LAP-BAND Surgery Forums

Ok so now that im a new lapbander im having these HORRIBLE pains on my right side....Dr says its the side of my port...i cant feel my port but i havnt much tried because it hurts to touch on that side. The side with most the incisions doesnt hurt at all...so whats my major problem? I been takin this medication the Dr gave me that i have to shoot up my nose and it knocks me out and makes the pain go away....but now anytime im awake the pain is here.....it reminds me of when i had my c-section...only hurts when i standup and if im walkin around too much...so standing up and sitting down are hard for me... Anyone else have this problem? How long does it take to go away? …

How many times do people pb on an average doesn't seem to attractive how do you avoid it.

now I am feeling out of control. I did join Curves this week but my eating is not so great. Need some encouragement please Lauren

I was banded on the 17th of May and so far have lost 21 pounds (gotta update that ticker...lol). The problem is my husband and I have a friend that is well, less than supportive about what I have done. My husband is great about it. He asks how I am doing and even has heard me ramble on enough that he can explain the band and the basic workings of it to anyone that asks. Bless his heart. But this guy we know goes back and forth from "I want to have that done" to "I can't give up what I love." The guy is on SSI and disability and was told that if he would loose some weight he would most likely be able to work. Anytime I have a tired day, or a little pain he says "see what t…

Several months ago I was approved and ready to go, I had some medical problems to straighten out. Turned out they were nothing but I am glad I know that now. I have to go back to see the doctor for a re-evaluatiion on the 23rd. That should be when I get a new date. From what I am told I only have to get the pre-op blood work done again. I am so excited, I havebeen following everyone, I wish I had been able to join sooner but better late than never!!

I've been reading a lot of old posts and I often see on this site statistics about lap banding have equal weight loss to RNY when compared over a 5 year period. I wonder if someone could tell me where I could find the study that these statistics were taken from. I found one seemingly credible site that gave the statistics for amount of excess weight loss from lap banding at 5 years at 36-38%, half of RNY. I like seeing actual studies as we all know statistics can lie. But just reading many posts and reading peoples individual stories it does seem that many people don't lose that much of their excess weight with lap banding. I am in the process of trying to decide whi…

Anyone know about this? http://abclocal.go.com/wls/news/061005_ns_jackson_mayor.html http://www.duodenalswitch.com/Procedure/procedure.html

Yeah! Hi Everyone! I'm back from Monterrey with a beautiful lapband, courtesy of my wonderful doctor! What a time! Everything went beautifully, and then.... while doing "the viewing" my doctor discovered that I had a 5cm hiatal hernia! Wow! He fixed it and then went on to proceed with the lapband installation. Today, 4 days after my surgery, I'm still sore, but, hey... what's a little discomfort compared to how healthy I'm going to be and oh, baby, how good I'm gonna look! Thanks for everyone's well wishes. You all are the best! Oh... and if you doctor wants you to go on a liquid diet before the surgery, do it. Mine did and I lost 20 pounds of ugly fat (and I will adm…

I was told by another bander that it doesn't matter if you eat solids (a little) after being banded for only 2 weeks. Is this true? What could happen if you eat solids within 2 weeks of being banded?

Does anyone find reading about people's experiences or talking about their own triggering? Last weekend I posted about bulimic type experiences before the band and how that effected me after the band. Since then I've been throwing up every night meal. My stomach feels really inflamed and I'm scared about doing damage. I'm supposed to be getting a fill next week but i'm worried it will be too much and i'll be having involuntary reflux. Why do I go down this track? I know it is wrong but i'm struggling here.

I know probably that Kaisers are different but I called (I have senior advantage I'm only 38) and the said that yes they do cover both bypass and just started covering the band. She looked it up for me. She did say that your dr has to state that shes feels the lap band would be better for the patient then the bypass. Thanks, Rene

... I thought I'd share some news with you. My wife and I have filed for divorce... for the 2nd time. Yes, from each other. For the 2nd time. No, you're reading it right, and you're understanding it. We're divorcing each other, again. I thought marrying the same woman twice was unique... wonder what the percentage of the population who have divorced the same person twice is... I'm a slow learner, I guess. Anyway, it's a testament to the wonderfull tool that the band is that I've LOST weight instead of gained it during this turbulent time. In addition to the marriage thing, I "retired" from the software development world today, and will be pastoring a church fo…

My kids and I have season passes to a water park... How long did anyone wait before going into a public pool? Just curious, with the incisions and all...I was banded on May 31st.

