Hi all,

I am having my surgery on August 2nd at TLBC with Dr. Yau. :clap2: I am concerned about a few things I have read on this site, and am wondering if anyone could tell me about their experience with this doctor/clinic. I was not overly impressed with the call from the nurse, but am hoping the rest of the experience will be more positive! I am also scared to death that I will be unable to keep to the pre-op diet, since I don't eat cottage cheese and they only option the nurse gave me was yogurt. I love yogurt, but nothing but yogurt for 14 days...........if I could do that, wouldn't I already be thin?!? :paranoid

Looking for hope....hoping I am doing the right thing....please advise!!!!

Thanks!

I had my band by Dr. Yau and in my humble opinion, he is very good at what he does. He is one of the pioneers that brought the band to Canada. The TLBC has a tremendous support organization for their clients in Ontario. I don't know the nurse you had, but their is one that left at the end of June who did not have good people/communication skills but the others seem OK. The fill nurse is very good at what she does and can be a bit short at time. On the whole, my experiences have been good and I would say without hesitation, that you have made a great choice. Doddie

Thanks Doddie! That is what I am hoping. It is hard when you don't live in the Toronto area, to know whose hands you are putting your life in. I have heard that Dr. Yau is the best, and the first, but I guess I am just getting anxious now that my date is set and it is becoming so real..... 9 days until I start my pre-op diet! The countdown is on......!

Kero. You are not out of the ordinary. You will find that all of us have gone thru the gauntlet of emotions. Even after as we struggle to change our old habits we go to the net for assurances from others that have experienced what we are going thru. There is always someone who can help. You wil be scared, happy, apprehensive, second guessing yourself but after you cross to the "other side" I would be very surprised if you don't join the chorus of "I wish I had done it sooner".

You will also find the rare few that have complications and I believe you will find they still believe in the band. If you join the CanadianLapBanders (run by a TLBC nurse) you will get into the support group for the TLBC. Other clinic patients also belong. This website is excellent along with this one. Hope this helps. Keep posting and you will find support. Doddie

Oh! I should also say I live in North Vancouver, BC and know what you mean by feeling alone. Also, I couldn't eat anything but cottage cheese for two weeks and found it difficult, but not impossible. Call the clinic if it gets so bad you are going to break down and eat other stuff. They will give you some ideas that they allow only to patients having difficulty. Doddie

Oh! I should also say I live in North Vancouver, BC and know what you mean by feeling alone. Also, I couldn't eat anything but cottage cheese for two weeks and found it difficult, but not impossible. Call the clinic if it gets so bad you are going to break down and eat other stuff. They will give you some ideas that they allow only to patients having difficulty. Doddie

Thank you Doddie. The more I read, the more optomistic I feel. I am curious though, if you live in BC, why did you have to travel to Toronto? Do they not do the surgery in BC, or any closer? Just curious....

BC has three doctors that do gastric bypass and banding. All have wait lists for 3 or 4 years. One doctor had a shorter wait list, but I had read in the papers he was thinking of picking up stakes if he didn't get more hospital time.

I did my research on doctors and clinics and felt the TLBC Dr. was the best although I know these are arguable comments. What I did not do was research the meaning of fills and if they were difficult to have done in BC. I believed the comments from all clinics that fills could be done by a GP or fill nurse and went no further. I had my GP set up to do the fills but he reneged as he was too busy and really didn't feel confident in doing the fills. TLBC helped set me up with a surgeon here but I have comlicatons of a tipped fill and he has been unable to get a fill in SO.......I travel back to TO where they do it. I could go to Alta but why waste the money if they too are unsuccessful. Might as well go to the people who know what they are doing in my case. Doddie

Hi Kero!

I soo wrote the same sort of post you wrote just like 1.5 months ago. I was banded on June 7/07. I am having a rough time with the post op stuff..just waiting for thr 1st fill.

All you have to think when doing the pre op diet..."I have to do this....I dont have a choice...I can only eat what they said....I dont want to screw this up"

Thats what I said all the time. Gosh I was getting to the point I was scared the fruit in my yogurt was to big. It all worked out.

For me the pre op was pretty easy. Actually I am having a hard time with food right now and back to over eating that I put myself back on the pre op until my 1st fill!

keep busy, really!@!!! occupy yourself, stay out of the kitchen.

Eat what they tel you to, its for a good reason (shrinking your liver) and your Better health and a SUCCESSFUL UNEVENTFUL Surgery...sojust keep you mind on the ultimate goal l.... of permanent weight los...

you can do ANYTHING for 2 weeks,,, remember cramming for exams???? that sucked too! but you did it....

SO get creative with the yogurt, freeze it, slush it, eat it with chopsticks,, popsicles (SF), boullion is not that bad change up the flavors...

