You :thumbup: , just seems to be going downhill these days , get the weight down , retire and find meself somewhere sunny I think .. so I can bask in the sun with my new manly body ...

This is a copy of the email I sent out to members of our support group for anyone who lurks on this board from our clinic: For patients of The Surgical Weight Loss Centre in Mississauga: Hope everyone is enjoying the beginning of Spring! Just an early reminder that we will be having Tammy a beloved nurse at The Surgical Weight Loss Centre come out to speak with us as our guest speaker at our next meeting on Thursday, April 16th, at 7:30 pm, (doors open at 7:00 pm.,) Sue, one of our other wonderful nurses would of joined her but unfortunately will be out of town. I hope as many people as possible will come out to chat and ask questions of Tammy, I would appreciate if people could RSVP me up to 5 pm the day of the meeting so I can get an idea of the numbers to expect when I am configuring the room seating set up that night. We will be continuing with our ongoing clothing exchange, so feel free to bring items that no longer fit you and look through the lovely selection of items available. coffee and other refreshments continue to be available for purchase at the hot deli food counter on the main floor. For those who were not able to attend last month I will have available additional handouts on "Emotional Eating" I made up that was our topic last month. Please contact me for the location info if you don't already know it. I will be contacting Tammy with the types of questions and concerns pre-op and post-op bandsters have for her so feel free to email me anything you would like added to the list. This night will consist of a relaxed evening with Tammy open to addressing any of your queries so please come out and give and receive support! Hope to see many new and familiar faces including those who haven't been able to attend in awhile, we miss you! I will post an additional group reminder the week of the meeting but please circle this date on your calendar, thanks. Regards, Donna Volunteer Facilitator for the Mississauga Lap-Band Peer Support Group for SWLC Patients

The best and most absorbable Protein is whey PROTEIN ISOLATE. It comes in an unflavored/unsweetened powder, so you don’t have to worry about sugar and it can be added to ANYTHING solid or liquid. I keep a 2-5 pounder in my fringe at all times (Remember, you will need 60 grams of protein daily post-op for the rest of your life!). It’s a great way to get a dose of protein whenever you need it, especially when you get tired of eating the same protein sources day after day. Here are a few places to purchase WHEY PROTEIN ISOLATE. http://www.vitacost.com/JarrowFormulas100NaturalWheyProtein http://nutrabio.com/Products/whey_protein_concentrate.htm http://search.store.yahoo.net/cgi-bin/nsearch?catalog=americasvitaminstore&query=Whey%20protein%20isolate&.autodone=nsearch.html Best wishes!

I was banded on 31st Jan and have a haematoma just above my port. I queried it and was told by the nurse it would "get absorbed by the body in time". I even sent photos to my surgeon who said, although unusual, he wasn't worried about it. Yesterday I had my first fill. A different consultant did the fill and examined the haematoma, making sure it wasn't a hernia. He said he wasn't concerned and that, as the nurse had said, it would be reabsorbed by the body - in time. I will keep an eye on it and see what happens. Here is a pic of my lump!

