PRE-Operation Weight Loss Surgery Q&A

Does anybody know what this is? I have an appointment next week. Its after my pre op testing.

Hi, I will be starting my 2 week pre-op diet on Tuesday. I am worried about constipation. When I went on the South Beach Diet (no carbs), I hated the constipation that accompanied it. Has anyone suffered from constipation while drinking the Protein shakes?

I have made the decision to have the lap band procedure done. :thumbup:Unfortunately the doctor my family doctor referred me too does not take any new referrals until June of every year. And he only takes a certain number. I had also decided that if my referral is not accepted this year then I will be getting the procedure done elsewhere. I want to get a head start on whatever it is I need to do before the surgery can take place. Do I need to be a certain BMI? My BMI is currently 42.3. Is there a particular diet I am to follow? If anyone can give me a "shove" in the right direction I would greatly appreciate. I congradulate all of you in your success. :thumb…

Hello, I am getting banded January 13th by Dr. Garcia in Allentown PA. I currently weigh 250lbs and my goal weight is 180lbs (for now). Currently my Dr put me on a pre-op diet for 7 days, I am only on my first day and that was because we did not here back from my insurance company till yesterday. I am very excited and can not wait to see the results. i have been overweight since I was a child.

I am having surgery on monday and I have gained 3-4lbs...depending on the day. I have been trying to get it off. I am scared to death surgeon will cancel my surgery. Also when I go to their office....it never says what my scale at home says or what my nutritionists office says?(which are the ones who said to proceed with the surgery). Has anyone been in this situation or does anyone have any advice?

It's creeping up and I'm on day 8 of my pre-op diet. Not that I'm counting. :thumbs_up: Any other 1/15/09-ers? I'm wondering about a lot of things. ie. Will I be able to attend a baby shower Sat.? Will I be able to go to work Monday/Tuesday? Has anyone else cheated on their pre-op diet? (I've only cheated once, last night. :thumbup:) I'm new to this whole forum thing, so I'm still learning!

Hi, I was curiouse to what i'll have to do before the surgery. I havent met the doc yet. It will be next mounth. I am self pay and was just wondering if there is a special diet or fast or what. Thanks

So I'm on the pre-op and its day 17 of 35. It is getting easier, but it is still tough. Sometimes I think about some of the reasons why I am doing this, and it helps me to stay commited. Here is my Top 10 list for wanting WLS: 1 Job requires travel and flying is horrible if you are heavy. 2 Hard to walk long distances 3 Low Engery 4 I want to live to see my baby get old 5 Love life is non existant. 6 People are jerks if you are heavy. 7 Passed up for a better job in favor of a skinny person with less skills. 8 Ever try to mow the yard with a fat suite on? 9 Gotta order 2 of the big size thing to feel full. 10 Never to have to look at a folding chair again and …

Hello Lapband World, I have been ready all the post for last 3 mos. I guess since today i got the good news that ive been approved i thought i would start my first post.. I started this process back in April 08.. I didnt have many things to do to get the approval. But i put it off this summer do to me being a Football Mom this summer.( I think part of me wasnt ready! ) But im very ready now... They told me that i have 10 days till they will call me and give me my surgery date.. So i guess im on countdown.. Im really nervous about the pre op diet? Is it straight liquid? How much do i have to lose? If any one can feel me in it would be great... I know…

Hi everyone I haven't written in a while but thought I would do an update. I have been scheduled for surgery on 2/11/09. I am having a colonscopy and upper GI done on 01/9/09 to make sure everything is ok there. I feel very overwhelmed right now with making all these pre- op appts and post op appts and getting ready for this huge change in my life and wondering if I have made the right decision. I'm excited and scared of what this new life will bring. But if you are having surg in feb I would love to hear from you I really need a mentor right now......thanks :tongue2:

Twiddling thumbs here and I'm starting to get impatient.:thumbup: I start month 3 of the 6 month WAIT tomorrow with my PCP. Anyone else starting month 3 in January (started diet in Nov.)? Let's party now that we're almost half-way there! Here's to May or June at the latest!

hi i will be starting my pre-op diet this week. what are some of the better drinks to buy.