Just wanted to share with you all pictures of my barium swallow! untitled.bmp

Hi folks. I was just researching lapband surgery and found your site. I am trying to find out if BCBS of NC covers the lapbanding. Does anyone know by chance? You guys sound quite knowlegeable and I look forward to reading more and learning more. Thanks. Lisa

I was told strickly to eat only 3 times a day and just half a teacup for now.. and slowly work my way up to 1 full teacup. NO SNACKS my dr. stresses. Why? Is it because if you snack you won't loose as much, or does it have something to do with the band? Do you snack? I'm curious!

I had another fill on Monday (Australian time) and since then, my esophagus has been making weird noises - almost sounds like my stomach growling, only, in my throat. It happens mostly when I'm eating or drinking but its oh so embarassing while I'm sitting at my desk in the office LOL. I'm guessing it could be cause the fill is quite tight at the moment. It generally stays that way for a day or two after the fill, then relaxes a bit. But was just wondering if anyone else had a noisy esophagus after fills...

Well I am not doing so well with this clear liquids and protein shake thing. I am 8 days post op. The mere though of another protein shake makes me wanna hurl. (sorry lol) I am supposed to be on this diet for TWO more weeks. I have tried protein shake after protein shake, now even the texture, the feel the cold, yuck. I am feeling discouraged because I am not able to do this. I am not getting anything in but Snapple Diet Peach Tea. I am tired, hubgry, and upset. I am waiting to hear back from the nutritionist about moving on to the pureed stage. I am afraid it will hurt my band. Why did they have me doing it for 3 weeks if it was NECESSARY? I am afraid I am going to end u…

I love my band...don't get me wrong. I would never have made it this far without my little helper. But sometimes I get so frustrated. I know I have good restriction and I'm happy with that, but then WHAM! I got sick with the stuffy head, coughing achey stuff and my band closed up tight so I have to work at even getting my liquids down. When I had to get a bit of an unfill a couple weeks back, my fill doc said that me working nights 3-4 days (excuse me nights) of the week and then turning around to be a normal person of sleeping at night on my days off will keep my hormones on the upheaval quite a bit and hense...affects my band. It's a touchy little thing ain't …

I sent out a message a while back on a potential job in the Congo. Well, that fell through. Funding was not approved. Now, I am going to do a 10 day volunteer job in Liberia in July. They will pay expenses but I need to take vacation at work. I have decided that if it comes to it, I can live on my Protein shakes for 10 days. Since today is my 2 week bandiversary, I haven't really had much else anyway. Gotta go get VISA pictures, dr letter of health, innoculations, etc

HI all..........I had my surgery on the 31st of may. I stayed in Tacoma for a week because we live so far away. Week check up was great lost 9 lbs. so that is 18 lbs. in 18 days. (had to do 10 days of clear liquid before surgery and now 3 weeks of clear liquids) Feeling great and just taking it easy to recover from the surgery. Nice to be home...Tacoma is great but too many trees I am used to open spaces.

I had my 1st fill on monday-Im filled to 2.5cc and man it is a huuuuuuge difference-I ate 1/2 sandwich(at lunch) and 1/2 bowl of soup(dinner) yesterday and that was it-was totally full-today I can tolerate 3 bites of chicken salad-woohoooooooo Im gonna be skiiiiiinnnnnnnnny.

It has been 3 weeks 2 days since surgery. I have lost 27 lbs total and have not lost any in 5 days. I am feeling kinda lighheaded today adn a little woozy. I am taking in approx 20-25 grams of Protein a day and I believe I am supposed to get close to 60 per day. I am thinking this is why i am feeling kinda wiped today. I usually have one Protein Drink a dat ( Atkins ) but just took 15 minute and had 1...and will try to have another full one this afternoon. I have a friend who had the surgery the same day as me and he is already eating tunafish and eggs....I am just starting to eat banana baby Cereal ( which is actually very good )....I am taking too long to progress to…

So FINALLY I am at another milestone. 70 pounds are gone for good, and I can't be more thrilled. I'm happier than I've ever been in my whole life. I feel fantastic, my band is, at the moment, in the sweet spot so I can eat a bit of just about anything but food isn't constantly on my mind. I've got thirty more pounds to go before I reach my first goal. I'm a little scared of that- I am still pinching myself that I got to 70 pounds. What will happen next? I'm scared, but I also can't wait!!! The first picture was at my highest, the second at minus 50 pounds, and the third at minus 70. The last photo was taken Saturday night in the bathroom of a bar. Classy, huh. Meg…