So, here I am a day after surgery. Guess what! I made it through in tact. With a few scars, a little less hair and a lot of learning to do. The day went as planned. I arrived at seven thirty as instructed and was in my gown, support stockings and rather fetching paper knickers by eight. The formalities were taken care of - a couple of signatures were needed on well-guarded legal papers ensuring I wasn't able to claim for damages in the unlikely event of me failing the post operative "aliveness test". One point I would like to raise here is that the "unlikely event" was suddenly presented to me as 1in 1000; a dramatic increase of odds from the original 1 in 1666.6 recurring that I was originally quoted. Was this a method of getting people in then telling the truth so they were less likely to back out? Had the surgeon's month since seeing me last gone so drastically wrong? Either way - I was in my paper panties and nothing was going to get me out of them! Following the sombre surgeon's sojourn, I was introduced to the man who was in the responsible position of anaesthetising me. A very nice chap with the most god-awful dress sense. I get the feeling it was some kind of patient amusement tactic. Making me believe that, I may well look like a transvestite mental asylum patient in a floral backless dress that flashed tight disposable panties, but at least I didn't look as silly as him. Or maybe he was just partaking of his own drugs. I was led down the hall to the room where I was to be sedated and knocked out. This is where my innate coward pushed aside my bravado and made his way to the forefront of the stage. There, laid serenely in front of me, was what I can only describe as a mortuary slab with a green blanket. I looked back at the pendulous double swinging doors as they eased closed and surveyed my opportunities for a semi-clad escape. I was laying down before I could work out whether the doors would open outwards or whether a mad dash through would do the anaesthetist's job for him. The peer pressure of being so dressed on front of three professional people allowed a few more moments of assumed nonchalance to reappear through my devastated pride. I lay down and looked up. As I considered the six nostrils floating above me, an oxygen mask was put over my face. Panic time! I desperately searched through my arsenal of puerile wit and innuendo so I could disarm the team into such fits of hysterics that I could take flight, or at least delay this trip for a few more minutes. My hand was prepared for the drugs and a cannula inserted. I didn't have much time! Eureka! I created a joke. One so funny that they would be in stitches before me! I made my pre-emptive strike... As the first two words of my epic joke were muttered...I found myself rather confused about the fact that I seemed to skip right to the end, miss the middle, miss the punchline and awake sobbing in the recovery room. Here I would like to assure all readers that it's perfectly normal for emotions to run a little high whilst waking up from the anaesthetic. And that I am indeed a little girl. I had read as many stories about the post-surgery pain that I could. All searches that I had made under "no pain after surgery" had assured me that there would be very little to none at all. In fact, I was so annoyed by the discrepancy in these stories and fact that I wiped the tears from my face and questioned the nurse on whether they had actually had to do open surgery instead of the promised laproscopic one. She reassured me that everything had gone smoothly and requested more tissues for me from her colleague. Eventually I pulled myself together and allowed them to wheel me back to my room. All the way wondering if something wasn't quite right. Had my searches for "no pain after surgery" been misleading? As the hours passed by slowly and the pummelling leg massagers pummelled, I really got to grips with the pain I was feeling. After being sneered at by one nurse for not having the experience to understand true pain until I was able to give birth, I queried my tolerance to other feelings outside of my own comfort. Was I just "being a man" and not handling it at all well? I came to the conclusion, yes - I was. The pain, initially described as 9 out if 10 (10 probably feeling one step away from the gates of hell) was re-evaluated in my mind as the anaesthetic wore off, as merely "heavy discomfort". Apparently they pumped my abdominal cavity full if gas so as to spread the organs and make surgery easier. A little like the stories one hears of brattish children using straws to inflate frogs before popping them.And this was what was causing my distress. Imagine being forced to drink a litre of very fizzy Pepsi in ten seconds. That feeling of just before you erupt in a thunderous belch - held in place by someone tying up the opening of your stomach. Or that feeling when you under chew and rush swallow something far to big and indigestible for your narrow pipes - like a tough piece of steak. As it makes its way slowly down to the stomach neck - then momentarily fools you into thinking these are your last moments on earth. Immense and intense agony for people with a pain threshold such as mine - passable and manageable for others. This cause me to get very little sleep last night and I had to sit upright throughout. I also subjected myself to a truly dreadful film with Matt Damon and Thandie Newton. I was unsure at that point with was more painful to sit through. Today is a slightly different story. The abdominal gas is still present but now displays itself in "referred" format. The gasses press hard against my diaphragm and cause my shoulder and back to hurt. The muscles that I am using to move my excessive bulk about that are compensating for my temporarily retire stomach muscles are not used to carrying the majority of my weight and are, in turn, screaming back at me for subjecting them to such torture. I am able to drink clear liquids far more easily today and I can feel myself getting much better with every hour that passes. Touch wood, all will be back to normal fairly shortly. I am due to be on liquids until Monday then pureed food for four weeks. I am quite a fan of baby food - so don't think this is going to be much of a problem. After then I will move on to small portions of solid foods for the rest of my days. No bread, pasta or rice or anything that could block the passage way through my newly partitioned stomach. A regime of watching exactly what I eat will be in order from now on along with a healthy dose of exercise. The edge of my hunger will be abolished from when I have my first band fill in five weeks time, in which case it will give me that helping hand that I have been missing from previous efforts. All in all, I would say that I don't particularly want to go through surgery again (mainly because I am pathetic with pain, but slightly because of the disposable panties) - but I am very much looking forward to being able to explore a new kind of life in the coming years. I do believe I now deserve a co-codamol / Voltarol cocktail! For those of you who are starting to read these posts from outside the Lap Band community and want to know I little more about what I have had done, you can follow this link which sums everything up pretty nicely: Lapband.com - About the LAP-BAND® Adjustable Gastric Banding System If you would like to see the stories of others who have gone through the procedures, their trials and amazing successes, please visit http://www.lapbandtalk.com or http://www.ukgastricband.co.uk Originally posted at: Lap Band Blog