MY Fav. is cottage cheese with sweetner and cinnamon!!!!

Last night at my preop semi. i met a guy who puts Mustard in his cottage cheese.. and its it that way...

do whatever works.!!!

BE WELL

I was banded at TLBC June 8th 2006 and have already reached goal. The best advice I can offer is follow instructions.....Lapbandtalk can offer simple suggestions through experience, however.....when it comes to advice about fills, staying on liquid or other diets, etc...then talk to your Dr....they know best. I have never had an issue with TLBC...they treated me well and professional at all times, I had no complication pre or post surgery.

My husband is a chef. I do not like cottage cheese so for the pre-op diet my husband was mixing 1/2 cup low fat yogurt with 1/2 cup low fat cottage cheese, 1/2 cup of ice cubes, 1 package of sweetner and liquified it through the blender...every day he would add different flavourings...such as 1 - 2 tablespoons of sugar free jam, or 1 tablespoon of plain cocoa powder, 1 teaspoon of real vanilla, etc. It was like drinking liquid cheesecake!

Don't say you can't take the pre-op for 14 days....it will be tough but think of your priorities.....1) not following instructions and compromising your surgery....or 2) weight loss from your surgery which will bring you better quality of a longer life that would otherwise be compromised from your obestiy. I took the second choice and am now enjoying life as I never knew it....I also wear a size 8.....from a 24/26.

Good luck

Carol

Hello Kero:

You are not alone. We've all gone through what you are going through right now. Personally I worked myself up to such a frenzy that when I went in for my surgery I had a little fever and my blood pressure had skyrocketed. The pre-op diet sucks and yes you can only have cottage cheese and yogurt. Talk to the nurses at TLBC and see what's best for you. For me, they advised if it got really bad to have some chicken breast and perhaps they'll tellyou the same thing.

I'm sorry you had a bad experience with one of the nurses there. I've had nothing but good experiences and I found everyone so friendly and helpful. All the best to you and keep posting. This website is a GREAT support system. Good luck to you.

Wow! Congratulations Woodys on reaching your goal! I think I'll trade my husband in for a chef - lol. That sounds great!

Hello Kero:

You are not alone. We've all gone through what you are going through right now. Personally I worked myself up to such a frenzy that when I went in for my surgery I had a little fever and my blood pressure had skyrocketed. The pre-op diet sucks and yes you can only have cottage cheese and yogurt. Talk to the nurses at TLBC and see what's best for you. For me, they advised if it got really bad to have some chicken breast and perhaps they'll tellyou the same thing.

I'm sorry you had a bad experience with one of the nurses there. I've had nothing but good experiences and I found everyone so friendly and helpful. All the best to you and keep posting. This website is a GREAT support system. Good luck to you.

Thanks. I took everyone's advice and called the TLBC. They have said I can have some chicken, and even some low glycemic salad with balsamic vegtables, which is a big relief. I can also add protein powder to my milk, which should prevent my blood sugar from dropping. They said it tends to depend on one's BMI, so I don't know if mine is 'high enough' or 'low eneough', but I'll take it either way! Thanks again.

keep busy, really!@!!! occupy yourself, stay out of the kitchen.

Eat what they tel you to, its for a good reason (shrinking your liver) and your Better health and a SUCCESSFUL UNEVENTFUL Surgery...sojust keep you mind on the ultimate goal l.... of permanent weight los...

you can do ANYTHING for 2 weeks,,, remember cramming for exams???? that sucked too! but you did it....

SO get creative with the yogurt, freeze it, slush it, eat it with chopsticks,, popsicles (SF), boullion is not that bad change up the flavors...

MY Fav. is cottage cheese with sweetner and cinnamon!!!!

Last night at my preop semi. i met a guy who puts Mustard in his cottage cheese.. and its it that way...

do whatever works.!!!

BE WELL

Peaches9 - did I read that right? You were banded July 11th 2007 (as in yesterday) and you have lost 50 lbs? Am I reading your 'ticker' right? Either way, congrats! I hope you are resting and your surgery went well!

Thanks for all the support. I guess I know that, in the end, it has to be done. It is good to hear that others have struggled as well (you know what I mean), makes me feel that if others with food issues can do it, I can prevail. It is easy for my hubby to say 'you can stick to it', when he can go days without eating and not break a sweat. He skips one beer and loses 10 pounds, etc etc.

Thanks!

KERO,

You read my ticker correctly, however, I lost 40-45 (down from the 240) myself thru excersise and counting calories... but then for a whole year I plateaued.. and I was starting to really screw around with my food choices and was terrified that I would regain my weight {as I had always done in the past}... So that is why I wanted the BAND to continue to lose and get down to me REAL goal of 130...

so the Second number is where I started my Lapband adventure from, 3rd number is my Current-today weight/ and the 4th number is where I am going!