snowbird

Just remember, as someone else on another forum said, "nothing tastes as good as being thin."

I know you posted this because it's funny, but when read by someone who hasn't been banded yet, it could sound scary! And besides, no broccoli? No cauliflower? I eat them raw as well as cooked, and they're fine. Clynn wouldn't eat them before she was banded, so it's not going to bother her now to stay away from them! I did Atkins for three years before being banded, so I guess I'm so used to these mental conversations with myself I don't even think about it anymore. And since my DH is banded too, they aren't just mental conversations!

I'm only like that right after a fill. My husband and I went out this week and ordered appetizer crab cakes and a side of sauteed vegetable, which we split. You will not be eating a full restaurant meal anymore. Lots of times we bring our meals home and have them for 2 or 3 more meals. We always carry a cooler in the car, and if we are going out and not going home right away, we throw some blue ice in there. You also get used to what you can eat and what you can't. I won't deny i have had experiences like that, but it isn't always like that. The plus side is that your restaurant expenses can go WAY down. We went out a couple weeks ago and ordered onion rings and two bowls of stew. Our waiter mixed up our check with the table next to us, another couple. Their bill was $53, ours was $16!

It's normal to be nervous, and to experience a few after-surgery doubts. However, my experience has been very good so far. I did feel some soreness and pinching around the port after surgery, and couldn't sleep on my left side for about a week because of tenderness. Things you need to remember are: You had surgery. It's supposed to be a little sore. However, if you experience severe pain, redness, swelling, or fever after surgery, you should call the doctor right away. Surgical infections happen in the US and in Mexico. Follow the post op diet. Even though you are feeling fine, you just had a foreign object stitched into the outside of your stomach. The liquid diet is required to let your stomach heal, and you are risking the health of your band if you eat solids too early. It is common to stop losing weight once you go off the liquid diet, and many people gain a couple pounds. Don't despair. You don't have a fill yet so your band is not yet restricting what you eat. When you have a fill or two, your band will work and you will lose weight. Follow the rules for chewing thoroughly, eating slowly, and eating healthy foods. Sliming and pbing are signs that your band is working, but don't make it work too hard by eating badly. It isn't healthy for your band to keep stressing it, and may cause slippage if you do it continuously. I can't think of anything terribly difficult about being banded. Keeping my snacks to a minimum is probably the hardest part. I try to keep only healthy snacks in the house, and the band helps me with portions. Remember you aren't alone! Whatever it is that you experience, other people have gone through it too. You may want to find a support group in your area, or check this forum and others to just chat about your experiences. It helps sometimes to talk to other people about what you are feeling. I have my own ready-made support group as my husband and daughter are bandsters, and it is nice to hear about what has happened with them. Welcome to bandland!

Depends on whether you are getting filled with fluoroscopy or not. OCC does a fluoro with every fill, which is like a real-time x-ray. The doctor inserts a needle in your port, which is about the same pain level as a shot or blood draw. You drink a sip of barium and watch how your band is working of the fluoro screen by sipping some water. The doctor gauges how much fill you need by seeing how fast the water goes through. Then you sip after the fill to see what the speed of the water is with the fill. That's about it. Not a big deal, and at OCC, anyway, it usually takes about 5 minutes.

Lora, Talk to Dr Miranda. She may have you replace two meals with shakes. My husband and I did Lean cuisines for two meals. You can find ones that are around 200 calories each. If you have a sensible low fat breakfast that should work. I live outside of Surprise. Good luck on your trip, you will be fine going by yourself. If you ever want to go back to OCC for fills in the future, drop me a note. My husband and I drive over for fills when we need them. There is also an Arizona support group that meets for lunch once in a while (lots of take-home boxes after the lunch!) that you might want to join. Chris

Restaurants generally take credit cards or debit cards. Shopping from street vendors or cabs would take cash. I didn't go shopping and didn't need cash except for cab fare and tips. Most cab rides are a flat $5 or $6. It wasn't much different from traveling in the US.

A friend's daughter owns her own restaurant, and had band slippage twice, most likely due to heavy lifting too soon after surgery. She had her band replaced and it slipped a second time, and finally gave up on the band. Just a warning to follow the doctor's orders about heavy lifting. The band is stitched into the somach exterior, and if you strain the area too much too soon after surgery you are running some real risks that the band will move and get out of place.

