AngieB

Hi Drsteve - I am glad you had a good experience. Welcome to bandland! I can't wait to hear about your progress as you continue on.

Shelby - I am sorry to hear about your brother. It is great that he has his family around him. Sounds like he will have a ways yet to go before he is better. I hope you get some good food too. You need to keep your strengh and energy levels up so you can be there for him. Carrie - I hope you have relief today. If you don't and still feel tight, I think I would do a malox and liquid diet for a day or two. You may have swelling on swelling. About the ever so FICKLE band.....mine is WIDE open. I have a check up apt on Tues of this next week. I'll weigh in and see how much I have lost for the month....according to their scales. (darn it....I won't be able to weigh myself NAKED! HA!) If my band keeps it's mouth open wide, I guess I will go in for another fill after my monthly visit from you know who.......at least I know this one really will be a tweak. (although I have been saying that since my second fill....) Happy Saturday! Whoo hooo! P.S. Carrie are you at work today?

B - coffee Cookies x 4 ugh! L - insides of a pot pie D - Turkey, rice and veggies W - 20 oz

Hey gang! I cruise blogs over at LBT and am a April Bunny for the April 2009 board. I would like to be your friend on that board too if you have a membership. My screen name over there is AngieB2009. My zip code is 68142. State: Nebraska Surgeon: Dr. Ortiz

Wow! What a great story. I was a self pay as well, but I had my surgery with the OCC. There was no way I could have afforded the price in the US. By going to the OCC I had the best lapband surgeon and team and saved over 50% of what I would have had to pay in the US. I didn't have to do the testing or evaluations you mentioned. The OCC did some pre-op testing. I guess maybe that may be the same tests you are talking about. Not sure. Congrats on everything falling into place. I am looking forward to hearing more of your experiences. I have a loan for my surgery too. For me, it is a small price to pay for health and wellness. My payments are reasonalbe too. I have them set at $150.00 a month. When is your surgery date?

Ya-hoo! Rock those boots! I love, love, love hearing stories like this!

Well seems the drama on the other board must have cleared up..... PJTP - I was happy to see 2 new blog entries yesterday. I really enjoy reading blogs on LBT. You learn a lot about a person and the lapband experience. Wish more used the blog function on this board.....sometimes it's lonely...lol Just kidding but it would be nice to see some more people share.

Cookies and cheese cake and pumpkin pie..... Weird....I know....I think cookies are the devil!

B - Coffee Roast and a 1/2 of a carrot. L - Salad S - Oatmeal W - 20 oz

I hope that something happens between the two of you too! I am a huge fan of love and feel ever so grateful to have found it in my life! That would be great! I could picture us all eating a steak together too. I am sure the server would be bewildered! To funny! I love this band. You know you are a bandster when you google Hair Molting and Telogen. Or when you watch you tubers and there success videos! If any of you are on you tube let me know your name and I will look you up.

Hair Molting For the past few months, I have REALLY noticed an increase in hair molting. It is has been bothersome to the point of me using google. From all I have read, it seems that it is not uncommon to molt after surgery, sever trauma, child birth, after reaching the age of 30, crash diets, lack of protein, and a few others that I can’t think of right now. The information I found to be the most fitting and helpful was under Telogen. So, if you have noticing you are loosing hair. Google Telogen and read about it. I for all intents and purposes I don’t look like I have lost a noticeable amount of hair. To the people around me, including my husband, it is unnoticeable. That is a positive. When I began to really pay attention to my hair loss was when I noticed more molting while I was washing my hair. The noticeable build up in my hair brush, and how many times I have to wrap a pony tail holder around my hair. I use to be able to wrap it twice around my hair and be go-to-go. Now if I wrap it twice, the pony slips out. I have been taking Neocell for a while; I’d say a good 2 months. The recommended dose for Neocell is 6 a day. I take 3. I’ve noticed a change in my skin, hair, and nails. My ankle has also benefited from taking Neocell. It aches a bit less, still pretty swollen, but the pain has decreased. Fill This is the first month since being banded that I did not go for a fill. It took a lot longer than I thought it would for me to feel restriction. Each fill I had I would feel restriction for the first week maybe going into week two and then, my body would adjust and the restriction would slip away. This fill has settled in as well. I am not at my “sweet spot or green zone” per say, but I do have some restriction, so I am content. Right now, my mind set is to see if I can go a few months with out a fill. Really I’d like to make it through the holidays as I am now. What will help me determine when I go in for a fill is a slow down on weight loss. Right now, I am in the lower 240’s and I’d like to see a gradual decrease. Cloths and Inches I am noticing my cloths are fitting better, baggier, or some are plain to big now. I have cleaned out some cloths from my closet and that feels great! I have a girl friend who is a very happy recipient so that make me feel even better! When I start to feel bad or down on myself about my weight loss the fastest way to get myself to snap out of it and back into gratitude is to remember how difficult weight loss was on my own. That always seems to bring me back to reality and lighten my mood. I appreciate your readership and thank you for your comments. You guys are awesome!

