LAP-BAND Surgery Forums

I e-mailed Dr. Kuwada yesterday with a question I have about some of the required documentation for insurance approval. I checked my e-mail this morning to find a personal response from him. I have to say, this just adds to how impressed I am so far.

I keep reading about people having pb's. What does that stand for? Thanks.......

Well, I decided to do a recent before/after pic here; my friends have fussed at me long enough. I am still only with just right at 140 pounds loss and have been living on a plateau for what seems like forever (3 months) with me gaining and losing the same 5 pounds forever now, but my friend encouraged me saying pull out pictures and see how far you have come, and yes, I am thankful for that but I don't like getting "stuck" and not losing!! I am very discouraged and needed to see me as I was then and now. Hopefully I can get to losing again soon, wish me luck. Thanks for looking.

I'm 2yrs into the lap-band and I'm gaining how can I get control of it before it's too late?

Hi there everyone- Had surgery for my "Happy Halloween" day! The day was alot longer than we thought it would be. There before 8 a.m. home at 8 p.m.! Surgery was to be at 11:00 but it was more like 11:30/45. Folks in the recovery didn't tell my fiance I was there, and then I was moved to another room, and he finally got to see me over 1-1/2 hrs later! It took almost 2 hrs to have x-ray call me in for a shallow test. I had a headache going into the hosp. and a doosy of one by late afternoon. Was so glad to go home! In more pain today than last night. After getting off of the computer-I'm taking a few pills for pain. Small sips and trying to get all of the liquids in …

i need to ask this because nowadays i have a lot of hiccups. well can it cause slippage of the band??

Well, I went in for all of my pre-op stuff yesterday. I'm all ready to go for my surgery this Monday, except that I am SUPER DUPER nervous and scared. I just pray that everything will be all right. Thanks to all of you for all of your support while I have been waiting. I truly appreciate it, and I will let you all know how things go with the surgery when I get a chance.

I am 7 months into my journey and I have had some ups and downs. This last 2 weeks seems to have been the worse for me by far. I had a fill a couple of months ago and seemed to have great restriction. As I mentioned in another post it gradually started disappearing. I went to see my Dr and put on 2 kgs. He gave me a fill. Since having the fill, I notice that I can eat less at a sitting but I am so much more hungrier quicker. I mean hungry as in gut rumbles. I feel as if I am constantly eating and that 2kgs has turned into 3.5kgs(7pd). So in 2 weeks I have put on that much. I am at a loss what to do. Because I have put on weight I am also not giving a stuff about what I ea…

Starr, Haven't heard from you for a while. How are you doing?

Good Morning We had a great time apple picking yesterday. We all got apple cider donuts, you can get them warm or cold, I got mine warm and DD decided 1/2 way through her cold one that she wanted mine lol, kids !!! They are really good. I love this time of year. I got to take an afternoon nap and then got up to decorate the outside for halloween. I have pumpkins all over my yard (fake ones b/c the squirrels eat them if they are real....little bastards LOL). Did food shopping, and I think we made it to bed at 10. I'll try to get pictures to post. Today is apple pie baking, church, a birthday party... oh shoot, laundry ICK. I need to clean the house but eh, we…

Yesterday was my 6 month bandiversary. I did something that at first I thought was going to be impossible and even my doctor told me it would be but I did it....I lost 101 pounds in 6 months!!!!!! I went to work yesterday and kept saying I was going next door to our health clinic and weigh just to see how close I had come to my goal. I kept stalling because I was thinking that I hadn't lost those 4 pounds I was needing. Finally I thought what the heck and went to the health clinic. Our PA saw me come in and asked if everything was alright. I told him I was on a mission and he said to come on back and he'd weigh me. Well I stepped up on the scale and sure enough....…

Sorry if this question has been asked before. I'm new and haven't had a lot of time to search the site. I'm curious about the rate of weight lost with the band. I happened to notice somewhere, someone who has been banded for maybe 6 months and has lost 10lbs. Honestly....I would be disappointed if I only saw a 10lb loss in that period of time. If I put my mind to it, I might be able to lose that much on my own. I guess I'm thinking that the loss should be a bit more rapid. Should it be more rapid than no banding at all? Definitely not as fast as bypass, I know. Just wondering. Thank you!

I'm really doing great with my recovery...very little problems. Question: I still have quite a bit of port site pain, not the incision, but the muscle underneath. Is that normal? I KNOW I overdid it yesterday, going to the grocery store, visiting friends at the office for Halloween...paying for it today with some aches and pains. Pain medication is a wonderful thing.

So who here like crabs? And do you still eat them? Every time I go to Myrtle Beach, I see this sign 'Maryland Fried Chicken'. We always get a laugh from that, especially since my family is all from the South. Now, crabs I think we're known for, but fried chicken???? Just went to the Inner Harbor Friday night, had a good time with friends and ate (not me, really) at the California Pizza Kitchen. Hello, midshipmen!!!! Things I love about MD: 1. Terps!!! 2. weather 3. nice place to live!! What I do not like: 1. price of real estate 2. traffic Just thought I'd share....