Monet, honey, I have to say jetdeck and the others are right. If it's on a public forum the general rules of etiquette are that it is open to the public to respond and discuss. In fact, I think it is considered rude to have a completely private conversation on a public forum--kind of like sitting with two or three friends but only agreeing to talk to one of them. No offense to anyone here, as we are all here to learn and share. I am happy to reply to either private messages or public postings. Now, that said, no, my weight loss has been pretty steady, except for the period 4-6 weeks after surgery (what is often referred to as bandster hell, because you don't have any fills or restriction yet) and the past two weeks, when DH and I were driving cross country and I was not moving for most of the day and snacking on bad stuff, because I was on vacation so I deserve a treat, don't I? (Bad way of thinking.) I lost 19 lb pre op. I have had success as dieting in the past, with 65 lb lost a couple years ago on Atkins and other diets where I have lost 50 or 60 lb, but I always gain it back and more. This time I feel as though my band is my safety net; I simply can't eat enough to gain it back with my band there. I could choose to eat really bad stuff all the time, but I don't have a problem staying away from that if I have a treat occasionally. The other thing that makes it easier for me is that my husband is a bandster too. We were banded together, grocery shop together, go out for meals together, and we support each other in eating well. Plus, I don't have to buy food for anyone else as our kids are grown and out of the house. There is no way a package of Oreos is ever coming into our house, because we just can't rationalize it. I feel bad for visitors sometimes, because I don't buy junk food, there is no sugar in the house, no flour, no potatoes, no pasta. As I said, I'm happy to answer anyone's questions, but if any of you want another point of view, there is a forum titled lapbandtalk.com that is a large forum for bandsters covering every topic under the sun related to lap band (and even a few that aren't related!). I'm not the goddess of banding by any means (that's my daughter's title and there are a lot of extremely knowledgable people on that site, as well as a few strange ones and some doctor's employees masquerading as patients to steer newbies to their employer. I have learned a lot there.

The VG band and VGB surgery is not the same thing. I THINK VGB is the same as the gastric sleeve surgery, but I haven't researched it.

Dr Ortiz's rules say soups and creamy liquids for the second and third weeks, then onto solids.

Papaya enzyme comes in chewable tablets, and you can usually find it with vitamins and supplements in the store. I got mine at GNC. It tastes good, by the way, kind of pineapple-papaya tasting. It helps dissolve foods more quickly and is generally used as a "digestive aid". For me it helps break up foods that are stuck more quickly and eases the pain of something stuck quicker than just waiting it out.

whislinkong, I live in Blaine, Washington during the summer, right on the border with British Columbia. I had my surgery with Dr Ortiz as well. Is there anywhere in Alaska for you to get fills? That would be my major concern. There is an office in Arlington Washington that does fills without fluoro for $125-$150 that my daughter uses and recommends. Don't know if that is easier/cheaper for you to get to or not. There are also a couple doctors in the Seattle area that will take Mexican patients. As the last poster said, there are no hidden fees with Dr. O. He charges a flat fee that covers van transportation from San Diego airport to his clinic, hotel stay for 3 nights for family/friends accompanying you, transportation between the clinic and the hotel, and van back to the airport after surgery. My daughter, my husband and I have all been banded by him. The major problem getting the surgery far away from home, regardless of whether it is in the US or in another country, is follow up care. Many places will not help you if they did not do the original surgery, so it is important to line up a fill clinic or after surgery care if you cannot travel easily back to Tijuana.

Two terms you will see here a lot are pbing and sliming. Sliming is when your upper stomach is full or blocked and the stomach mucus and saliva have nowhere to go, so they back up into your mouth. PBing is like mini-vomiting; if your stoma is blocked or you eat too much, it causes pain and discomfort, and may result in the food in your upper stomach being regurgitated back up. It is not mixed with stomach acids and bile like regular vomiting, so it isn't quite as unpleasant as that, but still not a fun thing. PBing is actually short for "productive burping" but for me it is really more just like puking. They are both signs that you are either filled too tightly so that nothing can go down, or that you have not followed the lap band eating rules: chew thoroughly, eat smaller portions and stop when you are full, and eat slowly with smaller bites. Some foods seem to always cause the problems for some people: pasta is a bad one, since it just turns to a gluey paste in your stomach and plugs up the passage into your lower stomach; soft bread is another. I usually try to avoid any "white carbs" even though I generally don't have a problem with rice and potatoes. They just really don't provide much nutritionally, and when you are eating so much less you can't afford to fill up on non-nutritive foods. Also, because they are high carb, they often spike your blood sugar and then cause a crash, making you hungry sooner.

I got this off another site, but thought it was useful, so here are the four rules: If you are hungry, EAT Eat what you WANT Eat CONSCIOUSLY (put utensils down between bites, chew each mouthful 20 times and savor the food). When you THINK you might be getting full, STOP. Sounds like the band rules from Dr. Ortiz, actually, phrased a bit differently. He says, eat three meals a day, because your body needs that much. You don't have to limit the kinds of food you eat as long as you take in healthy, nutritious food over the course of the day. East slowly and chew thoroughly, and stop when your band signals you to. Do you think Dr O is getting royalties from this guy? He should!

By the way, for the newbies, clynn is my daughter and MY inspiration. Can you tell I'm so proud of her?

