NWgirl

I would take the pill on an empty stomach, so it has a better chance of going down. If needed, you can always the drinking water after the pill til it's flushed through.

sounds like your band has slipped. You either need to try a complete unfill and hope it fixes itself or you will need surgery to reset the band. Where is your original surgeon?

I would just be concerned about your financial future and stability at this point. You say you cannot afford to live apart from your soon to be ex until the house sells... Personally, I would be stockpiling my money for a rainy day. I would also put off the elective surgery for this year so you don't take on more debt. If you don't need the money you save, then you can always pay cash for your surgery later

I would see your Dr and ask what they say. I don't know what you could have done to cause the breathing issues, but it doesn't sound right to me.

version 12 as well.

I am on Windows 7 using firefox version 12. I am unable to reply to posts in firefox. IE seems to be working fine.

For the first few days post-op, I consumed maybe 300 calories. The first week, swelling was up so I was unable to eat too much. Give it a couple weeks

I met my out of pocket max for the year, so nothing for me. It looks like my surgeon charges $100 per fill, so if I had not satisfied my OOP I would assume it would be 20% of the bill...

Congratulations on your decision! It really is an exciting thing

Failing is only if you decide to give up. The briliance of the band is that you can go again to your Dr and start fills and whatnot. I hope you get your head in the game and don't feel emberrassed about going back to your Dr.

I would totally recommend the probiotic pearls for the bathroom issue. When I don't take them, I have to use milk of magnesia every other day and feel terrible. When I take the pearls, I go regularly and do not feel all constipated. Just ask the pharmacist if the Probiotics would interfere with any other meds first to make sure

its not necessarily that you need to increase calories, but that you need to be aware of the nutritional breakdown in the foods you eat and make choices with that in mind. Most of us eat 800-1200 and get 70g+ protein per day.

the soda thing varies by Dr. Some believe it can expand the pouch, contribute to erosion, and get gas bubbles trapped below band which are hard to burp out. I have soda once or twice a week and I have no problems.

I am unable to post or quote with Mozilla. I am now using IE and it seems to be working.

I also have Anthem and found it in the same place. If you can't seem to find it on the site, do call the customer service number.

The waitress thing really peeves me. I have found now that I just order a glass of water or else they will continue to pester me. It's really kind of ridiculous.

I would recommend calling them next week and asking if you can move your next fill appointment up because you feel no restriction. I would also recommend portioning out your food at this time.

I bought a pair of jeans from old navy and a pair from Lane bryant at my highest weight and still wear them now. Old navy seems to run a little bigger in size vs lane bryant and I notice that they seem to have a lot more stretch as the day goes on. I can start out my day with the old navy pants kind of loose but still on my butt and end the day tugging them up every minute. I'd say you should probably invest in a belt soon

Stop weighing yourself, you will only get more discouraged. I would recommend weighing max once a week for the first month or so.

It does depend on how strict you are with your diet and exercise until you get to restriction. From late February to now, I have lost over 40lbs. In the beginning, I was super strict with calories and the foods I was eating. Now that I have some restriction, I am transitioning from calorie counting to what I would consider "normal." I still keep loose track of the calories I am eating but am relying more on good food choices because my band does limit the amount I can eat.

Hmm, that's interesting. Have you tried to go on your insurance website and search for participating Dr's?

I am usually okay with not drinking unless I am eating an especially dry meal (which does not happen often). I also am able to drink plently of fluids throughout the rest of the day (80oz+) without any problems.

I have wondered about this. Specifically if the force of the coaster throwing you about and into the gaurd rail could possibly hurt the band...

The only other thing you could do is look for a Dr who is either willing to work out payment with you or go to Mexico. So, do you still have insurance and just can't find a Dr who accepts it? If so, I would call all band Dr's within an hour or two of me and try and find one.

I don't like the new layout when you click view new content. Before you could easily decipher when a post was originally started and what section it was in. Now with the combo of change in font and bullet points it's kind of annoying. Maybe I'm being too picky