LAP-BAND Surgery Forums

Well, I've been and gone and done it. All went smoothly although I was very anxious before the op. The staff were great though and really calmed me down. I was admitted 5 hours before surgery so there was plenty of time to think and wonder. the worst bit was the anaesthetist trying to get a vein! ended up using a childrend IV kit. I have very small veins apparently. (Must be the only small bit of me). There hasn't been much pain to speak of and what I have had has been pretty well managed. It's more uncomforable than anything else. I was a bit worried when I sneezed the other day, but the 'ping' I felt was just a bit of sticking plaster coming loose I hope! I'm findi…

With the Lap Band surgery becoming more and more widespread (no pun intended) there have been more cookbooks being published with easy recipes and menu ideas for post-lap-band patients. One in particular that I love is "Eating Well After Weight Loss Surgery": Over 140 Delicious Low-Fat, High-Protein Recipes to Enjoy in the Weeks, Months and Years after Surgery -- by Patt Levine, et al; Paperback. It's awesome! Not only does she have great recipes; but each recipe's directions are broken down by lap band stages, gastric bypass, etc. This is not an advert for the book; but only my opinion. Another I came across which is also a great choice is "Exodus fr…

Hi I am kind of new at this, and for the past couple of weeks I have had this depression I can't seem to get myself out of. Things at work are fine, my home and family are fine, but I am feeling BLUE. I am down over 40Lb and I should be dancing, and feeling great, but I am not. Has anyone else felt this way? Someone at work told me it could be the food, or lack of it, maybe Vitamins. Any light on this would be very helpful.

Does anyone have issues with boredum eating? I have heard so much about after the band they are not "hungry" but my issue isn't that I am hungry as much as it is that I eat to be "doing something". Doesn't matter what it is... it goes down. Do you think this will mean I will fail with the band?

Hi Everyone This Morning I Got Up Feeling Mildly Sick To My Stomach Is This Normal At Times? I Can,t Eat Or Even Drink My Protein Shake I Have Not Got My First Fill Yet Can My Band Get Tight In The Mornings This Is The First Time This Is Happening To Me I Have Not Vomited So I Don,t Think The Band Has Slipped. Hopefully This Will Pass Thanks Julie

Has anyone had difficulty doing Yoga or anyother type of held stretches? There doesn't seem to be many problems with swimming/walking/cycling BUT anyone have problems with lets say - kick boxing or Crunches with the band?

Okay you guys and girls. We have to make EVERY bite count. So, why not make those bites a bit interesting with some designer truffles with some interesting and new flava's. These cost a lot-which might deter buying in bulk. But hey-we don't need bulk anymore-we're banded. But, banded or not, we still deserve the occasional treat! Here is a website you should check out if you are into fabulous and wonderful: http://www.vosgeschocolate.com/Truffles.aspx Only the BEST for the banded!:cheeky Sweetly yours, and Happy belated "V"-Day, ~Joan~

hi i was banded on the 17 of jan and dropped 14 pds since then i was on clear liquids for three weeks with protein shakes started reg solids almost two weeks now for the last two weeks i stayed the same in weight i exercise on the treadmill 20min a day for now and eating right i thought i read on the post that this is normal not to lose for first few weeks after starting solids is this right you can even gain i get my first fill next week a little nervous but excited at the same time i think i need to cut my portions down little is it true that you really don,t start losing till after your first fill or so thanks julie

It has been one week since my surgery and I am hungry. What is safe for me to eat?

Okay. Yuck. My skin is healing over my staples, and I don't go to the doctor until Monday to get the staples out. Is this situation normal? Will it cause infection? Is it serious. I am grossed out a little about this, and it is ITCHY. I asked my husband if I should remove the staples myself, and he was like "NO, DON'T TOUCH THEM!" I am so compelled to to so because I don't want them a permanent part of me! (I have been known to do home operations on ingrown toenails before-and the picture wasn't too pretty. My husband was kind enough to mention that whole situation too....) Please help. Joan

Hey guys! I hope this finds everyone doing great! I have ran into a major problem and need some advice. At the beginning of January I came down with the stomach bug. I thought that I was getting better so I decided to eat a little something for dinner. Well I ended up spending the rest of the night hugging the toilet. I woke up the next morning, Friday, and could not get any liquids down so I decided to call the doctor. His nurse told me to drink hot liquids to see if the swelling would go down on its own. I tried to do this but of course it did not work. On Saturday morning I woke up unable to swollow my own saliva (and keep it down). By that afternoon I had go…

Hey everyone let's chatt today I will be in there for 10 minutes!

