snowbird

My husband has been doing taxes for the last three days, so my computer use is pretty sparse. Michelle, sounds to me like a pb episode. Mine are like regular vomiting, except what comes up is not digested and mixed with stomach acids so it's not quite as gross. Maybe you got some chicken stuck but you didn't eat enough to trigger the pb episode for a while after you ate. I would think if you were really sick from what you ate, it would have happened repeatedly. It is very hard for many to people to really vomit with a band, and can cause a lot of pain and damage, so if it wasn't particularly nasty I would guess it was a pb type episode. Just consider it a warning to take it easy when trying new foods after your surgery.

So, are you going to hold that under your shirt and have it jump out at Dr Romero before the fill?

4 cc isn't that much for one of the larger bands. Some surgeons actually put that much in at the time of surgery. My husband is up to 7 cc in a 10 cc band; he had 4 cc 6 weeks out, then another 2 cc five weeks after that, and another 1 cc four weeks later. He still doesn't have that much restriction. I have a smalle 4 cc band, and have only 1.9 in it and have almost too much restriction, so as it has been said before, everyone is different. If you need another fill, let the doctors check you out and get one. The band isn't going to work for most people until they hit a good restriction level.

not always. It depends on the day of the week and the time of the year. My daughter and I went for a fill once and had a 1 hr 20 minute wait in line to get back to the US. Husband and I went down for fills in January and February midweek. We took a cab to the walkthrough customs line, then walked right up to the building. We have maybe 4 or 5 people in front of us. If you are able to walk a half mile, then I think the easiest/cheapest way across is to walk from a parking lot on the US side and take a cab to and from the border crossing. $8 to park, $5 for cab each way.

Basically, the problem foods are anything doughy that will turn into a glutinous mass and block the stoma. That will usually include pasta, but rice isn't so bad. You will just have to experiment and see what gives you problems. Everyone has problems with different foods, and even with the same foods at different times. The biggest problem to my mind with white carbs is their low nutritional value. As you will be eating less, you should concentrate on higher nutrient foods. That doesn't mean you can't have a bite of mashed potatoes from time to time, but they shouldn't be a staple of your diet.

Are you sure you can take a rental car into Mexico?? You need to buy special insurance to drive down there. We drive to San Ysidro, then walk across the border and catch a cab to the clinic when we go.

I found I had less hunger pangs if I stayed away from sugary things. That's hard on a liquid diet. When I really wanted something more substantial in the liquid phase, I would add a bit of instant potato flakes to broth. It gave a little bit of texture and body to the broth but still was liquid. Hang in there, it isn't forever!

I used that while I was in the liquid phase, but eventually even that just got too yucky for me and I couldn't even stand the smell of it. I now use a multivitamin capsule which seems to go down okay.

jet, I wasn't trying to say I thought you thought you were queen, just that I occasionally act like the queen and I shouldn't. What this illustrates is that there is a certain etiquette connected with forums that we do well to observe, because we communicate only by the written word and don't have the advantage of facial expressions and voice tone to help interpret what we say. According to this etiquette, CAPS are used for emphasis, not general communication. For some of us, they are also harder to read. For those who find it easier to type that way, I will not dispute your right to do so, but I also do not dispute the right of those who find it uncomfortable to read and choose to skip over it. It isn't a big deal one way or the other, though.

Writing in all caps may be easier, but reading it isn't. I have to admit I don't like it. But then, the last time I checked I wasn't the queen of the forum.

The band is negative conditioning. It does not just make you not want food. It teaches you that if you overeat you will suffer. Eventually your mind adjusts to this and you do not look to food for a lot of pleasure. You can still enjoy a tasty bite of something, but let's face it, buffets are a waste of time and money. If you were under the impression that your eating habits would stay the same, but you would now just eat a bit less, I have to say that isn't really accurate. I know that's how some bariatric centers advertise, but it just ain't so for most of us. Yes it works, and for most of us we lose weight. I would not trade my band for the best seafood buffet in the world. Nothing tastes as good as being thin. That doesn't mean I don't look back with a sigh to some great buffets, though . . . Dieting isn't the right word. I have to be sure I eat enough of the good foods (protein, vegetables) to be sure I am getting the nutrients my body needs. I can't eat a whole lot, so I have to be sure I'm not filling up on junk. I have days when I do eat junk; I had one day last week when I had ice cream for lunch and onion rings for dinner! Not a great idea for a steady diet, and I had one small scoop of gelato and that was it for lunch, then one-third of an onion ring order I shared with two others, and nothing else. The band made sure the volume of food was down drastically, but I have to decide what kind of food I eat. The band is my safety net that doesn't let me get too far off track, but it doesn't stop me from having ice cream. I have to do that (usually.)

I don't think you need to worry about scheduling it now. While most fills are done around 6 weeks after surgery, some people don't feel they need them and go months before their first fill, though this is rare. If you are going to OCC for your fill, they usually can accommodate you on very short notice. We have called the day before and then driven over from Buckeye for a fill and back the same day. In fact, I went with my husband for his last fill and was just waiting for him when they asked me if I wanted one too (I didn't).

Since everyone else is already in mommy mode I probably don't need to say this , but OATMEAL IS NOT A LIQUID!!!

The period after surgery but before fills is time for healing, not weight loss. While it is nice to be able to maintain the weight lost during the post op liquid diet, your real weight loss with the band begins after the first fill. I did not gain weight after I returned to solid foods and before my first fill, but I only lost a couple of pounds. That's okay, and you shouldn't worry about it. On the other hand, my feeling during that time was that I should be able to control myself for a short period of time; I did it for the pre op diet and could do it for the post op period because I knew it wasn't forever, and once I had a fill my band would be helping me.