Hi all, i am yet to have my surgery,but i decided to join the site so i could pick others brains on this , as the doctors can only tell you so much and there is no one better to pass on information than someone who has been through it themselves., but reading some of your posts, it seems to me that you guys in america have to jump through alot of hoops to have the surgery, tests, colonoscopys, pre surgery diets, classes, WOW, all i did to get the surgery was, i went to my local doctor and told her i wanted this, she gave me a referral to the surgeon, i went and saw him, he weighed me and said yep, no problems. The one thing that really stood out to me was the after surger…

I take a couple of meds that are time release and one is a square pill. Will I still be able to take these medicines this way? What about vitamins, etc.? Any advice is appreciated since these are prescribed by my other doctor and I need to get with him if this needs to be changed. :thumbup:

can you give me any advice on how i should move forward without any insurance? I am prepared to pay the cost whatever it may be as long as i can get on a payment plan. Im just tired of being fat and taking antidepressants. thanks

:thumbup: Does anyone here have United Health Care insurance? If so could you tell me if you had a hard time with getting the approval for the Lap-Band surgery?

Our whole family is overweight. A relative is thinking of going to Hospital Angeles in Tijuana Mexico (belightweight.com) In addition to the lower cost ($8000), we have heard about many positive results. Has anyone else heard of this particular hospital? I want to get it done too, but I've heard ugly stories about surgeries in other areas of Mexico. THANKS.

I'm so excited to meet up tomorrow, it should be a blast. We'll be at Chilis restaurant on Monday, Jan 5 at 1pm. It's located at 2100 Arden Way. See you all then!

I know it seems like December is a ways off but really it's just less then two months away. I finalized my surgery date yesterday for Dec. 5th with Dr. Kuri. So are there any others out there with December dates looking for support and help?

approved for me to have the surgery with a great big smile as if to say 'what took you so long...we've been talking abou this for years now...' himself today now i am waiting for him send the insurance co the referral and wait for them to approve...doc said he can not see any reason why i would get denied:sad::thumbup: now the wait game

I'm having my preop tests done tomorrow. I'm wondering if the EKG is a stress-test or a resting EKG. No one has ever said. I've never had the stress one done, and my achilles tendonitis has been acting up for the last week. I'm worried I wouldn't be able to run on a treadmill. Can anyone tell me what kind of EKG is usually done during preop testing? Thanks.

I see a lot of the people here are saying they've used lap band to reach their goals, but then plan to have gastric sleeve surgery for maintenance. My question is -- what are the advantages of doing lap band first? What are the advantages of gastric sleeve first, without having lap band? Thanks so much!

Wondering if anyone has had Lapband in the B'ham, AL area. Who their surgeons were? What followup care/support they received? My surgery date is February 25th. Very nervous and excited. I was happy to find this site for answers to many questions. I'm looking forward to getting to know many of you!!!

Has anyone else experienced the carb withdrawl- feeling so tired and crappy while on Medifsat? I am only on day 2 of a 4 week journey prior to surgery- And I feel so crappy. I can have nothing but the 5 Medifast shakes per day. I feel like I am in a fog :wub:

Hey gang! I have my pre-op appointment day after tomorrow. :tt1: I am making a list of questions to ask my doctor. I was wondering, what kind of questions those of you who have been banded think I need to ask? Thanks so much in advance!:wub: Hugs,

I am getting banded on January 8th and just wanted to know if anyone else is going to have a new start in January. I wish the best for all the bandsters in the new year.

Hi all, I got my surgery date for December 5. I will meet witht the doctor at 4pm today to go over everything. Not on a pre-op diet YET! And dont really know what to expect after the surgery. But I do have a lot of question to ask.

