Taz

Good advice. Taz

You need your 8 glasses. Sip throughout the day. Try flavouring the water with CrystalLite if you get bored. Hydration is critical. If you don't... you will feel weaker than you need to. Remember.... you are letting the band and your body work together and heal. Give it every opportunity to. Taz

Ask him if he does hair too ;-) Taz

I would be happy to share. I have the folder at home, so will have to wait till I get there before I can put anything together. I'll keep you posted. Taz

Please remember that as you lose weight, you generally lose fat around your band too. As that occurs, your stoma generally gets more relaxed, and the opening increases. The answer isn't that complicated. Go in for another fill. The sweet spot for your band's cc for weight loss will need to be adjusted. This is a GOOD thing. It means its working!! The whole point of the band is you can ADJUST it as you go. A few other considerations. The band is a tool... not the solution. YOU put the food in your mouth. YOU decide on the portions. When its working, the band will aid you and remind you of the fact. But YOU have to control it. Don't INCREASE your portion sizes. Find better foods that fill you up. Make better choices. If you don't, it makes no difference how tight you make the band... you are in for a miserable ride. Aligning your mental control with an adjustment in the band, you will find you can get back on track. Go slow. Don't fret about huge fills. Make smaller fills and find that spot. This is a journey to get a better relationship with food, and truly make a difference in your physical being. Don't give up. You WILL have plateaus. Sometimes they may last a few weeks. For some people... it could be months. But you will drive through them if you work at it. Taz

I come from a computing background. So I find it difficult to trust websites that try to have me install components like the Microsoft Office component. (Chances are the page was made in Word, which is what causes some issues). I would also update the page to deliver more trust for the patient. I learned so much as their office, but I couldn't see that they have experience until I met with them. I was going into this blind... and if I had not known of a friends success already, I probably would have left when I arrived to see the state of the building. I am sure it will look great soon, but this weekend it looked like something out of a horror movie. And with them moving, I am sure the new location will be better. Things that could be included on the site to build that trust would include: More patient testimonals Success Photos (happy patients smiling with Kitty) Up to date information. Kitty's vacation info is still on there from a few weeks back A google map of the location A blog sharing some of Kitty and Robin's experiences. They have a wealth of knowledge, and sharing it would show this. This is just my opinion though. If you compare it with many other sites, it lacks a level of polish and professionalism I would expect as a patient. Their actual service speaks otherwise... but new patients won't know that. YMMV. Taz.

I had my first fill this weekend, and I have to say, I am REALLY happy with the decision I made with going to "Fill Management NorthWest" in Arlington, WA. (www.northwestfills.com) From Canada, it was only a 2 hour drive, and 40 min of that was the damn US border delays. I was leery based on the quality of their website and the location of their office. In the back of a pharmacy. In the middle of no where. And when I arrived, the place was getting a huge construction make over. I will admit I was a bit concerned. But I know someone that speaks highly of the place, so I went it. The initial trepidation was soon lost when I went inside, and actually met the staff. They were GREAT. Pleasant. And knowledgeable. And there was lots of bandsters to talk to who had great experiences. They were doing 15 to 18 fills that day. Never realized how many bandsters were in the area. The fill itself was simple, quick and painless. They gave me a small shot to numb the area, and then put the fill needle in. I thought from pictures and info that it was huge, and would hurt... but I felt nothing... thanks to the shot. I didn't know where my port was, but they found it easy enough. It is RIGHT at the large incision for me, deep down. That was interesting snice so many other people have it elsewhere. Afterwards was the real benefit. I got a folder with tons of useful information on what I can and can't eat, what I should be eating in terms of protein, carbs, calories, sodium etc. That was refreshing. I was under the impression I was supposed to be around 1000 calories with 50g of protein. I was way off. 1400 - 1600 calories and 80g of protein. Might explain a bit why my weight loss has slowed. There was lots of information about bandster myths, and some contradictory advice from some people on this board. That was interesting as it shows advice comes with many different opinions. The one that surprised me most was about papyus enzyme. Surprisingly there is no actual medical proof it will help you with PBing. Yet many on this board swear by it. Lots for me to experience myself I guess. And as a last note... the greatest benefit is I FINALLY feel a bit of restriction. I am sure part of that is the swelling at the band, but it was interesting to see that I couldn't even finish a single bowl of chilli. I felt full, satisified with what little I ate. This is the amazing part of the band... and I am SO happy to finally get to experience that. I didn't have pain... just a "full" feeling. All is good. And I recommend bandsters in the North West Washington area to consider these guys. Was very inexpensive, with great people doing the work. Taz

I did meet with Dr. Miranda, and we discussed my goals and what I wanted as a target weight. She put me on a special scale that measures both weight, and body fat, and determined what my best weight would be, and suggested I reduce my target weight. I'll be happy with either number ;-) I never received a handbook about the band, but did receive a card with info about the band to give a doctor in case of problems. I also received a folder with guidance on post-surgery (21 days) diet and life after the band advice. After my first fill (which I had this weekend), I got a bunch of after-care information. However, that wasn't through OCC, and instead the NorthWest Fill Center in Washington. Taz

