Hi all,

I´ve been lurking a bit and thought it´s time to introduce myself to the forum.

I have been over weight pretty much all my life, I cannot ever remember being thin. My weight has always been an issue, I hate the way it makes me feel and every year that passes it gets worse and worse. Right now I weigh 114.5 kgs (251.9 lbs) this is the biggest I have ever been.

I have tried every yo yo diet out there. I was very sucessful when I learnt to watch what I was eating and excerising on a regular basis. I lost around 20kgs (44 lbs) on my own about 7 years ago. I have since put that back on plus some.

I am scheduled to have my band fitted on the 1st July 2008 in Brussels with Dr De Bruyne. I am so excited to be getting this done and starting a new healthier lifestyle.

Good luck to everyone on this board, I am so glad to have found a forum with such a fantastic support system.

Mrs J.

Edited June 15, 200818 yr by Mrs J.J

Welcome Mrs. J! I can definitely empathize with you. I was on my first diet at age 3. The first diet I remember was when I was in kindergarten (age 5). I remember going to school, and when it was snack time, all of the kids got Cookies or ice cream, and I had to pull out the piece of fruit that my mom sent for me. The only time I've ever been thin was after my mom put me on Medifast (a doctor supervised liquid diet) when I was a senior in high school. I got down to a size 8 (I'm 5'8"), which was small for me. But as soon as they put me back on solid foods, I started gaining.

This has definitely been a good move for me so far. I've tried it on my own for most of my life, and I'm one of those people who just needed a tool. Now that I have it, I'm going to treat it well!

Keep us filled in about your journey!

Mrs. JJ & Auntlacy,

I can fully understand! When I was 4 my neighbor called me a "butterball." I can remember my mom having a really hard time finding a dress for me to wear the first day of school...it was tight and uncomfortable, and I felt so different than all the other kids. When I was growing up, kids used to make fun of me when they drove by. My mom used to make me and my less-overweigh sister drink skim milk, while every body else drank whole milk and chocolate! I hated it, and never drink milk again since I was 13.

I was near normal weight by crash dieting for about 1 year when I was 21....and it was back to obese along with 4 pregancies.

Now my kids are nearly grown up (3 in college and 1 more year in high school) so I did this for myself - I wanted to be there for my future grandkids and the way my health was going, I wasn't sure I was going to make it!

It's been the most wonderful thing I done for MYSELF in all these years! I feel great, have cut down to 1/4 of my diabetes med, 1/2 BP med, and can walk and enjoy life so much more now...and I still have a long way to go!

Mrs. JJ - good luck with your surgery!!

This is it guys and gals!

My flight leaves within 5 hours to Brussels and tonight I will meet the Doc and tomorrow is D day for me.

My husband changed his mind last minute and decided to come with me. He hates flying, and is having to go there on a seperate flight this morning. We couldn´t get him booked on the same flight as I´m taking. I am really thankful that he is backing me on this. He has been brillant in supporting me. Although he has said he doesn´t want a "skinny" wife....lol. He wants me healthy so we can grow old together and that is what´s important here. This is my health that I am taking care of.

BTW - I´m turning 40 on 3rd July, I was suppose to have a big birthday bash, but decided to use the money for the party on myself instead. This operation is my gift to myself. But in truth it´s not just for me, I get to grow old and be with my family and friends for many more years and Celebrate loads more birthdays. Only, I´ll be looking like one hot mama! LOL!!

Thanks for your support on this forum. I am so glad I found this site.

Pictures and updates to follow when I get back on Thursday.

Mrs. J. J.

Prayers and thoughts are with you today! Keep us posted!

keeping you in my prayers! i am so happy for you!

Mrs J.J how did it all go? Would be great to hear your experiences. This is my first post here and I too will be having my op done by Dr De Bruyne in a few weeks time. I'm excited and anxious at the same time. How's it going for you now that nearly a month has gone by? x

Hi Lemonzest, I cannot believe how quickly the weeks have flown by. I feel fantastic. I´ve just got back from Brussels today, I was there with a friend that had her band fitted. Also had my first fill so I am extra excited to say that I am now officially on the road to real weight loss.

