faithmd

http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f17/article-new-lap-band-advanced-platform-ap-band-allergan-37905/

I haven't gotten a fill yet, but I'm expecting it not to be too big of a deal (even though I am BEYOND ridiculously scared of needles) because I am completely numb since my surgery around my port area. I posted about it and discovered I'm not at all the only one. So perhaps you'll be lucky (I guess you can call it that) and will be numb around the port.

Where's WasaBB? She's a BIG fan of Dr. Aceves, and for good reason, his practice has got a great reputation.

Ask your surgeon what s/he thinks about this topic. Every surgeon may be different, but mine wants me to call ASAP if I'm feeling fluish. Either call his office or my PCP. There is always someone on call to call you back if you have an issue. I also have some compazine supositories and some reglan pills on hand for times I'm feeling urpy.

I would suggest you get the opinion of a really good GI doc about what would be the best to allow your esophagus to heal. The GI doc may not know loads about the band itself, but what you need to know is how best to heal. If you can get another band, and have been successful losing weight with it, there are a few more types of bands that have come out in the past couple of years. You may wish to have it removed and then do some research for a while about whether to replace it or not. Good Luck!

Hey hold up proteinguy. Your freaking signon name is "proteinguy" and you are not selling this product? Come on, even you have to admit that is a stretch for us to believe. Yep, every post you made was about this Protein and in a thread that talked about protein. Sure, maybe you are just interested in protein supplements, but then why aren't there posts in nutrition threads about the use of protein versus foods to eat to get said protein requirements? How come you haven't posted places suggesting protein intake, etc...?

Shouldn't hurt the port, it is under the skin. But if you are less than a year out from surgery, you might want to cover your incisions, they can turn a brilliant red from the UV exposure. Doesn't happen to everyone, but a couple of folks here have mentioned it happened to them.

Thanks WasaBB! Your information is so important to all of us who use protein supplements. I have to ask, have you read any of proteinguy's pitches on the various threads hawking his protein? Do you know anything about the quality of what he's pushing? I'd love to see you respond to him.

Also, what was your post-op eating plan, should you have been starting solids by this point? If not, then why continue to try? If so, and they aren't agreeing with you, then again, why continue to try? Your body is a wonderful, marvelous thing and if it's not ready for something, it's not ready. Listen to it. Maybe you need to be on mushies or full liquids a bit longer. Really, call your nutritionist or surgeon. Your band is something you don't want to mess around with. Good luck and keep us updated, please.

http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f73/abbreviations-what-they-mean-7959/ This thread will help with the abbreviations we sling around. Please tell me you called your doctor to discuss your problems with taking in food. Do they know about your "hurling" sessions? If not, please call them and tell them now. Some people do have delayed gas pains, sometimes the nerves that run to the shoulder and neck are irritated by things we have going on in the stomach/abdomen. After your "hurling" I hope you went back to liquids for a while. The irritation to the stoma can be significant.

I've only been to Central Market a few times (I live near Detroit but used to visit Dallas fairly regularly), but was enthralled by their options for "health foods" and the really good food in their premade food counter. I love the choices for bulk nuts and veggie burgers and whole grain breads. I appreciated the excellent cuts of meat and the amazing variety of fresh fruits. I also loved to get the gelato as a treat at the gelato/sorbet counter.

So glad it went well!!!!

Alexandra and Jack, thank you both so much for writing these amazing words of wisdom. I need to heed them myself.

Central Markte is usually good for lots of great food, though. I have a Trader Joes, but want a Central Market, too. I had discovered these a few weeks ago, they are gluten free and WONDERFUL. I don't even use a bun, I melt a slice of low fat cheese on one and top it with sliced tomato or salsa, some FF Greek Strained Yogurt (better Protein than sour cream) and a couple slices of avocado. WOW! They're GREAT!

Does who gave you the Rx for the NSAID know about the band? Are they liquid? According to the band manufacturer, folks who have had WLS should not use ANY NSAIDS because the pill has a tendency to sit in the pouch and can cause erosion/ulcers. Some folks do do okay with NSAIDS, as anything in this WLS experience, it is fairly individual. Additionally if it just sits there in the pouch, it isn't being broken down in the highly vascular stomach and absorbed into the bloodstream effectively. If a doc says it is okay for you to take NSAIDS, usually you want to not have a full pouch, and you MUST drink LOADS (at least a full glass) of water to flush it through the stoma. You want to avoid the pills sitting there in the pouch as much as possible.<!-- google_ad_section_end --><!-- / message --><!-- sig -->

Initially only DH and MY parents knew. Since I've told five friends. One has the band, one wants the band, one has been there through thick and thin, the other two are a couple who saw the scars and asked (and are VERY dear, wonderful friends who have recently grown close to DH and I). I have no plans to tell anyone else. I wouldn't normally have told that many folks but it just happened. I don't want folks at work looking at me and policing my weight loss or my food. My boss only knows I had a little personal surgery done. That's all any employer needs to know. Heck, they don't really need to know even that much. I wish you luck and I'm glad I haven't shared my decisions with many folks. For me it is not about whether I care or not if people know, it's just my decision and I don't think I need to share it with everyone. I wouldn't shout it from the rooftops if I had carpal tunnel surgery or any other surgery, why should I shout this? But if you want to, then goodonya! It's a total personal decision.