I need everyone’s opinion, I have had two fill already from Dr. Kuri, one in February and one in April, I was scheduled to get my third fill on June 18 because for the last two weeks I notice I can eat a lot more than what I had been eating following my second fill. I had a problem eating in the mornings for the first 3 weeks after my second fill. Okay the problem is that I am due to start my period around the 13th and yesterday in the morning I was eating a Soup and I had to stop half way because it got stuck, when I coughed a little bit of saliva came out, okay during lunch I had 2 taquitos (crispy usually goes down with no problem for me) it took me about 30 min…

I am seriously considering going to Dr. Rodriguez in Acuna Mexico. I am trying to find a dr. that will be will to do the after care here locally. If you know of a Dr. please let me know. Thank you, D

Ok ok, I know that it should be expected to gain weight when we finally switch back to solids from liquids. But, when I see 5 pounds come back after losing 16...I feel like a failure. I did what I could to prevent it, but it still happend. I want a HUGE fill so that I will have super duper restriction. When will this weight gain stop?? How can I slow it down?? Lots of exercise maybe?? I know I'm being a drama queen, but I was so excited about the lap-band that I could hardly contain myself...watching the scale go up is something that I hoped wouldn't happen. I am so tired of being fat!!! I am tired or snoring and not sleeping well!! I am tired of being unable to jog or…

I need a source of liquid protein that not only taste O.K., but my dietian said the carbs and protein should be close to equal. Lots of people have recommended Unjury, but there are little to no carbs in it. Any help would be appreicated since the first protein shake I tried was not edible! Oh, she also said to stay away from "whey" products and go for the soy protein products..... Thanks again for your help Margo

O.K., all the pre-op tests are done, all the reports are in, my check for $300.00 is on its way to the drs. office....so, my insurance company should be getting my file within the next couple of days or so. Please keep your fingers and toes crossed for me and say a little prayer that insurance will cover the band. I am so ready to an official bandster!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Margo

Hello everyone, My name is Tracy from Australia and I am a newbie here. I am booked into have my band done next week. I am in two minds as to which procedure to have? Has anyone had the gastric bypass? Does the band stop you from craving for food? Look forward to hearing your replies. Tracy

Just a quick intro by request LOL Have seen references to this board for a while, finally managed to wander over. I'm active on several yahoogroups (bandsters (moderator), smartbandsters, extraordinarybandsters), Spotlighthealth and ObesityHelp. Was banded 10/17/03 by Dr. Marina Kurian at Lenox Hill in NYC. Currently down 119 lbs (probably more but haven't weighed for a while) and should get a fill but waiting until some personal mega-stress is over (which should be soon thankfully!) so I can refocus on loss. However, the lovely thing about this band-o-mine is that for the first time, this sort of stress hasn't caused GAIN. Have gone through 2 holiday seasons with los…

Hi everyone going for surgery on June 9th and I wanted to know if there are any last minute things I need or should know I know there are alot of june bandsters and I hope we all do well we are changing our lives forever in a positive way. I emailed my doctor and he said it was a very same procedure with excellent results I really want to succeed as we all do. So any advice would be greatly appreciated IE. things needed what food I should stock up on. thinks they don't tell you but should know. thanks again

Okay... so everything was going well, lol. I had my first fill on Tuesday. Suppose to be on clear fluids Tues, full fluids Wed/Thurs, soft food tomorrow and regular food Saturday. So... I did the clear fluids.... had full fluids yesterday and had soft foods today. I know, being bad already but I am starving.... So... I stop eating at a point because I know I should BUT I don't feel any restriction still.... shouldn't I by now??? Two days later? Or am I really asking too much? I don't know how much my fill was but I do know my doc is fairly conservative. Do you know how soon after a fill you can have another? Should I not even be worried about this until I s…

I would love to hear people's experiences of fills without fluoro vs. those with. The doctor I was planning on using has now put all fills on hold. I have heard of another fill doctor in the area but she does not have access to fluoro. This scares me a little bit. What do you think? Thanks.

