NWgirl

Are you taking a multivitamin? Most band specific vitamins have around 800% B12. I take a sublingual B12 and a Vitamin D. You could also be anemic. Another issue could be that you're not getting quite enough food yet so your body is out of energy.

I was bruised up after surgery, so when the bruises went away I could see red around all of my incisions. I was super paranoid and put on antibiotic ointment and watched them like a hawk just in case they were going to take a turn for the worst.... Needless to say, they did not get infected.

How many calories per day?

I'd tell her she is your Dr and can have opinions about what she thinks is necessary or not, but you're the one living in your body and know you need the surgery to be successful.

I don't take any medicines over the size of an allergan pill, so I don't know about large pills. I have been able to swallow without any problems. I can still drink a decent amount of water in one sitting as well.

Take your pain meds on schedule- if you take the meds when you start feeling pain, then it will take awhile for them to kick in. Also, the gas is a natural side effect from surgery due to the co2 pumped into your stomach. It is not the same kind of gas as intestinal. Take some MoM in the evening if you feel constipated, but don't make this harder than it should be.

If you are not in pain from constipation, which I've read can happen, then you should be fine. I did end up taking MoM after surgery (prob day 3 or 4?) because I felt like I had to go, but couldnt...

Milk of magnesia. It can take up to six hours to work. I also take probiotic pearls- not sure if they help or not, but since surgery I have only had to use MoM once.

I would guess you are on an infamous plateau, which can be eased by a change I routine. How much protein are you getting daily? If you don't measure food, how do you know calories? I would buy a food scale and weigh/journal for a couple days to see if there any surprises in food intake. If you are at 800, try to push it up to 1000 to see what that does. Sometimes the body needs a swift kick in the arse to lose more weight.

possibly a suture popped? About a week out of surgery I was walking and slipped on something. I was able to catch myself before I actually fell, but only after getting seriously contorted to prevent falling. I did have pain in that area. I can feel my port and it seems that it is still in the same position, but I wouldn't be surprised if I popped a stitch too.

I know sometimes there is a nerve that gets pinched by the band that causes people shoulder pain. Maybe it's possible that this last fill tightened on the nerve?

Are you on a 6 month supervised diet? I would imagine you would be getting banded prior to July (correct me if I'm wrong). I would wonder if you can get the new insurance to pay for maintenance? I wonder if you will need to apply to get the fills/maintenance when you switch?

It took me two weeks. I was not required to have any supervised dieting, just the usual BMI requirements, a letter from Dr, and a list of all diets I have tried over the years.

As long as I got enough protein, I find protein drinks are good. When I was doing my pseudo liquid diet (two shakes, one protein bar, two Greek yogurts a day) I was getting over 80g of protein daily. I was not super hungry.

It's 50/50 if it will be covered or not... But, I would not stay at a job for the surgery alone. If you've got an opportunity that doesn't come around often, take it. If the new insurance didn't pay for it, could you save the money or get a loan to cover the costs?

My dietician thinks whole grains are okay, but it is really hit or miss for others.

Only if they require specific things. I don't know if you're currently on a supervised diet, but that could be one of the stipulations. I would also check to see what the new insurance says about pre-existing conditions- I read on here once that a woman had to wait a year to get surgery after starting her new insurance because the obesity was considered pre-existing... Can you see the benefits under the new plan? And are you sure they cover WLS or treatment of obesity?

also SF puddings...

And 100oz + water daily.

I would drink the shakes only and forego the veggies. Make sure the shakes you're drinking are high Protein and low carb/fat (>5g). The veggies won't help your hunger that much because of lack of protein. I would also be calling to discuss this with the person who helped you along the way. I would be fuming!

cottage cheese, oatmeal, applesauce. I was pretty boring and stuck to protein shakes, soups, etc because I am in the process of moving and didn't want to make something. You could get a food processor and send real things through it (chicken, veggies, etc) and they would be safe to eat.

for insurance purposes, it's actually a good thing if you fail. It means you have one more co-morbidity.

if you're actually sick, reschedule. If you are just stuffy, then take massive amounts of that emergency drink to try and keep the body going and maybe kick whatever is coming on. your body is already going to be healing from surgery, I wouldn't want to be sick on top of that.

Have not told more than a handful of family members, but am sure they would be supportive if I chose to disclose it. If I was comftorable telling everyone, I would honestly really probably just post a Facebook update about it (which is not something I'd normally do, but in this case I would due to so many family members). This way everyone finds out and you don't have to risk any awkward silences or deragatory comments since you'd be on a public forum and people usually behave themselves better. For people who I knew don't use Facebook, depending on their level of importance in my life, I would probably call them up and tell them. Be prepared to answer questions and correct wrong information.

Caffiene and sugar withdrawal can cause the headaches. If you need to, take some Ibuprofen or a little sip of caffiene to wean yourself off. You've got to break the addiction sooner or later, so I'd recommend the Ibuprofen.