I am in California and wanted to know how much time it takes from the day you talk to your Dr. to the surgery date? 1month 2 ,3 ? And i never hear any thing negative is that because no one wants to be negaitve or is there not much to report?And i need to here more people say that exercise has become apart of there new lifestyle. I swim 5 days a week and its GREAT! for the larger person.And i hear many say that thay are taking the lbs to loose b-4 surgery via liquids is that ok with the Dr.?:wub:

Let me start by saying I am sooo glad I found this website! I have my first doctors appointment in 2 weeks and have a ton of questions. I already completed a packet of paperwork, attented a seminar, insurance has approved the lapband, now it is just up to me to make the final jump. I keep telling myself I am excited but, I do fear the unknown!!! Reading alot of your comments tonight helped me out alot. I just need to realize that this is and will be a HUGE change and it will come with a mental challenging road! I would appreciate any comments or advise that anyone is willing to send my way. Thank you for this site and to everyone willing to share and discuss this batt…

:smile: Hi i just signed up today and think that this forum has a wealth of information.. i thank you for that,! I have attended my meeting and now in the process of going to see all the doctors and such.. I am still not 100% sure if this is for me.. 1. Afraid of what to expect. 2. HATE HATE HATE to vomit 3. Never was a cook or planned meals 4,. Does it really work? So i am single and kind of eat what i want and when i want. Since i work shift work. So any and all help will be very much appreciated. Thanks! Mickey:tongue2:

I was wondering what most of you are doing about telling people prior to surgery. At first I wasnt going to tell many people. But, then I decided that it was easier to be open and honest about it at work. I figured if I told anyone, then everyone else would "hear threw the grapevine". So, I wanted everyone to hear from me personally and then any questions they had I could answer directly. So I told all of my "close" friends at work one on one a few weeks ago. When I was going to the "dr" every week or so they were asking lots of questions so I just started telling. It has actually been really helpful. I know that they are all really supportive and here for…

How will this change me? Will I still be the person i am? I refer to the surgery as killing the fat man. That how I feel at times as the surgery date gets closer.

I finished everything I needed to do in October and was told I would be having surgery late December/early Jan.. No calls came in and I was getting to a point of losing hope so I called them. They said they had scheduled me to meet with the surgeon on 1/26, finally! I had stopped checking into the site, and had started to fall back to old ways of not taking accountability, not eating right all the time, and getting into the mental blahhs. Was it a test? If it was I almost failed. Today I am back on track and plan to lose the last 8 lbs I am struggling with so there will be nothing in my way when I see the surgeon. I have told my hubby he is going to have to help me get…

This may be a dumb question but my BMI is 39.5 and I was wondering if anyone here can tell me what I can do to make my BMI an even 40 or above? Any tricks or trades??:thumbup:

Hi everyone! I am so glad I found this online because I am having my surgery on Tuesday January 6th 2008 and I am scared to death. I was in the shower just now and started to panic a little. I'm not sure if I can do this, I've never had surgery before and I know I need to do it but I am really nervous about the entire thing. I've been a "big girl" my entire life and I'm ready for the change but I can't explain how confused I am. Is this the right choice for me? Am I doing the right thing? Can I handle this? My husband is so supportive and the reason I am doing this is so I can have a baby and we can start our family and I want to be healthy in order to do that. Someone pl…

Hello everyone, I'm new here! I haven't started the process of pursuing the lap band, but I would like to as soon as possible. I have insurance through Kaiser Permanente. Assuming that they do cover the procedure, which I think they will considering my mom is a nurse and I have amazing insurance, where do I turn to? Should I bring up the topic with my doctor, or should I go to a surgeon for a consultation. And also, what doctors would yall recommend. I'm in southern california in the Los Angeles and Orange County area. I guess that is my question for now. Just how to take the first step. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Hi all, I have my nutrition eval tomorrow and I believe at that time I will be informed on the food changes I should expect to make before and after surgery. However, I am afraid that there are things I should ask and I just won't remember on my own. Can you guys give me a list of things you wish you had asked, things you wish you had better understanding of ahead of time, and of course the things you think everyone should know. I don't want to waste what may be a golden opprotunity. Often I find if I had known something I would have made a better choice. Last week I made the mistake of having an eval by someone on a military base (to save money) and it was not a g…