Hey, I found it! Well, I've been lucky in that head hunger is a problem sometimes, but I don't get hungry with my band. My food is usually oatmeal or a south beach bar for breakfast; I have soup, chili, or a lean cuisine for lunch, and roasted vegetables and protein (I like grilled salmon, or any kind of meat) for dinner. I don't believe in torturing myself, which means I will buy A cookie or candy if I'm out and the mood strikes me. I buy sugar free ice cream bars or chocolates or pudding, and usually have at least one of these treats per day. My band is tight enough that my portions are small--a cup of soup, one frozen fish fillet, 1/4 cup (dry) oatmeal. I don't worry about small things like cream in my coffee or whipped cream on my pudding. I figure this is for the rest of my life, and if I feel like I am constantly "dieting" I will feel deprived and try to binge to make up for it. I do snack, and will have a half of a 100 calorie bag of popcorn (that's all I can eat) or a Quaker rice cake--I like the multigrain cinnamon toast ones. I count calories and try to stay around 800-1000 per day, although I consider it a good day if I don't go over 1100 or 1200. I have good enough restriction right now that I can eat a meal like I describe, but if I try to eat more I will end up pbing. I tried to eat some leftover cheesecake this morning after my breakfast bar, and ate two bites and ended up very uncomfortable. I had to take a couple papaya enzyme tablets to get unstuck (good thing to keep around, by the way) and then ended up with hiccups for 20 minutes. You would think I would learn! Why did I have cheesecake in the house? DH and I went out to dinner yesterday at Cheesecake Factory. We ordered the crab cake appetizer (three small crabcakes) and a side of sauteed vegetables, and split it. We could barely finish that, then ordered their no sugar cheesecake. I ate less than half of it and took the rest home. I still have about a quarter of it left. For exercise I don't go nuts--I ride my bike 5-10 miles per day, and DH and I often go for a mile walk in the evening. We live in Arizona so the weather is wonderful right now, and it's enjoyable to get out. I have had two fills with a total of 1.9 cc in my 4 cc band right now. My husband has a 10 cc band and has 7 cc in his, but he has quite a bit less restriction than I do. My last fill was 1/10/08. I went in when I felt I could eat more than I should and wasn't losing weight for three weeks. I am starting to loosen up from that fill--I've lost about 15 lb since then--and we are planning to go back to Tijuana for fills in May, but may need them sooner. I just want to warn you against comparing yourself too closely with anyone, because we truly are all different. Some people can't lose without a lot of exercise, but I get hungrier when I exercise a lot and find I eat more and don't lose. I "only" had 80 lb to lose and hope to get there by the end of the summer, which I think I can do at my current rate. But if it takes longer, I'm not going to be that disappointed. It will happen eventually.

Having fluoro helps the doctor get the correct fill level, but it is never a sure thing. I had a fill with Dr Romero and was waiting for my husband to get some dental work done at OCC, and decided while I was in the waiting room that I was too tight, so went back in and had .2 cc backed out. I was still a bit too full for the next 3 weeks, so I am very glad I had the unfill as I wouldn't have been able to keep down liquids. If you are going to have a fill far from home, regardless where, it is good if you can stick around for a day or so to see if the fill level is correct. However, even this isn't a sure thing because some people get some swelling after a fill so it's hard to feel what is going to work. None of it is an exact science, so be prepared to need some adjustment after a fill.

I started pre op at 226, 5'5". I had surgery 10/10/07 and was 207 at the time. I am down to 165 now. Everyone is different, and you shouldn't compare yourself with others too much as you may get discouraged for no reason. Just relax and see how you do.

It is a main street that he would be walking along, in one of the best parts of town. I have walked alone from the hotel to an endodontist just a block away from the clinic, so it is quite doable.

Take whatever you have--driver's license, voter registration card, anything that might indicate your citizenship. That might get you through.

Well, considering I remember the time I came out of work into the parking lot in Tacoma one night and was met by policemen with guns drawn, stalking a suspect near my car . . . There aren't many cities that don't have areas I wouldn't want to be in, alone or not. You can choose to go out on your own while in TJ, but you can also choose to stick inside the hotel and clinic for the whole trip. The hotel has a nice interior courtyard around the pool if you want to take an outdoor stroll without going "outside."

Generally speaking, you don't have to worry about getting stuck, pbing, and sliming until you get a fill or two. Glad everything is working out well. A lot of people find their appetites are not suppressed until they get filled, but I had little appetite until about 4 or 5 weeks out from surgery. I think attitude also has a lot to do with band success. If you have a positive attitude about the band and how it is working for you, you tend to cooperate with the process and have more success. Sounds like you are well on your way to having the band be a great success for you.

You will meet other surgery patients, probably as soon as you get on the van from the airport. OCC provides your transportation everywhere you need to go, so traveling alone is fine. Just don't pack a lot so you have to manage large luggage in the airport!

The pool's fixed so we are all set for the swimsuit photos!