btradio

I am coming in for my second fill on 12/9 (a Thursday) with my appointment at 12:30pm. I am curious about how long it will take to cross the border back into the US on a Thursday around that time? I ask because there is a flight out of San Diego at 2:40p that would be great to get, but I am concerned that I would be seriously pushing it. I know that when I had my fill last time the whole process took about 15 mins, however, the border crossing was almost 2 hrs. But that was on a Saturday afternoon. Is it more or less crowded during the week? Am I being overly optimistic about trying to catch that flight?

good job, man!

Hi everyone! It has been awhile since I posted on the board due to the extreme schedule demands that I have had this summer. To say that it has been busy would be an understatement. Anyway, I wanted to post my news from this morning. As of this morning's weigh-in (and yes, I weigh in EVERY morning) I was UNDER 300 lbs!! I have officially entered "twoderville." Just to recap, I made my decision to have surgery on 3/1/2010 when I weighed in at 420.4 lbs. On May 7, I had surgery with Dr. Ortiz and weighed in at 394.0 lbs. Today, just over 4 months later, I am down 120.6 lbs (94.2 lbs. since surgery) and weigh 299.8 lbs. Some highlights from the last 4 months: - I have gone from wearing 4x/5x shirts and 56/58 waist pants to 2x shirts and 46 waist pants. - I have gone from completely sedentary to running 3 nights a week (as well as other exercise) and have signed up for my first 5K run! - In the last 4 months I have had no bread, no rice, no pasta and no soda. I totally gave up pizza too. It was tough at first but has been a great move. - I don't sweat NEARLY as bad as I used to nor am I winded at the slightest exertion. - My relationship is stronger than ever because I am able to do SO many more things than I could before. I could go on and on and on about how amazing this journey has been so far. To say that I am over the moon about it would be selling it short. Everyone I see just marvels at how great I look and are constantly telling me (great for the ego, btw.) When I had the surgery, Dr. Ortiz and I discussed what my goal weight would be. We settled on 250 lbs. That number seemed so incredibly far away at the time. In fact, I had set my goal for the year to hopefully be under 300 by 12/31. And, yet, here I am under that number on 9/13. It is pretty damn awesome to be so far ahead of schedule. I am hoping to continue losing at a decent rate and maybe get below 290 before the end of October as I would like to make it up to Busch Gardens to ride a roller coaster. I haven't been able to do that in over 15 years and it is something I dearly love to do. Wish me luck! To everyone else that has had surgery or is thinking about having surgery, I wish you the best and can only hope that you have felt as good and had as awesome a time as I have had. Brian

I, too, recently took a vacation and came home up about 4 lbs from where I was before I left. But you know what? I didn't let it get to me. In the past, that kind of setback, minor though it is, would have totally derailed me on a diet. I would have slipped into the "Oh well, I'm a lardass, nothing I can do about it, might as well order a pizza" mindset. But I didn't do that this time. I just got right back into my routine. And I lost that 3lbs. the first week I was back. You have been incredibly successful with the band so you clearly know what to do. Just go back to doing it. Also, don't let others get you down, even a spouse. Just concentrate on doing what is best for you.

I try to never represent myself as something other than what I am because eventually the listeners will find out and that would be bad. The funny thing is that we have a DJ whose air name is "Fat Tim". Tim is NOT fat. Anyone want to take a guess who I constantly got confused for? If I had a dollar for everytime someone asked if I was "Fat Tim" I could have paid for all our surgeries! :-)

It actually just sort of petered out. I think I was the only one that did anything. The others did ok for a few weeks, but then gave up. I think most of them actually ended up gaining weight. I did tell them that I had surgery, however, that was never explicitly forbidden. One person did try to make an issue of it but they had a personal trainer that was provided to them for free through an endorsement, so I argued that was an outside benefit just as much as surgery was. Honestly, I will probably never see a dime of the money, but the 100+ lbs. of loss is victory enough.

