Alexandra

Donna, your pain is much more likely to be muscular than anything else. If you have a port infection it's more likely going to present first with warm redness in the port area, with more achiness than a stabbing pain. As far as why someone would get a port infection, the only reason outside of surgical healing would be erosion. Infections don't just spontaneously pop up out of nowhere; there would have to be an underlying cause.

The very first step usually involves seeing a primary care doctor for a complete physical. Are you planning to go through insurance? You might want to give them a call and see what the prerequisites are for your plan. That will tell you where to start. Good luck!

I was 36 and 39 when my children were born. I'm glad I waited, because it gave me time to get all the rest of my life in order. Do it when it feels right, whenever that is!

I don't avoid frozen meals, but we buy them at Trader Joe's. They sell frozen and prepared foods which don't seem to have all the chemical garbage brand names do. There's just no way we can prepare fresh all the time. Nuh-uh.

Ah, sweetie, I'm so sorry you're feeling blue. I agree with everyone who said you have EVERY RIGHT to call your doc's office. The hell with that nurse--just call and let them know you're waiting. There are a million ways those results might not be mailed out promptly, and you shouldn't have to just sit and wait if something has gone wrong on their end. Phooey!! As for not being supportive just now, PLEASE!! You don't owe anyone here anything. Take care of yourself and just be kind; there's no reason for ANY negative self-talk. You've got something to handle personally now, and that's plenty for the time being. Big hugs to you, darlin'. Wave bye-bye to Idaho!

Poodles, generally speaking if you change insurance plans with no lapse in coverage, nothing can be excluded as a pre-existing condition. That's not to say that all your fills and aftercare will automatically be covered--there are lots of reasons a carrier might not cover something like a band adjustment. But a pre-existing condition clause would NOT be one of the reasons.

I don't think it's strange at all, actually. Recessive genes work that way, popping up in some members of a family and not in others. Catie also inherited her aunt's blonde hair and my blue eyes. Gillian got my brown hair and her dad's hazel-gray eyes. Many people (I'm not saying you do, but many do) think that a genetic link means something should present in every member of a given family. That is just not the case. There are so many variables at work and so many gazillions of genetic possibilities. In the nature/nurture debate, though, it seems clear to me that characteristics present from birth are the ones that are mostly genetic in nature, and a constant urge to eat, in Catie, is one of them. Interestingly (and happily), she doesn't seem to run to chunkiness just yet (at almost 5), so I'm hopeful that her body type isn't one that will sentence her to a lifetime of obesity. I guess I was the unlucky recipient of a double-whammy from my genetic Soup of components.

I'm noticing a tendency in my younger one to want to eat all the time. It's a clear to me as the nose on her face that this is genetic in her, in a way that it is not in her sister. Catie, my younger, has been orally-fixated since infancy, which her sister never was. When she comes to me saying that she's hungry, and I know she's not really, I tell her she's not hungry--she's BORED. The challenge for me is keeping her engaged. But it's so clear to me that when she's doing something else she's not thinking about food and what she can eat next. I'm very sympathetic to her being hungry at meals, because God knows I always was. But I want her to get in the habit of eating what she wants at the meal and then being done until the next meal. Eating out of boredom is a sure-fire path to obesity.

Yikes! Good luck and recover quickly!!

Ummm...... 13 lbs in 12 DAYS?????? You're nuts. There's nothing more to be said. :confused: Actually, sorry, but you're really just going to have to get over this. You were banded 12 days ago and are still healing. Haven't you heard this time is not about weight loss? It's about healing! You are not your friend and she is not you. You're not going anything wrong, did you really think you'd lose a pound a day for any length of time?? Well, you won't. If you don't lose another pound for the next six weeks you'll still be right on target. Ahead of schedule, actually, since you'll still be pre-fill. Cheer up! You're doing great!!

So does this mean you're going to be getting an unfill?

Angie, I was in exactly the same boat and you absolutely do have options. The only way to appeal an insurance denial is to have the denial in hand, though, so you must have your surgeon put in the request in the first place. If he thinks you're a good candidate for bariatric surgery, your file is probably complete, right? So have your surgeon go ahead and put in the request for precertification for lap band surgery. Once you get your denial you will be provided with appeal instructions. You have to be, by law. This is absolutely something you can do yourself. If the reason for denial is that the band is experimental, that's easily appealed since the band was approved almost FIVE years ago now. Anyway, that's your first step: get your request in and see what happens. If you're denied, the next step is appeal but come back here first for help. Your denial letter should have very clear instructions about what to do. And you may not even be denied! It's entirely possible that your carrier will have a different attitude than what you're being told now. Good luck!!