HEY! I'm Emmanuel 16 years old, From New Jersey & i would like to know if anyone else is getting banded Jan 19th ? & what are you doing to make time go by faster !? WHAT DO I DO !? The days feel like there going by as months ! How can i handle this ? & im also more anxious because i had blood work done 2 days ago & i dont know how it came out ? What do i do to prepare myself ? how do i manage to make time go by faster, & be more calm ? HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tomorrow morning is my big day! I am so nervous that I haven't even cared that I cant have anything to eat today. My stomach is in a knot...I have been only able to keep down one shake so far. Anyway, wish me luck tomorrow. I'm sure I'll be fine once it's over. I also have a hard time with going under and so I am trying to take all the precautions of anti nausea meds ahead of time so that doesn't happen but there is no guarantee. If you've ever had a hard time with anesthesia then you understand. Well, I am off to surf and try to get my mind off things....everything...!

Hello, everyone, my surgery is scheduled for the 29th of this month, I am on my fourth day of the liquid diet, I have read a couple of post where people say that they are allowed to eat a small meal per day. This is not the case for me. I just happened upon this site while I was searching for the answer to a question about the length of time on the liquid diet. I dont understand why it takes so long to shrink the liver. I a out of school for winter break so I cant ask my teacher. I am starving out of my mind, I ate 5 pecan halves this morning, sorry!! but I will ask my dietitian about the small meal. does anyone know where I can get coupons for the slim fast low carb sha…

Hello All, I am being banded on Sept. 2nd and thought it would be nice to have a nice clean colon free from years of gunk prior to surgery. My wellness center prefers a vegan diet 2 days prior and after the cleanse; but considering I am on the 2 week pre op Medifast diet and my caloric intake has been drastically reduced, I thought I'd be ok. The clease requires a drastic reduction in the amounts/types of food for maximum benefit from the cleanse. It's the So Easy Mucoid Plaque Cleanse. In conjuction with doing the cleanse I have 2 colonics scheduled, 1 in the middle of the cleanse and 1 after I've completed the cleanse. I also scheduled to do a foot detox spa after…

I am researching on if it s good idea to have lap band if you have auto immune disorder? I don't have lupus or anything. I have ankylosing Spondylitis, which is a rheumdoit (spell?) arthritis. Anyone have autoimmune disorder and had the lapband? Thanks PIXIES

Hi all I posted on this site previously when trying to decide whether to start the process of getting the band. You were all so much help that as soon as I started to panic I realised you're all probably the best people to come to for advice! In a nutshell, it was suggested by my NHS endocrinologist that I be referred for a band, as I have three autoimmune diseases and chronic fatigue syndrome, which is making losing weight extra hard and also increasing my risks of further serious health problems a huge amount. I also have issues with food, and eat too much and/or the wrong thing quite often for various reasons, often emotional (I guess that would be a few of u…

Did anyone get the lapband surgery after a breast reduction? If so, did your breast sag or are you considering getting breast implants or would you consider getting another breast reduction?

I had surgery Monday 12/29/08. Since, I have only lost one pound. I'm drinking clear fluids and following the diet. Is one pound normal?:confused:

I'm not a doctor. I'm not a expert, and I'm not giving advise. But I do know I was confused about what drink was best for me. The doctor's office recommended Optifast 800, however they said that any other similar drinks would be ok too. I know there is a big difference in price on some of these. Any way, I took the information off the web site for three of the more common drinks I heard mentioned and took off all the fancy formating so I could see them side by side on equal footing. If anyone has information on prices, feel free to add to this. **Again, my only goal is to show some data from the labels of each of these products.

I am a diet controlled type 2 didabetic. I was wondering if anyone had any issues with low blood sugars once starting the pre-op Medifast? I am concenred about it and the way they told me to deal with it is an oz. of protein- cheese meat etc ....

I start my pre op liquid diet this coming Wednesday. I'm semi-starting it today... eating liquids for some meals and eating solids a bit. How many liquid meals am I supposed to have per day? Three? I have a binder with guidelines, but it doesn't say if I'm limited to three meals or if I can have Snacks in between. What's the typical caloric intake supposed to be?

I have not had problem with any of the protein drink tastes with the exception that the taste lingers for a few hours. Are there drinks that don't have the lingering after tastes that I have not found yet?

What are they looking for when they do the pre op blood work?