So, here I am a day after surgery. Guess what! I made it through in tact. With a few scars, a little less hair and a lot of learning to do. The day went as planned. I arrived at seven thirty as instructed and was in my gown, support stockings and rather fetching paper knickers by eight. The formalities were taken care of - a couple of signatures were needed on well-guarded legal papers ensuring I wasn't able to claim for damages in the unlikely event of me failing the post operative "aliveness test". One point I would like to raise here is that the "unlikely event" was suddenly presented to me as 1in 1000; a dramatic increase of odds from the original 1 in 1666.6 recurring that I was originally quoted. Was this a method of getting people in then telling the truth so they were less likely to back out? Had the surgeon's month since seeing me last gone so drastically wrong? Either way - I was in my paper panties and nothing was going to get me out of them! Following the sombre surgeon's sojourn, I was introduced to the man who was in the responsible position of anaesthetising me. A very nice chap with the most god-awful dress sense. I get the feeling it was some kind of patient amusement tactic. Making me believe that, I may well look like a transvestite mental asylum patient in a floral backless dress that flashed tight disposable panties, but at least I didn't look as silly as him. Or maybe he was just partaking of his own drugs. I was led down the hall to the room where I was to be sedated and knocked out. This is where my innate coward pushed aside my bravado and made his way to the forefront of the stage. There, laid serenely in front of me, was what I can only describe as a mortuary slab with a green blanket. I looked back at the pendulous double swinging doors as they eased closed and surveyed my opportunities for a semi-clad escape. I was laying down before I could work out whether the doors would open outwards or whether a mad dash through would do the anaesthetist's job for him. The peer pressure of being so dressed on front of three professional people allowed a few more moments of assumed nonchalance to reappear through my devastated pride. I lay down and looked up. As I considered the six nostrils floating above me, an oxygen mask was put over my face. Panic time! I desperately searched through my arsenal of puerile wit and innuendo so I could disarm the team into such fits of hysterics that I could take flight, or at least delay this trip for a few more minutes. My hand was prepared for the drugs and a cannula inserted. I didn't have much time! Eureka! I created a joke. One so funny that they would be in stitches before me! I made my pre-emptive strike... As the first two words of my epic joke were muttered...I found myself rather confused about the fact that I seemed to skip right to the end, miss the middle, miss the punchline and awake sobbing in the recovery room. Here I would like to assure all readers that it's perfectly normal for emotions to run a little high whilst waking up from the anaesthetic. And that I am indeed a little girl. I had read as many stories about the post-surgery pain that I could. All searches that I had made under "no pain after surgery" had assured me that there would be very little to none at all. In fact, I was so annoyed by the discrepancy in these stories and fact that I wiped the tears from my face and questioned the nurse on whether they had actually had to do open surgery instead of the promised laproscopic one. She reassured me that everything had gone smoothly and requested more tissues for me from her colleague. Eventually I pulled myself together and allowed them to wheel me back to my room. All the way wondering if something wasn't quite right. Had my searches for "no pain after surgery" been misleading? As the hours passed by slowly and the pummelling leg massagers pummelled, I really got to grips with the pain I was feeling. After being sneered at by one nurse for not having the experience to understand true pain until I was able to give birth, I queried my tolerance to other feelings outside of my own comfort. Was I just "being a man" and not handling it at all well? I came to the conclusion, yes - I was. The pain, initially described as 9 out if 10 (10 probably feeling one step away from the gates of hell) was re-evaluated in my mind as the anaesthetic wore off, as merely "heavy discomfort". Apparently they pumped my abdominal cavity full if gas so as to spread the organs and make surgery easier. A little like the stories one hears of brattish children using straws to inflate frogs before popping them.And this was what was causing my distress. Imagine being forced to drink a litre of very fizzy Pepsi in ten seconds. That feeling of just before you erupt in a thunderous belch - held in place by someone tying up the opening of your stomach. Or that feeling when you under chew and rush swallow something far to big and indigestible for your narrow pipes - like a tough piece of steak. As it makes its way slowly down to the stomach neck - then momentarily fools you into thinking these are your last moments on earth. Immense and intense agony for people with a pain threshold such as mine - passable and manageable for others. This cause me to get very little sleep last night and I had to sit upright throughout. I also subjected myself to a truly dreadful film with Matt Damon and Thandie Newton. I was unsure at that point with was more painful to sit through. Today is a slightly different story. The abdominal gas is still present but now displays itself in "referred" format. The gasses press hard against my diaphragm and cause my shoulder and back to hurt. The muscles that I am using to move my excessive bulk about that are compensating for my temporarily retire stomach muscles are not used to carrying the majority of my weight and are, in turn, screaming back at me for subjecting them to such torture. I am able to drink clear liquids far more easily today and I can feel myself getting much better with every hour that passes. Touch wood, all will be back to normal fairly shortly. I am due to be on liquids until Monday then pureed food for four weeks. I am quite a fan of baby food - so don't think this is going to be much of a problem. After then I will move on to small portions of solid foods for the rest of my days. No bread, pasta or rice or anything that could block the passage way through my newly partitioned stomach. A regime of watching exactly what I eat will be in order from now on along with a healthy dose of exercise. The edge of my hunger will be abolished from when I have my first band fill in five weeks time, in which case it will give me that helping hand that I have been missing from previous efforts. All in all, I would say that I don't particularly want to go through surgery again (mainly because I am pathetic with pain, but slightly because of the disposable panties) - but I am very much looking forward to being able to explore a new kind of life in the coming years. I do believe I now deserve a co-codamol / Voltarol cocktail! For those of you who are starting to read these posts from outside the Lap Band community and want to know I little more about what I have had done, you can follow this link which sums everything up pretty nicely: Lapband.com - About the LAP-BAND® Adjustable Gastric Banding System If you would like to see the stories of others who have gone through the procedures, their trials and amazing successes, please visit http://www.lapbandtalk.com or http://www.ukgastricband.co.uk Originally posted at: Lap Band Blog

