Langley Support Group

For anyone that's interested in attending the meetings:

Some exciting times for our Langley group!   Leah will be at the meeting making her post-op debut after having had her surgery with Dr Amson on September 26.   And a couple others have SURGERY DATE ANNOUNCEMENTS and we have one last supper planned!   Ruth has graciously offered to be in charge of the snack this month so thats fab!   Some things to report about the BCABA and my ongoing "VBS" board issues!   So come on out on Saturday. Langley hospital, conference room 3, 11-12:30pm   Come...share.....grow!   :) Trena  

Hello I was wondering if anyone from your group had lapband surgery done by Dr. Leung or Dr. Woodhead in DElta?  I'm looking for contact information  - I'm going to selfpay , but would like to stay close to home.  Please let me know.

Thanks,
K

Yes there were 2 of us there that were banded by Dr Leung. What do you want to know? I was banded on June 20th of this year.

 How did you find the experience and follow up?  Did you consider Dr.Woodhead?  How are you finding the results?  Did you self pay?  Do you plan to seek your funds back from BC or Federal government?  Would you say you have many negative side effects or pain?  Was it worth it?

Thanks for your answers
K

Dr Leung is an awesome surgeon, not very informative, I'm fortonate to get a lot of support from the BC-Bandits (yahoo groups) site who are all Dr L's Patents. I've lost 30lbs in 3 months, it's not easy. I did self pay and don't expect to get my funds back. No side effects, I can eat almost anything just less of it. Yes is was definately worth it. The weight loss is slower than most surgeries but I'm in for the long term, at least it's going.

 What kinds of support should I expect to seek myself?  What part do you find most challenging? Do you know of any Dr. Woodhead's patients?

Sorry I don't know anything about Woodhead or his patients. Everyone has their own personal questions to ask. Dr Leung doesn't have you lose weight prior to surgery, some surgeons do. Dr L wants us to be on clear fluids for up to 6 weeks post op, the nutritionist says clear for 1 week then on to smooties etc. I was on clear for over a month, lost 21 lbs in 3 weeks but my potassium and magnesium were low and I was really light headed.
I find the most challenging thing is to keep with the rules, not drink with my meals, to only eat a 1/2 cup, eat my proteins first. there's still a lot of struggle.
The difference between the band and the more extreme surgeries is that with the band the weight loss is a slower process, the others have you drop the majority of your weight in the first few months. if I had a larger amount of weight to lose I probably would have gone with the RNY or something else.
A few of us meet for coffee once in a while to discuss our progress and offer information to anyone that needs it would you like me to let you know when we're meeting next? I think it'll be in a couple of weeks and last time we met at the Tim Hortons on #10 and 152 in Surrey.