faithmd

Why can you not have another fill until the end of August? That's crazy. Most docs will fill every two to four weeks (some more frequent, but not often-it can take two weeks for a fill to "kick in"), especially if you are very hungry and are not losing at least 1-2lbs per week.

Can you see through yogurt or cottage cheese? Then it's not CLEAR. That having been said, two weeks of a clear liquid diet seems a bit crazy if that's all the guidlelines you have. The point of a pre-op diet is to lose weight and shrink the liver to make it easier to handle during surgery. If you are on a clear liquid diet (anything you can see through) and are drinking sugared fluids or eating sugared popsicles, I can imagine that you wouldn't lose much weight. Some docs will give guidelines of sugar free non-caffeinated, non-carbonated fluids, broths, sugar-free Jello and will add a Protein shake or two per day. I was on a very low calorie diet that included some Soups and three Protein drinks per day as Meal Replacements. Others do two Slimfasts and one Lean Cuisine per day. Still others may do Optifast. One surgeon does nothing but yogurt and cottage cheese (I think). Please call your dietician and ask for better direction about what you are supposed to be taking in. Nothing but clears for two weeks pre op (and how long post-op?) is beyond painful.

http://www.lapbandtalk.com/f5/how-get-ticker-your-signature-16218/ Yes, it does. Above is a link to an entire thread about it. Of note, your ticker is rather large, you might want to shrink the Crazy Ates size. And you seem to have a few extra characters floating around. (Like the P) Cool name! I will often click off the check box so my sig doesn't display if I've alreasy posted on a page once, it takes so long to page down past all the sigs if you're on dial up (I'm not, but I'm sure someone somewhere is). Just a suggestion.

I wanted to add one more thing, make SURE to ask them if you have to do a pre-op diet and how much that will cost you if you have to order something they require. I didn't know that was a requirement for my doc, they NEVER mentioned it in my seminar, and I took some GREAT questions with me. That wasn't one of them I paid $249 for my four week food kit. You'll find a list of fantastic questions as well as things to do and buy before surgery in the FAQ and References forum here.

Ask at the seminar what other fees are involved. I have a BIG problem with paying a "program fee." If I have insurance and that insurance is paying for fills, etc. I'm not paying for ANYTHING more. I chose not to use a couple of docs in my area because of their "program fee" or their "mandatory support group" fee. I paid 15 dollars for insurance paperwork and work papers to be filled out, and that was fine, but in a way that irritated me, too. I understand the one point of view that says there are two people working fulltime doing paperwork, but as a surgeon, and as one who takes insurance, that's LIFE. That's the way you run a business.

I was given restrictions of no bending and no lifting, pushing or pulling greater than 5 lbs for four weeks. Some of my paperwork says six weeks, I think that's excessive. I can understand two weeks, it's tough and it hurts.

There's actually many more bands than that out there. If you are in the US (I can't speak for bands used everywhere) there is only the Allergan LapBand in use, that Allergan LapBand comes in the following sizes, (NOTE the "cm" is the LENGTH and the "cc" is the Fluid CAPACITY): 9.75 cm (4 cc capacity) 10 cm (4cc capacity) 11 cm (9cc capacity) Vanguard (10cc) AP Small (10cc)-no info found on length, it's not even on my band box AP Large (14cc)-ditto above Your surgeon will make the determination once they get in there what size band to use. Just because we are fat does NOT mean we need a large band. Most often women have a tendency to need the smaller sized bands, and men usually need the larger ones. The reason for the size difference is the thickness of the stomach wall. They thicker the wall (men tend to have thicker walls), the larger band needed. But rest assured your doctor will choose appropriately.

Just chew, chew, chew and you will be okay. Ms D, MANY MANY MANY MANY people experience this. It is perfectly NORMAL. You just were on very very few calories and lost quickly, now you are taking more in *and* you had surgery, your body needs calories to heal itself, so it's holding on to every last one it gets. It will all even out, just follow the rules as best you can and after your first fill (which will very likely NOT provide restriction, it takes a couple of them to do that) you should start to see the scale move. MANY bandsters actually GAIN a few lbs before that first fill.

First, call BCBS NC and ask. What one person may have as coverage, you may not. Insurance comapnies offer different types of policies, some do not include a weight loss surgery rider. Second, START THE SIX MONTHS RIGHT NOW. The six months you spent getting everything together could have been the six months you needed. I had to do 12 months and was denied the first time around and it was 15 months until I was banded. You need to have monthly weigh-ins and DOCUMENTED discussions with your provider about what you are doing for weight loss. You cannot miss one single month. Get to it. When I had to do the 12 months, I was understandably depressed, but I didn't gain this weight in 5 months or 12 months, it took me years. Another option is to self pay. Good luck!

I'm glad that it helped you, Lucy. Heck, DH and I didn't even live together until AFTER we had been married over 2 1/2 YEARS. I sort of miss that time...

Yes, your insurance card. It will have your group number on it and the toll free number that you need to call to find out these answers.