These days I am on a pretty simple menu: Breakfast: Glass of OJ and my liquid vitamin (Centrum). Half a cup of granola mixed with half a Banana YOP. Drink the other half of YOP. Lunch: Soup to Go - Cream of Tomato or Cream of Mushroom. One small ambrosha apple with an individual packed slice of cheddar cheese. Not fake kraft singles... actual cheddar cheese. Alternatively, if I have more time around lunch I go for a walk to the local Wendy's or Tim Hortons and have a bowl of chili. Afternoon Snack: Small mandarine orange or a small bottle of gatorade. Dinner: This is where it varies. Sometimes its stuff like steak cubes rubbed in montreal spice (steak bites). Other times it grilled chicken. Others a good crock pot recipe. I have to give my wife credit for taking care of this particular meal for me. I eat what she makes. And she is doing great to be supportive and concious of what I can have. Evening snack: Either a sugar free popsicle, a cup of popcorn or lately I have been craving chips and having the 100 calorie Old Dutch Dill Pickle Baked chips. Water: 9 glasses. I try to be religious about this. I drink nothing else, except the odd cup of Earl gray tea with sweetener. On the weekend as I have more time, so breakfast may include eggs and ham or sausage. Lunch is something like a grilled ham and cheese (but only 1 sandwich instead of 3 like I used to eat, with low carb bread that has significantly less calories and more nutrition) and some tasty soup (like Tomato and Black Bean, Garlic Mushroom etc). I rarely feel deprived. But I am not eating 7-11 nachos and a hotdog at 2 in the morning either. Taz

I had the exact same thing a few days after my surgery. Thought it was the start of a heart attack or something. I went for a walk, and it disapated, only to come back when I sat down for a while. I took a GasX strip, another walk... and it went away. Yep... it was pressure from the gas. Taz

Walk. Walk. Walk. I found moving seriously helped get rid of the gas. Especially the first few days after surgery. It is most effective the night of the surgery (some of us were doing what seemed to be rounds through OCC.. they have a nice circuit you can follow ;-) ), as that is when the gas is really trying to escape. From everywhere in your body. Keep at it. The gas will go away in time. Enjoy the GasX strips and walk it off. Taz

If you have access to a support group of peers that are going through the same trials and tribulations as you, why WOULDN'T you want to do it? I have found this board to be a great asset as I go through my journey, but wish I could actually talk one on one with other people going through the same experiences. If you have that as an option, I would highly recommend it. Taz

If you are following the diet your doctor gave you after banding, you should be getting a hell of a lot more calories than 300. If you are now having creamy soups and liquid yogurt, you should be having 150 - 300 calories PER MEAL. You body weight fluxuation is due to the fact your in a starvation mode and its trying to store whatever it can. Your band is a tool, not a toy. To help it succeed you need to ensure you gain a better relationship and understanding with food. You HAVE to eat to survive. You do more long term damage if you try to starve it. Your goal is to eat about 1/3 the amount of food you used to eat... and that the food you put in your body is conciously better choices. Dr. Ortiz suggests you challenge the band and eat as little as you can. However, I am sure he doesn't mean to a point of starvation. Here are some thoughts to increase your caloric intake while still on the liquid diet: YOP - Liquid yogurt is a great meal for breakfast. Its around 150 calories. Lots of different flavours to choose from Gatorade - I drank the Gatorade Fierce Grape and Orange... was really good. 180 calories Campbell's Soup to Go. Cream of Tomato was my favorite. Around 150 calories per meal. Campbell's Gardenay speciality soups. I would strain them to get the chunks out, giving me different flavours to try so I wouldn't get bored. I would have one full bowl (2 servings) at dinner... giving me somewhere around 300 or 400 calories. During the liquid phase my meals tended to be: Breakfast - YOP, and a glass of orange juice (approx. 300cal) Lunch - Soup to Go (approx. 150 cal) Mid afternoon snack - A gatorade (approx 180 calories) Dinner - Garden Harvast soups [approx 300 cal] My total was under 1000 calories. And I consistantly lost weight each week. I also only weighed myself once a week so I wouldn't see the swinging my body would do if I was retaining water, etc. YMMV of course. But you are DEFINITELY not getting enough food. You are punishing your body, and your body is punishing you back mentally on the scale. As a reminder... you are in a time of healing. Starving yourself isn't helping. I am not saying to gourge yourself... but make sure you get the nutrients it needs to heal. Taz

Good info. Thanks for sharing. Taz

See. I knew it. Awesome news! Now don't let McDonalds marketing and advertising find out. They will spin it some how... I can see it now... "Eat Filet o'fish and lose weight. From our healthy alternative menu". Taz