Who have you booked your surgery through? Do you know that there is a package deal for 4000 Euros, this includes hotel stay, taxi´s, pre-check at the hotel, after care etc. The only thing you have to arrange is your flight to Brussels, after that everything is taken care of.

Dr Chris is very professional and to the point. The hospital is UBER fantastic. The nurses really take care of you.

If you have any questions don´t hesitate to ask.

Hi MrsJJ, I'm glad to read it's going well for you. I didn't realise the aftercare was included in the package...by aftercare, you do mean fills right?

I booked it all separately and it's come out to under 4000 euros and even with the taxis it will come to a little short of 4000 euros. It's also given me the flexibility to choose my own hotel in the centre of Brussels. Had I realised the fills were included in the package, I would have gone for it. :S

Can you tell me a little about your experiences immediately post op? Were you in pain? And how quickly did you find you were walking about? How long until you were back at work? And how's the weightloss going?

The after care I mentioned is the direct contact you can have with nurse Fredrik and nurse Chris. This does not include fills.

Personally I would not stay in the city of Brussels. ( I did this when I had my surgery). As I mentioned I was there with a friend who took the package deal and the hotel we stayed at was about 10 minutes away from the airport and also very close to where Dr Chris lives.

If you stay in the city you will have to commute with the trains or taxi´s but it is much further away.

Hotel Campanile Vilvoorde is very comfortable, very clean and the staff know why we are there. They are very pleasant.

Of course this is up to you and what you want to do it, I can only tell you about my experience.

Post op, I had waves of nausea, which I didn´t know if it was hunger or just plain nausea. I was lucky in that I had no gas pains at all. I slept a lot after the surgery and sipped on Soup and Actimel to keep some nutrition in me. My port side hurt when I tried to lie on my side, but that is natural.

At around day 4 I wondered if I had done the right thing, it dawned on me that I would never be able to enduldge in a big meal again or feed my emotional eating habit. But this is why I had the surgery done, and now I have no regrets.

I am hoping that my friend will post about her post op experience. It was very different to mine. But I will leave that to her.

Edited July 31, 200818 yr by Mrs J.J

I've already booked my hotel :S Oh well. It said the city centre was about 5miles from the hospital? Is that wrong? I figured it would cost around £10 each way to the hospital. What did you pay?

We took the train to Vilvoorde and then taxi´s to the hospital. The taxi from the train station was around Euro 7.00 . When we took the taxi from the city hotel to the airport it was around Euros 35.00 . So I guess you´d be looking at around Euros 25.00 each way.

You can still cancell your hotel in the city and change to the Campanile Vilvoorde hotel. Most hotels accept cancellations up to 24 hours before check in.

I checked and my hotel is uncancelable. How easy are the trains to navigate?

Also, in the price that Dr Chris quotes, does that include the pre-op blood tests and electrocardiagram as well as the TED stockings, heparin injections and barium swallow post op?

That´s a pity about your hotel.

The trains are pretty easy to navigate, there is an information desk at which you can ask which train to get and what platform you need to be on. I would suggest that you get to the train station well in advance as they have horrible ticket offices which seem to take forever to actually buy your train tickets. Ask about return tickets.

All pre-op tests are included including those horrid stockings and teh injections. You will receive a nice package of medication for pain and nausea when you are discharged, this includes the injections. The barium swallow post op, I do not know about this.

Hello Mrs JJ,

I am having the op on friday in brussels with dr Chris, could i ask one question of you, my partner is really concerned as I have to take the money with me and pay at the consultation, he is convinced I will be mugged! Did you have to do this? i'm so relieved to hear the hospital is lovely I;m really quite worried now! also were there any hidden extra's? as i've only taken out a set amount of euro's and don't want to get caught out. your anwers would be really most welcome, thankyou

Hi Annika,

There are no extra hidden costs that I can promise you. Only if you have to stay an extra night at the hospital would there be additional costs involved. This doesn´t happen very often.

Don´t worry about carrying the money, nothing will happen to you. I did it, my friend did it when she had her surgery and everyone else that has been banded by Dr Chris. The only reason he prefers cash is because he pays the hospital straaight away so that he doesn´t have to charge more to have accounts etc.

Where are you from Annika?

When will you be doing your surgery?