So I started birth controll, The patch to be exsact, and I feel like I want to eat everything I can catch with a fork.Obviosly I cant as I have the band, but I have noticed myself trying to fight my band more than I ever have. I am so stressed! I called my Doctor and she said it should even out, and that most of it is more than likely water weight. So here i work as a lap band councelor, and I am having drama myself. I guess thats why I love this site, as everyone has such great advice. So I need some advice, or words of wisdom, any ideas? Has any one else had this experiance? I am open to all advice!!! Kristie banded 07/15/03 Dr Hilario Jaurez Phoenix AZ beginning …

Hey Guys: Well, I did it. I am now a bandster. I went to Tijuana last Friday and had my surgery. I also had my gallbladder taken out at the same time. Dr. Ortiz is GREAT and not bad on the eyes either. The whole experience was really good. I was a little scared at first because Tijuana is so different from my beautiful state of Georgia. But once I met Dr. Ortiz and his staff, all of my worries disappeared. They took really good care of me. And Mrs. Ortiz, what an angel. She's the best. Anyone who is thinking of having this surgery should contact Dr. Ortiz. I had looked into having my fills done here in Atlanta but they are tooooooo expensive. I am going t…

I just ad my preop labs, and was told to start a liquid diet 7 days before my surgery. To shrink the live(something I was aware of from the post on here). This liquis things is going to be really hard for me as I am a meat & potatoes type of gal. I wanted to know if you had any suggestions recipes that helped you get through this stage before, and after surgery. TIA

I believe I’m ready. I’ve done some serious soul searching. I know some of the reasons I’ve been holding on to my armor of fat. At least, I think I know. A big thank-you to everyone here for helping me along this journey. I’ve read almost everything posted since October, and that is sure a lot! J Most of it has been very thought provoking for me. I hope I’ve been able to add to the quality of the board, and not just created a lot of useless noise! The before-and-after pix are such an inspiration, as is the NSV thread. The results y’all have shared amaze me and give me hope. I need all the hope I can get. You see, I am still in the camp where I don’t quite believe t…

I asked this question on another board and the responses I got have made me feel bad and that I have done something wrong and messed up this whole journey. I am 3.5 weeks post op - doctor wants me on anything that can go through a funnel (Soups, Jello, hummus, etc). I have been following that part and sticky to mushy foods, Protein shakes and Water. This is the problem - I have taken a few small bites of my sons meals like a tiny bite of chicken,Pasta or sausage. I have always done this to test for temperature and to see how it tastes and I have done it a few times since surgery. Have I done something really bad? I know it is considered cheating but I am concerned …

Ok, so I feel kind of violated. I didn't know that all of my posts to lapbandtalk .com would be easily accessible by doing a screen name search. Maybe I'm freaking out a little and I'll feel better about it, but that google spider thing really dug around. Megan

Hi Everyone, Met with plastic surgeon a couple of days ago. He and I spoke for 1 and a half hours including the time it took to take pics of my stomach and thighs. He recommends a medial thigh lift before a tummy tuck based on medical necessity. Before he will consider doing this, several things have to happen: 1) I must be cigarette free for 6 weeks prior to surgery I have a prescription for Wellbutrin and will start the weaning process one week from now. i already cut back to 6 cigarettes per day from 12, but I fear if I stop completely, I will go back to binge eating as a substitute! 2) EKG-done that already yesterday 3) Appointment with infectious disease sp…

And restriction feels wonderful. Everything went very well as it was done in the radiology dept with two swallows. Afterwards, I went to my work. No problem!!! I'm so happy with my band!!

I got this off one of the other groups I am on... its great for us newbies Videos if the link doesnt work type this http://www.uclabariatrics.mednet.ucla.edu/resources/resources_videos.htm

I hope you have a wonderful year of love, happiness, and luck. Happy Birthday!!! Megan

Hi everyone, I am a new member and I was wondering if anyone knew what the signs of slippage or erosion are. I had my surgery 09/04...has lost 26 lbs. I feel like things are going well. I just sometimes get strange pains in my stomach. Any thoughts about erosion? Thanks!

Sorry I have not posted on here in a while. Iv just kept getting bad news after bad news and all yalls good news about getting dates to get banded was just making me sick. Yeah theres the jealousy comming out but everyone has it at some point in there life. I just hare Dr. Smiths office. I had my appt with them and the straight up lied and did not send my paper work to my insurance to even see if they would approve it they just assumed since the damn news is going around that tricare wont pay for the surgery. Its all BS if you ask me and I am sick of the run around. BLAH! Tomorrow is my birthday but aint to happy about it. My daughter is sick beyond sick poor baby. What e…

Delarla wrote on another post the following: "I think I'll make a goal - right here, right now. I want to wear a size 16 on my one year Bandiversary. Hmmm, do I smell a challenge?" Lulu's bandiversary is in April. Delarla's bandiversary is in May. Anyone know how we can do a challenge that is fair to both so that when one reaches the goal of being in a size 16 by their bandiversary they are declared the winner? And what is the prize? Thoughts? Ideas? Suggestions? Lulu smells a victory coming on. LOL!!!!