I got my first fill today. I didnt have any idea what band I had. So he would only put in 1.1cc He thought maybe I had a vangard?? (its big) (once home I found out my band holds 4cc) I went to Denny's resturant about an hour later to 'see what happens' 2pm I ate this much: One motzerella stick half an onion ring two chicken strips (appetizer size) 3tbs bbQ sauce 1/2 cup broccolii cream Soup 5 french fries, dips of ketsup two bites biscuits and gravy 20 ounces milk half a chocolate dipped cone from MCdonalds (the whole cone) Then at home I had 8pm One mini corn muffin and almost PB'd on it Worst feeling I had since I first got home But it …

I was scheduled to go in tomorrow for my first fill but it's been cancelled now and I was all psyched up for it. I've been banded since 4/29 and so far have lost 41.5 pounds and the doctor said that was losing it too fast so we're waiting on the fill now another couple of weeks. I'm one of the very lucky ones that still feels restriction even with no fill. I'm very happy about that but I was just so ready to get my first fill and see how that was going to be. But until then....I'll just wait and try to be patient. Wish me luck!

Ok...I'm feeling sorry for myself...I want a fill. I went to my Dr today and he said I had to wait 3 more weeks until I can have one. I want one now! I know...I should be patient...but after the surgery I felt such wonderful restriction, but that is all gone now and I can stuff my face. I'm ready to feel the restriction again. I want to lose weight. I thought waiting for the surgery is bad...but this is almost worse.

Tommorrow at 8;30 is my surgery so scared just really nervous with all that can go wrong I am freaking just want the doctor to put the band in right heard so many stories that the position has to be precise and I am also scared fo post op pain I'm a baby and I hate general anethesia hate the feeling of waking up and not knowing where you are so sorry to unload but everyone here has probably had those feeling also wish me luck

I don't care what people say about Dr.de la Garza, but he was great. He explained everything about the procedure,and the staff was awsome.If I had to do it again ,Dr. de la Garza would be the one! My husband went with me and he was also impressed and said I can can back by myself to get a fill. I tried now I just got back from Monterrey ,so I will let everyone know that Dr.de la Garza was great in the morning. stacey banded 5-26-2005

I have read numerous post stating that newly banded people can only eat about 2 oz. at a time. Is that what we are suppose to be eating or can we eat more than that at one sitting? Some things fill me up more than other things, but should I stop or continue until I feel satisfied. I am in the "mushy" stage of the diet. Like tonight, I am having some soup for dinner... should I just eat 2-3 ounces or eat until I am satisfied? What is the general rule? Thanks in advance!

I went in for my 3rd fill today. Normally they have one of the doctors in the room assisting while the fills are being done. Today, only I man that I didn't recognize was doing my fill. He didn't bother to spend too much time marking the port area, and quickly began jabbing me with the needle. As soon as he began sticking me, I felt my port being knocked back and forth in my stomach. He sat there for about 10 more minutes, jabbing the huge needle back and forth in my stomach, causing some pain and A LOT of discomfort inside me. Finally he commented that he couldn't find the opening to my port and told me to lay down on a bed while he tried it that way. He spent about …

I don't have any diet documentation. DO you know what theres are? Do you always have to have a diet documented and for how long? Thanks! Rene

Hi everyone, I need your advice. Well this is my dilema, I am now averaging at 156-159 lbs depending on what I eat that day and I was planning on having my tt at the end of this month. I had set a goal of 145 lbs for myself, (I felt I would deserve my tt if I worked hard at it). Well, I am not even close to hitting my goal weight and am faced with a problem.. I had already arranged for the time off work and all. The ps believes that with the tt and lipo I'm getting I will be at goal once all the swelling is gone and I heal up. So do you think I should go ahead and have my tt, without getting to my goal weight? Or should I wait, cause if I wait to get to goal, I won…

I have not made my first appointment to see a lap-band Dr. and I am trying to make a decision..any suggestions..thanks;-)

If you know of anyone in the Orlando area please pass me the name/number to contact them. I am relocating this summer. I found a center in Ocala but won't take me as "you are a liability". another center in Celebration wants 1000.00 up front and subsequent visits are 150.00/dr and 75.00/nurse..thanks!! Michelle

How may port infections have we had looks scary do alot of people get them

Hi I am thinking of getting the lap band of course but wanted to know if you save alot of money on food especially for those who live alone? Of course then you have to buy all new clothes but who cares! Thanks, Rene

Im excited cause I was banded 4/27 and can basicly eat anything as long as I chew which I had trouble doing but am learning.Anyway I hope this causes some restriction since Ive only lost 16 pounds and all that was done in the first 10 days. Few questions....does it hurt?am I not supposed to eat beforehand?will i know immediately if fill "took"?

I had my surgery May 23rd, and I feel amazing this week....I have lost 19 lbs so far. No regrets!!

i was banded on may 6th whenn should i get them to fill my band? THANKS IN ADVANCE for any help.