Candle

Mine wasn't required or covered by insurance either. It was required by my doctor's office, as was a visit to a nutritionist. They were $250 EACH :speechles

From what I hear it is very difficult to find a self pay plan that does not exclude WLS. I had the same situation as you and I did manage to find a plan that covered my band. There is hope. Good luck! (my insurance is specific to NY)

Pudding and yogurt were part of my "full liquids" but cottage cheese and oatmeal were part of "mushies".

I take Prilosec everyday. (the pills are so small there should be no problem swallowing them) I was diagnosed with GERD before surgery but never really had any heartburn issues. During my pre-op liquid diet, all the milk in my Protein shakes started to give me indigestion and problems with my throat. It was a whole big nightmare. I've been on Prilosec for almost 2 months now and my doctor said I could stop it and see how I feel. I'm scared - lol!

The AP Band comes in small and large (APS & APL) The small holds 10cc's and the large 14cc's. I got the APS band in August. If I was you, I would ask for it. If you do a 'search' there are a few threads about it. Good luck

My doctor said 2 weeks but we only waited 1 week. (my boyfriend was ready for sex 2 days after having a vasectomy - there's no stopping him - lol)

I am 1 lb from my first mini-goal!!! I know I can lose a pound by Sunday. I am soooo excited!!! :whoo::whoo::whoo: My next mini-goal is to lose another 20lbs by Christmas. I'm also hoping to get the nerve to joint a gym when I get back from vacation - for the first time in my life!!!

My doctor said sometimes it can take a little while for a fill to kick in. (although 4 weeks is a long time) Some people say they are tighter in the morning. Maybe that's the case with you and the reason you couldn't eat later was because you were irritated after the stuck episode? Maybe try something hot to drink (tea/coffee/etc) before your next meal to try and loosen things up.

The restriction issue is different for everyone. Too many variables. After surgery, many people have a fair amount of swelling causing the band to feel tight(er) for the first week or two. For some people 1 fill does the trick but I think most say it takes 3-5. Some people have natural restriction and NEVER need a fill. I've never felt any sense of restriction. I experimented with a few mushies 2 days before my 2 week follow up appointment. I wanted to test things out in case it brought up any new questions I'd want to ask.

I lost 14lbs on my 10 day pre-op liquid diet. I was consuming < 650 calories per day and walking for 1/2 an hour.

I'm not having my first fill until I get back from vacation at the beginning of Nov. They didn't want me to have any complications while out of town. My surgery was 8/27 and my fill won't be until 11/5. At my appointment the other day, my doctor said "We'll see if you need a fill on the 5th but you seem to be doing great and might not need it." The hell I won't!! The ONLY reason I am doing great is because I am very strictly dieting and been exercising. I have felt no restriction AT ALL since day 1. This has all been on my own and I'm starting to struggle. I don't really understand this attitude by doctors. I understand using weight loss as a gage to determine fills, once you have some restriction but why get the band if you aren't going to use it? I don't want to wait until I stop losing weight - why even get into that cycle? I know myself - once I start to "fail" I'm going to lose my motivation. I'm going to demand a fill. Anyone else experience this?

Orange and Blue I think. I saw 2 shows - in 1 they were remodeling a bunch of old condos to be a sorority house and in the other they remodeled a snack bar at the football field. In that episode, the rival school spray painted all over a bunch of buildings and I remember them painting over it with orange and blue paint.

Welcome You're doing great! In ONEderland already too! Clemson University - There's a real estate flipping show on TLC (?) with a group called TradeMark and the owner is all about hometown/college pride. They've done a few stories about his college. Do you know what I'm talking about? Is that your school?

How's everyone doing? I had my 6 week follow up appointment today and everything looks good. I learned today to try for the 8am appointments at Dr Geiss's office - I was in and out in only 15 minutes!!! I'm not having my first fill for another 4 weeks though. I'm going on vacation in 10 days so they thought it best to wait until I get back.

We bought a few bags of candy over the weekend because they were on sale. Normally I wouldn't buy candy this early because it would be GONE before Halloween. I had my boyfriend hide them from me - lol.

How's everyone doing? I go for my 6 week check-up tomorrow. They said the doctor would talk to me about a fill but since I'm going on vacation in less than 2 weeks I would have to wait until I get back. That will put me sometime in Nov. Are most of you starting to get fills soon?

Wow! That's crazy! Keep me posted! Yes, I've been on solids for a little over a week. I haven't been very brave yet though - I haven't tried bread, Pasta, rice, junk food. (which is a good thing!! Carbs are my problem!) How about you? How did all this effect your eating and weight loss?

Thanks for the info. What temp do you bake it on? 350-400? I was just thinking about you the other day and noticed you hadn't posted in awhile. What happened that it was "emergency" surgery? I see a lot of people mention gallbladder issues but I was under the impression that was something that took a little time to present symptoms. How are you doing now? I'm doing really well, thanks. We're going on vacation to FL in two weeks, so a lot of prep and planning has been going into that. We're also trying to get all those last minute home/yard projects done before the weather changes (although it's feeling like that's never going to happen! lol) I can't believe the holidays are right around the corner!! Does your son come home? Everything with my band has been fine. I have my 6 week check up on Tues. I have 6 more lbs to get to my first mini-goal before vacation!! It's going to be a nail bitter - lol. That will put me at 44.5lbs lost! I'm very happy with the way things have been going. I know I need to kick it up with the exercise soon. (walking alone won’t cut it) Just thinking about joining a gym makes my stomach hurt - lol!

I think I've had a similar experience actually. I'm not a coffee drinker but I was a HUGE diet soda drinker. I haven't had any soda since July and started my pre-op liquid diet on 8/16 - I've been sticking to my "diet" since then. The first time in my life I have not cheated AT ALL! I used to get regular head aches - 3-5 times per week. I was taking A LOT of Advil. (for headaches, menstrual cramps, and when I was having a bunch of major dental work done over a 2 month period) When I had an EGD in April with my pre-op tests, they found I had the start of 2 small ulcers. My doc attributes it largely to all the Advil and I was having a little reflux. I too worried about Tylenol being my only option and it occurred to me just last week that the only time I’ve needed it, was right after surgery. I'm not sure exactly what the change was (soda, carbs, sugars, processed foods, sodium, etc... ) but I am so glad to be rid of the headaches!!

I haven't had any yet (because I'd end up eating too much of it) but I think frozen yogurt tastes better. Ben & Jerry's is reeeeeeally good. It was on my "acceptable" list for the liquid phase.

walk walk walk to get rid of the bloating from gas ice ice ice to get rid of the surgical swelling. I had an ice pack on my stomach every time I laid down for the first week. I had very little discomfort - even at the port site - and I think all that ice had a lot to do with it.

I'm not one to advise going against your doctor's orders but the MANUFACTURER of the band suggests weeks 1-2 liquids, weeks 3-4 mushies and week 5 soft food. It's right in their manual. My doctor says it takes up to 6 weeks to fully heal. *I* think you'd be doing the right thing by extending the phases they suggested.

Mine is about 3 inches above my belly button and then about an inch to the left. I've never heard of it being high up on the chest like the OP. I would think that would be visible. When a friend of mine was having chemo that's where they put her's and it was VERY visible.

I'm not a morning person so I could never take my own advice -lol - but could you guys try walking in the morning instead?

I discovered I like the canned chicken too! I buy the generic brand at Wal Mart or Swanson's from the groc store. They both taste the same to me but the brand from Wal Mart has (in a 2oz serving) 10 calories more but 1 gram more of protein. It does smell like tuna when you open the can and drain it but not fishy when you eat it.