Well this is the second time I joined in on this site. Had my surgery on Wednesday. Everything went great. Stayed overnight. I had the surgery in Flint Mi at Hurley. It was the first day they started the lap band. I was the third done. They treated me like a Queen. I had to be on liquids one week before the surgery and 2 weeks after. I had to purchase a kit by Better MD. Its a really good kit, kept me full most of the time. I'am feeling good except for a little pain when getting out of a chair or bed. I'am nauseas alot. But I have meds for that. I can't wait ti start on the mushie stage. I need something to chew on. Thanks, Cheryl

Wow just finished my first month at curves ! Lost a total of 17 3/4 inches and 5 pounds . and at the same time was gaining muscle which weights more than fat . WOW

Big Trouble: A husband was in big trouble when he forgot his wedding anniversary. His wife told him "Tomorrow there better be something in the driveway for me that goes zero to 200 in 2 seconds flat". The next morning the wife found a small package in the driveway. She opened it and found a brand new bathroom scale. Funeral arrangements for the husband have been set for this Saturday.

at 99 kgr(218.5) at last!!! yes i'm official under 100!!! :D no more 3 numbers saying my weight!! ahhh im sooo happy today!!! i will celebrate today with a good pedicure and pink toes! :)

I never had heartburn before my band and not after until the last 4-5 days. I was banded in late Aug. 2005. I had a very bad PB experience a week ago so it makes me think my heartburn must have something to do with the PB. I never knew heartburn hurts as much as it does. When I first got it I thought I was having a heart attack, scared the bejeevers out of me! At first it was just after eating dinner (soup the first time). Now it seems like everything I eat goes straight to heartburn. I have swallowed Malox, cimetidine, Rolaids, just about anything I could find in hopes of getting rid of this monster in my chest. I had a fill in early Oct. but it was only .6cc's so it cou…

Well, I have had an epiphany... I know, now, why I remain fat. It's because I love Taco Bell... We decided that we would have Taco Bell for lunch today. My so called Friend, Paulette, pointed me toward the Taco Bell Nutrition Guide. http://www.yum.com/nutrition/menu.asp?brandID_Abbr=5_TB Here I was, happily thinking that I wasn't doing anything too bad. Just a Nacho Supreme and a chicken Quesadilla. How bad could it be, right? RIIIIIIIGHT. OK. 990 calories!! 2190 milligrams of sodium! 56 grams of Fat! WAAAAAAAAAAAA!!! Ignorance was sheer bliss, people. And, I can't count the number of times that I have eaten a 3rd item from the menu... Ye Gods!! …

(I have a neice named Kelly and we called her that when she was a toddler and had that cute little belly sticking out, although you should see her now--WOW!) Anyway, I read your response to my post yesterday, and you mention that you have 9.8 in your band, my question is--when we do lose all the weight we want, our "stomachs" will be smaller, so won't the band be too large? I'm not getting this--we had to have the larger band cause our stomachs were bigger, but when our stomach shrinks due to weight loss, won't we need a smallr band? Thanks for your help!!

Just wondering. If your insurance pays for the first band and you have complications will the insurance pay to have it removed and then "reinstalled"? Or, is this a one time shot? Anyone have experience with this sort of thing?

It's my first day back to work since being banded... and someone comes in with a bag of candy for each desk... sweets have never been my downfall, but in the bag is an ALMOND JOY...which I love!!! LOL! Evil, I tell you! LOL! Happy Halloween! ~Pamela.

I had my second fill on Friday. Puts me at 3.1cc. I have not had a problem with pb but I have this tightness feeling in the middle of my chest, if I breath deep it is worse. Tonight I was able to eat one grilled chicken finger and two bites of mashed potatoes kept it down with out any problem. I think I may need a unfill. What do you think?

in a pair of my capris that were tight 2 months ago (size 24), I am down to a size 18/20 and have lost almost the equivilent of my daughter's weight x 2!!

Are there any oldsters out there that have been banded or are going to be. I would love to meet them. I would love to find out if there were any problems with being older in getting the band. I guess I just want to know I'm not the only one in their early 60's considering this option. Thanks.

