Hi there,

I am considering Dr. Kirshenbaum in Aurora, CO (www.lapbandrockies.com) I know that there are a few of you in LBT that went to him. I am interested in knowing your thoughts on him and if you have had any complications. I am just a little leary since the price is so low, there is little on the internet about him, and I will be traveling from WI to have this done. Any information you could provide would be much apppreciated...

Thanks!

Sheila:)

Lapdancer,

Sorry to hear about your sister and sorry to hear that you have been feeling down. Hope she is back and feeling better in a month, we will still be here for ya', a month, two... whatever it takes! You are doing fantastic, good job losing the weight that you gained.

I go in for my fill at 4:45 today. I am ready to kick start this thing! My positive vibes are working toward a good fill....huuummmmmm...........

So...what time are we meeting at Red Robin next Thursday? Still don't know if I'll be up to it and I'll just have to wait until that day. Mal was kind enough to give me very specific directions from my friends' house and I figure we can stop by on our way to the airport...I leave at 10pm.

Hi Marcy,

I think we are meeting at 7:00?? That will give you just enough time to drop in and say "hi" before you are off to the airport!

Thanks Mal!

And for all of you out there with children....NEVER allow Moon Sand into your house!

Ha ha ha, Marcy! Wish I had heard that warning before Christmas! Moon Sand is the messiest, hardest-to-clean-up stuff I have ever let my children play with! And to us, not nearly as fun and cooperative to play with as playdoh. Really hope that you feel up to coming out to see us! :eek:

Hi guys! How is everyone doing? I know i have not posted in so long...

I hope everyone is well. I did go back and read a lot of the posts to catch up and it seems we are all in the same boat as far as getting discouraged. That is why i love this site! Drew, what did you do when you came to a standstill or like me lost the first 10-15lbs and have not lost a pound since. I have had two fills so i am at 3.1cc's now and still nothing. I also started going to curves (faithfully) 3x a week. So what is the deal... i am eating less, working out and still the dang scale does not move well it moves up two and then down two the same two pounds. I have my third fill tomorrow so i am hoping this is the one!! Common restriction! I am going to make him fill me until i can't get a swallow down, ok maybe not that drastic but i want to be really tight. Other then that what is new? What have i missed? I will check in more often it has just been crazy around here with summer. I am working fulltime and going to school fulltime but, my kids just left to go spend the rest of the summer with their dad so i do have a little break there! Whoo hoo, <-- did i say that?

Miss you all!!

Hi Everyone!

Boy a lot seems to be happening out there.

Woofay - camping - yeeesh, you are a wonderful mom. I sent my guys outside and said wake me up if you get scared. I was always so tired.

Mal - you are just lightness and beaming, I feel your positive energy through the computer. Hope your fill finds you restricted but able to eat small portions. I definitely would go for the filet before getting filled.

Angie - how about you come to our meeting at Red Robin on July 12th at 7? woofay is driving in from the springs.

Marcy - we'll play it by ear, some of us would be able to run a marathon after surgery. I was out of it from the anesthesia.

Lap Dancer - you know we love you, take care of yourself. If you need to find a fill doc for a fill before you can fly again - go for it. Hugs!

Well, I am going up to the mountains for three days starting tomorrow. my sons won't be able to come because of work, but my mom, brother his wife and three kids under the age of 7 will be sharing a condo. My sister is the MC of the parade so we'll get to sit on the bandstand. It is a good time and at least it will be 10 degrees cooler.

So Happy 4th of July to all of you!

Hello Lovelies!!!

I went in and got .2cc's taken out yesterday and I am now sitting here eating breakfast! I haven't been able to eat breakfast since January or so. It's wonderful!!

I got to Dr K's office at about 4 yesterday and my appointment was at 4:15. The waiting room was packed. One thing I never understand though... maybe someone can explain it to me... why do people bring their ENTIRE families (kids, mom's, dad's, ect) to the doctor with them? It's miserable to have to squeeze in the waiting room and listen to screaming kids (can you tell I'm not a mother? LOL) Anywhoo... I waited until 4:30 and went up and asked Marilyn how late he was running as I needed to be downtown by 5. Mary, (whom I had never met until yesterday) came up and said it would be at least an hour. I got pretty annoyed and told her that if they were running that late they needed to call people and let them know so they could plan accordingly. She was pretty snotty with me but Marilyn took care of everything (like she always does!) and got me right back. I got back and Mary asked me to sign the waiver saying if your tubing/port gets punctured Dr K is released from liability. I laughed and said oh... this is because of me. She looked at me blankly and I said never mind, I want to talk to Dr K before I sign anything. He came in right away and laughed when I told him she wanted me to sign that and he put it away and said he started doing that because of my leak. He got my port on the first poke (yay!) and I asked him to take everything out so we could see exactly how much I had (2.2cc's) and I had him take out .2cc's. I cannot believe the difference!!