Many people have remarked that pre-fill, they feel sudden restriction. Perhaps it's stress, perhaps it's all in our minds. But the effect is real, and you're not alone. Get your fill anyway and just be careful afterwards (which you would be anyway, of course). Good luck!

It almost sounds like y'all are complaining about this effect! :confused: I know exactly how you feel, and I EMBRACE the lassitude about meals. It's so liberating!! There's so much time in the day now to fill up with other pursuits, and it's this change of focus that makes weight loss possible. We can't lose weight until food takes a MUCH SMALLER place in our lives, and this is what that feels like. Congratulations, MsButterKup!

Teresa's absolutely right, Magic. You have your band so start letting it work on your head even if you can't feel it working to restrict your intake. Let it put a picture in your mind of a tiny little pouch that half a sandwich will fill completely. Then after you eat that half a sandwich STOP EATING and let yourself feel how full your pouch is. Walk away and let the rest of that sandwich sit there. If you're honestly seriously still hungry an hour later, it will still be available. Live like you're banded, because YOU ARE!!

The definition of the "wrong" type of food IS food that can't be chewed thoroughly, so these are pretty much the same thing. There are more reasons that something won't go down, and any of these might cause a PB. The worst one for me is one you didn't mention: one bite too many. The only remedy for me has been to walk away, stand up, move around, possibly get some fresh air until my body ejects whatever it is by itself. I've only been able to induce ejection once or twice, and the result of that was to induce actual vomiting so I'm not inclined to ever try it again. What to do? Just avoid it. Eat slowly, eat carefully, don't overdo it.

- Tortillas (white, wheat, corn?) I can eat hard tortillas and chips, but only a couple of bites of soft flour tortillas - Salad (what kind of lettuce can you eat?) No problem with lettuce. Raw vegetables are OK in small amounts. - Hard breads (pretzels, crackers, melba, etc.) Small amounts of these are OK. - "Fluffy" breads (pancakes, waffles, muffins) Not worth it. Two bites and I'm full, so why bother? - Ground meants (turkey, chuck, sirloin...) Generally OK, if the meat is good quality. - Shellfish/crustaceans (scallops, shrimp, crab, lobster, mussels...) Generally OK, again, if good quality and I chew carefully. - Hard cereal (grape nuts, oat bran, etc.) Small amounts are fine, but that'll be IT for the meal. - Hard cheeses No problem whatsoever.

Our hearts are with you and your darling daughter, Funny. I have a 4 year-old myself, and I know how impossibly hard this must be for you all. Strength to all of you, and especially Emily to heal up fast and come home!!

Check this out: http://lapbandtalk.com/showthread.php?t=7959

This is good news at your stage, forestgranger. It means you're healing well! Now comes the hard part, not getting too hungry so that you bolt some food or eat too much before you're ready. I'm guessing you're still on liquids or at least mushies, so don't worry about calorie restriction at this point. Just eat as much as you need to be satisfied so you aren't tempted to overdo it. You'll be ready for your first fill when the time comes. Be thankful everything is in order!

Yep, it's normal. But don't jump to conclusions or lose hope right away. Often it can take a few days or even weeks for a fill to really make itself felt. You might be surprised one day next week or the week after when suddenly something you thought you could eat just doesn't go down. So continue to take it slow and really listen to your body. If you don't feel any change after four weeks at least, that might be time to think about getting another fill. But you're normal, yep yep yep!

This. Fiveholts, you are NUTS to be discouraged!! Get used to this up-and-down, lose-and-stop, bouncy-bouncy method of weight loss, because it's the way it's SUPPOSED to happen. 20 lbs in a month is ahead of schedule, and if you don't lose another pound in the next four weeks you'll still be right on target for banded weight loss. Chill. You're doing great.

At my recent endoscopy I asked the doctor how many banded patients he's done endos on, and the answer was "oh, lots." Then I asked how many erosions he's diagnosed, and the answer was "a couple." That set my mind very much at ease, because it's so easy to assume every bandster ends up with erosion just by reading this site. But we keep hearing the 1-3% figure from the medical community, and it's just really nice to have that (admittedly casual) assessment from a doctor in the trenches with no horse in the race.

Nykee, how are you doing today? If you can't get fluids down you know that's possibly a dangerous situation. PLEASE don't let that go on for long. What about water? Any of that go down? Warm liquids? Ovaltine and pineapple juice are very thick liquids, and you really have to get hydrated. Drink some chicken broth or water, girl!!!

Dee, I agree that an unfill is really called for! If there's no possible way that can be done, can you get a prescription for Prevacid or something like that? Staying on fluids is doubtless a good idea, and you really will lose weight over time that way. So don't worry about your weight, just worry about getting your stomach better. Hugs to you--I KNOW it sucks not being able to eat. :hug: