Cujo

All my medical training comes from watching Dr House but here is my 2 cents: Are you drinking enough water? If you are not peeing enough you can turn yellow as the toxins build up. 8 to 10 glasses a day.

Way to jump the queue Joanne, so you're the one who delayed my claim. I'm at week 13 and counting. lol My wife got back around $1,600, I think they pick a reimbursement number out of the air. It doesn't make sense for large discrepancies between claims.

Yeesh, I check this board twice a day and totally missed this drama. I thought this was about too many soup recipes. lol I've never used the shoutbox and I think i've had two pm's since I've signed up and they were from my wife. I won't miss them at all. (the site features, not messages from my wife...those are always welcome..Hi hun!)

Welcome to bandster hell, the phase between starting solids and your first fill. Lots of people plateau or even gain at this point. I think we are still healing, so we shouldn't be concerned with weight loss, just try to figure out your eating habits etc. The band is empty so there is not much restriction yet. The weight will start to come off after your first fill and you feel true restiction.

I think having your mom overnight at the OCC might be a problem to start. . Assuming that gets okayed, there are no nearby restaurants but the front desk staff will order food in for you. If Mom is not allowed she will take the OCC van to the hotel, the only time she will be alone is in her own hotel room. No safety worries. Gum - My understanding is that gum is not recommended as it could cause serious problems if swallowed and gets stuck in the band area. Ice - I don't recall any problems with letting ice melt in your mouth (clear liquid) , If its a couple crunches and then swallowing might cause some problems while on the liquid phase. Pickup - with an early pickup I imagine they would go directly to the clinic. Hotel restaurant - I signed everything to the room and then only paid out the incidentals once on check out. American money credit cards are accepted as well. I used US cash for my starbucks, going to the movies, Revolution Avenue, cabs and tipping.

I can not imagine they could do the surgery if you arrive that late. The pre-op tests and paperwork usually take an hour or so then there is surgery prep etc, etc. but you won't know till you ask OCC.

I think pammie is way off...its at least a mile and a half. lol Assuming you don't stop at the border station (rare occurance, but can happen) its about 5 minutes to the clinic and maybe 10 minutes to the hotel. The Lucerna is identified if you use google maps

We are mostly from North America and used the OCC in TJ Mexico so I have no direct knowledge but have you tried weightlosssurgery dot com dot au? Also there is an entire thread dedicated to Aussies on lapbandtalk so you should try there Good luck

1. Name: David 2. Location:Okotoks, Alberta, Canada (suburb of Calgary) 3. Age: 45 4. Band Date: 15 Aug 08 5. Married: Yes, to Nicolek who is also banded 6. Children of the human or furry kind: 6 kids- 2 of mine, 2 of hers and 2 of ours lol, plus a yorkie 7. Hobby(ies): not much these days, used to golf and ski so after the weight is off, I expect to start again 8. Work:accountant 9. What was the deciding factor(s) on getting banded:Doc increased my meds in the spring as BP and Chlorestrol are thru the roof 10. Interesting factoid: Nicole was banded in feb and is reaching goal weight, my weight has not moved since October

Hey Trav, I think you are due for a fill in TJ. Maybe you kids could meet up while you're there.

Congratulations, what a great idea. Website is excellent but you asked for some feedback: On the Products page you tell the reader that some poems may not fit on some pages but don't identify which ones don't fit which pages. That leaves the viewer having to guess which may make them reluctant to purchase. If you could idiot proof the selection process, this idiot would love to buy one.