Congrats!!!! That is AWESOME! I look forward to the day I can get into a 16. Strangely I've lost almost 70 lbs ans STILL haven't changed sizes! Odd, huh? 30 lbs and you've changed a couple! How cool is that? That's wonderful!! I keep telling myself that one day I'll just all of a sudden have a shift and my size will change drastically. At least that's what I'm hoping for.

Trystelle is right on target, it varys SOOOOO much from person to person. I had four weeks off, could probably have gone back in about two but things came up (not band related). Every doc it seems is different in their post-op diet and their pre-op diet plan. That information you should get from the surgeon you choose. I was about 5 or 6 weeks until regular foods. Trystelle's doc is quite liberal. But the key is to follow YOUR doc's advice. Just because her doc said it was okay for her, doesn't mean it was okay for me. Welcome to LBT!

Find a new doc! Hiatal hernias are found in as many as 70% of obese people. Every good, qualified doc fixes them while banding. Takes one stitch, maybe two. Have you checked out Hurley in Flint?

Gorgeous car! My husband LOVES purple cars, not if it's too pink, but purple, definitely. We have a purple (Amethyst) Durango and he was very sad when he got his PT Cruiser that it wasn't available in a shade of plum or purple.

I agree with you both, Green and Boo Boo.

Don't forget Greek Strained Yogurt such as Fage, 15 to 17 grams for 7 or 8 oz. Also many protein shakes are 18 to 25 grams of protein for a serving.

I am only two months out, I have not had any fills and do not plan to at this time. I would lke to do as much on my own as I can. I can eat about 1.5 to 2 cups of food which is certainly quite a bit, but MUCH less that I used to be able to. I have some restriction from my band which is a small AP. I am only losing at about 1-2lbs per week, but that's what we are supposed to lose. I'm frustrated, sure. But I would like to save this tool in reserve and get as far as I can on my own first. Weird, I know. But that's me.

Yummie, why on earth are you eating pizza at little more than two weeks out? Okay, let's try to help you out here. First, what was your surgeon's post-op diet orders? Where should you be now on that plan? You mention you have two different plans to follow, how is that? Did you get one from your surgeon and one from someone else? Who gave you these plans? We need to sort out which one you should be following. Next, I know it's TOUGH, it's HARD, it SUCKS. This is Bandster Hell (the time between surgery and when you reach your *effective* fill level-that may take two or three or more fills), it is not easy, and this time is for HEALING, try not to worry about weight loss right now. You just have to DO it. What I do is drink a glass of Water with lemon in it while I'm cooking, that usually stops me from eating. Occasionally I chew really strong mint or cinnamon gum or suck on Altoids while cooking because with that in your mouth, you don't want to eat something else, it would taste awful. Do you realize that you are getting LOADS and LOADS of calories by chewing the food and sucking the "juices" out of it? When you chew, your saliva starts breaking down the food and the starches start getting broken down, you are getting loads of calories just by swallowing the "juices." Regarding eating foods that are not yet on your post-op plan (if that in fact is what you are doing, I don't know for sure, but I'm guessing pizza at two weeks post-op isn't on it): STOP!!!!!! You are risking your band! Maybe not today, maybe you chew it "really well" and the food goes down "just fine" but your band is only stitched in place on the front of the stomach, the back gets "seated" by scar tissue forming around the band. That scar tissue cannot form if the stomach is churning and churning to digest FOOD. liquids do not cause as much movement of the stomach to digest, that's why lots of post-op diets are liquid for a while, then mushy, then slow progression to regular food. A slip a year or two from now may have been caused by early eating, maybe not. So often we don't know why we slip, but for my money, I don't want to take the chance that eating early.

I hope Alexandra will chime in but from what I understand a true exclusion in a policy to all weight loss surgery is not something you can get past. You can't overturn it, it wasn't a denial, it's an exclusion in the policy. Now if they will pay for bypass but not adjustable gastric banding, then you may be able to get that overturned. But not a policy exclusion.