Has anyone had an abnormal barium swallow? I am scheduled for my band on Nov 10th. All my tests came back good. Then I got a call from my surgeons office saying that on further review it appeared that my barium swallow indicated that I had tertiary contractions in my esophagus. Now I need to see a neurogastric doctor. I am freaking out because was finally at that calm excited stage ready for my surgery. I am incredibly thankful that my surgeon is so thorough, but I will be so upset if this prevents me from getting my band. I don't have GERD or any other weird symptoms. Anyone familiar with any of this??? Thanks for any help/advice you can offer! Puffyone

I am having some issues with the band. I was banded at 3:30 on thursday and still cant keep down so much as a sip of water. They took me to xray yesterday and did a barium swallow and I am one of the unfortunate ones who responded to this with excessive swelling, I am just swollen completely shut. I cant keep a sip of anything down, everything just comes back up foamy bile. And the pain on my sternum/stoma is unreal. Other than that I have had no problem with gas or soreness from actual surgery. I would feel great if this damn swelling would go down. I cant even go home until I can get a glass of water down. Please send prayers, good vibes, etc.... my way!

I've been banded for 7 months exactly as of today. I have lost 65-67lbs depending on whether or not my scale likes me at any given moment. :-) The logical part of me knows that my success is good. I'm averaging 2-2.5lbs per week. The problem is that is only an average! Realistically I tend to lose a large amount (7-15lbs) in the few weeks following a fill, then I struggle with the same 3-5lbs gaining and losing them for a few weeks. This time it feels like I have been struggling for a month, which when I look back at my weekly weigh in stats for the challenges I can see that I'm down at least 6lbs from last month, yet I feel like I'm not losing anything. Does that make se…

Hi all. Another bandster mentioned to me today that I should bone up on some basic Spanish that I might find helpful for my trip to TJ. Thought this might be helpful to share with others who might not have gotten an A+ in Spanish 101 (I sure didn't)...hehe -- angie

Well, it seems I've finally slipped from obese to overweight on the BMI charts. As of this morning, my BMI is 29.4. When I started this journey (almost 8 months ago), my BMI was 41.0. Look out ideal, here I come hehe Thanks to all of you, for being there - I couldn't have done it without you!!!

Well I get food...yeah...something to chew. so far today I've had baked Beans, string cheese and hummus with crackers. YUM! It looks like turkey will be added to my meal plan just in time for Thanksgiving...but no veggies yet. The hardest thing now is just waiting an hour to drink after eating. Melissa

Well that's 50 gone for me now. I've really been working hard at this--especially the last few weeks-- since my brother's wedding is THIS Saturday. I'll see a lot of people there I only see every few years and some of them haven't seen me since I was 312#. The last few weeks I've been averaging 1000 calories per day and working out about 90 minutes daily. I get up in the morning and do 20-30 minutes on my elliptical trainer, walk 20 minutes at my lunch break and then walk the dog for 40-50 minutes every night (also do about 15 minutes of free-weights several nights a week while watching TV). Even with all that I've only been losing 1-2 pounds a week. That didn't really…

I was banded 7/29/05 in Monterrey, Mexico by Dr. Rumbaut. I'm looking for surgeons in my extended area, which could be as far as Dallas or Chicago or Atlanta, who are friendly to Mexican banded patients. I had a bad experience here in Little Rock yesterday with a local surgeon who has a "sour grapes" attitude towards a patient who was banded in Mexico. I got a lecture, a huge bill for a 15 minute visit ($700) and it was a very unpleasant experience. Next time for that money I'm willing to fly somewhere to see a good surgeon who isn't going to give me all the grief! Any suggestions?

Here's the reason I can't quit soda (though I haven't had one in about 2 weeks.) This stack is just 5 steps outside my office door. It's unavoidable since I have to pass it on the way to the copy and fax room 95 times a day. And the fridge is stuffed with more soda. It's killing me! I'm sipping my stupid low-sodium broth with my back up diet ice tea, but I want 9 cans of soda! We only have 9 employees in this office, and several are part time. The attorneys are usually in court, so it's just me and those sodas. It's torture. Add that to Erin making pizza and heaping, steaming plates of eggrolls and french toast sausage sandwiches at 8:30 a.m. and you can probabl…

From the date of your surgery to when you went back to work how much time passed? I'm trying to figure out when to schedule my surgery and how much time to take off of work. ~Jini

Does anyone know the reason we have told to avoid soda? I haven't experienced any discomfort when i do drink it, aso i was wondering if there was some sort of medical reason the doctors have warned us off it? Please help? Tina

For you guys that have had your band awhile...do you ever NOT think about it? Have you gotten to a point that eating the band way is natural and habitual? I guess just reading this board as often as I do and seeing all the comments makes me think everyone's thinking about their band all the time. Don't get me wrong, I know they're not, but eventually I'd like to be a person who doesn't eat very much and can feel full and stay thin and then remember, oh yeah...I forgot about that band in there. Does that make sense? Thanks

oK I'll start at the beginning I had my surgery in Aug. the day after my mouth and throat felt like a coating was building on my gums. Well this never got better finally went to pcp she said it was thrush. Well I took 3 different meds over the last 6 weeks and this gross stuff never went away. Finally I got fed up throat and mouth so sore I went to the ER and was diagnosed with a bacterial infection! This had to have come from the surgery it is just to coincidental that it started within hours after my surgery. Now I am on antibiotics and they are a large capsule. I opened them and put the powder in juice and once in ice cream to hide the taste. OMG they are absolut…