Anyone here go by the name mtnman428 on lapbandtalk? You were at the OCC Oct 14th/15th. You probably signed into lapbandtalk at either the nurses station or back at the lucerna. The forum saw that there were multiple identities signing in from the same computer and merged all the identities. So many of us have now lost our identities over there. Its funny to go through the message history for mtnman428. He seems to have a little split personality disorder: sometimes he's from Idaho, sometimes from RI, sometimes Alberta, sometimes a girl, etc, etc. It doesn't matter to me but I thought is was kind of funny.

lapband is like Kleenex, it is a registered trademarked brand of 'band' and it is now the generic term for a gastric band. Realize is the other major 'brand' So now its a coke vs pepsi discussion. Both do the same thing. Realize is supposed to have a different port and is attached to the abdomen differently. It has multi pockets in the band instead of one continuous tube. I think Dr Ortiz prefers the Allegen band because he prefers how the port is attached. But I have no recollection why I know this, so I may have hallucinated it. I have no idea of the relative merits to either band but there are those that swear that Brand X is better than Brand Y. (Usually these people are selling something) I would focus on getting confidence in your surgeon and rely on his or her advice. They are the experts.

If you are keeping your hydration up regularly, you shouldn't be thirsty when you eat. It is just a habit. Quit it. Easy-Peasy. (It was easy for me, but I didn't drink with my meal before the band anyway)

I didn't do it myself, but a couple that arrived the same time had planned to return that afternoon. The time getting across the border going back is the big unknown. I suggest getting your fill mid-week, the crossing on Fridays and Saturday are the busiest.

Nicole and I are off to the polling station. I hope there is a "None of the above" option.

A comment about Alberta. We are in a catch 22 situation. Lap bands are considered medically necessary and therefore must be performed in the public system. (Unlike boob jobs....go figure, I call those medically necessary ) So you can have a boob job tomorrow but will join the waiting list (weighting list) for the lapband. And 'they' only budget for 35 bands a year because its really just a lifestyle issue! It blows my mind! Good news - these rules may be changing, Dr Mitchell is supposed to be opening a private clinic so things may change next year. ....or not if the court challenge to the new private clinic is successful.

Keep trying I guess, but try to stay positive. Even at $1,000 per fill ($279 to the OCC plus flight) you can get 8 fills before the OCC becomes more expensive than having the band done in Canada. In a year or so you will be at goal weight and still have 'cash' leftover! Keep you eye on the prize.!

I think there is a Fill Center USA in Minnisota. Check out their web site. Try N and S Dakota as well. You should also look at Regina. There is a Lapband support group so I assume someone there is doing fills.

Tea perhaps? I think the key is for it to be a warm beverage.

The following are questions that I have: 1. I realize that alcohol contains "empty calories" and carbonation isn't the greatest thing for the band but is the alcohol itself going to harm the band? I am by no means an alcoholic, in fact for my age group (college student) I don't drink as much as my peers (MAYBE once every two weeks and even that would be a lot). Will I be able to go out for drinks with friends and have a drink or two? Possibly something with juice? (I realize this will be long after my surgery:) ) alchohol should not be a problem except for the empty calories. You will feel the effects quicker so be careful regardings point 2 and 3 below. 2. I realize there are men on here as well but I have to ask this: Will I be able to continue using birth control? You should be able to handle the little pills. 3. I've read that you can still become pregnant after getting banded - has anyone become pregnant after? Is there anything different from a 'normal' pregnancy? Get healthy and it will get easier to conceive. I think you can get the band deflated for during pregnancy. 4. This is a totally random question: What is pb? I've read it in a couple posts and have yet to figure it out :S productive burp. The food you eat does not get into your stomach for a while,so if you chuck that back up there is no stomach acid so its not so harsh. 5. What happens if food gets stuck? What does it feel like?some feel a sharp pain, you will then 'pb' to clear the blockage. You could also 'slime' which is when you produce a ton of mucus to clear the blockage. Thats really gross when you are out in public. Imagine a slobbering great dane dog. That's all the questions for now!! Thanks for any input! Good luck ps It must of taken me 10 mintues to write this since I appear to have repeated everything lisal said. LOL

When I was down for my surgery, I think I was the only one that had used the paypal option, the rest used the above approach. Good luck

Sorry you're not feeling well Julie. Could breathing in that diesel fuel at the border affected you? I was starting to get a little queasy there myself. It was great meeting you and hope things improve. I'm still on liquids but can start to eat solids tomorrow. I hopeit won't be too tight. Cheers

Email Rene and you should get the report in no time.