Mal... how did your fill go? How late was he when you got there?

Hi Drews!

They told me that I just missed you, we must have crossed each other in opposite elevators or something??

I know what you mean about the family thing!! I saw it too. How did they all fit in that tiny room?? There must have been six people in that small exam room and there was a stroller too??? What the heck were they thinking??...SOME PEOPLE!!!

Anyway, my appointment was at 4:45, and I got there about 4:40. I didn't get in until 6:00!!! Dr. K, his assistant and Marylyn were the only ones there by the time I got in. The entire thing was BIZZARE!!! in the end I think I got 2.9 or 2.10 put in?? He tried 3 but it felt like a huge baseball was stuck in my chest and I felt like I had to burp really bad but couldn't??? I never felt the funnel, draining thing he kept saying that I should feel. Totally bizzare ladies!!! It is so strange, when I eat something I am concentrating so hard on wether or not I feel anything, so far I ca't feel anything different. I haven't eaten much, but what I have eaten, I haven't felt any diferent???

I hope you madee it downtown on time yesterday.

Have a great day!!!

WOW! Is it usual for him to be so backed-up? And what's with all those family people? Like I want everyone to see my stretch marks!

He sure does seem to be very busy!?!?! No worries Marcy, you still get your own exam room and privacy...LOL

The scale in Dr. K's office is off from the scale in the fill room?!?!? Not to mention a few pouns off of my scale at home. According to my calculations, I should be down another 2 pounds. I am ready to see this LB do it's job, I am doing my part....

I sure have been a burping machine...anyone else? I must burp constantly for about 10 minutes after I eat and sometimes after I drink!

Jennifer - I don't do surgical nursing or even med-surg (I work with new moms and babies), but I would venture to guess that the reason you can't wear acrylics, or even nail polish, for surgery is because the nurses will put a small piece of equipment over your fingernail during surgery and post-op until you are up and around. It's a little clamp with a red light and it measures your oxygen saturation and heartbeat; it doesn't work if the nailbed is covered. The hosp staff will call it a "pulse/ox". I'm not sure about the toenail polish - I guess the pulse/ox can be placed on the toe instead, or perhaps it's as simple as looking for capillary refill (smushing the nail and looking to see how quickly it pinks back up).

Drew - My only contact so far with Dr. K's office has been with Mary, who frankly seemed like she had no idea what she was doing. She irritated the heck out of me....the only reason I made the appt after talking to her was because everyone here says such good things about Dr. K. So I'm glad to hear someone else had a weird experience with her.

Which one is Mary? I am guessing she is the lady with shoulder length black and grey hair? Is she the one that does the billing part?? Which reminds me, did anyone recieve a reciept of payment? An itemized statement anythig like that?

Mymacksy – Thanks for the input on the nails. I thought I had posted the answer from Dr K, but I guess I only did that to another thread. He said that it was not necessary and that I can keep my nails on and polished and my toe nails polished – yeah!! :clap2::clap2::clap2::clap2:

He told me that they can clip that thing to your ear, so no biggie on it not working on my finger. A friend told me that they used to not allow polish so that they could tell something about the oxygen level as others mentioned, but that is kind of old school at this point. No I just need to decide by Thursday what I do want my nails to look like. I have a great nail tech that does all the art by hand and will do anything you want. Also, she has all sorts of cool colors and types of polish. One of my favs is one that changes colors depending on how the light hits it, from dark green to deep purple, just like some cars you see out there. If anyone has any great ideas, let me know!

Jennifer

Mary is new to the office since I was last there in January. She was the one who called me a few weeks ago to see how much weight I had lost. She was very short and almost rude on the phone. After her attitude with me on Monday I am thinking I will ask Marilyn that I not have any contact with her. Sad that Dr K is getting so super busy because he is wonderful and a person in his office with a crappy attirude is putting people off.

I am loving my unfill! I was able to eat 3/4 of my dinner last night at a restraunt and leave feeling satisfied without that icky golf ball feeling.

I am looking forward to see you all next week!