On March 1st of this year, I was in the studio for the morning show on the radio station I work at. I was there because we were all going to weigh-in, on the air, for a weight loss competition. As each person stepped on the scale, I watched the numbers. It was clear that no one else was going to be anywhere near where I was. When it became my turn to get on the scale, I stepped up and watched the numbers shoot up to the moon. When the dust settled, I saw that I weighed 420.4 lbs. This was just an unbelievable number to me and acted as the catalyst for my decision to have WLS. I remember at the time wondering if I would be successful, what I could expect, how I would feel. It was all a big mystery, however, one thing I knew for sure was that 420.4 lbs. was enough. Fast forward to May 7. That morning I had lap band surgery with Dr. Ortiz. He was positive, supportive and made me believe that I could accomplish anything. He didn't judge, he didn't criticize and he didn't make me feel like I was a failure at life because I was so big. I felt like I was making the best/smartest decision I had potentially ever made. Now we arrive at July 23, 2010, 143 days since I stepped on the scale in the studio and announced to the entire listening audience my inflated weight, I have arrived at a pretty big milestone. On March 1, I weighed 420.4. On July 23, I weighed 318.6. In 143 days I have lost 101.4 lbs. I feel like a million dollars and know that I am still on my journey. I am excited for the continuation and look forward to the future and where I am going to go. Thanks to everyone for all the advice and help over the last few months.

First off, you have been banded about a month longer than I have, so I am not sure you are able to counsel me on what my experience with the band will be. Secondly, I don't think the purpose of this board is to blow sunshine up people's asses either. I think the point of this board is to have open, frank discussions about the lap band procedure and how it works/doesn't work/affects us. I am not trying to call anyone out, and I would say that the people that have responded to this thread are able to use their band as a tool because they aren't the one's complaining. Clearly most of us were banded in order to lose weight. But I think if we see people that are complaining that the band doesn't work when in fact it is them that isn't working (i.e. they are eating too much/wrong) we owe it to them to point it out. And it just never seems like anyone does. I suppose what I am saying is tough love isn't the worst thing in the world sometimes.

I hope this doesn't come across as inappropriate or anything, but I just had to make a point about something I see on this board all the time. It seems to me that too many people are looking for some mysterious "perfect restriction" to help them lose the weight they need to lose. I can't count the number of posts that I have read about people gaining some weight and then lamenting that their restriction isn't good enough. Forgive me for being blunt, but that seems like an excuse. Everyone of us that had surgery at OCC was told by Dr. Ortiz that the lap band is merely a tool and that we have to do our part too. When I read these posts saying that someone's restriction isn't perfect and that is why they are gaining I feel like they aren't taking the other half of this process seriously. Also, I think it can send the wrong message to people that are considering the lap band option that it only works when there is "perfect restriction." Yes, the band helps by restricting our food intake and yes, the closer you get to an "ideal" level the better. However, we can not expect the band to do everything. If you notice that you are gaining weight all of the sudden, then perhaps it would be better to look at what you are eating and how much you are eating. You CAN get by with less, I promise. Just because we got the lap band doesn't mean we never have to diet again. If you are still in the losing phase, you definitely still have to diet. No one said this process was easy. If we wanted easy we would have gone with gastric bypass or something. But we all chose lap band and must deal with all it's pluses and minuses. I guess my point is that instead of feeling like "man, if I could just get that next fill I will be set!", try to examine what is going on right now and figure out how you can be successful under the parameters you are having to deal with. At the very least, you will be restricted somewhat because you HAVE the band. Work with it and you will succeed. Rely on it to do all the work and you won't. Seems pretty simple to me.

Same here, first fill done at OCC and I got 4 ccs put in. Patience. Isn't that a word we should all commit to memory? :-) I have had tremendous success so far and I pray that it continues. But I have to remind myself daily that it will eventually slow down and there will be days (weeks) where I might lose nothing or even possibly go up. However, the reality is that it took me 37 years to get this big and I am not going to lose it all overnight. Would be awesome if I could, but that isn't going to happen. :-) So, yeah, patience is a virtue. Just know that if you do what you are supposed to, you will be successful.