Like I said, we may just be using terms a little differently or my misunderstanding what you were saying. What I may have been thinking of was a doctor's comment that the pouch can't stretch with a band like it does with gastric bypass, even though people keep referring to "stretching their pouch." I wish I could look forward to eating "normally", but I just think for me I am always going to have to count calories because I lie to myself too easily. No stones cast nor accusations hurled to my knowledge.

I think we may have to agree to disagree on this one. Amber says she never PB's so I doubt she is in danger of a band slippage. The band doesn't stretch, but it can slip down on the stomach which causes the upper pouch to become larger, or more commonly slip up and prevent eating at all. Excessive pbing can cause this, among other things, like eating more than the upper stomach's capacity. She also says she is able to eat fruits and sliced meats, just not very much. Again, it doesn't sound to me like she is too restricted, plus she says she has become less tight in the few weeks since the fill. I have thin, athletic friends, and I hate to say it, but they are VERY concerned with the amount of food they eat. Unfortunately, I think those of us who are chronic overeaters really are going to have to restrict our calories for the rest of our lives, because our natural inclination is always going to be to overeat. Dr. Ortiz tells his patients that we are not ever going to be able to eat "normally" because we never lose the extra fat cells in our bodies, and they are always going to be there and ready to fill up again. Maybe I will change how I look at things when I get to your level of success, but right now I know I can't lose weight on 1200 calories a day: maintain, yes, but lose, no. I thought I would check what Dr Ortiz's book says about fills. In one place he says the amount of food consumed differs from surgeon to surgeon to as little as 1/6 the previous amounts, to 1/2. He recommends 1/3. Later he says that indications of a fill that is too tight is inability to eat any solid foods, though he also says if you are not able to eat 1/3 of your preband amounts you are too tight. He also says it's a fine line to find the exact fill level, so I guess it's no wonder that each of us may have difficulty in determining that place. As I'm writing this I realize that I'm not really sure what you mean by eating "normally" and that may be the root of our misunderstanding.

Chili is one of my favorite band-friendly foods. I make a big pot of it and freeze it in small containers. For a filling snack I have a 100 calorie bag of popcorn. Lots of times when I am filled a bit tightly I can't finish the bag, but it makes me feel like I have eaten a lot without downing a lot of calories. If you had a mom like mine, she was always telling you to finish everything on your plate and asking if you needed a sandwich when you were going out for a few hours. Even now, at 95, she keeps asking me if I feel all right and aren't I hungry all the time? This is from a little lady who weighs about 110 and eats practically nothing. So I've had to overcome this idea that I need to eat even when I don't. As someone said once, unfortunately there isn't a band to put around our brains, just our stomachs! To be successful at this, we need to retrain how we think as well as what we eat.

Unfortunately, there are a lot of people in the world who have very strong opinions about things they know nothing about. You can't change their minds, because their opinions are not based on reason, but on emotions and fears. I have a few relatives that feel totally the opposite from me about religion and politics. I express my opinions to them about these things only when they loudly voice their own opinions, and I do so only because I want them to know that not everyone in the world agrees with them, not because I think anything I say will change their beliefs. I could have had my insurance pay for my surgery in the US; it was covered. However, after researching and witnessing my daughter's experience with Dr Ortiz, I decided that he was the one I wanted for my own surgeon (my insurance covered surgery with him also). I have never, ever regretted that decision. I read a lot about bandsters on another forum, and I can tell you that some of the worst horror stories and tales of incompetence are about US surgeons. They don't have the experience, and they are trapped in a US system of medical care that values quantity over quality. I am very grateful I didn't have my surgery with some of these doctors. There are bad Mexican surgeons and good ones; bad US surgeons and good ones. My experience at OCC was great, and I would challenge any US surgeon to provide a better one.

If you are still having difficulty getting anything to stay down without sliming or further pbing, go to liquids for the rest of the day. You may have caused some swelling, that's all. Otherwise, chew well and be careful next time! I did it yesterday over some warmed up leftover Chinese vegies. Boy, was that not worth it!

I read somewhere that almost everyone with GERD has a hiatal hernia, but I guess you are an exception! Generally speaking, the surgeon will repair the hernia during your lapband surgery. Dr O. repaired mine and my husband's. However, my GERD returned as soon as I returned to solid foods, although it is not nearly as bad as it was before.

The cheapest I've seen for a reputable US doctor is just under $10,000, in Colorado. Dr Ortiz at OCC is around $. You can find Mexican surgeons for less, but beware; sometimes you really DO get what you pay for. I had insurance that paid for either US or Mexican surgery, and I went with Dr. Ortiz due to his experience and the quality of care. Very happy with my decision.

Back to the credit card question: Credit cards are usually the safest type of money to take with you,because many of them have an easy way to report their being stolen and avoiding fraudulent charges. Just be sure you have the credit card company's phone number and the card number stored separately in case you do lose it. Of course, if you don't want to take a credit card with you because you are afraid of how much you will spend shopping, I can't help you!

Well, the whole point of losing weight is that you don't WANT to eat enough to sustain your body. As long as you can get down meats and fruits, I would not say you are filled too tightly. Signs of overfill are not being able to get down any solid foods. You will also probably find that as you lose a few more pounds, your fill will loosen. If you were losing 10 lb per month, why did you get another fill? The body doesn't really need nearly as much food as we have fooled ourselves into thinking it does. Unless you are feeling ill and weak, and as long as you are taking in nutritious foods, you are probably getting all you need. You might want to take some good vitamins if you are concerned, and are not doing so already. I don't think you have to worry. By the way, what you are eating is very good, even though the portions are small.

Answering myself: I googled it and found one site that said $500 to $1000 in the States.

The last time I was there, I think the list price was $300 but they were running a special for $250. Does anyone know what the going price for this is in the US?