Hello, I'm new to this site but have done lots of research. I had an appointment for a consultation for lap-banding with Dr. Noel Williams of Penn University but had to cancel. My Father's lung cancer reappeared and I decided without regret to help him with his treatment. Sadly he lost his battle a month ago. I hope now I am ready to take care of me. I would like to know where I can view all of your 'stats' if you will. I want to know who your doctors were, when you had the surgery, if there were complications, any complaints, trouble receiving meds, staff problems and before, current and goal weights. I think if we post honestly we'll be able to more easily help each o…

I guess I never noticed till I started battling with smoking and other issues before my surgery. I REWARD MY SELF FOR A JOB WELL DONE.When I finish washing dishes.I notice I want a smoke.I made the bed I want a smoke. I never noticed that I reward myself. I am cutting straws and sticking them between my fingers when I drive because I drive and smoke. I have not quit all the way but I am down to about four a day.My husband is trying to quit also. Talk about fighting like cats and dogs. Yesterday he threw a loaf of bread at me.

I ws banded 06/22/05, to date have lost 28 lbs, have a VG band in w/8cc's and have yet to feel restriction! I can take all 4 of my meds, at the same time, and get no clogging. I just had a fill nearly 2 weeks ago--I want to get another one, I leave on vacation the 11th, my doc will do them at 2 weeks, can I do it so close to vacation? I would hate to end up in the carribean too restricted. Is 1 week long enough to know if I am too tight? I am not happy with this--I drink at least a gallon of water a day--(for real) eat small portions, today I am going toclean house with ankle weights on----my weight loss has been noticed in my tummy so I wonder if the band is too big…

Happy Birthday theresa2mum may all your dreams come true

hey everyone I am new here, and I had a couple of questions. Hopefully getting banded on the 4th of November. ok well here are some of my questions. My doctor(Dr. Jayaseelan) is giving me the larger van gaurd? band because I am a male and he said there is a lot less slipage and problems, I am here for the peoples opinion. -which band is better for weightloss?why? -what is the most amount of weight lost by someone with the band/period of time? -I noticed some people lose extremely slow and some fast what's the trick? -do these forums have an average lb/month weightloss for the bandsters? -what is the worst part of the whole process? the liquid diet is killing me a…

Hi! Ohh myy goddd! I think i did a PD!!??? ok so at night i had some milk and Cookies (i know, i'm going to stop that soon) - after a while it would not go down my pipe and after 5 mins it came out - but not acidy like vomit - it was more like with alot of see through slime or mucus! Does this mean the band is tooo tight!!!!!????? also, i dont seem to be loosing weight at all - i am not on a major strict diet, and i do have 'bad' food once in a while - should that not be allowed? r all of you guys eating very healthy food stuff?? Thanks!!

Can anyone shed some light on this scenerio? I have had my band for about 16 months (down 83 pounds so far) so I realize that it can go through it's tight times and not as tight times. My last fill was back in early August. For about a month I've been noticed a big difference in tightness. It's like my band is too tight all of the sudden. This morning I even PB'd water! That's frustrating. I've also noticed several other things such as "acid-like" stomach/ heartburn and a few times I've had some problems breathing at night- I've woken up gasping for air. I'm sure that can't be good. I live overseas so it's difficult for me to see my doc. There is someone here tha…

I have topost this after reading a post earlier about whether or not to get antibiotics for a dental proceedure. I say yes, most definately and the reason is, you have an "implant" in your belly, the port, in which I have read many posts that the ports have become infected even after being the belly for months. When you do a dental proceedure, the gums bleed and the bacteria in the mouth is great, and if the bacteria gets into the blood stream, it can go right to the "foreign" body and attack it. I have a knee replacement and each time I go to the dentist I need to start antibiotics for this very reason. Some orthopaedics feel that the antibiotic in unnecessary, howev…

HI - I'm new here. Shooting for being banded on 12-2-05 and am from north of Sacramento, California. There is a lot of helpful information here but there seems to be this coded language that I can't figure out!! So, please tell me, what is PBing? How does it happen and what do you do when it does happen?

Well, tomorrow will be my 1st day back to work since I was banded on the 19th. I would have been back sooner, but came down with pneumonia. For some reason, I have been weepy all day when I think about going back to work. Sometimes my job can be stressful, but I have a good support system there, so I don't know why I feel this way. I just don't understand this...it's like the 1st day of school or something... Have any of you experienced this same feeling? ~Pamela.

If you are an older bandster or going to be one, please give me your input. I'm beginning to think the board is full of young people and I feel out of place. Is there anyone older here?