Did all the women who are married, or have boyfriends have to do a lot of reassuring to their husbands/boyfriends about the surgery. My boyfriend is unsure about me having the surgery. I'm sure that part of his concern is for the riskability factor, but one of the first questions he asked was. "Are you going to want to go out to clubs, and be out on the town alot? I think he's jealous thinking about all the attention that I will receive once I start dropping of the PHAT. Everything that I told him about the surgery I don't think that he really received fully. I felt like I was given a LapBand presentation. So, what I did was write him a letter explaining to him abo…

I just emailed Alex to ask what happened with some of your edit buttons. Mine is still there so maybe it was either deleted when the "rep power" was gotten rid of or only Moderators will have the Edit power now. Just guessing till we hear back from the "great and mighty Alex".

What the heck is a google spider? It is viewing our profiles!

:banana Does anyone else do this? I go to the mall (2+ hour drive), go to Lane Bryant, go directly to my "old" preband size, look for 5 minutes, realize what I am doing, and go down a size or two to find what fits! I don't know why I do it, but every store I went to yesterday--looked at all the 2X's first! THEN, I went to JJill--they don't sell plus size in the store--so I thought I would wing it and try an 18---TOO BIG! Tried a 16 and it was way too tight to be comfy! So, will try there again next month. Not to mention the idiot sales lady came right up to me and my HUSBAND and said "can I help you ladies find something?" I said, "um, I am not sure who you are …

Since my fill I rely on a lot of liquid nutrician. Protien shakes, ensure, the yogurts like smoothies. I can eat very little real food. I realize I am probably too tite/ I wonder what the outcome with meal replacement has had for some of you and is this as healthy maybe as being able to eat a chicken breast. I do take a multi vitamin now but average one real meal a day and 2 replacements. Anyone else?

Finally got the all the details on the website, so go check it out... banana

what kind of things did some of you drink while you were on the liquid diet?...did you blend actual food in to liquid? did you drink alot of boost? I start the liquid diet on monday and i'm just trying to find different thing to pick a choose from. let me know... iamcanadian25

Greetings, This Friday will begin my new life. These last three weeks seem to be an Atkins blur. I cant believe how strict I have been. I wish that I had confidance that I could stay on Atkins and loose 120 pounds. But truthfully I would be kidding myself. The band is the help that I need and deserve after years of failure. I am ready for the assistance. The house is stocked with Soup and pops and hard candy. My parents although divorced have flown in for support. YIKES LOL. Thank you all for being so supportive and full of the information that I needed. I look forward to talking to you as a full fledged bandster.

I've read that one of the negatives of the band is not achieving a sense of fullness. Is this just during the liquid phase, or is it something you will always deal with?

How do I add my weight on?? Can somebody tell me or add my 88 on?? Thanks!

I got a fill yesterday morning, 1cc. Afterwards I could only eat a couple of tiny bites of lunch, then got hiccups that lasted nearly an hour. Tried to drink a couple sips of water, more hiccups off and on for the rest of the afternoon. For dinner I managed to drink half an adkins shake then had several hours of off and on hiccups and felt miserably full for at least 3 hours. This morning seems a little better, I drank about 8oz of coffee and had no hiccups. About 1 hour later I slowly ate about half a carbwell protein snack bar. Only got a couple of hiccups, but feel miserably full again. Should I go for an unfill or is this just some swelling that will go down??

Well Rich went in yesterday to see why he has no restriction after having a fill on 2/1/05 of 6cc in a 10 cc band. He had no restriction what so ever. Well the Doc. Missed the port. He thinks he got into it, but the saline must of went off into the side. I noticed on the first fill he couldn't draw anything back, but didn't say anything-next time I will. Yesterday they got 4cc in and could draw it back, so they knew they were in. Rich now knows whai I am talking about when I say I have restriction.

i was wondering.....when the port gets filled or the Dr. takes liquid out, does he numb the area first?....does it hurt?.....another question.....how do the scars look?.....are they fading at all on anybody?....not really worried about scars..just wondering how they look?.... look forward to here from anybody... iamcanadian25

Hope this works!