B - coffee and a detour bar L - refried beans & chips... W - 50 oz

Party time! Excellent! I am so happy for you and if you could see me now you would laugh. I am dancing in my chair. Looks like all your hard works is already paying off! Keep it up! You are funny Carrie, I have a lot more work to do to catch up with you.

Cindy - I would have loved to seen the looks on there faces! Way to Go! See we can have our cake and throw it away too! LOL

Good morning everyone! I have been singing and dancing around the house this morning! I am nearing another goal!!! This morning my scale read 241.1!! I am so happy. That makes this weeks loss 1.3 lbs. Ya-hoo! Any loss is a win in my book! Looking forward to hearing from you all. Carrie, I hope this is the Wed. you break that nasty platau you have been on!

B - Coffee with ff cream 2 scambled eggs with salsa L - shredded beef and bean tostada with salsa, sour cream, cheese, lettuce, and tomato. D - W - 40 oz of vita rain.

I wanted to see what some of you are doing as far as vitamins or protein suppliments. I take calcuim citrate iron liquid form vitamin E multi vitamin in liquid form neocell I do my best to take them, but I don't always get them in daily. The iron is one that I don't take daily anyway.

A PB is a productive burb. When something like that happens, it can be like you burp or hiccup and food returns in your mouth. Or, it can be where you bend over and open your mouth and a blob of "slim" comes out with food particles in it. Some report that PB is more along the lines of a good heaving vomit. That discription being said, I have had all three of what I have discribed. I am nearly 6 months out from surgery, and am learning my body signals. Which I have gotten better at listening for and too. If I PB, more often than not it has been more along the lines of bend and spit out what comes up. Or at least it has been. I recently had a sinus infection and learned that post nasal drip really does affect my band. What I mean is the band gets junk around it and boom PB - the food came back up in a vomit discription. That is the only time I have had it be that harsh. Now more times than not if I PB it has changed into more of the burp. I don't like PB or sliming, but it is not as bad as vomiting. You don't have the stomach acid and the sick feeling that comes along with it. I am like you, I hate throwing up. Try to avoid it at all costs. So much my husband tells me, not to fight it, that I will feel better afterwards. What ever! LOL After saying that. It is not a huge issue. I've learned to eat slow, chew, chew, chew and to take smaller bites. PBing is not something that is done on a regular basis. More times than not, I have these moments after a fill. When I am adjusting to my new level of restriciton. I do have some foods that just plan do not set well with my band. Sadly, I have been learning them and cutting them out of my diet. It's a small price to pay for health and weight loss for me. When I decided to have the surgery, I was pretty gung ho. I had made my decision in March and had anticipated I would have my surgery in June. Ended up I had work conflicts and had my surgery in April. I read literature, and Dr. Ortiz's book, became a member of this forum and LBT. I have learned sooo much from this forum it is awesome. I would recommend you reading and posting here, as you will learn alot of what is to come. In some ways I regret not being a member here for longer before my surgery becuase it is so informative. However on the other hand, I was ready to make a change and I was ready to do the deal too. Patience is hard to have when you are ready. At least it was for me. I hope my rambling has helped you.

I have a 4 cc band, so I don't know if that makes a big difference. I got 4 fills each a month apart. That is the soonest they will do an additional fill. The forth fill has provided me with a decent level of restriction. Am I at my sweet spot....I hessitate to say yes. I do however, have a restriction that I can feel, so I am hoping it will last me through the holiday season. I am not sure if I will make it though. What will be the deciding factor for me is if I notice the scale moving in the right direction. For me, I don't have to loose big to be happy. I am content with a loss each week. For me, I was aggressive with my fills. Personally I think it important to have a reasonable amount of restriction as quickly as possible. So, to get to your question, I wouldn't hessitate to schedule another fill. This is a tool that will work for us, but if it is not at its peak performance then it doesn't do us justice. That is my 2 cents.

Ugh....I am worn out just listening to you talk about it.....LOL Just kidding....well kind of!

Hmmm after reading Andrea's post, you rethink what you initially came here to post in the first place...... Which was.... You might be a bandster if......you have adjusted your thinking to accept eating cold scrambled eggs.... That being said, Andrea, we need to get together on this plan develpment and implementation. I am so in! Can you imagine eating warm food....Eureka! LOL I am going to have to road trip to meet you so we can go to this RuthChris Steakhouse. I live in Omaha, and we don't have a RuthChris steakhouse here. P.S. Sorry that your guy friend wasn't there to see you! I was waiting to hear how that went.

I wasn't told about the OCC covering your band if you soley went to them. So, I can't weigh in on that part. What i have heard said is if something does happen get to the OCC because it is cheaper. I choose to get an after care provider in my local area. I looked at the cost, time off work, and time away from my family and decided it was well worth the up front cost to buy the package they offer here. Pricy but it works itself out after some time. Now my fills are affordable from here on out. $125 with floro. I had to put 1200 in for my 1st 4 visits.