Hi from Ireland!

[ellen 0]

Gerri

Hmmmmmm. I sent in my med 1 in early January and got a letter out a few weeks later advising me I had been selected for an "assurance check" and to send in all my receipts which I duly did a fortnight ago. No word since but I'll let you know when I hear. I thought it would be straightforward for that kind of claim once you had a receipt from a hospital. Aaaaah, in my mind I've already spent the rebate. Oh dear, I better start tightening my belt!! Will you be able to get a GPs letter saying they recommended the procedure?

Ellen

[PrincessLK 0]

Hi All

I sent my form in early January too and got my cheque a week or so later. I have all receipts etc, but don't have a letter of referral to ACS like the rest of us if they decide to do an audit at the tax office. I didn't know that was needed? Hope you get on ok with them, let us know anyway how you get on.

Getting on OK myself at the moment, have yet to start excercising properly, need a kick up the ass. I am feeling less restriction now since last Frdiay, so going to book another fill, as Lou said to come back in 2 weeks after last week anyway.

Hope everyone is getting lighter!

xx

[ailbhe 1]

Nearly there!!! Feb has just dragged for me!

Flights are booked, hotel is booked, op is confirmed and I'm raring to go! Any tips from previous bandsters? Things you wish you'd known/done when you had your op?

Reading the previous posts about €15k and €11k price tags I can't help but feel Belgium is the better option (in my opinion ayway!) as for that prce I could have the op 4 times and still have change left over. The fills will be approx €120 so I'm allowing approx €1000 for the next year or two for that. A reop would be €3500 again. So even with a reop you are still talking about €8000.

If I paid €15k and had a slippage I wouldn't be able to afford to have a reop unless it was covered in the €15k. Wih Belgium I know I could find the money.

But that's just me! Also the lack of MRSA in Belgium is a big thing for me. I had MRSA when I had a c section (though they didn't tell me at the time). It's not pleasant and I only had a "mild" case (i.e. no rotting skin)

Anywhoooo..... that's my tuppence worth!:thumbup:

[Alesha 0]

just a quick one, jusr checked my BMI and I have gone from 34(obese) to 29(overweight) GO me

[paulina.g 0]

Hi all,

Have been working like mad its 4.30 and just got home and decided to see what news. Roe I was banded on 16/12/07 in Paris by Jerome. Anyway girls I joined curves on wednesday and cant believe it but am actually enjoying it. I was shocked however, to discover that my body Water if lower by 15.2kgs than it should be. Apparently your body water should be half your body weight. So drink loads. Tea, juice etc do not suffice for water. Only 22 days left to the big 40:thumbs_down:, would love to be twiggy by then, know that I wont but am happy to know I am on the right road. The scales as started to move again, not before time:smile:. Restriction is still nearly non existant I think I will ask them to remove whats in there next time and increase fill to 5ml.

[ellen 0]

Ailbhe

I wish you the best of luck with Vilvoorde and your op. I'm heading over there in March for some Lipo and an arm lift with Dr dedonckers who is a colleague of Dr de Bruyen in Jan Portaels hopspital. Can't wait. De Bruyen will defill and refill my band as I'll be getting a general anaesthetic for the lipo. Let us know how you get on. Are you staying in the Campanile or where?

Ellen

[Elsie 0]

Hi All,

Decision is made. I will be going to Belgium to have the op with Dr. DeBruyne. Date is all set for 4th March. So start my pre-op diet in a few days. In the end I just couldnt go with the Beacon because I don't have the money if anything goes wrong and the re-op isn't included. I will get it somewhere if I need to have a re-op in Belgium as I wont be in too much debt. So anyone with any pre- op (or post op) tips, please feel free!!

For anyone who went to Belgium can you tell me what kind of Taxi expenses you had? The reason I ask is because a colleague of Dr. DeBruyne is offering "personal coach" packages. What this includes is 6 taxi's i.e. being met at the airport - hotel - Dr. Debruyne's (night b4 op) - hotel - hospital - hotel - airport. It also includes a personal coach who will see you at the hotel to explain the schedule and meet you again after the op with diet plans etc.And you get a number to call them personally. And the hotel for three nights. Cost is EUR600. I checked

the hotel and its about 300. Thats 300 for the rest. To be honest, just for convenience sake, I'll prob take it up as i'm travelling alone and would rather not have hassle of booking taxi's.

Coco - Thanks for the recipes. Look forward to trying some. Seriously, what would be do without you on this board?

Alesha - Congrats on the milestone. I can't wait to be "overweight".

PrincessLK - Thanks for posting the nutritional info. Its very useful.

Elsie.

[ellen 0]

Elsie

Vilvoorde is about 15 ( 3-4 stations) minutes from Brusells Midi by train (going in the direction of Antwerp (signed Anvers / Antwerpen). Dont know exact cost but it wouldnt be more than 10-15 euro max. The Campanile hotel is literally next to train station. Apparently you can get good rates on ratestogo.com. De Bruynes home consult (Melbroek) is 5 km from Vilvoorde. Hospital is about half a mile from Campanile hotel - I know some people walk there in the morning pre-op (perhaps not back though!). The hospital / hotel will call you a cab whenever necessary. The additional €300 sounds steep enough. I believe I read on another website that a cab from the airport direct to Vilvoorde is about 25-30 euro if you didnt want to bother with the train. I must double check that though.

I emailed the Campanile on Friday as regards availability and rate and will let you know when I hear - I used my office email address so cant access it now.