Yes, LapBand surgery is done under a general anesthesia, you will be intubated (tube down the trachea) or have some sort of an oral airway that goes into the back of the throat. It is not for fillings, crowns, caps (though protecting those things from going in an airway is a consideration), it is to secure your airway so you can be ventilated during surgery. Anesthesia also uses inhaled gases and these are administered via this tube. It also protects the airway from any reflux up from the stomach getting into the lungs. You are given a muscle blocker and must be ventilated via a machine suring general anesthesia, therefore a secure airway must be in place.

See, I disagree. I expected that marriage is hard work, I expected that we would both have to put something into it to get something out of it. But I think I was a little different. I was raised in a household with both parents. My parents dragged my butt to church every Sunday morning, Sunday evening and Wednesdays, too. My mom was 41 and my dad was 38 when they got me. I'm now 37. They grew up during very tough times. My mother was a child during The Great Depression. My father was drafted during Korea and my mother took care of her father and younger brother after her mom died. My mother stopped working when they got me and my father worked in a grocery store. We didn't have much money, I remember my dad dumpster diving for cheese and bringing home unlabeled cans because they were cheap. Why do I mention this? Because I think how you were raised has a HUGE part in how you view relationships. I know my folks had it tough. They rarely ever let me see them fight. They instilled in me that to live together before marriage was not necessary. NOT that it was a sin, but that it just didn't give you a good idea of what a person really is like after the papers are signed. I didn't live with my husband before we married. I did live with one man for about 10 months and kicked him out, I don't think it was a good idea to live together, but in that case, I'm glad we never talked marriage. My mom stayed home to raise me, she was a nurse, could have made some good money and I'd have had all the trappings other kids around me had. But she felt it was important to be home with me. That doesn't happen today. As much as you want to disagree with me, you know that's the way it is for the general public. My mom later told me that there were many times that she wanted to pack a bag and leave, but she stayed because that's what you do. I guess it helped me realize divorce isn't the quick answer, BUT I do think sometimes it's the right choice. Should she have taken me and left? I have to honestly say probably. But she didn't and now they get along very well. She's sickly and my dad is now the man (43 years later) that she wanted. He is by her side constantly. But I cannot imagine holding out for 43 years. Why did she? Because that's the way she was raised. Seriously: Congrats on being married for 22 years. It's a great thing that you don't see everyday anymore. Also congrats on the large family, we don't see enough of them in the right context (mom and dad, committed to raising children together) these days. However, I did look up Quiver Full and I now understand where you are coming from...We can agree to disagree and that's alright. TerriDoodle said it best, it's wonderful that we are all different. I never suggested people cohabitate prior to marriage. I agree the numbers out there on cohabitation show that it is not a good predictor or success in marriage AT ALL. I never said it was. Cohabitation Data: There is a higher risk, 40 to 85%, of divorce between couples cohabiting before marriage than couples waiting until after marriage to share a home together. (Bumpass & Sweet 1995; Hall & Zhao 1995; Bracher, Stantow, Morgan & Russell 1993; DeMaris & Rao 1992 and Glen 1990) Again, I am referring to dating different people on a longer term basis (not one or three dates) before settling on one person. And I again say not to consider marriage too young. My personal limit is 25. But that's just my limit. The studies DO support me, but they speak to 23 as being the low end. Here's a few studies to back me up: AGE According to the 2000 Census, 9.7 percent of those over the age of 15 in the United States listed themselves as divorced. Atlanta Journal Constitution (subscription) - GA,USA Divorce law needs no tweaking Published on: 03/07/05 "Early marriage is a key predictor of later divorce. Nearly half of people who marry under age 18 and 40 percent under age 20 end up divorced. It's only 24 percent for people who marry after age 25." Item from the Smart Marriages Archive 11/12/02, titled "More teens are getting married - 11/12/02": "Figures released last year from the National Center for Health Statistics found nearly half of marriages in which the bride is 18 or younger end in separation or divorce within 10 years. For brides 25 and older, half as many marriages break up." --From an Associated Press story printed as "More teens jumping the broom" in USA Today; "Sharp Increase in Marriages of Teenagers Found in 90's" in the NY Times; appeared in at least 30 papers the weekend of Nov. 9-10, 2002. And sadly, here's something that flies in the face of my belief that being more religious helps keep marraiges together (though some studies do suggest couples who attend church together on a regular basis, read Scripture together and pray together have a VERY low divorce rate, those behaviors are NOT the norm amongst younger folks in society today): Born-Again Christians No More Immune to Divorce Than Others A 2001 Barna Research Poll indicated that 33 percent of born-again Christians end their marriages in divorce, roughly the same as the general population, and that 90 percent of those divorces happen AFTER the conversion to Christianity. (Most people become born-again during their high school years.) By John Rossomando: CNS Staff Writer January 23, 2002.