I finally heard back from the surgeons office yesterday and was given a date of March 14, 2005!!!! :banana :banana I am so excited. I was even able to find my own coverage at work, so that's not a problem. Less than a month and I will be banded and on my way to healthy!! I can't wait!! ~Christina~

I had my second fill today. I am now up to 6.5cc's. Everything was fine but Dr. couldn't find the port in his office so I have many pin pricks in me right now. We went down to amblitory surgery and put me under a flo scope (don't know how to spell it) and there it was. This time I was laying down so it was much easier. It was fun watching the pictures, He first put me at 7cc's then had me drink some chalky stuff there was too much restriction so he took out some and it all went down just fine. I say it!!!!!!!!! But for the reason I am posting tonight is>>>>Did anyone have shoulder pain after. I was fine then when driving home (3 hrs) It started. My left shoul…

OK, I love this board and since I will be banded in less than 2 weeks I plan to stick around for quite awhile. But first I need some schooling in Message Board 101. Here are my questions: -How would you make a thread "sticky?" -What does "Rep Power" mean? -What makes a thread "hot?" I'll be a pro in no time! Happy Valentine's Day!

I can't believe it...and I paid the $18,700! I just wanted to let everyone know...my surgeon just dropped the cashpay lapband $18,700 to $12,800 and it includes the surgeon, assistant surgeon, hopital, and anesthesia. They've been working with the hospital for serveral months to get the prices down, and it took affect February 1st (I'm thinking...why couldn't this have happened two months ago???)! But I wanted anyone looking for an excellent team of doctors to have this opportunity. If you have any questions give them a call @ 253-472-9850 or visit their website @ www.aboutsurgicalweightloss.com .

Hello everyone I'm getting my 1st fill on Thursday the 17th. I'm a little nervous I'm not sure what to expect I've had my surgery on 1/4/05 I had good restriction for 2 weeks then I guess the swelling went down, I haven't have much restriction for the passed month. I was wondering if after the fill what I'll feel as far as restriction goes will I feel the same restriction as I did after surgery? Is that the goal for feeling? I wasn't hungery. Now my god my stomach is growling and twisting as if I haven't eaten all day and it's only about 3 hours or so I'm starving at that point. Next question how do you know when your full before you get that unconfortable feeling or pai…

And it went pretty well. I got my note of "medical necessity" certifying my morbid obesity (isn't that the worst sounding thing...morbid). I also got a referral to the Geisinger obesity clinic. So now I have several options. My understanding is that they still do the band there, but my MD wasn't sure. Either way, now I have a few avenues to pursue. I also had a great time discussing the lovely Fluid in my legs and ankles.... One step closer to bandhood. Sharon

Hi everyone i just wanted to know if anyone knows if im not supposed to take appetite suppressants if i have the lap band does anyone know if its wrong to ? thanx in advance

This one was done by my surgeon in his office instead of going to the horrid radiology dept. at the hospital. It was my first blind fill. He took out the saline that was already in there and measured it and it turns out I only had 2cc's instead of 3. Guess one of the radiologist missed my port (under flouro!!!). Anyway, my dr put 3cc's back in. He also said my port is slightly tilted, probably from scar tissue, but it shouldn't be much of a problem. This was my first experience where anyone had to 'stick and dig'. UGH!!! I could hear the needle catch on my port and slip off!!!! Thank God he deadened the area first. It was scary, but even so, I am happy that my o…

Tomorrow is six weeks post op. I HAD lost 20 pounds but then regained two/three when I started solid foods for a total loss of 17 (I am not changing my ticker unless it is GOOD news). The doc said this was very normal (regaining in weeks four and five when you are on solid food) which I knew was going to happen (not a matter of "if") so am fine with it. I joined Curves last week - very excited about it as it is a good match for me (short length and I don't feel like I am dying when I am there). Today I had my first adjustment. I was a bit nervous about it but it turned out to be quite a positive experience. First waiting and waiting to have it done... I happen to sit…

Guys I'm freaking out a little, because I'm being banded on Friday & I have a slight head cold. I have yellow stuff coming out of my nose & a slight cough that brings up more yellow stuff(I'm so sorry to be so gross!), but all in all, I don't feel horrible, I feel pretty good! I've been on the liquid diet the past two weeks(leading up to Friday) & I'm trying to load up on vitamins, but I'm so scared the surgery might get cancelled! Should I be freaking out, or calm down & see how I feel the next day or so? I am so nervous, I need all of your wisdom & reassurance. What do you think everyone? Thanks so much for listening!! Love to you all!

After eating some dry Cereal today, I forgot and took a big big swallow of Water, after the pain stopped, I spit back the water and it had bright red blood with it. I called my doctors office and left a vague, "please have him call me" message. The other time it happened I had some coleslaw that I thought went down the wrong way and I had a swallow of water that time too, that was a couple of weeks ago. I've also paid attention and when I get the slime it's after I finished my last bitefull and then drank something. I did notice a funny feeling in my chest, like a little tightness after I spit back the bright red blood. Anyone else ever had this happen?