Oh Yes, the main thing people say about the Campanile is to bring a laptop and DVDs to watch films on as the TV is poor - only Flemish channels. The Eurovolley is more basic and you should bring a travel kettle!!

Ellen

[ailbhe 1]

I am staying in the Campanile and it is costing €366 for 2 of us for 4 nights. i booked the flights with Ryanair (did not know there are 2 airports :cheers2: so am flying into the wrong one - about 30km from hotel) so we'll probably see if there is a shuttle bus or something heading in the right direction!

Flights were under €100. I was offered the package too but decided not to g for it but then my partner is coming with me so I'll have him to help me out too. My main reason for staying in the Campanile was it's proximity to the hospital as poor other half will be toing and froing for the day and I wanted it to be handy for him.

Elsie, I'll be there the week before you so hopefully I'll have some advice! I'll be bringing the laptop, books, dvds etc. Anything to relieve the boredom!

[Coco 0]

Hi All,

Hope your all in good form this week. I've had a busy weekend myself and in the midst of it, Saturday night to be exact, I discovered that cranberry & raspberry juice is very very good with Gin. :ohmy: So much so that I've been nursing a hangover all day Sunday.:cheers2:

Ailbhe, Just 7 more sleeps for you:w00t: I'll be thinking about you and sending positive vibes your way. You'll be fine, you seem to have everything you need in place. Looking forward to all the news when you get back.

Elsie, Well done you, you've made the decision, the rest is easy:lol::wub:. Seriously though, I think you've made the right choice, and after the first couple of fills it generally does get easier. Good luck with the pre op diet, I've heard its not too bad just boring. It will be worth it, apparently it shrinks the liver so that the surgeon has a easier path to the stomach, so definitely worth doing.:eek:

Alesha, Congrats on the BMI, you have to set yourself up with a ticker so we can watch with pride as you reach the 25 BMI.:smile:

Ellen, Need more info on the Arm lift, how much it costs both in pain and money:lol:

[Loriha 0]

Best Wishes

to you all

Lorraine

Im going back to ACS for a fill on the 26th Feb - Not sure with who...... Its been a starnge year - I started a new business and after the initial weightloss I didnt go back for a fill - too many late & Boozy nights but back on track now I hpe have Daughter confirmation coming up in May and I want to make a serious impact on my weight before then Im glad i found this thread its nice to see other from Ireland.

I weighed myself this morning Im back up to 15 stone agghh oh well

This time I will succeed

[Coco 0]

Best Wishes

to you all

Lorraine

Im going back to ACS for a fill on the 26th Feb - Not sure with who...... Its been a starnge year - I started a new business and after the initial weightloss I didnt go back for a fill - too many late & Boozy nights but back on track now I hpe have Daughter confirmation coming up in May and I want to make a serious impact on my weight before then Im glad i found this thread its nice to see other from Ireland.

I weighed myself this morning Im back up to 15 stone agghh oh well

This time I will succeed

Hi Lorraine,

Welcome to our thread, good luck with the fill next week. I'm sure once you get to your sweet spot with the fills you will have no probs shifting the excess weight. We are all in the same boat here, some days better than others but with support to and from each other and a whole lot of humour we are all getting there.:wub: Keep posting.:tt2:

[siepie 0]

Hi All,

I've been reading with interest all your experiences with lapbanding. I have been researching Dr Dillemans and Dr De Bruyne at the moment. I'm waiting for Dr Dillemans to get back to me but have scheduled an appointment with Dr De Bruyne in April. I'm 5'10 and weight close to 18 stone, making my BMI approx 35 - I have type II diabetes and high blood pressure so with those two issues I'm hoping Im a good candidate for surgery.

I have a load of questions, some of which I will try and get answered from existing posts. It's nice to meet people in Ireland - do you have a support group going or anything like that?

I'm going to see my GP this week to get a letter of support, I saw the posts re the Med 1 issues so I thought better safe that sorry and I need to see him anyways.

Sorry for the long winded post - look forward to getting to know you all

Simone

[kermit 0]

Ailbhe, Elsie and Ellen - the very best of luck to you on your procedures.

Alesha, buddy your news is great! I would love to be overweight!

coco - thanks a million for the recipes - the barley pot sounds lovely in this cold weather!

Have been upping the Vitamins since I am in the middle of my second bad cold since January....cannot seem to get over it at all and the nutrition could be having an impact. Greaqt news on the weight loss front though - I had put on about 8lbs between Dec and Jan. Happy to say I got rid of them and another 3.5 to boot!

So from 312 to 279.5 is 32.5 lbs lost!! yahoo, etc!!

Loadsahugs

Kermit

[Alesha 0]

:thumbup: Way to go kermie, keep up the good work twin.

Siepie, if you in or around Dublin wo do meet up, keep checking the thread or else we will personal message you and let yu know. See the top right of the screen where it says messages, click in there and check.

Coco, I have found that I can hardly drink alcohol at all. I used to be able for say two bottles of wine on a good night, now its barely the one. This has happened only when I reached my sweet spot. Anywho too many calories so Im trying to lay off it until next week, when I have my hen weekend. It will be my biggest test yet. Im a bit nervous about eating. Somebody actually asked me the other day was me and my SIl, you know who she is, where we on some secret diet that we told nobody about:eek: . I just brushed it off.

Jesus I just read back what I wrote I sound like a right dipso, i promise you im not (now).

Elsie, woo hoo. Im so happy for you. Good luck with the op and we will meet up soon and have a good natter.

Allure, where are you??? HOw are you getting on???? When is the wedding.

Twinkletoes, where are you too??????