Yep, happens all the time. Aetna itslef will cover bariatric surgery IF the company who you get your insurance through (in your case, Jabil) purchases a rider to pay for it. If Jabil's policy has an exclusion to bariatric surgery, you will NOT get it paid for. The insurance people at your surgeon's office are good, I'm sure, but they have literally hundreds of insurances they deal with, they are not experts on yours. I urge you to get out your card and call the customer service number on it. Tell them you want to have adjustable gastric banding done and ask if they have a special procedures case manager who takes care of the bariatric cases that you can speak with. If not, then speak to whoever can help you figure out if they cover it and if so, what the requirements are. Have a pen and a pad of paper handy, write down the name of every person you speak to and note the date and time. Make notes of what they say. Most big companies have case managers that deal exclusively with special procedures like this. If not, then with the codes below, you should be able to get somewhere with the rep you talk to. The codes to ask if they are covered are: laparoscopic surgical adjustable band:Procedure code 43770; diagnosis code 278.01 Once you have found out from them if they cover it and what the requirements are, ask them to snail mail (and email if they can) you a copy of those requirements. Good luck!

Wasa had a steak!!! WOOHOO!!! That's EXCELLENT progress! I'm very glad to hear this. I wish I got the comfortably full feeling. I know I'm only a coupld of weeks out, but with this AP I do already have some good restriction (marble feeling in the throat and all), but I miss that aforementioned "Thanksgiving Day" fullness. I hope I can get past this. I'm sure I can, it'll just take time.

I've not seen many here mention her, but she was one of the authors of a paper on the placement (pars flaccida) technique that everyone uses. She's quite highly regarded.

Usually at least four to six weeks, sometimes eight. All depends, you'll have to call your surgeon's office and ask (they didn't tell you?). Please remember that your first fill rarely gives you the "sweet spot" restriction that will be what you need for weight loss. Most folks say it takes at least two, more likely three or four fills to get to that "sweet spot." Sometimes it can also be a couple of weeks after the fill before the restriction comes. Hand in there, we're all in this together.

As in the philosopher Plato? It seems you mean plateau. Sorry, I just couldn't resist. I agree with those above me, Marimaru is so right that your body is going WHOA and it will take a bit to catch back up. Julie gives a good suggestion to try a day or two of liquid Protein. Remember the first four to six weeks or sometimes a bit longer (we are all different) are not intended to be for weight loss, they are for healing. Your body hangs onto every calorie it can to heal. As an example, burn patients sometimes are fed 5000-6000 calories a day to heal their wounds. Though our wounds are (thankfully) MUCH smaller than that, it just demonstrates that the body needs energy to repair itself and it will hang onto everything it can for that energy. Are you tracking EVERY bite and EVERY sip that you take in? I have found that that made ALL the difference in the world for me. I used to think I ate about 2000 calories a day and when I started tracking it, I was getting almost 4000! There are many free sites to do this on, some are fitday.com, mydailyplate.com, sparkpeople.com, calorieking.com, etc...

Yup, what Terri said!

Thank you, green...and TracyinKS.

I look more for the TYPE of calcium in a supplement now. I used to chew Tums or Viactiv which are calcium carbonate. But recent research is showing that calcium carbonate is the least bioavailable form of calcium. Granted as long as you are taking a calcium supplement, I think that's a good thing, but I want to take the form that will be best utilized by my body. Actually that would be calcium formate, but you can't really get many supplements in calcium formate, it's not widely available yet. calcium citrate is the most bioavailable form out there that is easy to get your hands on. I also have to weigh out the availability and cost of supplements as well as how I can take them and how they taste. I want a chewable, good-tasting supplement in a calcium citrate, that's how I landed on Citracal. The chews are available in chocolate Fudge, Lemon Cream, and Caramel. They are about $8 at Wallyworld (Walmart) for a box of 30, a little pricey, but not bad. They are, however, 35 calories per chew. But 35 calories for what seems like a little chocolate treat is not bad in my book.

And please remember that you probably won't get great restriction with your first fill, either. It can take two or three or more fills to get to that sweet spot. And sometimes people get their feeling of restriction two weeks after the fill is put it, our bodies are strange and wondrous machines.

Wagnerd, I would urge you to mention this to your doc's office at your first post-op visit. They need to know that not explaing the reasons behind it is setting folks up for problems. I'm glad you are back on track, keep us updated!

One cup here or there is not such a bad thing from what I understand. Caffeine does irritate the stomach to a degree, but the biggie is that you really need to keep yourself well-hydrated and caffeine is a diuretic. So if it's tough for you to drink enough fluid, and part of that fluid (caffeinated) takes AWAY your body's water supply, then that's bad.

I am not a big fan of the sugarfree popsicles, so I'm kind of a picky snob when it comes to the taste. I agree w/losing, SF fudgesicles are in general pretty good. I do like the sugarfree Edy's fruit pops. I also like the Shrek Swamp Pops, NOT sugarfree, but still only 30 calories and two flavors each. Breyer's makes a no sugar added Pure Fruit bar that's 25 calories. You just have to experiment.