Haydee, that's not hi-jacking the thread... it's what the thread's supposed to be about! Remember, this is a band support site! We've just turned it into an EVERYTHING support site, thank goodness! Oh, & your hair queries I leave to our resident hair expert, Janie, to answer. I haven't a clue!

Its not the surgery itself that would worry me, its a simply and fairly uncomplicated procedure. Of course, practice and good technique will greatly reduce your risk of complications. What I woudl be wanting though is a surgeon who is well and truly experienced with the everyday queries and problems that arise for a bandster. I dont want a doctor who is just going to prescribe some stupid Atkins style diet for me becuase he really has no idea about how the band (or my body) works. I want someone who really KNOWS, not someone who quotes a textbook. I also want someone with a staff who is good at fills and wont do stupid things like rush them, make them too big, or have some set idea of what a fill schedule could be without the experience to know when to change it, what is OK to tweak a bit, what is not. I want to see someone highly qualified for my fills, not some idiot who's going to puncture my tubing or suck all the Fluid out to check and then miss the port. The surgery is the easy bit, the aftercare is where so many seem to be inadequate.

Hi Cindy, Sorry I was a bit slack getting back to you! I have just been down to Calgary to see Dr Mitchell. I have been getting my fills from him. He seems to be happy with the fact that I had mine done in Mexico. He now charges $150, and I think he is planning to expand his time. He used to only do fills on a Tuesday or Thursday from 4 to 5pm. But he has been so busy that the time frame is now greater. I will go down in May for a 1:30pm appointment! That means we get home in daylight. Any other queries, I should be online till we head for home for 3 weeks. I can tell you the warmth in New Zealand is calling loudly! Dana

Hi TC, hope you see this before you go. Just want to say, we will certainly be thinking about you and with you in spirit, having gone through it so recently ourselves. You definitely can keep knickers on! They tried to tell us we couldn't when giving the 'Chanel' gowns n Anne Summers surgical stockings out for us to get ready and we queried it cos Dr Chris had said 'bra off but can keep knickers on!'. So they went away and came back and confirmed we could go down to surgery with dignity intact. So if they try to tell you no, protest! Take care and know we are all sending you the best of wishes and hope to hear from you as soon as you feel up to it, bigsister x

A man posted this in the general Lapband and no one was replying so I thought I would help him and post it in here... Hi I hope you don’t mind me posting like this, but I wondered if any of you might be able to help. To introduce myself, my name is Henry Austin and I am a North American Correspondent for Look magazine in the UK. Please see our website at www. Look.co.uk We are a large weekly women’s magazine, similar in style to People in North America and we pride ourselves on ensuring the welfare of people who are good enough to entrust us with their stories and experiences. My editors have asked me to find a young lady between the ages of 19 and 31 who has lost a large amount of weight after having a lap band. While maybe slightly unrealistic they asked for about 250lbs. We were hoping it might be possible to interview them and produce a feature for our magazine. Please rest assured that if someone decided to go ahead, everything would be treated with the utmost care and sensitivity. They would remain in control of the procedure throughout and I would not do anything without your prior agreement. As with everyone I write about, I would also guarantee to read everything back to you before publication to ensure both accuracy and your happiness with the piece. While I’m sure it is not a prime consideration, it is my duty to inform you that we do compensate everyone for their time in speaking with us or indeed make a donation to the charity of church of their choice. This is usually $1000, although this can rise at the editor’s discretion. If at any point you have any queries please by all means e-mail me at henry.austin@yahoo.ca and I will be happy to answe them for you. Thank you for taking the time to read this letter and may I wish you all, all the best for the future. Kind regards Henry