First a comment on my loss so far, yes it is amazing (to me) and it is a large amount, but keep in mind I had a LOT to lose. I still have 90 lbs. to go to get to goal. Also, I have worked my ass off in the last 2 months to lose that 65lbs. :-) Secondly, to answer your question, I (like I would imagine a lot of people here) have tried just about every diet you can think of: diet center, nutrasystem, jenny craig, atkins, etc. And they all worked somewhat, though some better than others. The problem was that none of them worked for a long period of time. I would lose some weight, but then get bored with the food or tired of the restrictions and then just stop. Of course, I would then gain back all the weight (plus some) and be right back where I started. So I started trying to really get to the root of my problem and what I discovered was that my main issue was portion control. This was why the lap band seemed like a great option for me. And so far, it has been amazing. Whereas on those other diets, I could still choose to gorge and overeat if I wanted, the lap band prevents that (mainly because it will punish you if you try to overdo it!) This was exactly what I needed! Like I said, I am someone that failed on literally every other diet out there. On March 1 of this year, I weighed 420lbs. On May 7, I went to the OCC and had surgery with Dr. Ortiz and as of today (7/12), I weigh 326.8. So in about 4.5 months, I have managed to get rid of almost 100 lbs. Do I give all the credit to the band? No. However, I think it is the primary reason for my success. Because I know what I paid, what I went through and what I *HAVE* to do to succeed. And in the two months since surgery, I have made lifestyle changes that I think will be with me for the rest of my life. I exercise a lot more (including some running), I eat way less and I eat only good food. I have made a lot of sacrifices in my life to get rid of foods that I used to love. But I am in no way bothered by that. I spent 37 years of my life eating those foods (in large quantities!) and it made me fat. So now I am going to put those things aside and try a different lifestyle. And let me tell you, so far, it is has been wonderful! :-)

Good luck on the surgery! You will be pleased I am sure. I actually flew back to the OCC for my first fill a couple of weeks ago (from NC). It was a breeze. I was in an out of the country in like 4 hours, most of which was spent getting out of Mexico on a Saturday afternoon. :-) The fill itself was nothing and according to the doc, it is possible that I may only need one of two more fills in my lifetime. So, for me, it is worth it to spend a little extra now (flights) to get the fills done at the place I had my surgery. I know they use flouro, I know they will be giving me the best care, and I know that I will feel better about the results. Perhaps it is different for me as a man since statistically I will likely have fewer fills than a woman. If I was going to be looking at 7 or 8 fills or whatever, perhaps I would stick closer to home, but for me, this was the better option.

you can find ways to cheat on any diet or surgery. The question you have to ask yourself, especially before you go and have a surgical procedure done, is are you ready to do what you have to do to succeed? If you aren't, then don't waste your time or money. However, I think the simple fact that you have come this far shows that you are serious and that you are ready for the change. Just take that next step and commit to yourself. I had surgery 2 months ago today. I have lost 65 lbs. and I feel better than I have in YEARS. It was the best decision I have ever made. I can't say any more than that. Good luck to you with whatever you decide though!!

no bread (at all), no pasta (at all), no rice (at all) That has been my mantra pretty much. In addition to that, I have basically eliminated cheese and beef from my diet as well. I still have some cheese in a couple of dishes, but nowhere near what I used to consume. I think it is a personal decision for everyone, but I have read way too many stories of people PBing after eating those items. And since I don't have a desire to PB, I just decided to give those foods up at this time to avoid just such a possibility. And there are so many other great foods out there that don't cause me any problems, I haven't had any trouble with "missing" those foods.

OK, I hope this isn't the unpopular answer, but whatever... Are you sure that surgery is the right option for you? While you are overweight and could stand to lose (don't take offense at that by the way, we all were/are in the same boat), I think you could still try to do it the old fashioned way. You are only 18, it is highly likely that your body is still changing to some degree. Even at 5'7", you probably only need to lose about 50lbs, maybe. I would suggest trying to do everything you can before you try surgery. But at the end of the day, it's your body and your decision so do what you think is best. But I can't help but thinking that if you go with surgery at such a young age and with such a small amount to lose (in the grand scheme of things) you are going to get somewhat resentful. Especially when you turn 21. :-)